VOL 2 No. 39
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FORT BEND FAIR. BALANCED. INFORMATIVE. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2009
Free flu shots to benefit Santa’s Exchange
School board rejects land swap plan
Amy Saenz, left, Leena Taneja; Back Row: Eva Short; Jackie Freeman, Kaelyn Stolhand. Methodist Sugar Land Hospital, in collaboration with Fort Bend and Sugar Land Exchange Club and the Sugar Land Rotary, will provide free flu shots on Saturday, Nov. 14 to community members who participate in Santa’s Gift Exchange. Fort Bend residents can bring a new, unwrapped toy or clothing item to Methodist Sugar Land Hospital from 8 a.m. to noon in exchange for a flu shot. The toys and clothing will benefit local children in the Fort Bend area. “We are proud to partner with the local exchange clubs to provide this community offering. This is a great way for the community to stay healthy while also putting smiles on children’s faces during the
holiday season,” said Chris Siebenaler, CEO of Methodist Sugar Land Hospital. In 2008, Santa’s Gift Exchange provided toys and clothing to more than 3,000 economically disadvantaged children in Fort Bend County. Organizers of Santa’s Gift Exchange 2009 are anticipating an increase of qualifying families due to recent economic downturns. “The statistics are showing that donations are down 20 percent overall this year, and everyone’s help is needed to meet the challenge of providing toys for our children who will not have toys this year without our help,” said Lydia Bourg, Chair of Santa’s Gift Exchange 2009. “Our community is well known for its philanthropic
values so we encourage you to participate by dropping off toys or clothing even if you have already had your flu shot,” Siebenaler said. If you would like to participate in this community event, please bring an unwrapped, new toy or clothing item to the main lobby of the new Methodist Sugar Land Hospital between the times of 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Saturday, November 14th. Methodist Sugar Land Hospital will be distributing a limited supply of the seasonal influenza vaccine to persons age 18 and over with no history of egg and/or latex allergy. Those individuals wishing to receive the H1N1 vaccine should contact their primary care physician.
SMSD drops the tax rate By BARBARA FULENWIDER Certified tax values for Stafford finally came in from the county appraisal district and on Sept. 23 Stafford Municipal School District trustees and city council members unanimously approved the total tax rate of $1.23 per $100 valuation for Stafford property owners. The maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate stayed the same at $1.04005 per $100 valuation and the interest and sinking (I&S) rate was cut by half a cent. This is the third year that the SMSD tax rate has decreased. Two years ago the total tax rate was $1.25, last year it was $1.235 and this year it’s $1.23 per $100 valuation for a $50.49 tax reduction on a residential property valued at $142,532. This year Stafford MSD Superintendent H.D. Chambers got his first unanimous vote from council on his budget and tax rate. It was 13-0 with Councilman Robert Sorbet absent.
Chambers said, “I think the vote says that the citizens of Stafford are pleased with what we’re doing.” He also said, “In April we got our preliminary (property) values and by the time we got the certified rolls the values were reduced by 12 percent. Residential valuations went down three percent and commercial went up seven percent, which amounted to almost a $300-million reduction. Total property valuations went from $2.4 billion to $2.1 billion. “The district was able to drop the tax rate for the third time in as many years because of how we positioned ourselves over the past two years with very conservative budgets,” Chambers said. “When you have as big a reduction in valuations as this, it doesn’t impact you as greatly” with conservative budgets. The superintendent also said the two ways he was able to cut the budget considerably
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was with a reduction in force and “streamlining a lot of our instructional programs. We have also competitively bid almost every cost this district has – whether it’s insurance, electricity, etc, We’ve looked at every expense and gotten the best value for every one. “We are working as efficiently as we can and we respect that this isn’t our money. I’m really proud we’re able to cut the tax rate, forecast a surplus budget and not cut a single program when you consider today’s economic climate. Many school districts are in the hole today and having to cut positions and raise taxes and we’re doing just the opposite. We’re doing very well,” Chambers said. Usually the board and city council vote on the budget and tax rate in late August but since the county appraisal district (CAD) had so many property owners protesting their valuations this year the final figures weren’t available until September.
