| Dear Neighbors,
Last month's bombings shook the city and tested the resilience of our community. In the face of threat, neighbors supported each other and reported suspicious activity. After those weeks, we all breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Though life has returned to normal for most, the explosions took the lives of two Austinites and injured several others. Fundraisers have been created for the family of Anthony Stephan House, the first victim of the package bombs, for the family of Draylen Mason, the teenager who passed away from his injuries, and for the long recovery of 75-year-old Esmeralda Herrera.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank the Austin Police Department again for their tireless work during the recent bombings. Throughout the weeks of the investigations, APD joined with other local, regional, and federal law enforcement agencies to stop the bomber.
Many neighbors have expressed an interest in maintaining vigilance with respect to all crime by joining or starting a Neighborhood Watch. Recently, APD District Representative Officer Darrell Grayson met with members of the North West Austin Civic Association about the Neighborhood Watch program. If you are interested in joining or starting a Neighborhood Watch on your block, please read through Officer Grayson's presentation. The slides explain what a Neighborhood Watch is and is not and outline steps neighbors need to take to get involved.
The more familiar we are with our streets, the more capable we will be of identifying abnormalities and deterring crime. I encourage you to connect with your neighbors, build relationships, and start discussions about participating in a Neighborhood Watch.
Kind regards,
Alison Alter
Council Member, District 10 |
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Table of Contents - March For Our Lives Speech
- CodeNEXT Public Hearings and Postcard
- CAMPO Public Hearings and Open Houses
- Capitol 10K and Road Closures – April 8
- Keep Austin Beautiful – April 14
- Tire Take Back – April 14
- Earth Day – April 21
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| | | March For Our Lives Speech
I was honored to have spoken at the Capitol last month during the March For Our Lives rally. Thank you to everyone who marched both here in Austin and across the country. I'm incredibly proud of the students leading this movement for being the ones to finally say, “enough", loud enough and creatively enough for the nation to pay attention for more than a few days. I find myself encouraged by their passion and the opportunity to rewrite the narrative to focus on the safety of our children and their right to live without fear. Our gun laws need to change, and I am committed to working towards bipartisan solutions.
Thank you to LASA seniors Conor Heffernan, Jack Kappelman, and Kari Siegenthaler for organizing Austin's March For Our Lives.
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| | Parkland High School shooting survivor Jack Haimowitz and Council Member Alter at the Austin March For Our Lives |
| | | CodeNEXT Public Meetings and Postcards
The Planning Commission, the Zoning and Platting Commission, and the Austin City Council have scheduled four public hearings on Draft 3 of CodeNEXT. These hearings are an opportunity for you to speak to the land use commissions and City Council about CodeNEXT. Sign up to speak at the public hearings will begin 30 minutes before each meeting.
Joint Land Use Commissions Public Hearings
- 10 a.m. Saturday, April 28 – Dove Springs Recreation Center, 5801 Ainez Drive
- 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 1 – Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Road
Austin City Council Public Hearings
- 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 29 – City Hall, 301 W. 2nd St.
- 10 a.m. Saturday, June 2 – City Hall, 301 W. 2nd St.
A courtesy notice about the public hearings also will be sent to all property owners and utility account holders in Austin. We expect the postcards to arrive in mailboxes starting April 7. Images of the front and back of the postcard are below. For more information about the public hearings, call (512) 974-2000 or visit AustinTexas.Gov/CodeNEXT-Postcard.
If you are interested in attending District 10 CodeNEXT office hours, please email Kurt Cadena-Mitchell at Kurt.Cadena-Mitchell@austintexas.gov with your neighborhood and any other geographic areas of interest relating to CodeNEXT. We will be announcing dates and times for those opportunities in the coming weeks.
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| | | | CAMPO Open Houses
Council Member Alter serves on the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) board as a representative for the City of Austin. CAMPO is working with local governments and regional agencies to develop a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for the area. The 2019-2022 TIP is a four-year program that lists all federal and locally funded transportation projects in the six-county CAMPO region, in addition to state funded and regionally significant projects.
