Cherry Creek View

Deed Restrictions

2008-10-13T15:59:00.000-07:00

The deed restrictions covering properties in the Cherry Creek on Brodie neighborhood are now available online.

Section.10.A.PDF

Section.11.PDF

Section.12.PDF

Section.13.PDF

All.Sections.PDF

President's Corner

2008-08-10T06:41:00.001-07:00

Dear Neighbor,

Our deed restrictions are a set of rules and guidelines to which all property owners in the Cherry Creek on Brodie Lane neighborhood are subject. They were created by Milburn Homes to ensure continuing quality and proper maintenance of the neighborhood, and you should be able to find your specific set of restrictions with your title documentation from when you purchased your home.

The Cherry Creek on Brodie Lane Neighborhood Association was given the right and the responsibility to enforce these deed restrictions, which is why we occasionally send reminder letters to neighbors who are out of compliance. In the heat of the moment, those who receive these letters may feel like they have been singled out or targeted, perhaps by a board member or a neighbor, but that is not the intent. Rather, the intent is to provide a friendly (but seriously intentioned) reminder that the recipient has some work to do to get their property up to snuff.

Both to improve our enforcement of the deed restrictions as well as to procedurally ensure that enforcement action is uniform and fair, I am instituting a quarterly audit in which we will inspect the whole neighborhood (as seen from the street) and send out a single batch of warning letters. If you should happen to receive one of these letters, we hope that you will take in the the spirit that it was intended and use it as an opportunity to maintain your house to the same standard to which you'd expect your neighbors to maintain their own.

All the Best,
Percy Wegmann

Independence Day, Land Ownership and Control

2008-07-10T06:19:00.000-07:00

We've had another great 4th of July celebration. We don't have official counts, but my eyeballs tell me that we had one of our best turnouts ever for both the parade and the picnic. The Austin police department provided us with a large police escort and music, Erica provided fun for the kids and the weather cooperated with tolerable temperatures and clear skies.

We had great informal discussion amongst our friends and neighbors, and we also spent some time discussing what to do with the eight and one half acres to the south of Kangaroo Lane. The message from our neighbors was loud and clear - the land needs to remain as open space. We have since met with a representative of the current owner and are working out a plan to ensure that this happens.

Spending time in our wonderful park celebrating our country's independence did remind me that from time to time, people with ill intentions use the park not for recreation but for other purposes. It is an oft cited cliche that freedoms which go unused tend to disappear. Well, we enjoy the freedom to use our beautiful park, and I am confident that the more we do this, the more we show that it is ours and that it is meant for recreation, the more likely we are to be able to keep it as we like it. So my call to action is this - go out and use the park! And if you ever encounter anyone engaged in activities that make you uncomfortable, contact the police.

All the Best,
Percy Wegmann

President's Corner

2008-06-07T06:14:00.000-07:00

The July 4th weekend will soon be upon us, and as is tradition, our neighborhood will have a parade and a picnic. In addition to being a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our freedoms, it will also be an opportunity for us to exercise them by taking some time to discuss what to do about a parcel of land at the end of Kangaroo Lane that was offered to our neighborhood a long time ago. At the picnic, your board will present various options for what to do with the land and facilitate an open discussion amongst our members and residents.

While we're on the subject of freedom, I know that many of you feel that your freedom to turn out of and into our neighborhood isn't what it should be. As previously mentioned, the city is working on installing a traffic light. In addition to this, we have been able to confirm that the developer of the shopping center across from our entrance has engaged an engineering firm and applied for permits to begin construction of a left-turn lane on northbound Brodie. The timing of this is unclear, but we will stay on top of it to make sure the project progresses.

Freedom also means participation, and one of the ways that people participate is by contributing to their neighborhood by volunteering for our association. One of our volunteers, Linda Criss, served as a board member and as our newsletter editor for the last year. She is now moving on to other things and will be succeeded by Carmen Martin. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Linda for her work on the newsletter and in building a more friendly, cohesive community here in Cherry Creek. I would also like to thank Carmen for stepping up and volunteering to take over and also to say that I'm excited to have her on board (no pun intended). Linda and Carmen will be creating our July newsletter together and Carmen will take over editorial responsibilities starting with the August edition.

As other board members reach the end of their terms, we will need more volunteers throughout the rest of the year. If you want to participate, please contact us at board @ cherrycreekonbrodie.org. There's never a better time to get involved than now.

