METRONext Community Open House Thursday, August 17, 2017 /  by Lori Bigler

METRO will be hosting a METRONext Community Open House meeting on Thursday, August 17, 2017 at Montie Beach Community Center from 6:00PM – 8:00PM. We want to hear from you!

A Critical Plan for a Changing Region

Population in the greater Houston region will increase from 6 million today to nearly 10 million in the next 20 years. That raises a lot of questions about how we will live our lives and get to places we need to go. METRO wants to plan now for a transportation system that meets the needs of our continually evolving, dynamic and diverse region.

As we embark on the creation of METRONext, the new regional transit plan, we want to know what kind of transit system would best meet the needs of you and your family. Whether you currently use public transportation or not, we want to work with you to find solutions that best serve residents, communities, businesses and visitors. Imagine the future with METRONext.

Opera invites one and all to visit them at Lambert Hall on August 19th /  by Lori Bigler

Opera in the Heights will host its first Open House in historic Lambert on August 19th from 9:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. Lambert Hall is located at Heights Blvd. at 17th Street.

It will also include free live opera performances every 20 minutes, plus a chance to meet Opera in the Heights singers.

The event is free to the public. The Open House will be a chance to experience firsthand the behind-the-scenes magic of Opera in the Heights.

Highlights for the event include giveaways, popcorn, face-painting, social media contest, opera costume dress-up station and photo op, an opera coloring sheet station, as well as breakfast bites from neighborhood eateries. Opera subscriptions and ticket discounts can be purchased during the event. For more information, visit http://www.operaintheheights.org/open-house-2017.

Lambert Hall was formerly the sanctuary for Heights Christian Church, now located on northern portion of block of Heights Blvd. between 17th and 18th Streets. 

Greater Heights Super Neighborhood Council Meeting, July 31st /  by Lori Bigler

Super Neighborhoods are a way for the City to rationalize the way council interacts with the myriad of civic and neighborhood associations across the city. Woodland Heights Civic Association participates in the Greater Heights Super Neighborhood Council, aka Super Neighborhood 15.

GHSNC15 is hosting a public meeting Monday, July 31st, 6:30pm at the Historic Heights Fire Station, 107 W 12th St, Houston, TX 77008.

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.

Yard Of The Month: 501 Highland /  by Lori Bigler

This months yard of the month goes to 501 Highland St for their fantastic bird and butterfly garden. Denise and Todd Liebl spent 2 years painstakingly renovating one of the few original stucco homes in our neighborhood and their garden is a pleasure that the whole neighborhood gets to enjoy. Hats off to them for bringing this old house and garden back to life. Welcome to the neighborhood!

Houston High-Speed Rail Watch Proposal /  by Lori Bigler

You may recall that Alicia Nuzzie of Houston High-Speed Rail Watch made a presentation to the WHCA General Meeting on May 9th. They followed up on that appearance, sending WHCA a copy of their detailed position paper along with a map of their proposal.

Executive Summary

If the proposed Texas Bullet Train or HSR plans were to move forward, we are advocating for an elevated METRORail (light rail line) that would run down the center lanes of I-10 to connect HSR's end terminus near the Northwest Transit Center with downtown. We believe this light rail connection would unify scattered strands of Houston's public transportation network and facilitate connectivity to downtown for HSR riders, without adversely affecting neighborhood communities. It would also serve Houston-area commuters and promote a reduction of cars on the road. Plus, with a modest number of stops, it becomes an express rail line attractive to both local commuters and high-speed rail riders traveling into downtown.

For more information visit the Houston High-Speed Rail Watch web site and download their position paper.

Good neighbors volunteer their time to improve our green spaces /  by Lori Bigler

The Woodland Heights Civic Association would like to thank our good samaritan neighbors Sarah and Kyle Cox of LMC (https://lmchouston.com/) who volunteered to clear out a terrible overgrown eyesore of a green space by the Watson bridge across from Elan Heights.  We could not have done it without you and your crew!  

Watson Clean Up: Before

Watson Clean Up: Before

Watson Cleanup: After!

Watson Cleanup: After!

We are very proud of what a community effort has accomplished in this green space and we'd like to thank the several neighbors in the 2300 block of Watson who mow the city property across the street from their homes to keep it clean and safe for the rest of the neighborhood.

AIA Houston City Landmarks Night /  by Lori Bigler

The AIA Historic Resources Committee, partnered with the Houston Metropolitan Research Center and Preservation Houston's Pier & Beam, is excited to announce an event that provides an opportunity for individuals to participate in preserving Houston’s history.

The City of Houston owns many important public buildings and facilities that are candidates for local designation. However, there is little to no information about the properties, which is how you can help!

The Historic Resources Committee aims to inform individuals about these properties and sign up interested parties to research and write about a specific subject to pass along to the city. If you aren’t interested in writing a report, come anyway! Meet fellow preservationists and learn about how to access the HMRC’s architectural collections for fun or for future projects.

Event Overview:
City staff will give a short presentation on the basics needed for a landmark designation report, followed by an Architectural Orientation of the Texas Room by Architectural Archivist, Samantha Bruer. Come for part or for all.

Download To Calendar
May 10, 2017
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Julia Ideson Library
500 McKinney
Houston, TX 77002

Register Online at the AIA Houston web site.