Crestview Neighborhood Association

Request for Neighborhood Input Regarding Negotiations for Parkland/Trails

2008-07-02T20:00:00.003-05:00

The president of the Crestview Neighborhood Association, Jonathan Locklin, is requesting input on the items listed below. The intention is for those residents who want to reply to e-mail him at jslpublic@gmail.com or send a letter to our post office box (CNA, P.O. Box 9595, Austin, TX 78766). The response format would be open text/paragraph. We would review the opinions in the executive committee meetings as they come in.

1) Would you consider increased density in the Crestview Station development area* in exchange for parkland and/or other neighborhood amenities? Currently the Crestview Station area is approved to have 1,400 residential Units.

2) Would you consider multifamily development on 6909 Ryan Drive in exchange for parkland and/or other neighborhood amenities? Currently the 6909 Ryan Drive property is owned by Austin Energy. The city is very adamant about developing this property, because it is adjacent to CAPMETRO's rail station platform.

3) Whether or not item 2 is supported, would you consider supporting a pedestrian and bicycle trail from Ryan Drive through the 6909 property to CAPMETRO's rail platform on the East side of the rail track and/or to a rail platform on the west side of the rail track. Currently CAPMETRO is not planning a platform on the west side of the rail track.

4) Would you consider supporting a pedestrian and bicycle trail on the Crestview Station development area* that would be adjacent to CAPMETRO's rail track on the eastern side (Crestview Station property) from Lamar Blvd to Morrow St.?

5) Would you consider new parkland for Crestview to be placed along Morrow St. between Lamar Blvd and the North Area Optimist Club. If you do not support this, where and how would you place parkland for Crestview.?

* The boundaries for the Crestview Station development area are Lamar Blvd. on the East, CAPMETRO's rail track on the West, and Morrow St. on the North.

Note that all negotiations will be made with the Crestview Executive Committee and Crestview Residents. This is just a call for opinion.

Executive Committee Meeting 7-July-2008

2008-07-02T19:44:00.003-05:00

The meeting will be called to order between 7:15 to 7:30 depending upon if we have any public input. The meeting will be held at St Louis Church at 7601 Burnet Rd, Austin, 78757 in the Library. Please see map at bottom of the agenda for a map and red circle around where the Executive Committee will meet.

Preliminary Agenda:

1) Heidi Goebel (Land Use Committee) will present information about a variance request from a resident on Justin Lane. We will vote on the action taken. [15 minutes]

2) Who will attend the following meetings. [5 minutes]
a) VMU meetings with Brewster McCracken at the One Texas Center building on Barton Springs
b) Wednesday, July 9th at 6:30 p.m. at the Palmer Events Center, Meeting Rooms 1, 2 and 3
c) Others?
3) Eddie will present information from a affordable housing meeting he went to on Tuesday (last week). We need volunteers to follow up on this. [10 to 15 minutes]

4) Allan McMurtry, Paulette Kern, Anne Young, and Steven Zettner will discuss their experiences with Allandale's VMU application as it went through Planning Commission and City Council. [1 hour]
a) Lessons learned at the Planning Commission where the Allandale VMU application was reviewed [30 minutes].
b) What has been happening at the weekly VMU meetings hosted by Brewster McCracken [30 minutes]?
-- What is ICR? How is VMU going to be handled as is backs up to residential? What are developers saying about Austin's VMU process?
--- Time permitting ---

5) Jonathan will present information about how the meeting of all six neighborhood officers went. [10 minutes]

6) Hang Town Grill wants to give the neighborhood free food to come by their establishment that they are opening soon. What do you think about this? More information to come. [10 minutes]

City Storm Drain Project in Crestview

2008-05-29T17:09:00.009-05:00

Stephanie Lott, the Public Information Specialist Senior of the City of Austin Watershed Protection and Development Review Department, will be giving a talk on the city's storm drain project at the CNA general meeting on June 9th, 2008. Information is provided on how the project will affect West Crestview and Brentwood and East Crestview and Brentwood.

Remember we will not be meeting at Wozniak Hall on 9-June-2008. Below is the map of where the Crestview Neighborhood Association general meeting will be held this time. We will meet at St. Louis in Parish Religious Education Center & Library room 201.

Crestview Traffic Calming Committee

2008-05-29T13:36:00.000-05:00

Traffic in Crestview has been an increasing problem, both in volume and in speed. Congestion on area arterial streets such as Burnet, Anderson and Lamar has been a major contributing factor to 'cut-through' traffic in our neighborhood. Both the congestion on these thoroughfares, as well as traffic problems on Crestview streets are expected to increase exponentially over the coming months and years as new development springing up around us draws even more vehicles to the area.

