BHNA News Blog

Come to the 4th of July Parade!

2009-06-29T09:44:00.002-05:00

Hello neighbors,

It is with sheer delight and pleasure the Barton Hills Executive Committee announce the co-Grand Marshals for the 2009 Barton Hills Independence Day Parade on Saturday, July 4, 2009: (drum roll, please)

Leading the 16th annual 4th of July Parade will be the award-winning Barton Hills Elementary "Odyssey of the Mind" students and Austin's own Police Chief, Art Acevedo!

According to the APD website: "Art Acevedo serves as the eighth Police Chief in the 84-year history of the Austin Police Department and is the first Hispanic to lead the City’s police force. With more than two decades of law enforcement experience, he oversees a department that employs approximately 2,100 sworn officers and civilian personnel. With the consolidation of the Austin Police Department and the Austin Public Safety and Emergency Management Department in January 2009, Acevedo is now responsible for all municipal law enforcement in the City of Austin, including Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, parks, and municipal courts. Appointed Austin Police Chief in July 2007, Chief Acevedo believes in the spirit of our community and the commitment to excellence demonstrated by the men and women he leads."

Thanks to Cherylann Campbell for this description: "Odyssey of the Mind (OOTM) is a competition in creative thinking for kids from elementary school to college. Teams are judged on how well they meet challenges, on creativity and teamwork. Our Barton Hills Elementary team is the first Austin area team to ever qualify for World Competition! They won the Central Texas regional competition, and came in second in the Texas State competition, to earn the chance to represent their school, their community, Austin, and Texas at the 30th annual Odyssey of the Mind, World Competition this May. In Iowa at the World Competition, they came in 24th of 47 teams competing in their division. They competed against teams from across the US, Mexico, Poland, Hong Kong and China."

"There are 7 kids on the team: 2 girls and 5 boys. This is their second year competing together as a team. Five will be at the parade. All are 10 years old who just finished 4th grade at Barton Hills Elementary. Five live in the neighborhood. They call themselves “the Peeps.”"

Because we do not have permission to identify each of the children by name, we will give a "shout out" of congratulations to our talented team and thank all the neighbors and contibutors who helped get them to competition! Bravo!

Please come to the Parade next Saturday, and welcome Chief Art Acevedo and the students of "Odyssey of the Mind" as they lead our 2009 Barton Hills July 4th Parade! We're honored to have you as our co-Grand Marshals!

Please forward the attached Parade flyer to family and friends. See you at the Parade!

Kay

Kay Killen
BHNA Representative to the
Austin Neighborhood Council
512-447-4287
bhnaparade2007@yahoo.com

New Greenbelt Guardians logo debuts

2009-05-27T18:00:00.005-05:00

BHNA President Kimberly White Erlinger passed along this note from Glee Ingram, quoted here with her permission:

I just wanted to share the excitement, that we now have a Greenbelt Guardian logo! Thanks to Scott Byers, who did the art work and layout and specifications - then we spent a few hours going over it together, adjusting this and that, then sent it out to our leadership group and got some feedback, and came up with the final product. It will have its premiere presentation on the back of some tee shirts that are being printed up for the National Trails Day work day on June 6 - we will be listed along with 6 other participating groups. Stan will also be installing it on our Greenbelt Guardian website soon.

Glee Ingram
Greenbelt Guardians Coordinator
(512) 443-7522
gleeful@earthlink.net

Greenbelt Guardian Work Day, Saturday, June 6 at Gus Fruh

2009-05-13T14:56:00.002-05:00

Hello Greenbelt Fans,

You have an opportunity to join a large improvement effort on the Barton Creek Greenbelt on Saturday, June 6, to celebrate National Trails Day. Our Greenbelt Guardians volunteers will be working at our adopted Gus Fruh trail, 2646 Barton Hills Drive, from 8:30 - 12:30. We will be weeding the entry trail, continuing work on the stone retaining wall by the swimming hole, removing the invasive ligustrum and nandina along the creek trail, and forming windrows for erosion management. We'll also clean up trash. We can keep at least 30 volunteers productively busy!

There will also be lots of other trail improvement activities at the 360 access to Barton Creek, to mark the first phase of the "Walk-for-a-Day Trail" that envisions connecting trails all the way from Austin to Kyle. The trail heading south out of Austin will branch off of the Barton Creek trail system between the 360 and Mopac/Twin Falls access points.

This National Trails Day Service Project is a joint conservation effort made possible through a partnership of American YouthWork's Environmental Corps, the Austin Parks and Recreation Department, the Austin Parks Foundation, the Hill Country Conservancy, and Austin-area REI stores. The Greenbelt Guardians, Central Texas Trail Tamers, Central Texas Mountaineers, and Austin Ridge Riders are joining the effort by providing project leaders and helping with the recruiting.

