Horn Construction, water rate increases, First St. Hospital expansion, goals & objectives for next 2 years, mid-year budget review, and closing recycling center are just a few of the recent issues Bellaire Council has discussed and taken action on. Here’s brief information on these and local newspaper recaps. [See Bellaire property value projections HERE]
(1) NEW HORN ACADEMY CONSTRUCTION = On Monday 4/19, Council held Special Hearing for almost 2 hours on the proposed plans for the new Horn Academy. There was a great amount of feedback from Bellaire residents that were mostly supportive of the plans, but had gate access, parking, and Bellaire Little League concerns. Unfortunately, we learned that despite prior hopes, HISD has no money set aside for the rebuild of baseball fields. Bellaire Council will vote on HISD’s Special Use Permit on May 3rd. [Recaps = http://bit.ly/didzQg and http://bit.ly/c8P16X and http://bit.ly/c4IEs1]
(2) FIRST STREET HOSPITAL EXPANSION. Council will hold a Special Hearing on Monday, April 26th to discuss abanding the city property and construction expected to begin next month to double the size of the hospital to 34,000 square feet= http://bit.ly/aOAByv
(3) WATER RATES LIKELY TO RISE. Due to the City of Houston’s vote to raise water rates and Bellaire’s rate needing adjustment to help city keep up water-related capital improvements, Bellaire Council has discussed raising water rates. = http://bit.ly/cBS7EC (Bellaire Discussion) and http://bit.ly/aPWOxW (Houston Vote to Raise Rates)
(4) COUNCIL GOAL AND OBJECTIVE SETTING. Council held a public special session to continue setting our goals and objectives for the next two years. Council previously met in chamber discussing each of our individual goals and objectives then presented this list of goals and received residents’ feedback at a Saturday workshop. The goals and objectives were then grouped into 5 areas, and Council spent the Special Session discussing and amending each objective. We made a significant number of changes and anticipate meeting again to prioritize the resulting goals and objectives. The revised goals and objectives will be posted on city’s website once they are drafted. The video of the Special Session is available for those wanting to watch the entire discussion. I look forward to discussing Council’s comments with any resident that has questions or comments. [Recap = http://bit.ly/cmuwNh]
(5) MID-YEAR BUDGET REVIEW = http://bit.ly/9ed7J8
(6) TENTS IN TOWN IS THIS SATURDAY= http://bit.ly/dpdkOi
(7) EVERGREEN BATH HOUSE RENOVATIONS ARE COMPLETE = http://bit.ly/aUaojJ
(8) COUNCIL VOTES TO CLOSE RECYCLING CENTER IN 2010 = http://bit.ly/ba4pk5