BHNA - May 29, 2003 Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

Barton Hills Neighborhood Association Executive Committee Meeting Minutes May 29, 2003
Attendees	Officers present were Robin McKeever, Lance Shriner, Peter Hess, Derek Stuart, and Debby Kalk. McKeever called the meeting to order at 7:10pm.
Planning for General Meeting on June 24	Rene Barrera from the City of Austin will talk about invasive species on the Greenbelt. This ties in nicely with the next Greenbelt Guardian workday on Saturday, June 28, at the Gus Fruh entrance. Schriner will contact Rich Troxell, an advocate for the homeless, to invite him to speak at the June 24 meeting. This is in response to a request at the last general meeting to hear a representative of the homeless regarding the on-going issue of transients in the Barton Creek Greenbelt. Old Navy will not be sponsoring BHNA’s July 4th parade this year. Parade chair Jen Stuart will report on the planning for the parade. City manager Toby Futrell will be the Grand Marshall. Cap Metro will sponsor a workshop on Wed., June 4 to discuss South Lamar and transportation issues affecting the neighborhood. McKeever will attend the workshop and report back on Cap Metro’s plans for the area. Barton Hills was on the city’s docket for strategic planning this fall but all planning has been put on hold due to the city’s budget cuts. Larry Akers will provide an update on the Town Lake Park planning. Hess reported on the status of the Barton Springs contamination investigation following a consultant study of three sites. The committee is expecting a report on the status of the parking lot at the Barton apartments and the plan for remediation. The city is also retrofitting the tributary that runs along Barton Parkway and is considering building a remediation pond. This tributary drains much of Barton Hills, including commercial areas at Lamar and Manchaca. Kalk will check with Chris Moore at the city to confirm that the Safe Routes to School program will not be operating in 2003.
Parks Grant Opportunity	McKeever will ask Glee Ingram to look into the Austin Parks Foundation Neighborhood Parks Grants program. The program will award small grants for neighborhood parks improvements that have 100% matching funds. This could be a good fit for the Guardian program.
Newsletter	Schriner has proposed new ad rates including a large ad. The new rates are posted on the Web site and he will be notifying all advertisers, and potential advertisers, about the new options. Newsletter distribution continues to be a vexing problem. The problem is in finding a successful strategy for delivering the two issues annually that go to each Barton Hills residence. They have been hand-delivered which is a big task and still not always successful. Kalk suggested finding a mailing list of all addresses and using this to bulk mail the newsletter. Stuart will look into possible resources for mailing lists.
Handbook	The handbook was presented at the last general meeting. Howie Richey has the printed copies for distribution.
Betty Brown Memorial	A BHNA resident and friend of the late Betty Brown has offered to make a donation for a memorial. On suggestion is to place a bench on the Greenbelt at the where Brown’s intervention prevented a bridge from being built across the creek. Another idea is to rename the Homedale entrance in honor of Betty Brown. McKeever will ask Glee Ingram to discuss these options with the city’s Greenbelt caretaker, John Cook.
Next Meeting	The next EC meeting is scheduled for September 16.
Closing	The meeting adjourned at 9:25 PM. Respectfully submitted, Debby Kalk Recording Secretary

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