In December the City of Austin Public Works and Transportation Division announced that Crestview had been selected as one of the City's Neighborhood Traffic Calming Project areas for 2008. A survey was mailed to all residents of Crestivew so that neighbors could voice any traffic problems and concerns.

The City held a meeting on January 12th where they presented the results of the survey and provided traffic-calming options that could be implemented. Residents also had a chance to voice any additional concerns or problems at that meeting. A neighborhood committee of residents representing all quadrants of Crestview was selected by the attendees. This committee of your neighbors has already met several times to identify problem streets and intersections within Crestview. We are actively reviewing traffic volume data for our neighborhood as well as the resident survey results and are working to formulate a traffic mitigation plan. We will continue to update you of our work as we progress. Our final plan will be presented to Crestview residents to answer questions and to help you to fully understand the impact of the traffic calming solutions prior to being asked to vote on the plan.

It's important that we take advantage of this opportunity to work with the city to mitigate existing problems as well as plan for the inevitable increase in traffic down the road. Crestview will be gaining many more residents with the addition of the Crestview Station subdivision, as well as over 150,000 square feet of vertical mixed-use commercial and retail space at the site of the former Huntsman Chemical plant on North Lamar. And with Northcross Mall being redeveloped, a new Wal-Mart, Office Depot and potentially more redevelopment at The Village, we can expect a significant amount of additional traffic on an already overburdened infrastructure. With development comes traffic, with traffic comes congestion, and with congestion comes creative ways to avoid congestion. Rest assured those creative drivers will find their way through Crestview.

If you would like to share your traffic concerns, comments, or have any questions about the work of the Crestview Traffic Calming Committee, please call or email 512-407-8387 or CNAtraffic@hotmail.com.

Crestview Minimax reusable grocery tote bag

2008-05-27T11:55:00.001-05:00

by Meredith Roddy

Please come by the Crestview Minimax on Saturday, May 31 and purchase a reusable grocery tote bag. The bags say "Brentwood Elementary- Growing up with Crestview Minimax." We'll be selling the bags in front of the store from 10-6. Bags cost $4.00 each and portion of the funds collected will go towards replacing our school's broken and tattered gym equipment. Show your school pride when you shop, and help improve Brentwood Elementary and our environment, by purchasing Bulldog bags. See you Saturday!Thanks! --The Brentwood PTA

Meeting Minutes - CNA General Meeting, May 12, 2008

2008-05-26T21:13:00.002-05:00

The meeting was called to order by President Chip Harris at 7:12pm. Chip explained the nomination and voting process.

Jonathan Locklin was nominated for President. No other candidates were nominated, so Jonathan was elected by a vote of the attendees.

Steve Kuehner was nominated for Vice President. No other candidates were nominated, so Steve was re-elected by a vote of the attendees.

Don Tucker was nominated for Secretary. No other candidates were nominated, so Don was elected by a vote of the attendees.

Tim Ramirez and Deanne McMillan were nominated for Treasurer. Each candidate provided an overview of their qualifications for the position. Tim Ramirez was elected by receiving 51 votes, while Deanne received 26 votes.

Jerry Schmidt and Paige Hill were nominated for Newsletter Editor. Each candidate provided an overview of their qualifications for the position. Jerry Schmidt was elected by receiving 42 votes, while Paige received 36 votes.

Pam Mathison was nominated for Board Member in Place 1. No other candidates were nominated, so Pam was elected by a vote of the attendees.

Dave Considine and Paige Hill were nominated for Board Member in Place 2. Dave was not in attendance to provide an overview of his qualifications. Paige indicated that her previous description was sufficient. Dave was elected by receiving 41 votes, while Paige received 37 votes.

Michael Keenan and Deanna McMillan were nominated for Board Member in Place 3. Mike provided an overview of his qualifications for the position. Deanna indicated that her previous description was sufficient. Mike was elected by receiving 42 votes, while Deanna received 36 votes.

Eddie Gary was nominated for Board Member in Place 4. No other candidates were nominated, so Eddie was elected by a vote of the attendees.

After the elections, Chip Harris was presented with a plaque thanking him for his long-term service as president of the Crestview Neighborhood Association.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30pm.

Location Change for June General Meeting

2008-05-26T21:03:00.001-05:00

Our regular meeting room at St. Louis Church isn't available on Monday, June 9th, 2008. The church has reserved PEC 201 for us. We think that means Parish Education Center / Room 201. The Education building is just across from Wozniak Hall - slightly southeast.

