Funding Improvements in the Woodlands No Easy Undertaking

By: Sharon Aron Baron

In 2010, the Woodlands Neighborhood Improvement District was established by the Homeowners Association and the Tamarac City Commission under the Safe Neighborhoods Act. The intent of the district was to provide the community with additional tools to combat decline through crime prevention and beautification.

The Woodlands Safe Neighborhood District WNID covers 910 homes in the Woodlands and on North Laurel Circle, a small neighborhood that falls within the district’s boundaries.

The WNID’s first course of action this year has been meeting to discuss hiring an engineer, or firm, that is well-versed in designing a Redevelopment Plan that would provide for improvements related in crime prevention and beautification.

“The WNID is in the process of issuing a Request for Proposals or RFP,” said Randy Scott, Chairman of the WNID.

Some of the points Scott said the WNID would like to be addressed in the plan are:

• Provide an analysis of the entrances to the Woodlands Neighborhood and suggest distinctive features such as signage, landscape, entrance closures, security cameras, and/or street surface modifications.

• List areas of notable landscaping and rank areas for suggested improvements.

• Suggest improvements in streets-cape, such as lighting, street furniture landscaping, etc., to create a sense of place.

• Make recommendations regarding the type of walls and/or fencing appropriate to the Woodlands Neighborhood and provide relative contrition costs for each location.

• Identify priorities for placement of walls and/or fencing around the perimeter of the Woodlands Neighborhood.

Scott met with the WHOA in October to discuss receiving funding for an engineer, Several board members said they would bring it back to their sections and discuss it with them to see if they will proceed.  There are two sections that have district members that are also section presidents and will need to recuse themselves when voting: Joel Davidson of Section Eight and Michael Delemma of Section Three.  Once sections agree or disagree, they will bring this back to the WHOA for a  vote.

The most important thing the WNID will need to make any types of improvements, is a referendum, or vote. Once the district gets funded through a referendum, and residents pay for security and other improvements through an assessment on their property taxes instead of through their monthly WHOA bill, will they be able to move forward with any security or beautification features for the community.

When ballots were mailed out for the referendum election in May 2012, it was clear that residents objected to the 2 mill ad valorem tax with no definitive plan in place. With an ad valorem tax, homeowners would pay for improvements based on the value of their property. Given the amount of tension the vote was causing the community, the WNID Board lawfully cancelled the referendum that month.

Instead, Board members said at the time, they would consider a special assessment, or non-ad valorem tax, where each person would pay the same, or fixed rate, for improvements. For instance, homeowners in Tamarac currently pay the same amount per property for a non-ad valorem tax for Tamarac Fire and Rescue.

“I think by Aug 1, 2014 there may be another referendum to fund the district,” said Ed Brown, Vice Chairman and Public Information Chair. “I would say that’s very likely. That’s the latest it will be. Without it, we can’t go forward. Now, it a matter of disseminating the information properly. We don’t want a repeat of last time.”

At their monthly meetings, the Board has discussed the referendum and determined actions they needed to take to address residents’ concerns. These actions include soliciting greater community input, consensus, and committing to specific projects the funds will be used for. Also, establishing the exact amount residents would need to pay before the next referendum.

“Currently, there are people that are attending meetings that aren’t giving out the right information and they are getting into verbal altercations with people that are there. What the WNID is hoping to accomplish this next year is to put out information together for the community through mail, email, and through the WNID Website. There has been a thirst of proper information going out. We need to contact the people and we have to make sure people look at it,” said Brown.

WNID Meeting Schedule and Locations