Neighborhood meetings:

• Jan 2003 Annual Meeting
• April 2001 Town Hall Meeting
• 12 April 1999
  held at the Northwood Hills Elementary School
• 13 July 1998
  held at Fretz Park
• 26 January 1997
  held at the Northwood Hills Elementary School

If you see an entry labelled "missing" it means the webmaster doesn't have a copy for scanning. If you have a copy, please email the webmaster.

The following items are things that appeared only on the web site news section, and are older than 12 months:

January 2008

	Mark your Calendar for some neighborhood parties! National Night Out will be held Tuesday, August 2nd. We have some preliminary suggestions online (from our new security patrol). If you don't know your Block Captain, odds are you don't have one yet. National Night Out is an annual nationwide event designed to strengthen neighborhood spirit and unity, raise crime prevention awareness, and develop partnerships in the neighborhood. It's a simple way for people to meet one another, have fun and explore how they might work together to improve the safety and quality of our neighborhoods. We hope you'll join us on August 2nd.
We dodged a (very few) raindrops at our 12th Annual Independence Day Festival, which was held at Northwood Hills Elementary School on July 4th. We awarded 26 prizes, including Best Stroller; Reddest; Whitest; Bluest; Best Rollerblader; Most Patriotic .. and Best Hair! The Grand Prize went to entry # 3389 - Best Use of Watermelons By A Family (you had to be there!) Prizes included gift certificates from Adventure Landing; Cici's Pizza; Enchilada's; Jason's Deli; Marble Slab Creamery and The String Bean!	Northwood Hills "Mayor" Fred Williams

September 2007

We've sent 4 emails (since 8/22) to our members-only list about the Jewelry Thieves who are targeting north Dallas, including our neighborhood. If you'd like to be part of the solution, please consider joining NHHA so we can provide additional hours of private security. If you're an NHHA Member and you didn't get the email, that means you're not on the list. Please sign up now!

April 2007

Kimberly Schofield, Program Specialist, Texas Cooperative Extension, Texas A&M System, demonstrated the Texas Two-Step

Battle the Bugs Day Sunday, April 29th Everyone in Northwood Hills was welcome to this event, as described in our April Newsletter (page 8). We gave away free fire ant bait to the first 30 guests! In addition, a representative from Environmental and Health Services, City of Dallas shared the City’s strategies for controlling mosquitoes

January 2007

Northwood Hills was featured on CBS-11 (KTVT) news on Wednesday, January 3rd. You can watch a replay on their website.

September 2006

Friday, 1 September -- The City will spray the section of Northwood Hills south of Cliffbrook and east of Hillcrest on Saturday night/Sunday morning. Details are online.

August 2006

Wednesday, 23 August -- 25 human cases of West Nile virus have been reported in Dallas this year, and 61 mosquito collections have tested positive.

Friday, 18 August -- One of our members has been infected with the West Nile virus and is hospitalized in ICU in serious condition. A look over his neighbor's back fence revealed a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes --- a neglected swimming pool – low water, covered with a thick layer of gunk!

If you know of a swimming pool near YOU that's not being maintained, please contact the City of Dallas by calling 311 . IMMEDIATELY. (If you report this online, the category is "Mosquitoes - EHS")

November 2005

As part of an Eagle Scout project, the remaining 110 alley signs were installed on a wet Saturday morning after Thanksgiving. Special thanks to Adam Carlton for organizing the installations! Everyone who requested one of our customized signs should now have one (except those ordered in November). If we somehow missed you, call us for an explanation!
	Hundreds of trees were planted Saturday, November 5th along the Preston Ridge Trail. In the (Northwood Hills) section south of Beltline, 64 photinias were planted, starting at the intersection with Meandering Way, and heading east. About 40 crepes were planted on the north corner. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 4th Ward has agreed to adopt the Trail; they will water these young trees through the end of 2007!
About 100 people attended the NDNA's Verified Alarm Response public forum on November 3rd at the Parkhill Junior High School. Homework suggestion: Preventing False Alarms

October 2005

Do you like the new Northwood Hills street toppers? Yes, this was an NHHA-funded project. See our October 2005 newsletter for details. A worker from the City of Dallas installs the Northwood Hills street toppers (115 signs in total). This installation continued into early November.

September 2005

Several residents (especially Karen Washington and Pat Pusateri) helped gather things needed by the hurricane (Katrina and Rita) victims, and took them from Northwood Hills to the staging areas in downtown Dallas (15 miles away).

August 2005

The best way to avoid WNV [West Nile Virus] is to REMOVE ALL STANDING WATER from your property, including rain gutters. If you have a swimming pool and the skimmer is working, you should be okay, but if your pool's starting to turn green (algae) .. well, that's not good. If you find a dead bird on your property, the City's current procedure is that you call 3-1-1 with the location (they will no longer pick up the carcass for testing). When they get enough reports of dead birds, they will set mosquito traps then test THOSE mosquitoes for WNV. I've asked The City about the chemicals being used, since I heard they can be very bad for people with emphysema or other breathing disorders. Their response is below:

The City of Dallas does targeted spraying in and around the location where a mosquito borne disease has been detected. The pesticide used is approved by the EPA for mosquito control. It is a combination of a synthetic pyrethrum called Resmethrin, piperonyl butoxide and petroleum solvents. It is applied at very low concentration rates and it is unlikely that anyone will develop symptoms as a result of contact with the insecticide used in spraying. Some individuals who are particularly sensitive could experience short term problems such as eye, skin, nose or throat irritation or breathing problems. These are less likely to occur if practical and simple precautions such as staying indoors, and closing windows, and doors.

