SRCC GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES
Tuesday, September 19, 2023, 7:00 PM
Zoom Meeting
SRCC: See the future. Shape the future. (www.srccatx.org)
MINUTES
1. 7:00 Welcome Members and Guests
Presenter throughout unless otherwise noted: Noah Balch, SRCC President
Reminder: state your name when presenting or seconding a motion.
Verification of quorum. Quorum verified, the Meeting began at 7:05
2. Approve General Membership Meeting Minutes
Presenter: Chris Phillips-Frishman, SRCC Secretary
Meeting minutes available at: www.srccatx.org.
SRCC GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES taken TUESDAY, AUGUST 15th, 2023, were shared for approval and then posted on August 29, 2023 by the Secretary. Vote on motion to approve minutes; Motion made and passed unanimously.
Upcoming Meetings:
General Meetings: October 17th, November 21st, December 19th
Executive Committee: October 3rd, December 5th
3. Treasurer’s Report
Presenter: Will Andrews, SRCC Treasurer
All reports available upon request: treasurer@srccatx.org
4. 7:15 Membership Report & Voting
Presenter: Mary Janecek-Friedman
Members please pay dues to participate in SRCC business and actions, such as voting and making motions. Try the subscription option for automatic annual renewals.
5. Reports from Standing Committee Chairs
a) Planning and Zoning
later, Item 8
b) Historic Preservation
Susan Armstrong Fisher and Wolf Sittler
- 2101 Travis Heights was approved by the Historic Landmark Commission for Historic Landmark status.
- 1810 Kenwood has been approved for demolition despite neighborhood comments.
- Norwood Park Foundation dissolved earlier this year; so there is no movement currently on the Norwood House. Wolf is working with some people from preservation to get the project moving again. We will be making a call for volunteers for the future, we need people of all levels of interest to ensure we keep this historic property. www.thenorwoodhouse.org
c) Finance
none
d) Mobility
Mark Thompson
CAP Metro would like to attend a future meeting (November) to present about Project Connect
e) Public Safety
none
f) Parks and Environment
later, Item 7
g) Schools
later, Item 7
h) Communications
none
6. Reports from Area Coordinators and Representatives
a) GSRC NPCT
none
b) EROC NPCT
none
c) ANC
Article from Betty Weed will be in the upcoming Newsletter
d) SCC
none
e) South Central Waterfront
none
f) St. Edward’s
The vacant lot that was discussed in the last meeting regarding the Student’s concerns is on the north side of Woodward and therefore is the domain of St. Edwards.
g) South Central Affordable CDC
Intend to form an Ad Hoc Committee to seek the right person with the necessary skills to represent SRCC.
GENERAL BUSINESS ITEMS
7. Presentation by Campus Architectural Team (CAT) for Travis Early College High School
Presenters: Miguel Garcia III, AISD Construction and Operation; Paula Vaughan; SRCC Parks and Environment; Gretchen Otto, SRCC Schools; David Todd
Discussion on vision, plan, goals, and execution of this Bond Project. TECHS was awarded over $250M in a Bond Project, including $161M Construction costs.
Physical Construction begins Summer 2024, could take through 2028. Community input will be welcomed. David and Gretchen will serve as our liaisons to get updates from the meetings and give progress reports.
Travis ECHS elected to become a Community School.
8. Planning and Zoning
Presenter: Anita Tschurr, SRCC Planning and Zoning Chair; Betty Weed, SRCC Communications
- 311-315 South Congress (Firestone) increased in height; Drop-off/Pick-up and Delivery will not be off of SoCo; they will be giving two parcels away, for development of low-cost housing and to add to the existing Parks.
- 406 and 428 Alpine is in need of restoration and development; setbacks from Blunn Creek and Heritage Trees are a concern, the Developer seems considerate of these.
- 200 Riverside Drive will be a very large project, slated to be over 400 feet.
- Commercial Zoning – since SoCo development will continue, and we only represent the east-side of the street, Betty suggests that we co-operate with and form an alliance with Bouldin Neighborhood Association, possibly Dawson as well, in order to have a SoCo working group. Will form an Ad Hoc Committee to explore this
- There is a general call for assistance in helping Anita keep up on addressing these developments. Anyone interested can contact Anita Tschurr and Betty Weed.
9. Mobility
Presenter: Mark Thompson, SRCC Mobility Chair
- Update regarding South Congress Parking and Transportation Management District.
- There have been some delays in the rollout since the data-capturing hasn’t been completely worked out.
- 8am – 6pm is shared parking M-Sat, 1pm-6pm Sun; after 6pm, it’s neighborhood and visitor parking only. Boundaries can be examined and redrawn each year. For additional information, refer to www.austintexas.gov/southcongressparking
10. Committee to Review Bylaws
Presenters: Gretchen Otto, SRCC Schools; Carol Martin, SRCC Area 4a
Vote on the following: Quorum re-verified, Motion made by Noah, Motion Passes with unanimous vote
In response to the Pandemic during which public gatherings were prohibited, SRCC started meeting via Zoom. We have found that Zoom provides a safe and effective meeting space for many of our members. Until we are able to formally adopt revised Bylaws that include a provision for virtual meetings, we have agreed to interpret the following sentences in the Bylaws as follows:
● Article V: “A General Membership meeting requires a quorum of members to be present in person for a binding vote.”
○ We agree that a virtual meeting is following the spirit of the requirement. We are “present” in the sense that we can all see and hear each other, as if present “in person.”This also maintains the spirit of the rule to avoid “proxy” voting.
● “The Executive Committee shall designate the location of General Membership meetings with the goal being to set a consistent location within SRCC boundaries and to regularly communicate the location to members.”
○ We agree that a Zoom link takes everyone to the same virtual meeting place. Therefore, we are following the spirit of the Bylaws.
We intend to begin the process of revising the Bylaws, first by a Communications and Membership ad-hoc committee, which is working on new guidelines for hybrid meetings, and then by convening an ad-hoc committee to study the Bylaws and make suggestions for revisions.
11. GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Community, Volunteering, and Social Activities
Cities Connecting Children with Nature – Cities Connecting Children to Nature Initiative |
This flier outlines the CCCN Initiative and encourages people to sign on to the Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights (COBOR); also please see the flier on the COBOR.
School Parks are parks on or next to schools and have a shared purpose and responsibility for the space.
NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH: contact Tom Groce, SRCC Public Safety Chair at: tgroce71@gmail.com
If you have questions about using the Neighborhood ListServ: https://groups.io/g/SouthRiverAustin
The next Executive Committee meeting is October 3, 2023.
The next General Membership meeting is October 17, 2023.
Frequently used acronyms:
ACF: Austin Community Fund
ANC: Austin Neighborhood Council
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
