URBANWATERS

FEDERAL PARTNERSHIP

Restoring Urban Waters, Revitalizing Communities

Local Urban Waters Federal Partnership and Stakeholder and Partner Meeting Minutes

San Antonio River Authority
September 21st, 2017
10:30am - 12:30pm

Attendees:

Perla Alarcon - Center for Disease Control
and Prevention/San Antonio Metropolitan
Health District

Allison Blazosky - Alamo Area Metropolitan
Planning Organization

Adele Cardenas - Environmental Protection

Agency(Region 6)

Steven Graham - San Antonio River

Authority

Margarita Hernandez - City of San Antonio
Transportation and Capital Improvements
Beth Keel - San Antonio Housing Authority
Hillary Lilly - San Antonio Housing Authority
Brian Mast - San Antonio Housing Authority
Eloisa Portilio-Morales - City of San Antonio
Office of Sustainability
Judit Vega - San Antonio Metropolitan
Health District

Region 6 EPA Updates

Adele Cardenas was present and provided updates on the status of the EPA, both regionally and nationally.
Operations at EPA are running as usual (through December 2017). The need to develop more sustainable
communities has been outlined as a priority for the agency, specifically after a series of natural disasters during
Summer/Fall 2017. Urban Waters program leads have been asked to possibly mentor communities affected by
these natural disasters in collaborative building and resource leveraging. Additionally, EPA employees are being
deployed to affected areas to support in the rebuilding process.

Sub-Committee Updates

A overview of the sub-committees organized during the initial planning meeting on June 2nd were discussed

• Data and Asset Mapping: Alamo Metropolitan Planning Organization (Alamo MPO) is working with Hot
Wells/East Pyron to conduct a Walkable Communities Workshop in order to identify infrastructure
improvements needed in their area, specifically the Hot Wells neighborhood. Online resource made
available via Alamo MPO's webpage in order to identify other neighborhoods in need of support.
Margarita Hernandez shared information about the Infrastructure Management Program (IMP), a five-
year rolling program which focuses on the maintenance of San Antonio's Infrastructure. Service needs


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are identified city wide and are scheduled for street maintenance, alley maintenance, drainage
maintenance, sidewalks, traffic signals, pavement markings and Advanced Transportation District (ATD)
related projects. The IMP provides the City of San Antonio a structured program schedule, potential for
additional multiple year contract awards and improved utility coordination. During the budget process
for each City fiscal year, the IMP is presented to City Council for approval. Amendments may occur
throughout the year due to coordination with utilities or unforeseen conditions, such as inclement
weather. The goal of the IMP is to provide the best possible maintenance for the City of San Antonio.
Partners also discussed how this Management Program may be affected by the newly established Equity
Lens metrics applied to the FY 2018 City proposed budget.

•	Education: With the assistance of several local educators involved with the local partnership, we were
able to finalize a running list of local environmental educators and subject matter experts interested in
engaging with partner agencies . This list was then added to the local partnerships shared Google
Documents Drive, and is available at all times to all partners and stakeholders. Partnership leads will
continue to update this list as the partnership continues to grow.

•	Community Engagement: As of September 2017, the community engagement sub-committee has not
convened, however SARA will attempt to re-launch the three groups, as well as identify potential
committee leads.

Workplan and Infographic

An updated version of the San Antonio River Basin Workplan was shared with partners, as well as an
infographic, or simplified version of the local factsheet, which served as a shorter version of the local workplan.
The workplan was modeled after the one New Orleans/Lake Ponchartrain project leads drafted, which also
shifted from project centered to thematic. Both the workplan and the infographic can be found on the EPA
Urban Waters webpage for San Antonio.

Other Items

Dates for a follow-up planning session and public meeting were discussed. San Antonio River Authority
project leads with send final dates/times/locations to partners within the next few months.

Main Street Designation - Adele Cardenas suggested the World Heritage Office seek this designation in order
to obtain additional support and resources to expand their current World Heritage Workplan. Designated
communities receive a range of services from the Texas Main Street Program (TMSP) staff. This includes
professional expertise provided to the program, and downtown property and business owners in the areas of
design, preservation, downtown-specific economic development, organizational management and small
business development.

The San Antonio River Authority (SARA) expressed interest in expanding their community engagement
efforts by reaching out to more neighborhood association meetings. By inserting themselves into community
groups that already meet on a regular basis, they hope to share programming available at SARA with new groups
of residents. Art Johnson from Sustain the Nine in New Orleans has previously connected with Perla Alarcon and
Brian Mast regarding facilitation opportunities available through his organization to assist partners in San


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Antonio in engaging more local residents in the environmental restoration process. The local partnership will
seek local educators and subject matter experts in the field before seeking outside facilitation.

SARA has also obtained additional funding to expand the Alazan Creek Hike and Bike trails by 2.5 more
miles, further improving accessibility to communities directly adjacent to the Westside Creeks. Additional
funding will continue to be sought to expand Martinez Creek hike and bike accessibility.


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