| Dear Neighbors,
My office is diligently preparing for the 2018-19 budget. Council deliberations will begin in August. To ensure that I can best represent your priorities, I invite you to join me on Monday, June 18, for the District 10 Budget Talk. The City's Budget Office will present information about the budget process and ask neighbors to provide input on their fiscal prerogatives. The budget funds City programs and projects with your tax dollars, and this meeting provides an opportunity for you to help shape the way that money is invested throughout Austin. City Manager Cronk also will be there to introduce himself and hear from neighbors.
Monday, June 18, 2018 6:30-8 p.m. JCC Austin (Dell Jewish Community Campus) 7300 Hart Lane, 78731
If you are unable to attend the town hall, please visit http://austintexas.gov/Budget to take the input survey, watch a presentation on the budget, and learn more about the Council-adopted strategic plan. As always, you can send your budget comments directly to my office by emailing District10@austintexas.gov.
In addition to the District 10 Budget Talk, I am also organizing an informal in-district meeting to discuss the future of Lions Municipal Golf Course and the West Austin Youth Association. Below, you can find information on that meeting and other City events and updates.
Sincerely,
Alison Alter
Council Member, District 10
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Table of Contents - District 10 Budget Talk – June 18
- Muny and WAYA Meeting – June 25
- CapMetro Exposition Open House – June 25
- Spicewood Springs Road Update
- Shakespeare in Ramsey Park
- Summer Playgrounds Program
- Aquatics Hiring
- Austin Transportation Data and Performance Hub
- Dougherty Open House – June 21
- District 10 Artist Feature – Chalda Maloff
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| | District 10 Budget Talk – June 18 |
| | | | Muny and WAYA Meeting – June 25
Lions Municipal Golf Course, better known in the community as Muny, is a beautiful piece of open space in west Austin that has served as a public golf course since 1924. The course sits on the Brackenridge Tract, which is owned by the University of Texas System. In 1989, the UT System renewed the City of Austin's lease of the golf course land for an additional 30 years. In 2011, the University Board of Regents declared their intention not to renew the lease, leaving the future of Muny uncertain. The West Austin Youth Association, which leases land adjacent to Muny for their youth sports programs, is in a similar situation.
I have been closely following this issue and have heard from many neighbors who are concerned as well. In order to discuss the current state of affairs and hear from the community on this matter, I am holding a public meeting at the Muny clubhouse. This will be an informal meeting for me to provide an update from the City's side of the discussion, as well as for you to share your thoughts and concerns. Please join me for this meeting and feel free to invite your neighbors. Monday, June 25, 2018 7-8 p.m. Lions Municipal Golf Course - Clubhouse 2901 Enfield Road, 78703
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| | | CapMetro Exposition Open House – June 25
Please join Capital Metro for an open house to hear about the new rideshare pilot program serving the Exposition area. This free pilot is one of several that CapMetro is using to help customers get around more easily. Successful programs will be considered for permanent placement after an evaluation period. Stop by to talk to Capital Metro staff about this new service! Monday, June 25, 2018 6-7:30 p.m.
Howson Branch Library 2500 Exposition Blvd.,78703
For more information, please call CapMetro's Community Involvement team at 512-369-6201. |
| | | Spicewood Springs Road Update
City of Austin staff is nearing completion of the first draft of the Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) for the Spicewood Springs Road project, which will produce draft recommendations for mobility improvements on Spicewood Springs Road between Mesa Drive and Loop 360. Feedback shared by the community last fall, along with in-field data collection and a review of constraints, will inform the recommendations. City staff initially anticipated sharing draft recommendations with the community in spring of 2018, however the debut of these recommendations will be delayed until this summer. Two items have impacted the project schedule. Late last year, a Travis County Historical Commission member contacted the project team with information about possible historic sites and archaeological resources of significance near the project location. After consulting with City Historic Preservation Planning and the Texas Historical Commission, the City is moving forward with a Cultural Resource Survey to identify or rule out the existence of these items within the project limits, including any artifacts that may be buried below ground. Additionally, after receiving the initial traffic analysis for the project, staff determined that supplemental traffic modeling would be required to review the way one possible roadway configuration would interact with the TxDOT-proposed intersection at Spicewood Springs and Loop 360. Both outstanding items should be resolved by late summer 2018, and staff anticipates holding a public meeting to share these recommendations with the community at this time.
Please contact Emily Tuttle with any project questions or concerns at Emily.Tuttle@austintexas.gov. The project team will be in touch later this summer with a date for the public meeting. |
| | | | Shakespeare in Ramsey Park
Something for Nothing Theater is back again for another free Shakespeare series in Ramsey Park! I am proud to sponsor the fee waivers for Shakespeare in the Park, which is always free and open to the public. This summer's play is Twelfth Night - a comedy full of music, mistaken identity, mayhem, multiple marriages, madcap mischief, and mirth. Shows will run Thursday-Saturday for two more weekends. Each show will start at 8 p.m. and finish in less than two hours.
June 14-16 & June 21-23, 2018 8 p.m. Ramsey Park 4301 Rosedale Ave. 78756
Grab a blanket or chair, some snacks, and friends or family and enjoy the show! Something for Nothing Theater is a sponsored project of the Austin Creative Alliance, a non-profit arts service organization. To learn more about the Austin Creative Alliance, visit www.austincreativealliance.org. |
| | | Summer Playgrounds Program
The Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) is offering a free drop-in program for children to participate in fun, supervised, outdoor activities during the summer months. Summer Playgrounds staff provide quality recreational experiences that promote healthy living, character building, and teamwork through collaborative and active play.
