News and Events | Resident Newsletter

Village of Grogan's Mill - The Woodlands, Texas

News from Grogan's Mill Village Association

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Grogan's Mill Village Association Newsletter June 27, 2006

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in this issue

-- Woodlands Development Company plans for Grogan's Mill

-- We are still fighting for the sound wall for Glen Mill

-- The Sunset Springs/High Oaks communities meet with Wal-Mart

-- GMVA needs a new board member, are you interested?

-- Does the 'community owned' area around your home need work?

-- Road work plan for the area

-- Minutes of the GMVA Meeting with Wal-Mart regarding the Sawdust Road Store

-- Shopping Center News

Greetings!

We would like to welcome all of the new subscribers to this newsletter.

We are interested in your concerns and comments. Please let us know what we should do to make Grogan's Mill a more vibrant community. Send your comments to: suggestions@grogansmillvillage.com.

Pass It On: If you find this newsletter of value, please pass it on to your friends and neighbors.

Woodlands Development Company plans for Grogan's Mill

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At the June Meeting of the GMVA, Tim Welbes, President of The Woodlands Development Company talked about their plans for Grogan's Mill. He reaffirmed that they plan to close the WAC in the fall of 2008. They say they are losing money on the facility but they will keep it open to facilitate Laura Wilkerson in her quest for another Olympic Gold Medal in diving. The plans for areas around the WAC and the country club are not finalized; they are dependent on the overall real estate market and a number of other considerations. The diving and swim clubs which operate out of the WAC are also interested in keeping it open. We have told these organizations that we would like to participate in any plans and discussions for keeping the WAC open.

Kelly Barry, the property manager, for the owner of the shopping center said the owner is a long term player and plans to keep the center open. They are working on plans to improve the center.

The GM Village Center merchants association, headed up by Nick Ransford of the Beverage Shoppe continues to evolve. In conjunctions with the GMVA you will soon find on the GMVA web site introductions to the owners/managers/employees of these stores and what they are doing to improve services to customers. Store owners are also investigating turning the center into a wi-fi hotspot. This would make it the first in the area.

On the GMVA website, you can find the minutes of this meeting which has more details and newspaper articles about the meeting.

We are still fighting for the sound wall for Glen Mill

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The GM of The Community Association of the Woodlands and community representative met with TxDOT on June 16 to discuss the next steps in building a sound wall for the residents of Glen Mill. They have no problem funding the wall, but there is a technical problem getting the trucks across the ditch. TXDOT will not pay for the road that is needed to cross the ditch. There is a new lighter weight material that is being considered for use, it might negate the need for the road, but the wall would most likely have to be within residents' property lines. The group that met with TxDOT also met with the manufacturer of a light weight sound wall last Friday. They asked the manufacturer to make a presentation to the WCA at a July meeting.

Minutes of the Meeting

The Sunset Springs/High Oaks communities meet with Wal-Mart

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Sixty members of the community met with about ten people from Wal-Mart at the Spring-Woodlands Church of Christ on last Tuesday, June 20 for three hours. Members of the community were upset and expressed their emotions. Some have started a petition seeking to stop the development; they have not contacted the GMVA so we can not direct you to them.

There are a number of web sites that assist communities in preventing Wal-Mart from establishing stores such as Sprawl Busters. These have been successful where there are zoning laws and when Wal-Mart has not bought the property. Wal-Mart was stopped in Jersey Village when they tried to develop a store. On investigation we found it cost them $72,000 in legal fees and Wal-Mart had not bought the property. In Montgomery County we do not have zoning laws and Wal-Mart has bought the land. If someone wants to lead the effort to stop Wal-Mart we will assist them. A summary of the meeting is on the GMVA Web site.

We have not heard from Wal-Mart since the meeting. They had said we would provide copies of their site drawings and plans. We hope they will provide them.

Minutes of the Meeting

GMVA needs a new board member, are you interested?

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Area Representative Sammie Miller resigned since she has taken a job which requires her to work Monday evenings. She is also running as the Democrat for the Texas House of Representatives for District 15. We are looking for a replacement which the board will choose. We want someone who is vitally interested in the community, willing to lead a committee, and who will attend at least two meetings of the Board prior to their selection. If you are interested and willing to do this we would like to hear from you. We have a good group that wants to make GM a better place to live, come join us.

Does the 'community owned' area around your home need work?

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The Woodlands Community Association (WCA) has asked the villages to tell them about the infrastructure changes needed in their areas. These would include problems with the parks, pathways, informational signage, garbage collections, street lighting and fire fighting. If you have any suggestions for improvement please submit them by July 10th to bruce@gmva.org.

Road work plan for the area

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Traffic signals are in the plans for areas affecting Grogan's Mill residents at Woodlands Parkway at Lake Woodlands, Forestgate, Flintridge and Ashlane Way.

On Lake Woodlands Drive at New Trails, East Panther Creek, Split Rock, West Panther Creek, Shadow Bend, Falconwing and Cochran's Crossing.

On Grogan's Mill at Timberloch, Lake Robbins and Lake Front Circle. In the future, one is planned for Six Pines at intersection between the Mall & Market Street

Minutes of the GMVA Meeting with Wal-Mart regarding the Sawdust Road Store

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Wal-Mart, represented by Ms. Kim Randle and about ten from the company including architects, site engineers, landscapers, store operations personnel, traffic consultants, and public relations staff. Approximately 50-60 residents attended. Ms. Randle presented slides outlining Wal-Marts policies and operations. This was followed by others who showed site plans, the architectural design, and a representative who discussed traffic. The slides will be made available to the GMVA and will be posted on the web site. Most of the residents were angry and upset at the building of the store. A two hour question and answer period followed and is summarized below. Wal- Mart agreed to relook at certain aspects of the development. Everyone should be aware that Wal-Mart has no obligation to meet or even talk with the GMVA or anyone else other than the country and then only regarding road access.

A draft of the minutes from the meeting with Wal- Mart on June 20, 2006 is available on the Web site.

Shopping Center News

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Randall's has the lowest prices around this week on many vegetables including artichokes a $1, cantaloupes at $1.50 The store has a new look. Try it out.

Did you know that you can get great interest rates at Countrywide? While many think of it only as a mortgage broker it is also a bank and offers financial planning. Rates for one year CD's are 5.5% starting at $10,000. Money market checking accounts are paying 4.5% with a minimum of $10,000. They operate in 13 states and have $35 billion on deposit. Stop in and meet the manager Darrell Jenkins.

The Beverage Shoppe has set up a rack of good, value priced wines for under $5 recommended by Nick Ransford the manager. Try the Oak Vineyards reds.