Cheers,
Percy Wegmann

President, Cherry Creek on Brodie Lane Neighborhood Association

Urgent Notice for Cat Owners in Cherry Creek

2008-05-14T05:42:00.000-07:00

One of our neighbors reports the following:

"Just wanted to let everyone with cats know that their is a gray tom cat with white paws roaming the neighborhood that is infected with the FIV virus(equivalent of HIV in humans). Our cat was bitten by this tom cat and now has the virus. PLEASE DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOUR CAT. Whomever owns the cat, please get your cat tested and keep them from roaming; it will only spread the disease to other cats."

Cornell's veterinary school provides a page with some good basic information about FIV:

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/fiv.html

President's Corner

2008-05-08T20:25:00.000-07:00

We've got a lot going on right at the front of our neighborhood, and I'd like to recognize the individuals that are making it happen.

You may have noticed a bunch of new plantings at the front entrance. As the signs say, these are your dues at work, so the first thank you belongs to all the paying members of our neighborhood association. The second thank you belongs to the landscaping committee, who procured competitive bids, organized the work and continue to maintain a watchful eye to make sure the landscapes are being properly maintained. The committee includes Charlotte Petersen, Kristy Brown, Fritz Parker, Carla Trautwein and Erica Taylor. In addition to our paying members, you can also thank Fritz, Carla and Erica for organizing the rehabilitation of our marquee sign.

The other major development you may have noticed is some construction at all four corners of the Brodie and Silk Oak intersection. As most of you have probably figured out, these are the foundations for a traffic light! Most people upon hearing this news jump for joy and then proceed to ask what finally made the city give in. The official story is that traffic volumes finally met one of the warrants required to justify installing a light. The unofficial story is that your neighbor, Robert Ruiz, stepped up and escalated the matter to the mayor's office, which promptly sent someone down to our neighborhood to observe the situation first-hand. So, the next time you see Robert, give him a big thank you and, if you're so inclined, ask him if he'd like to join the board!

The work on the traffic lights is supposedly scheduled to complete sometime before the end of June. Meanwhile it's on to the next battle -- getting a north-bound left-turn lane put in on Brodie.

All the Best,
Percy Wegmann

2008 Membership Strong

2008-04-06T10:03:00.000-07:00

When our neighborhood association voted to increase dues to $60 per year, it caused some concern as to whether or not we would continue to see strong membership participation. I am happy to report that as of the first quarter of 2008, we are already at over 80 member households and growing. This is fantastic news for two reasons:

1. It shows that past members are still committed to the neighborhood and
2. It means that we have achieved our goal of improved funding for neighborhood maintenance and other activities

Consistent funding is vital - while the City of Austin maintains our parks, our neighborhood association is solely responsible for maintaining the landscaping at our front entrance and organizing and funding activities like the annual 4th of July parade and picnic.

Board Unanimously Approves Joint Resolution on the Davis Lane / Westgate Corridor Planning Process

2008-04-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

The Cherry Creek on Brodie Lane Neighborhood Association board unanimously adopted the below resolution:

Joint Resolution
On the Davis Lane / West Gate Corridor Planning Process

Grateful that the City of Austin has made available funds for the improvement of roadways in the area bounded on the west by Brodie Lane, to the east by Manchaca Road, to the North by Davis/Deer Lane and to the south by Slaughter Lane (the “Planning Area”, shown on the attached map);

Recognizing that the Planning Area has experienced and continues to experience rapid growth and is in dire need of infrastructure investments;

Cognizant that Cowan Elementary School is located within the Planning Area and that Austin Independent School District (AISD) officials have indicated a need for improved school bus and vehicular circulation at Cowan;

Determined that available funds be invested in a manner that addresses the priorities of residents in the Planning Area;

Further determined that available funds not be diverted to projects outside of the Planning Area;

Knowledgeable about specific proposed projects that have been presented to residents of the Planning Area, neighborhood leaders and AISD officials by City of Austin Public Works Department staff;

Acting on the currently available information, anecdotal information from area residents, and limit traffic data and projections from the City of Austin and the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO);

Now therefore do the undersigned, representing more than 5,000 households, commuters, business owners, parents, and school children, come together to make the following resolution:

