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PFCONA News Articles
The following stories are regarding PfCONA
published in the Pflag:
(7/10/03)
Discover the Heart of Pflugerville (Editorial) -- As Pflugerville grows and six
miles of SH130 and SH45 come into the picture, as well as other connectors, downtown will
continue to play a key role in the blend of commercial, tourism, and shopping venues that
are drawn to Pflugerville in the short-term and long-term.
I pen this letter to encourage those who live, work, and visit here to "discover
downtown--the heart of Pflugerville". A six block by two block core area with
sidewalks and future expansion potential currently offers city hall, Pfluger Hall, a fire
station, chamber of commerce, eating, flowers, gifst/antiques/crafts, art/framing,
banking, and camper/trailer sales/repair. There is also jewelry/watch repair, trophies,
hair styling, pet care, shipping, gasoline, car washing, dry cleaning, photography,
construction/dental/consulting/realty/accounting offices, a newspaper, web hosting,
fruit/vegetables, and a bar with live music. Two parades a year march through the area and
there are parks/trails and neighborhoods very close by. Go a little bit further away from
the core and you run into other types of places: churches, a library, day care, car
repair/sales/parts, a school, more shops/offices, and more places to eat.
Everyday, many vehicles pass by or frequent these types of establishments that each give
our community a bit of that "Pflugerville Pfeeling". A few of them have murals
on their walls, welcome banners, or a sign of what services they have to offer. The
businesses in downtown and beyond depend on the 26,000 local residents and others who live
in the area or work in Pflugerville. If everyone stopped by a few businesses one or more
times a year it would have a significant impact on what businesses remain or locate in
downtown; plus, taxes would remain in Pflugerville instead of being siphoned to other
cities. More taxes staying here would mean more money for city services such as road
maintenance, libraries, police protection, pools, and parks, to name a few.
The future of downtown Pflugerville is in the consumers hands, which includes civic and
religious organizations that may consider buying in Pflugerville before looking elsewhere.
Don't let yourself fall into the habit of just driving through downtown day after day,
year after year. Make the time to sample the many establishments and purchase their wares.
Drive up to these businesses or walk around downtown. Step through their doors and
discover all the great things they have to offer. Get to know the business owners, who are
your downtown neighbors. But most of all, let's shed our bedroom community label. We can
do that if we, "spend more time and bucks in Pflugerville."
In relation to the future of downtown and how it develops, know that on Monday, July 14,
from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at the Pflugerville Justice Center Community Room, the
Pflugerville Council of Neighborhood Associations (PfCONA) is hosting a downtown
development forum. Chuck Larosche is the main presenter and various representatives of
groups that have an interest in the future of downtown are invited, especially residents,
whom PfCONA considers major stakeholders, and members of: the Pflugerville Downtown
Association; the Pflugerville Downtown Planning Committee; the Pflugerville Community
Development Corporation (PCDC); the Greater Pflugerville Chamber of Commerce; the City
Council; and, other interested organizations. The event will be videotaped for showing on
Cox Channel 10.
In terms of the overall Pflugerville Comprehensive Plan, mark your calendar for Tuesday,
July 29, 7:00 p.m., at City Council Chambers, 100 E. Main St., Suite 500. This event may
also be videotaped for showing on Cox Channel 10.
I hope you as a Pflag reader might also write a letter to the editor and tell others what
downtown Pflugerville means to you.
Rod Reyna, PfCONA Chair
(5/22/03) PfCONA
to Host Food Drive -- Three neighborhoods are kicking off a rotating food drive among
neighborhoods in the Pflugerville area, which the Pflugerville Council of Neighborhood
Associations (PfCONA) has chosen to spearhead on behalf of the North Rural Community
Center (NRCC) in Pflugerville. Saxony has already begun collecting canned food during
Mary, Katymead will collect in June, and Bohl's Place will takeover in July. Gatlinburg
may do so in August and more neighborhoods are needed to extend this effort beyond the
summer months. The neighborhoods currently involved hope that area households will give a
can or two or more to a volunteer or block contact who comes to their door.
The NRCC, which has a health clinic and bread/food pantry, serves more people than any
other community center in the county and it needs food year round. NRCC will suffer a
$500,000 budget cut this year and is in the process of moving to a new center Oct. 4.