West Nile virus has caused encephalitis, meningitis, paralysis and death. It is more likely to cause severe problems in senior citizens and those with compromised immune systems. Fortunately, severe illness usually occurs in only 1 of 150 cases and 80% of those bitten by infected mosquitoes have no symptoms at all. If additional information is needed call 214-948-4429.

One of our members replied: "garbage collectors invariably leave lids open on our rollcarts, and along comes a rain and the bottom holds four inches of water or more. This is prime mosquito breeding water and must be emptied. It's a pain in the butt, but West Nile Virus is even more painful."

July 2005

Starting July 1st, we switched our NHHA Security patrol from the off-duty Dallas Police (ENP) to a private company.

May 2005

There's a new Councilmember in town!

On Saturday, May 7th, District 11 voted Linda Koop to replace term-limited Lois Finkelman, who served us for eight years. Proposition 1 failed 38-62 city-wide, but 68% of us voted for it. The voter turnout for precincts 1812 and 1817 was about 28% (according to the Dallas County Elections website)

Lois Finkelman, Dallas City Council 1997-2005

Linda Koop, Dallas City Council 2005-?

March 2005

(click to enlarge)	(at night !)
The latest addition to our set of Northwood Hills boundary markers has appeared on Elmridge (at Hillcrest) thanks to the work of the dedicated Northwood Hills Greenway.

February 2005

Dallas Police Officer Israel Herrera shows the new magnetic signs on the ENP vehicle. Because our regular car was wrecked, they're not able to use the same number car each shift, so please look for the "Northwood Hills" sign. We've asked our officers to pick up the pace of enforcement, due to some homeowners concerns (while school is in session). If you come to a complete stop at the stop signs, and don't speed through Northwood Hills, you have nothing to worry about!

January 2005

Our annual meeting was January 26th at Northwood Hills Elementary School (the big news is that we ran out of chairs! - does that make it Standing Room Only?) Our guests included City Council District 11 candidates Danny Harrison and Linda Koop, along with Matt Bach (representing the Preston Ridge Trail); Katherine Seale (representing Discover Dallas), and a special (65th birthday!) visit by Father John Stack (in charge of planting 400+ trees in a 2002 project).

On January 10th, Dallas residents met for a real Residential Teardowns Forum at the Lake Highlands Freshman Center (10200 White Rock Trail). The standing-room-only crowd at the first meeting (November 16th) sent a message to Dallas City Hall: homeowners really do care about the McMansions appearing in our midst. A followup meeting is schedule for late March or early April.

December 2004

(click for Rain + Freeze Sensor Information)

November 2004

Cottonwood Trail Fundraising Kickoff - Saturday, 13 November

Share your vision for land-use planning in the Trinity River Corridor (the stakeholder meeting schedule is available here.

October 2004

We're back to Standard Time; did you remember to FALL BACK at 2am today? More and more gadgets automatically adjust (last Sunday in October, first Sunday in April) such as VCRs, mobile phones and even wallclocks. What's the most obscure clock in your home? In ours, it's a tossup between the one in the bread machine, or the one in our digital camera. It helps to make a list of clocks, but then you have to remember where you keep the list (maybe on the refrigerator?) ...

September 2004

The crew of Dallas Fire Department, Station 56 (Fretz Park), remember the 343 FDNY firefighters killed on 9/11/2001

(click to enlarge any photo)

At 0905 on 9/11/2004, all Dallas fire stations lowered their flags to half staff (when the first World Trade Center tower collapsed), then raised the flags back to full staff at 0928 (when the second tower fell). Those times are when the 343 members of the FDNY [Fire Department of New York] and the others in the World Trade Center were killed.

August 2004

Property Tax Increase

The Dallas City Manager is recommending a 1.99¢ property tax increase (this was explained in detail at the Town Hall Meeting on 24 August @ the Fretz Park Recreation Center). See DallasCityHall.com and take the Quality of Life Budget Survey (at the bottom of the page)

Mosquito Spraying

We've heard reports of spraying in areas outside the August 12/13 spray area, with little or no warning from the City, who is supposed to (at minimum) place door hangars with the caution, but there appear to be some problems with that procedure.

Despite evidence that suggests that mass-spraying for mosquitoes does more harm than good (it kills insects which eat mosquitoes, and may harm other fauna -- including humans and flora), the City of Dallas sprayed about 75% of Northwood Hills, in the early morning hours of August 12/13th. The spray map is here, in PDF format.

Karen D. Rayzer, Director Environmental and Health Services Department, advises: "A positive human case (West Nile Virus) was reported in zipcode 75248, the major intersection is Belt Line and Hillcrest. We will schedule spraying Thursday night/Friday morning Aug 12/13 in sections of an area bounded by Spring Valley Road, Meandering Way, Preston Road and Arapaho Road, weather permitting.

Staff was in the area on Tuesday, August 10th distributing information and providing notification of the spraying. In addition, efforts to identify potential breeding sources will be increased.

