Brentwood Rocks! Benefit concert - April 17th

Come to the 2nd annual Brentwood Rocks! Benefit concert!

When: Saturday, April 17th, at 5 p.m
Where: Brentwood outdoor stage

Music includes surf-rock awesomeness by the Thunderchiefs, gritty garage rock by The Band Next Door featuring Mr. Geiser, plus a performance by the School of Rock! Food by Galaxy Cafe, Zocalo Cafe, Luscious Pastry, and more. Bring a your own reusable cup for free lemonade refills!

$3 for adults, kids free. Proceeds go to Brentwood Elementary PTA.

Questions? Contact Anne-Charlotte Patterson

CNA Logo Contest!

CNA Logo Contest – Win Fame and Fortune!!

A picture is worth a thousand words. What images come to mind when you think of Crestview? How do you feel about your neighborhood? What is iconic, special or historic about where we live? Get your creative energy flowing and enter the CNA Logo Contest.

The current logo (see left side of the newsletter banner) for the Crestview Neighborhood Association has represented us for nearly 30 years and has long been a recognized symbol of our neighborhood. But Crestview has been undergoing some major changes for several years, and it’s time to bring the logo up to date and into the new millennium.

We know what talented, creative and artistic people you are, and we are excited to see your designs. The contest is open to Crestview residents, and the deadline for submittals is July 1st, 2010. Entries will be displayed at our annual Ice Cream Social in July, and neighbors will get a chance to vote for their favorite logo design. Four entries will be chosen as the Final Four, and then the CNA Excecutive Committee will decide on the winning design.

The first place winner will receive fame and fortune in the form of permanent newsletter recognition, $200 and two years of free CNA membership. The first and second runners-up will be awarded $50 and $25, respectively. All Crestview residents who submit a logo entry will be awarded one free year of CNA membership.

Official rules, entry form and design guidelines for the contest are provided at the top of the left-hand column, or contact Kat Correa at cnanewsletter@gmail.com.

Good luck!!
Kat

Community Movie Night Under the Stars - March 27th

March 27th, 7:30pm – Brentwood Elementary Amphitheatre

Community Movie Night Under the Stars in December was so much fun that we decided to do it again, so bring the family and join your neighbors for a FREE outdoor movie night featuring Steven Spielberg’s 1982 classic, E.T. Complimentary hot chocolate and lemonade from Genuine Joe’s, free popcorn and Reese’s Pieces (in honor of our favorite Extra-Terrestrial) will be served. You are welcome to bring your own snacks too. Lawn chairs and blankets are also encouraged.

A Food Drive for the Capital Area Food Bank will also be held to benefit our hungry neighbors right here in Central Texas. If you would like to participate, please bring healthy, non-perishable food items (peanut butter, canned meats & vegetables and cereal) or cash donations. Put your name in the free raffle and you could win local gift certificates and an iPod too!

Thanks to your friendly neighbors Shelly Roark (Nations Reliable Lending), Tiffany Peters (Moreland Properties) and Eric Riley & Shaun Hrncir (Austin Custom Tops) for making this free community event possible. We look forward to seeing you there!

Shelly Roark

Rail 'n' Ale Beer Social at Black Star Co-op - March 26

Friday, March 26th 4-7 PM

Yes, you read that correctly. After nearly a year-long hiatus, we're back with a special Beer Social to celebrate the opening of Capital Metro's MetroRail. On Friday, March 26th, ride the train to the Crestview Station (it's free!), enjoy the Beer Social format you know and love, and become a member-owner of the world's first co-operatively owned brewpub!

If you would like try out the new light rail line, we'll have organized groups departing from the downtown station (details soon!). The Beer Social will run from 4-7 PM. The first northbound train stops at Crestview at 4:05, and the last train leaves at 7:01. Southbound, the last train leaves at 6:05. Of course, you don't have to ride the train as there's plenty of surface and garage parking at Midtown Commons.

If you've never been to a Beer Social, check out our page on How a Beer Social Works.

info@blackstar.coop
www.blackstar.coop

Violet Crown Spring Festival - May 8th

The Violet Crown Community Works will be holding their Spring Festival on May 8, 11-6pm, in Brentwood Park. We are activley seeking craft/art vendors. All items must be handcrafted by the exhibitor-no resale. We are going to also put emphasis on health care. If you are a local health care provider (elder care, yoga, massage etc) please contact me for further booth info.

