One of the many beautiful sidewalks in our Neartown neighborhood.

Neartown Association Minutes

Neartown
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
7:08pm
18 people in attendance

-Sue Lovell, City Council, Chair of TIA
-METRO is waiting on funding for the University Rail Line
-she told us the proposed route
-waiting for environmental impact study
-other lines are moving forward
-In November, with new administration, "the whole thing could rewind"
-TIA - METR & COH ... long discussions, nearing consent agreement, about who pays for utilities
-METRO pays a loarge amount for utilities
-once METR opens a hole, the COH can get in and do upgrades
-first part of April should be ready with decisions re responsability
-construction will be open to civic leaders for questions
-they will be concerned re businesses which may be negatively impacted during construction
-they will have regular communications re upcoming construction, and impact on schools, businesses, traffic, etc.
-the main goal during construction is to keep traffic moving, esp. Montrose Blvd.
-Montrose will continue to get more hi-rises and more traffic
-to get building permits, one needn't present a whole or final plan; it's possible to get permits piecemeal, which is a way to hide from the City what a developer is up to. Sue is trying to get that changed.
-W. Alabama will become a "major thoroughfare"
-parking garages may come to be
-cabs may become more common
-removing parking from some parts of Westheimer would hurt businesses there
-might use public school parking lots on weekends

-Kay and others from Richmond Rail.org will get to Sue Lovell copies of compilations of what was done athe workshop.

-Kris Banks, Community Liason for City Council Distric D, Wanda Adams's office, announced a Town Hall meeting for April 26, for everyone who lives or works in Montrose.
-Get your questions in in advance to David Robinson

-Donald Perkins, City Planning & Development brought a lot of handouts, and explained them, and encouraged us to take them, take them.
-SNAP - Super Neighborhood Action Plan
-this year, the city and the mayor are trying to streamline and simplify process
-$350,000 and under = non CIP = SNAP
-$ 25,000 and under = non CIP = SNAP for the Parks Dept.
-deadline is April 14
-David & Allen are working with Donald. So, if you have any qu's or changes, funnel them through David (not directly to Donald)
-by April 15, all requests should be tallied and disseminated to various city departments for review
-call 311 for "no parking" signs. But it MAY help to put them in your SNAP requests

Adjurn 8:11pm


Respectfully Submitted,

Julie Young
Secretary