hancock hancock neighborhood association newsletter | www.hancockna.org April 2012 Hancock Golf Course Update By Carolyn Palaima, Chair Ad Hoc Golf Course Committee HNA Position The Hancock Neighborhood Association (HNA) at its March 21, 2012, regular meeting passed the following position of the HNA with respect to the Hancock Golf Course: It is the position of the Hancock Neighborhood Association (HNA) that the Hancock Golf Course continue operating as a golf course under the Golf Enterprise Fund with operating expenditures allocated from the Golf Operating Budget for course maintenance, and supports the following: The HNA supports conversion of the Hancock Golf Course property to the reclaimed water line for irrigation by supporting PARD's mitigation agreement with the Water Utility to provide funding for the replacement of the irrigation system to be repaid through future mitigation. The HNA supports assessment of course/clubhouse management and green fee structure to reduce the current operating deficit. HNA supports pursuing historical designation for the Hancock Golf Course. Golf Course Committee: The HNA Golf Course Committee (GCC) members are: Carolyn Palaima, chair; Kristine Blackstone; Alex Davern; John Hindman; Kevin McKinney; Virginia Hoffman and John Nyfeler. March 24th Public Engagement Meeting: The Parks and Recreation Department has heard from individuals in the community the desire for a park as well the desire for it to remain a golf course. The engagement meeting was to identify what the community wants. It was agreed that the HNA's position is to keep the golf course and make it the best golf course of its kind. Irrigation System: The Parks Department decided to move forward with the irrigation replacement for the use of reclaimed water and they are in the design stage. The cost is $400,000plus. The Water Utility has agreed to provide funding for the project and be repaid through future mitigation. They hope to start work on the new system in July of 2012. The renovation should last 2-3 months and the course will remain open during the renovation. The design of the irrigation system is to serve the golf course. An additional line will be added to the current configuration. Report Letter of the Ad Hoc Perry Estate Committee By Bart Whatley The ad hoc Perry Estate Committee was formed to respond to the development proposal for the Perry Estate at 41st and Red River. The committee is made up of the zoning committee and three neighbors who live within 500 feet of the estate. The committee met on February 29. The Perry Estate owner presented plans and proposed zoning/land use for the estate. Different types of historic designation were discussed, and recent clean-up and building stabilization work at the estate was presented. The owner presented plans which he characterized as "conceptual." He believes the chapel and mansion are good for special events/conferences. This could help in ensuring a revenue stream for continued maintenance of the property. The owner desires wedding parties to be able to stay overnight in the mansion. Other concepts for use include: 1. Farm to Table type of restaurant of a small size in the middle of the property. This would have limited public use. 2. More than half of the property is proposed to be residential use consisting of bungalow court type homes. 3. The entire site would be foodcentric and have educational and culinary programs. 4. A large portion of the site is in the flood plain and this limits group building structures. An organic urban farm would cover much of this area. 5. Vehicular access would be from both 41st and Red River. A central parking area is envisioned to be a sub-surface garage, and this is .....con't on page 3 Wednesday May 16, 7:00p Next HNA Mtg Hancock Recreation Center J oin the neighborhood e M ail @ groups . yahoo . coM / group / hancockneighborhoodassociation @ page 1 hna officers President.............................. Vice President................ Secretary.............................. Treasurer............................. CANPAC Reps..................... Mike Hirsch Rafi Anuar Julia Reynolds Bruce Fairchild Bart Whatley & Mike Hirsch Neighborhoold Council Liason .......... Linda Guerrero Austin Neighborhood Council Candidate Forum and Endorsement Meeting By Mike Hirsch, HNA President The Austin Neighborhood Council (ANC) candidate forum and endorsement meeting was held March 28. Mayoral and city council candidates addressed the public portion of the meeting. Following the forum, the ANC deliberated in private on each of the May races. The ANC endorsements are as follows: Brigid Shea (challenger) received the endorsement for the office of mayor over incumbent Lee Leffingwell. Laura Pressley (challenger) received the endorsement for Council Seat Place 2 over incumbent Mike Martinez. There was no endorsement for Council Seat Place 5 where there was split support for incumbent Bill Spelman and challenger Dominic Chavez. Sheryl Cole (incumbent) received the endorsement for Council Seat 6 over challenger Shaun Ireland. Please visit