By SESHADRI KUMAR Fort Bend ISD board of trustees in a 3-4 split vote rejected a proposal to swap a 30-acre tract of land adjacent to the Elementary School site No. 45 in Rosharon, near FM 521 and Highway 6. The district purchased the land from Hannover Estates Ltd. in Glendale Lake Estates and the site can accommodate a middle school. The district had also purchased a 65-acre tract of land that fronts FM521. “To provide enhanced opportunity and flexibility for the use of the land,” the administration proposed an exchange of the original 30 acres in Glendale Lake Estates for 30 acres adjoining the southern property line of the district’s 65-acre tract. Though the exchange would not cost anything to the district, it would split the elementary and middle school campuses. Trustee David Reitz opposed the swap because he felt that having a middle school and elementary school next to each other is more advantageous. In the 65-acre tract, the district may build an alternative education center and no specific plans have been made yet for the remaining available space. The swap would help the developer because the 30acre land near the elementary school would enable the developer to build more highend homes, while the land near FM 521 would not be as beneficial to the owner. On Monday night, Board president Bob Broxson and Trustees Susan Hohnbaum
and Laurie Caldwell voted in favor of the swap, while Trustees Sonal Bhuchar, Daniel Menendez, Reitz and Marilyn Glover opposed it. In another split vote, the board decided to appoint Jim Kij, a Sugar Land resident, to represent the school district on the board of Fort Bend County Central Appraisal District. The vacancy was caused by the resignation of Tom Shirley. The other nominee under consideration was Ricardo Garcia, Director of Research & Advanced Technologies for The Methodist Hospital System. Bhuchar proposed Kij’s name and cited his extensive community involvement as a reason for nomination. Reitz suggested that Garcia too is well qualified for the job. Kij’s appointment was approved with Reitz and Glover voting against the motion. In other actions, the board approved an inter-local agreement with the Texas Association of School Boards to study district staffing levels in preparation for the 2010/11 budget process for a fee of $70,000, plus incidental expenses. FBISD has adopted a deficit budget for the 2009/10 year. This deficit is projected to grow in the future under current budgetary allocations. Since more than 85 percent of the budget is comprised of salary and benefits, it is necessary to study the staffing levels at all areas of the organization closely as the district begins the budget process. Later, the board held a workshop to consider zoning proposals for the Elemen-
tary School No. 45 and High School No. 11 in the Sienna Plantation area which are set to open next year. The board reached a consensus on the plan of moving students east of Sienna Crossing Elementary and south of Jan Schiff Elementary to ES# 45 and moving Waterbrook students to Sienna Crossing. In the process, the new school will have 532 students in the first year, while Schiff’s population will reduce from 816 to 631. Scanlan Oaks Elementary will have 947 students. It has 958 now. Sienna Crossing student population will slightly decrease from 964 to 922. The zoning proposal for High School # 11 turned out to be more complicated and no easy solution was available. What started as zoning for one high school is now affecting at least six other high schools. Contrary to the projection that Clements High School population would decline, it has 2,800 students now and the school principal says he is happy with that number. The proposed plan recommends distributing students to high schools with lower population. Willowridge and Marshall High Schools will get more students from Elkins and Hightower zones. Dulles also needs some more students. In this rezoning process, the school board does not want to shift the same student population again and again. The board has asked the administration to refine the proposal to ensure minimal disruption to those already zoned many times.
Johnson Development’s Paula Moss named salesperson of the year The Greater Houston Builders Association named Paula Moss Salesperson of the Year/ Developer during the organization’s 2009 Houston’s Best Awards. Formerly known as PRISM, the awards honor the real estate industry’s finest sales and marketing professionals in the Houston area. Moss, who is part of Johnson Development’s custom home sales team serving the Fort Bend communities of Riverstone and Sienna Plantation, has been nominated twice before. “It is a great honor to win the award,” Moss said. “It has been a challenging year for the housing market, but we have managed to do well this year. It’s very gratifying to be recognized for that effort.” Moss may add to her awards shelf Oct. 30 during the Texas Association of Builders’ Star Awards in Dallas. She is again
Paula Moss, Salesperson of the Year nominated for Salesperson of the Year. A long-time Fort Bend resident, Moss has 15 years of experience in new-home sales. She has been awarded a Graduate Realtors Institute (GRI) designation by the National Association of Re-
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altors and has won several awards for her performance, including being listed as one of Houston’s top five newhome sales associates in 2003 by the GHBA. The previous year, Moss won a prestigious Star award from the Texas Association of Builders. In February, she was recognized as the GHBA’s top salesperson by its Sales and Marketing Council. Moss also has been active in the community. She serves on the board of Fort Bend Lawyers Care, which provides free legal aid, and works to raise money each year for Fort Bend Women’s Center. She is incoming president of the Women’s Council of Realtors, Fort Bend Chapter. A 3,700-acre community, Riverstone is slated for 6,000 homes during the next eight years. For more information, visit www.riverstone.com.