The Crestview Neighborhood Plan Contact Team By-laws

The Crestview Neighborhood Plan Contact Team By-laws


Section 1— Definition

A.  The Neighborhood Plan Contact Team means the individuals designated to implement an adopted neighborhood plan. The neighborhood plan contact team is a separate body apart from any existing or future neighborhood associations.

B.  This organization shall be known as the Crestview Neighborhood Plan Contact Team (CNPCT).

Section 2—Roles & Responsibilities


A.  The role of the CNPCT shall be to review and make recommendations on all proposed amendments to the adopted Crestview Wooten Neighborhood Plan.

B.  The CNPCT (separate from Wooten) may decide to initiate a plan amendment. Each planning area will have the opportunity to initiate their own plan amendment as per the plan amendment ordinance.

C.  The CNPCT are to serve as community points of contact on matters related to plan implementation and other City of Austin planning initiatives.

D.  It is also the responsibility of the CNPCT to work on behalf of all stakeholders in the neighborhood planning area.

E.  It is also the responsibility of the CNPCT to read the neighborhood plan and its appendices.

F.  The CNPCT will work cooperatively with Wooten, its Neighborhood Plan partner, on matters along their common border.

Section 3—Boundaries

A.  North: Anderson Lane
      South: Justin Lane
      East: Lamar Boulevard
      West: Burnet Road

Section 4—Membership of the Crestview Neighborhood Plan Contact Team

A.  Membership of the CNPCT shall to the greatest extent practicable include at least one representative from each of the following groups within the neighborhood planning area:
    1) Property owners
    2) Residential renters
    3) Business owners
    4) Neighborhood organization members owning property within the neighborhood plan area
    5) Crestview Neighborhood Association Executive Committee

B. No member shall purport to represent the CNPCT unless authorized to do so by 2 officers.

C. A copy of the adopted Crestview Neighborhood Plan Contact Team by-laws shall be made available or provided upon request to each member of the CNPCT.

Section 5—Removal of Members from the Crestview NPCT.

A.  Any CNPCT member who no longer meets the membership criteria of Section 4A shall be removed from the CNPCT.

Section 6— Decision Making

Decisions of the CNPCT will be made by voting according to the following rules:
    a. Any person 18 years or above gets to vote
    b. All voting members must be eligible as per Section 4A
    c. One vote per property owner regardless of the number of properties owned in the planning area.
    d. One vote per business regardless of how many businesses or employees they have
    e. No one single person will have more than one vote
    f. A minority & majority report will be submitted as part of the CNPCT recommendation
    g. Prior to any vote all participants will be given an opportunity to provide input
    h. Proxy voting will not be allowed
    i. by simple majority; 50% plus 1

Section 7—Meetings

A.  Meetings of the CNPCT shall be open and accessible to the public. Participants are invited to participate in the discussion of the matters at hand, but only qualified voting members of the CNPCT are eligible to vote.

B.  Meetings shall be held bimonthly on the (TBD) day of the month beginning at 6:30.

C.  Unless otherwise noticed all meetings will be held at (TBD).

D.  Special meetings can be held on an as-needed basis when an application to amend the Crestview Wooten Neighborhood Plan has been submitted to the City of Austin.

E.  The special meeting may be called by any member of the executive committee or four (4) or more members of the Contact Team.

F.  The Crestview NPCT shall have elections at the April bi-monthly meeting to elect officers.

G.  Approved minutes of meetings and sign-in sheets, as a record of attendance, must be kept for all meetings of the CNPCT and shall be forwarded to the Planning & Development Review Department upon request. Minutes will record actions taken not discussion had.

H.  Meeting discussions will be conducted in a conversational format with special regard for a dialogue that is respectful and considerate of all in attendance. When necessary participants wishing to speak may be limited to 5 minutes.

I.  A Quorum of 12 people is needed for an action to be taken.

J.  All meetings of the CNPCT will be held in handicap accessible locations.

K.  A regularly scheduled bimonthly meeting may be cancelled by majority vote at the preceding scheduled bi-monthly meeting.

Section 8—Meeting Notification

A.  All meetings will be publicized in the neighborhood using whatever reasonable means available; Crestview Neighborhood Association Newsletter, Crestview Neighborhood Association Website, Crestview Neighbors Yahoo Group and any other reasonable means available.

B.  Notices shall be distributed not less than 7 days before the meeting date.

C.  Failure to receive a meeting notice does not invalidate the meeting. However, the provisions of this section must be complied with in good faith.

D.  To the greatest extent possible agenda items will be included in the notice with as much detail as possible.

Section 9—Officers and Duties

A.  The officers of the CNPCT shall be, at a minimum: Facilitator, Vice-Facilitator, and Secretary.

B.  Duties of the officers are as follows:
    1.  The Facilitator shall be responsible for the operation of the CNPCT and its
officers pursuant to these by-laws. This shall include conducting meetings, preparing agendas, representing the team at official functions and generally overseeing the business of the CNPCT. The Facilitator shall have the primary responsibility for coordinating with the City of Austin planners on Neighborhood Plan related issues.