Crestview Neighborhood Officer Elections

2008-05-18T08:09:00.005-05:00

Submitted by Don Tucker

For those who were unable to attend Monday night's CNA meeting, annual elections for the CNA officers and steering committee were held. We had a well-attended (over 50 people by voting counts) election with pipe cleaners distributed to verified CNA members for voting. The candidates for president, vice president, secretary and Place 2 were unopposed. Two candidates ran for each of the other positions, with voting results being very close for each. The elected officials for the following year are:

President: Jonathan Locklin
Vice President: Steve Kuehner
Treasurer: Tim Ramirez
Secretary: Don Tucker
Newsletter Editor: Jerry Schmidt
Place 1: Pam Mathison
Place 2: Eddie Gary
Place 3: Mike Keenan
Place 4: Dave Considine

The previous president, Chip Harris, was honored with a plaque by the previous executive council for his many (25+?) years of service to the neighborhood. Chip will remain on the executive council for the following year as the Advisory Chairman to assist in the transition.

Contact information for all of the members of the executive council is not yet publicly available.

Pre-K teacher Priscilla Fife is retiring

2008-05-07T19:08:00.001-05:00

Submitted by Luann Toney

Brentwood Elementary is hosting a retirement reception for her at HopeChapel on Thursday, May 29 from 3:30 - 5:30. We invite those who've known and loved her to attend the reception and/or send well-wishes to Ms. Fife at Brentwood. You can contact Brentwood's campus office at 414-2930

HopeChapel is located at 6701 Arroyo Seco.
http://www.hope.org/

Bios for Those Seeking Officer Positions in the Crestview Neighborhood Association

2008-05-03T11:15:00.005-05:00

The Bios for those seeking officer positions in the Crestview Neighborhood Association are now available with the following link

Bios for those seeking officer positions in the Crestview Neighborhood Association

If you intend to run for one of the 9 officer positions, please get your Bio into me no later than Sunday 11-May-2008 at my email address jslpublic@gmail.com.

Elections for the Crestview Neighborhood Association

2008-04-22T09:49:00.005-05:00

Crestview Neighborhood Association meeting will be on 12-May-2008 at 7:00 pm in Wozniak Hall (The Parish Activity Center) at the St. Louis Catholic Church on Burnet Road and St. Joseph (Morrow).

Elections for 9 Executive Officer Positions are held every year at the May meeting. The 9 positions are as follows:

1) President
2) Vice President
3) Treasurer
4) Secretary
5) Editor
6) Place 1
7) Place 2
8) Place 3
9) Place 4

Please see the Crestview Neighborhood Association ByLaws ( look to your left or click here ) for more information about the responsibilities of these positions. So far 11 residents, 7 existing officers and 4 existing members of Crestview NA, will be running for the 9 officer positions. I will be posting their bios by next week.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Membership in the Crestview Neighborhood Association will be required to vote for officers. You must be a member of the Association 1 week prior to the election meeting. This means you must be a member on or before 4-May-2008. This is 13 days from the day this article was posted. Elections and voting will be run as detailed in the ByLaws.

If you are interested in running for an officer position in the Crestview Neighborhood Association and would like to post your Bio on the website, please email me, Jonathan Locklin, at jslpublic@gmail.com.

If you need a Crestview Neighborhood Association membership form, please email me, Jonathan Locklin, at jslpublic@gmail.com.

The Parks and Recreation staff invites you to attend a meeting

2008-04-13T15:20:00.004-05:00

Submitted by Ricardo Soliz

Dear Neighborhood Association President, Neighborhood Representative, or Neighbor

The Parks and Recreation staff invites you to attend a meeting on:

Monday, April 14, 2008, 6:00 - 8:30 PM
O. Henry Middle School Cafeteria
2610 West 10th Street
512-414-3229

The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the future planning for updating the Parks and Recreation Long Range Plan. The goals for the meeting are to:

1. Outline the process for updating the Parks and recreation Long Range Plan;
2. Group discussion on identifying strengths, opportunities and challenges that exist within the Parks System within the Central Area in Austin;
3. Prioritize future opportunities for the next 5 to 10 years;

Please invite your members to attend. We hope to see you and your neighborhood at the meeting to assist with planning for the future.

If you have any questions prior to the meeting, please contact me at 974-6765 or Jenna R. Neal as 974-6790.

