The Allandale Reporter

In the Statesman's Opinion

In case you missed it, the Austin American-Statesman's editorial board wrote the following editorial concerning the outcome of the lawsuits regarding the planned Northcross Supercenter in Friday's paper, "Benefits and risks of Northcross activist." To summarize, fighting city hall can be a noble effort but advised against appealing the decisions. It would be costly and look at what happened to SOS. We had a weak case. If it were a Whole Foods, we wouldn't be fighting it. Hating Wal-Mart does not a legal case make. Be happy with the concessions we received. It will be a greatly improved mall, a convenient superstore, and we will have more shopping choices. Your opinion?

Back From Iraq – An Interview with First Lieutenant Alex Hooper

submitted by Tom Linehan

I sat down with First Lieutenant Alex Hooper in mid-December, two weeks after he returned from Iraq. His parents, Mike and Vera Hooper live in Allandale where Alex grew up. He went to Gullett, and to high school at St. Michaels. He graduated from West Point in 2005. Alex is 25 and single. He is a First Lieutenant with the third battalion, eighth cavalry regiment at Ft. Hood. What follows is an interview I conducted with Lt. Hooper to learn firsthand what it’s like to be stationed in Iraq. Alex is a very fit and bright individual. He has a good sense of humor but also impressed me as being confident in his role as an officer in the army. I read about the Iraq war in the newspaper everyday and listen to it on the news but Alex is the first person I’ve talked to who has been deployed to Iraq who could talk about it from a soldier’s perspective.

Q – You just returned from Iraq after a 14 month tour of duty, where were you stationed?

Lt. Hooper – I was stationed in the Salah ad-Din province in central Iraq. It’s about 30 miles north of Baghdad. One of the more well known cities in the province is Samarra City. I lead a platoon of 32.

Court Rules in favor of the City

Late yesterday afternoon Judge Orlinda Naranjo issued her ruling against RG4N allowing Lincoln and Wal-Mart to move forward on development of the 192,000 Supercenter on the west side of the Northcross property. You can read the judge's ruling here and RG4N's response to it here. For more information about the ruling, read today's Austin American-Statesman's article, "Judge says Wal-Mart can be built at Northcross Mall," by Katie Humphrey and Sarah Coppola.

Beautification Update

Dec 13, 2007 - Linnea Anderson, Beautification Chair

Update on Trimming and Mowing along Great Northern
Austin Energy Trimming Around Power lines – dealing with the contractor

1.  Trimming and Mowing along Great Northern
Key points:
This week two crews are working along Great Northern. One Crew is trimming and the other crew is mowing.

• The trimming is for the City of Austin, but paid for by Austin Energy.
• The mowing is for Union Pacific, and is being done by Easter Seals.

Chronicle's take on the Solicitation Ordinance Public Hearing

Last week the city council tabled any changes to the city's solicitation ordinance until staff collected more data/information on panhandling in the city. Here's a link to the Austin Chronicle's take on last week's public hearing by Wells Dunbar.

December issue of Allandale Neighbor

Well maybe it's not as good as santa arriving but almost. The December issue of the Allandale newsletter will be delivered to your doorstep in the next day or two. And speaking of the holidays it includes a great article on the "Bells of the Season" by Cathy Yang. Here are the issue highlights:
- 2008 Membership Goal (you can renew online)
- Welcome New Board Members
- Lincoln/Northcross Suit Update
- Deed Restrictions vs Zoning
- Expanded VMU at 5350 Burnet
- Recap of Real Estate in 2007
- Masquerade Ball article and photos

This issue also includes profiles on Body Business and Laura Pellegrino (Tango dancer/instructor) along with articles from our regular contributors plus the businesses that support our neighborhood, our advertisers. If you prefer, you can read it here . Many thanks to the volunteers who make up the newsletter team for another job well done.

