Board Members present: President, Jared Noble; Vice-President, Jennifer Smith-Gonnabathula; Treasurer, Brian LaCour; Secretary, Missy Haworth; Randy Teich, Co-President

NACA Residents: 34 attended in person, 12 via Zoom 

Guests: John Fletcher and Amy Boggan of the City of Austin Capital Delivery Services, Council Member Chito Vela and 18 representatives from the City of Austin. See page 3 for names and contact info.  

Treasurer’s Report: As of the end of August 2023, we had $2,424.96 in the General Fund, $13,084.70 in the Beautification Fund (of which $3,461.11 is available for spending), and 147 members.  (August ’21 we had 74, and August ’20 we had 105.)

Minutes:The Draft Minutes for June were postponed until the next meeting to allow the Board to review. The Draft Minutes are posted on the NACA website.

President Report/Announcements-Jared Noble NACA President announced that the Ice Cream Social would begin a little later in the meeting. He also announced that NACA is welcoming new logo ideas to be sent to Davi at [email protected] and that NACA is hoping to offer new T-shirts soon. Cook Elementary will be remodelled and a meeting for community input is planned for Monday, 7pm AUgust 28th.

Little Walnut Creek Flood Remediation Project-

Presented by John Fletcher and Amy Boggan of the new City department “Capital Delivery Services” that oversees capital improvement projects. Mr. Fletcher presented the plan for the creeks, Mearns Meadow Dr. Parkfield Dr. and Quail Creek Park. The Project is projected to continue until March 2024. 

NACA resident questions:

1. Has the Q2 Stadium development/runoff impacted our flood plain? The city engineers answered that they are satisfied that Q2 runoff is not impacting NACA.
2. The City website mentioned 900 feet of asbestos pipe; was all the asbestos remediated correctly by the contractors who abandoned the project? Flood Project Supervisor, Jorge Morales (512-560-5645) and Road Engineer, Eric Bailey (512-974-7713 [email protected]) asserted that all asbestos was remediated and promised to check the records.
3. Will Mearns Meadow. Cripple Creek and Parkfield roads be repaired? Road Engineer Ramesh Swamirathan answered “Yes”.
4. Will the City produce some illustrations and written timelines for distribution to NACA residents regarding this project? David Trujillo, PE answered “Yes”.
5. Watershed staffers suggested NACA consider the “Adopt-A-Creek” program to leverage resources for creek maintenance and engage local energy.

Safety Summit DeBrief-Health and Safety Cmte. Member Caro Dubois and NACA Secretary, Missy Haworth, attended the August 20th event that was partially funded by NACA. 65 attendees from seven N. Austin neighborhoods (15 from NACA), 25 volunteers and 15 City/County representatives met to share concerns, information, and strategies to reduce vulnerability to crime and promote positive interactions among neighbors, police and non-residents. 

All groups reported: 1. property crimes and gun violence have increased, 2. 911 and first responders are taking too long, 3. Trails, parks and waterways are not being maintained, 4. Pedestrian and bicycle safety, especially around schools is not sufficient, 5. Neighborhood volunteers feel overwhelmed and 6. the City’s decision to send homeless persons to the Redfield 34 apartments was unacceptable. 

APD Rep, “Lee” Davis reported that in 2000 30 APD officers were on duty on 1 shift, now it is 8, while the population of Austin was 750K and now is 1.25 million.

The main message of the entire event is that Neighbors will need to get more involved to increase safety and reduce opportunistic crimes. Info on workshops will be shared at future NACA meetings. An official Report/Summary from the event sponsors will follow.

Redfield 34 Update-Council Member Chito Vela and Charles Loosen,CoA Dept of Homeless Services addressed the group. Mr. Loosen expressed a sincere apology to the residents of NACA for setting up Redfield with an inexperienced owner to house  high-needs individuals, who were identified by City Social Workers as “unlikely to adjust to existing homeless housing”. He and CM Vela promised that the Redfield mistakes would not be allowed to happen again in any District. The property is now in receivership with more experienced managers with a few residents remaining but the future use of the property is undetermined. 

NACA Questions: 

1. “What can be done about the loose, dangerous dogs?” to which no one had an answer. 
2. Will the City consider beautifying Redfield Street as a form of apology for the destruction of the apartment project. Mr. Fletcher of the Capital Delivery Services Dept. volunteered to attend future NACA meetings and to connect NACA with resources for planting trees and beautifying that street.

Non-Agenda Item: Code Enforcement – Wants to work with NACA 

As planned, the Code Department visited, but did not make a specific presentation. During the Ice Cream Social, Assistant Director, Elaine Garrett, asked the NACA Secretary the “Top 5” places where code enforcement should focus in NACA. The Secretary will follow up with the Board and NACA membership to produce a list.

Adjourned-Jared Noble received a motion & a 2nd to adjourn the meeting at 8:40pm.

CITY OF AUSTIN REPRESENTATIVES