Ricardo Soliz
Division Manager

Planning Commission meeting April 8, 2008 Notes

2008-04-12T00:17:00.003-05:00

The following items were heard at the Commission on April 8, 2008

1) C14-2008-0030 - Lamar Blvd./Justin Lane TOD Station Area Plan
2) NPA-2008-0017.01 - Crestview/Wooten Combined Neighborhood Plan Amendment - Lamar/Justing Station Area Plan

Commissioner Jay Reddy fought for "public" / "parkland" open space for Crestview. Commissioner Chris Ewen fought for "public" / "parkland" open space for the entire TOD area. Please let Commissioners Jay Reddy and Chris Ewen that we appreciate their efforts to create "public" / "parkland" open space for Crestview and in our area in general

Commissioner Perla Cavazos fought for 1) a left turn from Lamar onto Morrow and 2) Morrow to be opened up to cross Lamar. If you feel so inclined, please let her know you opinion about this option. However Commissioner Clint Small interjected a change to this option stating that we should consider all East/West traffic flow along Lamar from Koenig Lane to Anderson Lane. Small's recommendation ended up being the one passed in the motion (see below)

Commissioner Jay Reddy - jay_reddy@dell.com
Commissioner Chris Ewen - chris@brandocular.com
Commissioner Perla Cavazos - pcavazos_planning@yahoo.com
Commissioner Clint Small - clint_small@hotmail.com

Below is the motion for approval and the recommendations made by the Planning Commission.

Lamar Blvd./Justin Lane Station Area Plan - PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 8, 2008
LAMAR BLVD./JUSTIN LANE DRAFT STATION AREA PLAN PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION

Motion: The Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the Draft Lamar Blvd./Justin Lane Station Area Plan and associated amendments to the Brentwood/Highland and Crestview/Wooten Combined Neighborhood Plans as presented by Staff with the following amendments:

1. Consider the dedication of public open space on the Austin Energy site and that other parkland be provided in and/or near the TOD District through parkland dedication funds;

2. Establish a Working Group to implement the Station Area Plan as soon as possible;

3. Ask staff to investigate methods of funding the proposed capital improvements to the Lamar Blvd./Airport Blvd. intersection;

4. Ask staff to study the potential of a parking benefit district where on-street parking fees are used to fund future capital improvements to the intersection of Airport Blvd. and Lamar Blvd;

5. Ask staff to examine methods of improving overall east-west movement along Lamar Blvd. between Koenig Lane and Anderson Lane with a goal of dispersing traffic load; and

6. Strongly recommend that the City Council:
a. Establish a clear and firm plan to help developers achieve the 25% affordability goal in the TOD Ordinance using the tools presented by the affordable housing consultant, Diana McIver and Associates;

b. Consider amending the scoring process for the allocation of affordable housing bond funds so that projects in TOD Districts are prioritized;

c. Designate CIP funds to infrastructure improvement projects within and connecting to the TOD Districts;

d. Prioritize fee-in-lieu funds generated from a development bonus in the TOD District for future expenditure within the TOD;

e. In order for a project that wishes to take advantage of a development bonus to be approved for the fee-in-lieu option, the Director of the Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department should work with the Community Development Commission to determine if a fee-in-lieu should be approved;

ACTION REQUEST

2008-04-10T14:48:00.010-05:00

Submitted by Steve Kuehner

Background…

At the Planning Commission Meeting held this past Tuesday, 4/8, city staff presented the draft plan for the Crestview Station TOD. During the public comment portion of the meeting CNA concerns (opposition to the proposed street connection of the Crestview Station development to Justin Lane and lack of pedestrian/bicycle connectivity) were presented to the commission. Thanks go to the neighbors that attended and spoke.

At the meeting two alarming requests were made by Highland Neighborhood leadership.

They stated their support of connecting the Crestview Station development with Justin Lane via a new street that appears in the recommendations as East Wind Drive. East Wind would connect with Justin and Justin would be connected to Canion Street east of Lamar.
They requested the re-opening of westbound access at the Morrow/Lamar Blvd. intersection. The Planning Commission seemed unaware of the reasoning for this limitation of access to Morrow St. not to mention the years of effort by Crestview residents resulting in the no left turn onto Morrow from north bound Lamar and the no west bound access crossing from east of Lamar.

Some of you are new to Crestview and may not appreciate the added safety and quality of life provided by this attempt to deal with cut through traffic. Traffic counts for westbound cut through traffic were reduced significantly.

As a result of this recent request, the Planning Commission has asked city staff to review the possibilities of re-opening this intersection in the context of reviewing the affect of east/west traffic flow brought on by the Crestview Station TOD. Re-opening this intersection flies in the face of the effort by Crestview neighbors to address cut through traffic, in this case, the traffic on Morrow St. If this change comes to fruition it would swamp any traffic calming efforts currently in the development stage.

