SRCC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING
Tuesday February 6, 2024, 7:00 PM
ZOOM Meeting
SRCC: See the future. Shape the future. (www.srccatx.org)
MINUTES
1 SRCC Welcomes Members and Guests
Presenter throughout unless otherwise noted: Noah Balch, SRCC President
The Meeting was called to order at 7:00pm
Reminder: please state your name when presenting or seconding a motion.
Verification of quorum. Quorum verified
2 Approve Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
Presenter: Chris Phillips-Frishman, SRCC Secretary
Vote on motion to approve minutes. Meeting minutes available at: www.srccatx.org.
The Secretary recorded minutes for the Executive Meeting of Tuesday December 5th, 2023; the Minutes were distributed for feedback and then published on December 13th, 2023.
The President asks if there are objections or corrections to the Minutes, none being voiced, the Minutes are approved unanimously.
Upcoming meetings:
General Membership: February 20th, April 16th, May 21st, June 18th, August 20th, September 17th, October 15th, December 17
Executive Committee: March 5th (Election Day – may cancel), April 2nd, May 7th, June 4th, August 6th, September 3rd, October 1st, December 3rd
3 Treasurer’s Report
Presenter: Will Andrews, SRCC Treasurer
All reports available upon request: treasurer@srccatx.org
4 Membership Report
Presenter: Mary Janecek-Friedman, SRCC Membership
Members pay dues to participate in SRCC business and actions, such as voting and making motions. Try the subscription option for automatic annual renewals.
https://www.srccatx.org/membership-dues
Membership is at 234, trending upward… note: 5 years ago we were at 249
5 Reports from Standing Committee Chairs
a) Historic Preservation
Presenter: Noah for Wolf and Susan
Multiple attempts have been made to resurrect the Norwood House conservation and renovation. In the Summer of 2023, the money that was previously dedicated to the Norwood House was redistributed to other City Park concerns.
To date Wolf and staff have met with Staff from the City as the Revised Norwood Alliance. They are in the early stages of development and will have public presentations in the future.
It appears unlikely that the project will return to the goals of 2010, since the expansion of I-35 will greatly change the dynamics of the area.
b) Finance
none
c) Public Safety
Presenter: Tom Groce, Chair
Tom gives us an update that he’s preparing an article for the Newsletter and for the next Hybrid Meeting
d) Parks and Environment
Presenter: David Todd, Chair
David Todd reports great turnout at the event at Blunn Creek Nature Preserve. Matt McCaw joins us from Parks and Recreation in a later agenda item. He will discuss a new Land Management plan.
David announces that Tree Folks recently brought 80 volunteers to plant 1300 native saplings in the creek corridor of Stacy Greenbelt between Woodland and Travis Heights Elementary School.
David notes that Fred DeWorken and Gail Goff brought reps from Austin Parks and Recreation, Austin Police, and the Homeless Strategy Office to discuss a tent camp in Heritage Oaks Park, and work on plans with the Austin Parks Foundation to add a playground in the Park.
e) Schools
Presenter: Gretchen Otto, Chair
Gretchen has heard that Torchys will be readdressing their desire to get a waiver in order to sell alcohol. The waiver is for serve-on-premise, not for closed container purchases. Historically, SRCC has opposed the waiver; Anita will be looking for the notice if it is filed.
f) Communications
Presenter: Betty Weed
Next meeting will be a Hybrid at the Good Shepherd Church and we are currently working to inform the Membership via all of our channels. We are not guaranteed the space for the future as they are in flux, so we may need an alternate solution. Betty thanks those who have looked into and researched alternatives.
Betty has some volunteers but if you have ideas for meeting spaces, please contact her.
Ruth reminds us about the Spring Newsletter; last year we waited until May because of the elections; March 18th will be the deadline for articles to submit, which will allow for a late April release. We will also need to consider the Revision of the Bylaws Ad Hoc committee.
However, if we want to distribute the newsletter in March before the election, we can do it if articles are submitted by the end of February.
6 Reports from Area Coordinators and Representatives
a) TECHS CAT
Gretchen Otto and David Todd advise that there has been rapid progress in the ‘mapping’ component of the ideas in iteration. There will be a public input meeting in March 21 with AISD and Page, the school architects.
e) SCWAB
On January 18, 2023 the Planning Department made a presentation to the South Central Waterfront Advisory Board. A Combining District with a Density Bonus Program has replaced a Regulating Plan. The public comment period is scheduled to open mid-February and close mid-March. SRCC is a stakeholder and may consider taking a position. Properties owners within 500′ of the SCW District should be contacted via mail from the City of Austin Housing and Planning Department.
Please see link for presentation including upzoning and district boundaries on page 9 of document. <https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=421994>
We need a dedicated representative for SCWAB to stay apprised of the changes. This will affect Area 1 so Wendy and Chris will meet offline.
BUSINESS AGENDA ITEMS
7 Parks and Environment
Presenters: Matt McCaw, City of Austin and David Todd, SRCC Parks and Environment
Discussion with Matt McCaw from City of Austin regarding Blunn Creek controlled pile burns.
Matt is a biologist, burn boss and Land Management Program Manager with Parks and Recreation, where he has been for four years, following 14 years in the City’s Water Quality Protection Lands division. Matt was hired to more completely address and mitigate wildfire risk and implement holistic land management plans for Parks and Recreation lands, including Blunn Creek Preserve. In the Preserve, goals are to maintain the mixed woodlands with open grasslands as well as continuing to improve the general health of all of the species.
