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Rollingwood discusses interlocal agreement with county for street repair
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
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Rollingwood City Council members recently took the first steps toward creating an interlocal agreement with Travis County for the maintenance and repair of city streets.
Council members Shanthi Jayakumar and John Hinton will work out the details of the agreement for a council vote at the regularly scheduled meeting for January.
“What I’m trying to do here is at least get the ball rolling to at least get an interlocal agreement into place without spending any money except some attorneys fees,” Jayakumar said when presenting the idea. “I think because of the prices and because of the economic climate, it would be good for us to do as much as we can this year.”
Entering into the interlocal agreement, as several other neighboring cities have done, would allow the city to save a substantial amount of money because of the economies of scale involved in bidding out through Travis County, Jayakumar said.
“Last year, I had contacted a highly reputable contractor and got an estimate of $11 per square yard,” she said. “That exact same contractor is doing work for the county for $3.50-$4 per square yard.”
It would cost the city no money to enter into the agreement, but if they had any projects put out to bid through the county, the county would require a flat fee of 10 percent of the project but take care of the entire thing from survey through engineering work and final completion. Travis County starts its bid processes in February, so an interlocal agreement would have to be in place by January.
“The cool thing about doing things with the county is that they will do two streets here, three streets there, so you don’t have to do all of it at one time,” Jayakumar said in response to concerns about having all of the money to complete the projects up front.
The council voted unanimously to create an interlocal agreement for approval at the January meeting. They also discussed with City Attorney Monty Akers the possibility of funding the maintenance through the general fund and then repaying that money when the street maintenance fund begins accruing money in April 2010.
Akers said that it was likely possible but plans to return to council next month with more information.
In other action:
• Police Chief Dayne Pryor introduced the most recent hires of the police department, Officer Preston Hough and Officer Joel Martin.
• Council members accepted a donation from the Rollingwood Women’s Club pledging $5,000 for shade structures (on top of last year’s $10,000 gift) in the park and $5,000 to be used on a project involving the coming hiking trail.
• The council approved an Eagle Scout project request by Sam Domino to create a zero-scape garden in Rollingwood Park.
• After listening to a presentation from Parks Commission chair Kelli Carlton, council members approved a low $4,250 bid from Bleyl and Associates to design the new walking trail.
One part of the Eagle Scout project includes a “XERIscape” garden instead of a “zeroscape” as written in the article.
$15,000 in one fail swoop out of the Rollingwood Women’s Club and into a playgound cover project that is controversial. The Rollingwood Women’s Club has emptied its treasury in less than two years. It took many years to earn that money. Maybe the women in Rollingwood who have lived here a while and who donated their time to help earn that moey in small increments over the years should get a new president who values the effforts of those who came before her.
What happens when there are other very worthy things that we would like to have money to support? The money is gone.
Some people just like to spend money. It makes them feel important.
By the way, doesn’t that little playscape have some little teepee like covers over it already? $40,000 total for a roof over it? Gee whiz. How about we take the RWC money and send the women who worked so hard to earn it on a trip to Tahiti instead.
Good job, Shanthi. Thanks for caring about our pocketbooks and our streets.
It’s “one fell swoop”. If you don’t like how the money is being spent, join the organization and voice your opinions.
Is the Rollingwood Women’s Club really emptying its treasury? That seems very shortsighted. I would be angry if I had worked as hard as some of these women over many years to have money available on an ongoing basis for a variety of things throughout the community.
Also, I am very happy that the city is able to get a much fairer deal on street repair given that money for this was not planned on by our previous council. I also think alderwoman Jayakumar deserves a big thank you for researching this!
“Not Exactly” — What about other things the RWC would like to support since all the money is now gone? Answer that question. I AM a member of the RWC and I am angry. A few women pushed that through along with a president with her own political agenda related to her husband’s position on the RCDC. Conflicts galore. I think the money taken from the RWC treasury should be replaced.
Ethics anyone?