At the April 24th City Council Meeting city staff will present the TOD plan including recommendations to re-open the Morrow/Lamar intersection.

ACTION REQUESTED

Let the City Council hear your concerns.

Contact council members prior to April 24th Council Meeting.
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/groupemail.htm

City of Austin
Name of Council Member
P.O. Box 1088
Austin, Texas 78767-8865

Mayor Will Wynn
Phone: (512) 974-2250
Council Member Lee Leffingwell
Phone: (512) 974-2260
Council Member Mike Martinez
Phone: (512) 974-2264
Council Member Jennifer Kim
Phone: (512) 974-2255
Mayor Pro Tem Betty Dunkerley
Phone: (512) 974-2258
Council Member Brewster McCracken
Phone: (512) 974-2256
Council Member Sheryl Cole
Phone: (512) 974-2266

Attend the City Council meeting on April 24th and sign up in opposition to demonstrate your support of CNA’s position.

Consider speaking at the City Council mtg. on April 24th. During the time set aside for public comment.

Points to consider when contacting council:

The Crestview/Wooten Neighborhood plan addresses the desire to limit cut through traffic on Morrow St. and maintain the current intersection design.
Traffic counts for westbound traffic on Morrow were considerably higher prior to the limitation of westbound traffic at Lamar Blvd.
The money spent by the city to create a diverter at that intersection and add no left turn signage was money well spent.
The city and state should work together to make access to Anderson Lane westbound at Lamar safer. This would result in the desired effect of traffic using Anderson Lane to head west, not neighborhood streets like Justin or Morrow.

Questions or concerns, contact:
Steve Kuehner, Vice President Crestview NA
459-9601

Barton Springs Pool Master Plan Town Hall Meeting

2008-04-02T20:49:00.004-05:00

Submitted by Jodi Jay with the city of Austin

We would like to invite members of the community to the Barton Springs Pool Master Plan Town Hall Meeting, Saturday, April 5, 2008, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, at Austin's City Hall, 301 West Second Street.

Barton Springs Pool has drawn people from all walks of life for generations. Public input is a vital to insuring the preservation of this historical landmark.

Below is a copy the Master Plan Town Hall Meeting press release please share it with the residents of your community. If you have any additional questions or comments please contact us at bspmasterplan@ci.austin.tx.us

Contact: Victor Ovalle,
Program Manager, Public Information and Marketing (512)-974-6745

City Seeks Continued Public Input on Barton Springs Pool Master Plan

The City of Austin seeks more public input on the Barton Springs Pool Master Plan, at a Town Hall Meeting, Saturday, April 5, 2008, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, at Austin’s City Hall, 301 West Second Street.

The Town Hall Meeting will be a half-day workshop, open to the entire community. This is an opportunity to learn more from the consultant team about the findings and recommendations made in the Master Plan report, and participate in discussions about the plan. City staff will participate in the workshop to discuss the future action plan for funding and implementation of the Master Plan. Comments can also be submitted to the following e-mail address: bspmasterplan@ci.austin.tx.us.

The public is invited to visit the following website for more information on the plan and to download a draft copy: www.cityofaustin.org/parks/bartonspringsmp.htm. The plan is also available for review at the Barton Springs Pool and the following libraries: Old Quarry Branch, Howson Branch, Hampton Branch, Twin Oaks, Austin History Center, Carver Branch, Terrazas Branch, and Cepeda Branch. You may also purchase a copy for $10 at Barton Springs Pool or Deep Eddy Pool.

The Barton Springs Master Plan project began with an October, 2006, City Council resolution that recognized an immediate need for improvements at Austin’s most famous swimming pool. It called for consideration of water quality and salamander habitat improvements, grounds improvements, infrastructure improvements and facilities improvements. Working from this resolution, City staff worked internally and with stakeholders for input, and they consulted previously commissioned studies and analyses to develop a task list. The master plan consultant team was given that list when hired in early 2007, and the list was used to develop a project scope. The team also received previous studies, information on earlier construction efforts and historical data on the pool, grounds and buildings at the site.

For more information about this meeting, contact Victor Ovalle at (512) 974-6745.

Crestview Neighborhood Activites

2008-01-11T14:37:00.000-06:00

Yes, I took the whole month of December off. Well I am back now. Welcome 2008!!!

