WHCA General Meeting - July 11, 2017 at 7:00 p.m at Lucky's Upstairs /  by Lori Bigler

It’s summertime, and school is out! 

As a benefit to our membership and the Woodland Heights community, the Woodland Heights Civic Association is hosting the July General Meeting at Lucky’s, located at 2520 Houston Ave, just at the edge of Woodland Park.

In addition to hearing updates from our neighbors and the board, we will sample some of the many appetizers from Lucky’s new and very much improved menu! And don’t worry about getting thirsty, nonalcoholic beverages also will be provided.

We look forward to seeing you there!

WHCA 4th of July Festivities /  by Lori Bigler

Hey Neighbors!  Please come join our community celebration of American Independence at the Norhill Esplanade on the 4th of July.  Kids can decorate their bikes to join in the parade, and families can stick around afterward to enjoy music, refreshments, bounce houses and more.  Festivities are open to all and begin at 9 AM with the parade, and will continue until noon.  Can't wait to see you there!

Yard of the Month: 601 Woodland /  by Lori Bigler

Although Stacie Cokinos and Pam Redford have only owned 601 Woodland for a year, they have completely transformed their garden while renovating their 1930's bungalow.  

Go by and peek over the conversation height white picket fence and be amazed by the pops of color, the butterfly friendly plants, and the huge old cedar tree that they painstakingly landscaped around without disturbing it.  It's a beautiful space with 2 delightful people that have made our neighborhood even better.

Carla Reed
WHCA VP Beautification

Birthday bash on Bayland: 101 years ago /  by Lori Bigler

Young Zolene Matzinger was feted at a party on her sixth birthday at her family’s home: 411 Bayland Avenue in Woodland Heights. The date was September 25, 1916. What a party it was: dozens of kids (several of them her cousins), as well as clowns and a calliope

The honoree is the girl seated on the banister at the far right of the picture (in front of the porch column).

Among Zolene’s party guests were her “Foley cousins,” Carrie Mae Foley and James Foley. Their father was founder of Foley Bros., later to be known as the Foley’s department store chain. Carrie Mae Foley is the fourth child from the left on the second row. James Foley is the second boy from the right on the second row.

The party for his cousin made such an impression on one little boy, Francis Wead (the last little boy on the right, top row), that he still talked about the event when he grew up and became a father. Each child who attended the party was later sent a copy of the group picture. Francis Wead held on to the image the rest of his life.

This image and story shared is shared with WHCA, courtesy of Jimmy Wead, son of Francis Wead. The site of the party, the house at 411 Bayland, is still standing and in good shape.

- Rosie Walker

NTMP Plan Moves Forward with Temporary Speed Cushions /  by Lori Bigler

Dear neighbors,

I wanted to inform you about the installation of the speed cushions you may have seen going in around the neighborhood. The Woodland Heights Civic Association board remains neutral about traffic calming, but it is important for us to convey correct information to the community.

Today I spoke to Khang Nguyen at the City of Houston Public Works & Engineering (PWE) department. He's given me the definitive information regarding the speed cushions. What follows is a step-by-step explanation of what is happening:

  1. Seventeen temporary asphalt speed cushions are being installed: one on Michaux, four on Watson, three on Beauchamp, two on Euclid, two on Bayland, one on Merrill, and four on Pecore.
  2. Yes, these are temporary speed cushions. They can be pulled up at any point and the street repaired.
  3. The streets are being milled in order to accept the speed cushions. Without milling, the asphalt can come loose. So grooves are milled into the streets.
  4. Because our streets are primarily asphalt, PWE determined that asphalt was better than rubber, which can sometimes come loose on an asphalt base (rubber is bolted, whereas asphalt adheres through melting.)
  5. Also, rubber can come loose with high volume traffic. In some locations, PWE measured high use and felt asphalt was best.
  6. Once milling is done, asphalt cushion installation will start right away, possibly even today. They will finish a few streets each day, so it may be finished by mid-next week.
  7. Once the speed cushions are installed, PWE will paint striping on them for visibility.
  8. After roughly 90 days (September/October), PWE will complete a second traffic study assessing the effectiveness of the cushions.
  9. The traffic study will examine three things: overall speed, enhanced or reduced traffic volume, and traffic shifting to other streets.
  10. Once the study is complete, PWE will hold a public hearing and collect comments again. This will be around November/December.
  11. At that point, the neighborhood could (a) accept all of the new speed cushions, (b) ask than some be removed but others remain, or (c) reject all of the new speed cushions.
  12. Based on those comments, they will then take the study to the City Council for final approval. If the council agrees that the speed cushions are working, they become permanent.
  13. If, however, the community or council rejects the speed cushions, they will be removed and the roads patched to their prior state.

That's the entire process, as detailed by Khang Nguyen at PWE.

Matt Johnson
WHCA VP Infrastructure

WHCA Constable Patrol Update: March-May 2017 /  by Lori Bigler

Subscriber Stats

We have a little more than 350 subscribers and have received some generous additional donations from our neighbors, totaling about $119k. We have also received a $10k contribution from Greystar and, as I mentioned before, we had about $10k in surplus from the prior year. That brings us to about $139k. Our goal for two-deputy shifts is $153k, so we are getting closer but are not there yet. As it stands, we are a little more than one month short, or about 45 more subscribers. We would need even more to maintain our surplus for next year.

That said, we have a number of people who have signed up for auto-renewal and are scheduled to “renew” over the next few months, but have not yet done so. If that is you, please consider contacting us and renewing now. If you have not subscribed or renewed, please consider doing so. And if you know someone who would like to participate but cannot afford to pay the full amount, please have them contact me.

Crime Stats

Here is a summary of the criminal activity in our neighborhood from March through May.

Crime Map

Here is a map giving a snapshot of the criminal activity over the last three months combined (22 incidents).

Legend: car (thefts of/from vehicle); star (burglaries); ring (other theft); hand (violent crime); whistle (sexual assault). Data is available at https://goo.gl/vFfDmT.

Constable Patrol Activity

Wonder what our Constables do, other than generally patrol the neighborhood to be seen and prevent crime? Here is a summary of “Contract Activity Report.”

Bonus. For those who may be curious, here is a map of our contract area:

We remind everyone for a crime in progress, please call 911 first. If our deputies are on duty, they should be monitoring those calls, though you can also call Precinct One dispatch after calling 911 for crimes in progress.

Do not hesitate to call Precinct One for something that doesn’t look right. Our deputies want you to err on the side of calling things in. Our neighborhood is big, and you can help direct our deputies to suspicious activity.

Brad Snead
VP-Security WHCA

Hogg Middle School Registration /  by Lori Bigler

Zoned to Hogg MS and planning to attend in August? Registration for new students is June 12-15 from 8:30-11:30am & 2:30-4:30pm.

Bring the following:
1.) parent/guardian ID;
2.) proof of residency (current utility bill, HCAD tax bill or current lease);
3.) the student's shot record; and
4) the student's last report card.

Magnet students who have already provided these documents to Ms. Andrade are registered for next year.

Call us if you have any questions: 713-802-4700.