We the undersigned resolve that the City of Austin Public Works Department present the Urban Transportation Commission with a comprehensive proposal that addresses the Planning Area priorities below in a manner that places an emphasis on the safety of pedestrian and vehicular traffic, especially as it involves children, and with an overall timeline that reflects the given priorities:

Priority One: Improve access, mobility, and safety along Davis Lane by widening the road section bounded on the west by Brodie Lane and the east by Zeke Bend, to include improving access to Cowan Elementary by providing turn lanes where Kentish Road intersects Davis Lane for safe access to the school, and creating AISD's requested circulation areas at the school itself for buses and cars; and

Priority Two: Apply any unspent funds to widen the road section of Davis Lane bounded on the west by Leo Street and the east by Manchaca Road.

We the undersigned further resolve that the City of Austin Public Works Department revise and accelerate the timelines for the following unanimously accepted and fully funded projects to avoid skyrocketing construction costs and dangerous increases in local traffic:

- The widening and realignment of the section of Davis Lane from Brodie Lane to Corran Ferry Drive; and
- The final connection of the section of Davis Lane from Leo Street to Huebinger Pass.

Neighborhood Garage Sale Saturday April 12

2008-04-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

We're holding our annual neighborhood garage sale on Saturday April 12, starting in the morning around 8 and going as late as people are willing to go. The association is posting ads in the paper and on Craigslist, so just put out your stuff tomorrow and sell, sell, sell!

Notes from Meeting with Public Works Department to Discuss Local Road Projects

2008-03-06T18:45:00.001-08:00

To begin, I'd like to extend a huge thank you to Dominic Chavez from Castlewood-Oak Valley. He has been organizing area residents to work with the City of Austin to come to a consensus around which of various city-proposed road projects would be most beneficial to our area.

The latest of his efforts was to broker a meeting between neighborhood leaders and staff from the Public Works Department, which just concluded. I here attempt to report the facts of the situation as explained by the various attendees:

Coming into the meeting, there was broad agreement that projects to realign Deer Ln west of Brodie with Davis Ln east of Brodie as well as to close the gap in Davis Ln between Huebinger Pass and Leo St. should proceed as planned.

The project for closing the gap between Huebinger and Leo is approximately 80% through the design process, but still requires land acquisition which usually takes about 1 year
The project to realing Davis with Deer is not scheduled to complete design until October of 2009 and also requires land acquisition, which could proceed while design is ongoing

The two big open issues were what to do with Westgate (complete the missing section, not complete the missing section, or something somewhere in-between) and what kinds of improvements could be made to Davis Ln east of Brodie
City staff indicated that both Brodie Ln and Manchaca are operating at service level "B", meaning that they are supporting acceptable (by the City's standards) traffic flow
City staff estimates indicated that a completed 4-lane Westgate Blvd would draw about 8700 trips per day. Long-range CAMPO (Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization) estimates are around 8900. For comparison, Brodie draws about 22,000, and a 2 lane Westgate would be expected to support approximately 10,000 trips per day at "acceptable" levels
Previously, some residents had suggested compromise solutions to the Westgate extension that were intended to address the concerns of AISD with regard to Cowan elementary but without completing Westgate. City staff clearly indicated that they do not consider these options to be viable specifically because they do not create a contiguous Westgate, which the city's plan calls for.
City staff also indicated that minor improvements to Davis Lane might be possible, but that widening it to 4 lanes is out of the question because CAMPO's plan only calls for it to be two lanes (between Brodie and Manchaca).
A representative from DR Horton, which is developing some condominiums across Westgate from Cowan, south of Davis, indicated that they posted approximately $400,000 in fiscal warrants from improvements to Deer, but nothing for Davis.
According to city staff, fiscal warrants from developers are rarely enough to fund whole projects since they only cover that development's impact to area traffic.
City staff indicated that from a timing perspective, it was unlikely that the Westgate funding would be used for any new projects that have not already been funded. However, due to the nature of the construction process and a trend of increasing costs, the longer they wait to build the Westgate project, the more likely it is that the money will have been diverted to other (already funded) projects that may experience increased baseline costs or cost overruns and that at some point the Westgate extension becomes impossible.
City staff indicated that a design for a 4 lane contiguous Westgate has now been 100% completed and that they are just waiting on area residents to make a decision
City staff also indicated that redesigning Westgate as a 2 lane roadway would be possible and take about another 60 days. This was city staff's recommended option if residents didn't like the 4-lane Westgate
City staff requested that residents give them an answer within 30 days (best case) or 60 days if that's not possible. They would like to go before the Urban Transportation Commission with a consensus, but will go before them without one if necessary. What they would recommend in that case was unclear. Dominic Chavez will be setting up a follow-up meeting for just the neighborhood leaders to discuss further and hopefully come to a conclusion

