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JANUARY 25, 2016
NORTHEAST NEIGHBORHOOD ALLIANCE
MEETING MINUTES
The meeting was held at the Northeast
Tool Yard and was opened at 7:00 pm by President John Clamp.
Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus was welcomed and
introduced by President Clamp. He spoke about some of the achievements of
the last legislative session, including the approval of the Highway 281
expansion and how it won't be a tollway, a balanced budget and reduced
taxes. He went on to say that the Legislature is not meeting in 2016, but
that doesn't mean that they are not working. Speaker Straus has sent out
over 200 issues to the Legislature to work on for the next session in
2017. He also talked about the issue of billing that SAWS had, and it may
be a larger issue throughout Texas and may include other utilities as
well. The Speaker thanked everyone for being civic minded and urged
members to advise his office of any issues that they thought needed to be
included in the upcoming session in 2017. In closing, he told the
audience that the Speaker's office is always there to assist them
whenever they have a need.
 The Beautification
Award was presented to Broadway Bank at 13429 Nacogdoches. Wendy Albers
accepted the award.
Dan Crowley of SAWS was introduced to talk about the problem
of billing the true usage of water in District 10. He stated that SAWS
has the responsibility to read over 500,000 meters and admitted that not  all were being read.
Changes in personnel and procedures have been made within the
department, and all meters should now be read monthly. In addition,
contractors have been hired to help read meters, and spot checks are
being made to ensure accuracy. There are future plans to allow for home
owners to read their own meters and pay on-line, and SAWS has a desire to
install electronic meters but right now that option is too expensive. He
offered to stay after the meeting to talk to anyone that has had or is
still having a billing
issue.
Mike Taylor spoke to the members about
the status of the Northeast Corridor (NEC) along Perrin Beitel and parts
of Nacogdoches in the NEC area. The program is now closing out the third
year of opportunities for businesses to apply for grants and bring in new
businesses along the NEC. He also talked about the Northeast Corridor
Business Alliance that's been formed and has become very active in
working together to promote the growth and upgrades to the NEC. The
current focus of the group is fighting crime, advocacy and networking of
the businesses. A good indication that the advocacy is working was the
group effort to clean up the "triangle" where business owners
and residents gathered to clean and spruce up the area. This activity is
scheduled again for February 11, 2016.  The Perrin Oaks
Shopping Center was given as an example of the program's success where
the center has been rehabilitated and new businesses opening. Mr. Taylor
said there will be another $27K matching funds made available this year
and that a meeting will be held for businesses to explain the program and
how to apply for the funds. He stressed the importance of people
patronizing/investing in the new businesses to help them get established
and grow, and continue to do the same for existing businesses. Mr. Taylor
mentioned a few new businesses but a question was asked about what new
businesses have opened. Here's a list provided by Councilman Gallagher's
office of the new ones in the NEC: Bush's
Chicken, Great Clips, Habanero Grill, Pizza Patron, La Tapatia, Signs of
San Antonio (new building expansion), Spider Man Pest Control, First
Choice Emergency Room, Unleashed by Petco, Ross Dress for Less, Pollo
Tropical, Family Dollar, FastSigns, Tip Top, Wingstop, Whataburger and
Wal-Mart.
The City Council update was provided by District 10
Councilman Mike Gallagher. He continues to be very interested and
supportive of the NEC upgrades and urged everyone to patronize these
establishments. Also, if there were any unsightly areas around these businesses,
patrons should personally approach the owners or managers to see about
getting it corrected. This will help both the business and surrounding
areas to remain attractive and inviting to other customers. Councilman
Gallagher is very excited to support and advertise the fact that the
corridor is part of the original Camino Real. This will be recognized by
demarcation signs along the corridor, and a dedication ceremony will be
held on Friday, March 4, 2016, where everyone is invited and encouraged to
attend. He asked everyone to volunteer and attend the next Basura Bash
along Salado Creek on February 20, 2016. This activity has been very
successful in the past and everyone has had a great time at the event. He
thanked everyone for helping to make the new Senior Center on Thousand
Oaks such a huge success. The  Councilman stressed
the importance of neighborhoods to formally apply and get recognized by
the city. The more neighborhoods and people that get involved, the more
attention and support the city will give them. Councilman Gallagher is
very supportive of fitness of our citizens. Much is made about how unfit
San Antonio residents are, and he wants to help support fitness programs
for our residents. He will be organizing another fitness walk in the near
future similar to the one held at Comanche Lookout. Anyone that has ideas
for improvements for District 10 to be funded by the 2017 Bond should get
in touch with his office to give inputs. The next Bexar County
Democratic/Republican Party Primary Election is March 1, 2016, and
everyone should either vote early or make sure they vote on that date.
There was a question about a housing development along Thousand Oaks and
Councilman Gallagher suggested that the neighborhoods should organize and
approach the planners/developers. Another question was asked about the
intersection of Austin Highway and Harry Wurzbach. The city is planning a
Single-Point Urban Interchange (SPUI) that will ease the congestion and
eliminate the need to go through a business parking lot to go from one
road to the other. A SPUI (pronounced "Spooey"), is a
type of interchange where a single traffic signal at the center of the
interchange controls all left turns. Drivers make opposing left-turns at
the same time under the protection of this signal. See example
diagram below:
The next District 10 meeting is set for
February 15, 2016. Councilman Gallagher closed by thanking everyone
for their support to District 10.
Vice President Carlton Soules announced
the upcoming Primary Elections on March 1, and introduced Marian Stanko
who is running for Chair of the Republican Party of Bexar County. She
gave her background information and thanked everyone in advance for their
support. There was also information available for Republican Mike Koerner
running for County Commissioner, PCT. 3.
Clayton Perry, an Associate Board member
of NNA, spoke about his efforts to update the NNA list of neighborhoods
and their representatives. He had a copy of all the changes and asked
folks to check and see if all the information was correct. Of note, there
were several new neighborhoods and organizations that have been added to
the NNA. Mr. Perry will be passing the completed list to Rebecca Podowski
and Emilie Christian of Councilman Gallagher's office to make final
updates and to make sure that all neighborhoods are registered. Members
at the meeting liked the idea of phone calls to remind everyone of the
upcoming events.
Elections were held and the following
people were elected: John Clamp-President, Ron Van Kirk-Treasurer, and
Lauren Sides-Membership Secretary.
President Clamp adjourned the meeting
giving the next meeting dates for 2016: March 21st; May 16th; July 18th;
September 19th; and November 21st.
Respectfully Submitted,
Clayton H. Perry, Secretary
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