We invite local community groups and churches to take part by:
- Coordinating a fun family activity in the park.
- Having an information table in the Welcome Tent and/or providing a flyer for a display wall.

We also welcome additional volunteers and sponsors for the festival - our tenth community event since 2003!

Proceeds of this festival will help support Friends of Brentwood Park, Brentwood and Crestview neighborhood volunteers dedicated to maintaining our park and helping continue to develop it as a community resource.

The Violet Crown Festival is a project of Violet Crown Community Works, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization helping build and sustain community in Brentwood and Crestview by supporting neighborhood enhancement projects.

Mona Prater
Beadornment@hotmail.com

Brentwood PTA's Used Book Sale

The Brentwood PTA's Used Book Sale is open to the community Thursday and Friday, March 11th and 12th!

We have children's books:
board books
picture books
early readers
chapter books
teen books

We have great adult fiction and non-fiction! We had a donation from an estate, and we have old books - 1902, 1930's, 40's, 50's and up. We even have 2 vintage language courses on records in mint condition (French and German). There are CD's, DVDs, videos, and books on CD.

Prices on almost all things range from $0.25 - $1.00.

Come on down! We are open all day on Thursday, from 7:30 a.m. to 7:00p.m.
Friday is half-price day! We will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Please check in at the office and bring your picture ID. The sale is located down the hall from the cafeteria, in front of the library. Follow the signs.

Come support your neighborhood school! All proceeds go to purchasing more materials for the library.

Andrea Roberts
Used Book Sale Coordinator
Brentwood Elementary
6700 Arroyo Seco
414-2039

03.08.10 CNA General Meeting Minutes

The first experimental meeting combining the general meeting and
executive committee meeting.

Introductions.

Recap of Morrow and Lamar - 400+ petition signatures against the opening, letters from the Crestview NPCT formation group, the Crestview Traffic Calming Committee sent to the members of the sub-committee assigned the issue (Riley, Morrison, Cole). Steve Dobie and Eddie Gary met with Riley and Morrison earlier in the day and
Cole's policy person last week. The meeting where results of the analysis and feedback meeting are presented to the sub-committee is tentatively scheduled for April 5th at 2pm (the agenda won't be finalized until 1-2 weeks before the meeting). Contrary to an earlier announcement, that meeting will be open to public input and concerned members of the neighborhood are encouraged to attend. A desire was expressed to work with Highland on a fix to the Anderson-Lamar intersection. The action group that is handling the issue explained that this is the 2nd phase of their plan. The first phase of their plan ends with Council's decision on what to do regarding the request to re-open the Morrow-Lamar intersection.

Recap of Neighborhood Plan Contact Team - By laws vote and officer elections on April 19th. The ex comm needs to encourage the neighborhood to attend as there will not be a mail out by the city announcing the meeting.

CNA By Laws Amendment Discussion - The proposed changes to the by laws regarding a flexible annual start/end date for memberships, and staggered 2-year terms for titled ex comm officers, were announced and feedback solicited from the general assembly. No one was opposed to the proposed change.

CNA/BNA/Violet Crown/Friend of Brentwood Park Joint Project Meeting Recap - Kat and Eddie attended this meeting. The group talked about existing projects in the neighborhoods and seemed to agree that a park project would be a good target for a collaborative effort, since the park is a shared resource to both Brentwood and Crestview. One participant is currently creating a neighborhood map showing existing
and desired projects. They will likely meet again this month or next month to decide upon a joint project.

Methodist church contacted Paige about working with neighborhood groups. CNA has no current need of an additional meeting place. A representative of Liveoak Bible Church also offered their space for use, and expressed a desire to lease space in the church on an as-needed basis during the day to like-minded groups.

