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Minutes from the Northfield Neighborhood Association Meeting, May 5, 2008. Jody Horton introduced himself as the new NNA president and asked the other new officers to do the same: Clay Crenshaw (vice president), Lindsey Schell and Lisa Wright (co-secretaries), Tim Tischler (webmaster), Annie Ervin (treasurer) and Sebasian Wren (newsletter editor). Meeting attendees also introduced themselves. There were a large number of first time attendees. Cindy Black presented pictures of the finished Bruning Green project with new curb and sidewalk. The sidewalk was built with space to include mosaic artwork which will be an additional project led by Suzette Weber. Volunteers who wish to help with the mosaic should contact Suzette or Cindy. The city grant used to pay for the Bruning Green projects will have about $2000 left at the end - that amount will go back to the NNA Planning Team to distribute towards additional projects. The next NNA Planning Team meeting is June 12 7-8:30pm. Jody thanked everyone who turned out for the tree planting project at the new 55 1/2 st. greenspace, especially Ron for mowing in advance of the planting and Laura for organizing the volunteers. Lindsey said she had gained tentative agreement from George Torres at Koenig Lane Auto for continued access to water for the new trees. Jody made a motion that we can use $100 of NNA funds towards water reimbursement to Mr. Torres. Clay seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Sebastian also suggested bartering NNA newsletter advertising for water. Annie provided the treasurer's report and said there had been some difficulty getting the bank account authorizations transferred, but she's still working on it. Some members said they had sent dues by mail but the checks had not cleared - Annie will look into this as well. Tim spoke about the website and listservs. He has updated the officers list on the NNA website and solicited ideas for improving the technology and communication we currently use. Cindy asked for enforcement of the NNADL rules of conduct and Tim said that can definitely be done. Jody opened the discussion up to anyone who wanted to raise issues, propose solutions or volunteer to get involved with an issue. Tim mentioned that Bapi's house had caught fire last Saturday and had temporarily moved out while repairs are made. Clay said he was bothered by the industrial trash dumpsters too close to the curb by the apartments on Nelray and that he had already called city code enforcement to address it, but encouraged others to do so as well. Jody raised the issue of transient persons getting drunk and or sleeping at bus stops near the Ave F/Northloop kwikmart and Bruning Green. Apparently Martha in Ridgetop has had success getting her local kwikmarts to stop selling individual beers and this is a strategy we might try. Lisa ssked Jody about his meeting with the Hyde Park officers regarding the development at 51st TPWD site which is adjacent to Northfield. It has not yet been zoned and development approvals are on hold. The issue of speeding traffic was raised, particularly on Leralynn and what options we might have to get the city to mitigate. Sebastian suggested starting with the city manager's office. This has been an ongoing problem throughout the neighborhood and we've had mixed results getting the city to pay attention. Scott Johnson is attending the Austin Neighborhoods Council meetings on Jody's behalf and reported that the most recent meeting focused on increasing the number of certified national wildlife habitat yards. There is a contest for hte neighborhood that certifies the most and Austin is trying to become the first certified city by virtue of number of certified residences. More info is available at keepaustinwild.com. Scott also said the council got a settlement on setback rules for proposed condos on Ladybird Lake. Scott reported also on the Neighborhood Watch program - the NW leader, Michele, has had to move out of the neighborhood but her leadership has already left a huge impact. we have over 20 NW signs posted throughout the neighborhood, more than any other neighborhood in Austin and crime has dropped significantly since the NW activities began last fall. Scott plans to hold another block captain meeting this summer and encouraged the block captains to continue activity with their areas. Meeting was adjourned at 8pm. Respectfully submitted, |
