NEARTOWN ASSOCIATION (NTA) MEETING Cherryhurst Community Center, Tuesday September 23, 2003 Minutes

NTA President Raju Adwaney opened the meeting at 7:05 p.m. The minutes from the August meeting were approved. Raju announced that elections for 2004 NTA officers will be coming up and he will be forming a nominating committee.

Treasurer Ed Gonzales reported that Neartown currently has $9180 in the general account. $7770 of this belongs to the Peden/Elmen tree fund, leaving NTA $1410.

Our guest speaker was District D City Councilmember Ada Edwards. Ms. Edwards introduced community liaison Dena Gray, who is also a new resident of Neartown. The following topics were addressed:

The councilmember has formed a community based advisory council to provide continuity on District D issues. The advisory council has been looking at the proposed storm drainage plan and fee. Ms. Edwards said that she will vote for this fee because this is the only way some parts of the district will ever get improved infrastructure. 11% of the taxes collected would go to District D. Money would be spent on the worst areas first - areas on septic systems with no sewer connection, areas with open storm drainage (no curbs and gutters), etc.

The advisory council is also looking at the Spur 527 issue; Ms. Edwards had spoke w/ Jon Vanden Bosch in Public Works today. She emphasized that this project is going forward. Metro has committed to not routing freeway buses onto neighborhood streets (Richmond and Alabama). The project is currently scheduled at three years although Ms. Edwards thinks we're looking at ~4-5 years.

Volunteers are needed for the Superbowl. Jack Rose asked about the Fort Bend tollway. Ms. Edwards didn't know many details. Dana Padgett asked for the councilmember's view on management districts. She stated that management districts could be very advantageous to a neighborhood. The CIP (Capital projects) program is not mandated by city ordinance. It's a program that could go away with the new mayor. District D will sponsor a forum for Mayoral candidates on October 16.

One person noted the ongoing problems with graffiti tagging. Ms. Edwards suggested that we contact Kim Davis with the city's Superbowl committee to see if we can get help or funds through the committee to address this.

Ms. Edwards recognized Sue Lovell who is running for At-Large position #4. Ms. Lovell announced that Wednesday nights are volunteer nights at her campaign office, 2109 Commonwealth, and she invited people to come by (713-523-1762).

Don Seributra who is running for At-Large position #1 introduced himself.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. NTA Secretary, Dana Padgett