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COLLEGE PARK HAPPENING
An e-newsletter for the residents of Harper’s Landing and Grogan’s Forest
June 2007
RAINY WEATHER CAN’T STOP PICNIC
The College Park Annual Spring Fling was rainy, but it didn’t stop the picnic. We grilled hot dogs, had refreshments, and enjoyed dessert. The children enjoyed the visit from one of The Woodlands Fire Trucks, Taylor’s Model Roller Coaster, and even a dip in the pool before the thunder began!
CPVA would like to thank Miguel Quintero and John Cervantes for helping transport the grill with their trucks in the rain no less! Thanks to Hayden Scott and Greg Gordon for helping to set up for the event, Scott Singletary, Kevin Kastor, Glen Bernstein, and John Staton for grilling hot dogs, and thanks to Gail Carney, Janet Reinmund and Cori Singletary for organizing the event and preparations. And lastly, thanks to the following for signing up for shifts and being available even though the rain prevented them from serving: Nikki Hird, Claudia Puett, and Ron Ciasullo.
BE A RESPONSIBLE PET OWNER
In recent months, the Community Associations have received number complaints about pet waste in the parks, pathways and in community member’s front yards. Pet waste is more than smelly and unsightly- it is a health risk to the environment, pets, people and children. Animal waste contains disease-causing pathogens and harmful chemicals and nutrients that when not properly disposed of impedes landscaping efforts and can wash down storm drains contaminating our local drinking water. Please be reminded that it is a common courtesy to pick up after your pet. Your actions set example for others. Tell friends and neighbors about the ill effects of animal waste on the environment and encourage them to clean up after pets.
Chris Nunes, CPRP
Director of Parks and Recreation
Community Associations of The Woodlands
8203 Millennium Forest Drive
The Woodlands, Texas 77381
Phone 281.210.3906
MARK YOUR CALENDARS:
JULY 3RD – FLOAT BUILDING PARTY
JULY 4TH – THE WOODLANDS PARADE
**NEXT CPVA MEETING IS MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2007
7:30 PM MONTGOMERY COLLEGE, BUILDING A, ROOM 102
UPDATE FROM THE ANNEXATION COMMITTEE
Things have progressed in the State Legislature according to the required plan and timeline to protect the entire The Woodlands. Both bills have passed. The first (SB 1012) was signed by the Governor on 5/14/07 and the second (HB 4109) still needs his signature but is expected before June 17th. The verbiage was changed in the second bill prior to introduction (principally to get passed the Senate Intergovernmental Relations Committee) as initially the bill would have allowed the TCID to annex inside Conroe’s ETJ and even its’ city limits. Conroe didn’t like having that done to them (ironically same thing that they were trying to do to us and exposed as such by the editor of The Courier newspaper in his editorial). This section was deleted, however this bill still does give people in Harper’s Landing (MUD #39) a “back door” approach stating that if an agreement is reached with Conroe it allows additional parties to join TCID. For Harpers Landing the bill provides the required “foundation” to build upon and complete the unification of The Woodlands. All that’s left is a mutual consent agreement between Conroe (approved by at least 3 of the Conroe city council members) and MUD 39. For example providing some funding (initial lump sum + 1/16 sales tax in perpetuity) for regional community wide projects much like the Houston agreement for the same allotted time and/or an immediate release from Conroe’s ETJ.
See weblinks below for each bill (Senate and companion House bills):
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=SB1012
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=HB2197
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=SB2022
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=HB4109
Jerry Streeter, Mayor Pro Tem Conroe City Council, is being used now as their primary negotiator instead of the Mayor. This was a good decision for Harpers Landing as he is co-owner in the car dealership Streeter/Smith (more vulnerable) and less adversarial. He has more personally to gain or lose with an agreement. This appears to have been either a strategic move by the Mayor to get himself out of the lime light and “bad guy” reputation OR possibly by the city council to help win the best monetary agreement possible for Conroe. Either way it appears to be a good decision for Conroe and Harpers Landing. The initial thrust on the negotiation front has been with Mike Paige as the MUD #39 Legal Advisor, Attorney for The Woodlands Joint Powers and numerous other The Woodlands entities and Jim Stinson, Joint Powers Manager. They have proposed an agreement with some arrangements similar to the agreement with Houston that do not directly affect the residents (has been hinted at in the press in early May) to Jerry Streeter and his team of negotiators. The hope and drive now is to have an agreement sometime after the governor signs the final bill in June. We remain confident that this agreement is in the best interests of Conroe, The Woodlands as a whole, and Harpers Landing. The activity level of our committee will pick up if the expected agreement with Conroe is not reached this month and significantly pick up if not reached soon after the Houston City Council votes this summer on the regional participation agreement.
