Approved Minutes — original pdf

Approved Minutes

EMMA S. BARRIENROS MEXICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER REGULAR MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2022 The Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center convened in a Regular meeting on Wednesday, October 5, 20222, at City Hall – Board and Commissions Room located at 301 West Second Street in Austin, Texas 78701. (Some members of the ESB-MACC Advisory Board participated via videoconference.) Vice Chair David Goujon called the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center Meeting to order at 6:08pm. Board Members in Attendance: Board Members in Attendance Remotely: David Goujon, Vice Chair Endi Silva, Chair Litza Gonzales, Member (Arrived at 6:15pm) Tomas Salas, Member (Left at 6:42pm) Gerardo Gandy, Member Greg Gonzalez, Member Ricardo Maga Rojas, Member Board Members Absent: Art Navarro, Member Staff in Attendance: Laura Esparza, PARD Division Manager Michelle Rojas, ESB-MACC Culture and Arts Education Manager PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL Anna Maciel, Community Member stated that since the Special Called Meeting did not take place on September 27th, she would like to request the Friends of the MACC be present and included on the next meeting agenda. • Maciel expressed that the organization utilizes the name of the MACC, so it is important to know how Friends of the MACC are utilizing the funds. She believes this is a way to have some sort of accountability as well as to have an organization or gather stakeholders to raise money to help collect funds for the center. 1 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. The minutes from the Regular meeting of July 6, 2022, were approved on Chair Silva’s motion. Member Maga Rojas seconded the motion. Unanimous vote (7.0). Motion passed. Member Navarro absent. CHAIR REPORT 2. Chair Silva stated there was no report but expressed her gratitude towards Vice Chair Goujon conducting the meeting in her stead. She also thanked the Board Members for making the meeting priority. STAFF BRIEFINGS 3. Staff Report on ESB-MACC program highlights Olivia Tamzarian, ESB-MACC Marketing Representative provided a report on Viva Mexico letting the Board know the event was a huge success notating over 3,000 participants were in attendance. • Tamzarian shared an update of the current and upcoming exhibits, September LAAP highlights, programs for the month of October and early November, as well as the MACC’s outreach events. • She gave a brief update of the Día de Los Muertos preparation and planned festivities for the centers last on-site Signature Event. (Please see the Board and Commissions Website for backup material.) 4. Staff report on continuation of the MACC programming during Phase 2 closures. Michelle Rojas, ESB-MACC Culture and Arts Education Manager addressed the following – when the MACC closes to the public, last day to accept rental and COA reservations, collaborations, and program activities. • Rojas commented that the ESB-MACC was committed to the continuation of programs during the Phase 2 closures and sees it as an opportunity to extend programs to areas of the City where cultural programs are scarce. She stated the goals are to continue to provide signature events and programs at locations such as recreation centers and libraries all while keeping existing staff working on MACC related programs. (Please see the Board and Commissions Website for backup material.) DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 5. Presentation on the Rainey Street Trailhead, Butler Trail Arts + Culture Plan and Rainey Street Historic District Special Revenue Fund by Heidi Anderson and Charlotte Tonsor from The Trail Conservancy, Council Member Kathie Tovo – City Council District 9, Luke Urie and Mirna Garcia from Austin Transportation. Heidi Anderson, The Trail Conservancy CEO informed the Board that the Trail Foundation recently signed a formal agreement with the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department that will expand their role into a true conservancy model for all the parkland that makes up Town Lake Metropolitan Park. 2 • Anderson discussed the PARD partnership criteria they were required to meet before being able to make the agreement. She also provided information on management and implementation, project statuses, and numerous Boards & Commissions presentations. • Anderson provided an update on Butler Trail Arts + Culture Plan informing the Board that their Common Waters event was held May 14th. Noting that their team is continuing with engagement and initial plan development. Kathie Tovo – City Council Member for District 9 announced that she was primarily in attendance to answer questions and give feedback but wanted to provide additional information on the Special Revenue fund. • She explained the fund was set up in recognition to there being tremendous development happening along Rainey Street. The results of that development were to fund projects that recognize, celebrate, and capture the history of the families who once lived in that neighborhood. At that time Council passed a