There will be generous rewards for your volunteer efforts! From 12:30 - 2:00 there will be a ribbon cutting and celebration PARTY at Zilker Park, with parking at the Polo Fields. A picnic style lunch will be provided by the Salt Lick, plus there will be music, beer, free t-shirts, and free swimming all day at Barton Springs.

So come put in some productive sweat equity, and then party, eat and swim with other dedicated, green-loving people at Zilker Park and Barton Springs!

To register to work with the Greenbelt Guardians at Gus Fruh, please RSVP to this email, AND sign up on the Austin Parks Foundation Website page (required to get an entry wristband for the Zilker party celebration). The web address for registration is: http://www.austinparks.org. Sign up under the heading Volunteer Opportunities for National Trails Day, June 6, 2009 for the project described as "Wall Building, Trail Work and Invasives Removal at Gus Fruh with the Greenbelt Guardians".

We'll look forward to seeing you there,

Glee Ingram
Greenbelt Guardians Coordinator

April 28th General Meeting Agenda

2009-04-27T16:54:00.001-05:00

NEXT MEETING

Tues. April 28th, 6-8 p.m.

Join us at St. Mark's Church (corner of Barton Skyway & Barton Hills Dr.)

Everyone is invited! Pre-meeting social hour! at 6 pm. Italian dinner for $6.

All are welcome!

Agenda

7:00 Call to order/Welcome

7:05 Administrative Business

7:15 Proposal to support BHE Odyssey of the Mind team

7:30 Update on Rolling Stones school park projects

7:50 Greenbelt Guardians Update

8:00 Garden Club Update

8:10 Committee on Area Development Update

8:20 Neighborhood Watch Update

8:30 Adjourn

Survey Results-Most Important Issues

2009-04-20T07:57:00.004-05:00

As promised, here are some survey results from the Barton Hills Neighborhood Association survey. Please keep in mind that the survey ended at 100 responses, which is approximately 30% of listserv members, and that respondents were able to check more than one answer so the percentages don't equal 100%.

How important are the following neighborhood issues to you?

Very important
Greenbelt safety and sanitation 79.8%
Quality of Barton Hills Elementary 68.4
Greenbelt maintenance 66.7
Success of local businesses 66.2
Traffic patterns affected by new development 59.6
Graffiti 57.1
Lending a hand to neighbors who could use help 51.0
Litter 50.0
Getting to know my neighbors better 47.0
Additional yellow signs and crosswalks 37.8

What else, if anything, do you want to tell us about living in the neighborhood or about the neighborhood association?

-I wish that that participation in the process that result in development rules for the neighborhood were truly more open to the neighborhood...when I attend meetings, a few people are in control and not much is accomplished.

-Trying to change the traffic pattern of cars blocking traffic Barton Hills while waiting for their kids to get out of school. Not only does it block traffic but I almost got hit on my bicycle when an SUV veered into the bike lane to avoid the standstill of cars on Barton Hills. Can't they stage on Homedale?

-Maybe some organized/pick-up soccer game in the park? The 13 year population is getting tired of playing soccer in the ditch.

-Keeping the area in line with city and subdivision restrictions.

-Sidewalks.

-I would like to see our neighborhood make a coordinated effort to become more green by setting some energy or water usage goals.

-Doo poo clean-up at the park. There are signs and bags but no one uses them.

-Property owners, including St. Mark's, taking responsibility for street-side areas such as trimming low-hanging branches and cleaning up garbage and leaves.

-Quality, lowrise development on South Lamar.

-Overall safety.

-Speeding cars on Barton Skyway and Barton Hills Drive.

-Increased traffic due to development and Zilker Park events. Why can't the city route traffic to Lamar instead of through our neighborhood?

Stay tuned for more results, including What Can You Do to Help BHNA? and What Can BHNA do better?

April 18 Greenbelt Guardian Workday CANCELLED

2009-04-15T21:45:00.001-05:00

Greenbelt Fans -

This is to notify you that we are CANCELLING the trail resurfacing project planned for this weekend at Homedale Trail, due to the rain forecasts, plus a shortage of COA-PARD equipment and staff this Saturday. Instead of risking trail compaction damage or not finishing our project in the given time, we decided it would be best to reschedule the project. We will notify you when the conditions are more favorable for successful completion. Thanks to those of you who signed on – I hope you will join us when we try again!

