NACA GENERAL MEETING
Thursday October 19, 2006 Woolridge Elementary 1412 Norseman Terrace
Greetings & Introductions: The meeting was called to order at 7:02pm by Linda Moore.
Announcements :
The minutes from the Sept meeting were distributed and approved.
Dale Cooper introduced Lee Davis as the new APD District Representative for the District 3 and 1.
Dale stated that the bike patrol has returned to the area. Also, crackdowns have occurred on “Home Occupations” which are businesses that operate out of homes. Also a clean up will occur on Sam Rayburn on Saturday November 18th from 8am to 1pm. Volunteers are requested to help.
Raffle tickets for a large quilt are available for $20 each. The drawing will take place in December.
NACA will hold its next garage sale on Saturday November 18th . Fall and winter clothes and holiday items are requested.
Program: Replacing Short Lived Trees. Speaker; Scott Harris with TreeFolks.
Treefolks was established in 1989. The following are several of the programs that they offer:
Communitrees involves planting trees for the schools and involves education in the classroom. They supply the trees, tools and instruction.
Urban Orchard involves planting fruit and nut trees in parks and public spaces. Sapling Days occurs in October. Tree Folks give away 3,000 saplings in October.
Neighbor Woods is sponsored by Austin Energy which sponsors planting trees next to sidewalks and streets. This helps mitigates the heat island effect that is prevalent in cities. One of the criteria for placing trees is to avoid trees blocking power lines. This was a three year project that is about to expire yet there is no indications that the City of Austin will discontinue funding of the program in the future.
A problem in the NACA area is the existence of Arizona Ash trees which are very fast growing and short lived trees. Cottonwood, Sycamore, Mulberry and Silver Maple are also short lived trees.
The process for removing Arizona Ash involves planting the new tree 20 feet from the trunk of the old tree. As the new tree grows you can cut back and eventually remove the Arizona Ash.
Fall is the best time to plant trees. Beneficial trees which can be planted in the area include Burr Oak (can grow 3 feet per year). Information is available, on the planting of beneficial trees, on their website; www.treefolks.org
Next Meeting: November 16th at Woolridge Elementary. Ethnic food will be served. Side dishes will be needed. Dr Kathy Sheeley, a psychologist, will speak on how to deal with the holiday blues.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 7:57pm