Adrian
Reed, Vice President Infrastructure, called the General Meeting to order at
7:35 pm. Approximately 31 individuals attended. Board Members Scot Brooks, Anne Goldsmith, &
Dan Mink were not in attendance.
HPD Officer Gonzales:
Officer Gonzales has recently replaced
Officer Jasso as our area patrol officer. Officer Gonzales is learning our
boundaries and will have crime stats to report at our next General Meeting.
Officer Gonzales handed our HPD Complaint forms to attendees.
Announcements/Reminders:
Jill Whitten reported on the Greenspace Committee of the
WHCA. The committee took a break over the summer but recently met with Roksan
Okan-Vick, Director of Houston Parks Board (former head of Parks and
Recreation). The mayor has put Parks and Recreation in charge of operations and
maintenance of parks and the Board will be in charge of vision and
acquisition. Ms. Okan-Vick is making the
Woodland Heights Parks (Stude, White Oak, Freed Art and Nature and Woodland)
priorities and will use her resources to help with land acquisition and grant
applications for paths and improvements. Jill spoke of the progress on the
proposed bike path. The Green Space Committee
worked with the City and the White Oak Bayou Association to make changes to the
plans. The path will not go through the toddler play ground in Stude as was
originally proposed and will be made with fewer retaining walls and
railings that would have limited users' access to the bayou. In addition, Jill announced the October 8th
Freed & White Oak Park Clean Up sponsored by Deloitte CPA firm.
Officer Reports
Adrian Reed:
- Preliminary design for the Travis Expansion Project is almost
complete. The nine houses purchased by HISD to make way for the project
will be salvaged and/or demolished and moved. The 200+ year-old Oak tree
located at Florence & Redan will be saved.
- Orange barriers have been constructed around the trees lining
Studewood in anticipation of the commencement of the Studewood Project. An
exact commencement date is not yet known.
Tony Maluski:
- No concerns with Deed Restrictions were reported.
Sharon Greiff, Treasurer:
- Presented the Balance Sheet as of
August 31, 2004 showing a Total Liabilities & Equity balance of
$45,163.83. Sharon announced that we were ahead of our projected budget.
- Sharon announced the upcoming Lights
In The Heights® event scheduled for Saturday, December 11, 2004. Route
streets are Woodland and Euclid. Sharon called for volunteers and for
Porch Entertainment volunteers. Sharon spoke briefly of the fact that the
city has granted a parade permit for this year only. Future events will
require a festival permit costing approximately $10,000. An attendee inquired as to why the event
is limited to two streets. Sharon advised that the number of volunteers
mandates the number of streets included in the event.
- Sharon reported that 55% of the
Woodland Heights neighborhood has applied or been approved for the
prevailing lot protection. 34.2% are final and are protected. Norhill
leads the way with 75% protected.
Vicky Bettis, Recording Secretary:
- Vicky reported membership at $16,339.20 with 22.11%
participation. A membership analysis and a graph showing membership vs.
eligible households were available as handouts.
Kris Koziol, Security:
- Kris reported that there were eight parties during National Night
Out with approximately 350 attendees. An article in the recent Newsletter
gives additional detail regarding the event.
- Kris spoke briefly on the crime around 909 Dorothy noting that the
area is not within the boundaries of Woodland Heights.
- Contractors will be onsite at the houses scheduled to be moved due
to the Travis Expansion. Kris asked that residents contact HPD immediately
of any suspicious activity.
The speaker
for September General Meeting was Helen Huey and Chad Moss with Property
Commerce. Property Commerce is the developer and will also manage the Sawyer
Heights Village (the “Village”). The Village will be located on a 30-acre tract
south of Interstate 10 at the Taylor
exit. Helen & Chad reported the following:
- Construction is scheduled to commence in March 2005. Phase I has
been platted. Target, the anchor store, has an estimated July 2006 Grand
Opening scheduled.
- Utility plans are underway. The city has agreed to abandon
Sawyerdale Street. Taylor Street
will be renamed “Sawyer Street.” A flood retention plan is already in
place for the property; therefore, additional filings are not required.
- At the request of First Ward, Sixth Ward, and Heights residents,
the developers will give the area an historic look and have included
additional trees in the plans to give the area a “Heights” feel. In addition, the trees at Sawyer and
Taylor will be protected. The developer intends to construct a “Lifestyle
Center” which is pedestrian friendly.
- Besides the anchor Target
Store, the Village will include restaurants, apparel stores, & retail
stores.
- Concerns were voiced with increased
traffic through the Woodland Heights neighborhood. Helen reported that the
retailers control their vendor truck routes. Further, traffic studies
predict that 75% of the traffic will come from South, East and West of
I-10. 25% will come from the area north of I-10. Therefore, there should
be no traffic impact on our neighborhood.
- Concerns regarding signage were also
voiced. Helen reports that signage will be similar to the existing Town
and Country shopping area and per City regulations.
- Discussion was held regarding the
developers intention to design the Village to encourage walking from store
to store versus driving from store to store. The Village will resemble
Town & Country with established pedestrian pathways.
- The proposed fifteen foot wide Bike
Path will go along Oliver Street to Summer Street to Crocket. Bike racks
will be available in the Village.
- There are no environmental issues surrounding the demolition of
existing structures.
- The architect is Charles Thompson, principal of The Thompson
Nelson Group.
Helen and Chad proposed returning as speakers
for a later General Meeting to provide an update.
Faye Miller won the drawing and a set of
Woodland Heights Notecards.
Pat Hallmark
brought cookies baked by Deborah Dunten.
Motion was made and
seconded to adjourn at 9:10.
Attachments to Hard
Copy of Minutes:
- General
Meeting Sign In List of Attendees
- Membership
Analysis
- Membership
Graph
Respectfully Submitted
Vicky Bettis, Recording Secretary