Museum Area Municipal Association
Quarterly Meeting Minutes – Draft
6.10.13
Cassie Stinson, VP, presided in the absence of President Alan Ueckert. She opened the meeting with two announcements:
- The Bell Park Project is now in need of raising only $7,000 more to reach its goal of $31,000. Funds are needed by July 31 in order to be prepared to plant in the fall.
- The next meeting will be Oct. 1 for National Night Out and yard party, at location to be determined.
The minutes from the April meeting were approved.
Treasurer’s Report from Barbara Aksamit:
- Current balance at the last meeting was approximately $15,000 and today is over $18,000 as a result of the funds coming in earmarked for Bell Park.
Guest Speaker Laurette Cañizares, Executive Director of the Houston Museum District, presented on the projects undertaken in behalf of improving and promoting the district which is comprised of 19 member museums that range geographically from the Menil on the north to the Houston Zoo on the south. The annual Museum Day has been chanted to a quarterly focus on selected museums called “The Museum Experience”. Two improvement projects are ongoing:
- New cultural and pedestrian signs to help people locate the museums
- Museum Walk/Main Street – a joint project to improve the pedestrian experience for visitors in the Museum District through landscaping, wider sidewalks, seating and other features
Ms. Cañizares, responding to a question about the shabby state of the Main St. exit that funnels traffic to the Museum District, said that beautification and improvements are not part of the scope of the District activities, but that she would raise the issue with other organizations that might undertake it.
Guest Speakers Steve Gomez and Andrea Randle, from the City of Houston Department of Neighborhoods, spoke about the enforcement activities for the Chapter 10 Nuisance Violations this department undertakes. The nuisance codes include dilapidated residences, heavy trash violations, sewer problems and the like. In our area, this Department has recently torn down a badly dilapidated and abandoned home on Portland that the owner could not bring up to code. They suggested that neighbors experiencing problems they would like the City to address take the following steps:
- Report the problem to 3-1-1 (which is the first requirement) and get a service request number.
- Call Ms. Randle, who enforces the codes in our area, with the service request number. She can then track the problem and see that it progresses through the enforcement process.