(10/10/02) Panel to Speak For a Better
Tomorrow -- Pflugerville, Hutto, Cedar Park, and Buda were some of the cities
represented at the recent September 19-20, 2002 Communities in Concert for a Better
Tomorrow Conference in Austin. This effort was put on by a committee by the same name in
partnership with the Austin Police Department. A panel of speakers will share the results
of the conference with the Pflugerville area at the Monday, October 14th,
Pflugerville Council of Neighborhood Associations (PfCONA) meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the
Pflugerville Justice Center Community Room. Pflugerville residents and members of church,
civic, and governmental organizations are invited to participate in this meeting at 1611
E. Pfenning Lane.
The conference included
breakout sessions on the subjects of community policing, mobilization, tapping resources
of seniors and youth, changing the face of the community, and the business of
collaboration. The purpose of the conference was to foster the relationships needed in
order for action to be taken on relevant issues such as homelessness, crime, and cultural
diversity.
Louise Everett, who
participated in the conference and is a member of PfCONA, is bringing in the panel because
her “vision is to see us (in the Pflugerville area) do something, come together, to
shape the future of the community.” She encourages “people from different
streams in the community to be catalysts for change,” such as faith-based and
community-based organizations, business, government, and local and state law enforcement.
She also said, “I think PfCONA is a wonderful vehicle for communication and
mobilization of the community and can make a big big difference. It already has a network
in place with strong leaders.”
In terms of Pflugerville
residents joining such an effort underway, Ms. Everett said, “It would be wisdom to
network with them, to tap into the information already being dispensed.” The
Communities in Concert Forum is planning quarterly meetings and will be continuing its
ground level work, as well as preparing for another large conference in about a year. It
is inviting Pflugerville to be a part of the momentum!”
Barbara Bucklin, a member of
the Conference Planning Committee, said that a positive result of coming together is
“…the opportunity it gives to network people who are likeminded, who have the
passion and desire to see things in their community change.” She expressed that this
effort has enabled people to work with profit and non-profit-based efforts on issues such
as the homeless and poor in Austin, to see how their needs can be met. She also said that,
“People can be consultants to city and county programs. The city, state, and county
should work with faith-based people to not duplicate efforts and see where the holes in
the net are.”
Pat Adkins, another Planning
Committee member, shared similar views when she stated that, “The Lord put us from
the Luke 4:18 Ministry on that committee…to work with people from the city and county
to get a joint vision going. Our hearts are to see the needs of the community met. The
result is the awareness of people that there is a need to work together, help each other,
make each other more effective.” She said, “As we connect, the community as a
whole—education, government, faith-based—[then] all of us are on the same
page.”
Ms. Everett invites anyone
that wishes to connect with Austin on what participants have already done, and who may
wish to watch some of the video of the conference, to call her at 990-8230.
For more information on
PfCONA, which is composed of neighborhood, homeowner, and property owner association
representatives in the greater Pflugerville area, call Rick Allgeyer, Chair, at 990-4785.
Associate membership, on behalf of a business, organization, or homeowner residence, is
also available.
(10/10/02) Neighborhood Leaders Discuss
Annexation and ALUR -- Two topics that generated discussion at the recent September 9, 2002 meeting of the Pflugerville Council of
Neighborhood Associations (PfCONA), at the Pflugerville Justice Center, were the possible
annexation of areas on the west side of Pflugerville and the Highland Park ALUR that will
be developed on the northern side of town. Mayor Winton, Councilman Wendell Holloman, and
Chief David Buesing, who is also an assistant city manager, were on hand to provide
neighborhood leaders with the status of these timely issues, which were both discussed at
the city council meeting the next evening. The Mayor said dates will be set for public
hearings on annexation, which will probably take place in October. “If people want to
be heard people need to be there,” he said.
Discussion on the issues
centered on how some residents may not want to absorb a tax hike in the next year and
instead allow for a three-year process to get a neighborhood ready. Others, however, felt
that we should move to control the land we do not have control of in order to get
commercial companies on the tax rolls and to endure an increase for a year but possible
rollback the next year, if we held our elected officials to that. It was said that any
increase could be considered an investment that would pay off with more monies coming to
the city after that year. Someone said that if taxes go up they may never go back down.
This is the wrong time for some and the right time for others.
Mayor Winton said that,
“If we were to annex the entire area talked about the rate would rise about seven to
eight cents. The council may back off to keep the tax rate the same or below what it is.
This means the areas that won’t be annexed will be put into a three-year cycle.”
In regard to his own recommendation, the mayor is pushing that areas that are not fully
developed be annexed because they would require minimal cost incurred by the city and it
would be able to deal with development of land. “Some [areas] have newer streets that
would require less maintenance,” he said.
Tom Leimieux with Meadow
Park South said, “the poor economy made it the wrong time.” Rod Reyna with
Saxony said “voters may not have all the information to make an informed decision [on
the subject] and that people only know what they read in the paper.” He said,
“it is only a matter of time that some areas would be annexed and that they [ETJ
residents] are benefiting from being in the Pflugerville area already.” Councilman
Holloman said, “We might want to look east since the land to the west will always be
there.” He also said that we should expect the effects of the economic slump to hit
us next year when we get less from taxes due to decrease in property values. Mr. Bohls
said there were some fees that could be collected from any new annexed areas during the
first year. Nancy Willard with Cambridge Heights said her subdivision would favor
annexation but she personally did not. She said it would help to have control of land in
her area.
