The Austin City Limits Music Festival will take place over two consecutive weekends: Friday, October 3rd through Sunday, October 5th, noon to 10pm; and Friday, October 10th through Sunday, October 12th, noon to 10pm.

The event will significantly affect area traffic conditions and public recreational use of the park during event hours. Our neighborhood access via Barton Springs Road/Azie Morton is affected. Visit the links provided by the City below for interactive park access maps and detailed road closure information.

This Neighborhood Letter provides a good summary of the details.

Event Overview

• Event Dates: October 3 – 5 and October 10 – 12
• New Event Times: 12 PM – 10 PM each day (previously 11 AM – 10 PM)
• ACL Music Festival Guide – Guide | Austin City Limits Music Festival
• ACL Music Festival FAQs – https://support.aclfestival.com/hc/en-us

City Resources

• Mobility Guide Map – Zilker Park Access, Road Closures, and Bicycle Detours
• Austin Center for Events – Load In / Weekend 1 & Weekend 2

• 311 Service Requests – Mobile app or call in (general feedback – the app is useful because it allows photos)
• Neighborhood Phone Line – 512-806-7906

Neighborhood NO PARKING restrictions will be in effect (view map for locations). Signed “no parking areas” are actively enforced only on event days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday).

The City advises that sound or other neighborhood concerns should be reported by dialing 311 or using the Austin 311 mobile app.

Local ABC affiliate KVUE TV included a nice feature on their 6:00 PM News about the Barton Hills July 4 Parade that included video of the parade, the party afterwards at Barton Hills Elementary, and reporter Andrew Chung even interviewed several kids who participated in the parade. Be sure to check it out on the KVUE web site and let Andrew know what a great job he did on the story!

The Neighborhood Habitat Challenge is an annual contest organized by the Austin Parks and Recreation Department in conjunction with the National Wildlife Federation. The goal is to make Austin a more wildlife-friendly city. To date, Austin has more than 1,700 certified wildlife habitats in the city, according to the Wildlife Austin! website. Nationwide, there are more than 150,000 NWF certified habitats.

Here’s how you can make your little piece of Austin a part of it:

1. Turn your yard into a wildlife-friendly habitat. There are four elements you need to transform your yard into a habitat: food, water, cover and places to raise young.  In addition, practice two sustainable gardening measures — such as maintaining a chemical-free lawn, planting native species and conserving water.
2. Complete the Wildlife Habitat Certification form on the NWF website. You can also download and print the form. There is a $20 fee for certification, but pre-paid applications are available by sending an email to wildlife@austintexas.com. A limited number of applications are available.

The three neighborhoods with the most new certifications by Nov. 14 win recognition from the City of Austin, as well as prizes. Prizes for past years have included neighborhood picnics, tree giveaways and wildlife workshops.

For more information about the program, check out the challenge guidelines and FAQs. For more details about how to get involved, email Melissa Hawthorne.

By Melissa Hawthorne

The Greenbelt is truly one of the bright spots of living here in Austin. After the hustle of the week, I make time to go wander in the Greenbelt. I see some other folks wandering, as well, and wonder how many people here in the neighborhood take advantage of this respite. If it’s been awhile since you’ve enjoyed this gem in your backyard, now is a good time to go. The maps at the bottom of the page can give you a better idea of where the best access points are.

Depending on your skill level, there are several entrances you could choose to enter the Greenbelt. No matter which access point you use they all lead to the creek. If you are looking for a nice wide “main” trail — really wide and level — take the Greenbelt access through Zilker on the south side of Barton Springs Pool or the Spyglass entrance (from the Mopac side), which is actually across from the Homedale entrance.

The 360 access point is also fairly simple to navigate and, when you get down into the Greenbelt, you can go either south or north. Going south takes you toward the Wilderness Park, a developed trail not quite as large as the Zilker entrance. Going north toward Gus Fruh is stunning in its own way. The Gus Fruh entrance is definitely one of my favorites.

The Barton Hills access point, on Homedale, is a little more challenging, but once you’re there it’s absolutely exquisite. Staying on the neighborhood side on Homedale and Gus Fruh, the trail kind of dead ends; however, since the creek is not flowing now due to drought, you can easily cross to the other side of the creek to get to the “main” trail.

