Crime Update

The following incidents were reported by 24th and 25th Street Crime Watch to Terrace UNIT News on March 31, 2010:

Sunday evening, March 28th,  a resident went to the alley to take out the trash at midnight. He saw a pickup with lights on parked in the alley behind 3313 24th. He came inside and returned to the alley with a flashlight and snuck up on the truck and shined the light- he heard them say "hey, there's someone with a flashlight" and they drove away in their very loud truck. He called 911 and reported it.  Here's the info he was able to get:

License #: AC7 1309

Pick-Up (maybe red) truck with several Hispanic men

Monday, March 29  about 6:30, a young man was running at Tech Terrace Park. While walking to his car, he was mugged, robbed of a few dollars and beaten. When he was out of the beating daze, there was a gun pointing at him by an african american male in a black hoodie, and a hispanic male in a red hoodie. He said he never saw them, he would have noticed people with hoodies on with the warm weather, and thinks he was being watched. He did not see a vehicle, obviously he was very upset, and caught by surprise. The police were notified.

On Saturday evening or early Sunday morning March 27th or 28th, someone stole 2 tires, wheels and all, from a resident's car in the 3000 block of 25th street while it was parked in the driveway. She found the car propped up on bricks (4 on each side) when walking out to her vehicle early Sunday morning.

Also from the Tuesday, March 30, 2010 online edition of the Lubbock Avalanche Journal

Suspect sought in holdup of Dollar General store.

Lubbock police were looking for a man who held up at gunpoint a Dollar General store Monday night.  The robber got away at about 9 p.m. with cash from 2862 34th St., No. B, according to a police report. Officers said he displayed a handgun. The suspect was described as black, about 6 feet tall, weighing about 135 pounds. He was wearing a white sweat jacket with a hood and a black design on it, black pants, shades and a bandana over his face. He was last seen driving a dark-colored passenger car. Investigators said the robbery likely wasn't connected to several last week believed to be committed by a man who shot at police officers March 22. One thing that didn't match was the suspect description. Police ask anyone with information about the robbery to call Crime Line at 741-1000. Callers may remain anonymous.

Committees

The following was received by TT/UNIT News from Neighborhood Association President Michael Martin.

COMMITTEES 

At last Thursday evening’s meeting it was decided to return to adherence to the last set (2004) of adopted By-Laws. In regard to committees here are the pertinent sections.

Sec. 1. There shall be the following Standing Committees: Aesthetic, Communication, Finance, Legal, Organization, Safety, School, Social, and Housing Information.

Sec. 2. Each committee shall be constituted of five members who volunteer to serve. In the event fewer than five volunteer, the Chairperson may appoint the necessary number.
(April 17, 2004)

Sec. 3. Each committee shall elect its Chairperson and Vice Chairperson .

In regard to Section 2. In order to facilitate involvement of everyone concerned, I am interpreting “constituted”, from the Encarta Dictionary: “3. Formally establish something to create and establish something formally, especially an official body”. Therefore I suggest we not limit size of any committee but only to insure each committee has at least five members.
In addition, here is the list of standing committees and my interpretation of their somewhat specific areas of activity. Anyone may join these committees at any time by e-mailing a request to any officer or by contacting the chairperson or vice-chair of any committee once those elections have been made.

Aesthetic: a. parks & landscaping b. “Yard of the Month” & recognition Chair: Helen Liggett [helenlig@yahoo.com]
· Next meeting: Sunday, April 11, at 7pm at J&B
Communication: a. electronic communication; b. printed and graphic communication
Finance: budget, accounting, payment processing, dues, and membership
Legal: insurance, federal and state organizational requirements.
Organization: by-laws
Safety: a. traffic and neighborhood circulation, pedestrian, automobile, bus, bicycles, crime prevention etc. b. “tour de Tech Terrace”.
School:
Social: a. “Movies in the Park” b. Home Tours c. Lawnmower Brigade Chair: Laura Anderson [lauradennyanderson@gmail.com]
Housing Information:

Please recognize that some, if not many people have been working very diligently in these above areas of interest and importance to us all, in a less structured organizational framework. Give consideration to the history and time they have contributed to make things better for our neighborhood.

Committees should formulate their own charges, goals and objectives, identifying specific problems and proposing solutions and strategies. These reports should be made to the Executive Committee (officers and committee chairs), when ready, at called meetings. The next is Saturday, April 17th @ 9:00 am.

