Please join us for the monthly Mueller Neighborhood Association Steering Committee Meeting evening at 7:00 PM.
Date: Wednesday, February 2nd
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Due to Covid-19, our meetings are currently being held online using Zoom.
Special note: Survey provided for MNA Events. Please take a moment to fill it out. See below for link.
Join Zoom MeetingID: 960 7276 1148 Passcode: 766787
MNA Steering Committee meeting Agenda – February 2nd, 2022
- Welcome and thank you by Koreena Malone (3 mins)
- Zoom picture by Koreena Malone (5 mins)
- Minutes Approval and Process by Ann Hart (5 mins)
- Front Porch Flyer update by Kathy Sokolic (20 mins)
- Bylaws Committee Update by Shelly Baldwin (3 mins)
- Presentation from Vivienne Heines , Senior Epidemiologist with the City of Austin, and Karen Swenson (30 mins)
- Survey created for General Meeting
Break (5mins)
- Quarterly POA Transition update by Karen Sharp (10 mins)
- Equity Team Update (Book Club / Anti-Racism Training) by Joy Butler (5 mins)
- TUP Update and Housing Notice by Josh Rudrow (10 mins)
- Voting Process by Shelly Baldwin (5 mins)
- Agenda for General Meeting, February, 19th, 2022, next Steering Committee Meeting, Adjourn by Koreena Malone (10 mins
———————————MEETING MINUTES——————————–
Minutes of the Mueller Neighborhood Association (MNA) Steering Committee. ——- AWAITING APPRVOAL–
February 2, 2022
The Zoom meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm by Chair Koreena Malone. Quorum was established.
Steering Committee members present: Shelly Baldwin, Joy Butler, Erin Gaines,Brett Hall, Koreena Malone, Mary Ellen Mondi, Josh Rudow, Sarah Seraj, Karen Swenson, and Marta White, ex-officio
Steering Committee members not present: Ann Hart, Damaris Nicholson, Paula Rojas, and Jason Sears
Guests Present: Andrew Clements, Vivienne Heines, Karen Sharp, and Kathy Sokolic
Koreena opened the meeting with a welcome and thank you to those present. Koreena took a Zoom picture of all Steering Committee members present to post on the MNA website.
The Minutes of the 1/05/2022 SC meeting were approved as submitted by Ann Hart via email. Minutes will be uploaded to the SC google drive.
No Treasurer report was made in the absence of Jason Sears, our Treasurer.
Kathy Sokolic gave an update on the Front Porch Flyer. She shared a little of the history of the FPF. The FPF was originally printed and delivered to porches of the residents. As the neighborhood grew, it was not possible to continue hand delivery. An online version was tried but was not successful. Peel Inc has been publishing and distributing the FPF for the last three years. At the beginning of this year, Peel Inc notified Kathy that it would no longer provide this service. Due to Covid, increase in expenses and decline in advertising revenues, it was not profitable for them to continue publishing the FPF for free. They would publish and distribute it for about $800 a month. For right now,the FPF will be digital while other options are explored. There was a suggestion to make it a newsletter and email it through Mailchimp. Josh Rudow mentioned a program called “IF This, Then That” might be used to upload the FPF to the MNA website. Brett Hall asked what our goals were with the FPF. Kathy said the goal was to get stories out to help build community. Kathy will share this update at the MNA General Meeting on February 18, 2022.
Shelly Baldwin gave a By-Law Committee update. A committee has been established and will have their first meeting on February 16th. They are looking at the By-Laws of other neighborhoods.
Koreena introduced a guest speaker: Vivienne Heines, Senior Epidemiologist with the City of Austin. Ms. Heines is a Covid epidemiologist and provided an update of Covid Dashboard. We are currently at Stage 5. Even though cases are declining she is not sure we have reached our peak and they are watching a new variant. The virus burns through susceptible populations and each time a new variant appears, it has to go through the susceptible population again. Experts do not feel herd immunity will ever happen because of this. Most experts feel we will have a yearly booster shot.