    2.  The Vice- Facilitator shall assist the Facilitator in preparing meeting agendas and conducting meetings and shall assume all duties of the Facilitator when required.

    3.  The Secretary shall maintain all written records as required in Section 7G of these by-laws. The Secretary shall produce all written communications as directed by the Facilitator, the executive committee, or the CNPCT membership.

    4.  The Secretary shall submit annually to the City of Austin Planning & Development Review Department a list of the current officers, their terms and contact information.

    5.  The Secretary shall annually submit to the City of Austin Planning & Development Review Department by-laws based upon the standardized template

    6.  The Secretary shall keep a record of all meeting participants and contact information.

    7.  If the Secretary is unable to perform their duties the Vice – Facilitator shall assume all Secretary duties. If the Vice – Facilitator is unable to perform the duties of the Secretary the Facilitator will assign the secretary duties.

Section 10—Nomination, Election, and Term of Officers

A.  Officers will be nominated and elected from the floor by the eligible and present CNPCT members, by simple majority vote. All candidates must be qualified voting members of the CNPCT.

B.  Officer nominations must be made by an eligible member as per Section 4A.

C.  Officer terms shall be for 2 years not to exceed 2 consecutive terms.

D.  The Secretary will notify the Planning & Development Review Department in writing of the names of the newly elected officers, their contact information, and the date they are due to take office.

E.  After the initial election held in April 2010, officer terms will be staggered according to the following schedule:
    a. The Facilitator will be elected during odd numbered years
    b. The Vice-facilitator will be elected during even numbered years
    c. The Secretary will be elected during even numbered years

Section 11—Removal and Vacancies of Officers

A.  Any elected officer may be recommended for removal from office for not fulfilling their duties as per Section 9. Removal shall be considered by the CNPCT and shall require a two-thirds vote of members eligible to vote and present at a meeting of the CNPCT, providing that a resolution proposing the consideration of the removal has been adopted at a preceding regular meeting and that the notice of the proposed vote has been given in the call for the meeting at which the vote shall occur.

B.  Should vacancies occur outside the normal election process, candidates for the unfilled term shall be nominated and elected from the floor at the next scheduled meeting following the vacancy. However, the vote will occur no sooner than 30 days after notice of the vacancy has been publicized as per Section 8.

C.  The person elected to the vacated office will serve for the remainder of the vacated term.

D.  Resignations should be made in writing.

E.  Any Crestview NPCT officer who no longer meets the membership criteria of Section 4, subsection A, shall be forced to resign from the Crestview NPCT.

Section 12—Committees

A.  The CNPCT Facilitator, with the approval of the vice-facilitator or secretary, may establish committees to help conduct the business of the CNPCT. Any eligible person as per section 4A may volunteer and serve on any committee.

B.  Committees shall report to the CNPCT and these reports shall be entered into the minutes or meeting summaries.

C.  Committees can be standing or ad-hoc in nature.

Section 13—Finances

A. The CNPCT may not collect or charge dues of its membership.

B. The CNPCT may only accept in-kind donations that aid in the prescribed roles and responsibilities of the CNPCT as defined in Section 2.

C. In-kind donations that create a conflict of interest (see Section 14) are not permitted.

Section 14—Conflict of Interest


A.  If a voting member of the CNPCT, or immediate family, has an interest in a development that requires a plan amendment, the member must follow these rules:

    1)  If a member has a substantial interest (see below) in a project, the member cannot participate in any vote concerning the project, including the decision of the CNPCT to recommend an application for a plan amendment or the decision to support or not support the project.

    2)  If a member has a substantial interest in a proposed project, the member must disclose this interest every time the relevant plan amendment application is discussed and at the time the recommendation letter for the project is submitted to the Director of the Planning & Development Review Department.

    3)  A member with a substantial interest in a project may participate in the discussion regarding the proposed change. However, participating in the voting or decision regarding that change is disallowed.

  Substantial interest means:
    1)  A person owns at least a part of or is invested in the property, or the business developing the property.

    2)  If a person has worked for or received payment from someone involved in the project over the past year.

    3)  If the person has a business that would directly benefit from the project.

    4)  If the person serves on the board of directors, corporate officer, or any other board overseeing the project.

    5)  If the person owes money to anyone involved in the project.

Section 15—Amendments

A.  These by-laws may be amended by a two-thirds majority vote of those present at a regular CNPCT meeting, providing that a resolution proposing the amendment has been adopted at a preceding regular meeting and that notice of the proposed amendment has been given in the call for the meeting at which the amendment shall be voted upon.

Section 16—Effective Date

A.  These by-laws of the Crestview Neighborhood Plan Contact Team shall become effective on April 19, 2010.