Greater Mission Bend Area Council

The following letter was received from one of our neighbors, Gary Bickford.  We post it because we believe the information it contains is important for every citizen of the Greater Mission Bend Area.  You are free, of course, to agree or to disagree with Mr. Bickford’s position.  It is very likely that no one reading this message has ever voted in an ESD election.  Let me tell you that there is a great deal at stake here.  I do have it on good authotity that citizens from Katy are voting in relatively large numbers to support the overthrow of the representatives in support of Mission Bend.  It has been my pleasure to know and to work with Mary Blondell for over 20 years.  I personally know her to be a dedicated worker whose mission is guided by her vision of the welfare of our community.  She has no unterior political agenda, other that to serve the citizens of this community.  Please take a minute to read and give thought to Mr. Bickford’s statement.

Michael Martin, President, Greater Mission Bend Area Council 

An Emergency Services District (ESD) is a small government board charged with delivering fire and emergency services to a specific area. The ESD in your area is called Harris-Fort Bend ESD 100 and it has five ELECTED commissioners that oversee its operation. ESD 100 was created in 1998 by voters in the coverage area. It immediately contracted for service with Community Fire Department to provide 24 hour per day emergency response out of three fire stations. The closest station to your home is at Mason and Westpark Tollroad. Community is well staffed by paid firefighters during the day and supplemented at night by professional volunteers. They have saved countless lives and property through their heroic and speedy responses using state of the art equipment and apparatus.

ESD 100 operates much like you probably operate your home. The ESD pays for equipment as it goes; there is very little debt and their financial status is strong! Unlike almost any other government body you pay tax to, ESD 100 doesn’t buy today and pay tomorrow on your kids or grandkids money. ESD 100 has shown great fiscal restraint over the years and invests your tax money wisely for maximum outcome. Further the commissioners of ESD 100 have aggressively sought new ways to collect revenue in order to be able to reduce the ad valorem (property) tax you pay. In fact this year the commissioners of ESD 100 were able to assess a sales tax to those parties that travel into your ESD district, potentially using the service, and then leaving without paying their fair share. This tax strategy will save you money down the road as property taxes will not have to bear the full burden for the cost of service. The bottom line is that we have excellent fire and ambulance protection and the cost to the tax payer (tax rate) is about the same as other ESD districts that provide only fire protection.

So, why all the information on ESD 100? The ESD is in the middle of an election and the commissioners that have worked hard to make sure you and your home are protected with great equipment and responders need your vote. They are being challenged by candidates backed by Special Purpose Committee which is very similar to a Political Action Committee.  These challengers are apparently well financed judging by the high quality color political advertisements they are mailing and paying a service company to deliver. Seems odd to spend all that money for a job that pays $50 a month.  Maybe these challengers just want to show interest or share their expertise of the ESD service. If that were the case it would seem like one of them would have at least attended an ESD meeting – none of the challengers has ever been to an ESD 100 meeting in the last 12 years, nor have they worked for or volunteered for Community Fire Department. Why the interest on their part all the sudden and where are they getting their money from? Why would a Special Purpose Committee be formed to run for an ESD board?

The challengers charge that the current board has spent too much money and taxes too much. Lets look at what ESD 100 has done to secure, improve, and address the fire and emergency services for the district. The district was formed by a group of concerned citizens because there was very little funding available to the fire department. There were two front line fire trucks- neither in very good shape. It wasn’t uncommon for the first fire truck to arrive at a fire to be almost twenty years old. There was one fire station in district, on Alief Clodine near Hwy 6. A handful of firefighters worked during the daytime since the volunteers had to work. ESD 100 worked aggressively and the first thing the Commissioners did was build a fire station at 1093 and Mason to protect the “far Westside” as it was known then. Then they bought a new fire truck for that station- this is the station that protects your home today. Since then the district has supplied the fire department with a rescue truck equipped with multiple units of the Jaws of Life so that crash victims can be removed from wreckage. They bought and equipped five MICU ambulances- to put this in perspective Fort Bend County EMS has only ten units in service for the entire county. Another fire station was added neat Beechnut and Eldridge for that end of the district. Two ladder trucks have been placed- these aren’t just for commercial fires- they work well on McMansions. Finally four new fire trucks have been added to insure the fleet meets all the needs of the area. Your home sits in a very well equipped ESD with highly skilled and dedicated emergency responders.

