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North
Central Heritage Neighborhood Association |
North Central Heritage Neighborhood Association
12 April 2001, 7-8pm at Assisted Living Center
Marlene Masten $2,409.38 + $40 received tonight in dues Marlene Masten Covenant/Zoning * Flyers for new Community Center on West Ave. and Blanco were made available Jennifer Gates Social Committee * Jennifer Gates reported the neighborhood garage sale was a success * A spring fling is being planned for June * Future events include the Halloween party, Neighborhood Night Out and the Christmas Party. Details will be given at a later date. Marlene Masten There were no reports from the Block Captain or the Zoning Committee. Marlene Masten Bylaws * A vote to accept the Bylaws was taken. The motion was made, seconded by Jim Rolofson, and approved. Marlene Masten Discussion with Archdiocese Marathon panel * Panel
included: o
SAPD: Eric Shuey o
Parks and Recreation
Dept: Malcolm Matthews
(Director), Mike Gonzaba (Assistant Director), Raymond Castro o
Archdiocese of San
Antonio: Mary Anne Valentino-Oehler
(Associate Superintendent of Development & Marketing), Eddie Hernandez (marathon chairperson) o
City Council: Tim Bannwolf, District 9 * Marlene Masten opened discussion by giving a short summary of the problems caused by parking overflow from the marathon and asked the guests to address how they would prevent a recurrence this year. * Officer Shuey, SAPD traffic office, presented the SAPD position: o Explained that cars are allowed to park in our Neighborhood because it is a city street. It is only illegal to block fire hydrants, driveways, or mail boxes. o Explained that police had helped in past years when Blossom was used for event parking. o Explained that, in the last two years, attempts were made by the archdiocese to use the Starcrest entrance/parking, to include passing out maps to event participants. o He suggested two alternatives to alleviate the problem. 1) Post “No Parking” signs along Money Tree. Officers from the Northeast could then cite violators, but cars would not be towed. 2) Working through San Antonio Public Works, request that Money Tree between Jones-Maltsberger and Archers Bow be barricaded. This would require a request either from the Association or the Archdiocese, and would cost up to $250 (?). This is similar to actions taken when neighborhoods have block parties. The action would also require approval from the Assisted Living Center, since they would have to agree to have the rear entrance to their parking lot blocked. * Marlene raised the issue of the cost to the Association. Eddie Hernandez offered to pay the barricade cost as part of the overall Marathon project.. However, he was concerned that this might create bad will with the neighborhood. * The pParks and rRecreation fund already pays about $900 for people to use the park for parking. They want to make sure people are taking advantage of this service. * Judy Sutcliff from the neighborhood stated that, in the past, former MayorCouncilman Peak had come to the neighborhood to assess the problem. “No Parking” signs were posted around the neighborhood with no fee involved. She voiced the concern that promises were made to fix the problems, but the city had not followed through in later years. * There was discussion on whether a policeman was needed at the Money tTree intersection. Officer Shuey explained that police were there when Blossom was used. He did not think it was feasible to have a policeman trying to keep non-residents from our area. * Richard Palmer observed that last year, the marathon participants who parked in the neighborhood caused more problems than just parking--he mentioned trash, rudeness, and other nuisances. * Ms Sutcliff asked why the school does not use Blossom. Ms EglerOehler explained that NEISD has too many activities and will notno longer allows use of the Blossom parking. * Ms Sutcliff explained that the marathon is just the start of a potentially larger problem. As the park is used more and more, other events will have the same impact--the city must figure out a long-term solution. * Ms Oehler made several points: o She will report the parking and garbage problems to the Archdiocese superintendent. Ms. EglerOehler will speak on our behalf at a meeting to be held in May. o There will be a marathon task force to talk about current problems. The marathon name will be changed to “spirit day”. Along with the change, the event will be changed from 9am until 12 pm., instead of 9am until 2pm. This may help in cutting down the parking problem. o The tentative date for the marathon/spirit day will be October 13th. o The Archdiocese is looking at using school buses to shuttle people from the Starcrest lot to the park. * Mr. Hernandez then explained that they have spent over $1100 on Police Officers and Park Rangers. * The group was asked about parking in the park. Mr. Matthews stated 300-400 cars could park in the park, but over 12,000 people participate in the event. Shuttle buses would be a very good idea. He also suggested to use the barricade for 4 hours, post more signs to direct people where to park, and have better communication between all parties. The Starcrest entrance to the park will need to be better advertised, since this will eventually be the main parking entrance to the park. * Mr. Gill requested that the Archdiocese use the media could help to help advertise park events and parking situations - they agreed. * Mr. Matthews made several suggestions: o Explained the long-term goal of the Parks and Recreation Dept. to move traffic from the Jones-Maltsberger entrance to the Starcrest entrance. o Suggested that he could provide more park rangers to direct traffic. o Explained that better long-term promotion of the second entrance was the best answer. o Suggested better signage for the second entrance. o Suggested a committee be formed to include the Association, Parks and Recreation, SAPD, and a traffic engineer. * Councilman Bannwolf agreed that a committee was a good idea. He would welcome inputs from the committee and would sponsor any follow -on actions, such as any ordinance required. * Marlene Masten proposed that we do form a committee with above parties so future park events will not be an ongoing problem, and the Association participants agreed. Marlene requested that each attending organization leave their main representative’s contact information with her before leaving the meeting, and she would schedule the first meeting with those representatives. Meeting adjourned at 8:05pm
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