“Not Exactly”: How do you know that “Spending” does not belong to the organization and has not voiced an opinion? And why is it okay to empty the RWC treasury like the city was doing with the city budget? People voiced opinions then and were screamed at and mocked publicly. Quit lecturing people to jump through hoops to stop things and blaming them when they happen when they just shouldn’t be happening in the first place.
Stop fighting.. Go to the RWC meeting and vote when the vote is held. This year Melissa Morrow suggested the 10k be split amongst two projects- part to the shade structure and part to the walking trail. A vote was held and this was the decision.
The RWC gives 10k a year- several thousand less than they raise a year through dues, 4th of July, the 5k, tshirt sales, etc…
To “Ugh”: “between” rather than “amongst” when you are dividing “between” two things, and “among” and “amongst” should be used with 3 or more.
The RWC does not bring in several thousand more than $10,000 a year. That is either completely false information or this is a very recent change. If it did, it would have quite a bit more money in its treasury and it would not be empty now.
I don’t believe this is fighting, but instead is a discussion to express differing opinions. Why is one ex-council person’s name being brought up? That can certainly lead to additional discussions regarding ethics that may not be appropriate here. Le us stay the topic.
We can move forward and use the decisions (and/or mistakes) made as examples of what not to do from now on. If the organization chose to do this and followed protocol in its decision, then so be it. Perhaps this is a good time for new organizations to be created that reflect different priorities and values.
1. The mission of the Rollingwood Women’s Club is to raise money to beautify the parks and public areas in Rollingwood. Each year we ask the Park Commission to recommend projects that they would like us to fund, and the membership discusses and then votes on which project we would like to donate to teach year.
Over the years we have built up a substantial bank balance because the park commission has not requested much money from us, as we have had several 5 K races that raised more than we ever anticipated. As far as I understand it, we always intended to spend that money on our Nonprofit Mission to support the park and not hoard it in our bank account.
2. The RWC has NOT emptied their treasury by any stretch. We still have approximately $3500, which is more than sufficient to pay for our annual expenses for years to come, even if we don’t raise another penny. We’re still planning to have the 5K (raises about $5000+) and July 4 ($3000+), so I don’t think we’ve been irresponsible with our funds. In fact it would have been irresponsible for us NOT to spend them on our mission.
3. This year our MEMBERS moved, discussed, and voted to make a generous (same amount as last year though) gift to two approved park projects – the walking trail and the shade structure. As RWC President I did not make either motion. The vote was at our regularly scheduled meeting in November, as it has been every year, so that we can make our regularly scheduled gift to the city in December. This should not have come as a surprise to anyone – we do it every single year.
4. My recommended amount of a gift to the city was $6000. The MEMBERSHIP of RWC, not me, decided and voted to give $10,000, which was the max I thought we should give and still leave a comfortable cushion in our bank account. It’s not unprecedented for us to give that much, and it was (again) the decision of the membership, not the president.
5. If anyone else would like to be the RWC President or RNA President, they should email me and/or Rob. We would both be happy to turn these time consuming and often frustrating volunteer positions over to anyone who thinks they can do a better job.
Laura Hirschfeld
President, Rollingwood Women’s Club
Former Treasurer and VP of Programs, RWC
Former Chair of July 4 (2 years, + 3 years as raffle chair)
Former Chair of Easter Egg Hunt (4 years)
Former Chair of Candidate’s Forum (2 years)
For the record, there would only be a conflict if Rob or I got any personal benefit from the shade structure. Our kids don’t even really use the park nowadays, and we don’t own any share of the shade structure company so I don’t see any possible benefit for us out of this project. I support the project because RWC has already donated substantial funds toward it (without controversy, I might add, it was a unanimously approved gift last year), and I would like to see it completed rather than have our original gift sit unused in the city’s bank account while the matching grant goes to someone else.
IN ADDITION, I would like to add that Rob and I have personally given hundreds (thousands?) of dollars and hours to RWC and RNA, making numerous events and meetings fun and successful for our community, even ones we and our children weren’t able to attend. I don’t ask for anything back, but I would really appreciate if those who criticize us give me the respect of telling me who they are so we can discuss our differences like the neighbors that we are.
