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Examining the neighborhoods
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| Now it's really the old swimming hole: 'dozers made quick work of the Colonial Pool on Tuesday. |
Some of the top stories from surrounding communities
Pool closing marks end of era
Since 1992, Lisa Womac has taught countless West University kids how to swim, often watching a youngster’s first splash at Colonial Park Pool. During summer sessions, especially, Colonial has been Womac’s classroom for 50-60 hours a week.
That’s a lot of floating.
Summer is over, though, and like so many of her pupils who have graduated from elementary school and have moved on to other schools, Womac is now relocating to a new aquatic lab. As of last week, Colonial is closed, awaiting renovation and a new look with updated swimming amenities. Next spring, Womac’s lessons will move to the brand new Recreation Center on Bellaire, and Womac leaves Colonial with a flood of memories.
“I look forward to having this new indoor pool, because I miss the bubble we had at Colonial,” said Womac. “But, I’m kind of sad to see it go.”
Echoing the sentiments of so many West U residents who knew this adjustment period would come, Womac adds: “A lot of people are scared of new things. People like their routines.”
As Womac was finishing her last week of lessons before the West U. pool hiatus, she tried to remember some of the young swimmers she tutored. “There’s a lifeguard I taught to swim,” she recalled proudly.
A couple of lifeguards, in particular, have come full circle at Colonial in a manner unlike any other twosome. In the summer of 1994, Kristen Brauchle and David Hawkins met for the first time while spending their college vacations earning money as lifeguards at Colonial. Kristen was home from the University of Texas, David from Trinity.
Remembers Kristen: “We got to know each other over the summer, and it was one of those summer romances that lasted longer.”
It was love at first splash. Kristen and David got married in 2002. Their kids Dorian, 5, and Lorelai, 3, spent this summer’s swim lessons at Colonial from — you guessed it — Lisa Womac. Dorian’s birthday party at the pool was one of the last ever at Colonial, and was the first Kristen and David witnessed as parents after years of presiding over such parties as lifeguards.
“I’ve done a lot of reminiscing,” said Kristen, who also taught swim lessons at Colonial. “I realized the pool as we know it will not be able to provide the same sort of memories for Dorian and Lorelai when they get older.”
As his two kids splashed joyously during one of their last days of summer, David gazed around the pool he has known since he was young.
“It seemed a lot bigger back then than it does now,” said David.
By Steve Mark
smark@hcnonline.com
HCC annexation draws critics
Like mushrooms after a summer rain, “vote no” signs are popping up in yards around the Spring Branch school district.
Many Spring Branch voters are expressing opposition to being annexed into the Houston Community College system.
The measure is on the Nov. 3 ballot, put there following a petition drive that gathered the requisite number of signatures. The November ballot is laden with city of Houston races, including mayor, controller, and District A and G council seats, portions of which are inside Spring Branch ISD boundaries.
But there are no candidate races in the six Memorial villages, only the annexation question and some constitutional amendments, leaving some wondering if voters there will turn out for a single local issue.
Gene Frazier, owner of a restaurant supply company on Bingle, leads a small group of residents and business owners opposed to the annexation. The group has created a website, www.votenohcctax.com, and is behind the yards signs starting to become visible, but is still largely in the organizational stage, said Frazier.
“We’re still getting our ducks in a row to campaign against this annexation,” he said.
Frazier objects to what would be a new tax for those within the annexation zone, which is the boundaries of the Spring Branch School District. HCC’s current tax rate is $.09243 — a little more than 9 cents — per $100 valuation, with a 10 percent homestead exemption and a $90,000 over-65 exemption.
For instance, the annual tax on a $100,000 house with the homestead exemption would be $83; tax on a $500,000 would be $416; and on a $1 million house would be $832. Taxes with the over-65 exemption would be slightly less.
Frazier said the revenue raised by HCC by annexing Spring Branch far outstrips the financial benefit for residents.
A benefit of joining the HCC system is paying in-district tuition rates, half of the the out-of-district rate per hour of $104.
With roughly 2,150 students from Spring Branch enrolled at HCC, and assuming all carry 15 hours, those students pay $3.35 million in tuition. If tuition was halved, students would save a collective $1.7 million.
Based on current appraised property values within the district, Frazier said, HCC will raise nearly $12 million.
