NACA Minutes for March 15, 2007
President Anthony Williams called the meeting to order and indicated the minutes from February will be presented for approval at the next meeting.
Gopal Guthikonda from Austin Clean Water Project reported the project on Bridgeport will fix wastewater lines and a lot of work is being done in Walnut Creek. This is a $250 million construction project, to be completed by mid-June. Larry Mendez of the City Public Works Dept. is the project manager and can be reached at 974-1581. Loflin-Thyssen is the contractor on the job.
The homeowner is responsible for water and sewer lines from the house to the street. The city will have low interest financing available in July to help customers who need to make repairs. Some water and sewer lines have had overflows. Fencing in front of the Bridgeport homes will stay there until the project is complete.
Fran Milligan and Evelyn Monnich serve on the Austin Clean Water Citizens Advisory Group.
Anthony displayed the newly designed NACA T-shirts, which are available for $10. Contact him to purchase one.
David Lutz, master gardener, was the speaker and brought several handouts. He said you should not plant before March 15, but this is the time of year to remove dead vegetation (weeds and vegetables from last year). Compost if you have room. He recommended using raised gardens to provide better soil or grow vegetables in tubs.
Call the Travis County Extension Service (854-9600) to get a soil test. The soil test will indicate the PH level. Most Austin soil is alkaline and o is the water, so use rain water for plants and vegetables. Instead of fertilizer, he suggested going to a nursery and getting manure tea to spray on the lawn.
He suggested doing a garden plan. Start with measurements of the area to be cultivated. Then, superimpose what plants you want to add, using the book Native and Adapted Landscape Plants available through the Travis County Extension Service. Leave enough room for the plants to spread.
To kill fire ants, he suggested using boiling water to avoid chemicals. Two websites he recommended are www: tcmastergardener.org and www.wildflower.org. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Linda Moore for Matt Myers