January 21, 2025
A quorum was recognized. The virtual meeting began at 7:05 PM. The meeting was originally scheduled as a hybrid meeting (in-person and virtual) but was changed to virtual only due to weather conditions and the temporary closing of the Montrose Counseling Center
Nick Whitaker, our newly elected president, began the meeting my asking that participants to pay dues for 2025 to stay as active members. If an item is called to vote during the meeting, a roll call will be done. If your name is not called, you are not a member.
The agenda for the evening’s meeting was:
- Winter Storm Update
- Introduce CAFMC officers
- Presentation by Urbano Architects (507 West Main Street)
- CAFMC Survey
- Vote for Historian
Nick Whitaker, president, began by introducing himself. He is still transitioning into his new elected position.
Steve Longmire, vice-president and past president, introduced himself and outlined his current projects. He has a list of block captains and would like to assign them to their respective blocks. He felt it would be easier at a hybrid meeting. He also is trying t make PayPal work again on mobile devices.
Richard Peoples, secretary, described his duties as the scribe for meetings. Meetings will be recorded for the purpose of creating minutes and then the recordings will be deleted.
Bradley Lau, treasurer, described his duties as depositing incoming revenue and managing the financial records.
Andrew Badachhape, director of communications, is currently working on updating the website. He will also produce future newsletters.
Natalie Matuszcsak, director of membership, described her projects and interests. She would like to engage more members, reach out to current and new corporate members, and reach out to new neighbors. Please inform her if you learn of a new resident of FMC.
Marlene Matterson, director of activities, was not able to attend the meeting.
Bruce Clark, director of neighborhood safety, was present and described how he attends the Houston Positive Interaction Program (PIP) meetings and shares concerns with the police force about CAFMC safety.
With officers introduced, we proceeded to a presentation by Urbano Architects. They are currently preparing a new site plan for 507 W. Main Street. The new plan will affect the front porch, the carport, and an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). They will be presenting their plan to the city for a Certificate of Appropriateness (CoA) on February 27.
Urbano Architects specializes in historic preservation. They performed a historical analysis of the project and found that it was a contributing building. The current home has a front porch with a stucco wall, an attached garage, and an ADU. The stucco wall and attached garage are not part of the original design.
The proposed site plan includes a new ADU to be used by the current owner’s parents. It will have private access to the second floor via both a staircase and elevator, a covered terrace and an office on the first floor. The second floor will include a bedroom, kitchen and living room. The views from the second floor will be of the pool which is currently on-site.
The new design will be a lighter version of the current design. There will be a free-standing carport instead of the garage, the high stucco wall will be replaced with a wooden rail. A concrete terrace in the back yard will be replaced with pervious material (probably grass).
The owners, Wes and Rachel Haines, and Urbano Architects, are seeking support from CAFMC for their project.
Members such as Robert Williamson, Ema Del Frate, and Judy Young offered supportive comments. Phillip Kropf asked some questing about the current fence (it will be retained) and offered some history about the structure. Grady Cayce also enquired about whether the project would be handled as a single request or multiple requests for each improvement. It will be presented as a single and complete proposal.
Nick expressed interest in submitting a letter of support from CAFMC. Dr. Longmire suggested the letter should describe that the owner/architect reached out to CAFMC, presented their proposal, and received verbal support from the members.
Nick is going to send out a follow-up request for more members to participate in the survey that was submitted late 2024. Please take the survey so we can serve the membership appropriately.
Nominations for the CAFMC historian were requested. Elizabeth Smith is interested but was not able to attend the evening’s meeting. The historian is in charge of keeping records of old by-laws and information concerning preservation issues. Elizabeth needed to be attendance to accept the nomination so the item was tabled till the next meeting.
Nick expressed his desire to move forward with hybrid meetings. Snacks will be provided.
He opened the floor to the members for items of interest to the community.
Linda Trevino, the METRO representative, spoke up. Work is being proposed for Montrose from West Gray to the Mecom Fountain. She would like to be added to the March agenda to do a presentation on their proposed design. This will be the project that was taken from the TIRZ 27. IT will include bus stop pads and new sidewalks. It may be delayed due to a water line being installed by the City of Houston. Sidewalks will not be expanded to 10’ as originally proposed, just five feet where possible.
Dr. Longmire expressed concern about the METRO work being performed on Westheimer at Taft. A pedestrian crosswalk has been removed. Linda will look into it.
Feedback for the project is not being sought. The city will make all decisions.
Dr. Longmire attended the most recent TIRZ 27 meeting. They will be advertising for bids for their upcoming project with little modification over what was presented. The plan is currently being evaluated by the Public Works Department.
Dr. Longmire also attended a meeting for the Arabic Immersion Magnet School (AIMS). Teacher’s pay will be based on performance with no definite idea of how the metrics will be determined. Teachers are very concerned. AIMS made their recommendation to HISD but it will be a campus-wide decision.
Robert Williamson noted there was lots of trash outside fence around AIMS. AIMS is only responsible for what is inside the fence. The district is responsible for outside the fence.
Marilyn Cayce was concerned about the Monarch dumpsters at Sul Ross. Steve Longmire will follow up on it.
General Motors has canceled their automated car project (CRUZE). Nick will try and have the diesel generators shut down and the facility closed down.
Julian Ramirez introduced himself as one of the At-Large council member for our city. He is currently working on a short-term rental ordinance and sidewalk ordinance. He solicited comments to be sent to atlarge1@houstontx.gov.
The meeting adjourned at 8:05 pm.