Dallas has tested 70 birds in 2004 (as of 20 August), with 8 being positive for West Nile Virus. If you find a dead crow or blue jay, call 311 immediately and ask for someone to pick it up for testing. This must be done before the bird has been dead for 12 hours.

Mosquitoes like to breed in standing (stagnant?) water; the best thing you can do is remove all standing water - even as small as a teaspoon - from your property. Don't forget to check rain gutters, too (assuming you don't have one of those nifty "gutter sheilds" which keeps leaves and other debris out). Mosquitoes are not too keen on moving water, like in our streams and (most) swimming pools.

For more good advice about mosquito control (including The Four D's) look for Dallas' "Mosquito Swatter" campaign on DallasCityHall.com or the CDC's website.

July 2004

About 75 people turned out for the Friends of the Preston Ridge Trail meeting on Thursday, July 15th. This hike & bike trail begins at Coit and Haymeadow, and proceeds to Meandering Way and Beltline before leaving Northwood Hills). Plans for Phase 2 of this project should be complete by the end of 2004, and work will be completed in early 2006, if all goes according to plan. The Friends of the Trail are seeking volunteers who can spend a sizable amount of time helping plan this upgrade. If you're interested, please contact them via their website (listed above).

Our 11th Annual Independence Day Parade was Saturday, July 3rd at Northwood Hills Elementary School.

If you're new to Dallas and want to know what you missed, take a peek at our Independence Day information page (which includes the prizes we gave out!)

June 2004

An important meeting of the Richardson ISD was held Monday (21 June) at 5pm, concerning possible revocation of the 15% Local Optional Homestead Exemption.

A few Northwood Hills residents ( nearest Preston Road) are in the Dallas ISD. The vast majority of Northwood Hills residents are in the RISD; your taxes will increase, but not as much as originally proposed. The annual tax increase for a $500,000 property is $455.

Kristine Hughes has written 2 articles about this, in the Dallas Morning News; the first appeared in the 10 June (Sunday) paper: see the Richardson Morning News section item entitled "State rep rejects funding onus".

Ms. Hughes submitted a followup article (School board reduces homestead exemption) on Tuesday, 22 June (page B1):

Richardson school board members cut the district's optional homestead exemption from 15 percent to 10 percent in a 6-1 vote Monday night. The change translates into a tax increase of about $121 a year for the average Richardson homeowner, except for those who are over age 65 and have a frozen tax levy. Trustee Luke Davis voted against the tax increase, saying the district could use its savings to cover any budget shortfall this year and then see what the Legislature decides on school finance. Most of the other board members said they favored reducing the exemption in stages so they could help the district financially without overburdening taxpayers.

Watering Restrictions Begin June 1st

To report water waste, residents should call 3-1-1

Automatic sprinkler use is banned between 10am and 6pm (until October); Lawn or landscape irrigation that wastes water or causes runoff is prohibited; Water is not to fall on sidewalks, driveways or other areas that are not lawn or landscapes; Do not operate an irrigation system with broken or missing sprinkler heads or one that is poorly maintained and leads to water waste; No outdoor watering during any form of precipitation. If you use more than 15,000 gallons per month, you'll be paying a surcharge. Violations can result in a fine between $250 and $2,000 - first offense gets off with a warning.

May 2004

The City of Dallas has posted some good advice about mosquito control on their website, under the banner of a new "Mosquito Swatter" campaign. See the DallasCityHall.com

Dallas Police Officers McCollum and Herrera join Ed Fox as they address a meeting of concerned neighbors, held at Spring Valley Methodist Church. This is an attempt to stem the tide of vandalism and burglaries at area houses of worship. Attendees came away with new ideas and a packet of information (email the webmaster if you want a copy). When the weather's nice, we have a tendency to let down our guard. Please remember to keep your garage doors closed, don't leave any visible items in your car (which may attract a "smash and grab" thief) and always set your security alarm, even if you're only gone a few minutes.

February 2004

What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day, than shovelling snow? Wet, heavy snow fell on Northwood Hills, causing limbs to snap power lines, leaving many residents without power By mid-afternoon the next day, the Big Melt had claimed all but the most determined of the snow.

January 2004

Thanks for the memories ... 26 January, Northwood Hills Elementary Fred Williams retired as NHHA President after 4 years, to a standing ovation at Monday night's meeting. For another trip down memory lane, here are photos from our 2003 Annual meeting!

October 2003

Extinguish Hunger! A partnership of the North Texas Food Bank and the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department - October 1 through December 31 Drop off nonperishables at your nearby Dallas Fire-Rescue station during daytime hours. This is a great opportunity to reinforce with your kids the importance of helping others and fire safety. Dallas Fire Station 56 protects Northwood Hills, and is located on Beltline Road, east of the Fretz Park Branch Library.

June 2003

April hailstorm means new roofs

We've brought a page online to help answer some of the many questions you'll have as you work with roofing contractors.

May 2003

Watering Restrictions Until October

The City of Dallas has a website which explains everything: SaveDallasWater.com including an information sheet. The bottom line? No automated sprinklers between 10am-6pm until October!

May 3rd election results are here:dalcoElections.org

April 2003

5 April 2003: Two waves of golfball-sized hail fell on Northwood Hills, making the local roofing contractors very, very happy.

March 2003

Mystery solved!

