Aletha St.Romain
Co- Secretary, Rosedale Neighborhood Association
Rosedale Neighborhood Association Meeting: Monday Oct 28
Ramsey Park Update
Alison reported that Treefolks together with PARD will plant approximately 20 trees in November, at no cost to the neighborhood. Trees will be planted in pool area, near Burnet, and on the Rosedale St. side. Allison has a call in to the city to see who will be responsible for watering the trees. The committee will be meeting with PARD to see the next stage of the playscape design.
Because the estimated cost of the master plan exceeds $600,000 and we have $241,000 in mitigation funds the committee has been working on fundraising. The committee submitted a $50,000 grant request to the Austin Parks Foundation and an $84,000 project request to the City of Austin’s Neighborhood Partnering Program. We hope to hear back from these in November and December respectively. We need a 25% funding match for the NPP grant and we will be asking the community for help should we get the grant. The committee would welcome volunteers to help spearhead fundraising activities. We will continue to write grants and need volunteers to lead a “bricks and blocks” fundraising drive where donors could have commemorative bricks laid along the new pathway. We also need help seeking corporate and business support. If you would like to volunteer or make a donation, please contact the committee at ramseyparkproject@gmail.com.
City Council Districts
Leslie Pool and Dianne Holley Mountain gave a presentation on the proposed maps for ten council districts proposed by the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission and the Coalition for Compact Districts, seeking input and comment from the Rosedale NA.
There is one more public meeting that will take place before these plans are finalized on Dec 1.
Four original goals for the map drawing are in the charter amendment that was voted on last November: each district will have roughly equal population (80,000) in each of ten districts, to districts that, by population percentages, have a majority of minorities, create districts that are compact and keep intact communities of interest, and that will pass scrutiny of the Department of Justice under the Voting Rights Act.
Both maps were reviewed and compared, and those attending offered their opinions on boundaries for the district that Rosedale would be in: specifically, the room endorsed a compact district that keeps communities of interest together, and that the northern boundary extend no farther north than Hwy. 183. Both preliminary maps go significantly further north than 183 at this time. Leslie will be working to pull that boundary down to 183 and to advocate for that change with the Commission.
The final public forum for input on first round of map making is this Wednesday, Oct 30, 6.30-10 p.m. at the Asian American Resource Center, 8401 Cameron Road. Numbers are important at this meeting, and you don’t need to speak – although if you do, you can simply say you support Rosedale being in a district that doesn’t go further north than 183 and is compact, including neighbor areas in its vicinity with like concerns.
RNA news
Mindy has suggested that we double our yearly dues to $10. Vicky made the motion, Dianne seconded it, and the motion was passed.
On Oct. 19th, neighbors visited Lucinda Hutson’s garden and Jay Carpenter’s amazing garden. Another garden tour is planned for Nov. 16th. Contact Jay for more details.
It was suggested that some type of neighborhood-generated artistic addition be added to the new traffic roundabouts. Any additions should be able to be driven over and won’t interfere with the function of the roundabouts.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:15 pm.