ANA Executive Committee Minutes - 11.15.07

submitted by Allan McMurtry

Allandale Neighborhood Association – Executive Committee—Minutes
November 15, 2007
Northwest Rec Center
7:00PM

Meeting was opened by the President Tom Linehan
1)    Approve the Agenda
a.    Dan Jones moved to add an item to postpone payment on Big Red, seconded.  Discussion as to adding this to the agenda.  The vote was taken and failed 4 to 3.
b.    Motion to approve the agenda by Mary Jean Mattus, seconded.  Approved as follows
i.    Legal Summary
ii.    Legal Expenses
iii.    Legal Representation

Update on panhandling

City Council decided to do more research on panhandling in the city before taking action. Last week the council held a public hearing on the issue. Up for consideration was prohibiting panhandling within 1,000 feet of schools. Instead of taking action, the city decided to spend more time getting a better understanding of the problem. Here is a link to KXAN's coverage of the story. Allandale is interested in the issue because of problems experienced with transients who live under the bridge at 2222 and Mopac and panhandle at that corner.

cautionary tale... a tale of yard work woe...

submitted by Wayne Vicknair

gentle neighbors, what follows is a cautionary tale... a tale of yard work woe...

it started innocently enough. a friend gave me my first leaf blower for
free. i felt awkward using it, but the leaves were accumulating a bit.
then i started to enjoy it. as fall began, it seemed like i was using
the leaf blower more and more. but it wasn't enough. the leaves were
pilling up on me, and i just couldn't handle it. so, i moved up to a
small chipper/shredder. things were normal again. i could grind up all
the leaves and small sticks life threw at me. it was great. but soon it
seemed like there were even more leaves, and bigger sticks, and i was
using the chipper/shredder morning, noon and night.

Update on Bull Creek Wastewater Project

What follows is a letter from the contractor who will be getting underway with the Bull Creek Wastewater Improvement Project. They are inviting folks to attend an informational meeting where you will have a chance to meet the contractor. Note, there are two projects discussed in this email. Of course the one that concerns us is the Bull Creek project. You will find more background information on the project here.

Dear Neighbor,

Thank-you for signing up for email updates regarding the Gaston/Bull Creek/W. 25th Street Wastewater Improvements Project!

This email is to let you know that you and your neighbors are invited to attend the Meet the Contractor Meeting for this project. The meeting is:

Wednesday, December 12, 6 to 7 pm
Tarrytown United Methodist Church
2601 Exposition Boulevard
Fellowship Hall
To RSVP, reply to this email or call 684-3204
Refreshments will be served
The contractor is BRH - Garver

Panhandling on City Council Agenda

submitted by Tom Linehan

According to an article in today's Austin American-Statesman, "Public hearing on solicitation set for Thursday," the city council plans to hold a public hearing on solicitation at tomorrow's council meeting. The hearing is scheduled to start at 3:oo. This is particularly relevant to Allandale as there have been a number of problems attributed to the transient population under the bridge near the intersection of 2222 and the MoPac exit ramp. The ANA Executive Committee will be drafting a letter to the city council expressing its concerns and welcomes your input. What follows is an email I received from an Allandale resident Pat Briggs and former ANA Board member regarding an incident that took place under the bridge in October.

Toys for Blue Santa Program

Operation Blue Santa is needed and, as always, deeply appreciated. We expect to serve 3,500 families with 14,000 to 15,000 children this Christmas. Delivery day is Saturday, December 15.

We are in dire need to toys for many of the age groups we serve. The bad weather for the Chuy's Children Giving to Children Parade on Saturday, November 24, left us short of toys.

First Texas Honda to Move to BMC location

According to an article in last week's Austin Business Journal, "BMC West moving 100 jobs to Cedar Park," BMC will be moving out of its location on Steck and Shoal Creek this summer. The company has already moved its millworks operations to Cedar Park and will complete the consolidation by moving its offices and lumberyard currently at the Shoal Creek location there as well. It is rumored that First Texas Honda now on Koenig between Burnet and Lamar will be taking its place. First Texas Honda's owner, Bryan Hardeman, also owns the Mercedes dealership on Airport Blvd and the new Infiniti dealership on Steck and Burnet Rd. It's a very large property and it's not known whether the dealership will take up the entire site.

Allandale Special General Meeting: November 29, 2007

submitted by Allan McMurtry

In a filled room of the Northwest Austin Recreation Center Thursday, November 29, the General Membership made and carried, overwhelmingly, a motion to file an appeal of the Allandale Neighborhood Association (ANA) lawsuit if the Responsible Growth for Northcross (RG4N) lawsuit fails.  The motion carried by greater than a 10-to-1 margin.