Laura Hirschfeld
Welcome to the world of anonymous attacks in the Eanes community. It’s apparently part of the culture.
WOW! Kudos to Laura Hirschfeld for standing up PUBLICLY to her ANONYMOUS critics. It’s easy to be a critic when you are not willing to sign your name. I hope you will make your names public when you sign up to put in as much time and heart as Laura has in recent years to serve her community and make it a great place to live. It sounds like you couldn’t even find the time to attend a public meeting where it was all discussed, let alone put in the extra work it takes to run that organization in such a profitable way that benefits the entire community. If you are not willing to invest your time, or even be honest about who you are, you should be ashamed of yourselves for being so catty and divisive. As the old saying goes, sounds like it’s time to “put up or shut up.”
Interesting that those who have unfairly attacked others do not appreciate comments here. Didn’t some current commission members and RWC and RNA officers use Facebook as a forum to begin unwarranted attacks in an attempt to smear several of our good, hardworking council members? It would be nice if we could all be good neighbors.
I think the possible interlocal agreement for street repair is great! Looking forward to more positive work like this in the coming year.
To “Interested observer” — And where is YOUR name? I think your post might also be …anonymous! I say some of those complaining about the comments here have done quite a bit themselves to be catty and divisive and so should also be ashamed as you so state, and might just be living in glass houses (and so shouldn’t have been throwing stones at others…).
Many women have made Rollingwood what it is today and do not brag about what they have contributed over many years. Kudos to those women!
It’s kind of funny to read comments from anonymous people criticizing other anonymous people in the Picayune Blog.
Great job Shanthi taking the initiative to find a significantly lower cost method for paving our streets!
I think Laura and Rob Hirschfeld have made significant contributions to our City and we should be thankful for their efforts. The potential “conflict” comes from the fact that Laura and Rob wear multiple hats. Rob is the President of the Rollingwood Homeowner’s Association and Secretary of the RCDC. Laura is the President of the Women’s club and was the Treasurer for Roxanne McKee in the last election.
Rob posted a misleading notice of the street tax election and when asked to correct the notice, responded with, “Here’s the link to UNSUBSCRIBE. I’m sorry you do not like the newsletter.” Laura refused to accept a $1,000 donation from my family to the Lower Park, for any project approved by the Women’s club.
There are many people in our community that have given their time, treasure, and talent over the years through both individual acts of kindness and through formal groups and organizations. I am thankful for their passion, foresight, and stewardship. There are great opportunities for us to continue to work together to maintain and improve this already outstanding community. It would be unrealistic to think that in the past, present, or future the work of these individuals or organizations occurred without difficult discussions or dissent. Respectful discussions that represent a wide variety of ideas and opinions often lead to an improved decision making process and better outcome.
This City offers a wide range of opportunities to voice opinions, volunteer, and improve the community. One such organization is the Rollingwood Women’s Club. The Rollingwood Women’s Club was founded in 1958 to promote the welfare of residents, to encourage beautification of the City, and to work with the Mayor and City Council on projects benefiting the community. Membership is open to all women of Rollingwood. Meetings are held in resident’s homes usually on the fourth Tuesday of the month from September through May. Dues are $20 annually and you may join at anytime.
The vote of the RWC funds to support the walking trail and a shade structure were meant to promote the welfare of residents and encourage the beautification of the city. By using the funds raised through the RWC Fun Run and Fourth of July Events for projects that will benefit everyone in the community, the City will be able to use tax dollars for street repairs, water lines, and other projects.
Our parks have served and will continue to serve as a valuable asset to our community by providing a safe place for us to come together and play, share meals, make new friends, and improve our mental and physical health. These gifts were simply meant to bring our community together.
Melissa Greenwood Morrow
Suddenly the “bring our community together” lecture. There seems to be a sudden increase in moral lecturing at public meetings from those who might be trying to reassure themselves of their own past behavior. I prefer enduring endless lectures only from those who set good examples like, for instance, my mother.
