The Renaissance House of Terrell Heights is a vital hub for preserving the rich Black history and culture of Terrell Heights, while also promoting the health and well-being of our local community.

The Renaissance House represents a pivotal moment in our community, where we honor and shine a light on the enormous contributions of those who have made significant impacts in our city, state, and country. Through our efforts, we strive to preserve and recognize the historic paths that have been paved by Black leaders in Terrell Heights.

As we preserve and celebrate our history, we must also acknowledge the significant challenges that our residents face every day. These challenges can lead to social isolation, higher rates of chronic diseases, limited access to healthy food options, transportation barriers, and a shortage of health and mental health services. These factors contribute to poor health outcomes and lower life expectancies for our community.

 https://renaissancehouse.org 

 

MEETING AGENDA:

General HSNA Meeting Monday, February 10, 2025

 

1. Call to order @ 6 p.m.

2. Roll Call: Quorum Present - Yay/Nay 

3. Approval of previous month’s meeting minutes 

 

COMMUNITY PRESENTATIONS:

• NPO, Officer: Michael Marquez

• Code Compliance: Officer Diamond Alexander

• Historic Preservation: Officer Homero Campos

 

COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS:

• Community Liaison: Danielle Tucker

• Economic Development: Thomas Oliver

• Education: Wallace Bridges

• Environment: Walter Williams 

• Historian: Jayn Higgins 

• Hospitality/Events: Vacant

• Membership: Ross Haynes

• Safety & Security: Vacant

• Web & Social Media: Vacant

 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

• President: James Walker

• Vice President: Vacant

• Secretary: Wendy Moore [if you are not receiving emails, please see me tonight!]

• Treasurer: Karen Harmon

 

OTHER COMMUNITY ENDEAVORS/ANNOUNCEMENTS:

• Presentation on Owning Historic Property - Danielle Tucker

• Local Education Opportunities - Wallace Bridges

• Presentation on Committees and How to Get Involved - Wendy Moore

• Special Meeting was held on Sat., Jan. 11 [revised bylaws were sent out by email]

• Has anyone taken the Code Rangers Class? Please give the secretary your contact info. They will be at next month’s meeting. 

• Steering Committee met with the City on Wednesday, Jan. 29

 

Meeting Adjourned at ________ p.m. by _______________________.

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MEETING AGENDA:

General HSNA Meeting Monday, Jan. 13, 2025

 

1. Call to order @ 6:04 p.m. by James Walker

2. Roll Call: Quorum Present - Yay/Nay - six @ call to order

3. Approval of previous month’s meeting minutes - in the email - Karen said they are on the website also [let the secretary know if you are not getting the emails]

4. Call for and appoint audit committee for review of 2024 finances  [Johnny only volunteer]

5. Announce Committee Chairs and open positions - let us know after meeting if you would like to apply: Hospitality, Safety, VP,

Additional:  Jherre is asking for a recall for the treasurer position, because her name was not on the list/ballot] **Mike Wyss Requested a ride to last month’s meeting, and he was unable to vote because he was not able to attend.

 

COMMUNITY PRESENTATIONS [Omitted for this meeting]:

• NPO, Officer: Michael Marquez

• Code Compliance: Officer Diamond Alexander

• Historic Preservation: Officer Homero Campos

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

• Economic Development: Thomas Oliver -Will meet Wed. Jan. 15 at Renaissance from 6-7, updates from Jared and Royal Capital. 

• Education: Wallace Bridges - Absent

• Environment: Walter Williams  - Not much, in the upcoming year, he hopes neighbors will be more active in policing their own parts of the neighborhood. He will look into ways to facilitate that. 

• Historian: Jayn Higgins - “Welcome to this episode of Know Your Hood” - In honor of Martin Luther King Day, a story about when he visited the Historic Southside Neighborhood - Dr. Vada Felder hosted MLK in a nearby house in 1959. Mt. Zion Baptist Church - first African-American graduate of TCU - masters in ‘94. She met MLK out of state and invited him to come to FW for a speech at the Majestic Theatre [was across the street from the convention center downtown]. King wrote a letter dated Aug. 8 to accept the invitation. Felder kept the letter all her life. MLK was met with hate and bomb threats. TCU forbade MLK to speak there. King stayed with Felder on 1331 Steward St., because no hotel would allow him to stay there. He stood on the balcony of the home and spoke out to people who came to visit.

• Hospitality: NA 

• Membership: Ross Haynes - welcomed four or so new people. Thanks for coming out.

• Web & Social Media [Karen Harmon substitute for now] - 1) an old website that needs to be deactivated - Wallace said he would assist. 2) HSNA social media pages for current and former officers - please add the new website. Also asked that members who were past officers to please correct their titles [put former or take off title if you are no longer an officer] on socials and outgoing email messages. 3) Business Membership directory will be added to the website soon.4) Added link to Rosedale Project on website; 5) January meeting agenda and December minutes are posted on the website; 6) socials are included on the website; 7) We would like to add an Achievement Page - what HSNA has accomplished; 8) New Southside Shoutout on web page - Mrs. Higgins [Karen recommend that Shoutout last for 2 months on the website] - February will be the next Shoutout; 9) New social media person - Karen to help with WIX and Social Media Passwords; 10) Contraction Community Engagement Representative for bulk mailers - addresses fand funding to get that done; 10) Thanked Nettles and Chelsea for getting this meeting info on their social media. 

