Board Members Present:
Anne Cole-Steichen (ACS)
Sam Love (SL)
Jerry Mills (JM)
Lonnie Moore (LM)
Erika Mott (EM)
Leo Slaton (LS)
Catriona Smith (CS)
Walt Thompson (WT)

 Board Members Absent
Sally McLaughlin (SM)

 Guests – (Potential Board Candidates)
Lee Bass
Connie Curtis
Eileen Glover
Bob Mott
Nikki Sanders

 Call to order at 7:10pm.

 LM asked if any board members had additional items to be added to the agenda.  WT added discussion of Wharf Cove.

 Minutes  – All board members reviewed the 3/6/01 minutes by topic.  Pamela Kingfisher’s own words were used, and noted as such, for the description of Alma De Mejur and the Indigenous Women’s Network.  The last paragraph was stricken, and the discussion was moved outside of the official meeting.  WT made a motion to accept the minutes, LS seconded the motion, and all were in favor.

 Treasurer’s Report – ACS reported the VNA has $3,431.88 in the checking account.  She will be presenting her annual report at the General Meeting.  Motion to accept the report was made by EM and seconded by SL, all were in favor.

 Lake Travis Committee – CS reported that the attendance at the last LTAP meeting was not good, and Jim Richardson of LCRA gave another marina ordinance overview.  The moratorium has been extended to May, and there will be a non-point source pollution presentation at the next meeting.

LM reported that LCRA sent him several files with past water tests from Cypress Creek.  JM would like to write a letter on behalf of the VNA against a House Bill that proposes to set the state noise restriction to 92 decibels.  LM said this subject has already been discussed, and the HB is basically setting a statewide maximum, and does not effect LCRA’s ability to enforce their laws.  JM said his concern is that if state the level was set at 92 decibels, then it would be more difficult to get it lowered to the preferred 88 decibels.  He also said the LCRA rangers have found it difficult to enforce the law with the equipment that they have.  There was discussion of how the testing is conducted, and the problems with it.  JM made a motion to write a letter to the appropriate people supporting this bill, asking them to consider 88 decibels as the maximum.  CS seconded the motion and all were in favor.

LS brought a flyer that was anonymously put in his mailbox that warned against swimming near Cypress Creek Marina.  It alleged that the marina was dumping raw sewerage into the lake.  Nicki Sanders said she called LCRA, and Jim Richardson said they found nothing a couple of weeks ago when they were out there doing an inspection.

 Business/Development Committee – LM gave an update on the Twin Creeks development.   He met with a group consisting of neighbors, other VNA board members, and representatives for the developer in March.  They discussed all the issues, and the developer agreed to consider making changes to the lift station.  There has been no response on that to date.  They would like the group to present what they think is appropriate for water testing, such as methods and frequency, and they will consider that as well.  LM said Ms. Kingfisher addressed the Indian artifacts issue, and she was satisfied with their response to leave any that are found undisturbed.  They are planning to provide a pesticide plan for review by the group.  LM is having an engineering firm review the NPS permit.  The partial traffic analysis from Bullick Hollow Rd. to Dies Ranch Rd. estimates the number of daily cars to increase by 1000 within about 5-6 years.

SL reported that Café Bleu is still not open.  He also said he agrees with Mr. Shipley’s comment last VNA meeting that there will still be a parking problem even after the added lot across the street.  He estimates the restaurant seating 150 patrons, the marina has nearly doubled in size, and he indicated that many of the boats at the marina are houseboats.  These factors added together create more cars than parking places provided.  EM said the county has shown no effort to pursue the no parking signs on Lime Creek Rd. there at the marina, and suggested that a letter from the VVFD might be helpful.  WT and LM said it it would be best to wait until it is a problem.
 
 Membership Committee – LM reported there are 31 total members for 2001, and the general meeting will increase that drastically.

 Roadways/Safety Committee – WT reported that he made a call about Lime Creek Rd. and has not gotten a call back.  He spoke with someone at TXDot regarding the potholes at the intersection of Navajo Pass and FM 2769.  They have record of him calling back in November, and they said they need to have an engineer look at it when the backlog clears, but in the meantime they would patch it.  (That patching was partially done on 4/11/01).  Corporal Vannoy with CPPD has not contacted the VNA since last months meeting about the Lime Creek Rd. issue with traffic.  JM said he is concerned about the trees that hang into the road on Arrowhead, Pocahontas, and Navajo Pass.  WT said he would call the county about that.

 VVFD Liaison Committee – WT brought up the subject of Wharf Cove.  He said the trash gets bad there, and the boats launching, people parking to avoid paying VB parking fees, and others trying to turn around down there cause traffic problems.  He said VVFD uses that area to land Star Flight.  He thinks VVFD and/or VNA should have more control over that area.  He suggested asking the county to post no parking signs on the other side of the road, leaving the area open for emergency access.  SL said he thinks is would be most appropriate for VVFD to pursue this instead of the VNA.  Eileen Glover said the VVFD should state the danger this situation causes.  LM said this proposal would upset some of the neighbors.  WT said once a few cars are parked, it becomes unusable by anyone, including the neighbors.  This action would keep the access free from congestion.  ACS said it should be taken to the VVFD and VNA to vote on.  WT is going to take it to the VVFD and report back to the VNA board.

 Liaison to Other Organizations – ACS brought pictures of the Comanche Trail Community sign, and past VNA minutes highlighting discussions of placing a VNA sign somewhere in Volente.  She reported that the Garden Club has some property they might be willing to let the VNA use to put up a sign on.  She researched prices, and Accurate Signs quoted an approximate price of $100, but the final price would depend on VNA boards decisions about the details of the sign.  The Comanche Trail sign has been up for 20 years, and still looks nice.  CS said she is not fond of signs in general.  SL said he thinks we should see what the residents want.  LM said he was for the sign back when it was proposed to increase traffic on the web site, but doesn’t see the need for that now.   Different wording for the sign was discussed, and ACS made a motion that the VNA have a sign that says something like www.volente.org, and possibly welcome to Volente.  The exact wording, location and cost will depend on the VNA board that votes on that.  CS said why not use the VVFD sign.  LM said the letters get moved around and there has been inappropriate words made with the letters of the web address in the past.  WT said he thinks it is too early to make a decision on this subject, and we need more information.  EM said she thinks ACS has provided enough information, and we shouldn’t put this off for another meeting, and seconded ACS’s motion.  CS was opposed, and all others were in favor.

LM will be working on the newsletter.  SM and ACS will get refreshments for the April general meeting, with a $100 budget.  Jim Richardson from LCRA will be the guest speaker, and he will talk about the marina ordinance and the private docks.  We will end with questions and answers.  The VNA board election will be early in the meeting, SM will conduct it.  EM and WT will assist in collecting dues and passing out ballots. It was agreed that there is one vote per paid membership, and additional memberships may be purchased.

LM, ACS and SM will be retiring, and potential new candidates are Lee Bass, Ken Beck, Connie Curtis, Eileen Glover, Bob Mott and Nikki Sanders.  SL indicated that Pam Stickler and Denise Yeagan have expressed interest.

 Meeting adjourned at 9:00 PM.