October BHNA Newsletter online

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The October 2005 edition of the Barton Hills Neighborhood Association newsletter is now available online in PDF format. Highlights this month include:

Message from the President (Debby Kalk)
Barton Hills Future (Howie Richey)
Membership Missive (Debby Kalk)
Sample Neighborhood Plan and Planning Points
The proposed “Music in the Park for the Arts” fundraiser event at Barton Hills Elementary
Greenbelt Guardian Glee-nings (Glee Ingram)
Take a (side)walk (Jen Stuart)
Zilker Botanical Gardens – A Garden in Peril (Dr. Craig Nazor)

Greenbelt Guardian Work Day October 29

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Saturday, October 29, 8:30 AM – 2:00 PM
Gus Fruh entry, 2642 Barton Hills Drive

Dear Barton Creek Greenbelt Fans,

The season has finally changed (108 degrees in late September?!), and its time for another quarterly work day to tend our adopted greenbelt trails. This will be our eleventh work day since we began this community commitment. In writing up the Final Report for our Austin Parks Foundation grant, I calculated the number of volunteer hours we have contributed since the beginning of our Greenbelt Guardian Program in March, 2003: it is 1,316 “on the ground” work hours! At the City’s “volunteer rate valuation” of $10.65/hour, that is a value of $14,015 contributed to the care of our greenbelt. Our heartfelt appreciation of this wonderful resource is very clear.

I hope we will have a large showing of volunteers for this next work day, because we have another ambitious work plan! We will finally be able to work on replacing the blown out retaining wall at the intersection of the Gus Fruh Trail and the large swimming hole area in the creek. The charming natural cedar bench there has about an inch of soil left to hold onto, as does the Sycamore tree next to it. We plan to construct the wall with large stones harvested from the creek, combined with rebar, wire, and mortar, for flood water readiness. John Cook and Stan Ostrum will guide the creative construction process.

We’ve also got plenty of other tasks: entry trail weeding & edge repair, trailside pruning, invasive species removal, small repairs to the new trail drainage catch basins, a couple of new drainage swales, seed collection & replanting, and trash pick-up.

Please RSVP so we can plan appropriately. Be sure to wear closed heel shoes, long pants and sleeves, and bring work gloves and a water bottle. We will be providing all of the tools and materials, plus energy drinks and water and cups and lunch. PLUS some Halloween treats! You are invited to come with costume elements to stimulate even more than our usual amount of fun and goodwill –

Glee Ingram
Greenbelt Guardian Coordinator

BHNA Events and Milestones – Fall 2005

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Hi folks,

Here’s a summary of what’s coming this fall for BHNA:

1. The City of Austin’s Neighborhood Planning kick-off meeting for the South Lamar Corridor – October 1 at Unity Church, 2806 Del Curto.

2. Newsletter – the deadline for articles, ads, and other submissions is October 1. The newsletter will be mailed to members on about October 14.

3. Nominations – it’s time to think about our officers for 2006. We have several positions open and welcome your suggestions!

4. Budget – it’s also time to consider budget requests for 2006. If you would like to have a project considered, please submit your detailed proposal by October 1.

5. General meeting – our next BHNA meeting is Tuesday, October 25 at St Mark’s. If you have something for the agenda, please let me know before October 1.

Questions? Comments? Let me know. Thanks,

Debby Kalk
President, BHNA