Here is a short list of announcements:

There will be a open meeting between Crestview residents and City of Austin staff to discuss traffic issues and possible mitigation on our residential streets. It will be this Saturday 11 January 2008 from 10 to 12 noon at the Crestview Baptist Church located at 7600 Woodrow Ave Austin, TX 78757.

Newsleters are being handed out this weekend. Please be on the look out for them. You will see an article on the general Crestview Neighborhood meeting, an article from Constable Bruce Elfant, and an update article about the Violet Crown Community Works (Wall of Welcome dedication will be held 29 March 2008!).

Lastly, don't miss the Crestview Neighborhood general meeting Monday 14 January 2008 - same time and place. Representatives from Capital Metro will be there to discuss new commuter train testing, track enhancements, fencing along ROW, and quiet zones. If have other questions or concerns, please bring them to the meeting.

Wishing everyone a great new year!

TOD Meeting, Traffic Calming, and CAPMETRO Rail Update

2007-11-12T14:17:00.000-06:00

TOD Meeting

When: Tue, Nov 13, 5:30pm - 9:30pm
Where: 4700 Grover Austin Texas 78757
Description: Come to the First Unitarian Universialist Church for the next TOD meeting.

Traffic Calming

Pay attention to you snail mail. The city of Austin has chosen Crestview neighborhood as one of the neighborhoods to add traffic calming options. All residents of the neighborhood should get a mailing from the city.

CAPMETRO Rail Update

Did you hear horrible noises coming from the rail track several Sundays back? CAPMETRO is replacing some of the rail line through our area. From what I understand CAPMETRO has finished the noisy part.

Crestview will be getting a rail station with a glass canopy. They are already building it. Walk by for a look. I asked for an artist rendering of the station design. However Lamont (CAPMETRO rep) has not yet responded.

CAPMETRO will start testing their new rail vehicles. Initial testing of vehicles will be along the rail through Crestview (MoPac/Howard Lane down to 47th Street and Airport Blvd) from now until end of year. Testing will continue in 2008 along the entire line. All CAPMETRO testing will be between 7:00 pm and 5:00 am. Vehicle speeds will reach 20 to 45 mph.

Crestview Nerighborhood Meeting

2007-11-12T14:09:00.000-06:00

Please look for your newsletter. They were delivered this weekend. Hope you had a pleasant Veteran's weekend.

This evening (Monday 12th November), Crestview will have their monthly general meeting. Tejano Ranch will be there to talk about how they have been handling neighborhood issues. About 1 year ago they met with the Highland neighborhood association to discuss issues. Please bring any concerns or praises to the meeting this evening.

Knights Take One On The Chin

2007-11-12T14:04:00.000-06:00

Submitted byTom Davis

McCallum finished out their regular season when they traveled to Burger Field to do battle with the Crockett Cougars. When the night was finished the Knights couldn’t pull another come from behind victory out of their hat, going down to the Cougars 42 to 28.

McCallum came out on the field looking like they thought they had this game in the bag, but someone forgot to tell the Cougars that they were supposed to be underdogs. The Cougars jumped out to a 21 to 0 lead in the first quarter. McCallum was able to post 7 points on to their side of the scoreboard when Kevin Lusson connected with Xavier Jefferson on a 65-yard touchdown pass.

The Knights looked like they had finally woke up and pulled the score to within 7 on a pass from Lusson to Van Franks, making the score 21 to 14, Cougars. Crockett decided that a 7 point cushion wasn’t enough so they stuffed that cushion with 14 more points making the score 35 to 14, Crockett at the half.

The Knights appeared to have figured out how to stop the Cougars running attack in the third quarter holding the Cougars scoreless. The Knights scored on a 41-yard pass completion to Van Franks who snared the ball after 2 other players had deflected it; this brought the score to within 14 again and started what looked like another come from behind victory for McCallum.

In the final quarter McCallum continued to try and fight back closing the score gap to 7 on a touchdown pass to Jordan Cole. Then again the Cougars stepped up and said not tonight McCallum when they scored the last points of the night bringing the score to the final total 42 to 28, Crockett.

McCallum posted another impressive passing game with Kevin Lusson throwing for 354 yards on 19 completions. The Knights receiving corps was lead by Van Franks with 109 yards in receptions. The Knights running game could never get on track chalking up only 68 yards on 15 carries. McCallum could not figure out how to stop the Cougars running game with the Cougars posting 304 yards of rushing for the night.

With the help from LBJ who defeated Travis, McCallum has took 3rd place in the district, which gives them a playoff berth against Waller High School from District 18 4A. The game will be next Friday night at 7:30pm at A&M Consolidated Field in College Station, Texas.

