January 2017 Constable Patrol Update /  by Lori Bigler

Subscriber Stats

The Constable Patrol operates on a fiscal year ending March 31. Through January, we have approximately 409 subscribers, which is below our usual amount from past years. To sustain two deputy shifts for an entire year, we need 460 subscribers. Luckily, we have had a little bit of a surplus to help fill the gap this year due to a donation by Greystar Apartments. We have about 1-2 months left of a surplus. In other words, if we do not get our membership numbers up next year, we may not be able to have two full deputy shifts for 12 months. More details to come next month as we officially start the renewal campaign.

Please support the Constable Patrol, and please let me know of any ideas you have on how to improve the program and make it sustainable moving forward.

Testimonial

Here is a recent testimonial from a subscriber about her experience with the vacation watch.

“I sent in a vacation watch form to let the constable know I would have a house guest. I indicated on the form I would be in town. I have a new Ring Video Doorbell Pro, and was surprised when a female officer went to my front door and tried the handle. Then the next day I saw remotely that a male officer did the same thing.
On the third day it happened when I was home and went upstairs and turned on the light - and I saw the officer parked across the street, waiting. I called the constable to ask why they kept trying my front door. It turned out that somehow it was entered into "the system" that I was on vacation. I felt so protected that they would check my house EVERY DAY.
I also have experienced that the constable will show up in under 10 minutes, while HPD can take up to an hour. The constable patrol is well worth the investment."

Crime Stats

Here is a summary of the criminal activity in our neighborhood over the past month.

January 2017 Crime Stats.jpg

Crime Map

Here is a map giving a snapshot of the criminal activity, showing most activity around Houston Avenue near I-45. Legend: car (thefts of/from vehicle); star (burglaries); ring (other theft); hand (violent crime).

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.” There were 403 activities logged, about half coming during our day shift and half during our evening shift. Some activities were logged by constables patrolling nearby neighborhoods when our constables were off duty (which is another perk of the program).

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

Sponsored: Earn Your Graduate Degree Close to Home /  by Lori Bigler

The University of St. Thomas Cameron School of Business is accredited as one of the finest in the world. We educate Houston’s diverse community of working adults in ethical behavior as a foundation for graduate business studies.

OPTIONS – MBA program includes 9 concentrations
CONVENIENCE – just minutes away from where you live
FLEXIBILITY – evening and weekend classes offered

Join us at our March Information Session and learn more about advancing your career:
Wednesday, March 22, 6 - 7 p.m.
Register for the event online

Yard Of The Month: 935 Ridge /  by Lori Bigler

It was a tough month for anyone in our neighborhood to have a good looking yard after the hard freeze a couple of weeks back. However, Randy McBrides' yard at 935 Ridge looks fantastic!

YOTM - 935 Ridge IMG_1289.jpg

Randy has been in the Woodland Heights for over 19 years and tells us that the reason his yard looks so good is that he has endeavored to make it low maintenance. The two deciduous bur oaks out front with their unusual bark and huge acorns are a knock out along with ground trailing juniper, azaleas, and African iris. It really looks good!

Historic District Design Guidelines Visual Preferences Survey /  by Lori Bigler

Click on the image to go to the city web site and begin the survey.

What are the keys to designing a compatible house or addition in a historic district?

At previous community workshops, participants evaluated a series of alternative building models for new houses and additions. Some models were rated as being either clearly appropriate or clearly inappropriate. For other models, opinions were mixed, or there wasn’t enough feedback to draw clear conclusions, and so this survey focuses on those models for which we did not receive clear direction.

We have also updated some illustrations to more closely reflect the character of individual historic districts. Your answers will help us recommend building design tools to be included in the Woodland Heights Historic District design guidelines.
The survey is divided into three parts:

Part 1: Overall Issues In the District
This section asks the extent to which you agree or disagree with issues that were mentioned in previous workshops.