Barry, I did not refuse your donation. You wanted your donation to be for something very specific and I told you that the membership votes on all gifts we make to the city and there is no way to guarantee that YOUR project would be the project that the membership voted to give our funds to. If you would like to give a general, undesignated donation to RWC, knowing that we vote on our gifts to the city each year in November and that your donation would be part of whatever gift the membership decides to give, we’ll happily take your money.
Barry, you can send your check to JayeLynne Russell, she’s in the Directory.
And I’ll repeat – if ANYONE would like to take some of my multiple hats from me rather than criticize me for having them, I would be DELIGHTED. I did not ask for a single one of these positions (except maybe the Easter Egg Hunt). I was begged to do them and said yes because it seemed like a fun way to serve the community and meet people and make friends.
Rob has tried for SEVERAL YEARS to find a new president for the RNA. NO ONE has stepped up.
I tried this year to find a new president for RWC, a new chair for the Easter Egg Hunt, a new chair for July 4, but NO ONE signed up. I am not willing to let these positions go unfilled or go to someone unwilling who gets stuck with them and then does a bad job.
It sounds like there are a couple of people who think they can do a better job – well EMAIL ME at laura@h-consulting.com or call me at 347.0153 and I will give you the files tomorrow.
Laura
Was offering a generous donation to the “lower” park too specific? Who has the authority to turn down a donation for our park? The park is public, and not controlled by any private group.
It sounds as though commenter #20, Mother Theresa reincarnate, could be running for office or preparing to open a Rollingwood Chamber of Commerce to offer Rollingwood history lessons, advice on being respectful, and civic instruction to all whether they want it, need it, or not.
Today is Elvis’s birthday. Maybe we can have him come to our city from wherever he may be and give us advice on how to live, play, and be good respectful citizens, too.
We may as well be properly entertained in the process.
Neighbor – I never turned down his donation, nor would I turn down an undesignated donation to RWC. Back then and just now I told him where to send his money to make the donation, which he did not send. In an email on February 9, 2009, cc’ed to Kelli Carlton, I sent him our 501(c)(3) letter as he requested and gave him the address to send his check, made out to RWC. I clarified that all money given by RWC to the park commission was subject to vote by the membership. Send me your email address and I will forward you that email and all the rest of them in that discussion for your records. Maybe I should return them to Barry, since he can’t remember them.
Laura did ask if I had a specific project in mind. My reply was “I do not have a specific project. I would simply want it spent on the lower park on any project approved by your members.” Laura did not agree to my request because “We do not earmark funds for projects like that …”
Ask yourself – If I was the President of a charitable organization that had a Mission Statement to beautify the parks, and someone wanted to donate $1,000 to a specific area, could you have figured out a way to accept the money?
Barry,
We would have accepted your money had you given it. BUT just as I clarified – the membership votes on where we give our gift, and if they had voted to support just the walking trail or a different project, and not the lower park, that is where the money would go, and your request could not have been honored. That is how RWC as an organization works– by vote of membership and not by request of any individual. I find it strange that I am being criticized for simultaneously obstructing and upholding that process.
Knowing that, you chose to give your money elsewhere, which is fine. Ultimately the goal is for YOU to know that YOUR money went toward the charitible mission that you hoped it would go to, not for it to pass through RWC. As a nonprofit accountant, I would rather know that you are satisfied that your money went to the good cause of your choosing and it sounds like it did.
But we would have taken it if you had chosen to give it, and I would appreciate your setting the record straight on that. We absolutely did not turn down any gift – we just made sure that you understood that the membership, not any individual donor, is who decides how the organizations’ money is spent. As I suggested back then, if you, as an individual donor, wanted more control over your gift, then you could give it directly to the park commission, which would have been a tax deductible gift, and they have the administration in place to handle designated gifts like that.
Laura
I am not sure why Barry would not have just donated the money directly to the City earmarking it for the lower park. If I remember correctly the donation was offered when Barry was running for election and many felt it was an odd, sudden gesture- one that could be looked at as trying to influence a few votes… The timing was a bit awkward.