Board Members Inspect Location of new Building at Brodie Heights

2008-03-01T10:15:00.000-08:00

Board members Barbara Statum and Carla Trautwein took a walk over to the newest building going in at the Brodie Heights condominium development north of Cherry Creek on Brodie. They report that the building appears to be no closer than any of the existing ones and looks like it is in compliance with setback requirements.

Notes from February 27 Austin Neighborhoods Council Meeting

2008-02-27T16:59:00.000-08:00

The Austin Neighborhoods Council held its monthly meeting yesterday. In addition to its regular business, the meeting included a panel of speakers from Austin Independent School District (AISD) addressing the audience and answering questions about the interim school bond election scheduled for May 10, 2008.

AISD Interim School Bond Discussion
Vincent Torres (AISD Board of Trustees, District 4, Vice President) explained the basics of the bond process:

When board decides that a bond might be needed, they form a citizens bond advisory committee (CBAC)
Advisory committee explores if and when a bond is needed and for what it is needed. This can include public hearings to collect public comment
Board considers recommendations and calls a bond election if necessary

Robert Schneider (AISD Board of Trustrees, District 7) delved into the history of this specific bond:

- It started out as an interim strategic bond
- It was originally scoped at 200 million dollars
- As a result of recent legislative action, school districts are required to get voter approval to raise taxes by any more than 1.17, which promted AISD to consider whether it might want to include more in the necessary election
- Several public forums were organized by the CBAC
- After receiving feedback from the CBAC, the board decided to pursue a larger bond election

Nan Clayton (CBAC) addressed some specifics of what is included on the bond:

- The so-called 4 x 4 state mandate requires new facilities
- Several facilities are operating at over 125 % of capacity, which is officially considered overcrowded
- The State legislature is requiring a transition to use of more software-based textbooks but without having funded the required technology

Mark Yzanga (CBAC) addressed some of the issues and lessons learned from the process:

- Citizen comment started as tepid, perhaps because no concrete proposals were provided at the beginning of the public comment period
- Lack of integration/overall city planning process made it difficult to come up with accurate estimates

Q&A followed:

- One person expressed concern about locating the proposed South Austin High over the acquifer - Rob responded that building a school would be good for the environment because it would result in less impervious cover than other permitted uses
- Propositions 1 and 2 on the bond issue are pretty much directly taken from the CBAC recommendations
- Prop 3 addresses the need for performing arts center in light of the fact that the long center may not be suitable due to lack of parking. Some concerns were raised about the structuring of Prop 3 and whether or not it might be politically motivated.
- According to nan clayton, none of the bond packages include library improvements.
- There is a facility use and boundary committee that is responsible for making recommendations about changing boundaries to improve facilities use
- South High School land acquisition is expensive because of size requirements of highs chools and potential impervious cover requirements

Candidate Forum

At the upcoming Austin Neighborhoods Council meeting in March, they will be holding a candidates forum for the three Austin City Council seats up for election in May. After the forum, the Austin Neighborhoods Council will vote on deciding whom to endorse.

Other Austin Neighborhoods Council Business

- It turns out that single member districts cannot be on may ballot because it is too early for a charter election (has been less than 2 years since the last one)
- Some of the city council members are proposing a resolution to further investigate single member districts, which would probably take long enough to keep it off the november ballot
- The Austin Neighborhoods Council would like to see a real public process for drafting the single member districts ballot

Board of Directors and Officers

2008-02-24T09:56:00.000-08:00

At this time, the Cherry Creek on Brodie Lane Neighborhood Association's Board of Directors consists of the following individuals. Officers are indicated with their office in parenthesis.