Proponents of the annexation say that with the increased revenue, HCC can continue to develop its facilities at the northeast corner of I-10 and Beltway 8. Rechristened HCC-Spring Branch last spring, leaders said that HCC took what was a blighted part of the district and turned it into a productive and integral piece of the community.
HCC Northwest President Dr. Zachary Hodges has said he foresees a new performing arts center and more classroom space on the site, as well as a parking garage. The branch currently serves about 7,000 students — Hodges sees that enrollment growing to 12,000 or more.
Hodges has been appearing before city councils and civic groups presenting the case for annexation. Comments at two HCC public hearings in July were largely positive, although neither hearing was well attended.
Frazier and others object to being forced to in effect subsidize education that’s not mandatory. He would prefer the money to stay in the Spring Branch, a point amplified by David Cornell, who lives in the district, west of Beltway 8.
Cornell, who’s not aligned with Frazier’s group, said that he’s a strong advocate of public education, but only through grade 12. After that, he says, students should be prepared to pay their own way.
Cornell sees a looming financial crisis as the leading edge of baby boomers turns 65 in a couple of years, leaving the workforce and starting to draw down Social Security and Medicare. He’s not willing to start paying more taxes locally.
He also says that HCC should help get Texas school financing reformed to eliminate recapture, the so-called “Robin Hood” mechanism that seeks to equalize financing across the state. Spring Branch has to send part of its tax revenue away, roughly $10 million this year.
“You want my money?” says Cornell. “Go get that (recapture) money. Bring that money back to (Spring Branch) and we’ll talk.”
Spring Branch ISD has operated on a deficit budgets the past several years, dipping into its reserve fund to balance revenue and spending. This year’s deficit is about $11 million.
HCC trustees say that revenue collected from the Spring Branch area will stay at the Spring Branch campus, but Frazier is dubious. Without a dedicated seat on the HCC board, he worries that the claim is an empty one.Alief voters last November overwhelmingly approved HCC annexation, and the school district there started an early college program where graduates can leave high school with both a diploma and a two-year degree.Spring Branch schools have a dual-credit agreement with HCC where the it pays students’ tuition for the joint classes. HCC says those classes will be free if the school district is annexed.
By Rusty Graham
rgraham@hcnonline.com
Pool closing marks end of era
Since 1992, Lisa Womac has taught countless West University kids how to swim, often watching a youngster’s first splash at Colonial Park Pool. During summer sessions, especially, Colonial has been Womac’s classroom for 50-60 hours a week.
That’s a lot of floating.
Summer is over, though, and like so many of her pupils who have graduated from elementary school and have moved on to other schools, Womac is now relocating to a new aquatic lab. As of last week, Colonial is closed, awaiting renovation and a new look with updated swimming amenities. Next spring, Womac’s lessons will move to the brand new Recreation Center on Bellaire, and Womac leaves Colonial with a flood of memories.
“I look forward to having this new indoor pool, because I miss the bubble we had at Colonial,” said Womac. “But, I’m kind of sad to see it go.”
Echoing the sentiments of so many West U residents who knew this adjustment period would come, Womac adds: “A lot of people are scared of new things. People like their routines.”
As Womac was finishing her last week of lessons before the West U. pool hiatus, she tried to remember some of the young swimmers she tutored. “There’s a lifeguard I taught to swim,” she recalled proudly.
A couple of lifeguards, in particular, have come full circle at Colonial in a manner unlike any other twosome. In the summer of 1994, Kristen Brauchle and David Hawkins met for the first time while spending their college vacations earning money as lifeguards at Colonial. Kristen was home from the University of Texas, David from Trinity.
Remembers Kristen: “We got to know each other over the summer, and it was one of those summer romances that lasted longer.”
It was love at first splash. Kristen and David got married in 2002. Their kids Dorian, 5, and Lorelai, 3, spent this summer’s swim lessons at Colonial from — you guessed it — Lisa Womac. Dorian’s birthday party at the pool was one of the last ever at Colonial, and was the first Kristen and David witnessed as parents after years of presiding over such parties as lifeguards.
“I’ve done a lot of reminiscing,” said Kristen, who also taught swim lessons at Colonial. “I realized the pool as we know it will not be able to provide the same sort of memories for Dorian and Lorelai when they get older.”