For several months, many Northwood Hills residents have been getting a busy signal when they called 311. Your Northwood Hills Homeowners Association, Inc., with the help of our council person, Lois Finkelman, looked into this problem. They discovered that residences in the new ZIP code 75254, unknowingly, were surgically removed from the city's 311 system. Last Friday, SBC corrected their system and you can now dial 311.

Northwood Hills residents south of Spring Valley Road (ZIP code 75240) were apparently unaffected by the change.

This single number provides you a way to contact all City of Dallas departments for non-emergency services. You can call 311 for an abandoned car, barking dogs, trash pick dates, street-light repair, etc. It's handy because it's easy to remember.

webmaster's note: you may also submit a "311" request via 311.dallascityhall.com People who are calling from a wireless telephone or live outside the City of Dallas may call 214-670-5111

Solving the 311 mystery is another example of what your membership accomplishes. Your quarterly dues encourages volunteers to help the NHHA. These volunteers are your neighbors who devote a slice of their time because they care enough to invest in the betterment of the neighborhood.

February 2003

The 2003 Annual Meeting Photos are now online; and we've updated the NHHA Preferred Merchants List

January 2003

Tree planting is complete!

Some 350 new trees are in the ground, after 3 weekends of hard work by nearly 200 dedicated volunteers. The final weekend saw 150 trees planted in Fretz Park and at Northwood Hills Elementary School.

November 2002

Dallas County Election Results are in

The Dallas County Election web site has the Dallas County results. If you're looking for the Texas statewide results, they are on the Texas Secretary of State web site.

Brrrr ... it's football weather @ Fretz Park

October 2002

(click to enlarge either image)

NHE Principal Dr. Everett Williams, Albertsons Store Director Mark Drake and others were at the Albertsons grand opening on Tuesday, 22 October (Coit Road @ Haymeadow)

This is the 16th Albertsons store in Dallas, and the 96th in the Metroplex. This 62,000 sq ft store is (currently) the chain's largest. It includes a floral department; baby care center; Community Credit Union; and a pet care center. The store is open daily from 6am to 1am.

Tree Planting on Meandering Way (and elsewhere)

The Northwood Hills Tree Planting is now history; if you saw a group of people wearing orange vests and waving red flags, you should know: this was not a prison work crew! More tree planting photos are online!

September 2002

Our 9/11 Memories page is online

(click to enlarge)

The lighting project at Fretz Park appears to be complete! This was begun earlier this summer. You can see one of the new (taller) light poles in the background.

August 2002

	Tuesday (August 6) is National Night Out; while the NHHA is not sponsoring any official block parties, we'd like to hear from you if you know of any (we'll list them here on the web site).
Between 7 and 10 p.m., along with the traditional 'lights on' and front porch vigils, there will be thousands of crime prevention block parties, cookouts, ice cream socials, parades, neighborhood visits by local police and sheriff's departments, flashlight walks, safety fairs, poster and essay contests, and neighborhood meetings.

Skeeter Scare: Is the dousing doing any good? , Rose Farley (Dallas Observer)

The arrival of the West Nile virus in Dallas has proceeded with all the panicked fanfare that typically comes with public health scares: News reports announce the "deadly" virus' arrival; residents begin to worry, and city officials respond, in this case, by spraying neighborhoods with pesticides in an attempt to wipe out the mosquitoes that carry the disease.

July 2002

The City of Dallas is spraying for mosquitoes in order to contain an outbreak of West Nile virus in this area.

Educate yourself:
• Malathion
• National Library of Medicine
• National Pesticide Information Center's web site

We might have a problem with mosquitoes spreading West Nile virus. There is no need to panic, but you should be aware of the health issues involved.

A number of dead birds have been discovered immediately north of Northwood Hills -- in the area north of Belt Line Road between Hillcrest and Coit, and the City of Dallas sprayed the area early this morning (Friday, 12 July) in an effort to control mosquitoes.

If you find a dead bird(s) in our neighborhood call Environmental Services Mosquito Control at 214-948-4429 and report it. Tell them what type of bird you think it is and where it was discovered. It seems to affect crows and blue jays the most.

You should also inspect your property for any containers that can hold water -- even a teaspoon -- and provide a breading ground for mosquitos. This includes roof gutters that may not be draining properly, and even dripping water from central air conditioners. Mosquitoes are most active at dawn and dusk.

The Texas Department of Health (800-252-8239) has updated information at www.tdh.state.tx.us/westnile.htm and there's also good information about "skeeters" at epa.gov

9th Annual Independence Day Parade

June 2002

Summer School's underway : slow down!

Just because it's June, don't think you can safely speed through the school zone! Did you notice that red "Summer School" addition to the speed limit sign?

---

Summertime = Construction Time

Rather than take your life in your hands while slowing down (on Beltline, west of Meandering Way) we're posting a photo of the construction information sign here.		... and there's a new sidewalk going in, on Beltline Road, east of Meandering Way. We haven't been brave enough to take any photos of the Hillcrest/LBJ construction area - yet.

April 2002

Special April Fools Day message: follows:

Northwood Hills seceeds from Dallas

The votes have been tallied and by a 51-49 margin, Northwood Hills has seceeded from Dallas and has become its own city.

