Neighborhood Association of Southwestern Williamson County

MINUTES

NASWC met at the Forest North Elementary School on Monday, November 16,1998. The meeting was called to order by the president, Mrs Phyllis Lowe at 6:52 PM. Mrs Lowe welcomed everyone and introduced the visiting speakers. These were Mr David Koch, Texas Turnpike Authority and Mr Rick Costaneda, design engineer for the SH 45 project and Mr Wade Strong, Turner-Collie-Braden Engineering firm.

The first order of business was the election of officers with the following officers:

President: Mr Charlie Lowe by motion by Mr Brian Finley, seconded by Mr Dave Monks.
Vice President: Mrs Sue Monks by motion by Mr Don Marquette, seconded by Mr Miles Strieber.
Secretary: Mr Harold Bowling by motion by Mrs Doreen Schultes, seconded by Mrs Sue Monks.
Treasurer: Mr Charlie Roth by motion by Mrs Doreen Schultes, seconded by Mrs Laura Godwin.
Communications Officer: Mrs Doreen Schultes by motion by Mr Brian Finley, seconded by Mr Charlie Roth.

Mrs Lowe then gave a brief update on the status of the PacTen project. She then turned the meeting over to Mr David Koch, Texas Turnpike Commission.

Mr Koch introduced the project and turned the discussion over to Mr Wade Strong of Turner, Collie and Braden. Mr Strong reviewed the SH 45 project. Specific points of Mr Strong’s comments are:

Hwy 620 will form the south frontage road where it parallels SH 45.
A large interchange is proposed at Hwy 183.
They are in the process of preparing a draft environmental impact statement.
They are aware of the drainage of in Forest North. They will pay particular attention to the north branch along Broadmeade Blvd. The culverts will be enlarged to accommodate the 50 year storm. The current culverts are designed for the 5 yr storm. Upstream detention will also be included.
Broadmeade Blvd: They are studying the possibility of removing the grade separation (overpass) at Broadmeade. The City of Austin is receptive to this idea. They plan to include ‘Texas’ U-Turns at Parmer and Lake Creek.
Toll Road: They will study the possibility of additional traffic in the neighborhood if SH 45 is a toll road. They think it will be a lot less traffic than is currently the case.
Anderson Mill Project: Williamson County is in the process of acquiring the right-of-way. The City of Austin had decided not to participate in the project at this time.
Public Hearing, SH 45: A public meeting will be held in the Spring of 1999. This will be announced by newsletter.
The project is scheduled to begin in the summer of year 2000.

Answers to questions:

Drainage will not make the RM 620 drainage worse. Cannot increase the flood plane either upstream or downstream.
Tolls: One will not be forced to pay tolls. Where there is free access it will stay. Whether SH 45 is a toll road is being studied.
Reference the traffic possibility on Broadmeade, there are no models out there to tell the effect of traffic on Broadmeade.
Reference a possible RM 620/Hwy 183 bottleneck where 183 ends just past 620. 183 will go over RM 620. Additional study will be done to get the information into the plan on a possible N 183 backup.
Hwy 183 is on a similar schedule with SH 45.
Tolls have an advantage for this project financially. The tolls permit the assuance of bonds and therefore the ability to build larger sections of the highway at one time. No information is presently available on the phasing.
Reference the possible problem with a one lane flyover such as the I 35/183 flyover. They used the Austin Transportation Model. This model is being updated and the plan will be updated if the model changes.
Noise abatement will be studied and a part of the environmental impact study.
Can’t give the sequence and schedule but they hope to start in year 2000. It will not be in small chunks, however developing it as a toll road is a necessity to eliminate its being built in small chunks.
Ref possible increase in taxes, Bond elections have already been approved for money to purchase the ROW in both Williamson and Travis Counties. Tolls would affect the actual cost of building the roads.
A study will be made to determine where to put toll booths. They envision the use of electronic toll stickers.
Possible effects of pollutants and exhaust fumes (reference children and the proximity of the school to the highway) will be included in the environmental impact statement.
Toll possibility. Dallas uses 8 cents per mile, Houston uses 10 cents per mile, they are planning on 10 cents per mile. The roads will need to be subsidized with tax money which means the toll will be in the 8 to 12 cents range.
The environmental impact study will cover potential cave and endangered species, such as the albino spider.
The deadline for comments has passed however they still look at input made. Comment forms are provided

At this point the president, Mrs Phyllis Lowe requested a vote on the following question: “Do you not want the overpass and the extension of Broadmeade (leave it like it is)?” The response was unanimous. To the follow-up question “How many of you would like to see Broadmeade go through with an overpass to let traffic cut through?” there was no response.

Because of the impervious cover and the requirement not to increase up or downstream water flow what will be done with the extra water will be managed using detention ponds. The locations of these ponds have not been determine

Charlie Roth updated the Drainage project and presented the treasurer’s report. The bank balance currently is about $4500.00. There is one other expenditure pending.

The drainage project is separated into two phases. Phase I runs to Town and Country sports complex. Phase II is in the Meadowheath area. We need three variances. The planning commission meets to consider these project on 17 November 1998 at 6 PM. A tour was made by City of Austin Planning Commissions members during the weekend. He urged support of the program by attending the Planning Commission meeting.

Commissioner Mike Helligenstein discussed area projects. There are no small projects anymore.

1. The Anderson Mill Extension: Bidletting will start in June 1999. They have the ROW. $7mil is already in the project, Milburn’s share is $450K and the county has $1mil in ROW. They still $1 mil short and hope the city will kick in their part.

2. Three million dollars are earmarked for Lake Creek Tributary.

3. Approx $1 mil of Capital Metro Fund has been put into neighborhood projects such as sidewalks,

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:27 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Harold Bowling.

updated: 02/16/2008