OWANA Steering Committee

Meeting Minutes for November 14, 2000

Steering committee present: David Smith (Chair), Barbara Day, Myrna Lantzsch, Laura Morrison, Katy O'Neill, Thom Person, Dave Sullivan, Red Wassenich

Guests: Laura Smith, Mark Stine, Mike Whisenhunt

  1. OWANA Website


    2. Mike Whisenhunt has taken responsibility for the OWANA website (http://www.main.org/owana).
    All who have viewed the new design like it. Mike has purchased the domain names owana.com and owana.org. We will explore finding someone to host the site for free and switching to one of those names.

    Mike and David Smith established a system to review the mail sent to OWANA and post online items of interest.

    We will work toward offering to send the newsletter to members electronically to save on printing and paper. Mike has a survey about this on the web site currently.

    An article promoting the web site will be included in the December newsletter.

  2. Sand Beach Reserve Development


    3. The City Council approved a settlement to the lawsuit with Lumberman's Investment Corporation on the development of the area between Cesar Chavez and 5th Street, east of Lamar (where the Cedar Door is). It will be primarily residential. One of the buildings will be 180 feet tall (approximately 14 stories). Many questions were raised on whether this matched the presentation the developers gave the steering committee two months ago and whether it was within zoning regulations.

    Jim Cousar, OWANA zoning expert, is going to get a copy of the settlement to David Smith. The issue is probably moot due to the council's agreement.

    A discussion ensued in on the larger issues of development on the east side of Lamar. The group agreed that such projects have gone far enough and it was time to prevent the march of "downtown-sized" buildings toward us. We will draft a position paper stating general opposition to further large scale developments along Lamar and offer it for approval at the December general membership meeting. This should be included in the newsletter if possible.

  3. National Register Historic District


    4. Old Enfield and Pemberton Neighborhood Associations are exploring whether they are eligible to qualify as National Register Historic Districts. We may pursue also. A letter of eligibility would be useful in opposing expansion of MoPac or widening corridors, such as Enfield Road. Actually gaining full status is an extensive undertaking. This will be put on the December general membership meeting agenda.

  4. MoPac and East-West Corridors


    5. The Texas Department of Transportation is evidently pushing for expansion of current east-west corridors from MoPac to downtown. Since four of the potential corridors are in our neighborhood (Enfield, 6th, 5th, Cesar Chavez), we have to monitor closely. Mark Stine is on the Austin Neighborhood Council and is working with other neighborhood associations to coordinate positions.

  5. Murder at the Kwik-Wash


    6. Laura Smith, a resident of our neighborhood who was across the street from the laundromat when the murder happened on Nov. 12, spoke about the need to do something about the chronic situation of undesirable men hanging out at the Kwik-Wash. It was agreed to ask our police liaison, Tim Adkinson, to attend the December general membership meeting. If neighborhood interest warrants it, a separate meeting addressing crime in the area may be proposed.

  6. Garbage Problems


    7. The garbage on Baylor Street has repeatedly not been picked up. The city is required to come out the same day if collection does not happen, so residents are urged to call and force them to keep to their schedule.

    A resident on Waterston forwarded a complaint that the garbage from Jeffrey's Restaurant is often picked up in the middle of the night. Thom Person will speak with owner Ron Weiss about correcting this.

  7. Clarksville Community Development Corporation


    8. The ongoing lawsuit by the current CCDC against the former board had depositions taken today, Nov. 14. They are trying to get back property allegedly sold fraudulently by the old board.

  8. Increase in Membership Dues / Treasurer's Report


    9. We will propose at the December general membership meeting that the dues be increased from $10 to $15. Increased costs for printing, postage, rent of Mathews School for meetings, and costs of miscellaneous projects (e.g., neighborhood plan, traffic calming, etc.) are the motivations. This will be noted in the December newsletter.

    We currently have $1292.55, which is less than we started the year with. The costs of the December newsletter will take a fairly sizeable chunk of this.

  9. New Steering Committee Members


    10. The December general membership meeting will elect the 2001 steering committee. One of the current members, Barbara Day, has served the maximum three consecutive years. David will contact committee members who were not present to see if they wish to be renominated. A nominating committee composed of David Smith, Thom Person, and a general member to be named will compile the nomination list. This will be in the December newsletter. Anyone can nominate themselves or others at the open meeting.

  10. December Newsletter Distribution


    11. The December newsletter goes to all Old West Austin addresses. In the past we used a bulk-mailing service. This cost over $400 and they will not guarantee when material will be delivered. We will explore doing it ourselves using first-class stamps.

    Red Wassenich will contact Steve Barney of the city to see if they can give us a list of addresses. If not Myrna Lantzsch has a recent version left over from the traffic calming mailings.

    Red will get the newsletter printed as soon as possible. If we decide to do the mail handling ourselves, we will get together at Myrna's (1208 Castle Hill) on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 5:30 to fold, staple, and stamp.

    Submitted by Red Wassenich, Steering Committee Secretary

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