SRCC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
TUESDAY, June 6, 2023 @ 7:00 PM (www.srccatx.org)
Zoom Meeting
MINUTES
Only members may vote. As an officer, you should be a member. Please confirm by emailing membership@srccatx.org. And please register 24 hours in advance.
1. 7:00 SRCC Welcomes Members and Guests
Verification of quorum: with 5 members and at least 2 Officers present
Reminder: please state your name when presenting or seconding a motion.
Presenter throughout unless otherwise noted: Noah Balch, SRCC President
Meeting began at 7:01pm
General discussion about agenda items and updates, more info to follow in the agenda items.
2. 7:05 Membership report & voting
Members must pay dues to participate in SRCC business and actions, such as voting and making motions. Try the subscription option for automatic annual renewals.
Noah stated that an Annual Subscription would be preferable and believes that we have that technology available. Mary reiterated that at an EC meeting you need to be an Officer, a Chair or an Area Coordinator in order to vote and that will affect the quorum.
3. 7:10 Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
Approve minutes.
May 2nd EC Minutes approved
Upcoming meeting dates:
General Meetings – June 20, July 18, August 15, September 19, Oct0ber 17, November 21 (July 18th is at The Good Shepherd for a hybrid meeting)
Executive Committee – August 1, September 5, October 3, December 5
Noah asked whether there was a preference for holding a meeting in July. Sam Martin suggested that we schedule a GM meeting for the 3rd week of July in case there is a need, but noted that it could be canceled.
Motion made to schedule July 18th General Membership meeting, subject to cancellation, by Noah; Sam seconded
Motion approved unanimously.
4. 7:15 Treasurer’s Report
All reports available upon request: treasurer@srccatx.org
Presenter: Will Andrews, Treasurer
Will is not attending and did not have anything significant to report – no update.
5. 7:20 Standing Committee updates re: events/goals/issues
Presented by Committee Chairs
1) Planning & Zoning:
2105 South Congress will likely have a designated person from development, William Sayers, who will attend our June 20th meeting to present his project to the General Membership. The rezoning of the Firestone Tire Store next to the old Statesman — 311-315 S. Congress — will also send a developer’s representative, Amanda Swor, to the June 20th meeting to present that project.
Anita Tschurr brought up the amount of building on the backs of lots along Bickler that encroach on Blunn Creek, and new variance requests for zero backyard setbacks from the creek, after the encroachments already have occurred. Chris Phillips-Frishman, who lives on Bickler Road, clarified that this has not happened, all of the backyard development has been within boundaries and did not encroach or violate setbacks.
Sarah Campbell said she planned to present motions for at least 2, if not 3, rezonings/site plans after the development guests left the meeting, so extra time would need to be scheduled for discussion and votes.
2) Historic Preservation: none
3) Finance: none
4) Mobility:
The last scheduled Parking District (PTMD) meeting was canceled by the City; the next meeting will be scheduled for July 16th. There was general discussion clarifying the RPP zones and what would be affected by this in our area. Mark clarified that these actions will bring a few varying zones into line with the majority.
5) Public Safety:
Thomas stated that RPP will move east from South Congress to East Side Drive; Mark clarified that those are the ultimate PTMD boundaries, but it’s a build-in for future parking needs.Initially the paid parking area of the PTMD will nearly match the current RPP areas. The PTMD listed mobility projects that are taken from our SRCC neighborhood plan and that will be funded in the future by the project.
Clarifying discussion on what residents will get in terms of permits: 2 per household and 2 visitor passes, and the curb spaces not in front of residences becomes paid parking for the South Congress area. There will be an online PTMD application for people who need permits. Details are still being worked out.
6) Parks & Environment (Zilker Vision Plan Update):
Noah brought up the Zilker Vision Plan, and gave a summary from David Todd that objected to the construction of the Parking Garages that would incite greater usage and events. David is more in favor of funding parks and public areas east of I-35, since the majority of funding has already been allocated to areas West of I-35.
7) Schools:
Gretchen Otto updates that Lively Middle School has an SRCC Banner up now!
8) Communications:
Newsletter out and looking great.
6. 7:30 Additional Updates from Representatives and Coordinators
9) GSRC NPCT: none
10) EROC: none
11) NPCT: none
12) ANC: none
13) SCC: none
14) South Central Waterfront Advisory Board:
Noah discussed the PUD being established for the development of SCW and how that affects the parks, watershore and area. We need a dedicated representative to hold our spot and attend meetings with the SCWAB and report back to us to keep us updated. There is training involved from the City to ensure that our Rep would be able to convey our position, give updates and be a part of votes. In the past, we’ve had success with having someone attend meetings and voice our concerns – if you are interested please contact Noah directly.
Ken Burnett advocates that we get a strong representative since this is in our area and how it will affect us. It’s not a large time commitment, they are currently only meeting a few times a year and are intermittent. Tom Groce offered his perspective from years past. Now we are needing to be involved with our concerns and involved in the process. The City is committed to moving forward so it’s in our best interest to get a voice in there.
15) St. Ed’s: none
16) S. Central Affordable CDC: none
BUSINESS AGENDA ITEMS
7. 7:40 Results of Membership Ad Hoc Committee
Discuss hybrid in-person Zoom meetings and how we can confirm membership and voting rights during hybrid meetings.
