The hybrid meeting was called to order at 10:14am by Committee Vice Chair Preston Tyree after confirming quorum. The meeting was recorded and archived.
Steering Committee (SC) Members present: Joy Butler, Brett Hall, Ann Hart, Greg Keller, Chris Ruzin, Sarah Seraj, Karen Swenson, Preston Tyree, Kaz Wojtewicz.
Guest Reports
Micheal Jones reported that the PIAC met on March 14th and focused on three agenda items: 1) Update on the trails; they’re just about complete except for a section behind the new middle school; 2) Transition Work Group is about to expire due to city rules about work groups; there are still some loose ends to address; the work group may end up being replaced by a “contact team”; 3) regarding membership, the City has waived term limits for 5 commission members who have already been on for 8 years, including Micheal; Mueller resident Josh Rudow is the newest member of the Commission. Next PIAC meeting is April 11th at the Austin Energy building. For more details about the PIAC (aka Mueller Commission), follow this link:
https://www.austintexas.gov/content/robert-mueller-municipal-airport-plan-implementation-advisory-commission There are also some meeting records on Youtube.
New Business
Joan Quenan shared a “redline document” with proposed changes to the MNA bylaws. She summarized the changes saying that most represented grammatical corrections and rephrasing to eliminate redundancy and/or confusion. Specifically, she highlighted that the MNA is a 501(c)4; “Associate Members” would be called “Sponsors” in keeping with current practice; meeting frequency would be changed from “at least quarterly” to “monthly meetings that can be canceled,” and quorum at general membership meetings would be 10% of members or 20 voting members whichever is larger at any given time.
Since there were no questions or discussion, Joan moved to adopt the proposed changes. Greg seconded and the motion passed.
Chris R. shared the latest version of the proposed 2023 MNA Budget. He noted that since Spring Fling had been cancelled, its line item in the budget had been deleted. Also, regarding events, going forward our goal is for sponsorships to cover most/all the cost of our big events. There was some discussion about the size of our cash reserves along with some proposals for how to spend it. Joy encouraged neighbors to submit their project proposals to the Neighborhood Engagement and Inclusion Committee for consideration. The Committee, in turn, will share the top suggestions to the Steering Committee.
Chris moved to approve the 2023 MNA Budget as presented. Sarah seconded and the motion passed.
Sarah drew attendee’s attention to the meeting time poll link embedded in the meeting agenda and asked everyone to complete the poll.
Membership–Karen Swenson reported that the MNA has 150 paid members as of today.
Block Captains–Taylor Youngblood reminded neighbors about the upcoming get-togethers for Block Captains: 3/26 in person and 3/27 on Zoom. She apologized for scheduling the meetings during Ramadan.
Eid—Saamiya Seraj reminded neighbors that the Eid event will take place on Saturday, April 29th. Special guest Zo Qadri, our City Council representative, plans to attend. The committee is still recruiting vendors and volunteers. Everyone is welcome to help and attend. The 2022 Eid event was very well-received.
Transportation and Urban Planning—Kaz noted that the letter we co-signed with some other community organizations about the proposed I-35 expansion had been sent to TXDOT. Ty added that he had attended a CapMetro meeting recently and learned that transit in and around Mueller will increase over the next few years making public transportation more accessible and convenient. While most of the proposed routes would travel along Berkman, one attendee wondered if Tilley might be better.
Joan reminded everyone that the Yard Sale is set for April 1st from 8am to 12noon. Trucks from Salvation Army and Goodwill will come to the neighborhood at noon to pick up unsold items. Neighbors should display their items in front of their homes, not in the alleys. Apartment residents should ask their respective building managers where the best place to set up would be. Alternatively, apartment residents could consider partnering with a neighbor who live in a yard home or row home.
Announcements
Next Steering Committee Meeting: 4/6/23
Next General Membership Meeting: 4/15/23
HONK!TX 4/1/23 http://honktx.org/
The meeting adjourned at 11:05 am.
Respectfully submitted,
Ann Hart, MNA Secretary
Note that all documents mentioned in these minutes are considered part of the meeting record.