General Meeting Minutes

Woodland Heights Civic Association

October 12, 2004

                                                                  Zion Lutheran Church

                                                                                                                                                                                   


 

Anne Goldsmith, Vice President, called the General Meeting to order at 7:35 pm. Approximately 40 individuals attended. Board Members Kris Koziol, Sharon Greiff, & Dan Mink were not in attendance. The pledge of allegiance was said.

Anne introduced Cathy Stevens, the recently appointed President of the Woodland Heights Civic Association. Cathy is a three year resident of the Heights and has served on numerous committees including LITH and the Home Tour. At that point, Anne turned the meeting over to Cathy.

HPD Officer Gonzales:

Officer Gonzales gave the crime stats for our area for September 2004. There were no robberies, four burglaries, seven burglaries of a motor vehicle, and 2 auto thefts.

Guest Speaker – Margaret Dower introduced our guest speaker, Mr. Alan Atkinson. Alan spoke about the proposed bike trails. The Buffalo Bayou Heritage Trail was originally proposed about 13 years ago. Alan is a landowner along one of the original proposed routes. Alan worked with the bike path developers during their initial study phase. Upon completion of their study and after spending approximately $300,000 on engineering fees, the recommendation was to abandon the project. At that point, Alan decided to build his own trail on his property. After he completed his section, his neighbors asked him to extend the path onto their easements. In about four and one half months Alan built one mile of trail without City help. Mayor White now wants all bike trails useable and connected and supports that position by insisting that revenue tagged for the bike path development stay in the bike path budget. Mayor White appointed Alan as the civilian group/task force in charge of the Linear Parks a/k/a the Bike Paths. Additional supporters are builder, Dick Weekly and Councilman Adrian Garcia. Buffalo Bayou Partnership received a $500,000 settlement from Williams Brothers. The Partnership put the settlement funds into building more trails. In the last year, two additional miles of trail has been finished. The paths are 80% complete most on donated easements from landowners. Buffalo Bayou Heritage Trail will go from downtown UofH to Studemont and is the #1 priority. Original plans to build the bike path close to StudePark playground have been changed. Regarding the issue of pedestrian vs. bike path, since the Trail uses federal dollars & TX DOT is the Administrator, it must follow federal guidelines including slope levels. It is, therefore, difficult to fit into the topography. Alan asked us to lobby for a separate pedestrian path as part of the proposed bike path will go over the existing pedestrian path. Jill Whitten interjected that she does not feel pedestrians will lose with the implementation of the bike path and that we can get a separate pedestrian path later. The proposed pedestrian path can be configured through better green space for a more enjoyable walking experience. As to the bike path, there is budget for additional trees. Also, most parts of the path will have lighting donated by Center Point.

Guest Speaker – Adrian Reed introduced Henry Quiroga, Assistant Engineer to Doug Stephens, the TX DOT Rep over the Studemont Reconstruction Project. Construction will start at 11th Street and go north to Main Street. It is scheduled to start Wednesday, October 20th at which time that part of Studewood will become one-way supporting only north bound traffic. The South bound traffic detour will be to 20th to Heights Blvd. and to 11th.   The entire project is estimated to take 18 months to complete. Construction equipment will be staged behind the construction barriers located on Studewood. Residents asked if the orange fencing could be pulled in closer to trees to relieve the visual problems. Also suggested was folding the orange fencing in half to lower the visual obstruction. Regarding the white and blue tile curb-side street numbers, Mr. Quiroga indicated that the contractor is looking for a supplier to find new ones. The residents strongly indicated their desire to keep the old tiles. Sandra Elzerman had written to Mr. Quiroga in August 2004 providing the residents desire to retain the original tiles and providing an inventory of existing tiles and their condition.  Also, discussed was what color to make the handicap ramps. Of allowed choices, either green or gray were preferred with green getting the most votes.

Henry is to respond back to the WHCA with resolution on the following:

·         Tree fencing and visibility

·         Curb markers

·         Rerouting of South bound Metro routes

Guest Speaker – Louis Conrad with innerLoopCondos.com, Inc. spoke briefly on a proposed condominium project at 5th Street and White Oak. The project is being strongly contested by a group of neighbors who urged residents to support their efforts by writing to Mayor White with a copy to Robert Litke, Director of Planning and Development and to Councilman Adrian Garcia.  The primary concerns raised were:  destruction of  our neighborhood character and value, flooding, traffic congestion and parking, sacrifice of green space for roads and parking lots, and the probability of even greater over-building. Resident Taylor Moore asked individuals with questions and concerns to contact him at tmoore@newtonnursery.com.

Volunteer Requests -

Chip Westaby asked volunteers wishing to help with the tree planting to report to the Norhill Esplanade this Saturday at 9 am.

Elliott Johnstone, Home Tour Chairperson, reminded residents of her need for a co-chair and committee volunteers for the upcoming 2005 Home Tour scheduled for the last weekend in March 2005

Announcements/Reminders:

Vicky Bettis brought a draft flyer for residents to review. The flyer will provide a venue for area residents to voice their suggestions regarding retail businesses to be including in the proposed Sawyer Heights Village retail center. Vicky will post the flyer on the Woodland Heights Website and announce its location on the Bulletin Board and on the Info-Line. In addition, Vicky will forward the flyer to neighboring civic associations asking them to participate in the survey. Copies of the flyers will be made available through local participating merchants. Results will be tallied and will be provided on the website and to Property Commerce who has shown great interest in the survey results. 

Jill Whitten reported on the Greenspace Committee of the WHCA. Deloitte volunteers conducted a cleanup of Memorial Park, & Freed Art Nature Park on October 8th. In addition, on October 10th, Margaret Dower & Jennifer Ostlind worked with the Boy Scouts to clean up the watershed area by King Biscuit.

 

Sabrina Strawn reported on the Travis Expansion. The houses purchased by HISD will be moved at night beginning this week. A public meeting is scheduled to be held at Travis Elementary on November 9th @ 6:15 pm in the cafeteria. At that time, plans will be unveiled. The Sparks Park and wrought iron fence around the Park will stay in place. The remaining wrought iron fence will be removed and preserved by HISD.

 

Officer Reports

Tony Maluski:

In Sharon Greiff’s absence, Tony reported that a meeting of Lights in the Heights® volunteers will be scheduled for next Tuesday, October 19th. Sharon will advise volunteers of the time and the meeting place. There are discussions of a community sponsored garage sale to be held on the Norhill Esplanade as a LITH fundraiser. As time constraints may prevent the event from occurring prior to 2004 LITH, residents are encouraged to save their donations until spring.

Regarding the Protected Lot Size applications, 13 applications are waiting on evaluation, 47 are a work in process, 18 are submitted, and 108 are protected (34.2%). 7 are rejected for a total of 180 homes or 57.0% of our neighborhood.

Regarding the proposed sports bar at 2626 White Oak, Sharon has received a packet from TABC with all the documents needed to protest the liquor license. She will evaluate and advise residents of their options.

Tony reports that the lawsuit by a Woodland Heights resident against 205 Bayland has been granted a continuance.

Other announcements from attendees – There will be a public meeting regarding the I-45 expansion at Jeff Davis High School 1101 Quitman on October 26th from 6 to 8 pm.

Willie Mae Krause won the door prize drawing and a set of Woodland Heights Notecards.

Deborah Dunten provided cookies.

Motion was made and seconded to adjourn at 9:10.

 

Attachments to Hard Copy of Minutes:

  • General Meeting Sign In List of Attendees

 

Respectfully Submitted

Vicky Bettis, Recording Secretary