Crestview and Brentwood Working Together

2007-11-08T16:24:00.000-06:00

Crestview and Brentwood neighborhoods have joined forces asking the City of Austin to consider reclassifying Justin Lane from an minor arterial to a neighborhood collector. See our joint request.

Many residents along Justin Lane have complained about traffic, truck traffic, down shifting to slow down, motor cycle racing, near misses with pedestrians trying to cross Justin Lane, and motorists running stop signs.

Crestview and Brentwood are committed to helping ensure that our neighborhood streets are pedestrian friendly as much as possible.

Crestview and Allandale Working Together

2007-11-08T15:51:00.000-06:00

Crestview and Allandale have been working together on 2 fronts now.

1) Crestview is supporting Allandale's lawsuit to fight big box at northcross with donations to their lawsuit fund.

2) Crestview is supporting Allandale's attempt to stop a developer from changing the agreed to VMU development options located at Burnet Road and North Loop (Antique Mall area) with a signed letter of support.

Last week, Allandale representatives called a meeting of surrounding neighborhoods. I attended this meeting for Crestview. There were Allandale, Brentwood, North Shoal Creek, and Crestview neighborhood representatives present. Allandale brought up their concerns with the VMU development on Burnet Road and North Loop and asked for a support letter from the neighborhoods. Crestview responded with this letter of support.

The concerns expressed at the meeting were:

1) Austin's implementation of VMU is not going as expected. Neighborhoods have too little power to influence, since VMU is an overlay and not a zoning change.

2) Affordable housing requirements are being dismissed by developers. *

3) How do we get controls to influence VMU development such that VMU development stays on track and meets the livable city goals.

* When I went to the Brentwood NA meeting on 7 Nov 2007, I heard the developer of the VMU project on Lamar Blvd. and North Loop area say that developers at most will do 10% at 80% (10% units at 80% of median income). He said that the better affordable housing numbers can only be met if the city provides subsidies.

Oh My! What A Game!

2007-11-07T17:04:00.001-06:00

Submitted byTom Davis

The McCallum Knights hosted the Travis Rebels in the annual, “Battle of The Bell Game,” before the home crowd at House Park last Friday night, and when the dust had settled McCallum retained their hold on the bell posting a quadruple overtime win 43 to 35.

For the second week in row the Knights took the game into overtime to keep their playoff hopes alive. This week’s game started out slow with both teams offenses failing to put any points on the scoreboard in the first quarter. Then in the second quarter the Rebels began to come to life running the score up with three unanswered touchdowns, which gave Travis a 21 to 0 lead at the half.

The Rebels came back after the halftime break and continued to light up the scoreboard adding another 7 points bringing the point spread to 28 to 0 in their favor. It was then that McCallum seemed to say enough is enough and started to fight back. The Knights scored twice on passes to Xavier Jefferson and Van Franks, to whittle down the point difference to 14 heading into the fourth quarter, 28 to 14. McCallum’s defense held the Travis runners scoreless for the remainder of the third and the all of the fourth quarter, which gave the McCallum offense a chance to make this game more exciting. The Knight offense did just what was asked of them when Jefferson scored on two more touchdown throws by Kevin Lusson. McCallum’s tying score was set up with McCallum recovering an onside kick, which lead to the second score. With the score knotted up at the end of regulation play 28 to 28 the Knights found themselves looking at overtime for the second week in a row.

Travis had the ball first in OT and were able to post the go ahead touchdown making the score 35 to 28. The Knights answered the calling with a touchdown of their own, ending the first OT period tied at 35. In OT 2 the Knights started out on offense but fumbled and Travis recovered. The Rebels were held for 3 downs and attempted a game winning field goal but it was wide and the game headed into OT 3. In third period of overtime both teams’ offenses threw interceptions, which threw the game into OT 4. Finally in the fourth period the Knights scored the go ahead points on a 3-yard run by Lusson, and a successful 2-point conversion to Vincent Ellis. Travis was unable to answer the score and the game ended with a Knight victory 43 to 35.

Next week the Knights travel to Burger Field and do battle with the Crockett Cougars at 7pm on Thursday night.

Allandale Lawsuit Court Hearing on Big Box Development at Northcross

2007-10-30T13:22:00.000-05:00

This article was posted on Allandale's web site. Crestview leadership encourages all interested residents to help out our community and our neighbors in Allandale. WE ONLY WIN AS A COMMUNITY IF WE SHOW UP WITH PRESENCE.

