Meeting Archives

CPVA MEETING MINUTES

MINUTES APPROVED

Date: March 21, 2005

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Topic: Changing of the Guard

Notes:

Board Business

Officially installed/welcomed new Board Members.

New committee chairs:

Communications committee – Chair: Cori Singletary
Audit committee – Chair: Steve Reinmund (automatic chair as V.P.)
Civic and Residential – Chair: TBD (Eric Krug volunteered to serve on committee but not chair it)
Social – Chair: Susan Kooiman
Scholarship – Chair: Gail Carney
Ad hoc to modify by-laws in official format – Chair: Eric Krug

Proposed changes to the by-laws, to be put before the full board for vote and ratification on Monday, 4/18:

(Note: discussed at board meeting 3/14; not presented 3/21 in interest of time)

Changing the budget to fiscal year beginning in April rather than June. Why? Corresponds more appropriately to board elections, allows CPVA to submit a reasonable budget to TWA on time, with expenses and revenues more tightly mapped to the expected levels. Budgets originally were established in April, and then moved to June.

Newly appointed budget committee to meet soon to review proposed budget and make amendments

Changing the Area Representative terms to be staggered, two-year terms. Why? Avoids changing all area reps at one time. Initial step will be to determine which representatives grandfather to a second year and which will end at the closure of the current year term.

Approved minutes from January and February meetings

Motion to approve: Ron Schultz

Second: Gail Carney

Proposal to move the business part of the monthly meetings to 7:00 so that the interesting part of the meetings can begin at 7:30, when most residents will be attending. Ratified. NOTE: business portion is open to anyone who wants to attend. We’re just trying to get the duller business section out of the way to make the regular meetings shorter…

Announcement: We have tickets available for the Astros, July 30. “The Woodlands Day” at Minute Maid. Better yet, it’s the Astros v. the Mets. And that, as we all know, is the team that grabbed Carlos Beltran. Will be an absolute sellout. Tickets are $15 and include bus transportation to and from the game.

Miscellaneous Items

Grogan’s Forest parks
1. Avalon Park official celebration 4/17
2. Tapestry Park, a second park, is estimated for completion in the 3^rd quarter of 2005. Location is off Tapestry Rd. Park will have a gazebo, a playground area and other not-yet-specified features. Plans call for a pond to be added later as part of a “Phase 2.”

Fire Department Issue

a. We will be distributing a petition to be legally separated from the services of ESD #4 (Needham Rd. fire station). Under the new arrangement, Harper’s Landing will still be serviced by ESD #4 but under agreement from The Woodlands.

b. Translation: The Woodlands will pay ESD #4 to service Harper’s Landing until a new fire station gets going. New station is proposed for the north side of 242, sorta near the high school, or near St. Luke’s Way, or near…. – official location keeps changing. Stay tuned!

c. Why de-annex? Residents are paying twice for the same service. Will save us each household 10 cents per $100 home valuation. That’s $200/yr for a $200,000 valuation – if I did my math correctly.

d. Changes in service? None – same great folks at ESD #4 will service Harper’s Landing until the new fire station is built (possibly operating from a temporary location by mid-2005, but then again….stay tuned for updates on that one!)

Train

We’re moving along on the proposed quiet zone for the RR crossing.

What does a Quiet Zone mean?

a. We would no longer have that blasted train horn, well, blasting. Not in the middle of the night, not on sight, not on a train, not on a plane, not with green eggs or ham.

b. A median would be built on either side of the tracks, preventing folks from driving around the lowered signal barrier arms (that’s what I’m calling those things that come down to stop traffic and signal a train is coming. They have an official name, of course, but I currently have no idea what it is). Yes, going around them sounds stupid. And it is if a train is indeed coming. We have a fair number of malfunctions on those arms, though. The medians would prevent crossing when the arms are down…but the RR also promises that the new arms associated with Quiet Zone crossings do not malfunction. Or if they do malfunction, it’s something to call your grandmother about, because it just doesn’t happen often.

Speakers

Nick Wolda – V.P. of Marketing & public affairs for the Town Center

Topic: Update on Market Street and Town Center development

Waterway Square: Wow. Ground breaking to occur later this year. Will have water wall – stunning architectural feature. Also will have 5-6 new buildings of 7-9 stories, mostly for office space, but all with retail stores on the ground floor.

Nautilus Fountain: Another wow. Designed to be two-level fountain with pedestrian walkway underneath the top level. Will have music/lights choreographed with water movement. (Think Disney World). Will be near TinselTown Movie Theater, in that area currently covered with pine trees. Pine trees out; hardwood trees in: bald cypress trees, dogwood, the obligatory crape myrtles…

(Note: do not try this at home! Bald cypress roots have a habit of cracking foundations – even with the tree 50-75 feet from the house. And the official word from Texas A&M, via the Montgomery County Master Gardener program, isn’t the greatest. Their phrase for our area: plant a dogwood to watch it die…. So…we may see some v-e-r-y creative horticulture practices over there!)