Percy Wegmann (President)
Silkgrass Bnd

Carla Trautwein (Vice President)
Lightwood Loop

Barbara Statum (Secretary)
Silk Oak Cove

Kristyn Brown (Treasurer)
Silkgrass Bnd

John Schatte
Tea Rose Trail

Linda Criss
Tea Rose Trail

Carmen Ramos
Silkgrass Bnd

Erica Taylor
Silkgrass Bnd

Fritz Parker
Lightwood Loop

Charlotte Peterson
Lightwood Loop

City Councilwoman Jennifer Kim Introduces Austin Residents to Google Earth Initiative

2008-02-16T09:10:00.000-08:00

On the morning of February 16, Jennifer Kim and several city staffers gave a demonstration of how the City of Austin is starting to use Google Earth for visualization of current and future buildings in the downtown business district and the north side of Ladybird Lake. The project is still in its very early stages, and the exact goals weren't yet clear. From public comment, it was evident that people are interested in the following main issues:

Data - where is the data going to come from, who is going to pay for its acquisition and how is the city going to make sure that data used for decision-making in the planning and zoning process is accurate?

Integration - How will this new system be integrated with the existing GIS and public records data?

Access - Google Earth is a heavyweight tool. How will those without the ability to use it at home get the necessary level of access.

Street-level View - From the demo, it looked like the software doesn't do particularly well with street-level views. This could be a problem when trying to visualize the impact of proposed developments to our cityscape.

All in all, Google Earth looks like a very powerful tool that could have a positive impact on the planning and zoning process and the city does have some limited budget allocated to pursuing it, but it sounds like it's going to take a while to get up and running with it.

I would not expect that the city will be acquiring data for our part of town anytime soon, but the tool for creating 3D models itself is openly available (Google Sketchup) and it sounds like it might be possible to pull in some of the city's existing terrain and building footprint data from their website and do our own models, if we are so inclined.

Austin Green Neighbor Program

2008-02-10T08:07:00.002-08:00

Our neighbor Phil Brown forwarded the below announcement from the City of Austin:

BECOME A GREEN NEIGHBORHOOD!

When Austinites are asked what they like best about our city, our outdoor lifestyle is always near the top of the list. In large part that’s because we are surrounded by accessible waterways – the creeks, lakes and springs that connect us to our environment.

The City of Austin’s Green Neighbor Program helps homeowners preserve our waterways as well as our drinking water supply. The companion booklet, Clean Creek Challenge, provides useful suggestions on earth-wise landscaping, water conservation, car and pet care tips, toxic chemicals and many more. You can use the booklet as a helpful reference, to test how “green” you are, or take part in the Clean Creek Challenge by scoring your earth-wise actions to win either passes to Barton Springs pool or Green Neighbor t-shirts. If enough of your neighbors become Green Neighbors, you can become a Green Neighborhood and be eligible for Council and web site recognition as well as some neighborhood beautification awards.

If you would like a Water Quality staff person to attend your meeting and introduce the program, please call Kathy Shay, 974-2446. To learn more about the Green Neighbor program please visit www.cityofaustin.org/watershed/greenneighbor/.

Copies of the Green Neighbor booklet are also available at all Austin libraries or 505 Barton Springs Rd, 11th floor.

You could be rewarded with prizes for helping out, but more importantly, you will be rewarded with clean and plentiful water for us and future generations!

Regards,

Sara Heilman

Water Quality Education

City of Austin, Watershed Protection Dept

512.974.3540 (wk) 512.466.6798 (c)

512.974.2846 (fx)

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/watershed/education.htm

Green Living Tip

2008-02-10T08:02:00.000-08:00

Our Neighbor Pat Laird forwarded us a green living tip from the Sierra Club:

If you’re in need of lumber, consider buying from ecofriendly wood providers. The Forest Stewardship Council has approved 59 million acres of timber forest in 47 countries for their environmentally responsible practices. Friends of the Earth also has buying tips on its Good Wood Guide site

Announcement of Shred Day Record Management Event

2008-02-09T08:01:00.000-08:00

Shred Day 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
7:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Austin High Parking Lot
1715 W. Cesar Chavez

With the increased awareness of identity theft, it’s important to dispose of personal records carefully. To highlight this, the Association of Records Managers and Administrators and the City of Austin is sponsoring a Free event to help individuals and families with:

* Home records management
* Identity theft protection
* Recycling

Households can bring up to five file boxes of paper records for shredding. Mobile shredding trucks from Austin Shred, a Balcones Resource Company, CenTex Shred and Iron Mountain will be on-site to shred the material.