Glee Ingram
Greenbelt Guardian Coordinator
(512) 443-7522
gleeful@earthlink.net

Special Earth Day Greenbelt Trail Project, April 18, 9AM - 1 PM

2009-04-12T21:01:00.002-05:00

Hello Greenbelt fans,

This is a second and updated notice of our special work day this coming Saturday, April 18, from 9:00 – 1:00 at the Homedale Trail entry, 2010 Homedale Dr.

We will be completing our trail resurfacing project for the entry section of the trail, by applying a special, lasting granite and polymer mix. We will mix the granite and polymer in a concrete mixer, transfer it to wheelbarrows, haul it as far as 200 feet, spread, rake, and pack it. We need 12-15 volunteers to help us with this task. This will be another high energy activity, with immediate satisfaction and long-lasting results. Be sure to wear long sleeves and pants and work shoes and bring a pair of work gloves.

Along with our popular breakfast taco treat, this work day offers some added incentives. We are joining in the nationwide Green Apple Festival, occurring in 10 major cities. When you sign up through www.greenapplefestival.com, you will receive a “green” gift bag and will be on the guest list for a VIP concert with Travis Tritt & Friends at Antone’s (Monday night, April 20). Check out the attached poster for this event.

Please RSVP here, and also at the www.greenapplefestival.com site so you can enjoy your thank you gifts.

Glee

Glee Ingram
Greenbelt Guardian Coordinator
(512) 443-7522
gleeful@earthlink.net

Neighborhood Watch Meeting, Monday, March 30, 7 PM

2009-03-20T22:35:00.002-05:00

BHNA Neighbors,

In response to the increase in criminal activity in the Barton Hills area we are reactivating the Neighborhood Watch Program. This is a non-confrontational program that focuses on the idea of neighbors looking out for neighbors. It is an effective way to supplement the police presence by adding dozens of extra eyes and ears of BH residents to see and hear suspicious persons or activity within our neighborhood and report to APD at 911. It is a great opportunity for BH residents to stand up and take an active role in seeing that our neighborhood is and remains a safe and secure place to live.

An introduction to the Neighborhood Watch program will begin with a brief meeting and training session on Monday, March 30 at St. Mark's Church at 7:00 PM. This meeting will not last more than one hour. It may be the best hour you could invest yourself in if you want to be a part of reducing crime in our neighborhood. This meeting is essential for those residents interested in being block leaders for Neighborhood Watch or if you would like to participate in Neighborhood Watch Patrol; a segment of the program in which volunteers will be driving the neighborhood during evening hours as an added level of protection against criminal activity. Details of this aspect of Neighborhood Watch will be covered at the March 30 meeting.

Neighborhood Watch is strongly endorsed by the Austin Police Department and they will be working with us to see that volunteers receive orientation and training related to this program. APD envisions BHNA as becoming the model for other neighborhoods based on our traditional "get it done" attitude and response to community needs. I am sure our Neighborhood Watch program will be no exception to that tradition.

If you are planning to attend this meeting or if you have any comments concerning the reactivation of Neighborhood Watch I would love to hear from you.

I Will See You There,
John Luther, Chair
BHNA Neighborhood Watch Program

Neighborhood Watch Meeting
Monday March 30, 7:00 PM
St. Marks Church
Barton Skyway at Barton Hills Dr.

Invitation to It's My Park Day on March 7, 9-1 at Homedale and Gus Fruh

2009-02-22T19:21:00.002-06:00

Dear Greenbelt Guardians,

This is an active season for taking care of our much loved Barton Creek Greenbelt! After a very successful work day on February 7 at the Homedale Trail, we are gearing up for another big work day on March 7 to participate in the citywide It's My Park Day event, organized by the Austin Parks Foundation.

We invite you to come out to work on one of our adopted trails, Homedale or Gus Fruh, from 9:00 - 1:00 on Saturday, March 7. As always, we have plenty to do: invasive plant removal, trail maintenance and repair, rock wall & step construction, weeding and pruning along the trailside, trash pick-up, and other miscellaneous projects.

Please sign up to register through the Austin Parks Foundation website. They are providing the master coordination for this event, as well as free tee-shirts and snacks, and other support materials.

To register, do the following:
Go to: http://www.austinparks.org and select the It’s My Park Day page. You will see a full list of more than 50 projects around town. Scroll down until you see the projects titled Barton Creek Greenbelt – Homedale Trail w/ Greenbelt Guardians and Barton Creek Greenbelt - Gus Fruh Trail w/Greenbelt Guardians. Select which one of these trails you want to work on.

If you are an individual signing up, just fill in your name along with all of the information fields including your tee-shirt size.

If you are signing up for a group, fill in your name and the total number of volunteers you expect in your group. In the tee-shirt column, put an "X", and then in the Notes column, fill in how many of each tee-shirt size will be needed for your group.

