Beautification

Agencies team up for flood monitoring system

From Watershed protection:

What:  News conference about new flood guages that will help COA prepare better for floods.

When: Friday, March 21, 2008 - 9:30 - 10:30 AM

Where:  Pedestrian Bridge on Silverway, on the west side of the creek.

"I'm hoping you can help me spread the word to residents in your neighborhood about a small event we're hosting on Friday, March 21, at 9:30 a.m. at the pedestrian bridge on Silverway Drive, on the west side of the creek. The City of Austin together with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Weather Service will be holding a brief news conference about the installation of 10 new flood gauges and how they will help the City prepare better for floods.

14th Annual Ride for the Roses

The Rosedale Ride is an annual bike ride benefiting Rosedale School, the Austin Independent School District's only school for children with multiple disabilities. The Rosedale Foundation has raised over $300,000 for Rosedale School since 1999.

Open to cyclists of all abilities, the ride offers different courses to suit anyone. This year the Rosedale Ride has four courses to choose from: a Kid’s Fun Ride; or courses of 20+, 42+ or 62+ miles. The ride begins and ends at Samsung, winding through the gently rolling countryside east of Austin.

The 2008 Rosedale Ride is Saturday, March 29th, and is followed by entertainment, food vendors, silent auction and more...

More information and registration here: http://www.rosedaleride.org/ride/index.html

Register here: http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=5553

Packet Pickup & In-Person Registration

Rosedale School on Thursday, March 27th between 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM or Friday, March 28th between noon and 8:00 PM at Rosedale School. This is not only a great way to learn more about the School, but it is also a good opportunity to check out the array of goodies available in the Silent Auction.

Directions to Rosedale School: http://preview.tinyurl.com/2pz2au

Day of ride: Register on the morning of the Ride, starting at 7 AM. Be sure to allow time for the 8:30 AM start

For more information contact:

Angela English, LPC, LMFT
Accessibility and Disability Rights Coordinator
Texas Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities
512-463-5741

website: http://governor.state.tx.us/disabilities

ADA Listserve: http://listserv.tamu.edu/archives/texadac-l.html

Soil Testing of Ponds Provides Reassurance

In response to neighbor concerns, the COA Watershed Protection and Review Department have provided the following update on soil testing of the ponds at the Great Northern Location:

"The Watershed Protection and Development Review Department periodically tests the soil and sediment in a representative sampling of water quality ponds. The purpose of the testing is to determine whether the sediment can be disposed of at a regular landfill or if it needs special handling. This program began last year, and all the samples showed that the sediment did not require any special handling. Similar tests in the past have given the same, reassuring results."

"Although neighbors should not be worried about living or walking near water quality ponds, pets should not be allowed to swim in them, including the one on Great Northern Boulevard. Water quality ponds are designed to capture pollutants and are not safe for swimming. In fact, dogs in Austin have been infested by Heterobilharzia Americana, a fairly common parasite that lives in stagnant surface water. This parasite infects  dogs and raccoons rather than humans. A good rule of thumb is not to let your dog swim in water that you wouldn’t swim in yourself. "

It's My Park Day 2008 - Registration is open

It’s My Park Day will be April 12^th, 2008. Allandale was one of the first neighborhoods to participate in It’s My Park Day, and the tradition continues this year.

We need volunteers to act as site contacts on the day of the event. The site contact is the central location for the volunteers at each clean up, they sign in volunteers, hand out t-shirts, and distribute snacks and water. They do need to be at least 18 years old, and available on April 12^th from 9:00-11:30 am.  They do not need to trim brush, pick up trash etc.

The site contact is really an ambassador for Allandale, it is a great way to meet neighbors.

Please help me in encouraging participation.  These events build awareness of our parks and their value to our community

Volunteers can sign up online: http://www.austinparks.org/itsmypark.html

Official information

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It's My Park Day! with Austin Parks Foundation

April 12, 2008 09:00 AM until 11:00 AM

Meet at either the corner of Shoal Creek and 2222 or at the Great Northern Detention pond to get started http://www.austinparksfoundation.org

Join your neighbors to clean-up the North Shoal Creek Greenbelt, and Great Northern Hike n'Bike Trail. Volunteers will remove trash and debris, trim branches, and help to fix damage from heavy rains.

Everyone is welcome. Great for Groups!

All ages welcome. Wear Sturdy shoes and remember the terrain is uneven.

Difficulty: Easy. Please contact organizer if you can help with trimming branches and debris.

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10K Loop through Allandale

A measured 10K loop through Allandale is now available on MapMyfittness:

City of Austin updates FAQ

Stephanie Lott, of COA Watershed Protection, provided an update to the information we have on the detention pond project.  (For complete details, see the previous posts.)

"Below is some information about the purpose of the project, graffiti and the recreational aspects of the site that you requested. We’ve seen a number of specific ideas and comments both on these issues and others that have the potential for enhancing the project. They need further research, and we are working with our engineers to see if any of them can be incorporated into the project to the extent that our budget allows and without conflicting with the flood control purpose of the project.

"Reason for the Great Northern Detention Pond Project
"With this project, we are bringing the site into compliance with the State of Texas dam safety standards. Most of the improvements are intended to protect those living around the dam and downstream of it, as far as White Rock Drive, from the potential failure of the dam in the probable maximum flood. The probable maximum flood is four times larger than the Memorial Day Flood. While unlikely, such a flood is possible. There have been three in or near Central Texas in the past century. The failure of the dam in this type of storm would be a disaster, causing sudden and severe flooding in many homes in the Allandale neighborhood. This project will ensure the integrity of the dam structure during such a storm.

