Fourth of July Parade & Party /  by Guest User

The Woodland Heights Civic Association will be organizing and sponsoring the annual Fourth of July Parade at the Norhill Esplanade beginning at 9 AM on July 4th. We will have kids activities, events, snow cones and the kids parade around the esplanade. Please make sure and bring your child’s toy car, scooter, wagon or bike for the parade. We will be handing out prizes for most creative, best decorated and most patriotic. Please contact William Getschow if you would like to help with organizing, set up or cleanup or if you have any ideas for the event. The Woodland Heights Civic Association Membership dues go toward sponsoring events like this so please don’t forget to sign up for your membership if you have not already signed up.

Meeting Recap — Friends of Woodland Park, METRO, WHCA Updates /  by Guest User

Thanks to all who came to last night’s WHCA General Meeting. For those of you who couldn’t make it, here’s a brief recap: 
 
- We updated the neighborhood on the WHCA’s efforts to fund two Constable shifts. We have fully funded one shift, but are still approximately 75 subscribers shy of being able to fully fund the second shift without dipping into our reserve account. It's never too late to subscribe.
 
- The Friends of Woodland Park did a wonderful presentation to update the neighborhood on the beautification efforts in Woodland Park. They also unveiled a model of a beautiful new sculpture installation called Firefly Field by Houston artist and fourth generation Heights resident, Dylan Conner. Approval from the City of Houston is pending with a fundraising campaign to follow. Visit the FWP website for more details, and please support this great organization. 
 
- We heard reports from METRO regarding the bus route on Bayland and Woodland. More details coming in another post.
                                                                                                                                                                                          
- We also received updates from the offices of Representative Alvarado and Council Member Gonzales. 
 
- Finally, we reminded the neighborhood that we’re now transitioning away from a paper newsletter to an e-newsletter. If you haven’t already signed up to receive the e-newsletter, please do so at our website.
 
Thanks again to those who came out.  We’ll see you in July!
 
Tim McConn
President, WHCA

Neighborhood Traffic Study Underway /  by Guest User

Did you notice the traffic monitoring devices recently installed throughout the neighborhood? These devices, which measure both traffic volume and vehicle speeds, are for the initial traffic study for the Woodland Heights Neighborhood Traffic Management Program (NTMP). The NTMP is a program administered by the city aimed at reducing cut-through traffic and increasing pedestrian safety on residential streets. The NTMP for Woodland Heights will be a multi-year project and no traffic-calming measures will be implemented without extensive feedback from, and with the approval of, the residents of Woodland Heights. 

You’ve probably also noticed the city has recently begun repaving White Oak Dr. between Studemont and Houston Ave. This project is scheduled to be completed by June 30. 

Spring Security Tips /  by Guest User

Our annual Constable Patrol renewal campaign is in the second month, and we are still short of the participation needed to continue to support two patrol shifts. We are reaching out to the neighborhood in various ways to obtain your support for the Constable Patrol.

Even when our deputies are not on patrol, we get coverage from nearby contracts. Your new VP of Security's cat set off the house alarm last week shortly after one of our shifts had ended. Within 6 minutes of the alarm, deputies showed up from both the Heights and Garden Oaks contracts. The cat was let off with a warning.

Spring is a time where we see more property theft involving yard-care equipment, and things like porch furniture. When working in the yard, don’t leave tools and equipment unattended if they are in sight of the street. Have electric garage doors but sometimes forget to close them? Check into something like the Garage Butler – an easy to install device that will automatically close your garage doors.

You can sign up to receive email or text crime alerts for the area by going to the Precinct One Constable’s website and going to Crime Alerts under the Sign Up drop-down menu. Let's all watch out for our neighbors, and keep our neighborhood safe.

Norhill Esplanade Improvements /  by Guest User

Several weeks ago work was completed at Norhill Esplanade to improve the green space. As more events are held at this neighborhood gem, it is important that it be properly maintained. A landscape company aerated and added organic fertilizer and compost to the grassy areas.

The improvement to our green space was provided by Woodland Heights Civic Association and is a direct result of your membership dollars at work and WHCA’s commitment to keep Woodland Heights green.

Questions or comments? Contact the Beautification Committee.

2015 Membership Drive — Join Today /  by Guest User

We hope many of the Woodland Heights residents enjoyed the Spring Fling which the Woodland Heights Civic Association (“WHCA”) put together and sponsored on March 28, 2015 at the Norhill Esplanade. The Spring Fling (and other events put on by the WHCA throughout the year) are made possible through resident’s payment of the $50 dollar membership dues. To date, we have 97 residents signed up for WHCA memberships. This is less than half of the number of residents that signed up for WHCA memberships last year. Please take a few minutes to sign up for your WHCA membership either online or by sending in your membership form which can also be found and printed from the same link.

