River Road Neighborhood Association

7:00 PM Lion’s Club Field House

7:00 PM Lion’s Club Field House

• The RRNA Annual Membership Meeting will take place at Lions Field on Sunday, March 22. The nominating committee for open board positions will be Nell Grover, Mimi Quintanilla, and Bill Sibley.
• Ground will be broken May 1 for the Hike and Bike Trail under Hwy. 281. A six foot wide sidewalk along Mulberry Ave. will be constructed after the Avenue B portion of the trail is completed.
• The San Antonio River Authority has completed a study of drainage on Broadway using computer models. They have concluded that drainage from N. New Braunfels Avenue during a rain event, flowing across Broadway and through the area north of the Witte Museum, will not increase the danger of flooding in the River Road neighborhood.
• Memorial tributes to Jill Smith, our neighbor who died in October 2008, along with her photograph, have been posted on the RRNA website.
• The Parks Department may conduct an archeological study of the area near the RRNA community garden and former acequia, as many artifacts, dating from prehistoric times to the present, were found when preparing land for the garden.
• District 1 Councilperson Cisneros has requested a list of infrastructure improvement needs for our area. The board brainstormed briefly, and came up with better signage, and painting a stop line for easier egress from the neighborhood at St. Mary’s Street. There was consensus that sidewalks were not a priority.

Our next RRNA Meeting is February 19, 7 PM, at Lions Field. All are welcome!

The February Board Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7:00 p.m.

The River Road Neighborhood Association’s annual membership meeting will be held Sunday, March 22nd, at 2 p.m. in Lion’s Field Clubhouse on Broadway, just south of Mulberry. Your board of directors, at its January 15 meeting, set that March date as required by the bylaws.

Directors also named a nominating committee to find candidates to replace the two outgoing board members who will have completed their three-year terms. Committee members are Mimi Quintanilla, Bill Sibley and Nell Fenner Grover (me).

Rotating off the board are Larry DeMartino and me. I told the board I would volunteer to continue on the communications committee as your email communicator. (Committee members do not have to be members of the board.)

PLEASE NOTE: Annual dues per household will be $10.00 instead of $5.00. That increase was approved by the membership at last year’s annual meeting, to be effective at this year’s annual meeting.

Nell Fenner Grover, communications chair.

A Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) is being created by the City of San Antonio in neighborhoods adjacent to River Road. CoSA representatives described the TIRZ plan, which will be submitted to the City Council on 12/11/08. Although not officially part of the TIRZ, River Road may be able to take advantage of some of the funding (e.g. for drainage projects), as long as our request affects the TIRZ area and the TIRZ Board agrees to it. Improvements will be coordinated with River Road neighborhood plans already in existence.

Mulberry Ave. Sidewalk — After much back and forth, the RRNA has been assured that a sidewalk WILL be built on the south side of Mulberry between the Catalpa-Pershing ditch and Avenue A, using monies from the recent bond issue. The Board passed a motion to encourage the use of existing sidewalk plans created for the 2003 Brackenridge Park improvements project.

Community Garden and Trees — The RRNA has obtained three trees from the City and planted them along River Road. A compost pile has been constructed in the community garden, and the next project will be the creation of raised beds.

Drainage — The Bexar County Infrastructure Services Department convened a meeting on 11/20/08 to discuss drainage issues in this part of the city. Representatives from Capital Improvement Management Services, the CoSA Parks Dept., Broadway property owners, San Antonio River Oversight Committee, and engineers attended, among others. Larry DeMartino represented the RRNA. The good news is that a comprehensive study of drainage in the area of the Olmos Dam and Hwy. 281 is planned, and that new bridges at Millrace and on Mulberry will help water flow unimpeded. However, because water from the Olmos Dam and two watersheds affect our neighborhood, and because of increasing changes in the watersheds (e.g. Brackenridge Garage, golf course renovation, drainage from Alamo Heights), the RRNA will continue to be vigilant and lobby for ways to reduce water coming into the River Road neighborhood.

Christmas Party December 20 — The RRNA Christmas Party will be hosted by the Schweers; volunteers are welcome. Neighbors will be asked to bring a children’s book to donate.

THERE WILL BE NO BOARD MEETING IN DECEMBER — SEE YOU AT THE CHRISTMAS PARTY!

River Road Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting Agenda
Lion’s Club Fieldhouse
November 20, 2008
7:00 PM

Board Members: Sally Boothe-Meredith, Lea Brogan, Larry Clark, Augie Cortez, Larry DeMartino, Nell Grover, Anne Larme (Secretary), Mimi Quintanilla (Vice-Chair), Richard Reed (Chair), Bill Sibley, Michael Sullivan
Treasurer: Ed Piner

1. Call to order

2. Approval of Minutes

3. Treasurer’s Report

4. Committee Reports

• Traffic/Neighborhood Plan: South Mulberry Sidewalk (L. Clark)
• Drainage (L. DeMartino)
• Christmas Party: (L. Brogan)
• Communications (S. Boothe-Meredith, M. Sullivan)
• Neighborhood History Committee (B. Sibley)