Soo- the question remains- why wouldn’t Barry then still give the money to the City for the Park if he was so committed to the Park donation??
To clarify: Ms. Hirschfeld was the treasurer for another city council candidate, as well as the RWC president, as well as a Planning and Zoning Commissioner during the election process. She is married to an officer on the RCDC, and who is also president of the Rollingwood Neighborhood Association and who is politically outspoken.
Barry was just Barry. A sincere, hardworking, decent citizen who then decided to run again for council. He just recently was very deservedly appointed to the Utility Commission.
No one really cares if someone makes a donation in Rollingwood. We ALL do that and very often contribute our time to our park! It is the norm and not the exception.
Donating directly to the city is not a good idea since the donations go into one large general fund and are difficult to track over time. I think Barry knew that. Maybe he did not want to donate to the upper park which is primarily used for the Little League and I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t either.
The question from “??” is unfortunate and shows lack of awareness of the big picture.
AND THE TRUTH COMES OUT….
The previous post I believe confirms that some in the Women’s Club decided they did not want my donation. It seems it was discussed and “…. many felt it was an odd, sudden gesture…”. My family has given similar sized gifts to the Trail Foundation and we thought it would be good to give to our City park.
If you read the Park Donation Email on my blog you will see that Kelli Carlton, the Chair of the Park Commission, said “the donation would need to go thru the Women’s Club”.
Surely you two have better things to do than go tit for tat on this blog. It sounds like you’ve both been very very generous with your time and money to try to better your community. It also appears that you had a disagreement about what betterment of your community looked like. Why don’t you just agree to disagree instead of hurling petty insults and charges at one another? Act like the leaders that you are. It’s embarrassing.
Many people donate money to the City for the park- ie. the RWC. The money does not go into a pot. There is a special line item for donations. Hope this helps.
All intentions are good. Nobody is doing anything wrong. Donate the money if you are really inclined to do so or don’t. Either way- the Park is the only loser in this situation.
A line item in the city budget specifically for park donations? Sounds new to me. Maybe the Park Commission and RWC should know about that. Making donations to the city just doesn’t have the same feel as donating somehow directly to the park. The city already collects taxes from us anyway.
How do you know “all intentions are good”? I believe MOST intentions are good and have witnessed some of the other.
If I were to make a monetary donation, I would like to have some say in the general area it is spent. I don’t want it spent on lawn maintenance or repaintinng the stripes in the parking lot. I think that is a reasonable expectation. I wouldn’t want to simply write a check to the city. Lets be realistic.
For the record, I did not file to run for City Council until March 2009 and had not asked anyone to be my Treasurer as of February 2009. The implication in Barry Bone’s blog that somehow Laura Hirschfeld had a conflict of interest regarding his attempted donation because she served as my Treasurer while simultaneously acting as President of the Rollingwood Women’s Club is unfounded.
I am thankful for the volunteer work that both the Hirschfelds have performed for our fine neighborhood over many years. Let’s move forward in a positive way.
The implication stems from Barry’s treatment by those in the community. There have been instances of anger and unfair treatment even by council members towards a community member who had spoken openly about issues with our city. There are also many people who have performed volunteer work in our community without pushing certain political agendas. The concerns are not unfounded.
I agree that we should ALL move forward in a positive way and still be aware of and learn from past experiences.
Lets just be glad we have a good group focusing on the important issues facing the city and our council has options on getting our streets paved, finally.
To Who?? You can donate to the Park via the City and earmark your funds for a specific project- a tree, the trail, the shade structure, plants, misc,.. whatever you want..
I was driving through Rollingwood today and realized the poor condition of the streets. It makes sense to me that Rollingwood will get that going since the park is in great shape and shouldn’t need any more money in the near future. No other area in west Austin has as bad of road conditions like Rollingwood. They are also unattractive and make the area seem uncared for. Support the council that is moving forward with this! Streets in such disrepair also cost more money in the long run.