Karen Swenson presented a powerpoint on MNA Event Planning in the Covid Era. (Preventing a Superspreader Event) She said that we currently have between 10-20 people at MNA SC Zoom meetings and around 50 at the MNA Zoom General Meeting.
She shared the Austin Public Health Risk Chart for each Covid Stage. Currently we are in Stage 5 but the transmission rate is going down. When making decisions about event planning, the stage of Covid and Vaccination Status of participants drives everything. She suggested we could use the City of Austin small gathering acknowledgement form. This outlines safety procedures to follow during events such as screenings, masks, social distancing and sanitation procedures. Vendors would follow the same guidelines. The whole challenge is how to live with the virus safely. A survey will be developed by Sarah Seraj and Marta White to determine how the Mueller community feels about having large and/or small events (like block parties). The survey will be posted on Mueller Neighbors and also shared at the next general meeting. This will help us decide about Spring events.
Karen Sharp gave a quarterly POA Transition update. The committee has been meeting with Catellus for over two years to prepare for the transition. February 17 the committee will meet to discuss ;
- Event Committee- This committee will establish policies for events held in the parks.
- Rowhouse Committee- POA is proposing that the committee be elected and report to the Master Board of the POA.
- Recruitment Committee- As property owners are elected to the Master Board, we need a committee to recruit people for positions on the board. They will recruit to provide candidates that represent all of Mueller.
- They will also recommend simplifying and have a homeowners association and a commercial association. Currently, the board structure is Master board, Mixed Use, and ECPS. They are requesting to change residential and commercial boards.
- They are also working on “Frequently Asked Questions” for residents.
Koreena asked if POA was going to make a statement about the ATX Horns incident. Karen said that at this time, Catellus is still in charge and Greg Weaver, owner of Catellus did make a statement about the situation and that Catellus was taking action to make sure the ATX Horns could continue to practice in the park. Koreena asked if Catellus looked at what happened and what they were doing to make sure it didn’t happen again. Karen said when we transition, we should be sure people who share our same views are on the committee. Koreena also asked about an infographic to explain the difference between POA and MNA. Karen stated she is working with Brian D. / POA President to locate a graphic. Shelly Baldwin asked how renters could get this information. Andrew Clements said MNA should get information out to renters since Town Square is for property owners. Karen Swenson suggested reaching out to Apartment owners to get info to renters. Shelly said it was hard just to get information about what is going on in the building so she is not sure that would work.
Joy Butler gave an update for the Equity Team. She said they just wrapped up a book study on How to Be Less Stupid about Race by Crystal M. Fleming. They had a full class of 10 people and received good feedback about the class. She also shared a link for the workshop, “White People Working for Racial Justice” for those who may be interested in signing up for it.
Josh Rudow provided an update from Transportation and Urban Planning. He encouraged everyone to provide input on the ATX Bike, Walk,Roll campaign. They are trying to determine how to spend the money available that is equitable. He pointed out several trails that would impact Mueller that we can upvote on the map. He also provided a link and will repost on Mueller Neighbors Facebook page. He is trying to get as many Mueller residents as possible to give input on areas that need improvement. Deadline is March 6th to vote.
Josh also reported that the Kensington Apartments(3310 Manor) which has been a naturally occurring affordable housing has been bought and they are using tax credit to renovate. The renovation will be a few units at a time. The MNA has previously approved a letter of support but Josh will be emailing a new letter of support to all of the SC prior to our next SC meeting in March. The SC will vote on the letter at the next meeting.
Shelly Baldwin gave an update on the voting process for our Zoom Meetings. After a vote, Shelly and Karen will count and verify that each voter is a member of the MNA. The results will be shared to show who voted in favor, against or abstained.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:11pm by Chair, Koreena Malone.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of Ann Hart, Marta White