Board Members Present:
Lonnie Moore (LM)  Jerry Mills (JM) Sam Love (SL)
Sallie McLaughlin (SM) Catriona Smith (CS)
Anne Steichen (AS) Leo Slaton (LS)

Absent:
Erika Mott (EM)

Call to order at 7:05 PM August 1, 2000.  Lonnie polled the board members for any new agenda topics in addition to our standing agenda.  None submitted.

1. We reviewed the minutes from the July board meeting.  The minutes were approved with minor changes.  (AS moved, SL 2nd, pass)

2. Treasurer's report indicated there was $3,940.14 in the account.
There were two bills submitted for reimbursement from LM, newsletter postage for $65.00 and $54.00 for copy services.  We had four checks for membership dues.

  Also discussed was our membership in the Highland Lakes Group.  Lonnie indicated the we should keep up our membership this organization (dues $100.00).  JM moved AS second to pay the dues for this organization.  The motion passed.

3. Committee Reports

  3.1 Lake Travis (Report by Jerry Mills)
  Jerry indicated that in his opinion it was the first time that LCRA had made a projection for water levels that had missed the mark. According to Jerry, LCRA said the lake level would be at 645 by Sept 1 at 644 at year-end.  The current lake level is 643.  The current projections may be revised by LCRA again according to Jerry.  Jerry also indicated a few factors that could have caused LCRA to miss the calculations:  (1) the rice farmers have spring and fall plantings and apparently they asked for water in July which is unusual for the "fall" planting.  (2) the rain in mid June up north put water into the river and Lake Buchanan got this water.  They had to release the water because of the rice farmers.  Traditionally water is not let to rice farmers in July.

  Jerry also reported on the Lake Travis Advisory Panel.  JM will be attending the next stakeholders meeting.  JM reported that he felt that the marina ordinance did not have any teeth in it - especially to address the number of marinas on the lake.

  JM also reported on Sunlit Cove. The property owners want to dredge the cove adjacent to the three lots.  The adjacent property owners are against this plan.  JM indicated that LCRA and the Corp of Engineers would have to grant permission to dredge the cove.

  Leo reported on the issue with dry stack at Cypress Creek Marina.  Discussion by the board ensued regarding what could be done by landowners vs what would be allowable by permit. Walt indicated he would follow up to see if any permits or red tags had been issued.

  3.2 Business Development/Incorporation (Report by Anne Steichen)
  Anne reported that a meeting was held to discuss incorporation on July 25, 2000.  At this meeting the consensus was to have a VNA sponsored panel discussion to allow the pro and anti incorporation groups to be present at one meeting.  Discussion ensued regarding the appropriate site, and the consensus was that it would be preferable to have the meeting in the fire hall rather than at Precinct 2.  We discussed a date for the meeting and the issue of when the group for incorporation would submit their petition to Austin was debated.  SL phoned Ms. Mattie Adams to check with her on the status of the petition but was unable to reach Ms. Adams.  AS indicated that she did not feel that a petition would go forward any time soon and we should plan the meeting when the Labor Day holiday was over and school was back in session.  A motion was proposed by AS second by SM "For a VNA sponsored meeting in the form of a panel discussion for pro and con issues of incorporation sponsored by VNA and moderated by Lonnie on September 7 at 7:00 PM".  The motion passed unanimously.  WT indicated that there is another meeting on August 3, 2000 to discuss incorporation with WT as moderator.

  3.3 Roadways/Safety (Report by Walt Thompson)
  Walt reported that there was a section of Old Anderson Mill Road and Pocahontas that was washing out.  He called the county to report.

  Also on roads, there is a section near Cypress Creek Park where the edge of the road drops off and there is no guardrail or markings. Walt indicated that the county should survey or check on the safety issue.
WT indicated that he would follow-up with TX-DOT on the issue.

  Regarding complaints on the golf carts running around at the intersection of FM 2769 and Lime Creek, WT reported that he contacted the DPS to inquire about the rules on golf carts and small utility carts operating at this intersection.  WT reported that Major Smith indicated that if the vehicles are properly registered they could be operated on the roads.  The state DPS came out to look over the situation and did issue citations.
Several citations were issued including not stopping at stop signs, and illegal U-turns.  According to WT, if seat belts are on these vehicles, they must be worn.  WT reported that the utility carts now have the warning sign
on the back.  Apparently when the tailgate is down, the taillights are not visible.

  WT was also following up on if there is a requirement to provide a section of a public area for "fire lane" or essentially a sign indicating "no parking - fire lane" on public establishments.  In addition, are there requirements for areas to be marked specifically for EMS vehicles? WT is checking into these requirements.

  3.4 Membership (Report by Lonnie Moore)
  Currently we have 94 paid members.  The requirement for voting membership is to be a resident or landowner of Volente. SL is going to contact landowners in his area who do not currently live in Volente about joining VNA.

  3.5 VVFD (Report by Lonnie Moore/ Anne Steichen)
  Lonnie reported that the District 11 Fire Commissioners will meet on August 16, 2000 and will likely vote on and pass a tax rate increase.  The 5-year budget projections by the VVFD indicated that an increase to $0.06 to $0.08 per $100.00 valuation would be necessary.

  3.6 Anne reported on the status of the Volente Park name change.
As noted in the last month's minutes, it is under consideration to rename the park in honor of a long time resident, Cy Adams.  According to WT, the VVFD felt that there were many citizens in the area that have been long time
volunteers to the VVFD and it would be hard to single out one person. Discussion ensued on a plaque dedicated to all the volunteers of the community.  The "Fireman's Park" idea was floated with ideas of listing names of volunteers.  The issue of who would be responsible for updating the plaque and who would decide on names was discussed.  The idea of the plaque will be discussed with the VVFD by WT.

  Meeting adjourned at 8:51 PM.  Cat to do refreshments at the Sept. 5th meeting.

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