Mayor Fred Williams and Mayor Pro-Tem John Larranaga immediately made plans to install toll booths on the major arteries leading into the City of Northwood Hills, to be manned by volunteers who will receive a share of the toll proceeds. Traffic bottlenecks are anticipated on Hillcrest, Spring Valley and Beltline Roads and residents are advised to use the 2-lane roads to exit Northwood Hills, effective immediately.

As you may recall, the primary reason for forming The New City is so that all residents will have swimming pools and color-coded mailboxes. Decisions on the new tax structure will be made as time permits, as Mayor Fred explained that he was late for his April 1 tee time.

March 2002

(click to enlarge)Northwood Hills Ambassadors Steve Kasper; Bill Roggi; Susan Hall; Fred Williams; Judy Davis; John Larranaga

Ambassadors not pictured are Jean Bond; Marion and Stewart Mitchell; Brenda Jones; Eileen Birnbaum.

February 2002

(photo courtesy GraphicChoices.com) Dallas Mayor Linda Miller

How Northwood Hills voted (source: dalcoelections.org) Precinct Dunning Miller 1812-11 172 160 1812-12 196 240 1817 226 372   594 772   43% 57%

Deere 330LC excavator	... and they're off! Excavation has begun at the former Holly Tree Apartments site on Coit Road, north of Spring Valley Parkway. An Albertsons grocery is due to open later this year.
Hitachi 450LC excavator

January 2002

Another one for the record books: our annual NHHA Membership Meeting was on January 29th and (even with competition from President Bush's State of the Union Address) it was standing room only! (well, okay, so we could've used more chairs ...)

(pictured clockwise:) DPD Officer Lankford; NHHA President Williams;
NHHA Membership Chairman Larranaga; NHHA Treasurer Hoffmann

---

Early Voting for the City of Dallas runoff Mayoral Election starts Wednesday, 30 January at the Fretz Park Recreation Center (and the other 27 polling places throughout Dallas).

The polling hours are listed on our Voter Information Page.

candidates:

Tom DUNNING

Laura MILLER

December 2001

Send a message to our troops! (this site remains open after the holidays)

The Olympic Torch Run passed through north Dallas (just a few miles south of Northwood Hills) on a sunny Wednesday afternoon in December. The Winter Olympics begin in Salt Lake City in February.

A new Northwood Hills entrance marker has sprouted on southbound Meandering Way, past Beltline.

November 2001

Are you a news junkie? With all the things going on, our page listing Dallas area media may be just what you need ...With regard to anthrax, we think these sites are sane and useful:

• CDC Health Advisory
• US Postal Service
• snopes.com
• FBI

TXDOT (Texas Department of Transportation) held a community meeting on 15 November at the Willie B. Jackson Recreation Center (12225 Willowdell Drive - Mapsco 16X). The purpose of the meeting was to give citizens an update on the Churchill Way Project, the High Five project and DART's new Forest Lane and LBJ Stations. The meeting contact was Tony Payberah (972-437-0101). Information on the Churchill Way and High Five projects are at the TXDOT project office at 9330 LBJ Freeway, Suite 1080 (in the Abrahms Bank building).

Abbreviated notes:

Lots of construction in various projects (some is underway now). Churchill Way will be widened and a bridge will be built over Central Expressway to northbound Central (construction target: January 2003 until January 2005).

Two new DART train stations (artist rendering below) will be ready by summer 2002. Forest Lane/Schroeder ("Forest Lane Station") TI Boulevard/Markville ("LBJ Station")

The Dallas High Five (LBJ/Central) project will start January 2002 and will last five years. Many incentives for the contractor to minimize delays and end early. Major construction starts January 2002 Extensive detours on LBJ Coit Road bridge reconstruction Possible westbound Coit Road exit ramp closure in spring/summer TI Blvd traffic switch TXDOT suggests car pool, flex time DART - bus or light rail Alternate route suggestions include Belt Line, Spring Valley, Hillcrest (all will impact Northwood Hills) The Dallas High Five project has a website: www.DallasHighFive.org

October 2001

The 2001 Northwood Hills Fall Festival was much cooler (65°F) than last year! A selection of photos is online.

The Northwood Hills PTA held a blood drive on Friday, 12 October from 8am to 3pm at Northwood Hills Elementary; blood was collected by Carter BloodCare. The PTA scheduled appointments for those wishing to participate, by calling Lynn Carlton (NHE PTA President) at 972-392-2749. We were able to accommodate drop-ins, but appointments were strongly encouraged to reduce the wait time. Volunteers wishing to help were also needed.

September 2001

If you own an American flag, please fly it! If you don't own one, you'll find them at many hardware and department stores in the area. And please --- observe correct flag etiquette.

A new Northwood Hills entrance marker has sprouted on eastbound Spring Valley Road, past Hillcrest. Barbara McAlister advises: "We hope to do a tree and plants in cooler weather."

The first Sunday after Labor Day is National Grandparents Day. This year, that day is September 9th. Are you looking for some web sites about this new holiday? grandparents-day.com (the original) grandparents-day.net (for schools) We've put this on the Northwood Hills events calendar - you may want to print a copy!

Friday (September 7th) is the last day to buy your 2002 Passbook from the Northwood Hills Elementary PTA. They are selling the Passbook coupon book to raise funds for the school. The Passbooks are $30 each and contain thousands of money-saving coupons (many 2-for-1 offers). This is a huge bargain, and you're helping to support the PTA. You can contribute to the school and save a great deal on groceries, restaurants, car rentals, sporting events, entertainment, movies, dry cleaning, and more. Stop by the school and pick one up. NHE is part of the Richardson Independent School District, whose fall term started on Tuesday, August 21st.