Part 2: Building Design Tools
This section asks you to comment on the usefulness of design techniques that can affect compatibility, in terms of mass, scale, and relationship of a building to its neighbors. A background paper, titled Houston Historic Districts Potential Design Tools, provides further information about the design tools in Part 2.

Part 3: Building Scenarios
This section presents seven house designs -- three that show different approaches for constructing an addition to a historic single-family home, and four that illustrate new single-family homes in the historic district. Each scenario incorporates a combination of the design techniques described in Part 2 and will help us determine how effective these tools may be in achieving compatible designs.

All surveys must be completed online or postmarked no later than Friday, January 27, 2017.

Woodland Heights Civic Association Board Elections /  by Lori Bigler

The WHCA board elections will be held on Tuesday, March 21, 2017 at 7 PM at the Hogg Middle School Cafeteria.  The WHCA bylaws require that a nominating committee of five (5) individuals be established to receive nominations for the WHCA board positions.  The nominating committee is to consist of two (2) current WHCA board members and three (3) woodland heights residents.

Carla Reed, VP Beautification and Brad Snead, VP Security have agreed to serve as the two (2) current WHCA board members on the nominating committee.

If you would like to serve as one of the three (3) woodland heights residents on the nominating committee please send an email expressing your interest to William Getschow at president@woodland-heights.org.  Once the nominating committee is formed then further instructions will be sent out to the neighborhood about how to nominate someone for a WHCA board position for the next term (March 2017-March 2018).

As a reminder, all board positions will be up for election on March 21, 2017.  We hope that many of the current board members will serve in the next term but they will need to be nominated and elected. The WHCA board positions are as follows:  President, President-Elect, VP-Security, VP-Treasurer, VP-Deed Restrictions, VP-Membership, VP-Beautification, VP-Infrastructure, VP-Communications and VP-Secretary.

Thank you,
William Getschow
President

Yard Of The Month /  by Lori Bigler

Yard of the month goes to Arnold van Ek who for over a decade has been creating a sculpture garden in the lot he owns across the street from his home at 619 Euclid.

When Arnold retired after a long career in the oil and gas business in 2005 he decided to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming an artist. He enrolled at the Glassell School of Art and for the first time learned to weld and cut metal. 

WHCA-VanEek-House.jpeg

The first sculpture he created was a cardinal totem pole after a trip to Toronto where he was inspired by the totem poles of the American Indian Inuit tribe. Next he produced 3 large spheres; a giant marble, Pluto, and Earth.

Arnold invites you to walk the lot and check out the copperhead Medusa, casino wind chime, lazy Atlas, and the resident alien. At the back of the lot is a shed that features a short movie every night at 7:30 featuring many of his neighbors.

The New Faces Of The WHCA Board /  by Lori Bigler

The past month has seen some changes in the faces on the WHCA board. The current board is comprised of the following officers:

  • William Getschow, President
  • Tyson Greer, President-Elect
  • Carla Reed, VP-Beautification
  • Susan Pennebaker-VP-Secretary
  • Michael Graves, VP-Communications
  • Brad Snead, VP-Security
  • Melissa McKee-VP, Treasurer
  • Giji John-VP, Deed Restrictions
  • Roger Moxley, VP-Membership
  • Matt Johnson-VP-Infrastructure

These officers will serve through March 2017. In March the WHCA will be holding elections to determine the officers for the coming year, which runs through to March 2018.

LITH 2016 Wrap-up /  by Lori Bigler

Lights in the Heights came together nicely this year. It takes such effort from us the neighbors: from the committee, the porch volunteers, the Gala attendees, those who deck out their homes to the nines, to those who graciously attend LITH.