In December 2017, CAMPO issued a project call to its member governments and regional transportation partners to submit applications for transportation projects to be approved by CAMPO’s Transportation Policy Board (TPB). These applications underwent a thorough scoring process, based on criteria approved by the TPB. The selected projects are now open for public review and comment prior to approval by the TPB on May 7, 2018.
To give residents an opportunity to submit comments on the projects, CAMPO is holding a series of open houses. Below is information for an open house near District 10. To see a project list, read an informational brochure, or leave a comment, please visit the TIP Open House web page.
Wednesday, April 18 4-7 p.m. Yarborough Library 2200 Hancock Dr., Austin, TX 78756
CAMPO also is developing a Regional Arterials Plan to provide mobility choices that are safe, convenient, reliable, and efficient. Arterials are roadways that connect to freeways, local streets, and destinations. The plan will build on local planning efforts while having a regional focus. At a separate series of open houses, residents will have an opportunity to learn more about this regional study and provide feedback through a survey. The open house nearest District 10 is detailed below.
Friday, April 13 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired 1100 W. 45th St., Austin, TX 78756
Check out the Regional Arterials Plan Open House page to take the survey online, find all Regional Arterials Plan open houses, see a list of projects, and download an informational brochure. For a full list of events, please check the CAMPO calendar here. |
| | | Capitol 10K and Road Closures – April 8
The Statesman Capitol 10,000, the largest 10K in Texas, is back for its 41st year. This Sunday, over 20,000 participants will cover the 10 kilometer course, which starts at the Ann Richards Bridge, passes over the north side of the Capitol, and finishes back at Auditorium Shores on Lady Bird Lake.
If you haven't had a chance to sign up but would still like to participate, it's not too late! Online registration is open until April 7 at 4 p.m. Whether you are participating and trying to get to the start line or just wanting to make your way through town on Sunday morning, you'll need to know about road closures. Check out this page to see which streets will be closed and when they will reopen. Good luck to everyone participating! |
| | | Keep Austin Beautiful Day – April 14
Traditionally, Keep Austin Beautiful has hosted an annual event called Clean Sweep, a county-wide service day spanning over 130 sites in 31 zip codes throughout Austin and Travis County. As Clean Sweep has grown over the years it has expanded into more than just a cleanup day. Volunteers plant gardens, restore riparian habitats, remove graffiti, and more. To recognize the range of work volunteers are doing on this day, the event has been formally renamed Keep Austin Beautiful Day. The first annual Keep Austin Beautiful Day will take place on April 14. Though the event has been renamed, the day of service will be followed by a volunteer party featuring free t-shirts, lunch, live music, children’s environmental activities, a unique object contest, door prizes, and more! Below is a list of projects scheduled at District 10 sites. |
| | | | Tire Take Back Day – April 14
Austin Public Health is partnering with Austin Resource Recovery and Travis County to #FightTheBite this year with a free tire recycling day! Mosquitoes are known to breed inside of tires. In fact, within a single breeding season, water that collects inside one discarded tire can produce more than 10,000 adult mosquitoes. Residents can greatly reduce the number of disease-spreading mosquitoes by recycling old tires.
Tire Take Back Day is a new event designed to prevent mosquito breeding and the spread of diseases like Zika and West Nile Virus while giving neighbors an opportunity to recycle tires for free.
11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Two Locations: South: Austin Resource Recovery (2514 Business Center Drive, Austin, TX 78744)
North: Great Hills Baptist Church (10500 Jollyville Rd, Austin, TX 78759) |
| | | | Earth Day Austin – April 21
Earth Day Austin is the largest sustainability event in Central Texas. On April 21, thousands from the Austin area and beyond will gather to learn about conservation and sustainable solutions, celebrate a shared love for the environment, and get connected to innovative green businesses and organizations.
Saturday, April 21 12 p.m.-7 p.m. Huston-Tillotson University 900 Chicon St. Austin, TX 78702 This year, each and every activity (from the climbing wall to the butterfly tent to the face-painting) is free! This is the single most immersive and hands on festival all year, and everything but the food and t-shirts are free.
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