As a double check on the registration, you can also RSVP to this email.

We look forward to another productive and enjoyable work day on the greenbelt. As always, thanks for your support!

Glee Ingram, gleeful@earthlink.net
Stan Ostrum, sostrum@austin.rr.com
Greenbelt Guardian Coordinators

General Meeting this Tuesday!

2009-01-24T13:58:00.001-06:00

Hi Everyone-

Forgive my tardiness in posting a reminder for the upcoming general meeting. I was felled by a stomach virus this week and lost time for a while.

The agenda is in the newsletter (I hope you all received one) and we really encourage all residents to join us Tuesday night. We will have your favorite pizza, pasta, salads and desserts from Rockin' Tomato (all you can eat for only $6) starting at 6 pm and the meeting will get started at 7 pm sharp.

The member who brings the most NEW members on Tuesday night will receive a gift certificate to a local vendor, so gather up your new (or old) neighbors who have never joined and win a prize!

WHEN: Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
6:00-7:00 social hour, 7:00 Meeting starts
WHERE: Saint Mark's Church, 2128 Barton Hills Drive
WHY: Because we have good food and great neighbors

See you there!

Kimber
Kimberly White Erlinger
President, Barton Hills Neighborhood Association

Greenbelt Guardian Workday, Saturday Feb. 7, 9 AM - 1 PM

2009-01-24T11:41:00.001-06:00

Hello Greenbelt Fans,

The BHNA Greenbelt Guardians are planning our first work day in 2009. We will be working at the Homedale Trail, 2010 Homedale, on Saturday, February 7, from 9:00 am - 1:00 pm.

We've got lots to do. Due to a water leak from a city water main, a whole new crop of Ligustrum plants have sprouted in the drainage creek near the entry. We have also gotten permission to remove the very large seeding Ligustrum trees next to the trail entry. We'll be expanding the windrows on both sides of the drainage creek with the large trunks and branches.

We will be regrading the entry trail to improve drainage and prevent erosion, and packing it with roadbase. This is the first step toward a more long-lasting renovation, which will culminate in covering the trail with decomposed granite mixed with a polymer mix, like we did on the Gus Fruh trail.

We've got some trees that were donated by Keep Austin Beautiful that we will be planting across from the entry kiosks, to fill in the old Ligustrum-filled area that we cleared years ago.

We'll be improving the appearance of the entry by painting the entry posts and cleaning up the kiosks, and weed-eating the overgrowth on both sides of the entry trail. And, as always, we'll be picking up trash along the trailsides and the creek bed.

We are excited to begin our sixth year of work on the greenbelt. We're hoping to have a good showing of volunteers for a fun and productive work day. Please RSVP so we will have plenty of breakfast tacos and tools to support you in your work. Thanks!

Glee Ingram
Greenbelt Guardian Coordinator
(512) 443-7522
gleeful@earthlink.net

Take the BHNA online survey!

2009-01-06T13:50:00.001-06:00

Hi Everyone-

Here is a link to the neighborhood survey I mentioned previously. We look forward to reading your responses and using them to potentially tackle some important issues. (We hope to have a preliminary tally in time for the January 27th meeting.)

If you know of someone who may not be computer literate, feel free to print out a survey then have them fill it out and mail it to our PO Box: PO Box 2042 Austin, TX 78768-2042

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=pFo0GB4VdQSQtUXS8cxWWQ_3d_3d

A huge THANK YOU to Jennie Burger for creating the survey for us!

Kimber

Kimberly White Erlinger
President, Barton Hills Neighborhood Association

Farewell Party for Ms. Jan at St. Mark's December 14

2008-12-12T10:23:00.002-06:00

Host: Vicky Warren
Location: St. Mark's Episcopal Church
2128 Barton Hills Drive, Austin, TX 78704 US |
When: Sunday, December 14, 3:00PM to 5:00PM
Phone: 512 288-5881

"Kids go where there is excitement. They stay where there is love." -Zig Ziglar

Please join us for an Open House honoring Jan Kokoszka

Jan has touched the lives of so many children during her 28 years at St. Mark's Day School. Please come and share your memories.

In lieu of gifts, contributions in Jan's honor may be directed to the office of St. Mark's Church, attention The Rev. Elizabeth Turner, memo: Jan's retirement.

St. Mark's Episcopal Church Fall Festival Sat. Oct. 18, 9 AM-4 PM

2008-10-06T17:26:00.007-05:00

St. Mark's invites you to their annual Fall Festival, featuring over 40 vendors selling handmade arts & crafts, plus homemade treats, Silent Auction, door prizes, wine toss and much more.

