HPNA General Meeting September 8th Agenda Dennis Crabill of Public Works Dept. -presentation on forthcoming 45th Street reconstruction in the neighborhood Proposed slate of HPNA officers by the Steering Committee Report on progression of the new Committee on Code Enforcement Hyde Park Baptist Church lawsuit report regarding the second parking garage Report on Fire Station #9 status in city budget process.

HPNA Officer Nominations for 2003 - 2004 After much deliberation and planning, the Steering Committee has nominated the following slate of officers for the 2003 - 2004 term. Co-Presidents: Pam Whittington & Glen Coleman Treasurer: Mike Capochiano Secretary: Marrilee Ratliff

September, 2003   National Register District Neighborhood   Vol. 29, No. 9

O ne of the things that makes Hyde Park a nice place to live is that most of the "Square" (Guadalupe, 45th, Duval, 38th) has a network of alleys that allow power and communications poles to be at the back of lots, largely out of sight.

Many garages were built facing the alleys as well, although many of those have fallen out of use as fashionable cars got too large to fit into them and too large to comfortably turn from the narrow twelve-foot alleys. Some newer developments have returned to alley-facing garages,

Is there a problem? You bet! A large pile of brush removed during last season's alley cleanup awaits curbside pickup.

which help maintain the pre-War character of neighborhood streets. (That is pre-World War II for you folks not yet distinguished with gray hair and "before 1945" for Generations X and subsequent letters.) We are also fortunate to still have garbage pickup in our alleys. Fortunate, because many areas with equally narrow alleys had their former alley pickup moved to the front of their lots. Areas to our North and South, including the portions of North Hyde Park that have alleys generally have fifteen-foot alleys, which more comfortably accommodate garbage trucks.     Hanging on to our alley garage pickup has been a struggle for many years. It is no secret that the City Solid Waste Disposal Department would pre-

fer to move garbage, yard waste and recycling pickup to the street. The alleys are lined with utility poles belonging either to the Austin Energy or the telephone company, sometimes two sets of them, and some of them narrow the passageway to the point a truck's mirrors barely fit between them. We cannot do anything about the poles but we can and should do something about vegetation originating at the back of our lots that also intrudes into the alleys, making Solid Waste Disposal's job more difficult and potentially dangerous. It is the property owner's responsibility to keep plants growing along the back property line cut back to allow unobstructed passage of vehicles in the adjacent alley. If you haven't done it Continued on page 3