Mistletoe Heights Association Neighborhood Meeting
February 20, 2018
Location: Hilton Garden Inn
7:05 pm – 8:02 pm
Officers Present:
President: Corey Bearden, Vice President: Mark Philpot, Treasurer: Jeri Jo Blackmon, Newsletter: Jeff Parks. Secretary: Val Ewing
Attendees: 23 residents in attendance per sign-in sheet
Corey Bearden introduced himself and then introduced special guest speaker, Amanda Lewis, a representative from Cook Children’s Foundation, who then talked about how this year the children’s hospital will be celebrating its 100th birthday from March 18-24. To show support for the kids they care for, they are requesting that blue lights be put on your house; whether that be changing out the porch lights with blue lights, or stringing up blue Christmas lights on the outside. The Celebration is called: “Let your lights shine.” ACE Hardware will have blue light bulbs available beginning March 1. She distributed a flyer about the celebration. For more information: www.cook100years.org. If you have a story you want to share regarding Cook Children’s Hospital, they encourage sharing your story on their user-friendly website. Amanda’s presentation was complete and she exited the meeting.
The next guest, Officer McClellan, was introduced. He reported that our neighborhood has not had any crime activity. But he did emphasize the importance of locking car doors. He is now covering a larger area. He mentioned ATO, an organization set up to accept donations and provide support to hurt or fallen officers. Please check out the website and contribute: www.atofortworth.org. This concluded Officer McClellan’s announcements and he left the meeting.
CALL TO ORDER - MHA Meeting began with Corey Bearden distributing a meeting agenda.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES - Motion to approve minutes from the meeting held November 2017. Approved.
ANNOUNCMENTS:
· Easter egg hunt: Saturday March 31 at 10:00 am, Newby Park.
· Neighborhood Garage Sale: Saturday April 7. This year our garage sale will coincide with the Zoo run and the Berkeley garage sale. No need for a permit. At this time no permits are required for garage sales.
· Spring Movie Night: Friday May 4th at 7:00 pm, Newby Park.
· Next Neighborhood Meeting Tuesday May 15 at 7:00 pm, location TBD.
OFFICER REPORTS
Treasurer: Jeri Jo Blackmon distributed the income and expenses sheet. She also distributed a dues donations sheet as the annual dues drive begins in April. You can either mail in your payment or use PayPal. If you use PayPal then please indicate on the PayPal website the donor names you want listed in the newsletter (e.g. John and Jane Doe), so your name and donation can be recognized. Question: watering expenses for the berm are being paid for by our association? Yes, annual cost: $1967.05. This generated another comment regarding Newby Park as presently it is not getting watered like it should. This is a volunteer position and the former volunteer is no longer in charge of this task. If anyone would like to volunteer their time to water the flower beds at Newby Park, please get in touch with one of the MHA officers. This can also be a shared task if more than one person would like to be involved. Other expenses mentioned: Advertising income: $2975 nearly equals the newsletter expenses: $2794. And a final note, if you spent money on behalf of the organization, please keep your receipt and submit it to Jeri Jo Blackmon for reimbursement.
Newsletter: Jeff Parks requested that if you have stories, please submit them for the next Newsletter. Jeff reports that new ideas are needed and any input is appreciated.
Committee Reports:
Triangle: Robert DeVargas is in the process of looking into getting electricity and water to the Triangle. The purpose is to have water to keep the grass green because at this time it is only weeds and stickers. Electricity is needed for both sprinklers and the bounce houses and music provided during the annual July 4 parade. Corey will meet with Robert next week and they are hoping to have an update as to the cost. Once the cost is known then a decision can be made if this is an affordable and justifiable plan.
OLD BUSINESS
Historic Preservation Ordinance update: Mark Philpot reported that changes to the ordinance is in progress; to simplify, it can be broken down into 3 categories: 1. Change the tax benefit home owner receives if they remodel. 2. Consider automatic granting of some approvals, such as wood windows. 3. Requirements to have a historic landmark. Mark Philpot will be sending out an update via the newsletter. Question: What is the driving force of these changes? City would like to reduce the backlog as there are only two people handling the work and it has become overwhelming. A MH resident provided an additional perspective: The HCLC wants to raise the standards to the national standards which is more stringent. Although there are pros and cons to this idea, it is not what the neighborhood thought it was getting when it voted for the overlay. However, as a neighborhood, we have never had any control. We have always had some influence with HCLC but it is their decision and, in the past, they have voted differently than what our committee has recommended.
City meetings to be aware of:
· Zoning Commission Meeting: March 14, 2018
· City Council Hearing April 4, 2018.
Saigebrook Apartments update: At this time development is halted due to environmental issues being remediated. Example: the ground floor of the parking garage is designed to be three feet below the 100-year flood plain so elevation has to be corrected.
Assisted Living Facility on Magnolia east of Jerome: at this time, the project has been canceled. The new land owner reported that pursuing this type of development is too complicated right now. At this time, it is not known what will become of the land.
NEW BUSINESS
Request to sponsor Lily B. Clayton’s Auction. We have done this in the past. Last year we gave $550, the year previous we donated $500. Motion to donate $600 was made and seconded. Motion approved. No opposition.
Date for Forest Park Pool party with Berkeley Place Neighbors: TBD. Corey Bearden will get with Berkeley and decide on a date.
Question: Update on the RR crossing and quiet zones? No new information.
Question: Update on sidewalk on Mistletoe Blvd and Mistletoe Drive? The work will be done but actual start date is not confirmed yet.
Meeting adjourned: 8:02 pm
How to reach the Mistletoe Heights Officers:
President: Cory Bearden michael.corey.bearden@gmail.com
Vice President: Mark Philpot mark@leaguere.com
Treasurer: Jeri Jo Blackmo n JeriJo@charter.net
Newsletter: Hannah and Jeff Parks hannah.penley@gmail.com, jeffdparks@gmail.com
Secretary: Val Ewing agdoc05@hotmail.com