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The City of Austin is considering building a mobile home park to house homeless people at North Burnet Road and Braker Lane. Kevin Wier, Development Committee Chair, has been following this issue for the neighborhood. He has prepared this summary. Additional information is available in the December 2010 newsletter.• An organization called Mobile Loaves and Fishes wants to build an RV/trailer park on city owned property to hold 100 RV’s and trailers and permanently house “chronically homeless” people. There is a federal government definition of “chronically homeless”.
• This Burnet/Braker location is one of two locations the city is considering. The city would lease the land to MLF for $1/year. One criterion is access to public transportation.
• The city has said this proposed project is part of their plan to deal with the 1,000 permanently homeless people living in Austin. The city also has their own plans to build permanent housing for homeless people. There are also other organizations in Austin that work to address the needs of homeless people. This would not be a “fix and return” model, but a place for people to live permanently. The Mobile Loaves and Fishes goal is to give these people dignity and get them off the streets.
• City of Austin said the final decision on this project will be made by city council in a public meeting. I have contacted the city representative to learn when this vote will occur; I haven’t received a response yet.
• Chronically homeless people living in the proposed project would undergo a background screening. There would be no registered sex offenders admitted. Chronically homeless by definition means people have a physical, mental, or addiction disability. There would be no families or children living in the proposed project. There would be rules of conduct for living in the project, but Mobile Loaves and Fishes cannot stop the inhabitants from panhandling, etc. They would have counseling services on location, a food pantry, medical clinic, a garden and chickens for the people to raise some of their own food.
• City of Austin says there is no zoning changes needed for the property.
More Information can be found on the North Austin Coalition of Neighborhoods website: http://northaustin.weebly.com/homeless-rv-park.html
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On Tuesday, December 21, the NSCNA Social Committee sponsored a Luminaria Walk at Pillow Elementary, starting at 6 pm. Amelia Cobb headed up this event, assisted by neighbors who helped her put up and take down two circles of luminaries around the Pillow Elementary track. The 500 luminaries were made from candles and white paper bags.
Neighbors walked around the track and congregated at the refreshment table for cookies and hot cocoa. Amelia’s husband Brian set up a lovely arch of hanging candles near the refreshments. Kids seemed to enjoy the chance to run around the playground after dark.
Many, many thanks to the Cobbs and to the helpful volunteers who worked to make this lovely luminaria walk a success!
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Date: Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Time: 6:30 – 8 pm
Location: Pillow Elementary, 3025 Crosscreek Dr.The main order of business will be voting for Officers and Directors for 2011.
The Nominating Committee has made the following recommendations for 2011:
- Chip Rosenthal (President)
- Kenneth Webb (Vice-President)
- Donna Eager (Secretary)
- Cheryl Carter (Board Member)
- Amelia Cobb (Board Member)
- Ernestine (Ernie) Garcia (Board Member)
- Donald (Don) Jones (Board Member)
- Alice Kubacak (Board Member)
- Jon Menegay (Board Member)
- Mary Jane Wier (Board Member)
No recommendation was made for the Treasurer position.
All the Nominating Committee recommendations will be placed on the ballot. Additional candidates may be nominated from the floor, at the meeting. You can even nominate yourself.
If you have any questions about what’s involved in serving on the board, please contact Chip Rosenthal or any of the current board members.
Bylaws Changes and the Election
In December, we approved changes to the association bylaws that impact the election.
Membership year has changed, but 2010 members will be eligible to vote — If you were a member in 2010, you paid for a membership that runs through January 31, 2011. Thus you will be eligible to vote in the election. Moving forward, memberships will run through December 31.
Board candidates must have a 2011 membership — If you wish to be a candidate and serve on the NSCNA Board of Directors, you will need to have a 2011 membership. That’s because the bylaws now require that directors be members of the current year, which started January 1. You may renew your membership at the meeting, or do it online via PayPal. For more information, see our Join NSCNA page.
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Date: Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Time: Immediately after General Membership Meeting (approx. 8 pm)
Location: Outside Pillow Elementary, 3025 Crosscreek Dr.Dear Neighbors,
At our September 7 General Meeting, we decided to apply for a City of Austin Urban Forest Grant, to plant trees around our neighborhood for shade and heat mitigation.
This month we got some great news: The City has approved our application, and awarded us $8,000 for this project.
This is a great opportunity for our neighborhood. The project will not require any association funds. It will require volunteer effort and continuing oversight from our Beautification Committee, which I’m confident we can provide.
I’d like to see us act quickly to claim these funds and get the project underway. The next step is for the board to approve the contract. Unfortunately, the current board is unable to meet before the end of the year, and we will be electing a new board very shortly — at our meeting on January 4.
Therefore, I would like to call a Special Meeting of the NSCNA Board of Directors on January 4, immediately after the General Meeting, to be held out front of Pillow Elementary, for the purpose of approving the Urban Forest Grant contract.
I am not making any presumption about next year’s board (or President), and the newly elected board may very well choose not to act on this item. But by issuing this call for a special meeting, I am giving them the option to meet and act, so those funds can be claimed without further delay.
I will contact 2011 nominees (both those recommended by the Nominating Committee and anybody else who expresses interest) with this information. Please let me know if you would like a review copy of the contract. You can call me at 573-5174 or email me at president@nscna.org.
Chip Rosenthal
NSCNA President 2010
