Mistletoe Heights Association Neighborhood Meeting

February 18, 2019

Location: Lily B. Clayton Elementary School

Officers Present: Corey Bearden - President.  Mark Philpot - Vice President, Jeri Jo Blackmon - Treasurer, Hannah Parks and Jeff Parks - Newsletter Editors

Secretary: Val Ewing

Neighbors: 25 per attendance sheet

Guests: Ann Zadeh, Tabitha Butler, Lee Williams, Tanya Brooks

Meeting called to order: 7:06 pm

Approval of minutes: motion to approve minutes from the neighborhood meeting in November 2018; approved.  

General Announcements:

· Neighborhood Garage Sale: Saturday April 6.  Jointly held with Berkeley and occurring on the day of the Zoo run.  You do not need a permit to participate.

· Easter Egg Hunt: Saturday April 20, 10am, Newby Park

· Movie Night: Friday May 10, 7pm at Newby Park

· Next neighborhood meeting: Tuesday May 14, 7pm.  Location TBD.

Corey Bearden spoke briefly about Leadership ISD and the importance of getting involved as an advocate for equity in education.  First meeting is 2/21/19. Future meetings will be: 3/28, 4/11, 5/9.  Please contact Corey for additional information if you would like to get involved.

Tabitha Butler was introduced and presented an award for Recognition of 2018 Newsletter Award to our neighborhood association: Congratulations to Hannah Parks and Jeff Parks.  Special thanks to Elisa Rode for her expertise in managing the layout of the newsletter.

Ann Zadeh was introduced and spoke about her role as council member for District 9.  She discussed why strong neighborhood associations are important to Fort Worth.  Ann Zadeh is passionate about safe streets and reported that according to Texas State Law, residential street speed limits are 30 mph.  If you want the speed limit lowered in your neighborhood you must approach the city and then post signs with the slower speed limit. Strong neighborhood associations help with this.

Q&A Topics for Ann Zadeh: Bike trail east side of Trinity: possible completion date in March.  Delay due to redesigning the trail to accommodate an ATT cable.  TEXRail: plan is to complete the project which includes stations at Mistletoe, TCU, Burleson and Cleburne.  No timeline is known. The land at Mistletoe Station is still available for this purpose. RR noise: Darren George, president of Berkeley Place, is working on quiet zones.  Things are moving forward, and it may coincide with when the apartments are built at Mistletoe Blvd east of Jerome.

Lee Williams, Professional Engineer with Fort Worth, was introduced and discussed traffic issues surrounding Lily B Clayton (LBC) during drop off and pickup.  After observing peak traffic hours, it was agreed issues need addressed to ensure pedestrian safety and improve congestion.  Mr. Williams provided an in-depth presentation addressing traffic concerns and proposing improvements.   What followed was Q&A with discussion on proposed changes.  

Jerome street parking along Newby Park: Presently vehicles are parking on both sides of the street creating congestion.  Suggested changes: Limit parking to one side of the street and possibly limit parking to daytime hours only.  

Officers Reports

Treasurer: Thank you for donating dues to the association: we broke the $10,000 barrier!  A sheet was distributed itemizing expenses and profits.  The next newsletter will contain the annual request for dues donations. 

Volunteer positions available: Mistletoe Heights Advertising Manager, Newby Park, and Historical Preservation Committee.  For more information please contact Mark Philpot.

Neighborhood theft: please report all theft/car break-ins to the police.  Complaining through email or Facebook does not file a report and does not track crime stats. Crime data is essential for the city and increases patrols in our area.

New business: Donation to LBC Auction - motion for $650, seconded and approved. None opposed.

Meeting adjourned: 8:30