Neighborhood Association Meeting

Highlights submitted by Brandy Davis, 3308 22nd The next association meeting will be April 22nd at 5:30pm at JT Hutchinson Cafeteria. Refreshments were generously provided by local business Angela's Cafe. If you haven't been there for lunch, well....you're missing out! They open at 11:00am and the daily specials are a favorite city-wide. Approximately 195 people were in attendance. In addition to seasoned neighborhood volunteers, many new residents joined the association. The meeting was called to order by President Michael Martin as a called meeting noting all executive officers in attendance.Mr. Martin polled the attendees and members to see if there were objections to Texas Tech journalism students filming the meeting. Hearing none, Mr. Martin approved Hailey Assiter and Ariadyn Hansen's use of film equipment. Stuart Walker and Dian Taylor from Codes Enforcement were recognized for their hard work in our neighborhood and were on hand the full length of the two hour meeting to distribute fliers. Cyd Seideman, Treasurer, provided a financial report with a copy to be passed around. Mrs. Seideman expressed support of making financials accessible and available via internet and explained the renewal on the association's unmanaged website lapsed. Laura James, PTA President at JT Hutchinson Middle School, expressed gratitude to the association Advisory Board for supporting the improvement projects at the school, but formally withdrew the previous request for financial assistance. Instead, Mrs. James requested association and individual resident support of the LISD bond package to make overdue improvements to the Hutch campus. Additionally, she requested support of specific school fundraisers such as a Fall Concert and Plant Sales. Details will be available on the blog prior to events. A question from the floor arose regarding association bylaws. Immediate Past President James Mahan appointed Sandy River, Marjorie Manning and Cyd Seideman to rework and update the association's bylaws from 2004. A motion made by James Mahan to table the bylaws amendments passed. A volunteer committee of any interested residents was formed and Clayton Isom will coordinate the first meeting. A motion by Clayton Isom to strictly adhere to the current bylaws was passed. During discussion, Christy Hogan asked to be informed of what the subtext conversation behind the bylaws discussion is about and Lisa Smitherman strongly encouraged a parlimentarian be included in proposed amended bylaws. Melanie Barnes directed a question to Mr. Martin relating to the status or formation of a Communications Committee. A request for clarfication has been sent to the Secretary and is pending response. Mr. Martin stated that members of the executive committee had met with the University Dean of Students to discuss the effects of Tour de Tech Terrace in the neighborhood. During discussion, different opinions regarding the Tour were expressed. A motion was presented by Clayton Isom and passed to establish a volunteer Social Committee as set out by the existing bylaws to interface and support the Tour in positive ways. Miriam Lockhart, Tour advocate and supporter, is coordinating the 15 member resident volunteer effort. John Winker and Matt Russell expressed a desire to be involved in the association and a frustrating disconnect regarding opportunities to do so. A motion to limit executive committee communications on behalf of the association until the April 22nd meeting failed 49/79 per hand count by Cyd Seideman. Helen Liggett expressed interest in Wagner Park and asked the President if UNIT officers have made any representations to city officials regarding Wagner assets and whether a volunteer committee can be formed to help salvage existing assets. The President replied "no" to the inquiry and swiftly established a sign up for interested park committee volunteers. Laura Anderson made a motion to support "summer movies in the park" again this summer. Holle Humphries requested money be used instead to plant trees at Wagner park. An unidentified resident expressed appreciation for the summer event and encouraged more people to attend. The motion unanimously passed to allocate $900.00 to fund three family-friendly movie nights. Laura requested volunteers and movie suggestions via summermoviesinthepark@gmail.com. Aaron Yoshinobu expressed support for the trolley currently running in the neighborhood. Attendees applauded his comments. This is only a summary of the meeting and is not offered as the minutes. Feel free to comment, correct, compliment or criticize. We were so excited and energized to meet so many neighbors last night!

Meeting Reminder and Codes Update

Wanted to remind everyone about the Tech Terrace UNIT Neighborhood Association Meeting on Thursday at J.T. Hutchinson Middle School starting at 5:30. The results of the Codes Administration Field Operation on March 11 is posted below: Notices of Violations: Zoning 139 Property Maintenance 129 Junk Vehicles 40 Weeds 87 Depending on the type of citation issued folks have 10 to 60 days to address the issue. Tech Terrace UNIT President Michael Martin was a guest on the Todd Klein Radio Program on KRFE AM 580 on Wednesday and did a great job articulating the various issues facing not only our neighborhood but citywide.

Proposed Changes in the UNIT Bylaws

The following are the proposed bylaws for the UNIT Neighborhood Association as distributed at the last General Membership Meeting which took place on September 24, 2009. Amendments to specific areas are in red. These will be presented at the March 25th meeting at J.T. Hutchinson Middle School Cafeteria beginning at 5:30 PM. Click on the images below to enlarge for easier viewing.

Codes in UNIT on Thursday

Codes Field Exercise will be conducted in the U.N.I.T Neighborhood. The Code Administration Section of the Lubbock Police Department will be conducting an intensive neighborhood inspection of the U.N.I.T. neighborhood on Thursday, March 11th, 2010, between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Code Inspectors will be working in the area bordered by University to Indiana, 19th Street to 34th Street. The object of this exercise will be to identify violations relating to Junked Vehicles, Nuisance Weeds and Rubbish, Substandard Housing, and Zoning. Code Administration Inspectors will be talking to the public to provide education regarding these types of violations, citing violations, and possibly abating violations during this exercise. A field office will be set up at the McCullough Substation at 2901 Elgin Ave for citizens to ask questions or report violations. If you have any questions you may contact Stuart Walker at 775-3195.

UNIT Resident Elected to 137th District Court

Tech Terrace resident John "Trey" McClendon won the Tuesday Primary for the 137th District Court. McClendon received 61 percent of the vote to incumbent Cecil Puryear's 39 percent. Congratulations Trey!

Several Updates

MEETING REMINDER Just wanted to remind everyone about the Neighborhood Association Meeting Scheduled for Thursday March 25th (after Spring Break) beginning at 5:30 at J.T. Hutchinson Middle School. Agenda Items Include: Bylaws Tour De Tech Terrace Wagner Park Meeting with City Officials If you have any agenda items to add please email them to Michael Martin at michael.martin@ttu.edu. NEIGHBORS URGED TO BE VIGILANT. According to a story in the AJ, home and vehicle burglaries are high. Be on the lookout for any suspicious activity in the neighborhood-especially in the alleys between 9 and 5. Check out the story on Lubbock Online:

http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/022710/upd_568689247.shtml

22nd Street Donnybrook Update-Lubbock Police arrested 19 year old Bailee Barrett in connection to the incident on February 19th. Also, the folks who own the house at 3202 22nd have retained legal representation in response to legal actions filed by Mrs. Grusendorf.