As his two kids splashed joyously during one of their last days of summer, David gazed around the pool he has known since he was young.
“It seemed a lot bigger back then than it does now,” said David.
By Steve Mark
smark@hcnonline.com
HCC annexation draws critics
Like mushrooms after a summer rain, “vote no” signs are popping up in yards around the Spring Branch school district.
Many Spring Branch voters are expressing opposition to being annexed into the Houston Community College system.
The measure is on the Nov. 3 ballot, put there following a petition drive that gathered the requisite number of signatures. The November ballot is laden with city of Houston races, including mayor, controller, and District A and G council seats, portions of which are inside Spring Branch ISD boundaries.
But there are no candidate races in the six Memorial villages, only the annexation question and some constitutional amendments, leaving some wondering if voters there will turn out for a single local issue.
Gene Frazier, owner of a restaurant supply company on Bingle, leads a small group of residents and business owners opposed to the annexation. The group has created a website, www.votenohcctax.com, and is behind the yards signs starting to become visible, but is still largely in the organizational stage, said Frazier.
“We’re still getting our ducks in a row to campaign against this annexation,” he said.
Frazier objects to what would be a new tax for those within the annexation zone, which is the boundaries of the Spring Branch School District. HCC’s current tax rate is $.09243 — a little more than 9 cents — per $100 valuation, with a 10 percent homestead exemption and a $90,000 over-65 exemption.
For instance, the annual tax on a $100,000 house with the homestead exemption would be $83; tax on a $500,000 would be $416; and on a $1 million house would be $832. Taxes with the over-65 exemption would be slightly less.
Frazier said the revenue raised by HCC by annexing Spring Branch far outstrips the financial benefit for residents.
A benefit of joining the HCC system is paying in-district tuition rates, half of the the out-of-district rate per hour of $104.
With roughly 2,150 students from Spring Branch enrolled at HCC, and assuming all carry 15 hours, those students pay $3.35 million in tuition. If tuition was halved, students would save a collective $1.7 million.
Based on current appraised property values within the district, Frazier said, HCC will raise nearly $12 million.
Proponents of the annexation say that with the increased revenue, HCC can continue to develop its facilities at the northeast corner of I-10 and Beltway 8. Rechristened HCC-Spring Branch last spring, leaders said that HCC took what was a blighted part of the district and turned it into a productive and integral piece of the community.
HCC Northwest President Dr. Zachary Hodges has said he foresees a new performing arts center and more classroom space on the site, as well as a parking garage. The branch currently serves about 7,000 students — Hodges sees that enrollment growing to 12,000 or more.
Hodges has been appearing before city councils and civic groups presenting the case for annexation. Comments at two HCC public hearings in July were largely positive, although neither hearing was well attended.
Frazier and others object to being forced to in effect subsidize education that’s not mandatory. He would prefer the money to stay in the Spring Branch, a point amplified by David Cornell, who lives in the district, west of Beltway 8.
Cornell, who’s not aligned with Frazier’s group, said that he’s a strong advocate of public education, but only through grade 12. After that, he says, students should be prepared to pay their own way.
Cornell sees a looming financial crisis as the leading edge of baby boomers turns 65 in a couple of years, leaving the workforce and starting to draw down Social Security and Medicare. He’s not willing to start paying more taxes locally.
He also says that HCC should help get Texas school financing reformed to eliminate recapture, the so-called “Robin Hood” mechanism that seeks to equalize financing across the state. Spring Branch has to send part of its tax revenue away, roughly $10 million this year.
“You want my money?” says Cornell. “Go get that (recapture) money. Bring that money back to (Spring Branch) and we’ll talk.”
Spring Branch ISD has operated on a deficit budgets the past several years, dipping into its reserve fund to balance revenue and spending. This year’s deficit is about $11 million.
HCC trustees say that revenue collected from the Spring Branch area will stay at the Spring Branch campus, but Frazier is dubious. Without a dedicated seat on the HCC board, he worries that the claim is an empty one.Alief voters last November overwhelmingly approved HCC annexation, and the school district there started an early college program where graduates can leave high school with both a diploma and a two-year degree.Spring Branch schools have a dual-credit agreement with HCC where the it pays students’ tuition for the joint classes. HCC says those classes will be free if the school district is annexed.
By Rusty Graham
rgraham@hcnonline.com
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