Brentwood Park - It's My Park Day, March 6th

It's My Park Day is just a little more than a week away! Come be part of the fun!

Where: Brentwood Park
When: Saturday, March 6th, 9 - 2

It¹s My Park Day is Austin Parks Foundation¹s annual volunteer event held in parks citywide every year. This year¹s event is presented by Wheatsville Co-op along with several other generous sponsors.... Registered participants get a t-shirt and other goodies thanks to the main event sponsors. In addition, our group will also have coffee courtesy of Genuine Joe¹s and breakfast tacos from Taco Deli, so thanks to those generous businesses for their additional support.

Our projects at this work day will include:
-mulching additional trees and bare areas on the west side of the park
-cleaning up the planting bed outside the pool area
-removal of invasive species within the pool area
-landscaping around the Brentwood Park sign facing Arroyo Seco, thanks in part to a $250 mini-grant from Austin Parks Foundation

The event is limited to 40 volunteers and you must register on-line to be eligible for the t-shirt and other goodies. We have 30 volunteers signed up so far, but would love to see 10 more volunteers sign up so we can get all our projects complete!

Please check out the volunteer signup page
for more important details.

You may also contact us directly for more info:

Hedrich Michaelsen 459-1750
Emily Wilson 740-2790

Looking forward to seeing you on March 6th!

Recent Burglaries in Crestview

Crestview Burglaries

Most of the burglaries over the past 30 days in the Crestview and Brentwood areas have been assigned to Detective Knutson. If you have information or leads on a burglary in this area, Detective Knutson can be contacted at david.knutson@ci.austin.tx.us

A suspect vehicle and suspects are being researched in the cases from this past weekend.


Allandale Burglaries

Most of the burglaries over the past 30 days in the Allandale area have been assigned to Detective Gabler. If you have information or leads on a burglary in this area, Detective Gabler can be contacted at jeff.gabler@ci.austin.tx.us

At least one suspect has been identified and a warrant issued. Several other subjects associated with the known suspect are being researched as persons of interest.

Area Thefts

There have been a number of thefts from citizen’s yards, porch, shed, etc. Many of these do not meet the criteria for burglary and are assigned as a theft case to Detective Courtney Daniels. Without serial numbers or specifics on property, recovery is difficult. Detective Daniels can be reached at Courtney.daniels@ci.austin.tx.us


Important Notes

Not all burglaries in the same area are related and the case may have been assigned to another investigator within the office, however, the Detectives work together on the cases and when suspect(s) are developed in an area, then cases which are believed to be related to the suspect(s) are linked together when possible. A third Detective has also been working some burglary cases which will help work through the cases a little faster.

Many of our leads come from an alert citizen who got a vehicle license plate and/or a good description of the suspects. Remember – if you see something suspicious then report it to 9-1-1.

What to look for! Keep an eye out for vehicles driving through the neighborhood slowly or someone sitting in a vehicle waiting. Many will wait for someone to leave for work or an errand, then knock on the door and if no answer, then force entry in the front, back, or via a window.

Keep a record of your valuables – make, model, serial number, etc.

BOLO and Crime Alerts are posted on the Citizen Observer Website @ http://citizenobserver.com/cov6/app/group.html?id=4117
Or the Central West District Representative Yahoo Group @ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/centralwestdr/

Have a Wonderful Day!
Shari Anderson
Admin Assistant
C/W and DTAC District Representatives
WK: 974-5340 or 974-3822
Fax: 974-5325
Join the Austin Police Dept. Citizen Observer www.citizenobserver.com/registration/isp

Neighborhood Planning Contact Team - By Laws and Elections - Apr. 19th

Please see the flyer for details.

Marathon Route through Crestview - Feb. 14th

Be advised that Morrow, Woodrow and Arroyo Seco will be routes for the marathon and half-marathon this month.