In regard to the ALUR, Clarence Bohls, who lives in the Old Town area, said Pflugerville
had been designed for middle-class housing and councilman Holloman countered by saying
people are now asking for diversified housing. He continued to say that anyone who did not
wish to maintain a yard was only able to be in an apartment at this time. The ALUR would
provide another option. “We are focusing on quality of life here in
Pflugerville,” said Holloman. Nancy Ramsey, with Katymead, after the meeting said
that “Mark Kogler of Parkcrest NA and I along with other neighbors worked for many
hours with the developer, Sandy Rhea. The
development was then sold to two individual owners who basically threw out our
recommendations and agreements with Sandy Rhea. We
felt very discouraged at this point after so much work, and the City Council appeared to
be tired of hearing objections from the neighborhoods.” Since the PfCONA meeting she
has added that, “The ALUR approval went
forward with very little consideration of surrounding neighborhoods'
recommendations.”
On the issue of land zoning
and development during the discussion, Holloman brought up time zone time limits. The
Mayor said it could be brought up at the next council meeting. The Mayor commented that
speculation zoning does not work well and if someone does not go in then zoning could go
back.
The next PfCONA meeting, for
those interested in coming to discuss issues pertinent to the city, neighborhoods, and
residents, will be held October 14, 2002, at 7:30 p.m., in the Justice Center
Courtroom/Community Room, off 1611 East Pfenning Lane. Membership applications will be
available at the next meeting for those who wish to join for $10.
(8/5/02) PfCONA: Building a Clearinghouse
of Useful Information for Residents -- The Pflugerville Council of Neighborhood
Associations (PfCONA) is in the process of reorganizing to better serve the Pflugerville
community. From clarifying the bylaws, to increasing community involvement, to improving
the website (found at http://www.pfcona.org/) and
sponsoring community projects and events, PfCONA, which originally formed in 1985, is
clearly entering a period of rejuvenation.
Rick Allgeyer, who has served as PfCONA's chair since March, said that the organization's
biggest challenge was to make it a clearinghouse, a "central place to get information
about issues affecting the city." The PfCONA website is key to achieving this goal.
It provides a variety of relevant information, including links to the Chamber of Commerce,
the Pflugerville Independent School District, and the Pflugerville Pflag, as well as
contact information for various neighborhood associations and committees, and it is
constantly being updated and improved to be even more useful to the community.
PfCONA co-sponsored the National Night Out kickoff for block party hosts on August 6, and
an NNO packet stuffing party the day before, as well as Neighborhood Watch training
sessions held in June and July, which resulted in a dozen blocks being trained. These
initiatives "promote safety, quality of life, and a sense of community," said
Rod Reyna, vice-chair of PfCONA. On National Night Out, police officers visited
neighborhood block parties, providing a forum for people who might not otherwise get
involved to talk about their concerns with the police.
Although the police department tends to focus on larger crimes, such as theft, the issues
Police Chief David Buesing heard about the most were speeding and reckless driving. He
noted that strong neighborhood leadership, such as that provided by neighborhood
associations, helps leaders report problems and protect the safety of children.
Another of PfCONA's recent activities is the Welcome Mug Project, which Allgeyer
identified as the organization's biggest success. Through this project, which is similar
to a past effort of the Chamber of Commerce, PfCONA asks sponsors to donate $100, which is
used to buy approximately 500 PfCONA coffee mugs. These mugs, along with coupons, ads, and
safety information, are distributed to new residents just moving into Pflugerville.
According to Buesing, one of PfCONA's advisors, the goal is "to knock on every
door," ensuring that new residents' first contact with the police department is a
positive one. Officers also use this contact to invite people to take a home safety
survey. Those who take the survey and enact simple safety measures, such as using locks
and marking valuables, not only reduce their vulnerability to crime, but also may be
eligible for lower insurance rates.
Mayor Scott Winton, who has been an advisor to PfCONA since he was elected a year ago,
opined that one of PfCONA's main strengths is its ability to keep people informed and
involved in issues that affect the community. Pflugerville is a rapidly growing city, and
PfCONA provides a forum for new neighborhoods to take advantage of the experience acquired
by older neighborhoods, bypassing the normal learning curve. One of PfCONA's greatest
successes in recent months has been productive meetings, where people discuss important
issues and identify problems that affect the community. City council members take turns
attending each monthly meeting, providing members with valuable input, a listening ear,
and help to understand critical issues. PfCONA members have also gotten involved in the
city beautification program, which Chief Buesing described as a success.
