Intermittent night time lane closures will begin on MoPac (Loop 1) between Lady Bird Lake and Parmer Lane beginning Sunday, May 19, 2013 and continuing through the end of July.

Time: 9am-11am
Meeting Point: 11635 Parkfield, which is between Swearingen and Barchetta.
 
We'll meet at the Parkfield entry to the park at 9am  and should be done in a couple of hours.  Please wear protective clothing  and,if you have one, bring one of the many devices that can impale or grab  litter at a distance. Gloves and bags will be provided.

NWACA Ice Cream Social
Doss Elementary School Parking Lot
2-4pm, Saturday, May 11

On the one-year anniversary of his death, the Austin Police Department will rename its North Substation to the Jaime Padron Substation and unveil a memorial garden on Saturday, April 6, 2013.

Senior Police Officer Jaime Padron was shot and killed by a suspect on April 6, 2012 at a Walmart on IH-35. Two Walmart employees tackled the suspect, held him down and used Officer Padron's radio to notify dispatchers of the shooting. Responding units arrived to take the suspect into custody; he was subsequently charged with Capital Murder.

Jaime Padron Substation Dedication and Memorial Garden Unveiling
Saturday, April 6, 2013
10 a.m.
APD North Substation
12425 Lamplight Village Ave.

Itinerary for the event:

10 a.m.  Memorial Garden Unveiling

10:20 a.m.  APD Pipe and Drum/Presentation of the Colors

10:30 a.m.  Benediction by Pastor Rick Randall

10:35 a.m.  Dedication Ceremony to include remarks by Mayor Lee Leffingwell, members of the Austin City Council, City Manager Marc Ott, Police Chief Art Acevedo and a Padron family member. Commander Mark Spangler will serve as emcee.

10:50 a.m.  Plaque Unveiling/Pipe and Drum Corps music

Neighborhoods go through natural population cycles, as kids grow up, parents retire and downsize, and new families move in. But SN suggests that new development that skews away from the needs of families can artificially speed up those cycles and destroy the balance. In the immediate future, they'd like to see better sidewalks, bike lanes, and park space along busy streets like Burnet. Longer term, they'd like to see the city encourage a mix of development they call "sustainable" and "family-friendly."

"We're not opposing density, we're just trying to shape it in a different way," says Steven Zettner, the group's co-founder and president. "We need to implement density in such a way that it will work for different kinds of people, and we will still have a strong sense of community."

Read more:
http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2013-03-22/neighborhood-watch/

WHAT IS 10-1?  Austin is moving to a City Council of 10 geographic districts, plus 1 Mayor.

-The City of Austin will need to form an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. This is a group of citizens who will draw the lines for the 10 districts.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR NORTH AUSTIN?

We can also make an educated guess that the north end of town (2222 to the city limit) will be roughly divided into 3 districts because of our population. (220,000 people roughly live at this end of town - 800,000 divided by 10 districts is 80,000. 80,000x3 =240,000)

NACN currently represents 78758 and 78753.  Expanding/changing to create a new alliance of all three districts would us 3 council members to bring North Austin’s needs to the table: Growth and development that is family and neighborhood friendly and a City Hall that is focused on solving our key issues; education, crime, infrastructure, transportation, and cost of living.

Is this what North Austin and our sister neighborhoods want?

Answers from the January Town Hall meeting is available: here

Please weigh in and take the survey and let us know what you want!

Survey link

(Survey will be open until April 15th)

If you're on Facebook, please search for and like the NXNA Garden
Tour.
 
It's the first-ever garden tour to feature gardens exclusively in North Austin. You'll get to tour 19 private gardens on Saturday,  June 1, and check out workshops and demos on Sunday, June 2 at the new YMCA  North Austin on Rundberg west of Lamar.
 
Mark your calendars - June  1 and 2! And like us on Facebook to see sneak peaks of the gardens and keep up  with cool goings-on in gardening and North Austin.
 
All proceeds from the tour will benefit demonstration gardens in three North Austin schools -- Woolridge, Dobie, and Lanier.
 
http://www.facebook.com/NxnaGardenTour
 

From Heritage Hills;

A bridge is going to be located at the intersection of Furness Dr. and Hermitage Drive going across Little Walnut Creek to Park Plaza.

These news reports sum up the issue:

http://www.kvue.com/news/defenders/Austins-Bridge-to-Nowhere-184976551.html

http://www.kvue.com/news/defenders/Bridge-back-on-track-despite-residents-crime-concerns--188262251.html

Our website also has information about our petition:

http://heritagehillsaustin.com/stop-the-bridge/

The link to the petition is: 

http://www.change.org/petitions/our-opposition-to-the-bicycle-pedestrian-bridge-over-little-walnut-creek-at-north-acres-park-segment-16-of-bike-route-57

We had asked the city council to delay the bridge until after the Rundberg grant results were published.  They are refusing to postpone the construction.  Peas

Good Afternoon Neighbors,
 
Council Member Bill Spelman pulled the resolution to allow lobbyists on the
Land Development Code Advisory Group from today's Council meeting agenda. The  Council will not discuss or vote on the resolution today although it could be
scheduled for a future Council meeting. The Council members were apparently
flooded with calls and emails against this resolution!
 
Your calls and emails to the Council were a major factor in stopping this
bad resolution. Thank you for working to promote public trust and confidence the
Advisory Group by standing firm against lobbyists. Please thank Council members  Tovo, Morrison, and Martinez for their hard work to exclude lobbyist on the  Advisory Group.

~David King

The City Auditor wll be posting applications for the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission today Jan 18th at their website:

www.austintexas.gov/10-ONE

Deadline for Applications is Feb. 22

League of Women's Voters will have two Workshops  where people can come and go any time. The idea is for people to drop in, get help with the application, or get their questions answered.

Saturday, February 2, Carver Library, 1161 Angelina Street,  12:30 to 4:30 pm

Saturday, Feb. 16th,  Recreation Center, 1100 Cumberland Rd, 1:00 - 4:00 pm

more info: www.lwvaustin.org