• Community Liaison: Danielle Tucker - 40th Annual MLK parade is posted. Groups and individuals can sign up; 2) Quarterly CCPD grants are up on the city website; 3) Texas Municipal League (TML) through Texas A&M  - hosting workshops: community engagement, environmental, safety, parks, etc.; 4) National mentor month- Jan 20 from 3-5 p.m. meeting with city, email the secretary if you would like anything brought up at that meeting. [Thomas said: city is closed that day. The city needs to reschedule because of MLK day] 

•  

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

• President: James Walker

• Vice President: NA

• Secretary: Wendy Moore - 1) sent emails to every member ON THE CURRENT EMAIL LIST; 2) QR Code on Agenda and Sign-In Sheet, preferably use those if you are able, hard to read handwriting sometimes. 3) Emails will be sent out the week before each monthly meeting that includes former month’s minutes and upcoming meeting agenda 4) Please let Wendy know if you did not receive that email so she can update the contact information in the system. 

• Treasurer: Karen Harmon- 1) Current balance: $2,578.12 - Mrs. Jingles transferred all of her documents and they still have not received all of the receipts from 2024; 2) bylaws needed updated and signed in order to have the bank account turned over; 3) moving to Zelle for digital payment, CashAp and Venmo will be deactivated soon; 4) Zoom was paid $180.65 for Sept. 2024 - Sept. 2025. Also, $10.83 is being charged monthly since July for storage, since we are over data [working to get that old videos downloaded before charged again; 5) Bubba was cutting the lawn for a lot that is owned by the city of FW. Looking into who is responsible for that lot and if HSNA should foot that bill of  $100/month; 6) Working on Yearly Budget Report - asked all committees to turn in their proposed budget $$ for 2025 [forms provided or email Karen]; 7) Anyone who paid at the end of November and were told they were paying for 2025, please let Karen know so she can update the membership records. 

Before end of business, members were asked if they had any questions or info.

• Johnny Lewis: asked NPO officer about a red car still parking in the neighborhood. NPO  says he told him he should not stay there. Owner said he feels safe there while he is waiting for housing.

• NPO: East Tucker gang related drive-by shooting at the quad plex. Gang task is investigating, so NPO does not have a lot of details. 

• Councilman Nettles [District 8] is in Attendance - 1)Announced that the city will acknowledge all neighborhood associations on March 16. They are asking for president and staff to make nominations by this Friday’s deadline [Jan. 17]; 2) Toward middle of 2025, city officials will be talking about Bond Package. Please make note of things like roads that need an  overhaul, and other issues in the neighborhood to bring up in those mid-year discussionsions. 3) Introduced Chelsea Anthony, District Director.

 

OTHER COMMUNITY ENDEAVORS/ANNOUNCEMENTS:

• None - not enough time.

 

Business Meeting Adjournment at 6:30 p.m. Special presentation about Glenwood Park progress followed.

 

Glenwood Park started at 6:32 [Presenter: Leah Hales with Land Design]

Spoke last time in May or June + Community meeting at Library earlier. Got info from the city and the go ahead to move forward on the plans. 

Will take notes on design changes from attendees taken at the end of the presentation.

Land Design will turn into the Park Board in February, so they have a chance to go over any comments or concerns from the HSNA.Places of Interest - who would be the users of the park - Site context - about 37 acres. 28 football fields in size. Site Inventory. Site analysis. Site Opportunity.

Community Engagement - Top 3 Goals: Accessibility & Connectivity, Safety, Climate Resilience/Sustainability and shade + natural habitats. 

Facility Priorities: Pavilion, public restrooms, picnic areas

Active Recreation - running/biking, play spaces, splash pads

Passive Recreation - walking paths, creek overlook, nature play

Big Idea: Connecting communities through exploration and bringing people together in nature.

Trail system ADA accessible - except dirt trail through the woods. Nature play is accessible with a combination of hard path and soft path, to help with ADA accessibility.

Parking and safety is being addressed, people can make notes if they have any other concerns.

Lighting and restrooms in safe areas. Patrons will help with safety. More people = more safety.

TCU coalition - creek - reclaiming the creek - deep cut creek. Fishing location - does not work with city hydrological design. Erosion. Design will stabilize. [They have planned a Creek Overlook within the parameters of the safety of the creek]

Expectations on the phasing [project manager that is steering for the city]

2026 Bond program - this phase is necessary before we can ask for 2026 bond - once endorsed it becomes fundable. As is - $8 mil. Building in phases based on how much the city will give us each year. 300 parks in the city and this park is somewhere in the middle on the priority list. City prioritizes how to spend the money - $3 mil for a park that is working on now + $1.5mil grant from texas parks.

Karen - asked about security and keeping out homeless. Speaker says cameras give people a false sense of security, people think someone is constantly watching the cameras. If we put cameras - then someone should be watching. Another suggestion is emergency buttons, like they have on college campuses. Lights are integrated into the buttons. Neighborhood improvement program - adding cameras and stuff to park, such as safety and lighting. Park has closing hours already. 

Next big public Meeting on Feb. 26 - at Botanical Gardens - 6 or 6:30

 

Attendance @ 6:41 = around 33. [Not including presentation people. A lot of people attended with the presentation or just to see the presentation.]

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

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