Prescribed burning is a management tool that addresses the health of an area as a ‘prescription’, using small pile burns with minimal smoke in areas that have been cleared of invasive species or damaged areas. Removal of these debris has been a huge cost so the more this can be done, the more economical and the better use of limited funds. These are common practices, but this is newer in the urban areas and are typically rural.
Carol asks Matt about the process for postponing or canceling a burn if there are contraindications. Matt says there is a lot of information – including about this issue – on the website and will share that resource. https://austintexas.gov/LMP
There are dedicated ‘burn leaders’ and all of the people involved have been through detailed training including simulations, and follow all National Standards.
Max Woodfin has great impressions from seeing pile burns at Onion Creek and supports the Land Management work at Blunn Creek Preserve.
8 Mobility
Presenter: Mark Thompson, SRCC Mobility Chair
Project Connect, CapEx I-35, and PTMD updates.
Following are opportunities to share your feedback for Austin Light Rail:
| Montopolis Recreation and Community CenterRoom 110 East1200 Montopolis Dr., Austin, TX 78741 | Saturday, February 10, 202410 a.m. – 2 p.m. |
| League of Women Voters, Cafetorium 3908 Avenue B, Suite 105, Austin, TX 78751 | Monday, February 12, 20245 p.m. – 8 p.m. |
| Virtual Open House | Thursday, February 22, 20245:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. |
| Twin Oaks Library, Rooms 1 & 21800 S. 5th St., Austin, TX 78704 | Tuesday, February 27, 20244:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. |
| St. David’s Episcopal Church, Sumner’s Hall301 E. 8th St., Austin, TX 78701 | Thursday, February 29, 20247:30 a.m. – 9 a.m. |
Updates to Austin’s Strategic Mobility Plan:
The proposed amendments reflect the recommendations provided by the Planning Commission in a memo from October 2023. City Council approved a resolution initiating this amendment process with direction to return to Council for amendment consideration by February 15, 2024. Now, the final round of engagement will be through the City Council Public Hearing process.
The City Council will consider these amendments on February 15, 2024 at City Hall Council Chambers, 301 West Second Street, and viewable through the ATXN website beginning at 10 a.m. Comments on the proposed amendment(s) from any member of the public will be heard during the Public Hearing.
PTMD – the City is ready to start and hopes to be completely up and operational by SXSW. Resident permits are available online including newly eligible addresses. Rollout will include neighborhood walk by city staff to ask questions. Visitor Hang tags will require a signature upon receipt and may be hand delivered to the participating addresses. Curtis Rodgers from City of Austin PTMD Manager will be at our Feb 20 meeting.
PROJECT CONNECT – Our February 20th meeting will have Courtney Chavez from Austin Transit Partnership presenting the latest draft of plans for the train along South Congress. Another presentation will be given on February 27th at Twin Oaks Library.
I-35- Still moving forward even though it is in legal limbo.
Latest data (2022) show 28% of Austinites work from home which is down from 32% peak in 2021 according to the US census bureau. ASMP goal is 15%. – City standards on work from home differ from County and there is a large discrepancy between the two.
9 Planning & Zoning
Presenter: Anita Tschurr, SRCC Planning & Zoning Chair and Ken Burnett, SRCC Co-Vice President
Updates and general discussion, including opposition to zoning change request for Alpine project. VOTE EXPECTED
901 South Congress… currently fenced in by a pink fence… was supposed to be an addition to an apartment complex, but now they’re looking to develop it into office space. Wendy thinks it’s actually scheduled to be a hotel, and would be an aspect of Project Connect since it’s in the path.
Discuss Travis Park Apartments at 1110 E. Oltorf St., 199 units for low-income tenants – tabled.
Motion made to approve and send the letter that the P&Z Committee drafted (Anita, seconded by Chris).
Ayes 15 Nays 0 Abstain 0 Motion Passes
Letter to be posted on the website.
UPDATES
AD HOC BYLAWS COMMITTEE
Met on January 29th, 2024. We elected Gretchen Chair, and had a productive meeting working on the issues; the AHC will meet again in March. Report will be coming.
NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE
Ruth and her team meet on January 31st and will have a follow-up meeting set for the week of February 12th. The team set out objectives and made assignments.
Ruth will send this out to the General Membership to recruit. There will be discussion about eligibility of nominees between Ruth & Mary.
Eligibility requirements will be determined before recruitment begins.
10 GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Ken asks about Inviting Jeffrey Moelis from Travis Park Partners LLC to give a presentation on the application for the Non-Competitive (4%) Housing Tax Credit Program for Travis Park Apartments at 1110 E Oltorf Street, Austin, Travis County, Texas 78704.
Noah suggests we share an invite with Jeffrey Moelis and Travis Park Partners LLC to attend and present at a future GM upon receiving a response.
Ken apologized for being late and also wished everyone an early Happy Valentine’s Day.”
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 February 20, 2024
The next Executive Committee meeting is March 5, 2024
The Meeting adjourned at 8:24pm
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: 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
SCWAB: South Central Waterfront Advisory Board
SF: Single Family zoning category
ZAP: Zoning and Platting
Agenda Prepared by Noah Balch, president@srccatx.org