resolution that all of the development fees, right-of-way fees, and other kinds of fees would go into the fund to make that possible. She went on to say for reasons that are not entirely clear, the funds only went into the Special Revenue fund for about a year which then helped make the decision to use the funds to relocate some of the houses from the area. Tovo let the Board know that many of the houses are now part of the Jeremiah Program. She explained that the program supports moms who are getting their education with ACC and provides them with child care and affordable places to live with their children. She clarified that after the initial investment the fund went away and part of the work that she was doing on the Palm District Plan bought forward a resolution that was supported by Council where they were able to get Council consensus to receive funds from license fees which was $200,000 that would go into the Special Revenue fund yearly unless Council decided to increase the funding amount. • Member Gonzales asked for Council Member Tovo to explain why the money stopped going into the Special Revenue fund. • Council Member Tovo responded, letting the Board know the fees had been going into the fund for a year or two but she was not sure how long. She commented that she would have to go back and look at the Palm District resolutions to see exactly what happened but thinks there was a misunderstanding about Council direction, that it was to be funded in perpetuity therefore it did not get codified into city code. It was treated as a temporary funding mechanism and once the money was spent the fund was not replenished. Once her team uncovered tapes, transcripts, talked to city staff and former council members they set out to fix the agreement. The agreement they were able to get from the current council was to fund it at the level of $200,000 a year which is now fixed in code. She also informed the Board that if there is a year the money from the Special Revenue fund is not spent, they could spend more than the $200,000, notating that was also fixed into code. Jason JonMichael, Austin Transportation Assistant Director notified the Board of their new program called Placemaking. • He explained what the Placemaking program was intended for and how it could be an element in the future, possibly the buildout to the pocket park and a way to ensure the right-of-way has a complimentary component making sure to connect and rebuild the cultural significance of the ESB-MACC and the Rainey Street area. (Please see the Board and Commissions Website for backup material.) 3 6. Discussion and possible action on the Rainey Street Trailhead and Special Revenue Fund 7. Presentation on the lot at 64 Rainey Street by Laura Esparza, Division Manager for Parks No further discussion. and Recreation. Esparza explained to the Board Members that 64 Rainey Street was a result of a Council Resolution that was passed on June 9, 2022. Resolution No. 20220609- 123 directed the City Manager to include in the draft budget for Council consideration and approval an appropriation of $700,000 in the 2022-23 City budget to fund placemaking and place keeping projects in the Rainey Historic District. • July 2022 Staff confirmed that 64 Rainey Street improvements were a part of the Phase 2 design contract and AIPP funding could be used there. • Proposed Project List in Resolution - Historic markers, Family Stories narrated through sidewalk panels, Metal Papel Picado artwork affixed to lampposts, Mural(s) on the AE substation recreating Raul’s Valdez’s murals, Art and Storytelling elements in 64 Rainey Street 64 park space, and the Grand entrada for the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center. 8. Discussion and possible action on the lot at 64 Rainey Street. Anna Maciel, Public Community Member thanked Esparza for providing the presentation on 64 Rainey Street. Maciel questioned what happened to the Rainey Street house that was offered to the MACC, making current Board Members aware that it was removed without communicating to the Advisory Board. • Maciel also brought to the Boards attention that the agreement made by CJ Sackman with Sackman Enterprises regarding the construction of the condo next to the center specifically included the pocket park. She explained the $400,000 that Sackman had given to the City of Austin was for the pocket park, but the City somehow decided to use the money for the Master Plan and not for the pocket park. She stated there has been so many broken promises, it’s unreal to her why the MACC is not completed. Vice Chair Goujon stated he wanted to stress that the Master Plan Anna was referencing was from 2018 and that there was community engagement done for that pocket park during that era. He asked that they not forget the work that is done so we’re not always having to rewrite the comments from the community. • Member Gandy stated he was interested in seeing the agreement that Maciel spoke about, commenting that he was not sure if it was worth revisiting but he would like to know what the past conversation was regarding the pocket park and the $400,000. • Member Salas stated he had no