Woodland Heights Civic Association

President Felicia Zbranek ,called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM. The pledge of allegiance was recited by the twenty four (24) attendees..

The following Board Members were in attendance: Felicia Zbranek, Sharon Greiff, R.C. Hayden, George Fereday, Vicki Bettis, Pat Hallmark, Tony Maluski, Chuck Britton, and Centennial Chair: Pat Rutledge.

Centennial Report: Pat Rutledge reported that the Gala project is well underway, and that there is a maximum capacity of 300 people for the Gala. Tickets are $125.

The Street Dance can sell up to 2000 tickets at $25 each. If they are purchased online, the tickets are $20, and $15 for Seniors. Children under 12 are free.

The net proceeds will be used to upgrade and refurbish the city’s second oldest park, our own WOODLAND PARK.

A State Historical Marker for our area has been applied for.

The Norhill Esplanade will soon have a face lift. The soil will be aerated, trees fed and pruned, with mulch spread under the trees.

The Norhill Esplanade Brick Plaza will hold 1600-1700 memorial bricks with a walking labyrinth surrounding it. Approximately 130 Memorial bricks have been sold. The vacant area will be filled with blank bricks, and then replaced as other Memorial Bricks are purchased.

Deed Restriction Presentation:

George Fereday, Tony Maluski, and Sharon Greiff gave an excellent presentation on this subject. George explained the complexity of obtaining deed restrictions, and the fact that our area contains so many sub-divisions. The committee would also like to obtain a common set of deed restrictions that would cover the whole area.

Tony reported that the Association is empowered to enforce deed restrictions. Individual neighbors can also enforce the deed restrictions. One can ask the city for help, but they are somewhat undermanned, and response time is very slow.

Normally a letter goes out to the offender stating what the violation pertains to. (all deed restrictions are now available online, by going to the WHCA website). A compliance by the offender comes through quite often.;
If the offender does not comply,The Association can then file a lawsuit, and we have in several instances. However, we try to be quiet and discreet about the situation. This is when the legal fees come in to play.

Sharon spoke on prevailing lot size, maximum building line, the condo loophole, and Historic Designation. (see Preservation Task Force info attached) Sharon is ready to help any of you that have not gotten Prevailing Lot Size in place for your block, or would like to work with historic preservation and maximum building line.

Officer Reports

R.C. Hayden The YTD Operating Incom is a negative $2,089.80. We now have paid advertising in the Newsletter, which will offset the cost. Higher legal fees for deed restrictions is the main driver for the income shortage. The end of August balance sheet assets were $95,021.47.

Vicky Bettis: There is a total membership at present of 501 members. This reflects a total of $21,055.00.

Chuck Britton: Chuck attended a meeting at St. Marks’ Church in August concerning the burglaries in the Heights and Woodland Heights. It was chaired by Adrian Garcia. HPD asked that we report all incidents to the Store Fronts, or online at the City of Houston. The Heights area is starting a constable patrol, and if you are interested, you can contact Karen Derr for all the information. Chuck encouraged us to join the COP program which is now in effect in our neighborhood, and to also take part in the PIP meetings.

Beth Martin: Beth asked for all NL entries to be in as soon as possible. We have three advertisers for the coming month.

Pat Hallmark: no comment

Felicia Zbranek adjourned the meeting at 9:00 PM.

Elliott Johnstone won the door prize.

We all enjoyed wonderful Snickerdoodle cookies by Debra Dunten.

Respectively Submitted by

Pat Hallmark

Recording Secretary

Attachments:

Membership sign in sheet
President’s agenda
Preservation Task Force Agenda
Membership Analysis