Minutes, June 18, 2024
Minutes from the June 18, 2024 Clarksville CDC Monthly Meeting
Board members in attendance: Aubrey Carter, BJ, Friedman, Paula Hern, Kim O’Brien, Mary Reed, Thomas Schiefer
Others in attendance: Felecia Miller
1. Approval of minutes from the May 21, 2024 monthly meeting.
On a motion by Aubrey, seconded by Paula, the minutes from the May 21, 2024 monthly meeting were approved as amended. The approved minutes are posted on the website.
2. Nomination of Felecia Miller to complete term of resigning Board member Gregory Tran.
On a motion by Mary, seconded Paula, Felecia’s appointment was unanimously approved. She will serve until the term ends in April 2025.
3. Presentation of monthly financial reports. Brad Prak, Prak Property Management (PPM.)
Brad was unable to attend the meeting. Mary shared his report.
Brad Prak, Prak Property Management, reported that as of the end of May, we had $120,854 in our money market account ($40,000 of this total is allocated for 1611 W. 10th), and $5965 in our checking account. The majority of the month’s expenses were due to repairs, primarily for work at 1817A W. 10th, some of which will reimbursed for project-specific grant and donation funds. Mary commented that Haskell House donations are being lumped into the general donation account. She is working with Linda Parsons, PPM, to get them separated.
Minutes from the June 3, 2024 Finance and Operations Committee meeting appear at the end of these minutes.
4. Monthly property reports:
a. CCDC properties managed by Prak Property Management.
Brad was unable to attend the meeting, but Mary reported on the work that is continuing at 1817A W. 10th.
b. New construction at 1611 W. 10th Street.
Kim reported that work is planned tomorrow at 1611 W. 10th. An AYW crew will remove the previously installed retaining wall. The stones will be temporarily placed in the front yard. With the wall removed, we will be out of the easement/ROW line. As soon as the stones are removed, Ashley will contact Sam West in ROW so that he can inspect to ensure the ROW is clear, then we can activate the long-awaited DS (Driveway/Sidewalk) permit, which will clear us to pour the driveway. Sam was in the meeting we had last month and is well-versed on our saga. Once the driveway is poured, the retaining wall will be reinstalled.
In other good news, AYW has secured a new concrete subcontractor, J.R. Concrete Pros LLC. They are still in cost negotiations, but this is a promising development.
5. Haskell House Advisory Group report, including details of the Advisory Group’s participation in the 2024 Austin Juneteenth parade.
Felecia shared the following about the Juneteenth parade. “It was a great success. Many people were fascinated by Clarksville and curious about the image on the banner. This gave us an opportunity to share some oral history about the Haskell House and Clarksville. Some attendees expressed interest in learning more and contributing.” Felecia thanked sponsors: CV1871 (t-shirts); Astound Broadband (banner); and All-American Flags & Banners (banner pole.) Participants included HH AG members Felecia Miller, Otisha Rhambo, Hannah Michael, and Stephanie Lang, along with Cecelia Glasco, HH AG member Znobea Williams’s mother.
Regarding the CV1871 t-shirts, the company is owned by a former Clarksville resident. She has offered to provide us with Clarksville shirts that we could sell with a slight markup at the Haskell House. Felecia will discuss this idea with the HH AG. Other possible HH merchandise ideas discussed: Haskell House puzzles, HH hand-held fans.
Mary reported that Austin Parks and Recreation requested photos of the parade, which were then shared with National Park Service’s Reconstruction Era National Historic Network, who shared who shared the image with the banner prominently displayed on their Instagram feed.
6. Update on initiatives made by the CCDC in response to comments by members at the Annual Meeting.
Mary reported the following changes to the website:
· Bylaws are now easier to find; and added a Bylaw button
· Redid the “About Us” page to make information more easily accessible
· Added info on how to add an item to the agenda
· Moved the board members from the bottom of the About Us Page to the side
She also reported that the survey of the members has been distributed and so far the response has been good (17% response rate which is a bit higher than industry projected return rates.) Deadline for responses is coming up soon.