August 2001

Dallas County Government Center

Are you a "numbers person" ? The U.S. Census Bureau's QuickFacts for Dallas County, Texas are now online.

Did you know ...

• there are 854,119 homes in Dallas County
• there are 1,145 homes in Northwood Hills

July 2001

Independence Day Parade

The 8th Annual NHHA Independence Day Parade went off like a firecracker! Speaking of which, it is indeed illegal to use or possess fireworks in Dallas and within 5000 feet of the city boundary. Any unauthorized person caught using or possessing fireworks can be fined up to $2000. If you're looking for fireworks displays, you'll find that most of the country clubs have displays, in addition to Addison's Kaboom Town and the big Dallas display at Fair Park.

June 2001

Zip Code Change

Most of Northwood Hills (everyone north of Spring Valley Road) switched to the new 75254 ZIP code effective July 1 (those south of Spring Valley Road remain in 75240). We have one year to complete the switch.The boundaries for the change are from Spring Valley North to Beltline and from Coit past the Dallas Parkway in the West. We've created a special page to explain the change, including a map.

Council District 11 Town Hall Meeting

About 60 residents of Dallas Council District 11 gathered at the Churchill Recreation Center on Thursday, 14 June to hear the "What Should We Build?" presentation by Assistant City Manager Jill Jordan, following some opening comments by Councilmember Lois Finkelman. Northwood Hills President Fred Williams was accompanied by Board Member Ross Sanders and past-NHHA President Larry Baker. Of primary concern to NHHA residents is the declining state of our alleys, and this meeting didn't offer hope for a quick fix to that problem. A questionaire was handed out at the meeting; for those who could not attend, a web-based version is available online. There were 2 handouts: the District 11 Needs Inventory (PDF) and the "What Should We Build?" presentation

May 2001

Oak Wilt Advisory If you prune Red Oaks or Live Oaks from February to May, you must paint the wounds. Beetles eat the spores from infected Red Oaks and pass the Oak Wilt fungus to the new oaks through the wounds. Once an oak has oak wilt, it can pass it on to nearby oaks (100 feet) through interconnecting roots. There's a lot of information on Texas A&M's Oak Wilt Information Page.

Oak Wilt is not an epidemic here, but it is common. You can tell if your Live Oak tree has it by examining the leaves. The leaves will be green, but the veins will be red. The leaves on Red Oaks just turn brown. A final precaution - cover your wood pile with plastic if it has Red Oak logs. They can be from a tree that had the fungus and beetles can it pick up there.

If you have a tree with Oak Wilt, consider treating nearby Oak trees with "Alamo." There's nothing you can do for the infected tree other than removing it.

Thanks to our member Tamara Hamm, and Texas A&M Agriculture Extension for this Alert information.

Texas A&M Agriculture Extension 
10056 Marsh Ln Ste 101B
Dallas TX 75229-6066
Phone: 214-904-3050 / FAX: 214-904-3080
E-Mail Address: Dallas-tx@tamu.edu
Web Site: Texas A&M Agriculture Extension

April 2001

NHHA TOWN HALL MEETING

Photos from the April 2001 Town Hall Meeting are here on this web site.

On Monday evening (April 23) your Association held a Town Hall Meeting at Northwood Hills Elementary School. About 100 people showed up, and they were very interested and asked lots of questions.

The program included short presentations by both of our councilmembers: Lois Finkelman and Sandy Greyson. Deputy Chief Troy McClain gave a run down on the crime situation in North Central Operations and then Dr. Everett Williams (principal of NHE) spoke about the upcoming improvements in the school made possible by passage of the new bond issue.

Staff members from various city departments were present to answer questions and to listen to neighborhood concerns. What follows is a list of concerns expressed by attendees and by neighbors who submitted questions and the response by City staff or our councilmembers.

1. a concern was expressed about the speeding cut through traffic each morning on Meadowcreek between Belt line Rd. and Hillcrest. Your Association has attempted to get a four way stop sign at Crestmere and Meadowcreek installed but have had no action. Councilmember Finkelman said that she would follow up and try to move the request along.
2. Many people expressed concern that Briarmead is the only street in Northwood Hills that has not been resurfaced. Mr. Steve White from the Street Department responded by saying that the work is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2001.
3. How can we get various creek beds cleaned up? Over grown trees and bushes are making the creeks ugly and impede the flow. The answer was not one we wanted to here. Most of the creeks in our area are private and not the responsibility of the property owners that border the creek. No help from the city.
4. Alleys, alleys and more alley concerns. The new semi-automated trash trucks are damaging the alleys; they are much heavier than the old trucks. They are driving off of the alley and causing damage to adjacent property. Dwain Bowie from the sanitation department explained that they are having problems with a number of their drivers not being careful enough driving the route. Many have been diciplined and retrained. If you have a problem call 311 and report any damage to the sanitation department. As far as alley repairs go the street dapartment is only doing temporary repairs with asphalt. The city has little resources to repair alleys, and they are a year behind schedule on making repairs. Your association will continue to follow up to try and improve our chances to get our alleys fixed.
5. Some concern has been expressed about the mowing of the medians in our area. Some of the medians are maintained by you Association and are mowed on a regular basis. The medians on the main streets are mowed by the city every two weeks (weather permitting). We have had a lot of wet weather and it has caused the city many problems. The grass grows fast and they can't get in to mow it. Things should improve in the future.