5. Old Business

• Community Garden and Acequia Project (Larry Clark, B Sibley

6. New business

• TIRZ (presentation)

7. Adjournment

I write to remind you of the Board Meeting on Thursday evening, October 30th, at 7:30 PM at the Lions Club Field House. This does not change the regularly scheduled meeting for November. This meeting is to update folks on the current state of the planning for the Park Reach (aka hike and bike trail). No other items are on the agenda and I would like to remain focused on this narrow task. As there is a Reinvestment Zone meeting (see attachment) that same night at the Witte, we will begin the RRNA meeting at 7:30. Richard Reed

From RRNA Chair Richard Reed:

1) In a summary of preliminary plans for the Fort Sam Redevelopment Plan, made to City Council last week, the team contracted by the City proposed “upgrading” Mulberry from Broadway to 281 to make it the major route from Fort Sam to 281. The plan is very preliminary and the meaning of “upgrade” is not spelled out, but after consulting with a traffic engineer, I am told that this MIGHT involve: 1) raising speed limits, 2) increasing from two to four lanes, 3) closing feeder links to the Park or the neighborhood, and/or 4) redesigning the intersections at North Saint Marys and Broadway. Most of the attention given the community aspect of this plan is in assisting the neighborhoods on the east side. This redevelopment is several years off, but I think we should be out in the front on it.

2) The Board voted to reaffirm its support for placing the hike and the bike trails being planned for the Park Reach of the Museum Segment of the river redevelopment along Avenue B. The exact wording is spelled out in the Minutes, which are available from Anne Larme for electronic review.

River Road Neighborhood Association
Board Meeting Agenda

Lion’s Club Fieldhouse

October 16, 2008
7:00 PM

Board Members: Sally Boothe-Meredith, Lea Brogan, Larry Clark, Augie Cortez, Larry DeMartino, Nell Grover, Anne Larme (Secretary), Mimi Quintanilla (Vice-Chair), Richard Reed (Chair), Bill Sibley, Michael Sullivan
Treasurer: Ed Piner

I. Call to order

II. Approval of Minutes

III. Committee Reports
1. Neighborhood Yard Sale: (L. Brogan)
2. ROC – Park Reach Subcommittee (R. Reed)
3. Neighborhood History Committee (B. Sibley)
4. Traffic/Neighborhood Plan: South Mulberry Sidewalk (L. Clark)
5. Drainage (L. DeMartino)
6. Communications (S. Boothe-Meredith, M. Sullivan)

IV. Old Business
1. River Road Community Garden

V. New business
1. BRAC Growth Management Plan
2. Neighborhood impact of Rock N’ Roll marathon
3. Jill Smith’s Memorial
1. Contribution to Humane Society
2. Tree Planting – Saturday, 10 AM

Treasurer’s Report

VI. Adjournment

• The board discussed the development of a comprehensive plan to improve the San Antonio River in our neighborhood, to encompass the intertwined issues of flooding and drainage, hike and bike trails, vegetation and riverbank restoration, and the proposed bird sanctuary. Developing this plan involves active participation in the Park Reach Subcommittee of the San Antonio River Oversight Committee, meeting with Charles Bartlett of the Parks Board, and coordinating with the Audubon society, Municipal Golf Association-San Antonio, and the San Antonio River Authority, among others.
• The recent golf course renovation has had no negative effects on drainage in the 100 year floodplain which includes our neighborhood, according to a recently completed study by the San Antonio River Authority (SARA). The RRNA and SARA will continue to be vigilant as new buildings are constructed on the golf course.
• The board made plans for National Night Out on October 7 and RRNA's annual Porch Sale and Fair on October 11 and 12. (See newsletter article for details.)
• The RRNA is working to commemorate the Spanish colonial acequias that ran through our neighborhood, in coordination with the city archeologist and the Parks Department. We have been invited to submit a grant proposal to the Parks Department to fund restoration and/or historical markers.
• The RRNA website is up and running again (www.riverroadna.org).
• RRNA subcommittees and Neighborhood Affiliative Representatives were confirmed as follows:

  Subcommittees

• Golf Course Renovation – Larry DeMartino, John Larcade, Roy Schweers,
• Drainage – DeMartino, Schweers, Mike Sullivan, Barbara Witte-Howell
• Bike Path/Mulberry Sidewalk – Larry Clark, Bill Sibley, Sally Boothe-Meredith
• Communications – Nell Grover, Boothe-Meredith, Sullivan
• Events – Lea Brogan, Augie Cortez
• Brackenridge Park Garage – DeMartino
• Traffic/Neighborhood Plan – Clark, Mimi Quintanilla
• River Care – Clark, David Schmidt, Russ Smith
• History – Sibley, Anne Larme

Neighborhood Affiliative Representatives

• River Oversight Committee – Reed (alternate: DeMartino)
• King's Court – Bob Buchanan (alternate: DeMartino)
• Neighborhood Conservation District -- Larcade

All neighbors are welcome to attend RRNA meetings on the third Thursday of the month at 7 PM, Lions Field. Our next meeting is October 16.