Dear members:

BHNA neighborhood planning is underway!

Remember, we have been working all year to start our own community dialogues this fall (ahead of the official city process which will begin late next spring) so that we can take full advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This is an opportunity, only exceeded by the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, to put into a legal document of considerable influence with the City our vision for the future of this community, and for the practical-minded like me, specific goals and projects we want to see accomplished. This could be sidewalks, lighting standards, beautification projects, maybe even a community pool. You decide! Just look at the opening pages of established Neighborhood Plans to see the full range of action items other Austin residents expect to come and have achieved from their own planning process. These are available at http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/zoning/adopted.htm. The Bouldin plan provides a good example of NP action items.

Last Monday, October 18, the graduate students from UT?s School of Architecture, Community and Regional Planning Program (CRP) conducted a Neighborhood Visioning / House Leader training. This event was very well-planned, helpful, and enjoyable. The students are exceeding my already high expectations in terms of their dedication, work, support and expertise. Please go to the website they created for this project, "Imagine Barton Hills," and see the extraordinary work they have done and the valuable resources to support our full and informed dialogues, such as maps with the Save Our Springs (SOS) impervious cover restrictions. The website is located at https://webspace.utexas.edu/tirpakma/ImagineBartonHills/imagine.htm

I am also very grateful to those who are going to host the house dialogues in their homes; there are about 15 meetings scheduled from 7:00 to 8:30 pm over the dates of November 3-4, and November 8-10. I strongly encourage you to attend one of these meetings and make your voice heard. The hosts are inviting members and residents directly, but let me know if you haven't been contacted and wish to participate.

Help us have an inclusive, non-partisan, respectful, and open dialogue about Barton Hills ? what we cherish, our hopes for the future, and the choices we face NOW! Believe me, I know we have a very special community and quality of life. But whether to stay as we are or to seek to enhance this quality requires thoughtful discussion and action by us.

Thank you for your participation.

Don Long
President
Barton Hills Neighborhood Association

Our upcoming Greenbelt Guardian workday on October 16 will focus on sprucing up our wonderful urban Greenbelt trail for its showcase tour by participants of the National Trails Conference being held in Austin the following week.

The Homedale Trail entry to the Barton Creek Greenbelt was selected as an exemplary trail that provides urban dwellers with the balm and relief of the natural world in the midst of a bustling city. At the base of the trail a whole new world emerges in this largely undisturbed area, and we have the privilege of tending to it.

We need volunteers to help us: weed, remove invasive species, repair trail edging and eroded areas, complete the construction of lower steps onto the rock flats, complete repairs of the retaining walls by the new bridge, collect trash and debris, and gather native seeds for our revegetation process. We will also be sprucing up the entry kiosks (clean, paint, and stain), and will have a small area dedicated to Greenbelt Guardian updates and announcements.

If you would like to help, please join us for all or part of our next work day. Stan Ostrum, a veteran Greenbelt Guardian volunteer, will be leading the work day, along with our Parks partner John Cook. Robin McKeever, who hasn't missed a single Greenbelt Guardian work day, will take care of all of the sign-in and assignment logistics, plus make sure that our volunteers are provided a nourishing lunch. Our new participating partners from the Travis County Juvenile Probation Program will also be there lending a hand. Glee Ingram, Greenbelt Guardian Coordinator, will be out of town, connecting through cyber-space and visualizing a wonderfully productive work day! Please RSVP to gleeful@earthlink.net, so that we can plan appropriately for the work day.

Thanks to all for your enthusiasm for and participation in this program. There was a lovely letter in the Chronicle this week entiitled "Life Enhanced", in which the writer recalls the magic line in Hammerstein's lyrics for "Oklahoma": "We know we belong to the land, and the land we belong to is grand." He reflects that there is something in us that gives us balance when we are in receptive communication with our setting. These work days provide us with that healing opportunity for balance.

Glee Ingram

The October 2004 edition of the Barton Hills Neighborhood Association newsletter is now online. Read about plans for Neighborhood Planning, ramped up crime prevention strategies, noisy dogs, upcoming fall events, a bike lane survey, and more. If you missed out on attending the recent Austin City Limits Music Festival you can read a first-hand report, plus learn what's on the agenda for our October 12 General Meeting.

Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District's 2004 Water Conservation Awards Ceremony, 8/27/04.

BHNA members Derek Stuart and Glee Ingram (center) represent the Barton Hills Neighborhood Association, which received an "Innovation" award recognition. Craig Smith, BHNA member, far right, also attended the awards ceremony.

click picture for larger view