When the water is flowing, Homedale has the “rapids” and “falls” that kayakers love to navigate, as well as a small swimming “pool” beside the rapids, and Gus Fruh has the large swimming hole that families and dogs share. The 360 area has climbing walls just the other side of the creek. Climbing walls can also be found between Gus Fruh and Spyglass on the main trail across the creek from our neighborhood entry trail.

• Barton Creek Greenbelt
• Barton Creek Greenbelt (East)
• Barton Creek Greenbelt (West)

The Barton Hills Neighborhood Association Neighborhood Watch program was featured in a front page story in the Austin American-Statesman today, complete with a color photo of Neighborhood Watch chairman John Luther and several volunteers. The story recognizes the efforts of the Neighborhood Watch program in our community and points out the significant reduction in several categories of crime since its inception.

You can check out the story at the Statesman site online or view this PDF version if the online version has been archived.

Barton Hills – On the Skyline of Austin – Advertisement dated May 27, 1956 (3 pages)

Barton HIlls – White Has Top Post For Area – Newspaper article from October 2, 1955 reporting management of Barton Hills development being assumed by Mr. Shirley C. White

We’ve had some questions about getting onto the neighborhood listserve. It is a two-step process.

1.  You must become a member of the association and pay your $10 dues. You can do this in two ways.

• a. Join online at http://bhna.net/membership.html You can use the paypal link on the right-hand side. If you don’t have a paypal account, it’s pretty easy to set one up.
• b. Join by mail at http://bhna.net/form.html Print out the form and send it to the address on the form. There is a place to check whether or not you want to join the listserve on this form. If you check the box, you will be added automatically.

2. Once you are a member (remember this listserve is a privilege of membership.) Visit http://bhna.net/listserver.html and click on the link that says barton_hills-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to send a message to our membership coordinator/Vice President Penley McQueen. He will approve listserve ownership after verifying that you are a member.

You can also renew at the next neighborhood meeting, which is on January 26th at 7 p.m. or by cutting out the form that is in every newsletter and distributed to 1200 households in our neighborhood every quarter and mailing it to the address on the form.

If you have applied and would like to join but still haven’t heard anything, you can let Penley McQueen penley_mcqueen@yahoo.com know. But please be patient. We are a completely volunteer-run organization.

Speaking of which, MEMBERSHIPS ARE DUE. They renew annually in January. Although the crime is terrible, it is nice to see a little uptick in membership because of it.  One of the association’s big goals this year is to increase membership in the association and the number of people on the listserve.

Warmly,

Wendy Papasan
President, Barton Hills Neighborhood Assn.
(512) 297-9431
wpapasan@kw.com

If you’ve never been to the annual fundraiser get ready, you’re in for a treat! This Friday, October 23rd, from 6-9pm hundreds of neighbors will converge upon the elementary school to jump in bouncy houses, throw beanbags at their favorite teachers hoping they will get dunked, eat all sorts of delicious treats, play games, win prizes, run shrieking through a maze and generally have the best time ever!

This year’s theme is exploration – think maps, oceanic creatures, ice fishing, a chopstick challenge and food from every continent – there’s something everyone will enjoy! So pull on your hiking books and climb Mt. Everest to the
best carnival yet!

DeAnn Eisenhauer

There will also be a pie contest, wine toss, kid’s activities such as craft tables, face painting, and stuffed animal walk. We will be selling cactus and aloe babies from our abudant flower bed on the corner to benefit the gardens at St. Mark’s so we can continue to beautify the neighborhood. As always Maggie’s Cafe will be open and this year we have veggie burgers and kids meals.

Proceeds benefit the church and its Outreach programs.

For more info contact St. Mark’s Church at 444-1449. As always thank you neighbors for supporting the Barton Hills School and St. Mark’s Church through the years. We live in such a great neighborhood! Let’s have fun this weekend and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Becky Nolan

Don’t forget about the 1st Annual Barton Hills Ice Cream Social, happening this Sunday, October 11, from 2-4 pm. Take a break and join us for a cone and some conversation!

The Austin Ice Cream Truck will be at the school playground-please show caution on Barton Hills Drive-to hand out free ice cream cones! First come, first served.

Special thanks to Wendy Papasan for donating the ice cream, which she won in a charity auction!

See you Sunday!!

Kimberly White Erlinger
President, Barton Hills Neighborhood Association