Adopt a Tree in Crestview

If you’ve been along Arroyo Seco since Saturday, February 6th, you may have noticed 17 new tree saplings planted along the block between St. Johns and Cullen. The 17 trees include Bur Oaks, Cedar Elms, Mountain Laurels, and other types of oaks. Why plant such small trees? Several reasons, including they are easier to plant, establish on a slope easier, require less water per tree per volunteer, and these were trees donated by Crestview neighborhood gardeners to keep the project cost low. Besides, we have it on good authority that little trees become big trees in time!

Of course, the planting part was easy. Now comes our neighborhood commitment to keeping them watered until they are established. We hope to find folks interested in adopting a tree -- ensuring that each week it does not rain, you drop by to give your tree a slowly poured gallon of water. The goal is to water through December 2011, just two years. To adopt, simply go by, pick out a tree or more than one, and remove the yellow "ADOPT A TREE" sign. Follow the instructions on the back of the sign to adopt. Think of the satisfaction of seeing "your" tree grow over time and knowing that you made a difference in your neighborhood.

A big thanks to the volunteers and donors who made this planting possible: Lynette Alley, Kat Correa, Jeff Lafitte, Elaine Dill, and Paige Hill, each a Crestview neighbor.

Karen on Pasadena

"A Community Mosaic" viewing - Feb. 6th

If you haven't yet seen it, or would like to check it out again, "A Community Mosaic" - the film my husband and I made about Brentwood, Crestview, and the Wall of Welcome - will have a free showing this weekend.

Saturday, 2/6, 7 p.m.
Liveoak Bible Church
7500 Woodrow Avenue
(northwest corner of Woodrow and Aggie)

Light refreshments will be served, and we'll also display the neighborhood history we've had at Violet Crown Festivals.

Admission is free, and everyone is welcome!

Susan

Draft Agenda For Morrow Street Traffic Analysis

Morrow Street Traffic Analysis
Presentation of Results
Monday, February 8, 2010, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Gateway Baptist Church, 7601 Guadalupe St., Austin, TX

REMINDER: This meeting will take the place of this month's CNA general assembly meeting.

6:30 pm Welcome / Sign-in
Molly Scarbrough, City of Austin, Planning & Development Review Dept.

6:35 pm City Staff Introductions / Purpose of the Meeting
Molly Scarbrough

6:40 pm Presentation on Morrow Street Traffic Analysis
Staff will provide background information on the citizen-based request to remove the Morrow Street barrier, City Council direction to conduct a traffic analysis, and the results of the analysis.
Molly Scarbrough

6:55 pm Questions and Answers about the Traffic Analysis
Transportation Dept. staff will answer questions from the audience about the traffic analysis.
Dipti Borkar-Desai & Peter Marsh, City of Austin Transportation Dept.

7:10 pm Small group break-out session to receive community input
Meeting participants will be asked to break out into smaller groups and provide information about:
 travel destinations and routes in the area;
 how those routes would change if the Morrow Street barrier were removed;
 his or her interests or concerns about the request to remove the Morrow street barrier
Information will be recorded on maps of the area and paper so City staff has a written record of all input. There will be a City staff facilitator at each break-out group table

7:35 pm Small groups report back to the larger group
Each group will be asked to provide a summary of what they heard during their break-out group session to all meeting participants.

8:00 pm Large group discussion
Meeting participants will have an opportunity to discuss what information you would like staff to convey to the City Council Subcommittee when we present the results of the traffic analysis to them. Information will be recorded on large flip chart paper
during the discussion.
Shelia Balog, City of Austin, Human Resources Dept. will facilitate the discussion

8:25 pm Wrap up / Announcements
Molly Scarbrough

Crestview Community Supported Agriculture Harvest

A few weeks ago, I came and filmed Paige and other farmers at the Crestview CSA as they harvested before the big big freeze! I put the video together for a competition called Faces Of Austin, which serves to show off some of the great things happening in our city. If the folks at the economic re-development office like it, it will play in city hall!