To get involved with PfCONA, get in touch with any of the officers (click here), or contact your local
neighborhood or homeowner association. Meetings of PfCONA take place on second Monday of
each month from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Pflugerville Justice Center
Courtroom/Community Room, and all are invited to attend and participate.
(12/27/01) PfCONA Gaining Strength,
Members -- They just keep coming. The City of Pflugerville recorded 119 new
connections last month. Police Chief David Buesing also reported 121 turn-ons for October
and 136 for July of this year, as he addressed the Pflugerville Council of Neighborhood
Associations (PfCONA) at its December meeting.
PfCONA was formed in 1985, but has been resurrected this past summer by Mayor Scott Winton
as a possible vehicle for citizens to shape the community. However, the group is
experiencing growing pains at this time.
Members are trying to raise funds through a coffee mug promotion to be fueled by local
merchants. They also are trying to decide which officers to elect, and they are looking at
changing and expanding their current two-page by-laws. By-laws outline how an association
governs through elections, terms of office, and assessments. Toward that end, Blackhawk
president Ken Cargill gave a presentation about deed restrictions and by-laws.
Springbook Meadows representative Kathy Caballero and Gatlinburg Secretary Clay Leben
presented six pages of new by-laws that Caballero wrote, incorporating the old ones. The
additions to the bylaws may improve the functioning of the association, Caballero said.
Members agreed to edit or red-line the document on-line and discuss changes at the January
meeting.
Councilman David Seeker represented the city at the meeting. "Hats off to you for the
work you're doing. You're all volunteers, and volunteering is not all it's cracked up to
be," he said. Every month, a different council member attends the meeting.
PfCONA meets the second Monday of every month at the Justice Center on Pfenning Lane. The
public can visit PfCONA's Web site at www.pfcona.org.
(12/6/01) Residents to Aid City Officials
in Planning Future -- Pflugerville Council of Neighborhood Associations (PfCONA) could
be an agent for shaping future changes in Pflugerville. "We've got to get proactive.
We have to get ahead of the traffic congestion--we have to get ahead of our own city
staff," said Mayor Scott Winton, addressing the group at their monthly meeting at the
Justice Center on Pfenning Lane.
"PfCONA is an entity that can help each neighborhood. You can use it as a place where
things are initiated and then you can take them to the city board," said Winton. He
added that recommendations to the city by PfCONA could result in board resolutions.
"It would actually help us get the kind of community we want." "This is
where future council members will come from," said Councilman Wendell Holloman.
Twenty representatives from 13 homeowners' associations poured over a current city map
during the meeting. Winton directed them to look at a new east-west corridor. It would run
from FM 685 through the Cambridge Heights subdivision to Greenlawn Avenue near the new HEB
in Round Rock. A city bond issue would have to be passed next fall to fund construction of
the corridor, according to Winton. "What do we want the road to look like? We want it
to be attractive and reflective of our community," Winton said, urging the PfCONA
group to grab pens and sketch their versions on tracing paper over the map.
Winton outlined other issues for PfCONA, including a new land-use map, streetscapes
standard, downtown redevelopment, and pedestrian crosswalks on FM 1825. He also mentioned
development of Heatherwilde Boulevard, Wells Branch Parkway, the "685- Dessau"
corridor, Northeast Park, a park square near the Justice Center, possible development near
the public library, and a city reservoir. "The council agrees we should make it more
than a reservoir," the mayor said., lighting tourism, recreation and a scenic
location for a business park as possible uses for the reservoir.
Regarding State Highways 45 and 130, Winton challenged PfCONA members to think about what
they might look like. "Do we want them to be lined with truckstops? Do we want houses
backed up to a freeway?"
Holloman said, "We have to be prepared to hit the ground running. Heatherwilde is
already lost. It's going into the hands of the engineers," referring to the end of
the design phase of the project when residents could have their say.
PfCONA met last July for a three-hour workshop to identify residents' concerns on public
safety, parks and recreation, transportation and roads, and quality of life in
Pflugerville. Twenty-seven participants analyzed what was working well and what needed
attention in these areas. Copies of the findings are available from Chief of Police David
Buesing, who is acting as the temporary contact for the group.
PfCONA plans to elect officers in the near future, although it was formed in 1985.
Twenty-four HOAs are represented, usually by the chair of community relations. To raise
funds, the group is asking local merchants to sponsor the purchase of coffee mugs and
provide coupons. The designed mugs and coupons will be delivered to new residents by city
and county police officers.
[Click here for report. Click here
for PfCONA officers.]
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