Kids' activities include a petting zoo, pumpkin patch, bouncy house, balloon artist, games and face painting. Proceeds benefit church and outreach programs. FREE Admission! 2128 Barton Hills Drive. For more information, call the church at 444-1449.

Greenbelt Guardians Work Day Saturday, Oct. 18, 9 AM-1 PM

2008-10-06T12:23:00.003-05:00

The season has turned and it's time to go love on our greenbelt again! It will be wonderful working in cooler weather. Hopefully there will be some rain before then, to perk up the wilted vegetation. It is amazingly hardy, and usually shows immediate appreciation after rain events.

We are going to work on the Gus Fruh trail this time, located at 2642 Barton Hills Drive. We will begin with sign-ins and task instructions and a jump-start Maria’s taco treat at 9:00, and work until 1:00. We have tasks for all ages and skill levels, and for those who can just stay part-time. We provide all of the necessary tools and supplies. You just need to come wearing proper clothing (long sleeves and pants and closed-toe shoes) and a readiness to team up and work with others who want to give back to the greenbelt.

The wall building crew is avid to continue their work down by the swimming hole. We will need lots of hands there to gather and place and mortar rocks. We also want to gather and stockpile some flat stones that can serve as steppers up a slippery slope (when it’s wet) that connects with the main trail on the other side of the creek from the stone wall. As always, we will be doing ligustrum and nandina removal, and arranging the removed branches and trunks into windrows. The area by the trail entry needs some weeding, and a few of the drain swales along the side of the trail need to be cleared of debris.

The trail resurfacing that we did last spring is holding up very well. Come on out and enjoy a beautiful day in the woods with us.

Please RSVP so we will know how many to prepare for.

Glee Ingram
Greenbelt Guardian Coordinator
(512) 443-7522
gleeful@earthlink.net

St. Mark's Day School service opportunity

2008-08-18T11:10:00.002-05:00

Dear Barton Hills residents,

The playground at St. Mark's Episcopal Day School (2128 Barton Hills Drive) will soon be undergoing renovations to update equipment, improve usability, take greater advantage of the natural amenities, and to bring it up to date with the state of Texas licensing codes.

We are seeking volunteers for this Saturday, August 23, at 9am and on Saturday, Sept. 6 at 8:30am to do hand labor, covering some demolition and site clean up. A construction manager will guide us during these volunteer hours. There will be plenty of work to do for all levels of experience.

St. Mark's has played a role in so many lives here in Barton Hills, through the church and pre-school, as a meeting hall, and a place for our support groups, music and language lessons, and Scout troops. A few hours of your time on either or both of these days will help greatly in getting the job done and in extending the budget this non- profit school has allocated for this initiative.

Please contact me if you plan to come, as we want to plan resources appropriately. Childcare will be provided on both days, as long as you give me advance notice of your attendance.

Thanks so much!
Sarah Boyd
sarahboyd2020@yahoo.com

Greenbelt Guardian Work Day Saturday, July 19

2008-07-18T12:47:00.003-05:00

Dear Greenbelt Guardians,

This is a confirmation that we are on "GO" on our trail work day, tomorrow, Saturday, July 19 from 8:00am to noon. We will meet up at the Homedale Trail entry, 2010 Homedale Drive. We will provide all of the work tools, team leaders and tasks, plus energy food and snacks.

Please wear long pants and closed-toe shoes for protection. It would be a good idea to wear a sun hat, and bring a personal water bottle to keep with you. We will have water refills and energy drinks. At this point, we are expecting about 35 people – if you have not yet RSVP’d, please do so quickly so we can assure that we have plenty of supplies and surprises (Austin Parks Foundation is bringing a “thank you” gift for each person that will be the envy of your friends and family...).

We’re looking forward to another great work day – see you there.

Glee Ingram
Greenbelt Guardian Coordinator
(512) 443-7522
gleeful@earthlink.net

July 4 Parade Update

2008-07-03T01:14:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to send out an update on Friday's parade:

Weather.com is calling for 30% chance of isolated thunderstorms on Friday. The parade will be cancelled if there is heavy rain/lightning at start time. Parade start location is at the Barton Hills Market. Gather starting at 8:30 for a 9 am start time.

We will have access to the school restrooms this year-which is fabulous news-so a big thank you to Barton Hills Elementary for sharing their building with us. Please keep it as clean and neat as possible, as one of the school custodians will be spending her July 4th with us and we don't want to overburden her.

I believe we might have a wonderful singer for our National Anthem but I don't want to announce it until I have confirmed with her. It will be terrific for us if she says yes.

I am also happy to announce that we will have special guests joining us on Friday morning: the staff of the Barton Hills Mobil will be taking part in the parade and picnic so please come and say goodbye to our good friends!