There are some key characters on the Lights in the Heights Committee who deserve our gratitude: Stephanie Leachman, who ran the Lights Gala to provide much-needed proceeds in a fun way with some particular challenges this year, Meredith Burk who did an amazing job recruiting and managing the logistics of TWENTY bands and porches in a way that made the evening perfect, Robyn Klepper in charge of all new, flashy signage and new, flashing merchandise and cloisonné ornaments and their distribution and the decoration contest, Katie McCafferty who took over Friday Night Lights from three co-chairs and added a food and toy drive, Andrea Gorney who took on the various maps and flyers and delivery, Terri Guerra who listened to me whine and managed the security as she has done for many years, Caroline and Lauren Earthman who kept the luminaria tradition glowing while eliminating the sandlot. Several others played key roles, especially doing the last-minute, overlooked tasks: Michael Graves, Desiree Ruiz, David Coyle, Philip Teague, Amanda Brown, Lauren Snead, Sara Metsa, Ginnie McConn, the Brock family and the Jordan family all took on something important for LITH2016.

The WHCA takes on so much work for us at this time of year also: Mark Sternfels put in hours creating online sales portals and adding and editing web pages and marketing material for us. Casey Ballard and William Getschow spent a great deal of energy on insuring us properly. Melissa McKee cut as many checks as I will have to write thank you notes and kept the budget on track. Marian Wright and the block captains helped with delivery of notices to the neighborhood.

While it would not be inappropriate for me to thank all our sponsors also, I am including Jason Glover and Memorial Herman Greater Heights staff because they took part of our workload this year. His graphic design team drafted many logos for us, updated them with our comments and drafted most of our signage design. MHGH volunteers collected our toy drive and food drive items, and arranged delivery to Heights Interfaith Ministries.

Thank you to my committee. I deeply appreciated each of you giving your extra time to this beloved holiday event. I love Lights in the Heights and I love the Woodland Heights and feel thankful. If you know anyone listed here, do tell them thanks. They absolutely deserve it.

- Jan Greer, LITH Chair

From the Editor: LITH fell into a gap created by the transition between people in the VP Communications position. This resulted in a delay in the January newsletter, including this post. 

LITH Gala 2016 Recap /  by Lori Bigler

The Lights in the Heights Gala was held on Saturday, 11/19/16, at the new Elan Heights Apartment Building. This is our primary fundraiser for Lights in the Heights, and we raised $12,000+ this year through ticket sales, silent auction, and raffle.

Elan Heights was wonderful in opening their doors and welcoming us to their beautiful game room overlooking the bayou and downtown. The Houston Heights Orchestra group provided music. Special thanks to our neighbors who helped to pull this event together: Jan Greer, Robyn Klepper, Phil Teague, Michael Graves, Emily Trout, Teri Hagen, Meredith Burke, David Coyle, and Mark Sternfels. Thanks to those who helped the day of the event: Desiree Ruiz, Amanda Brown, Lauren Snead, Amalia Doebbert, Janie Reyes, and Andrew Burke.  

The event sponsors were instrumental in organizing the event: Elan Heights, Memorial Hermann Heights, Sonoma, Kagen Cellars, Cherry Pie Hospitality (Lee's Fried Chicken and Pi Pizza), Treadsack Restaurant Group (Down House, Hunky Dory, and Bernadines), Wokker TX Ranger, Red Dessert Dive, Happy Fatz, Eureka Heights Brewery, Heights Floral Shop, Heights Print Store, Wolfe’s Cleaners, and Davis Hardware. 

We had wonderful auction/raffle items donated by: Kagen Cellars, ABC Home and Commercial Services, Opera in the Heights, Obsidian Theater, Jack Nadel, Bayou City Smiles, Onion Creek, Good Dog, Town in City Brewery, Buchanans, NiaMoves, Orange Theory, Woodland Heights Civic Assn, Dalia Rihani, Houston Heights Orchestra, and Heights Kids Day of Music. 

It was a fun night with wonderful neighbors, and set the stage for Lights in the Heights.

