Meeting Minutes of January 22nd, 2024

The meeting was called to order at 7:04 by President Patty Sprinkle. The purpose was read as were the minutes from November 2023. Minutes were approved and Treasurer’s report was approved.

Old Business:
PARD report on South Austin Park lighting: The park has many access points making it difficult to patrol especially with police shortages. Lights that are out or very dim have been replaced. They do not wish to brighten all the lighting because of the shadows this causes.

HOME Part Two coming this spring.

Committee Reports:
Lisa reported that the SCC discussed the $2 million dollar contract to look at Austin’s handling of the Homeless problem. Mackenzie Kelly was the only council member to oppose.

Discussion of the City Manager creating a police liaison position to be headed by former Austin Police Department Chief, Art Acevedo (he declined the position due to public outroar).

Parks Update: Sev Coursen reported that the Parks Department did not give official approval in time for the March It’s My Park Day. The proposal is to girdle mature Ligustrum trees throughout the park.

Heather Nelson reported on the vastly improved GENA website and the first delivery of the newsletter since 2018! The cost to print and distribute was ~$800. Ads will be solicited to help cover the future costs.

Heather also reported that typically 50-60 people look at the Facebook announcements. There was clarification on the presence of both “Galindo Elementary site” and our Official GENA website.

Many, Many Many thanks to Heather for all the hard work in getting communications updated and running smoothly!!

New Business:
Healthy Streets, an initiative started during the COVID pandemic, proved to be so popular that the City has advocated for its continuation. Some of our association streets have successfully applied to be included: Fieldcrest, 6th, Southwood, Havenside, and Herndon will all be part of the initiative. The traffic on the streets will be limited to residents, guests, and deliveries for the next 6 months.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:08 p.m.