In addition to all the watermelon, cookies and brownies we will be offering, Jim-Jim's will be back with his delicious fruit ices so bring some cash for a tasty treat! We will have Run-Tex water jugs again this year but feel free to bring your own reusable water bottle as well. Let's try to cut down on waste as much as possible.

At the picnic, we will be welcoming local non-profits including Animal Trustees of Austin and Care Communities. And as he did last year, Travis County Constable Richard McCain will be offering Child ID packets.

Finally, please remember to bring non-perishable food to donate to the Capital Area Food Bank. What better way to honor our country's birthday than to help the less fortunate right here in our own community? And if any of you can help take the food boxes to the food pantry, even better.

Thanks to all the volunteers who have been working hard behind the scenes. Your neighborhood appreciates you very much!!

Kimberly White Erlinger
VP, Barton Hills Neighborhood Association

July 4 Parade Volunteers Needed

2008-06-12T22:25:00.005-05:00

Hello Friends and Neighbors,

As promised, I am back to ask/pester/beg for your help with our July 4th parade!

Even if you will be out of town that day, we can use your help. It is such a fun day and if you can't volunteer, please make sure you decorate your bikes, your kids' bikes, your dog, your hamster, whatever you feel like showing off!

To make it easy, I am going to list what we need specific help with-we appreciate anything you can do to make this a great parade!

Thanks so much!

1. A terrific (or at least enthusiastic) singer(s) to sing the National Anthem at the school. We'll have an a/v system for you.

2. People who can definitely bring a watermelon and/or 1-2 dozen cookies. (Yes, they can be store-bought. )

3. 3-4 people who can be judges for the parade decorations and/or games. We have one judge already.

4. Someone to buy and fill up balloons for the water balloon toss game. (And be a judge, if you can!)

5. 2-3 people to show up to the BH park around 8 am to help tie balloons around the park. We already have some neighbors committed to this but I know they would appreciate your help!

6. Someone to buy, fill and set up pinatas and bring bats or sticks (one pinatas for little kids, one for bigger kids) and monitor the pinata-smashing.

7. As many people as possible to help clean up the playground after the picnic.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Please forward this to neighbors who might not be on the list--

Kimber

Kimberly White Erlinger
VP, Barton Hills Neighborhood Association
Group Moderator

Special Meeting called for Tuesday, May 27

2008-05-23T12:43:00.004-05:00

Our neighbors at The Terrace would like some feedback on changes made to their planned development. Therefore, I am calling a special meeting to be held on Tuesday, May 27, at St. Mark's Church. The meeting will be from 7 - 8:30.

Eddie Torres
BHNA President
matterhorneddie@yahoo.com

April newsletter now online

2008-04-20T21:17:00.003-05:00

The April, 2008 edition of the Barton Hills News is now available online for your reading pleasure. Articles include the President's Message (including the agenda for our upcoming April 22 General Meeting), notice of Salvation Army pickup dates, Austin Neighborhood Council Roundup, Greenbelt Guardian Report, local real estate information, status of the Neighborhood Planning process, and more.

Previous editions of the newsletter (all the way back to 1998) are available on the Newsletters page of our web site.

More volunteers needed for April 12 Trail Workday

2008-04-06T13:21:00.003-05:00

Greenbelt Fans,

We need some more volunteers for our work day scheduled for next Saturday, April 12, from 9-1. We will be working at both Gus Fruh Trail (2642 Barton Hills Drive) and Homedale Trail (2010 Homedale Drive). We are hoping for an enthusiastic turnout to help show our support for the city-wide "It’s My Park Day" event sponsored by the Austin Parks Foundation. Plus, as always, we’ve got plenty to do to help take care of our much-love and used greenbelt trails. And, what could be more fun than working alongside friends and neighbors in the bloom of spring in our urban wilderness park?

Please RSVP if you can help. Let us know which trail you want to work on. Also, register on the Austin Parks Foundation website (www.austinparks.org), so they can know how many event tee-shirts and snacks to provide in support of this work day.

Plan to wear trail work clothes (long sleeves and pants and closed-toe shoes). We provide the tools, instructions, team leaders and snacks. And fun.