"The improvements, including the concrete wall and spillway, will also help prevent damage to the dam during lesser, but still very large storms. Any time a dam is overtopped, meaning there is more water coming in than it can hold, there is the potential for erosion and damage to the structure of the dam. This dam is currently in good condition, but it will overtop in a severe storm, one that has between a 4 and 10 percent chance of occurring in any given year. The proposed wall will direct the overflow into the spillway. The concrete spillway will protect the embankment from damage.

"Graffiti
"We realize there are concerns about graffiti and were already planning to use an “anti-graffiti” coating on the concrete. We are currently gathering more information about the effectiveness of this product, which we will relay to the neighborhood as soon as possible. You’ve indicated that some of the neighbors have suggested using plants as a screen for the wall to help prevent graffiti. Unfortunately, this is not possible since the plants would have the potential to damage the structure of the dam.

"Preservation of the Recreational Aspects of the Area
"After the project is complete, the neighbors are welcome to use the area as they are currently using it.

• It will remain a leash-free area.
• The existing sidewalks will remain, and a new one will be added.
• We will have to remove the current bench area, since it’s in a problematic location at the top of the spillway. However, we are willing to put in a replacement bench area. Several people at the meeting on Monday, February 4, 2008, mentioned that they would prefer several smaller benches than one large bench area, and we are exploring this option.
  

"We are not planning to add amenities that are not already there, although we are looking into whether there is anything that we can do to improve parking on the east side of Great Northern. "

Please post your votes and comments to the "Vote!" post on this blog.  I will be providing ALL feedback to the city next week.

The deadline for comments is February 12th.  Do not delay in sending your concerns to me, or posting them to the blog.  It is imperative that the neighborhood submit their issue by this date for any amendments to be considered!

Detention Pond Project Comprehensive Presentation Available.

The complete presentation for the detention pond project has been posted on the COA website.  It is large, 3 MB.

The web page on the project, with a link to the presentation, is at:

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

Or, if you prefer to go directly to the presentation (3 MB pdf).

Please post all your comments and votes to the "Vote!" entry below.

Vote! on Great Northern/ Far West Detention Pond Options

Illustrations of the Great Northern / Far West Detention pond project available.  Download great_northern_options_1.pdf  to see illustrations of the project, as well as the options we can vote on.

Concrete Color (click on image for close-up view)
Spillway texture
Wall Texture
Do you want a planned bench area?	Yes / No

Post your preference as a comment on the gardening blog 0r send me a note offlist at linneakay(at) yahoo (dot) com. Deadline for voting is February 12th.

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To aid in providing your vote, and comments, here is a little template:

Cement color -
Wall Stamp -
Spillway stamp -

Want a bench area   Yes/No

Comments:

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There are a limited number of printed ballots available. If you have a neighbor who does not use the internet and would like to vote...contact me and I will hand-deliver a ballot to them. (PDF version is available below)

We want the feedback any-which-way we can get it...

Now is the time for any concerns to be fed back to the city. This project will have significant impact on the detention pond area.

Talk it up with your neighbors, jot down your thoughts -- and send them to me offlist or post them as comments on this blog post without delay.

Download great_northern_meeting_handout.pdf

What is a spillway?

From Stephanie Lott, City of Austin Watershed Protection:

"My understanding is that the spillway is where we want the water to flow if it gets high enough to overtop the dam.

    "The channel or passageway around or over a dam through which excess water is released or "spilled" past the dam without going through the turbines. A spillway is a safety valve for a dam and, as such, must be capable of discharging major floods without damaging the dam, while maintaining the reservoir level below some predetermined maximum level."  ( http://www.streamnet.org/pub-ed/ff/Glossary/glossarydam.html)

Or

“A structure over or through which excess or flood flows are discharged. If the flow is controlled by gates, it is a controlled spillway, if the elevation of the spillway crest is the only control, it is an uncontrolled spillway.” ( http://www.srh.noaa.gov/wgrfc/resources/glossary/s.html)"

Great Northern / Far West Detention Pond Project

Just back from the meeting regarding the Far West/Great Northern
detention pond project.

Thank you to all the neighbors that attended the information session.

FAQ about the project is here:
http://www.allandalereporter.org/gardening/

If your concern is not yet addressed in the FAQ, drop me an note and
I will get it added.

In essence, this project is to preserve the function of the detention
pond and to bring it up to current standards. This is part of a city
wide initiative. Due to the close proximity, and density, of homes
the Great Northern Detention pond will be among the first projects of
this initiative.

City of Austin info:
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/watershed/flood_pond_great_northern.htm

As soon as visuals from the presentation are available, I will post
them online for review.

If you have other questions, or items you would like to see added,
please contact me offlist, or add a comment.   (Great time to start using these blog features!).

- Linnea

Far West / Great Northern Detention Pond Project

Just back from the meeting regarding the Far West/Great Northern
detention pond project.

Thank you to all the neighbors that attended the information session.

FAQ about the project is here:
http://www.allandalereporter.org/gardening/

If your concern is not yet addressed in the FAQ, drop me an note and
I will get it added.

In essence, this project is to preserve the function of the detention
pond and to bring it up to current standards. This is part of a city
wide initiative. Due to the close proximity, and density, of homes
the Great Northern Detention pond will be among the first projects of
this initiative.

City of Austin info:
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/watershed/flood_pond_great_northern.htm

As soon as visuals from the presentation are available, I will post
them online for review.

If you have other questions, or items you would like to see added,
please contact me offlist, and I will raise the concern with the city.

- Linnea