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 ------- 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 ------- 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. ------- |