Here's the five minute video so you can see your farming neighbors!

Hope you enjoy,

Jenny on Richcreek
jennifer.j.malin@gmail.com

Police Forum - Feb. 2

Tomorrow: Tuesday, Feb. 2, 6:30pm at McCallum H. S. here in Austin:

We'll get the Commander for 1/6 or so of Austin, as well as lt., sgt. and neighborhood officers.

Please come. It's free, you'll learn a lot, it helps everyone prevent crime. These are only about twice a year. I've been to at least six.

These are great forums for answering all your questions, and communicating with the police. It's very easy to speculate about how we should relate to the police. I've seen it from Hyde Park. I've seen it from Rosedale. I've seen it from Crestview. I've seen it from Allandale. I think I've seen it from Brentwood.

The police will be there to take your questions, and mine. If people attendance, from we the citizens, is as bad as it's usually been, we'll get about 30 of us non-police citizens to this next forum, in an area of Austin representing 100,000 people.

Let's do better, folks! This forum will start at 6:30pm (look for where at McCallum the police cars are lined up, and park as near as legally to there). It will be done, by all previous experience I've had, about 7:30pm. The police will be out in force. There are likely to be 10-13 of them. Shouldn't there be at least five times as many of us?

Sure, some of the questions may seem to be dumb, but your neighbors will be asking them, and any questions you have are not too dumb to be asked. The police also bring free literature, and sometimes things like pencils. I must have a bunch of APD pencils.

These forums are about twice a year. I have been to at least 6 of them, in the six years we've been in Austin, and I've found them always worthwhile.

Shouldn't you try your hand at coming to one of these forums?

Isn't it time you meet the police and meet your neighbors, for a small investment, 60-90 minutes of your time?

--John Keohane
keohane@prodigy.net
(512) 371-3853

Austin Mobility Forum & Sustainable Neighborhoods

February's Sustainable Neighborhoods "meeting" will coincide in place and time with the City of Austin's "Austin Mobility Forum: Setting Transportation Priorities." Details below.

We need everybody to show up who cares about supporting our area streets in the coming years with walkable, bikeable and ADA-compliant infrastructure, starting with sidewalks and transit plazas at the rapid bus (MetroRapid) stations planned along Burnet and Lamar.

For streets like Burnet that don't have the Right of Way to add light rail, improved comfort of transit stations is a viable alternative approach to convince nearby residents to use transit instead of driving. Transit plazas allow people to wait for transit farther away from the noise and fumes of the street. If shops are arranged around the plaza to shelter it from sun, wind and weather, and if the count-down clock for the next bus is visible from the plaza, people can shop, talk, safely play with their kids, or enjoy a water fountain with considerably less stress while waiting. Such plazas should be the focal point of each district that the City has rezoned for mixed use. Something like a transit plaza is already in place at Crestview Station. Other places in our part of town that might be appropriate assuming redevelopment include Burnet at North Loop, Burnet at Anderson, Lamar at Koenig, and at Highland Mall.

Austin Mobility Forum: Setting Transportation Priorities:

Main meeting:

Reagan High School
Monday, Feb. 8 from 6-8 p.m.
7104 Berkman Dr.
Austin, TX 78752
(512) 414-2523

If you can't attend on 2/8, or if Murchison is more convenient (this meeting has the same input process as the one on 2/8):

Murchison Middle School
Wednesday, Feb. 10 from 6-8 p.m.
3700 North Hills Dr.
Austin, TX 78731
(512) 414-3254

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Other News

Lamar Safe Routes to School Meeting Feb 11 6-7:30 PM

The Lamar Middle School Safe Routes to School meeting on Thursday Feb 11 is open to the public. This is where the action is in improving walking and biking conditions around Lamar MS in the coming year. The SRTS committee has a head of steam and we welcome more volunteers to help implement our emerging plan. It's our neighborhood kids who will benefit.