Welcome to the Milwood Neighborhood Association - Austin, Texas 78727

A Revised CAMPO 2035 Regional Growth Concept has been drafted, and is available for public comment. The document is available here.

The image to the left shows projections for “activity centers.” Here they show North Burnet Gateway and Howard Lane projects as medium, an the equivalant size to Round Rock(!), while the new Mueller project is rated as a small center. Medium centers in the report are targeted as 9,000 to 75,000 people with 9,000 to 40,000 jobs.

The public can comment on the Revised Draft CAMPO Growth Concept between now and June 22, 2007. Comments can be directed to Campo Liaison Stevie Greathouse.

Cap Metro has a new community newsletter out on their website. The two interesting things I took out were:

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1. In November 2006, Capital Metro launched Mobile WiFi service on Express buses to provide internet access for passengers. The pilot project began with service on nine MCI coach buses serving express routes. The buses are white with a red stripe down the middle.

The WiFi-enabled buses, numbers 9301 through 9309, feature Capital Metro “WiFi To Go” decals to let boarding passengers know they are riding buses with WiFi capabilities.

I’m asking to see if there is any way to know which routes and what times specifically.

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2. The newsletter included the map to the right of the commuter rail routes.

While we’ve seen it before, it is interesting because the location of the station in the Burnet/Domain area has been in flux for a while. Since this is in a CapMetro, publication it is somewhat more interesting because I have found them to consistently caveat potential locations on Burnet.

I’m not sure if the fact this is in a CapMetro newsletter without a “tbd” means a location has been decided. I’ll ask them for some clarity.

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We’ll have the city arborist here on to talk about oak wilt in the neighborhood, with a target of June 19th. I have a specific map of houses that arborist suggests should consider treating their trees, and will be dropping off notes at the houses in question in the next several days. More details to come…

Austin Travis County EMS is hosting a series of Open Houses. Last night they had one at the North Austin Starflight Hanger, which was pretty impressive. That facility is home to part of their helicopter fleet, supporting the main downtown operation, is a backup overnight facility in cases of serious issues downtown, and is also the home of their new Special Operations vehicle. The new vehicle is pretty interesting, which we’ll try to get out to a future event for you to see first hand. The other pending open houses are:

ATCEMS Station #17-2307 Foster Avenue
Saturday May 26, noon – 3:00 p.m.

ATCEMS Station #28-5811 Nuckolls Crossing
Saturday May 26, 4:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Occasionally we’ll ask our local realtors to pull out some stats from MLS as indicators of the housing market in Milwood. Here are some recent snips of information.

Milwood-April Sales

April Stats
Average List Price $182,475.00
Average Sales Price $178,555.00
Homes Pending 14
Average List Price $177,028.00
Active Listings 14
Average List Price $182,020.00

The City of Austin announced today that the public will have an opportunity to visit with the five finalists for the police chief during three community forums in June.

The Chief of Police will oversee a department that employs approximately 2,000 uniform and civilian personnel and has a current budget of more than $183 million. The final candidate selected will succeed former Austin Police Chief Stan Knee who left the department in 2006.

The community meetings will take place at 6 p.m. Monday, June 11, and 8:30 a.m. and noon Tuesday, June 12. All three meetings will be at the Lester E. Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Road.

The public is encouraged to attend any of these meetings and visit with the five police chief candidates. Feedback from these sessions will be utilized in making a final recommendation for the position.

Information on the five candidates available here…

John Irwin of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center will be giving a Virtual Tour of the Wildflower Center at the Milwood Library on June 6 at 6:00pm. A question and answer session will be held after the presentation. Come and find out how you can incorporate native plants into your garden and yard.

The event is free and open to all. Refreshments will be served.

Another city of Austin service you might not be aware of (I wasn’t). Austin and Travis Count residents may drop off home chemicals, such as paint, pool chemicals and motor oil – at the Household Hazardous Waste Facility. This service is free for up to 30 gallons, and is a great way to deal with those half empty paint cans that multiply in your shed mysteriously over time. Remember to bring a current utility bill.

The facility is open noon to 7pm Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 2514 Business Center Drive, which is at approximately Ben White Blvd and south I-35.