NACA GENERAL MEETING
Thursday November 15, 2007 Wooldridge Elementary 1412 Norseman Terrace
Greetings & Introductions: The meeting was called to order at 6:58 pm by Anthony Williams.
Announcements : The October meeting minutes were distributed, discussed and approved. There was one
correction which was that NACN stood for North Austin Coalition of Neighborhoods.
Anthony stated that the City of Austin Public Works Department will be looking at sewage drains on NACA property locations. The sanitation sewage evaluation will involve testing on private sewage pipes to the CITY sewage connection. If there is a location not in compliance, then the property owner will be notified and informed that the connection must be replaced. Financing is available through the COA. Emergency repairs will be given 30 days to complete and 120 days for non emergency leaks.
Homeless update: One idea that was discussed was better outreach for the homeless in the area. A NACA emergency freeze night is being considered to allow the homeless to reside in a church or other establishment. Flyers would be distributed to the homeless during those occasions. Social service representatives would be available at the designated shelter to expose them to other services in town and to give them an opportunity to improve their situation. This would be a short term solution.
Code Enforcement Update: Fieldwood has a problem with trash and illegal parking on the yard. Anthony has distributed code enforcement flyers in Spanish to violators and seen some minor improvements on those targeted properties. Anthony asked if there were other areas or streets that could be targeted. He is willing to help distribute those flyers on those streets.
Anthony is also working on a draft letter in English and Spanish to be distributed to new residents about activities that are illegal including code violations. Brian LaCour suggested that this flyer address the lesser known violations such as lawn parking and maintenance. Brian also stated that the flyer not mention being deported.
Anthony also requested volunteers for the nominating committee for next years slate of officers of the Board of Directors.
The North Austin Coalition of Neighborhoods is setting up a protest march on December 1st for businesses around IH 35 and Rundberg who are accommodating the drug dealers, prostitutes and johns. Parking will be available along the Rundberg side of Hollywood Video with a shuttle that drives you to the IH 35 and Rundberg intersection. DO NOT park in front
of Hollywood Video or Ace Restaurant Supply. Meet between 10:15 and 10:30am. The protest will start at 11:00am.
Program: Capital MetroRail Project Update: Speaker; Matt Curtis
Matt Curtis is the Assistant Director for Business and Community Development for Capital Metro.
The trend currently is to convert existing rail track (that was originally established to haul granite from the Marble Falls area to build the Capitol) to metro rail. There will be nine stations along the track. The Burnet station is being considered by the Domain; however, the problem is that there are limited sidewalks along Burnet Road. The Crestview stop on North Lamar will occupy the old Huntsman location. The Highland Mall stop will be limited. Plaza Saltillo in East Austin was originally established to accommodate rail. The Downtown- Convention Center stop will be the central location.
Parking is an issue around these rail stops. There will be parking available at the Leander, Mopac and possibly the Burnet location. The other stops will not have parking available. Lobby the Capital Metro Board of Directors to get more parking. Send an email to Matt at [email protected] to lobby for more parking at other stations or to offer other suggestions. You can also call Chris at 389-7546.
How do you motivate people to ride the rail? The main theory is that if you build it, people will ride it.
There is a high emphasis on safety. From 183 south, quad gates will be set up. It is four gates that come down and meet in the middle. There will not be a space to drive between the gates. Track will be upgraded by re-welding the joints so they will not clack.
Operation Lifesaver is a safety outreach program to emphasize not allowing children playing next to the rail tracks that will be designated for the Capital MetroRail.
The fare has not been established yet. Completion of the rail line is set for fall of 2008.
Capital MetroRapid are new buses that “talk” to traffic signals to shorten bus travel by 20 per cent. Work is underway to design service for the North Lamar, Guadalupe and South Congress corridors. This is targeted for implementation by 2010.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:41 pm.