Photos from the April 2001 Town Hall Meeting are here on this web site.

A mailing to all Northwood Hills residents (even if you're not yet an NHHA member) went out on April 10th. Most anything was fair game for discussion; many of you sent your questions via this web site and others experimented with "snail mail". ALL of your concerns were passed along to the appropriate city officials; THANK YOU!

March 2001

The Northwood Hills Elementary School is an important part of our community and it's success plays a key role in our property values. You will want to consider participating in the two PTA fundraisers that are being conducted this spring in support of its program.

First is the annual plant sale. You can order top quality nursery plants from the PTA and help our neighborhood school and at the same time, make our neighborhood look great. Order forms can be obtained from the school or contact Lynn Carlton, 972-392-2749 and she will fax you an order form. You can also call Sherry Peart at 972-233-6858 to ask questions or place an order. The deadline is April 3 and you must prepay your order. Your plants can then be picked up at the school on Friday, April 20 between 2p and 6p. Prices per flat are $14 and $20

Second is the Spring Fundraiser that takes place at the school on Friday, April 6, 2001 at 6:30 pm. A barbecue dinner, crafts for the kids, a DJ will be playing music, a silent auction, and a live auction will be held. Tickets are $10 at the door and $7.50 in advance. Please come see our wonderful school and support the neighborhood. The PTA is also accepting donations for the silent and live auctions. If you have something you would like to donate or would like to purchase tickets, please call Lynn Carlton at 972-392-2749 or Dina Matthews at 972-735-8432.

January 2001

Here's the agenda for the annual NHHA meeting, to be held at 7pm on Monday, January 29th, 2001 at the Northwood Hills Elementary School:

1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Minutes of the January 2000 annual meeting
3. Financial report for 2000
4. Budget 2001
5. President's Message
6. Election of Directors - term ends January 2003
7. Recognize special NHHA people
8. Old Business
9. New Business
10. Adjourn

Special Notice:
The late-January earthquake in India has far-reaching impact. North Texas (including Northwood Hills) is home to 80,000 immigrants from India. Please consider making a donation through your workplace. Please call (972)234-4268 and make your donations payable to the India Association of North Texas/EarthQuake Relief Fund. In the bottom of the check make a note: Quake Relief.

India Association of North Texas
777 S Central Expy Ste 7C
Richardson TX 75080-7422

November 2000

Many burglaries lately .. if you're an NHHA member, sign up for the email alerts.

All of Northwood Hills will be on one bulky trash schedule, starting in January 2001. Residents east of Hillcrest should have received a lavendar flyer from the Dallas Department of Streets, Sanitation and Code Enforcement, advising of the change to the second Monday week.

October 2000

Due to the additional traffic diverted thru Northwood Hills due to the "Coit Repaving," we are doubling the daytime hours of our Police Patrol for November and December. During this experiment, we'll be measuring our success in reducing side street speeders; school zone violators; and open garage door crimes.

Every effort will be made to have an officer on duty for five random daytime hours Mon. – Fri.. This is in addition to the night time coverage. There may be times when you might not be able to reach our patrol person. The scheduled officers occasionally have personal or police emergencies and a substitute is not available. If there is no answer when you call, leave a message and you will be called back. But remember, in an emergency, always call 911 first. Incidentally, our officers are compensated for the actual hours worked, not the hours they are scheduled to work.

Here are some examples when you might want to call our patrol:

• loud parties;
• out of town and your house is unattended;
• coming home alone late at night;
• regular (predictable) neighborhood speeding; or
• after calling 911

A community meeting was held on 5 October at RISD Academy (13630 Coit Road) to discuss the Spring Valley / Coit Urban Design Study. The issues included land use and zoning; intersection, median and landscape improvements; and recreational trails. Contact Keith Krum at 214-670-1285 for more information. The 20-page handout (775 KB download) requires the free Adobe PDF reader, and is now available here on www.northwoodhills.org.

Webmaster's note: I tried compressing this file, but it only saved about 15 KB so I didn't bother posting a ".zip" version.

More items may now be recycled: glass, mixed paper, chipboard and aerosol cans have been added. However, you must now place the paper products in brown paper bags, and the rest in blue translucent bags. We have all the details on the NHHA Recycling page.

September 2000

Val Collins has resigned her spot on the NHHA Board, and is replaced by Barb McAlister. Welcome aboard, Barb! (and Val -- we'll miss you!)

The Northwood Hills Homeowners Association, Inc., represented by Larry Baker, ex-President, has had a significant impact on the Spring Valley/Coit Urban Design Study. The final report will be coming out next month at a general meeting. You will be notified through an announcement on our web site.

This study incorporated the area from Hillcrest east and north along I-635/US-75 to Spring Valley; west to Coit; north to Beltline and west back to Hillcrest.