Glee Ingram
Greenbelt Guardian Coordinator
(512) 443-7522
gleeful@earthlink.net

IT'S MY PARK DAY EVENT: Saturday, April 12, 9-1

2008-03-31T03:27:00.002-05:00

Greenbelt Trail Lovers:

We are gearing up for our fifth annual "It's My Park Day" event, sponsored by the Austin Parks Foundation. On Saturday, April 12, from 9-1, we will join volunteers from all around the city who will be working to improve their neighborhood parks. The Greenbelt Guardians are sponsoring projects at both the Gus Fruh Trail and the Homedale Trail for this event. To sign up, please do two things:

1) rsvp directly to this email, stating which trail you wish to work on, and
2) also register at the Austin Parks Foundation website, for either the Barton Creek Homedale Trail or the Gus Fruh Trail. The Austin Parks Foundation will use these registrations to determine how many of what size free tee-shirts to provide, plus the quantity of snack foods needed to keep us all happily productive.

The Gus Fruh team will be hauling granite, spreading and packing it, on the top portion of the trail, to complete the trail resurfacing project. They will also remove invasive ligustrum and nandina plants along the creekside trail, and organize the debris into erosion control windrows. There are also a couple of cedar rails to repair and some stockpiling of stones near the retaining wall project by the swimming hole, plus trash pick-up.

The Homedale team will doing some more regrading of the entry trail, to direct the water flow across the trail instead of down the middle. We also have some selective weeding to do in the trail entry bed, pulling the ragweed and leaving the sunflowers. There are stumps to remove and rubble rock clearing on the switchback trail. In the new clearing by the creekside, there are still plenty of ligustrum to wrestle out of the ground and restoration activities to do in our research plot. Lots of people have been partying and leaving their beer cans, bottles, and snack food wrappers behind – we've got "picker-uppers" and trash sacks for the trash collectors.

We hope to have a big showing for this very festive occasion. Plants are leafing out and blooming, sweet scents are wafting in the air. Come out and celebrate the greenbelt with us!

Glee Ingram
Greenbelt Guardian Coordinator
gleeful@earthlink.net

Greenbelt Security Intitiatives and Protocols

2008-03-20T11:29:00.003-05:00

Concerned Neighbors:

Our Greenbelt Guardian Ad Hoc Security Committee has been working with members of the Austin Parks Police, the COA-Austin Police Department (APD), the Parks Department, a City Council aide and assistant City Manager, to create more effective strategies to address the safety issues on the greenbelt. We all agree that there are some dangerous situations created with illegal encampments and fires and drunken behavior. The recent reportings of campfires on the greenbelt certainly serve to confirm these concerns. This report is intended to provide us all with the information we need to help keep us safer.

Glee Ingram
Greenbelt Guardian Coordinator

Police Initiatives on the Greenbelt
As a result of our meetings, the Parks Police and the City APD are initiating some coordinated policing efforts in the greenbelt area, especially near our two trail entries, with emphasis on the Spyglass/Homedale trail where the encampments and drunken gatherings on the rock flats got out of control last year.

On March 8, the Police Dept. released a Fox News video clip of a police raid conducted near the rock flats area. They announced a policy of “no tolerance” for ignoring the ordinance prohibitions posted: No Alcohol or Illegal Drugs, No Glass Containers, No Campfires, No Camping, No Dogs Off Leash. Numerous citations were given during the raid.

For the month of March, both the Parks Police and the Austin Police in our Area Command are coordinating efforts for more intense patrolling. The Parks Police are going down into the greenbelt two to three times a week to issue tickets. The Austin Police are doing “directed patrols” and establishing a “pro-active police presence” on the streets near Homedale and Spyglass, to monitor for alcoholic beverages being taken down into the greenbelt and for drunken driving upon leaving the park.

During this period, the Parks Police is sending weekly reports of their activities and findings to our Ad Hoc Security Committee. To further respond to our concerns, the Parks Police Chief and our APD Area Commander will attend the April BHNA meeting to answer questions and discuss policy and problems.

Our Role: Observe, Report, and Follow-Up
Our meetings with the police and city staff have helped clarify ways in which we in the neighborhood can more effectively communicate and coordinate with the two different policing authorities. We have an important role to play. Because so many of us frequent the greenbelt, we can multiply the “eyes and ears” that notice problems, and report them to the appropriate authorities, and follow-up to see if the problems were resolved.

Protocol to Report Problems
The Parks Police is our contact for all non-emergency greenbelt safety or security problems. Call 311 to report these “non-emergencies with a low need rating” which allows a two hour time frame to respond. Because the 311 number is a “work in progress” in the City’s communications system, be sure to give your name and telephone number to the operator and ask for a CADD number for your report, so that you can follow-up to see what action was taken.

Call 911 for any current or imminent emergency, such as an ongoing fire, or an active encampment with evidence of a fire pit, or drunken and threatening behavior, or an injury. The 911 number gets directed to either the Fire Department or the COA-APD, depending on the problem being reported. Again, be sure to ask for a CADD number for your report so you can follow-up to find out what the response was.

