Author: El Momma

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Neighborhood Block Party- 1900 Block of Lexington

Happy Thanksgiving!

Please join us to kick off the holiday season, meet your neighbors and escape from the holiday shopping!

Neighborhood Block Party- 1900 Block of Lexington

1950 Lexington Street
(Home of The El-Hakam Family)

Saturday, November 27, 2010
4pm-6pm

We’ll have a bouncy house for the kids, beverages and Cotton Candy!

Please bring a potluck dish to share. And, lawn chairs, if you want to guarantee a place to sit. Hope you can join us in the spirit of thanksgiving.

Contact Rebekah if you have any questions or would like to help. email: lexingtonblock@gmail.com

We hope to see you soon!

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Metro slows rail projects as cash ebbs

 

Link to Chronicle article regarding funding issues effecting Metro and light rail. Article is also printed below.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/7160740.html

Stalled federal grant adds to budget concerns

By BRADLEY OLSON
HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Aug. 20, 2010, 12:17AM

Facing a $49 million budget shortfall this fiscal year, the Metropolitan Transit Authority has begun to slow construction on two light rail lines and may embrace more drastic measures in the coming months as uncertainty grows over a $800 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration.

Senior Metro officials emphasized that they did not anticipate any cuts to services due to the financial pressures and expressed confidence the FTA grant needed to pay for an estimated 30 miles of additional rail in Houston is forthcoming. But they nevertheless have begun to weigh the impact of continued delays on construction plans that anticipated completion in 2013.

“There’s going to be some tough choices that we’ll be making here, no doubt,” Metro Chairman Gilbert Garcia said.

So far, officials said, the work that has been put off has been minimal on the North line, which is expected to run from north Houston to the Texas Medical Center and Reliant Park. Metro has delayed road reconstruction work on Fulton Street and has put off awarding a contract for the expansion and construction of a rail facility on Fannin at the south end of the line near Reliant Park and the 610 Loop.

Those delays could just mark the beginning, Metro’s Acting President and CEO George Greanias said.

Holding the line

Metro’s budget had anticipated that the transit agency this fiscal year would receive some of the $800 million earmarked to expand Houston’s light rail in President Barack Obama’s 2010 budget. The grant money has been delayed amid an FTA investigation into Metro’s compliance with federal procurement rules. Metro also has struggled during the economic slowdown due to lower ridership and sales tax revenues.

“We’re holding the line on operating costs, and we’re going to be watching everything very diligently,” he said. “We have to be prudent in the management of our finances. That’s why all summer long we’ve been looking at scenarios, and that’s what we’re going to be talking about with the board in the coming weeks.”

Garcia and Greanias said the board will hold several meetings in the coming months to discuss contingency plans for next year’s budget. They said those plans will depend on the status of the FTA’s investigation and whether the grant is approved in the coming months.

This year, officials said, although Metro took in more than $260 million less than anticipated in sales tax revenues, grant funding, ridership fees and debt issuance, the agency expects to have a $49 million shortfall at the end of its fiscal year Sept. 30 due to lower spending. That shortfall will be closed using cash surpluses.

Wednesday’s board meeting also showcased the findings of a private law firm that faulted the manner in which Metro conducted board meetings in the past and made more than a dozen recommendations about how the agency can improve its compliance with state laws regarding transparency.

Neil Thomas, a partner at Fulbright and Jaworski, said the firm had been unable to assess how decisions were made at Metro board committee meetings due to insufficient records.

“That lack of transparency bothered us,” he said.

Improved minutes, files

Thomas praised Metro’s efforts to improve how it retains documents after an open records lawsuit and complaints from a terminated employee embroiled the agency in scandal earlier this year. Still, he said cultural transformation would be more important than implementing a new policy.

“Those cultural changes will ultimately make things work,” he said.

Board members pledged to keep better minutes and comply with the recommendations.

“We just want to make sure we’re following the rules,” Garcia said.

Daphne Scarbrough, a longtime Metro critic who owns a business on Richmond where the University Line would run, said the agency is being forced to comply with state law and deserves no credit for the changes it has implemented to bring it in line with what is expected of all government entities.

She praised Thomas’ report and said she and other Metro critics have experienced similar problems with previous committee meetings.

“They have the appearance of a public meeting, but in reality decisions are made behind closed doors,” she said. “It’s because of their policies that Houston does not have light rail.”

bradley.olson@chron.com

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1849 Portsmouth deed restriction appeal

From Rebekah El-Hakam, Deed Restriction Chair:

Dear RPCA Members,
REMINDER: The Board is having a special meeting this Wednesday, June 9, to consider a deed restriction appeal by the homeowner of 1849 Portsmouth who erected a fence in violation of the 20 foot setback in our deed restrictions. The homeowner is appealing enforcement of the setback restriction. His appeal is set for 7pm at the home of RPCA President Laura Mullen, 1922 Lexington. The Board meeting is open to all RPCA members. Before the hearing closes, members will have an opportunity to speak (2 minutes each.) If you have not paid your dues this year and are interested in speaking, RPCA treasurer, Larry Wood will be accepting dues payments ($25.) Please arrive early to sign up to speak. Your input is encouraged. The meeting will begin promptly at 7pm.
Thanks,
Rebekah
DRC Chair
2818042157

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City of Houston Off-Street Parking Community Meetings next 3 weeks

Off-Street Parking Community Meetings
The Houston Planning Commission is examining off-street parking issues and whether changes to Chapter 26 of the Code of Ordinances are needed. Some of the topics that will be discussed include, but are not limited to shared parking, parking management areas, types of occupancy and intensity of use (i.e. bars, types of restaurants, etc.), parking incentives for development along transit corridors or for restoration of historic buildings, lifts and valet parking, just to name a few.
 
The community meetings are as follows:
 
Wednesday, April 7 from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Havens Center1827 W. Alabama, Houston, TX 77098
 
Wednesday, April 14 from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Judson Robinson Jr. Community Center2020 Hermann Dr, Houston, TX  77004
Wednesday, April 21 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
United Way of Greater Houston
50 Waugh Drive, Houston, TX 77007
 
You may access the existing parking ordinance at
http://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientId=10123&stateId=43&stateName=Texas; choose Chapter 26 in the left window.
 
If unable to attend one of the meetings, comments and ideas may be submitted by email to parkingcomments@cityofhouston.net or by mail to Dipti Mathur, City of Houston Planning Department, P.O. Box 1562, Houston, TX 77251. The process may be followed on the Planning and Development Department’s website at www.houstonplanning.com.