In November a vote will be put to the affected Woodlands residents whether to enter into a regional agreement (pending planned City of Houston Council approval sometime this summer). At that point we’ll be placed with a special purpose district renamed The Woodlands District. In Harper’s Landing the same will have to happen with the Conroe City Council if an agreement can be worked out.
Keep in mind the following critical dates:
· 6/17/2007: Last Day Governor can Sign Bills for 80th Session
· This summer: Houston City Council votes on implementing the new regional agreement with The Woodlands
· 11/??/07: Affected The Woodlands residents vote to implement the new regional participation agreement law
· 12/8/2008: First Day that Conroe could complete annexation of HL (need to have agreement in place with TCID/TWA/MUD39 before then)
· 5/29/2011: Moratorium Agreement with Houston Expires
· 5/29/2014: Agreement with Houston is Activated and The Woodlands becomes a city (if so voted by the residents)
Thank your legislators for their efforts and remind them of their required support and their promise to complete the task of unification of ALL of the unincorporated The Woodlands community in their jurisdiction. As the committee members and other Harpers Landing residents participated in The Woodlands governance forums any thing less would be a slap in the community’s face and extremely disruptive to the completion of the unification process. Just like in our country’s fight for independence, some section of The Woodlands community has had to resist an attack first. To have an unincorporated section of The Woodlands left out of the final agreement would be like saying “NO THANK YOU” for those that fought at Lexington, Concord, and Bunkers Hill!
Office of Senator Tommy Williams State Representative District 15
512-463-0104 Rob Eissler
District Coordinator: Ryan Larue 512-463-0797
281-364-9426 ROB.EISSLER@HOUSE.STATE.TX.US
ryan.larue@senate.state.tx.us
The Annexation Committee is an official "ad-hoc" committee of CPVA and meets the 2nd Monday of the month. All interested residents are invited to attend. Please contact Scott Singletary, Annexation Committee Chair at 936-321-9190 for more information
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear Friends, Neighbors and Fellow Residents of College Park,
School is out for the summer and the weather is warming up. Our annual Spring Fling was very wet, but everyone who attended had a great time. Thank you to the volunteers who helped cook and serve hot dogs and refreshments. Thank you to the Firemen who brought over the ladder truck and shared their day with us and to the wonderful life guards who keep us safe in the water. We did not get much pool time, but the kids enjoyed puddle splashing and those few clear moments in the pool.
It is with great pleasure that I announce the results of the Village Challenge for Earth Day! Thanks to all of you who got themselves to the festival without their cars, College Park won the challenge. We received a check for our scholarship fund of $500 and that will help us to provide scholarships to our graduating high school seniors. Thank you all for participating!
For our meeting this month, the guest speakers will be members of our new Sherriff's department. Please come to the meeting and meet our new deputies. They will explain to us the new zone system and answer any questions regarding public safety.
After the guest speaker, we will have a discussion of the design of our 4th of July float. If you would like to help design and build the float, please stop by and check in with us. We are always looking for new volunteers and creative people. We have a float-building party every year on July 3rd, so come and get the lowdown on another great party opportunity.
We will also have some refreshments after the meeting for all who attend.
See you on Monday, June 18th at Montgomery College. We meet at 7:30 in building A, room 102.
Gail Carney
President
College Park Village Association
2007-2008 CPVA Board
President – Gail Carney
Vice President – Scott Singletary
Secretary – Tasha Proske
Treasurer – Steve Reinmund
TWA Director – Ted Stanley
Area Representatives – Glen Bernstein, Kevin Kastor, Wayne Mulkey, Ray Penton, Janet Reinmund, Cori Singletary, and Jason Stephens
PLEASE SUPPORT THOSE WHO SUPPORT US
MAMA JUANITA’S MEXICAN RESTAURANT
KROGER
CHUCK E CHEESE
COLLEGE PARK MINI STORAGE
COLLEGE PARK HAPPENING is a monthly e-mail newsletter published by the College Park Village Association. If you wish to subscribe, unsubscribe or submit an article please contact Cori Singletary at scott.n.cori@earthlink.net We do not use the e-mail distribution list for anything but news and events that pertain to College Park. We will not disclose e-mail addresses to anyone else. CPVA reserves the right to include or not include any articles for publication.
Scott Singletary