President Danny Langfield called the meeting to order at 7:06 pm. Christina Muller, a personal fitness trainer, from “Passionately Fit”, sponsored the meeting.
Jim Bedrich moved to accept the minutes of the January 14, 2008 WNA meeting. Debbie Danforth seconded the motion. The minutes were unanimously approved.
Treasurer’s Report: Carolyn Spock reported for Janie Riley that WNA has $1,295.92, and 31 paid members.
Ad hoc committee reports;
Danny explained the structure of the committees. The Ad-hoc Committees act as an advisory to the Executive Committee, and propose recommendations. The Executive Committee is to be held accountable for ideas stated to the general membership.
· Technology – Victor Engel: The front page of the WNA website is new. It contains information of the next meeting, contact people, map of our boundaries, and minutes. The forum and yahoo groups can be accessed from this main page. The email list has been removed. Members are encouraged to use the yahoo group as a vehicle for sharing information. Victor should be notified if members are registered with the yahoo group. Victor will give a tutorial about posting to the forum to the Executive Committee and committee chairs.
· Budget and Finance – Janie Riley: (no report)
· Crime and Code Enforcement – Adam Turner: He is fielding emails re noise in the area. Members should note dates, times, and address of disturbance. Call APD or 311. Some people have approached the violators directly. Contact Adam via the Web page. Christina Muller filed a complaint form on-line to report a situation, and said it is easy to complete. Steve Rogers reminded the audience that effective March 30, the Wooten NA area would be under the police of Baker Sector, rather than Ida. Boundaries of sectors were changed at the department level.
· Social and Fundraising – Sarah Reams: She is looking for volunteers for the Social Committee. Some activities proposed for fundraising events are a car wash, garage sale, craft sale, coupon book, and having a restaurant give a percentage of proceeds to the WNA on a specified evening.
· Membership – Betsy Thaggard: A plan was proposed to hand deliver flyers to each house within the boundaries of the WNA. May 1 is the designated evening to stuff the mailers. The itemized budget allotment for Membership is only $500, which is insufficient to cover a direct mailing. The recruitment plan also includes asking each member to bring a neighbor, calling those without email on the phone, and distributing a printed handout. A possible solution is the redeployment of yard signs. Dale Ritzen was asked to look at the current locations. Sarah Reams suggested finding sponsors for new yard signs. Imron Goldstein reported that Zingers hardware store has been supportive of neighborhood efforts, and may be a source to approach for funds.
· Community Relations – Marilyn Rogers: She reported that the new library being built on Steck had to postpone its opening date to January 2009 due to the roofing contractor quitting the project. Clean Sweep activities will be on Saturday April 5. Neighborhoods are encouraged to fix an eyesore in their areas with supplies being provided by the City of Austin.
· Transportation – Beverly Kimbrough: This committee is being reinstated. Adam Turner requested monitoring of pedestrian safety at the rail crossing at Anderson and Wooten.
Old business concerned the Website www.wootenna.com. WNA needs one place where people can go for information. Comments, and inquiries should be posted to yahoo group, and considered the primary source of communication. Yahoo automatically gets forwarded to your home email if the user requests that option. The Forum is more topic-oriented, and considered more permanent. Go to the Forum for information on various topics.
Christina Muller was introduced to the group. She is a personal fitness trainer at “Passionately Fit”, located at 38th and Lamar. Her business helps with strength training, cardiovascular exercises, and muscles. She sponsored this meeting because she cares about the neighborhood.
New business items included yard parking, mobile food application, and committee recruitment.
Yard Parking: Vice-President Carolyn Spock investigated Wooten Neighborhood’s current status re restricted parking in yards. Our Association’s boundaries are “in” until we “opt-out”. No further paperwork needs to be filed.
Committee Recruitment: President Danny Langfield recruited members to serve on the various committees. The committee chairs (x) will serve their terms for the remainder of our fiscal year to be joined by:
Technology: (Victor Engel) Betsy Thaggard, Carolyn Spock
Budget: (Janie Riley)
Crime and Code Enforcement: (Adam Turner) Steve Rogers, Victor Engel, Andy Casey
Social and Fundraising: (Sarah Reams) Laura Langfield, Imron Goldstein, Debbie Danforth
Membership: (Betsy Thaggard) Danny Langfield, Marilyn Rogers, Joanne Clem
Community Relations: (Marilyn Rogers) Elaine Granoff, Carolyn Spock and Adam Turner
Transportation: (Beverly Kimbrough) Steve Rogers, Joanne Clem
Mobile Food Vendors: President Danny Langfield explained that WNA could apply to the City to have extra limitations put on where food vendors can have their business, based on the time of operation, and how close they are to homes. All vendors must be licensed by the Health Department. The application is due March 11, and must be accompanied by a copy of the WNA minutes, and an affidavit from the President of WNA. This application can be resubmitted in February 2009. Marilyn Rogers moved to postpone filing this application until January 2009 to study the various mobile food vendor locations in our neighborhoods, and document possible violators. Ginny Vragel seconded this motion. The motion to postpone filing was carried by majority.
Open Discussion: Elaine Granoff expressed that the value of the neighborhood decreases with people parking in their yards. Also, mention was made of noise ordinances in the City re musicians playing in their homes.
Betsy Thaggard motioned to adjourn the business meeting, seconded by Adam Turner. The motion was approved, and the meeting adjourned at 8:20 pm.
Guest speakers were Steve Ramirez and staff from the City of Austin Code Enforcement Department. They presented a 20-minute video on what code violations look like, and responded during a question and answer session.
Next meeting is scheduled for May 12, 2008 at 7:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Rogers
WNA Secretary