our website for email addresses. hancock newsletter is published by the Hancock Neighborhood Association [HNA]. HNA meetings are held bi-monthly beginning in January, at 7:00p on the 3rd Wednesday at the Hancock Recreation Center located at 41st & Red River. Editor..................................... Designer............................... Advertising..................... Webmaster.......................... Carol Moczygemba Sandra Smith|Gray Kathleen Strong George Wilson The Hancock neighborhood extends from 32nd to 45th Streets and Duval to I-35. J oin the neighborhood e M ail group @ groups . yahoo . coM / group / hancockneighborhoodassociation @ page 2 Perry Estate Chapel [Photographer Ron Temple, February 2012] Perry Estate.....con't from page 1 where trash and delivery service would be. The previous plan's service road along the north of the property has been eliminated. Questions from committee members and neighbors focused primarily on parking, service, bungalow sizes and numbers, whether PUD zoning should be considered, flood plain/trees, other investors, and other similar restaurants/event venues. The committee last met on March 27 to discuss thoughts on the estate and the proposal and to discuss the committee process moving forward. Perry Estate Factoid: In 1940, Edgar Perry reported that his wife, a cook, and two caretakers (one male, one female, maybe married?) lived there with him. He valued the property at $50,000. --Submitted by Jill Carvalho If you would like to find your home, go to www.census.gov and find the 1940 census. You will need the enumeration district and then to go through page-by-page of that district's pages to find your address. The Perry Estate and most of the neighborhood are in Texas 227-19B. Some parts are in Texas 227-19x. J oin the neighborhood e M ail group @ groups . yahoo . coM / group / hancockneighborhoodassociation @ page 3 Hyde Park Wellness AC U P UNC T U R E · H E R B S · NU T R I T I O N Natural health solutions for individuals and families at 45th & Duval 411 East 45th Street · Austin, Texas 78751 512.451.5726 · www.hydeparkwellness.com Aging isn't easy. Caregiving doesn't need to be hard. 512.465.9900 www.rahaustinwest.com If you are interested in advertising in the Hancock newsletter please contact Kathleen Strong at kstrong@wt.net J oin the neighborhood e M ail group @ groups . yahoo . coM / group / hancockneighborhoodassociation @ page 4 Rainwater Harvesting By Rosemary Vaughn This article is a history of my romance with rainwater harvesting. I acquired my first city-sponsored rain barrel in the 1990s. I installed it and had it inspected as required. I was fortunate since I had already installed rain gutters. Since I acquired the barrel during a time of abundant water, I used it only when I thought about it. This situation persisted until 2008 when water was becoming much more scarce and expensive. I decided to purchase 8 additional rain barrels and installed them. During that year I filled buckets and watering cans and carried them all over the yard every day as I tried my very best to keep to my goal of using rainwater as much as possible. These are suggestions for making your rain barrel(s) more useful. I had the additional 8 barrels fitted with a regular metal water spigot on the bottom and one near the top. I connected adjacent barrels to each other using the top spigot to route water from the top spigot of one barrel to the next barrel using a washing machine hose. I closed the inlet on the second tank with screened wire to keep mosquitoes out. I also mounted both tanks on concrete block to raise them high enough to use buckets or cans. The gutters will need either a cover to cut down on leaves and mosquitoes or a filter box installed inline from the gutter. and has a spigot and a pump. Finally I did not have to carry the water (eight pounds per gallon) from place to place. This, of course did not help me with using the latent capacity of my nine rain barrels with 55 gallons each. When the real drought hit I used all of my water pretty quickly and by the summer I was out of rain water completely. I continued to water on my day(s) as I wanted very much to keep my trees alive. I added a 300 gallon tank in the fall of 2011 and began to search for a solution to access the water in the auxiliary barrels. If you choose to use the pump system I will now describe it will not be necessary to mount the barrels on blocks which is good as the blocks tend to shift after a heavy rain. I have mounted an external pump with a double-ended washing machine hose on the pump inlet on a regular hand truck. In addition to the pump I store a heavy duty electrical cord and a 50-foot garden hose on a metal hose hanger permanently mounted on the hand truck. This way I can move the entire apparatus to the area in which the water is needed. I use the double-ended washing machine hose to connect the rain barrel bottom spigot and the pump inlet. I use the cord to provide electricity to the pump and I attach the garden hose to the pump's outlet to direct the water to the plants