Thomas asked when we would share the updates with the members. Mary responded that an email will go out next week.
7. Reminder of upcoming Clarksville Conversation: Sundays at the Haskell House event—Ailisha Macharia speaking on “One Woman’s Story About the Transformative Power of Growing Food,” Sunday, June 23, 2-3 p.m.
Flyers advertising the event have been distributed door-to-door, and were shared with the Clarksville and Deep Eddy community gardeners, OWANA, and the appropriate CCDC email lists.
8. Report on the Ice Cream Social.
Another fun event. The homemade ice cream was delicious and the competition strong. Winner this year was Ellis Tran (10-years old), with Beckett Raftus (15-years old) as runner up. Ellis was inspired to enter after seeing Beckett win last year.
9. Report from OWANA Steering and Zoning Committees.
Paula reported that the Steering Committee agreed to give $1500 to the Mathews Fund for Excellence Scholarship fund (money goes to high school graduates who attended Mathews); plans are being made for the 4th of July parade; and discussed proposed changes to the City’s ETOD plan concerning building height on the westside of North Lamar, historical preservation requirements, and flooding-related issues.
Kim reported that the Zoning Committee heard a presentation regarding 1013 and 1015 West Lynn & 1004 and 1006 Eason. A site plan has been approved by the City for this project, but owners are revisiting their plans in light of Zydeco’s abutting development at the corner of West Lynn and W. 12th. Designs (land planners) to begin the process anew. The ZC is hoping the revised plans will be more compatible with the neighborhood than what was originally proposed. And negotiations continue regarding Lake Austin Commons PUD (Hartland Plaza). Owners want to add an additional story onto the existing garage for office/gym/cocktail lounge space. They will come back with specific square footage amendment for the cocktail lounge. In a related development, Pickleball Ranch, a Harland Plaza tenant, is no longer operating at that location.
10. Other Business.
It was discussed if event flyers could be shared with the condo residents across the street from the Haskell House (a resident requested). Mary will talk Mark, her contact at the condos, about sharing information.
Felecia shared that the Texas Empowerment School has invited the HH AG to share information about Clarksville.
Mary shared that she’s been invited to participate on a panel discussing black history at an upcoming Museum-related gathering. The board concurred with Mary’s thoughts that it would be best if she agrees to participate only if HH AG member Stephanie Lang can join her as a co-presenter.
Aesthetic improvements to the interior of the Haskell House were discussed. These include installing a shelf in the back space, placing a utility closet in the bathroom, the production of new photo captions throughout, and an additional photo wall in the back space. Thomas and Aubrey will come up with a design for the shelf; Aubrey will work with Felecia on the picture captions. The goal is to have all of this done prior to Austin Museum Day in September.
11. Executive Session, if necessary.
The board did not meet in Executive Session.
Action taken via Electronic Vote:
On June 3, 2024, the board approved the renewal of our insurance policies. This matter was time-sensitive and could not wait until the June meeting.
Minutes From F & O Committee Meeting on June 13th, 2024
Attendees: BJ Friedman, Mary Reed. Absent: Chris Thomas
1. BJ and Mary did not discuss the May financials because they had reviewed them earlier in the week and there were no problems.
2. The retaining wall at 1611 has been dismantled as per the city’s request because it was not built properly. Now a permit is supposed to be issued so the driveway can be poured.
AWY fired concrete company #2 for lack of communication and follow through and hired a new company that is charging less than company #2. $8,500 ($2500 for the approach and $8,500 for the driveway itself.)
Stove and refrigerator were to be delivered this past Monday.
3. The county DA’s office has instructed Malcolm to file a criminal complaint for theft report against Tony Brown, concrete company #1.
4. Work at 1817A West 11th is about 85% complete according to Brad. Most of the remaining work is exterior work. Also, fence needs to be installed.
Work at the Center is about 1/2 completed, should be done this month, well in advance of the lease start date of August 1.
Brad wants to give the board a tour of both properties once they are 100% complete.