Treasurer's Report
Feb: $9456 + $213 (ads) - $392 (newsletter printing) = $9277

Newsletter Proposal - Kat proposed a contest to come up with a new logo for the CNA. All were in favor of the proposal. There will be an announcement in the newsletter, and a neighborhood vote will take place during the ice cream social on the 4 finalists. We should honor the old 25+ year-old logo. The first prize will be $200 (2nd $50, 3rd $25), which is less than one month of typical ad revenue for the newsletter. The ex comm will reserve the right to void the contest if
it does not find any submissions to be eligible candidates.

Deanna will not be running again for her position on the executive committee in June. Melinda expressed an interest in running.

April Meeting - Councilperson Laura Morrison will stop by to speak and listen to the concerns of the neighborhood. It will also be a combined general and executive committee meeting. The proposed CNA by laws amendments will be voted on, provided a quorum exists.

It's My Park Day in Brentwood Park Recap

Thanks to everyone who made It's My Park Day in Brentwood Park a success! We tackled a lot of projects and the results are amazing! Plus we had fun and connected with our neighbors. Check out our web site and Facebook page (see links in signature line below) for pictures of the day¹s events.

Here's what our 37 volunteers accomplished:

One team, led by Cheryl Goveia, cleaned up the planting beds outside the pool area. Small saplings of mountain laurel and red oak were transplanted from undesirable areas into new spots around the pool, existing trees around the pool were pruned and new planting beds were created.

Another team, led by Emily Wilson, removed all the nandina and other invasive shrubs inside the pool fence. They will be replaced with more suitable native shrubs in a near-future work day. Also, a lot of trash and toys that had found their way into that densely vegetated area over the years was cleaned out.

A third team, led by Karen Lorenzini, landscaped the area around the Brentwood Park sign on the east side of the park, thanks to a mini-grant from Austin Parks Foundation and donations of plants from neighbors. We are hoping El Nino will stick around long enough to help the new plants get established, but if we have another extended drought, we may call on volunteers to adopt these new plantings.

And last but not least, Phil Tomlin led a team in mulching trees and bare, compacted soil on the west side of the park and refreshing the walking trail. You may notice a few piles of left-over mulch around the park because we received more than we expected. We will be putting together a mini-work day in the next couple of weeks to finish distributing the mulch.

Here is an example of the wonderful synergy sparked between park volunteer and user as reported by volunteer Kat Correa:

"As Dave, Autumn, and Jennifer and I were tackling the mounds of mulch along the trail, a nicely dressed gentleman was participating in a birthday party at a nearby picnic table. He came over in his slacks and loafers and helped us shovel and move mulch for a bit. He said he wanted to do his part since he was enjoying the fruits of our labor. How neighborly!"

And I (Hedrich) also had a nice encounter with some regular softball players, out for a weekend practice, who are interested in getting their group involved in revitalizing the ball field. Also, on more than one occasion, people jogging by or through the park or walking their dogs expressed encouragement and appreciation. Talk about warm glow!

We'd like to thank Austin Parks Foundation (APF), Wheatsville Co-op and Austin Parks & Rec Dept., as well as all the other event sponsors for making It's My Park Day happen all across Austin. Special thanks go to Genuine Joe Coffee for providing hot chocolate and Taco Deli for breakfast tacos to our group. And, of course, many, many thanks to our incredible volunteers for their hard work and service to the community!

We ended up with a few tools afterwards, so if you are missing a tool please contact Hedrich at 459-1750. Plus any volunteer who showed up, regardless of whether they registered on-line or not, if you DID NOT get one of the awesome t-shirts and would like one, let Hedrich know as well. There were several left over and APF has extras as well.

We're not done yet... Stay tuned for more ways you can get involved in making Brentwood Park a better place! If you are itching to make a difference now, we are always happy to accept financial or in-kind donation assistance towards future work days. For example, we will need to gather plants and materials for the pool area to replace what was removed. Email me directly for in-kind donations or follow the links in the signature line below if you'd like to make a cash donation.

We are still trying to build a database of park users with interests in specific areas of the park to help lead or participate in projects to revitalize and improve those areas. On Saturday, we identified a number of people who are interested in general landscaping projects, the walking trail, addressing dog use issues, the playground, the pool, the tennis courts, basketball court, fitness station, the volley ball court and baseball field. The more interest expressed in a specific area, the more likely a project will get done to address that area. If you didn't get a chance to sign that sheet or weren't there but are interested in one or more of these areas, please send Hedrich or Emily a message and we will add you to the appropriate list(s). Thank you!