Houston Metro to Revise Bus Route Without Input from Neighborhood /  by Guest User

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (“Metro”) plans to revise the #40 bus route to include the entire segment of Watson St. between Pecore St. and Usener St. Metro has made this change with little to no input from Woodland Heights residents or the Woodland Heights Civic Association (the “WHCA”). The WHCA attended the March 2015 Metro board meeting to raise concerns with the Metro #40 bus route traversing up and down Watson St. Also, Metro had previously advised the WHCA that Metro would not place a bus route on streets with speed bumps—which Watson St. clearly has in place between Teetshorn and Usener. The revised #40 bus route may also interfere with the Woodland Heights neighborhood traffic management plan on Watson St. which is currently in the data gathering stage. Metro is sending a representative to attend the Woodland Heights general meeting on May 12th at 7 PM at Hogg Middle School. Please plan on attending the general meeting to address any concerns with Metro concerning the proposed revised #40 bus route.

Announcing the WHCA Spring Fling, March 28th from 4-7 pm /  by Guest User

Please join us for a neighborhood social on the Norhill Esplanade from 4-7 pm on Saturday, March 28th.  Come by any time to enjoy food from food trucks Wokker TX Ranger, Good Dog Hot Dog, H-Town Streats, and What's Up Cupcake.  We'll also have bounce houses for the kids.  Representatives from both the Membership and Security committees will be on hand to answer any questions, and you can take the opportunity to pay your civic association dues and constable program membership fees by either check or credit card while you're there.  

WHCA 2015-2016 election results /  by Guest User

 

Dear Residents,


On March 10, 2015, the WHCA held its annual Board elections.  The following are the newly-elected Board members for the 2015-16 term:

Pres-Elect                     Casey Ballard
Treasurer                       Jason Williams
Secretary                      Susan Pennebaker
Infrastructure                 William Maslin
Deed Restrictions          David Jordan
Communications           Mark Sternfels
Membership                  William Getschow
Security                        Steve Howard
Beautification                Vicky Bettis

Note that I was elected as President-Elect last term, and will therefore take over as President on April 1.

For those of you who attended the meeting and elections last night, you might be puzzled by the result of the Deed Restrictions position.  Allow me to explain.  Prior to the meeting, David Jordan was the only person who was nominated for the Deed Restrictions position.  At the meeting, however, a floor nomination was made: a resident nominated herself at the meeting to be a candidate for the Deed Restrictions position.  The Nominating Committee reviewed the copy of the Bylaws that was present at the meeting, saw no restriction on floor nominations, and purported to accepted the resident’s floor nomination.  During the subsequent vote, the newly-nominated candidate received more votes than Mr. Jordan.  After the meeting, however, it came to the Nominating Committee's and the Board's attention that, in June 2006, the WHCA Board approved a resolution that expressly prohibits any floor nominations (that resolution may be found in the Bylaws section of our website at the link titled “Amendment III”).  As a result, the Board determined that the Nominating Committee had no discretion or ability to accept the floor nomination and no votes could be cast in that candidate’s favor.  Consequently, the only votes cast for a candidate who was properly nominated for the Deed Restrictions position in accordance with the Bylaws were cast for David Jordan.  As such, he is the duly-elected VP, Deed Restrictions for the 2015-16 term.  The Nominating Committee and the Board would like to thank the floor-nominated candidate for her willingness to serve the neighborhood, and we sincerely apologize for any confusion caused by last night's election.  We will make every effort to improve the process to ensure that this does not happen again.

Please don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions.

Tim McConn
WHCA Board President, 2015-16
Nominating Committee

Upcoming WHCA Elections /  by Guest User

The Woodland Heights Civic Association Elections will be held at the March 10th general meeting at 7 pm in the Hogg Middle School cafeteria.  Please plan to attend the meeting to vote on next year's leadership team.

The following positions are up for election:

  • President-Elect
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer
  • VP, Membership
  • VP, Security
  • VP, Communications
  • VP, Infrastructure
  • VP, Beautification
  • VP, Deed Restrictions

If you would like to nominate yourself or someone else for a board seat, or if you have any questions about any of the positions, please contact Tim McConn from the Nominating Committee through the link below.  Per the by-laws, floor nominations cannot be accepted.


Woodland Heights Animals Get a Lifeline /  by Guest User

Community Animal Hero Tonya "CatLady" Daily and Her Volunteers Help Neglected Dogs and Cats

I have met some very nice neighbors who have helped me accomplish my "dog/cat warm-house project" for pets around the Heights and have spayed/neutered, tested, vaccinated community dogs and cats found roam- ing...dumped to fend.

I made a life choice years ago to do my part to help the most helpless among us with no one looking out for them. I have worked with SNAP to set up a fund to receive donations with the money to be used to provide spay-neuter surgery, vaccinations, heartworm preventative, and other well- ness services for the animals. The success of this project has led to an ex- pansion of the program to provide warm bedding to help them survive the chilly winter.

If you would like to donate to help these animals, visit our Woodland Heights Animal Fund donation page.