Copied off the Allandale Neighborhood web site by Tom Linehan

Court Hearing this Thursday, November 1

This Thursday, November 1, 2:00PM, at the Travis County Courthouse at 11th and Guadalupe, Allandale's motion for summary judgment will be heard. Please come. We would like a show of support from the neighborhood to make the point that responsible city government matters to us.

The motion for summary judgment is the case Allandale brought against the City. It's asking the judge to rule on whether Lincoln Properties' site plan violated city code which requires a public review process when a conditional use such as Wal-Mart's garden center is included as part of the development.

Allandale and RG4N both filed lawsuits against the City over approval of the site plan at Northcross. Because the two lawsuits overlap they were combined. This Thursday's hearing is specific to Allandale's motion for summary judgment. However, both Allandale and RG4N will be arguing the case. The trial date for the larger lawsuit that challenges the removal of trees on the property, runoff, and safety issues related to the increase in traffic brought against the city by RG4N is scheduled for November 13th. If the judge rules that indeed the garden center is a conditional use and should have triggered a conditional-use-permit process this Thursday, Lincoln will have to start over resubmitting their site plan that will be subject to the requirements of the new Big Box ordinance.

We don't yet know which judge will be assigned to our case, and won't likely know until the day of the hearing. However, we can be sure that it will be a judge who was elected by the people of Travis County. Come out and show your support.

It is IMPORTANT to maintain decorum at ALL times. We do not want to negatively influence any decision.

The Knights Make It A Clean Sweep Against Elgin

2007-10-30T13:19:00.000-05:00

Submitted byTom Davis

McCallum’s Varsity finished the week with a win over the Elgin Wildcats 36 to 29, making it a clean sweep for all three of the Knight’s football teams. Both the Freshmen and Junior Varsity defeated the Wildcats earlier in the week.

At the varsity game the Wildcats looked like they were prepared to defend their home turf when they jump out in the lead on their first possession, but the Knights came back and scored on both of their next possessions. Both touchdowns were either set up or made by long passes from Kevin Lusson to Vincent Ellis and Van Franks.

Both teams’ defenses kept each other from scoring in the second quarter. Clete Donovan and Dominic Carroll getting two Elgin turnovers highlighted the Knights defense.

The Wildcats were able to bring the game close when they scored in the third quarter but were unable to convert the extra point, making the score 14 to 13, McCallum ahead going into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter the scoreboard began to light up with both teams scoring. Elgin started out the scoring with a field goal giving the Wildcats the lead 16 to 14. McCallum was not to be denied and took the lead back on a 58 yard pass to Vincent Ellis making the score 22 to 16 McCallum. Elgin then answered the Knights with two touchdown runs, which brought the score back in favor of the Wildcats 29 to 22. McCallum tied the score up at 29 when Lusson called his own number and ran 12 yards for the score. The game ended regulation play knotted up at 29.

The Knights took the ball first in overtime from the Elgin 25 and Lusson threw the go-ahead touchdown pass for 25 yards to Van Franks. Adding the extra point the Knights took the lead again 36 to 29, challenging the Wildcats to score a touchdown and extra point. The Knight defense stepped up to the calling and held the Wildcats from scoring which closed the game with a McCallum victory.

The Knights offense was lead by the arm of QB Kevin Lusson who completed 17 of 31 passes for 351 yards. A host of Knight receiver’s lead by Van Franks with 168 yards helped McCallum bring home the victory.

Next week McCallum returns to House Park on Friday night at 7:30pm when they battle Travis for the bell.

McCallum Drops A Heartbreaker To Manor

2007-10-23T11:10:00.000-05:00

Submitted byTom Davis

McCallum hosted the Manor Mustangs last Friday night at House Park before a Homecoming crowd, but after both teams fought hard for the first three quarters, Manor pulled out ahead and handed McCallum a loss 42 to 28.

McCallum’s offense looked like it was going to take charge of the game on several occasions only to be bit by the fumble bug. The Knights lost 4 of 5 fumbles which helped make for it a long night for McCallum. The Knights battled back in the second quarter and went into the locker room at the half with a 14 to 7 lead. The Knights kept the game close through the third quarter trailing Manor by 1 point, 21 to 20. Then the floodgate opened up on the Knights with the Mustangs scoring 21 points. McCallum was only able to answer with 8 points of their own.

The Knights defense could not find the answer to stopping Manor’s Orrin Smith who ran through the Knights for 208 yards. Manor’s running game was set up by their passing game, which posted 212 yards for the game.

Next week McCallum travels to Elgin to take on the Wildcats. The game is Friday, Oct.26th at 7:30pm.