Community Building at Ware Family Park

Parks play a vital role in community building, and with tax-supported resources being redirected to drainage, the community is coming together to build parks.

The City of Bellaire and non-profit Patrons for Bellaire Parks are excited to welcome you to the new and improved Ware Family Park, the first of our pocket parks to be upgraded under the Parks Master Plan.  The new playground equipment, designed for preschoolers ages 2-5 and for older kids 5-12, encourages exploration, imagination and sensory development and strengthening.  It also introduces special play features that are more inclusive of children with different physical, social, cognitive and sensory abilities.

The Stage Is Set for a Great 2019

In 2018 we continued our recovery from Hurricane Harvey and made significant strides in flood mitigation planning.  We worked through some challenging issues, and in the process found opportunities to further refine our priorities as a community.  Much of what we accomplished was in laying the groundwork for an exciting year to come, and we enter 2019 very well positioned for even more growth and progress.

“No Wake” Law Now in Effect

Don’t go barreling down flooded streets in heavy rainstorms.  It’s the law.

Long a source of frustration and complaint in Bellaire are those inconsiderate drivers who plow through floodwaters, without concern for the people and property in their wake.  To help address this problem and call attention to it, we recently adopted a new ordinance that went into effect on December 1.  Modeled after similar ordinances in other cities nearby, it provides:

Bellaire City Hall is Open for Business

We’re all moved in and ready to serve you!  Our brand new City Hall is the first part of the Municipal Facilities campus to be completed and opens today at 1:00 p.m.  The friendly folks that look forward to welcoming you include Utility Billing, Permitting, City Clerk, Development Services, Finance, Human Resources and the City Manager’s Office.

Planning for a Potential 2019 Bond Program

Our major capital improvements are accomplished through successive bond programs over many years, addressing our infrastructure needs systematically in order of greatest urgency.  Even as we were developing our current Bonds for Better Bellaire 2016, we were already targeting 2019 for the next round.  Maintaining the same pace of work as its predecessors, BBB16 provides funding for three years’ worth of street and drainage infrastructure, and water and wastewater utility projects.  All of those are proceeding right on schedule, so it’s time to start thinking about a potential BBB19 to keep the progress going, and even accelerate it.

This week the City Council, City Manager and department heads kicked off the discussion with a half-day planning session devoted to the subject.  It was a high-level conceptual workshop to receive information and provide feedback and guidance to staff.  Certainly no decisions were made and there are plenty of details left to be worked out, but the overall consensus of Council is that current planning efforts are on the right track.

National Night Out: 100 Years of Service

The events of a year ago brought us closer together than ever before, neighbors helping neighbors get through the worst of the storm and on into the recovery.  For many, it was their first time really getting to know the people down the street or even right next door.  Our first responders and other Bellaire Brave were out in force, in many instances working alongside civilian volunteers, further cementing their relationships with the community they serve.

Next Tuesday, October 2, is National Night Out, a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with those neighbors and emergency personnel.  Block parties throughout the City not only build friendships and enhance our sense of community, they also promote public safety awareness and law enforcement partnership.  Block leaders are encouraged to sign up to have a police car, fire truck or ambulance come by—always a big hit with the kids!

National Night Out takes on special meaning this year, both after Harvey and as we celebrate the Bellaire Police Department’s centennial with the theme “100 Years of Service.”  Officers will be on hand to discuss upcoming commemorative events and to solicit suggestions for items to be placed in the Department’s time capsule, which will be sealed and incorporated in the new Police Station in July.

For more information and to organize a National Night Out block party on your block, please contact BPD Community Resource Officer J.W. Edwards at (713) 662-8103 or jedwards@bellairepolice.com.

A Game Plan for Sidewalk Decision Making

It seems the perpetually intractable issue of sidewalks has surfaced yet again, igniting an intense but respectful debate among neighbors equally passionate for and against.  Monday night I addressed City Council and the public, not for the purpose of taking sides, but to openly acknowledge that our decision making process is not working for us as a community and to urge that we take a step back and reboot.

For as long as the answers have eluded us, in my observation we’ve not actually been asking the right—and hardest—questions.  Our decision making should start with those, and lead to the development of a plan that’s deliberately inclusive of a variety of viewpoints.  We’ll never get anywhere if we don’t attempt to find common ground and build consensus, and yes, that will take time.  Moreover, many people, on both sides, feel it’s not our highest priority right now and that our time and current resources are better spent on other, more pressing matters.

One Year Later: Bellaire is Still Bellaire

As we pause to reflect on the anniversary of Hurricane Harvey, we remember the devastating, life-changing personal losses; heroic, life-saving rescues, by first responders and civilians alike; the kindness and generosity of others far and wide; and a community that came together like we’ve never before seen.  Each of us has our own individual story to tell, and collectively we look back on our shared experiences both during and after the storm.  Taking stock of how far we’ve come in so short a time, through our ongoing recovery and planning for the future we’ve proven Bellaire is still Bellaire.

2015 Disaster Grant Application Update

We spend a lot of time and effort disseminating information and communicating with you on issues important to our community, and are constantly looking for ways to improve on that.  (My blog for example, which I thank you for reading and hope you find helpful.)  As difficult as it can already be to reach people who are busy with their own work, family and personal lives, it's unfortunate just how much misinformation there is out there that we have to contend with on a seemingly daily basis.  Social media, never known for robust fact-checking, only exacerbates the problem by perpetuating inaccurate reports rather than living up to its potential as a means of sharing good information with others.

This week, some have expressed concern after hearing that the City of Bellaire has been awarded a quarter-million dollar disaster grant relating to the 2015 flood, but won't actually receive that funding because we haven't applied.  And they'd be right to be concerned—if only it were true.  It's far more complicated than that, and in fact, the City has been actively engaged with county and state officials for months now, working with them to increase our chances.

At the End of the Path(ways)

After several months of patiently waiting for the proposed Community Pathways Plan to work its way through the public process, in which there was no shortage of input from all sides even before the Plan was actually presented, the City Council has finally had its opportunity to weigh in.  But not until after one last round of input, and it was a marathon session indeed.  Council heard four hours of public comment plus nearly 140 written comments, not even counting all that had previously been submitted to the planners in the course of the project and to the Parks Board and Planning and Zoning Commission, in addition to numerous individual e-mails to Council and postings on social media.

By the time Council got its turn to speak, after all that, it turned out that the views of the overwhelming majority of those we heard from were already shared by Council.  While it was not agendaed for formal action, Council’s clear consensus was that the Plan not be brought back for a vote, thus concluding the matter.