- Stephanie Leachman, LITH Gala Chair

REMINDER: Traffic Meeting Dec. 6, 7PM @ Hogg /  by Guest User

Don't forget about the upcoming Traffic Meeting hosted by the City of Houston at the Hogg Middle School Cafeteria on Tuesday, Dec. 6th, 7PM. If you did not receive the most recent traffic meeting notice in the mail from the City of Houston you may download a copy here or simply follow this link to comment online. Even if you comment online you may still want to download a copy of the comment card as it also includes a map of the new proposal. You will have 14-days to submit your comment after the meeting (deadline: December 21, 2016).

This is a new plan put together by city engineers. Comments submitted based on previous plans do not carryover. IF YOU WANT YOUR COMMENT TO COUNT YOU MUST SUBMIT A NEW ONE — NEW PLAN, NEW COMMENTS.

Constable Patrol: Data for October 2016 /  by Guest User

Newsletter readers: To view the charts please select the article title to read this article on the WHCA website.

The Constable Patrol operates on a fiscal year ending March 31. Through mid-November, we have approximately 400 subscribers, and 460 are needed to make two shifts sustainable long-term. We recently reached out to the neighborhood to get people to join for the second half of the year, and in the first two weeks of that, picked up about 20 new members. Hopefully more will continue to respond and I am optimistic we can hit our number with next spring's renewal campaign. You can also find information for membership on the Woodland Heights webpage.  Please support the Constable Patrol.

WOODLAND HEIGHTS CIVIC ASSOCIATION CRIME STATES SEPT. 2016

As usual, about 50% of theft from vehicles was on Studewood and White Oak in and around commercial areas and they are as likely to occur at lunchtime as at night.

We had one breaking and entering (3500 block of Micheaux), one robbery (2100 block of White Oak, 7pm Wednesday Oct. 12th), one assault (1500 block of White Oak, 9pm Monday Oct. 10th), and one vehicle theft (1000 block of Merrill, Oct. 8th).

Most assaults and robberies occur in the commercial areas on the outer boundaries of our neighborhood.  While not in the neighborhood, most months we see one or more assaults or robberies in the 3600-3700 blocks of North Main. We remind you to please be aware of your surroundings when you are in the commercial areas that surround our neighborhood.

WHCA Constable Patrol Statistics

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 huge and you can help direct our deputies to suspicious activity.

Our deputies come to work in our neighborhood, and remain through their shift, unless they are called to respond to a nearby contract. When they stop to look at something or take some action, they keep a log, so we have a general idea of their activities. For October 2016 here is some of their activity:

Number Activity
15 Traffic stops, resulting in 1 citation. The deputies have radar and use it to monitor speeds in areas where there are complaints.
18 Suspicious person/vehicle call responses. This number increased substantially from recent months, and I view that as a good sign because people are calling in things that don’t look right. Please do not hesitate to call dispatch as this is the most effective way to utilize and engage our deputies.
15 Times they stopped to check something in the parks.
116 times they stopped to check something in the neighborhood (not otherwise included in these statistics).
12 House alarm responses (happily all were false or cancelled alarms).
17 Miscellaneous: responses to traffic issues and calls about speeding; various disturbances/loud noise, gunshots, mischief; stranded and abandoned vehicles and truancy.
38 “Meet the Citizen” – this is a conversation with a member of the neighborhood in a fashion that’s not covered above, (e.g. to introduce themselves or to answer a question).

Our deputies are very service oriented, so if you see a deputy and have a question, or just want to say hello – please flag them down.  

Steve Howard
VP-Security WHCA
November 28, 2016

FWP: Movie Night this Friday at Woodland Park /  by Guest User

WHAT: Movie night, It's a Wonderful Life
WHEN: Friday, Dec. 2 6:30pm (doors open)
WHERE: Woodland Park Community Center, 212 Parkview

Movie night brought by Friends of Woodland Park. Dec. 2, 2016.

If you haven't heard, the Friends of Woodland Park in partnership with Star of Hope Charities will host a movie night this Friday at the Woodland Park Community Center. Bring a gently used (and clean!) blanket to the movie night and donate it to help someone stay warm this holiday season.