in need of water. This solution may be more expensive than can be justified if you have a single barrel. Other readers may have more economical solution to the access problem. At this point in time all of the barrels and tanks are full and I wish I had more capacity. I am rethinking the plants for my front plot and may make some changes to plants that require even less water, possibly old garden roses and prickly pear cactus. I acquired my first city-sponsored rain barrel in the 1990s. In 2009 I contracted for a 1400-gallon tank. I wanted additional tank capacity, but that was all I could justify at the time. The 1400-gallon tank is galvanized metal Let us help you create a noteworthy project. Call 512.451.8050 or visit txconstruct.com to learn more. J oin the neighborhood e M ail group @ groups . yahoo . coM / group / hancockneighborhoodassociation @ page 5 Odessy School Flea Market Big Thanks to the Waller Creek Clean-up Partcipants: David Bjurstrom Bill Bloodgood Carleen Edgar Ryan Edgar Sarah Edgar Scott Edgar Chris Greer Peggy Robinson Kathleen Strong May 19, 2012 from 8:00-2:00 Hosted by Odyssey School and Red River Church 4407 Red River Street, Austin TX, 78751 contact: info@odysseyschool.com 512-472-2262 Tables are available to rent for a flat fee of $30 -- vendors keep any and all profits! Proceeds from table fees go to the Odyssey School scholarship fund (Odyssey is a private school for students who learn differently). Last year we had over 40 vendors: families, artists, and professionals. It was a wonderful event and we even got mentioned on KVUE! Interested in renting a table? Call or email and we'll hold one for you -- payment is due by May 1, 2012. Make checks out to Odyssey School. First Ever Native Plant Swap By Carleen Edgar, Organizer The First Ever Hancock Native Plant Swap was held March 31 in the parking lot of Antonelli's Cheese. An average of 10-15 enthusiastic swappers were there at all times. Swappers traded a great variety of native plants, including Mexican feathergrass, purple cone flower, salvia, rock rose, oxblood lilies, oregano and many more. THANKS to everyone in the neighborhood who turned out to support this event. THANKS to Hancock neighbor Peggy Robinson, Joan Rivers in North Hyde Park (Habitat Steward), and Lynn Hill, Master Gardener, for helping plan and run the event. They were invaluable in identifying plants and keeping things running smoothly. THANKS to the kids (Olivia Young of Hancock, Sarah & Ryan Edgar) who moved a lot of plants. Sarah and Olivia were pressed into action to take care of checkins also. Many individuals brought A LOT of plants that had to be checked in. THANKS to our sponsors, Antonelli's Cheese Shop who provided the space and CG&S Design-Build, for providing the signage. We will definitely do this again next year around the same time of year. I've also been asked to have a booth at the Violet Crown Festival on May 5th at Brentwood Park. I'll have lots of plants...hope to see you there! http://www.facebook.com/VioletCrownFestival J oin the neighborhood e M ail group @ groups . yahoo . coM / group / hancockneighborhoodassociation @ page 7 A fundraiser to ensure the continuance of the Spanish Program at Lee Elementary School at Lee School\ Friday, May 4 5:00 P.M. to 7:30 P.M. · Latin American Music ­ Mariachis! · Lee Elementary School children dance the Macarena and sing Spanish songs · Lotería (Bingo) · Piñatas · Soccer · Salsa and other dancing · Art activities MUSIC-DANCING-GAMES-CRAFTS-FOOD Lee Elementary School 3308 Hampton Rd Tickets: $10/adult, $5/child http://www.lee-elementary.org/ You may purchase tickets at Lee Elementary, at the event or online For more details or to sponsor the event please contact Denise Gilman 512-380-0420 or gilmde@gmail.com J oin the neighborhood e M ail group @ groups . yahoo . coM / group / hancockneighborhoodassociation @ page 8 First Annual West Austin Studio Tour The weekend of May 19th-20th will bring a spotlight on the artists living and working in West Austin, including the Hancock neighborhood, during the First Annual West Austin Studio Tour. Organized by Big Medium, the group that has run the popular East Austin Studio Tour for the past decade, WEST shifts the emphasis to our half of the city. Among the 80 or more artists expected to take part by opening his home studio on the corner of East 40th and Peck streets is new Hancock resident David Bjurstrom with his highly detailed, realistic pencil drawings. "I show & sell my work all over the country, but I'm always glad for the opportunity to display it in Austin," said Bjurstrom, "and I'm especially pleased to be able to share it with my neighbors right here in Hancock. It also gives me a chance to open a window into my drawing process with the studio tour." Going on, he said "In addition to my own work, I will have Austin painter Karen Maness showing her paintings as well as some of Bill's [Bill Bloodgood, scenic designer] theatre design work. We welcome all of our neighbors to stop by and say `hello'." 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