Minutes, May 17, 2016

Minutes from May 17, 2016 Clarksville CDC Monthly Meeting

Aubrey Carter, Malcolm Greenstein, Paula Hern, Kim O’Brien, Mary Reed, Chris Thomas, Greg Tran

1.     On a motion by Malcolm, seconded by Greg, the minutes from the April 19, 2016 Annual and monthly board meetings were approved.

2.     Mary presented the financial reports. We showed a net of $3,196 in April, and had $22,107 in checking and $42,322 in savings. We have moved our banking to Frost Bank.

3.     Mary presented Rose’s property management report. The reports states that all but one tenant are current on rent, but a payment from that tenant was in the mail box. Major expenses this month include erosion control and tree work at the Neighborhood Center.

4.     On a motion by Malcolm, seconded by Chris, the following officers were elected: President, Mary Reed; Vice-President, Chris Thomas; Secretary, Kim O’Brien; Treasurer, Teri Taylor. They will serve until May 2017.

5.     Terms for three members of the Tenant Selection Committee are expiring this month: board member representatives Chris Thomas and RuthAnn Brown, and community member representative Chris Crane. The board members are interested in serving another term Kim will contact Chris Crane to see if he wants to continue to serve. This item will be on next month’s agenda

6.     Kevin Sims, owner of 1701 Waterston Avenue, presented plans for the home he is planning on building. It will be located behind the existing house on the property (which is a contributing house he has recently rehabilitated.) Kevin intends to live in the back house when it is completed, and rent out the front structure. He has obtained a variance to build the back house, but needs a historic review so that he can obtain his building permit. Kevin stated that he has done his best to adhere to CCDC guidelines and Department of Interior design standards. The proposed house will be 1623 square feet (twice as large as the front structure, but Kevin has intentionally designed a lowroof ridge so the back house will essentially be the height of the  front house. Kevin is sensitive to the Haskell House being next door. There will be a functional design difference between the contributing house and the new one, but it will mostly be concealed from the street. And there’s a 12 foot wall of bamboo between the Haskell House and Kevin’s new addition, so it will not be visible from there. Siding on back house will be board to board. Roof will be a slight butterfly membrane material.

On a motion by Aubrey, seconded by Kim, the board unanimously agreed to send a letter of support to the Historic Landmark Commission.

7.     Mary reported that marketing for a development going in at 1010 West 10th Street, located a block west of N. Lamar, has been touting the project as being located in Clarksville Mary contacted the developer to protest this statement. She was passed her on to the president of company they hired to market the project, who stated that it’s general opinion that all of Old West Austin is considered Clarksville. Malcolm and Mary then sent letter to him stating that marketing the development as being in Clarksville was a deceptive trade practice. In response, they agreed to change their marketing materials, and promised the billboard advertisement located on N. Lamar would come down in two weeks. Malcolm suggested a a blog post on the CCDC website to document their willingness to correct their mistake.

8.     There was no discussion regarding neighborhood history marketing efforts.

9.     Last Sunday’s Family FunFest was a great success. Sadly, attendance was down some, probably due to the inclement weather, but everyone who attended had a great time. Bonzo Crunch, a new addition to FFF was a big hit. Preliminary numbers look like we brought in about $1000 less than last year. The Silent Auction earned only $100 less than last year.

10.  The Clarksville History Scavenger Hunt, presented in conjunction with Preservation Austin, will take place next Saturday, May 21, at 9 a.m. 35 kids have signed up, a number Preservation Austin is very happy with. There will be 5 sites, with activities for the kids at each. Food and coffee will be provided by Galaxy/Zocolo.

11.  Under Other Business, Mary reported that she, along with John Henneberger and two City representatives, were on a panel talking about “missing middle housing.” One of the City representatives, who is working on Code Next, stated a goal of Code Next is to address this issue. As a side note, John argued that the code will be slanted toward developers which will allow the problem to continue.

12.  The board did not meet in Executive Session.

Notice of Electronic Vote:  

            On May 9, 2016, via electronic vote, the board agreed to contract for an annual audit. This action was of an immediate priority and could not wait until the next regularly scheduled meeting.