Activities include organized sports, arts and crafts, games and outdoor activities, teamwork and character building, fitness and nutrition lessons, and more. The program is now open and runs through August 3.
Registration is required onsite on your child's first day of attendance. The Summer Playgrounds Program is now set up to take online registrations via the Parks web page if you would like to register ahead of time. Please make sure the that "Type" category selected is "Camps - Summer", then type either 922842 or 923842 under "Activity Number Search" and you will then be directed to the various playground sites. D10 parks in the program include Ramsey and Oak View.
Please be advised: As a safety precaution, participants are required to wear closed-toed shoes every day before they are signed into the program. PARD staff also recommends bringing a reusable cup or water bottle.
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| | | Aquatics Hiring
The City of Austin's Parks and Recreation Department is still hiring lifeguards for the summer! Working for the Aquatics Unit has many great benefits including flexible schedules, great pay, opportunity to work outside, and year-round opportunities. Lifeguard training classes are open to applicants 15 and older, and water safety instructor training classes are available for persons who are at least 16 years of age.
Applicants that are 15-16 years old are required to have a parent present during the interview. Applicants that are 17 years old require parent signatures on the applicant paperwork. Pool attendants will earn $12/hour, and all other positions will have a starting pay of $13.84/hour. If you are looking for a summer job, please visit Lifeguarding in Austin for more information. |
| | | Austin Transportation Data and Performance Hub
The City's Arterial Management Division has launched a new Data and Performance Hub that makes real-time data about signal operations and traffic flow accessible to everyone. The information is organized into an easy-to-navigate dashboard interface at transportation.austintexas.io.
This information can help folks navigate everyday situations. For example, if you see a signal on flash on the way to work, you can check the Traffic Signal Monitor dashboard to see its repair status. Additionally, if you are curious about whether a new signal or Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon is coming to a nearby intersection, this site allows you to peruse the Signal Requests dashboard to see whether a signal has been recommended or is moving forward.
The new data hub shines a light on Austin Transportation signal operations, allowing users to see: - The locations of all signals and whether they are functioning properly
- The status of signals that are being constructed or designed
- When Austin Transportation re-times corridors
- Whether someone has requested a signal at a certain location and the status of that request
- The status of a repair to a signal or other device
- An overview of all signal assets, year-to-date activities and signal operations
- Real-time traffic counts (beta roll-out)
- A transportation management operations map showing service requests, work in progress, completed repairs, incident reports and more (beta roll-out)
- Frequently updated views of intersections equipped with traffic cameras (accessible via the CCTV map layer of the Operations Map, or through the Device Status map)
- Other maps and resources, including a signal asset map and a preventative maintenance map
The Data and Performance Hub will continue to evolve as Austin Transportation staff adds new data and features. |
| | | Dougherty Arts Center Open House – June 21
The Dougherty Arts Center (DAC) has brought joy, education and entertainment to students and visitors for 40 years. However, it has also increasingly faced challenges.
The Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD), along with a consulting team, is in the process of creating preliminary plans for redevelopment of the Dougherty Arts Center. A key component of this process is collecting input from the building users and the general public. PARD invites you to attend a community open house at the DAC on Thursday, June 21, to discuss the future of the Arts Center. This open house will give the community an opportunity to learn more about the redevelopment project, speak with representatives from the project team and submit feedback.
Thursday, June 21, 2018 5:30-8 p.m. Dougherty Arts Center 1110 Barton Springs Road, 78704
For more information, please visit www.austintexas.gov/DACproject. Questions regarding this project may be sent to DACProject@austintexas.gov. |
| | District 10 Artist Feature – Dr. Chalda Maloff |
| | Thank you to District 10 artist Dr. Chalda Maloff for sharing her artwork with us! Dr. Maloff’s digital art has been exhibited throughout North and South America and in Europe. Recent awards include the Guerilla Painter Award from the Visual Arts Society of Texas and Second Place at the VIII Salón de Arte Digital in Venezuela. Recent solo exhibits have been at the Morris Graves Museum of Art in California and Ceres Gallery in New York City.
Above is Maloff's piece Viento, 2017. The image is a 30x30 inch digital painting, printed with archival pigment inks on gloss paper, face-mounted to museum grade acrylic sheet.
The digital medium is selected for its power to combine and synthesize various artistic effects, producing a host of impressions that would not be possible with any natural medium.
Dr. Maloff strives to leave the viewer energized, perhaps more deeply connected with a personal recollection, and with a heightened appreciation for the energy and nuance of passing moments.
Dr. Maloff is a member of Ceres Gallery, a long-standing women’s art collective in New York City. Here in Texas she is represented by Mary Tomás Gallery in Dallas and Beta Gallery in Galveston. More of her work can be found at www.chalda.com.
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Do you know a local artist whose work you'd like to share with your neighbors? If you or someone you know have a knack for painting, drawing, photography, etc., we would love the opportunity to feature work from District 10 artists in the newsletter! To submit an artist/piece to be featured here, please email my Communications and Outreach Coordinator, April Brown, at April.Brown@austintexas.gov. If you are sending in your own work, please include a photo of the work you would like to share with your neighbors, the work's title, year, medium/materials, and a link to your website if you have one. Also encouraged is a bit of background info, such as:- What/who inspired the work?
- What do you hope its viewers will feel/think?
- Why did you choose the medium, subject matter, style?
Through these artist features, we hope to showcase some of the many talents and passions of District 10 residents and increase awareness of the importance of art in our communities. |
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