Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Meeting Minutes January 25, 2017

RWC
January 25, 2017
Annual State of the City Meeting
City Hall

Secretary Kelly Dixon called the meeting to order. There were 30 members present. RWC thanks Terra Yeske for acting as Hospitality for the meeting. 


Treasurer Nicole Julian was absent, but sent a report. 2016 taxes have been filed with IRS online

December 31st, 2016  Bank Balance $27,988.69
January activity 
        Holiday Party expenses paid $1022.72
        Direct Mailing paid $1076.37 (September and December postcards)
        5k sponsor deposit $1000.00

Current account balance is $26,899.60

Kelly announced to members that the $16,000 that the RWC pledged to the rebuilding of the lower wall has been returned. The RCDC will cover that costs. Members are asked to start thinking about fund requests for a future meeting. 

Kelly then announced the winners of the Annual Lights Contest. 
3rd Place, The West Family of 4919 Timberline
2nd Place, The Schindler Family 3304 Gentry Drive
1st Place The Fitzgerald Family of 442 Ridgewood Drive
And Life Time Achievement Award to Diane and Bob Dillard of 2810 Pickwick Drive

Fourth of July Chair, Krista Dillard is looking for a co-chair or two to help shoulder the parade responsibilities. 

The RWC 5k Chairs Tomoko Hall and Omaira Brightman updated members on the progress of the race which is scheduled for Friday, April 28 at 6pm. There will be a planning meeting at Las Palomas on February 8 at 7pm. 

Chief Dwayne Pryor was introduced and informed members that the department is fully staffed at nine full time officers with nine reserve officers. Crime is way down, and he highlighted December 2016 in particular. No burglaries, thefts or auto thefts were reported. He credited several elements with the decrease, including neighborhood watches, relationships with neighboring police departments and that police cars will follow delivery trucks delivering packages to dissuade potential thieves. 

In 2017, he plans on reestablishing the relationships with the Eanes School District. He considers the greatest challenge ahead to continue to be telephone scams and identity theft. Typically, callers will pose as the Travis County Sheriff’s office with an arrest warrant, jury summons, or taxes. All scams ask for payment immediately. He asks members to put the word out to neighbors. This is a difficult crime to prosecute because it can often originate outside the country.

There was discussion about traffic issues, particularly changes in speed limit signs on Bee Caves. A sign was incorrectly changed from 40mph to 45mph by the state. There were also calls for increased enforcement at Rollingwood Drive and Riley stop signs, as well as more eyes on Gentry. Several members were concerned with the McDonalds entrance at Westbank and Rollingwood drive. The visibility of intersection Hatley Dr and Ridgewood was of concern. Pryor pledged to station officers at areas that need additional attention, and upgrade signage.

Pryor also encouraged parents to bring kids into meet police officers and attend National Night Out which usually happens late summer. He also thanked members for participation for Brown Santa.

Next, RWC welcomed Mayor Roxanne McKee. She began with a thank you to members for offering to cover the costs of the lower wall and for the Trader Joe’s gift cards that the city staff received for Christmas. 

The Lower Park Retaining Wall project is complete and the park will be open in the next few days. 

Next, she addressed the cities’ plan for Oak Wilt prevention, which includes a $125,000 budget to trench active oak wilt centers.  She reminded members that there is a ban on trimming from February 1-June 30th. Look in your water bill for further information. The city is in process of looking for city arborist with Oak Wilt certification. 

As for the South Mopac Expansion, Rollingwood is officially against plans that would put double decker bridge over Lady Bird Lake. The city prefers two proposals that would add two express lanes both ways, but that keep all lanes on one level. There is a workshop at City Hall next Monday, February 6 at 7pm with Amy Pattillo and Wendi Hundly to address this. 

McKee told members about MS4 Compliance, which is a Federal and State law that addresses storm water run off. This includes fertilizer, pet waste, branches and leaves. Even organic matter can cause blockages and nutrient pollution that encourages algae growth. She also reminded members that all fallen and trimmed tree branches will get picked up by regular trash collection. 

She also presented members with photos of recently damaged sewage lift stations and  grinder pumps. Each repair is around $1,000 and is typically a result of unprocessable items being flushed down toilets or sinks, such as baby wipes, feminine products, egg shells, glass shards and coffee grinds. 

The Park Commission is updating the parks master plan. Look out a for survey from Survey Monkey.  There will be public meetings with the Parks Commission on February 23 and March 22 meetings 7pm at City Hall. 

Spring clean up is March 17 and 18th. Dumpsters will be at upper park. 

There was some discussion of the proposal to add a cell phone tower to the neighborhood. Though a new cell phone tower could potentially generate significant income and increase reception, the original proposal had a huge foot print, so plan is on hold. 

Kelly dismissed the meeting. 

Minutes submitted by Kelly Dixon

Approved by Marissa Miraur

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