Shade canopy and pedestrian bridge: Will be in the Town Center somewhere.

Where? Newsflash: Your faithful CPVA secretary doesn’t look at maps and drive at the same time, much less look at maps and take notes in the dark….so suffice it to say….somewhere in the Town Center vicinity. Should have jazz bands and such performing in the open, with trellised/stepped sitting area for the audience (think Arnesan River Theater in San Antonio).

There’s also a jazz festival currently going on – Town Center hosts it from March-May.

For more details, check the website: www.town-center.com.

Note: All water in the proposed fountains will be recycled. Architecture and horticulture (that’s the trees/vegetation) plans have been constructed so that the average temperature around these structures will be an average of 15 degrees cooler than surrounding areas.

Second note: Plan is for trolleys to traverse the town center alongside the water taxis. (Think San Francisco, just without the hills – or the earthquakes). TWDC – that’s the new name for TWOC (it’s now The Woodlands Development Company) recognizes the current $6 water taxi rate is too high – and is working with the transportation company operating those taxis to get the fare reduced. Fare for the trolleys is expected to be in the .50 - $1.00 range.

2. Larry Faith – organizer of the Annual Spring Flea Market.

Topic: The Annual Spring Flea Market

Flea market set for 4/16. We need volunteers. Volunteers would handle tough jobs like making snow cones or directing traffic or helping vendors set up displays. College Park gets paid for our volunteer hours (go figure that one…how often do you see “volunteer” and “paid” in the same sentence?).

Proceeds go directly to the CPVA scholarship fund.

Volunteers get a free T-shirt, free lunch and a hat.

Contact Trent Andrews ASAP, please, to register as a volunteer.

3. Audra Koester Thomas – our new Village Liaison

Topic: Updates from the Community Associations

There is a nifty new online feature available: Request for Service.

Use this very-easy-to-fill-out form to report leaking water mains, street sign damage, park issues, fire ant condos, Elvis sightings, you name it. You’ll be able to track the request and get a response – quickly.

Website: www.thewoodlandsassociations.org.

Free Crime Prevention Seminar at the Community Assoc. building, April 20. Morning session: 10:30-11:30 – Internet Schemes and Scams

Afternoon session: 1:00- 2:00 – Identity Theft

RSVP to hold a place: Susan Johnston 281-210-3885

Resident Concerns:

Trash in the main drainage ditch.

Residents can contact the M.U.D. to have trash removed from the ditch, or contact us and we’ll do it for you. As a reminder, grassy areas around that ditch are officially M.U.D. property and activities (walking the dog, walking the cat, etc.) are not only inherently risky because of the land condition there but are also considered as trespassing. Ted Stanley offered to check with other areas of The Woodlands to see how they handle the situation and keep those ditches clean.

Next Monthly Meeting

Date: 4/18

Topic: Walk for the cure of cancer

Refreshments afterward!!!!!

Other Future Events

April – dates 4/2, 4/16, 4/17

a. Earth Day. 4/2 - need volunteers for shifts of:

7 a.m. – 10 a.m.

8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.

11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.

b. Annual Flea Market, 4/16

c. Avalon Park celebratory opening, 4/17

- Does not include the Astros Killer B’s, but will have BBQ and bocce (and for those of you who, like me, are unfamiliar with bocce – it seems to be a variation of lawn bowling)

May - dates 5/16, 5/21

a. Spring Fling, 5/21 (free pool admission, free games, free hot dogs)

b. Meeting, 5/16

June – dates TBD, 6/20

a. Fourth of July Committee Meeting, TBD – Gail wants to do something untraditional, like plan ahead for the float

Theme: Salute to our Troops: “Forever in Our Hearts”

b. Meeting, 6/20

July – dates 7/3, 7/4, 7/18, 7/31

a. Fourth of July float building, 7/3 (food included)

b. Fourth of July parade, Free Day at the pools, 7/4

c. Meeting, 7/18

d. Woodlands Day at Minute Maid: $15 Tickets include bus transportation Astros v. Mets (this is Carlos Beltran’s new team – will guarantee a sell-out: also is where we traded Richard Hidalgo last year as part of the deal that landed us Beltran – Hidalgo has since been traded to the Rangers

August – dates 8/2, 8/15

a. National Night Out, 8/2 – potentially will have Chuck E. Cheese pizza

b. Meeting, 8/15

September – Meeting 9/19

October – dates 10/4, TBD, 10/17, 10/30

a. Susan’s birthday, 10/4

b. Annual Fall Flea Market, TBD

c. Meeting, 10/17

d. Halloween Spooktacular and Costume Parade, 10/30 (or so we think)

November – Meeting 11/28

December – No Meeting, Holiday Lighting Contest TBD