A Summary of Recommendations will include:

1. Improvements to Alpha Road intersection on Coit Road.
2. Median landscaping along Coit
3. Plant trees and corner landscaping at Coit and Spring Valley
4. Develop a new shopping center proposal on Coit between Spring Valley and Haymeadow.
5. Rezoning of the Haymeadow townhouses.
6. Landscaping improvements and a new Preston Ridge bike route along TXU easement just west of Coit, that will connect to Peyton and down to Valley View Park.
7. Cottonwood Hike and Bike Trail underpass at US 75.
8. Widening of US 75 and frontage road as part of the new interchange
9. Cottonwood Hike and Bike Trail along Maham.
10. Enhanced pedestrian crossing at Coit and Spring Valley.

Thanks to Larry for his continuing interest in the homeowners of Northwood Hills.

The Dallas City Council voted 8-3 (effective 13 September 2000) that you must carry something (such as a plastic bag) to collect your dogs' stools while walking the dogs. First offense: $25. Second offense: $50. Beyond two: $100 per offense.

The new flag is a Northwood Hills Elementary School flag which was donated by the students who graduated from our sixth grade in 1999. They raised money to have a bench on our playground (received, but not yet installed). They had a little money left and decided to have a flag made. Blue, yellow and green are our school colors. Thanks for noticing and being interested. Everett Williams, principal

August 2000

Our web site was selected as the FIRST EVER to be spotlighted on the home page of the Dallas Homeowners League website. Thanks to all of our Dallas neighbors for this honor!

July 2000

More road humps and stop signs are part of the City of Dallas Staff Recommendations (July 2000). This includes 4-way stop signs at Cliffbrook/Overview, and Maplecrest/Edgecrest, as well as road humps on Edgecrest.

June 2000

Information on the NHE parking lot expansion has been moved to the Northwood Hills Elementary School page, elsewhere on this website.

Several Northwood Hills residents have asked about the activity at Hillcrest Park (west side of 13800 Hillcrest .. adjacent to Northwood Hills).

(click on any thumbnail for a larger image)

The trailers and storage huts in Hillcrest Park (that looked like a gypsy camp) belonged to production crews that were filming commercials. They had a permit from the Dallas Park District. The agreement was that they would repair the grounds when finished. From the looks of the park before they started, it won't take much!

March 2000

2000 Census

Every ten years the United States Census Bureau conducts a survey of all persons living in the country. Information collected in the census will be used to determine where $185 billion of federal funding will be spent annually and for setting city council district boundaries and other election boundaries.It is important to be counted.

Please look for your census form and complete it in a timely manner. Forms were mailed in mid-March and a mail-back response is requested by April 1, 2000.

Bagged grass clippings

Special use adhesive-backed grass collection tags go on sale at the Fretz Park Recreation Center on March 6. Between March 15 and April 14, bagged dead grass clippings will be collected at the regular garbage collection site, provided a tag is attached to each bag. NO GRASS BAGS WILL BE COLLECTED BEYOND APRIL 14. The tagged collection service is again authorized in response to citizen requests for a spring lawn “scalping” collection period. The $1.50 per bag charge is required to reduce the cost of the special project.

January 2000

A rabid gray-and-white stray cat bit a 6-year old girl and her father on the 23rd (Sunday), in the 6600 block of Glenhurst. Dallas Animal Control has issued a rabies alert for western Northwood Hills (the area west of Hillcrest). Residents are warned to stay away from suspicious looking animals. If you live in this area and have seen this cat, please call Dallas Animal Control (phone number: 311). They also recommend vacinnating pets for rabies.

A growing number of our neighbors have tree limbs and trash piled in front of their house, and it is going to be at least THREE WEEKS before the city will pick it up (week of Feb 7).

If you are concerned about how this impacts the appearance of your neighborhood, call the City at 311 and report these code violation. The piles will be ticketed by a Code Compliance Officer. If the trash is not then removed, serious fines will be imposed.

I've had luck calling people and warning them that, "you probably didn't realize your trash is out early - the City is really clamping down - and I didn't want you to get a ticket."

Again, the guidelines are: Street-side trash will be picked up once a month in Northwood Hills.

South of Spring Valley or West of Hillcrest

Mon.-Sat. of the week with the 2nd Monday of the month

North of Spring Valley and East of Hillcrest

Mon.-Sat. of the week with the 1st Monday of the month

Trash can't be put out any earlier than Thursday and no later than Sunday before your pickup week.

The second issue is the growing number of "yard sales" that are being held in homeowners' front yards. These must be in the rear of the house or on a patio. Also no more than two can be held a year. The same procedure as above can be followed when this code violation occurs.

These can be touchy situations. Good luck.

November 1999

As of Monday, November 29th, it' s now a violation of city ordinance for homeowners to place bulk trash curbside earlier than the Thursday before their scheduled pickup week. If you missed it, see the article in our Summer 1999 newsletter for complete details.

The Dallas Plan produced a program which featured NHHA President Larry Baker, in a discussion on Dallas Community Television (AT&T Cable Services (formerly TCI) public access channel 27A). This aired on Tuesday, 16 November from 6:30pm-7pm. So it wasn't "60 Minutes" .. it was the NHHA's 15 minutes of fame!

What does the future hold for the Dallas Public Library? They are holding Community Forums at the branches from November 2-13th. The one at the Fretz Park Branch Library was Sunday, November 7. If you couldn't attend this meeting, please complete the Master Plan Survey on the web (or, pick up an old-fashioned paper copy at the branch).