recollection of there being a written agreement between the developer and Advisory Board, or with the City but he recalled the Board passing a motion to support the $400,000 to become a part of the Master Plan for Phase 2. • Laura Esparza, Parks and Recreation Division Manager commented that she would share the agreement with the Board Members. Vice Chair Goujon motioned that the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center Advisory Board supports the fulfillment of prior agreements to vacate the alley at 64 Rainey permanently. Chair Silva seconded. Unanimous vote (7.0) Motion passed. Member Navarro absent. Vice Chair Goujon motioned for the ESB-MACC Advisory Board to support the use of the 4  Rainey Historic funds and the available AIPP funds for the 64 Rainey pocket park and Grand Entrada as supported by the City Resolution. Member Salas seconded. Unanimous vote (7.0) Motion passed. Member Navarro absent. 9. Presentation on initial concepts for Heritage Wayfinding Design by Principal in Charge, John Bosio with Merje Design. Item withdrawn, presenters not in attendance to provide presentation. 10. Discussion and possible action on ESB-MACC Phase 2 renovation and expansion project. Michelle Rojas, ESB-MACC Manager shared the update delivered by Heidi Tse, Capital Delivery Project Manager regarding the Phase 2 improvements for October 2022. • Larry Amaro, Community Member questioned if the lower level would not be in the design, then what was the planning. He believed there must have been a couple of months since those changes were made and thought there had to be some type of hand written schematic design(s). He wondered if there would be any designs available for the public to see and give comments on. He is hopeful the Board will hold an emergency meeting for the public to discuss further. • Vice Chair Goujon shared his concerns with losing the shelf space level and losing the shelf space that would’ve been part of the music hub. He was curious to know if the developers were looking to find space in the design to still find a way to have a music hub location. • Rojas informed the Board that the design team had requested a meeting with the Phase 2 Working Group that would take place the following week and commented that a Special Called meeting would be requested for the final design. • Member Gandy stated they were supposed to receive an update from the Community Communication Forum but have only received updates from Michelle Rojas and Larry Amaro. Vice Chair Goujon agreed and requested that Public Works provide an update to the ESB-MACC Advisory Board. 11. Discussion and action on re-assignment of members to working groups. Vice Chair Goujon explained how the working groups worked so that the new Board Members understood the functionality and purpose of the groups. • Michelle Rojas, ESB-MACC Manager announced that there will be two new Board Members joining the Advisory Board and suggested holding off on re-assignment until those members completed their training so that they could be added to a working group if interested. • Vice Chair Goujon believed Rojas suggestion was good and asked to continue discussion during the November Board meeting. Vice Chair Goujon motioned to reinstate the Ethnographic Working Group to support the work of Cassie Smith’s Ethnographic research. Chair Silva seconded. Unanimous vote (6.0) Motion passed. Members Navarro and Salas absent. 12. Discussion and action on 2023 Advisory Board meeting dates. Vice Chair Goujon motioned to support the schedule with the change from July 5th to the Wednesday after for the same time and location to be at City Hall in the Board and Commissions Room and as part of that requests for ATXN to broadcast live. Chair Silva seconded. Unanimous vote (6.0). Motion passed. Members Navarro and Salas absent. 5  WORKING GROUP UPDATES 13. Arts – Joint Cultural Committee liaison report No updates provided. 14. Transportation No updates provided. 15. Phase 2 Project No updates provided. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Discussion and possible action on ESB-MACC Phase 2 renovation and expansion project from CCF (Gandy, Goujon) Discussion and action on re-assignment of members to working groups. (Goujon, Silva) Working Group Updates (Goujon, Silva) ADJOURNMENT Vice Chair Goujon asked new Board Member Greg Gonzalez to introduce himself before adjourning. Member Gonzalez gave a little background on himself, mentioning that he was from Laredo, TX and has been living in East Austin for the last 25 years. He stated that he first got to know the MACC when it was just a warehouse on the side of the river. When Council Member Vela recommended him and suggested he give the Board a try, he expressed that right away he felt that being a part of the Advisory Board fell in line with his interest and passions and plans to do whatever he can to contribute. Vice Chair Goujon motioned to adjourn the meeting at 8:50pm. Member Maga Rojas seconded. Unanimous vote (6.0). Motion passed. Members Navarro and Salas absent. The minutes were approved at the 11-2-2022 meeting on Vice Chair Goujon’s motion, Member Gonzalez second on a 6.0 vote. 6