NOVEMBER MEETING
7:00 p.m. Monday, November 21st
Southwest Church of Christ
8900 Manchaca Rd.
(Rear Entrance)


PROGRAM NOTES

Officer Harold Bristow, our district representative from the Austin Police Department is coming to our next neighborhood association meeting. As Mark Tilley points out in his article, concerns about crime and traffic issues have been evident on the COVNA email list. If you have any questions or concerns about traffic or crime in your part of our neighborhood, the meeting will be a great opportunity to speak to APD about it.


11/21 - World Hello Day


11/27 - Jimi Hendrix Birthday

 

Your Vote Counts

330 voters in our precinct, 355, cast ballots in the latest election covering 10 constitutional amendments and 2 Travis county bond issues, a turnout of less than 10% of eligible voters. To have the greatest impact as a voter, we need to vote in the high-profile elections but not neglect the "small" elections that often have a greater influence on our day-to-day lives.

2011 COVNA BOARD
Mark Tilley
Jennifer Rizkalla
Dan Anderson
Hal Ferguson
Doug Tabony
Doug DuBois
Dominic Chavez
President (280-2572)
Vice President (358-1610)
Secretary (282-1932)
Treasurer (282-0601)
Newsletter (280-4080)
ANC Delegate (292-9323)
Past President (695-5457)
 

To join the COVNA Email List, click below and
send an email with your name(s) to Doug at

tabonyproductions@austin.rr.com
Now 100+ households strong!

Find out the latest neighborhood news and developments.
Receive recommendations for service providers.

2011 MEETING SCHEDULE

February 21st
April 18th
Neighborhood Picnic - June 4th
September 19th
November 21st
December Party - TBA
 

Advertise in the COVNA Newsletter
Only $10.00/month. Reaches over 400 homes & Online at COVNA.org
Email Hal Ferguson at: hferguson3@yahoo.com

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

If you subscribe to the neighborhood email list, you are aware that crime and traffic are two issues of great concern to COVNA neighbors. You are probably also aware that emotions can run high, and there is no consensus on how to deal with traffic calming in particular.

As president of the neighborhood association, I sometimes get phone calls and emails from neighbors about these issues, and I have a difficult time responding in a way that is helpful. Because of the size of our neighborhood and the difference of opinions, it is difficult to find a top-down solution to many of the concerns neighbors have. This certainly proved true in 2007 when the neighborhood failed to generate enough interest among neighbors to claim a city grant to implement some traffic calming solutions.

However, I have heard from some neighbors that are working individually with the city on traffic calming for their part of the neighborhood and are beginning to organize their close neighbors into Neighborhood Watch groups. In order to effectively address these issues, that is exactly what neighbors need to do. A personal call to 3-1-1 about traffic issues is more effective than anything the neighborhood association can do. Similarly, the Neighborhood Watch trainings I have attended emphasize that successful groups start on a block-by-block basis.

Of course, the neighborhood association can and should play a role in helping to address these issues. Because traffic and crime are two of the most important issues for neighbors, we have officer Harold Bristow, our district representative from the Austin Police Department coming to our next neighborhood association meeting to talk about concerns folks have. If you have any questions or concerns about traffic or crime in your part of our neighborhood, the meeting will be a great opportunity to speak to APD about it.

At our next meeting we also will be talking about ways to communicate with and reach out to neighbors within the boundaries of COVNA and how to make the neighborhood association more relevant to you.

If you have thoughts about any of these issues or questions to pose to Officer Bristow, please join us on Monday, November 21 at 7 pm.


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CRIME STATISTICS

APD Crime Statistics
2/1/11 - 10/31/11

Crime
Violation City Ordinance Dog
Abandoned Vehicle
Aggravated Assault
Assault by Contact
Assault with Injury
Assist Complainant
Burglary of Residence
Burglary of Vehicle
Criminal Mischief
Criminal Trespass
Criminal Trespass/Transit
Custody Arrest Traffic Warrant
Dating Disturbance
Death Due To Natural Causes
Debit Card Abuse
Disturbance - Other
Driving While License Invalid
Family Disturbance
Family Disturbance/Parental
Found Property
Fraud/Other
Graffiti
Harassment
Harassment Online
Leaving the Scene Crash/Accident
Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
Robbery by Assault
Suspicious Person
Terroristic Threat-Family/Date Violence
Theft
#
1
1
1
1
1
1
4
6
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
3
1
1
1
1
7

To find out the block where each incident occurred you can access the police department’s crime report website at www.ci.austin.tx.us/GIS/crimeviewer/CrimeReportSearch.html. After you open this web page, click on the box that says Address Radius Search. Click on Geographic Location Search. The box will now say Neighborhood. Click on the box below the heading Neighborhood Name. Scroll down to find Castlewood-Oak Valley Neighborhood Assn. and click on it. Choose the beginning date and ending date for your search. A list of crimes and incidents will appear with our neighborhood association boundary outlined. When you click on any listing, the map will show where that crime occurred and the street(s) and block number(s) will be displayed below the map. You can enlarge the map so street names appear with the well-disguised zoom tool at the upper left corner of the map. You will have to do this for each listing you click on.

This setup is new, easier to use, and more informative than the old version. For once an upgrade is a real improvement.



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COWAN CORNER

COVNA has agreed to support out local elementary school by joining the PTA as a neighborhood! By doing so all COVNA members are entitled to some great benefits. To view and use the discounts COVNA members will need to:

1) Contact Jessica DeLeon for login information at Jessica@aect.net or 280-1961

2) Go to www.txpta.org/intranet

3) Login

4) Go to the Benefits and Discounts section on left hand side of website.

5) Shop away, following the instructions required by each business in order to gain your discounts.

I hope all will be able to take advantage of the discounts available. Thank you all for taking an active role in our great neighborhood!

Jessica DeLeon


BIRD CRASHES

We kept hearing loud thumps and soon came to realize that birds were crashing into windows. A Nashville Warbler took several hours to recover from such a crash. Concerned, I purchased a set of UV window decals described as follow, “Our decals contain a component which reflects ultraviolet sunlight. This ultraviolet light is invisible to humans, but birds see it as a brilliant glow - much like a stoplight. To the human eye, the decals appear as frosted or etched glass.” Seemed a great idea until another Nashville Warbler crashed inches from the decal.



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