Major AWACS
Dec 8, 2006, 10:23 AM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4387682.html
Dec. 8, 2006, 1:22AM
Woodlands strikes deal to end annexation threat
Plan allows community to vote on governance and become regional economic partner
By RENÉE C. LEE and MATT STILES
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
Voters in The Woodlands could decide as early as next year whether to take the first steps toward self-government under a deal that also would remove the possibility of annexation by Houston, local officials announced Thursday.
The agreement marks a dramatic shift in how potential boundary takeovers have been handled. Mindful of acrimonious debates that erupted when Houston annexed Clear Lake and Kingwood, local officials said they worked hard to avoid a similar situation with The Woodlands.
What it means for people in The Woodlands is a chance to make decisions about their community without the threat of becoming a part of Houston.
It also provides the master-planned community of about 84,000 a chance to be a regional player for the first time. Under the agreement, The Woodlands would enter into an economic partnership with the city to fund mutually beneficial regional projects totaling $45 million over time.
Houston Mayor Bill White and state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, heralded the deal as an example of cooperation between communities that depend on each other.
White said the deal also would offer the residents a "greater degree of independence."
"Decisions should be in the hands of the people most affected, and that would be the people of The Woodlands," White said.
Williams said the proposal is what The Woodlands residents asked for in a recent report that listed the goals they wanted to achieve as they worked toward a new form of governance.
''They wanted to work with Houston, not against it. They wanted to work to maintain their independence and avoid annexation. And they wanted to take action now. I took them at their word," he said.
Established more than 30 years ago by business mogul George Mitchell, The Woodlands has long been considered one of the premiere master-planned communities in the nation. The 28,000-acre community, 25 miles north of Houston, is known for its system of hiking trails, forested streets and environmental preservation standards.
Many people who live there think all that could deteriorate if Houston took over.
Thursday's proposal would require legislation, which Williams and state Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, pledged to get passed in the upcoming session.
Lawmakers need to pass at least two bills — one to expand an existing improvement district to collect sales taxes in all of The Woodlands and one to make it possible for Houston and The Woodlands — and other cities and communities in the future — to enter into a regional agreement.
With the new laws in place, The Woodlands residents then could vote in November on whether to expand the existing improvement district — which already collects a sales tax in the retail district of The Woodlands — as a first step toward possible incorporation.
Williams said that part of the agreement would provide a mechanism for lowering the property taxes and assessments used to provide services.
"A locally elected board will provide the residents with the same high-quality services that they have come to expect during this transition period to our permanent form of government."
The agreement, which also would need approval from the Houston City Council and the various governing boards in The Woodlands, would not affect Conroe's plans to annex Harper's Landing, the only Woodlands neighborhood east of Interstate 45 and not within Houston's expansion boundaries.
Under the terms of the proposed deal, Houston would agree to release The Woodlands from its extraterritorial jurisdiction — a distinction in state law that would allow annexation. That would allow residents to decide after 2014 whether to incorporate or choose another form of local self-governance.
In return, The Woodlands would give up an initial $16 million to pay for certain regional projects. The money would come from existing local funding sources to be determined. It would not come from increases in municipal utility district fees or property tax increases.
The projects would include $3 million for improvements to Lake Houston Park, much of which is in Montgomery County; $3 million for other major parks, including Memorial and Hermann; $5 million for road improvements at the Texas Medical Center, and a $5 million contribution to a planned project that would extend the Hardy Toll Road closer to downtown.
The Woodlands also would make another $29 million in payments from sales taxes during the next 30 years.
Houston officials have shown a willingness to work with The Woodlands in the past. In 1999, Houston and The Woodlands municipal utility district officials agreed to an annexation moratorium, protecting the community until 2014.
Joel Deretchin, co-chair of the steering committee that has studied governance options, said the agreement reflects the will of the people.
"
Jeff Long, president of The Woodlands Community Association board of directors, also was surprised by the announcement.
''The beneficial portion so far is being out from under the threat of annexation. That was paramount," Long said. "But the devil is in the details. We knew all along that there would be a price, so whether I can live with it or not, I have to study it first."