Part of our neighborhood frustration has been the feeling that we are speaking into a dark void when we call in reports, with no assurance that our message was heard or responded to. It is important that we create an active feedback and communications loop when we report problems. With the CADD number, we will be able to track what action was taken.

Back-up Reporting:
The Parks Police Department has given us an additional communication tool to complement the 311 and 911 reporting system. We can email directly to the Parks Police with a description of the problem(s) we wish to report. These emails are read each morning and afternoon. The email address is: parkpolice@ci.austin.tx.us. Having this supplemental communication tool will give us more direct control over the language used to describe the “who, what, when, where” that we wish to report, and will assure that the Parks Police is fully aware of the problems being reported to 311 and 911.

We also think it is important to keep our District 2 COA-APD Officer abreast of the problems that we are reporting in the greenbelt. Our current contact person is Duke Kinley His contact information is: dwayne.kinley@ci.austin.tx.us and 974-4281.

It is also helpful to post the problems reported on our bhna listserve, to keep us all abreast of the kinds of problems being reported and the responses made to them.

Locating the Problem:
Since there are no “street addresses” on the greenbelt, we have some challenges in describing the exact location of the problem being reported. To start, we should identify the nearest trail access address. Following are the street addresses for all of the greenbelt trail access points:

Homedale Access: 2101 Homedale Dr.
Gus Fruh Access: 2642 Barton Hills Dr.
Spyglass Access: 1500 Spyglass Dr.
360 Access: 3456-B Capitol of Texas
Gaines Creek Access: 3900 Frontage Mopac
Trails End/”Hill of Life” Access: 1710 Camp Craft Rd.

We can further refine our location descriptions by referring to the Fire Department Map and/or the Austin PARD Barton Creek Greenbelt map with its location descriptions (the flats, urban assault wall, etc.). These maps will be posted on our BHNA website for reference. We will be working further with the police to establish a common map of reference.

City Training for Neighborhood Watch:
The COA-APD holds a Neighborhood Watch Training session every second Tuesday of the months during the year, from 6:30 – 8:00 pm. These meetings help train people for what to watch for and how to communicate with the police, etc. They allow lots of questions and discussion for ways to improve the safety in our neighborhoods. The meetings are held at the South Substation at 404 Ralph Ablenado Drive, near Slaughter and South First.

Close Collaboration Can Make a Difference:
Very recently our neighbor Johnny Barnett was taking a walk and noticed the smell of cedar wood burning in the warm evening air. The wood choice and the weather contraindicated a fireplace as the source. He tracked the smell down into the greenbelt and saw a group of campers gathered around a fire.

He hiked back up the hill, called 911, reported the fire, and volunteered to meet the firefighters at the Homedale trail entry. Within ten minutes the firefighters arrived and donned their fire coats, which they filled with water, then trekked down the trail and put out the fire. The Parks Police also arrived shortly and issued numerous citations for illegal camping and drinking. We all benefited greatly from this timely and coordinated set of actions.

Special "Terrace" Development Meeting Thursday, March 6

2008-03-04T00:32:00.004-06:00

Neighbors,

Respecting the motion from our last general meeting, I am calling a special meeting to discuss The Terrace development. The meeting will be held in the cafeteria of Barton Hills Elementary, March 6, from 7 p.m to 8:30 p.m.

IMPORTANT
This is a single-item agenda to discuss The Terrace.
Peter Hess will lead the meeting.
We will not serve food.

Eddie Torres
2008 BHNA President

Dear Neighbors,

In preparation of the upcoming special meeting to discuss the Terrace PUD, I updated the web page with the Terrace PUD documentation, and I uploaded a large number of images since I contacted you last about this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22547731@N04/sets/

There are now three different sets of pictures; all of them include maps:

(1) "Terrace PUD: The Project:" Here, I am documenting the project and its impact on the Barton Hills Neighborhood.

(2) "Terrace PUD: Impact on Barton Creek and Greenbelt:" Here, I am documenting the impact of the proposed site plan (with two 200+ foot highrises) on Barton Creek and the Greenbelt. At the end of this set, I include some 3D views from Google Earth.

(3) "Greenbelt Views (provided by The Terrace):" This section contains projections provided to us by the developers of The Terrace. I just uploaded this set today.

You should be able to see a larger version of each picture, and you will be able to download the pictures as well.

As I am not sure yet if we will be able to make use of a projector at the meeting, I ask you to look at the documentation carefully before the meeting. Eddie Torres, the BHNA president, called the special meeting to discuss The Terrace for Thursday, March 6, from 7 p.m to 8:30 p.m., in the cafeteria of Barton Hills Elementary.

Best,
Peter Hess