Don’t let your fire department be dismantled, de-funded, or stripped of its quality. Your ESD 100 board has worked hard for you and they need your help now.

Please vote Election Day, May 8, 7a to 7p at  Fire Station #1 16003 Bellaire

POSTED BY GARY BICKFORD

WHAT:   The GMBAC will offer a workshop for HOA board members and staff of property management companies.  The topics will focus on the responsibilities of board members and working with attorneys and property managers.  Information will also cover how to deal with civil suits, issues with security, grants and fundraising, and architectural controls.  This will be a great opportunity to network with fellow HOA board members and to learn from each others experiences. 

A catered box lunch will be provided.  Board member Terry Blair has graciously volunteered his Mother to bake pies for this occasion.  This is a real “treat”. 

WHEN:  Saturday, April 24.  Hours are from 8:30 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. 

WHERE:  Community Volunteer Fire Department, 16003 Bellaire Blvd.

PRESENTERS:  Our program is proud to announce the following presenters:

Judge R. Jack Cagle, Presiding Judge of Harris County Civil Court at Law No. 1

Kathy Terry, practicing attorney, representing HOAs since 1991, and currently representing approximately 40 associations.

Sherri Cary, Property Manager with High Sierra Management, Inc.

COST:  Council Members: $15.   Non-members: $25.

VENDORS’ BOOTHS will also be set up to provide information for attendees.

Have you noticed the orange markers along the feeder road for the tollway as it runs through Mission Bend?  Well, at long last it is happening.  First there was the heavy landscaping at strategic places along the tollway.  Now the construction project is underway.  This part of the tollway will add a soundwall along the south side of the feeder road.  Long overdue, but welcomed nonetheless.  The project is scheduled for completion by June 1. 

This project is under the direction of Lisa Castaneda, P.E.  with the Harris County Infrastructure Department and Peter Key of the Harris County Toll Road Authority.  I want to thank Lisa and Peter for your service to our community.

This information was sent to me by Fort Bend County Judge Bob Hebert.  Many do not know that Judge Hebert was once upon a time a citizen of Mission Bend and in fact served on the Alief ISD school board.  Judge Hebert has a long history with out community.  He went on to found Eco Resources which today is Southwest Water Supply and handles the billing for many of the homes in our area. 

I  asked Judge Hebert if he knew of the origin of the name Chelford, which is the name associated with two of our local Municipal Utility Districts, Chelford One MUD and Chelford City MUD.  This is Judge Hebert’s reply to my query: 

“As for “Chelford City” that dates way back to when Allied Bank and Houston First Savings bought the land and planned an “English Country Home” motif for the development. The two MUDs were created as Chelford City and Chelford One and the development was called Chelford City. Then the federal government required banks and S&L’s to break all ties to one another, including overlapping board members and joint investment projects. After Allied and Houston First were separated, Houston First got Chelford City, but all the developer expertise was gone with Allied Bank (Walter Mischer et al). So they brought Frank Elloriagga in from Puerto Rico to manage the development for them and he changed the project name from Chelford City to Mission Bend. No effort was made to change the names of the two existing MUDs although subsequent MUDs were named Mission Bend MUDs 1 and 2. Just a little bit of history for you.”                                   

Thank you Judge Hebert for that most interesting bit of history.  Many people have contacted me to tell me that they had no idea of this history, but, like myself had always wondered how the name “Chelford” came to be associated with the Mission Bend area.  Now we know.

There is a brief addendum I will add to this story.  When the Savings and Loan Crisis hit this country in the late 70′s Houston First Savings (according to the information I have been given) became insolvent.  Basically, they went bankrupt, leaving the Mission Bend development adrift.  What started out as a large, state of the art planned community was sold off in parcels to various developers who had no accountability.  In the end, Mission Bend and the surrounding area became little more than a collection of neighborhoods.  There was no coordination of planning or development as exists in First Colony or Cinco Ranch. 

The Greater Mission Bend Area Council (GMBAC) was formed to attempt to deal with the many issues facing our community precisely due to this lack of control of our land use and development.  As it stands today, anyone can put just about any type of establishment in our community and there is very little we can do about it.  Just witness the recent additions to our neighborhood along Bellaire and tell me how you feel about them. I will have more on this at a later time.

Welcome to the website for the Greater Mission Bend Area Council.  As you can probably tell this site is “under construction”.  Please check back as we go about the process of getting this website developed and on the net.  We’ll be there shortly.