Ciao, and Hook 'em Horns,
Capt-AWACS, New Mexico-Not new, not Mexico
Dec. 8, 2006, 1:22AM
Woodlands strikes deal to end annexation threat
Plan allows community to vote on governance and become regional economic partner
By RENÉE C. LEE and MATT STILES
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
Voters in The Woodlands could decide as early as next year whether to take the first steps toward self-government under a deal that also would remove the possibility of annexation by Houston, local officials announced Thursday.
The agreement marks a dramatic shift in how potential boundary takeovers have been handled. Mindful of acrimonious debates that erupted when Houston annexed Clear Lake and Kingwood, local officials said they worked hard to avoid a similar situation with The Woodlands.
What it means for people in The Woodlands is a chance to make decisions about their community without the threat of becoming a part of Houston.
It also provides the master-planned community of about 84,000 a chance to be a regional player for the first time. Under the agreement, The Woodlands would enter into an economic partnership with the city to fund mutually beneficial regional projects totaling $45 million over time.
Houston Mayor Bill White and state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, heralded the deal as an example of cooperation between communities that depend on each other.
White said the deal also would offer the residents a "greater degree of independence."
"Decisions should be in the hands of the people most affected, and that would be the people of The Woodlands," White said.
Williams said the proposal is what The Woodlands residents asked for in a recent report that listed the goals they wanted to achieve as they worked toward a new form of governance.
''They wanted to work with Houston, not against it. They wanted to work to maintain their independence and avoid annexation. And they wanted to take action now. I took them at their word," he said.
Established more than 30 years ago by business mogul George Mitchell, The Woodlands has long been considered one of the premiere master-planned communities in the nation. The 28,000-acre community, 25 miles north of Houston, is known for its system of hiking trails, forested streets and environmental preservation standards.
Many people who live there think all that could deteriorate if Houston took over.
Thursday's proposal would require legislation, which Williams and state Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, pledged to get passed in the upcoming session.
Lawmakers need to pass at least two bills — one to expand an existing improvement district to collect sales taxes in all of The Woodlands and one to make it possible for Houston and The Woodlands — and other cities and communities in the future — to enter into a regional agreement.
With the new laws in place, The Woodlands residents then could vote in November on whether to expand the existing improvement district — which already collects a sales tax in the retail district of The Woodlands — as a first step toward possible incorporation.
Williams said that part of the agreement would provide a mechanism for lowering the property taxes and assessments used to provide services.
"A locally elected board will provide the residents with the same high-quality services that they have come to expect during this transition period to our permanent form of government."
The agreement, which also would need approval from the Houston City Council and the various governing boards in The Woodlands, would not affect Conroe's plans to annex Harper's Landing, the only Woodlands neighborhood east of Interstate 45 and not within Houston's expansion boundaries.
Under the terms of the proposed deal, Houston would agree to release The Woodlands from its extraterritorial jurisdiction — a distinction in state law that would allow annexation. That would allow residents to decide after 2014 whether to incorporate or choose another form of local self-governance.
In return, The Woodlands would give up an initial $16 million to pay for certain regional projects. The money would come from existing local funding sources to be determined. It would not come from increases in municipal utility district fees or property tax increases.
The projects would include $3 million for improvements to Lake Houston Park, much of which is in Montgomery County; $3 million for other major parks, including Memorial and Hermann; $5 million for road improvements at the Texas Medical Center, and a $5 million contribution to a planned project that would extend the Hardy Toll Road closer to downtown.
The Woodlands also would make another $29 million in payments from sales taxes during the next 30 years.
Houston officials have shown a willingness to work with The Woodlands in the past. In 1999, Houston and The Woodlands municipal utility district officials agreed to an annexation moratorium, protecting the community until 2014.
Joel Deretchin, co-chair of the steering committee that has studied governance options, said the agreement reflects the will of the people.
"
Jeff Long, president of The Woodlands Community Association board of directors, also was surprised by the announcement.
''The beneficial portion so far is being out from under the threat of annexation. That was paramount," Long said. "But the devil is in the details. We knew all along that there would be a price, so whether I can live with it or not, I have to study it first."
Ciao, and Hook 'em Horns,
Capt-AWACS, New Mexico-Not new, not Mexico