Restrictions:

* No wet material
* No plastics/binders
* No electronic media

For more information contact Jannette Goodall at 974-9045 or via email at Jannette.goodall "at" ci.austin.tx.us

Traffic Management Updates

2008-01-10T09:07:00.001-08:00

I've spoken with a couple of Austin city engineers to ascertain what's happening with regard to getting the intersection of Brodie and Silk Oak under control. Here's the latest:

Traffic Light - A city engineer responsible for traffic signals has promised to visit the intersection again now that the auto parts store has opened. He also plans to commission another traffic count. As you may recall, the traffic count performed last summer did not yet show high enough traffic to justify a light, but we're hoping that's changed with the opening of the store.

Left-Turn Lane on Northbound Brodie - According to the city engineer I spoke with, the developer of Brodie 31 is responsible for putting in a left-turn lane and needs to do so immediately. The engineer's boss has promised to contact the developer and notify him that the left-turn lane needs to be put in ASAP, or else the city will disallow left turns into the shopping center.

Traffic Count at Silk Oak Drive and Silk Oak Cove - The city once again has some funding available to do traffic calming and they are starting to collect data to analyze the situation in our area. We expect to hear from the city engineer heading up this project.

The Cherry Creek on Brodie Lane neighborhood association has also concluded our own survey on our neighborhood's traffic priorities. Based on eight residents responding by the deadline of 12/31/2007, we saw the following results (listed in decreasing order of priority):

Realign Deer and Davis at Brodie
Install Traffic Light at Silk Oak and Brodie
Extend Westgate between Cameron Loop and Slaughter
Widen Davis Between Brodie and Leo
Install a No U-Turn Sign on Southbound Brodie at Silk Oak
Complete Davis between Huebinger Pass and Leo
Install a Cut-Through Turn Lane on Southbound Brodie for the Brodie Heights Neighborhood
Time the Lights on Brodie at Slaughter and at David to Create Gaps in Traffic for People Turning onto Brodie

2008-01-01T00:16:00.000-08:00

There are currently no online member service listings. The teenage job seeker listings were removed for security reasons. If you are a member of the Cherry Creek on Brodie Lane Neighborhood Association and would like to advertise services online, please contact board@cherrycreekonbrodie.org.

2007-12-26T20:24:00.000-08:00

City of Austin Considering Changes to City Council Districting Scheme

Currently, all city council members are elected "at large", meaning that they represent the entire city of Austin. The city has formed a Charter Revision Committee that's studying the possibility of electing some or all council members from geographically specific districts, referred to as "single-member districts".

As part of the evaluation process, the city is asking for feedback from Austin residents. You can go to http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/charter/ for more information and to complete a survey. If you're unhappy with the level of attention we receive from the city, this process may present an opportunity for you to increase our visibility in Austin's governing processes.

As always, feel free to contact your board if you have questions or comments.

2007-12-25T11:36:00.000-08:00

2007 Christmas Lights Contest Winners

Well, the results are in, the people of Cherry Creek on Brodie have spoken, and the conclusion is unmistakable - everyone's a winner! Well, okay, we do have some official winners, but the many ballots that residents turned in reflected a diversity of tastes and a neighborhood that likes to decorate.

So, without further ado, here are the results:

1st Place - 9600 Kangaroo
2nd Place - 9305 Lightwood Loop
3rd Place - 3311 Silk Oak Drive
Most Innovative/Creative - 3311 Silk Oak Drive
Best Nativity Scene - 3201 Grasshopper
Best use of Color - 9604 Kangaroo
Children's Favorite - 9332 Lightwood Loop
Honorable Mention - 9 way tie (3323 Grasshopper, 9309 Lightwood Loop, 9332 Lightwood Loop, 9425 Lightwood Loop, 3311 Silk Oak Drive, 3206 Silkgrass, 3207 Silkgrass, 3306 Silkgrass, 3308 Silkgrass)
Write In - 4 way tie (9434 Lightwood Loop, 3311 Silk Oak Drive, 3112 Silkgrass, 9401 Tea Rose Trail)

I took advantage of our warm Austin winter to walk around last night and see the many wonderful designs that your neighbors have concocted and it was a real treat.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-22T14:48:00.000-08:00

OHAN CRIME ALERT – December 21, 2007

Yesterday, OHAN sent an e-mail to our neighborhood representatives concerning the return of the BB gun attacks theSouthwest Austin area experienced last year. OHAN is now in possession of additional information, so I wanted to get an alert out to the full e-mail list. Below is an APD Crimestoppers report on these incidents. Usually, the targets have been the rear windows of SUVs parked in the street or in driveways. Many OHAN member neighborhoods have experienced these attacks, but neighborhoods along Escarpment Blvd (Circle C, New Villages at Western Oaks, Legend Oaks I and II) seem to be the most affected.