Emily Wilson & Hedrich Michaelsen
Friends of Brentwood Park Co-Coordinators
--
Friends of Brentwood Park
website
facebook
Tax-deductible monetary donations toward park improvement activities can be made through the Austin Parks Foundation by selecting "Brentwood Park, Friends of" under "Gifts to Special Funds."

03.08.10 CNA General Meeting Agenda

7pm, Wozniak Hall at St. Louis Church

This month we will be conducting a experiment in combining the executive committee and general assembly meetings. According to a prior CNA president, the original intent of the general meetings was to conduct CNA business, which is what currently happens at the executive committee meetings. As the current executive committee meetings are open to the public, it has been decided to combine the meetings to see if the general assembly is interested in attending, and if business can still be conducted efficiently.

Executive Committee Meeting Agenda

Follow Up on Feb. 8th Morrow Street Traffic Analysis Public Meeting

Addendum: Eddie Gary mentioned at the 3/8/2010 CNA General Meeting that Molly has informed him that the April 5th meeting WILL be open to public input and interested neighbors are encouraged to attend.
-----------------------------------

Thanks to all who attended the Feb. 8, 2010 Morrow Street Traffic Analysis public meeting. We received a lot of good feedback on your interests and concerns regarding the traffic analysis and the citizen-based request to remove the barrier (raised island) on Morrow Street that currently prohibits traffic from traveling from the east side of Lamar to the west side, and from turning south on Lamar.

Notes from the Feb. 8th meeting are now available for download.

We have also tentatively scheduled a presentation of the traffic analysis results to the Comprehensive Planning and Transportation Committee (CPTC) of the City Council on April 5th, 2010, 2pm, City Hall, 301 W. 2nd Street, Austin, TX.

Staff will present the traffic analysis findings and a summary of neighborhood viewpoints gathered during the Feb. 8th public meeting. Please note that this will be a staff update to the CPTC - it is not a public hearing. The CPTC meeting may be viewed on the Channel 6 website live or in replay. Staff will seek direction from the CPTC on next steps. I will update the website following the CPTC meeting with any news or future public input opportunities.

The April 5th presentation date is tentative because the CPTC agenda is typically finalized the Friday before the meeting. The agenda, once finalized, will be posted here. I will also send an email out to the Morrow traffic analysis email interest list (those who provided their email addresses on the sign-in sheet at the Feb. 8th meeting and others who have requested to keep informed) once the agenda is finalized.

Please call or email me if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Molly Scarbrough
Principal Planner
City of Austin
Planning & Development Review Dept.
Tel: (512) 974-3515
Office Hours: 8:30am to 3:00pm

Temporary Anderson Lane Closure

Each day Capital Metro is closer to opening the MetroRail system, and we continue to working diligently to get running soon. Part of this work will include doing track work at the Anderson Lane crossing. Anderson Lane will be closed starting at 6 AM on Saturday morning and will remain closed until completion sometime on Sunday, March 7. We will be working on track alignment so that both the train and cars crossing will have a smoother ride. Capital Metro apologizes for any disruptions that this maintenance may cause our neighbors, and we will work with our contractor to complete this work as safely and quickly as possible.

The green and blue routes on the map below show the detours around the closed sections.


Alissa Schram
Community Involvement Coordinator
Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority
http://allsystemsgo.capmetro.org/capital-metrorail-safety.shtml
512.369.7759

Noise Along Tracks

Capital Metro is working hard to get MetroRail service up and running for our community. Part of this activity requires our contractors to perform maintenance on the track way over the next several days. Unfortunately, this activity will take place on a 24-hour schedule, which means that some work will be performed in the very late evening/early morning. This track work may generate noise that could disturb some residents that live close to the tracks. The affected section of the track lies between the MLK and Kramer Stations. Capital Metro apologizes for any disruptions that this maintenance may cause our neighbors, and we will work with our contractor to complete this work as safely and quickly as possible.

Alissa Schram
Community Involvement Coordinator
Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority
512.369.7759
www.stayoffthetracks.com