Presenter: Carol Martin, SRCC Area 4a Coordinator
Carol Martin noted we have increased participation by utilizing Zoom. The Committee was started to address the desire for Hybrid meetings.
Membership Secretary (MS) determines the attendees’ membership status to confirm the quorum and eligibility to vote. MS cannot confirm dues-paid status of members in both locations at the same time. The committee is proposing that assistants be trained in membership verification tools (databases) and assist MS in covering both locations.
During In-person meetings there are two ‘paths’ and two Admin people, one of whom can check-in the dues-paid members, the second person can handle payments for renewals. The process in the Zoom scenario is different because of the pre-registration feature. The committee will define 3 or 4 assistant roles, do database training, test scenarios, and then bring that info back to the Executive Committee.
Currently the Committee has two more meetings set. Training assistants is underway but will need time before implementing the process. The committee is also training an assistant to handle sending dues renewal reminders (PayPal service does not send reminders automatically).
8. 7:50 APD
The Austin Police Department (APD) is in the process of developing a strategic plan. This plan will serve as APD’s roadmap for the future, providing direction and driving priorities for the next five years.
Presenter: Tom Groce, SRCC Public Safety Chair
There have been a couple of meetings, you can see what their objectives are on the website. Please attend the South APD Strategic Planning Community Input Session on 6/22/2023 at 6:30p located at upRising Austin Church, 8601 S 1st St, Austin, TX 78748.
9. 7:55 Project Connect
Light Rail route option selected and approved by Austin Transportation.
Presenter: Mark Thompson, SRCC Mobility Chair
Noah Balch discussed that this was a change from what was expected to have been voted for. Mark Thompson reiterated that from the original proposals and some of the ROW concerns in them they elected to go to the second plan. There were two choices for the bridge, both new construction. One from Trinity which is close to the current Red Line coming over through and up to South Congress. It looks like that would go through Thom’s Market and Thundercloud Subs. The other is coming through Guadalupe near Cesar Chavez.
There was a meeting today where they decided that it’s 38th to Oltorf and Yellowjacket. Yellowjacket would be the extent towards the airport but there’s no airport plan at this point. It would be good to have someone from South Austin join the Project Connect Community Advisory Committee to give feedback and keep our concerns.
10. 8:05 St. Cecilia Live Music (Amplified Sound) Violations
Consider recent and anticipated violations of SRCC’s restrictive covenant with the hotel as St. Cecilia hosts and plans to host more live music events.
Presenter: Noah Balch, SRCC President
Brian Beattie brought to our attention the Restrictive Covenant with St Cecilia where they were limited in hosting open-air or live music events. Brian had contacted the Hotel management directly regarding recent amplified music; the Hotel on-site Management said that they do intend to host live music in the future. Bunkhouse Management, who owns the hotel, said they didn’t know about this and did not intend to – so there will be a meeting set up to discuss this and get clarity from Bunkhouse Corporate and Hotel management moving forward.
11. 8:10 GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Sarah E Campbell clarified that there was a statement earlier that there wouldn’t be voting at the June 20th meeting, but she intends to bring two or three items that she believes should be voted on. Sarah feels that some of this info has been around for a while and needs to be clarified by voting. Sam Martin feels that these issues deserve the time for review and voting, even if it makes the Meetings longer.
Carol Martin has concerns that we may not have the people and bandwidth to handle large and multiple votes at the next Meeting as a Hybrid. Noah says that if these votes are timely and necessary then we should stick to a Zoom meeting for the next meeting.
It was decided that Jun 20, 2023 will be Zoom, and Jul 18, 2023 will be hybrid.
Ken Burnett gave a reminder about the Black X Conference this month – the upcoming conference will be hosted at the Long Center on Riverside Drive on June 19th, 2023.
https://www.aaliaustin.org/black-x-conference
The African American Leadership Institute is still accepting registrations for sponsors, exhibitors, volunteers, press passes, and attendees if anyone is interested in participating or attending.
Meeting adjourned at 8:20
SRCC’s NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH program is always looking for more participants. Anyone interested should contact Tom Groce, SRCC Public Safety Chair at tgroce71@gmail.com.
This link will take you to information about subscribing, unsubscribing, and posting a message to the neighborhood ListServe: https://groups.io/g/SouthRiverAustin
The next General Membership meeting is June 20, 2023.
The next Executive Committee meeting is August 1, 2023.
Frequently used acronyms:
ACF: Austin Community Fund
ANC: Austin Neighborhood Council (https://www.atxanc.org/)
BoA: Board of Adjustment
CDC: Community Development Corporation
EROC: East Riverside/Oltorf Combined Contact Team
FLUM: Future Land Use Map
GSRC NPCT: Greater South River City Neighborhood Planning Contact Team
NCCD: Neighborhood Conservation Combining District
NHPA: National Historic Preservation Act
NPCT: Neighborhood Planning Contact Team
PC: Planning Commission
PUD: Planned Unit Development
SCC: South Central Coalition of neighborhood associations
SF: Single Family zoning category
ZAP: Zoning and Platting
Agenda Prepared by Noah Balch, vicepresident@srccatx.org Agenda subject to change. Please check www.srccatx.org for the most updated version.
ZOOM REGISTRATION LINK FOR THIS MEETING:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAuceCtrz8jE9yAF2p0haDBX6v9k1AxqTPV