What you can do:

Park cars in garages if possible.
If you have to park your car outside your garage, back it into your driveway. This is because front windshields are more resistant to BB and Pellet guns than rear windows.
Report ANY suspicious activity to APD, the Travis County Sheriff’s Department and/or the Precinct 3 Constable’s office. APD has recommended that calls be placed with 911 rather than 311.
Some neighbors have reported a “loud” full size white pickup truck (presumably with a muffler noisemaker device) driven by three white males in an area where BB gun attacks occurred. Be on the lookout for a vehicle matching this description and report it to the police if it is being operated in a suspicious manner, particularly between the hours of 11pm and 5am.
OHAN will be setting up an e-mail account to collate reports from neighbors about these attacks and forward them to the authorities. Please send any incident reports or information on BB gun attacks to crime@ohan.org (note that this account may not be active immediately as we only began the process of setting it up today).

APD seeks help on vehicle vandalism
Tuesday, December 18, 2007, 11:37 AM
From the Austin Police Department:
Austin Police Department Northwest and Southwest detectives are seeking the public’s assistance to help identify suspects responsible for criminal mischief offenses that have occurred since August 2007 in the northwest and southwest parts of the city.

The suspects have been targeting mostly SUV-type vehicles, shattering the rear windows with what detectives believe to be a BB or pellet gun. In most cases, nothing has been stolen.

To date, there have been more than 400 reported cases in northwest and southwest Austin with the incidents occurring between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. The damaged vehicles were parked either in a driveway or on the street in front of the owner’s home.

The Austin Police Department asks residents to call 911 on any suspicious persons or vehicles during these times of the night.

Individuals with specific information about this incident or the suspect are asked to call Detective M. Gutierrez at 974-5954 for Northwest, Detective M. Feinartz at 974-8252 or Detective B. Buck at 974-4748 for Southwest or CrimeStoppers at 472-8477. CrimeStoppers will pay up to $1,000 for information. These cases remain under investigation by APD Northwest and Southwest detectives.

2007-12-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

First Night Austin, December 31 2007

On New Year's Eve, downtown Austin transforms into one big art and entertainment gallery as welcome's the New Year in the First Night celebration. Find out more at: http://www.firstnightaustin.org/

2007-11-11T16:09:00.000-08:00

Fourth Quarter Neighborhood Meeting Held Today

We discussed topics ranging from neighborhood watch to our annual budget, and the one recurring theme that emerged was "community". Charlie Criss and Fritz Parker presented the information that they've assembled in their drive to re-invigorate the neighborhood watch program in Cherry Creek, and their message was clear - neighborhood watch isn't about a handful of block captains patrolling the neighborhood, it's about people looking out for each other and keeping the lines of communication open. Looking at the capital projects added to our wish list today, I see that most focused around enhancing our public meeting spaces, be it by providing more seating, building more grills or creating smaller gathering spaces around the neighborhood. And while we've heard some feedback to the contrary, today's consensus seemed to be that continuing to sponsor activities that bring neighbors together is a good thing.

As a board member, I'm happy to engage our residents and members in conversations around where to take the neighborhood, and as a resident of the neighborhood I'm just plain happy to meet people. To that end, I'm going to start holding president's hour with coffee and snacks at my house from 7 PM to 8 PM on the second Thursday of every month, starting on December 13. I'm in the white one story at 3307 Silkgrass Bend and I hope to see you around some time!

Cheers,
Percy Wegmann

2006-04-25T17:23:00.000-07:00

First annual CCOBLNA neighborhood garage sale was a runaway success!

We had around 30 households participate and experience strong traffic throughout the morning and early afternoon. The board would love to find out who made the most money--if you had a good day, please write us and tell us how you did. We'd also love to hear what was the most unique item sold, or any other fun stories you'd like to share. We'd also love to hear feedback on whether or not you'd like to do this again next year, and whether or not you'd like to do it earlier or later in the year.