Doors open at 6:30pm and the movie starts at 7pm. Bring the kids, popcorn and refreshments provided.

Hope to see you there!

City of Houston: Next Historic District Guidelines Meeting /  by Guest User

The City of Houston’s ongoing Historic District Design Guidelines project continues on Thursday, December 1, 2016, with a community workshop from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. at the United Way Community Resource Center, 50 Waugh Drive, Houston, Texas. 
 
This will be the second workshop conducted by consultants from Winter & Company, who are currently developing guidelines for seven historic districts: Houston Heights East, Houston Heights West, Houston Heights South, Freeland, Old Sixth Ward, Norhill, and Woodland Heights. You do not have had to attend the first workshop in order to come to this one. All property owners in these seven historic districts are welcome and encouraged to attend.
 
This workshop will help property owners prepare to give informed, meaningful feedback on a Visual Preference Survey, which every property owner will receive in January 2017.  Consultants from Winter & Company will explain the various design tools that might be used to achieve the goals for each district, as well as the factors that make additions and new construction compatible with existing buildings. All information will be presented in an easy-to-understand way, and reference materials will be available online, prior to the meeting. The workshop will also include one or two exercises, designed to help the consultants further understand what the property owners in each district feel are compatible with their specific district. The workshop exercises will be made available online for those who are not able to attend. 
 
Please visit the project webpage (http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/HistoricPres/Design-Guidelines-Heights.htmlbefore the meeting to find links to the informative materials, and again after the meeting to find links to the online exercises. More information about the project and previous activities can also be found on the project webpage.

City of Houston: Traffic Meeting /  by Guest User

The WHCA is sharing this on behalf of the City of Houston. Any questions about the meeting, the provisions of the traffic plan, or the comment form should be directed to the Department of Public Works and Engineering. The Notice of Public Meeting will also be sent out from the City via mail to all residents affected by the proposed Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan per city ordinance. (Download the CoH Meeting Notice)

Based upon the comments received from the previous proposal, the City's engineers will be presenting their latest proposed revision of the plan during the meeting to be held on December 6, 2016 at 7pm.  The meeting will be held at Hogg Middle School's cafeteria.

Please note that a NEW comment period will follow the meeting and all residents are requested to provide new comments, as the city does not amalgamate old comments (from previous plans) into the new commenting period. Please DO NOT submit comments before the December 6 meeting.

Urban Farmer Richard Hall Speaking at Next WHCA General Meeting /  by Guest User

Richard Hall, longtime Woodland Heights homeowner and well-known urban farmer, will be our featured speaker at the Nov. 15 meeting of the Woodland Heights Civic Association. The meeting is open to the public. It will begin at 7 p.m. at Hogg Middle School, 1100 Merrill.

Dr. Hall will explain in detail the operation of his family “farm” in Woodland Heights. ”We’ve got hens, grow herbs and veggies, plus bananas,” he said. The Hall family maintains several compost bins, they recycle rain and condensation from air-conditioning to water their gardens. Dr. Hall is a wonderful speaker and we're very excited to have him.

We hope to see you there.

Charity Golf Tournament Benefitting Hogg Middle School /  by Guest User

Learn Local Charity Golf Tournament 2016

Learn Local Charity Golf Tournament 2016

Learn Local is hosting our first golf tournament on November 5, 2016 to benefit Hogg Outdoors – a capital campaign to raise funds for enhancement to Hogg Middle School’s outdoor facilities including a major renovation of the SPARK park sports fields and the installation of gardens to enhance our new Culinary Arts curriculum. 

$100 player fee ($400 for foursomes) includes green fees, lunch and an awards Happy Hour, 4 drink tickets, player goodie bags, and a chance to win prizes from local businesses including Premium Draught and 8th Wonder Brewery.

Visit our website for more event info, to register, and for sponsorship opportunities.

Spending Update /  by Guest User

Newsletter subscribers: To view a larger version of this chart please select the article title to view the image on the Woodland Heights Civic Association website.