The Allandale Reporter

Amy's Annual Blood Drive

As you know, Phil's Ice House is named after our partner, Phil Clay who died in a motorcycle accident 5 years ago. Phil was an incredible giver. He gave to our employees, his family and he gave blood. Every year on his birthday, July 31st, we have a blood drive at our factory to celebrate his life. Could you put out the call to the neighborhood, so we can continue this fine tradition. The blood drive is 12-4 p.m. at 2109 Northland. Thanks in advance.

Amy and Steve

Northwest Park Cleanup a Success!

Tom Linehan

I arrived at Northwest Park around 11:30 yesterday, a bit late but not too late to get in on the fun. I found Linnea Anderson, her husband Dave, neighborhood volunteers, a group of students from the Teluride program, and a couple of city workers all pitching in with the park cleanup. The focus was on the pond. A number of volunteers were skimming duck weed from the surface of the pond. They had already cleared brush from the rock wall and painted quite a bit of the railing along the walkway. You can find Linnea's summary of Saturday's cleanup here.   Here are some pictures from the event taken by Charles Randow and myself. Thank you Linnea for doing such a great job in bringing everybody together! You will also find a mention of it in Sunday's Austin American-Statesman on page B3.

Progress on Allandale Neighborhood Association’s VMU Application

Tom Linehan

The City Council voted to include Allandale’s Vertical Mixed Use (VMU) recommendations in the July 24th Consent Agenda which means it supported the Allandale Neighborhood Association’s (ANA’s) recommendations regarding Tracts 5, 14 and 15. This is a big deal for Allandale but hold off on the celebration. This was just the first reading and there’s more work to be done. Tract 5 is the tract that includes the Burnet Road Storage Center. Tracts 14 and 15 are the tracts on the south side of Anderson Lane at Shoal Creek.

ANA’s VMU application is a bit complicated as is the whole VMU process but important to the neighborhood so stay with me. As we reported on the web site in June, Allandale went before the City Council on June 18th and received Council’s support for Allandale’s recommendations for VMU along Burnet Road and Anderson Lane on the 1st reading.

Beverly S. Sheffield Northwest District Park pond clean up

by Linnea Anderson

Beverly S. Sheffield Northwest District Park pond clean up
July 26 , 2008
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Need Volunteers for a couple of hours to get all of the trash that is in and around the fishing pond. Volunteers of all ages are welcome. We will have kayaks (that have been donated by the Texas Rowing Center) for those who plan on getting into the pond. If you plan to kayak, you’ll need to dress appropriately. We will need a few volunteers to be ready to get in! We want this pond to be free from bottles, cans and any litter so that the fish will be happy! The pool will be open for swimming, so pack a swim suit for a post-clean up swim!

(Kristin Knifton and Malcolm St. Romain are major forces behind this event.  Wonderful volunteers contributing to improve our green spaces!). For more information about the clean-up, please contact Linnea Anderson at linneakay@austin.rr.com or 750-8902.

Information about the pond here; http://tinyurl.com/5lb6to

Northwest Austin Little League team advances to State Tournament

For the first time in 34 years, Little League players from NorthWest Austin Little League (www.nwll-austin.org) advanced to the Texas East State Tournament after winning Section 1’s tournament held at Bryan East Little League July 11-16th.   Called NorthWest Blue, the team is comprised of 10-11 year olds.  For that age group, reaching the Texas East State Tournament is the pinnacle of success.  Only 11-12 year olds can embark on the road to the storied Little League World Series in Williamsport.

Congratulate these neighborhood boys for their excellent sportsmanship in both District and Sectional play, their perseverance through the loser’s bracket, and a flawless team effort at the Sectional Tournament championship game:  Braden Buckman, Thomas Burrows, Kirby Hill, Dominic Kress, Ryan Kuenast, Joey Menke, Evan Myers, Samuel Mitchell, Scott Politz, Carter Reed, Clint Rickabaugh, and Eric Sandoz.

ANA July EC Meeting Cancelled

Allandale Neighborhood Association is scheduled to go before the City Council on July 24, to get a final decision on Allandale's VMU application.That is the same night as our regularly scheduled EC meeting. For that reason, we are canceling this month's EC meeting. However, we are scheduling an EC meeting Wednesday, July 23rd at 6:30 at the NW Rec Center to review recommendations from our VMU Committee on our VMU application. You are welcomed and encouraged to attend Wednesday's meeting.

Tom Linehan
President, Allandale Neighborhood Association

Hangtown gives Allandale a Taste

Tom Linehan

Members of the Allandale Neighborhood Association attended a sneak preview of Hang Town Grill in the Allandale Village Shopping Center Wednesday night and were treated to a complementary dinner. The food was delicious. The preview provided owners Bill and Ann Boone a way to introduce the restaurant to the neighborhood while giving staff a chance to go through a dry run. The new owners did some extensive remodeling of the building. The most noticeable change is the amount of natural light let in with the addition of windows to the front of the building. The restaurant menu includes a wide selection of burgers, chicken sandwiches, pizzas, salads, wraps, tacos, milkshakes and more. The official opening day of the restaurant is Monday, July 21st.

Thank you Hangtown for the dinner. We'll be back!

 

Beautification Update

Linnea Anderson, Beautification Chair

July 9th, volunteers got together to plan events for Fall 2008 / Spring 2009 

Attendees: Margie Gordon, Lila Beckley, George Roman and Linnea L

Lucas Massie, director of the Northwest Recreation Center provided an update of the pending renovations to the rec center. The Recreation center renovations are slated to start in June 2009.  One goal of the renovation is to build a green building, and qualify for Silver status with LEEDS. (A green building certification program)  The renovations will include: asbestos removal, repair of leakage issues, and expansion of the overall size.  Due to the asbestos removal the building will be closed during the renovations.  The project is in pre-planning, and they will give us more information as it becomes available.

Discussed July 26th clean up of Northwest Park.  The clean up is 9 am – 12 noon. Texas Rowing Center has donated kayaks to help move the algae to the shore. PARD is supportive,  their resources are limited, so help from volunteer groups  are greatly appreciated but has limited.

Allandale Park Planning Meeting Tonight, July 9th

by Linnea Anderson

Just a reminder, there will be a Park Planning meeting July 9th, 6:30
PM NW Recreation Center

Upcoming NW Recreation Center renovations -Lucas Massie will give us
an update on timing, dates, work that will be done.. etc.

Discuss potential KAB grants. Proposals for small projects throughout
the area are welcome. Bring your ideas!

Update on NW Pond.
Review of July 26 clean up at NW Pond. We still need team leaders for
small groups of volunteers. No special training is needed, just a
willingness to work in a small group. (Jobs include:: Algae removal,
Duck tail removal, invasive species removal from the island, painting
railing and general clean up)

If you get drinks/detergent that comes in jugs with handles – they
can be used to make scoops for the algae. The trick is, I need more
than the 2 jugs we have at my house.

Neighborhood Night Out will be October 7th

from City of Austin, Austin City News

Only in Texas, Neighborhood Night Out celebrations will shift from August to October this year as a test whether there will be greater participation in cooler weather.

The 25th anniversary celebration will be Oct. 7. National Night Out is designed to:

    * Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness.
    * Generate support and participation in crime efforts.
    * Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police community relations.
    * Send the message that your neighborhood is a safe place to live.

To sign up your neighborhood block party as an official NNO site or for more information, go to www.cityofaustin.org/police/nno.htm. To have a chance for police, fire or emergency medical services personnel to stop by your neighborhood, register by 5 p.m. Aug. 25