NEWS BRIEFS Tomball hosts open house for parks, trails master plan
A digital billboard to prepare residents for hurricane season is displayed at 110 FM 1488, Conroe. (Cassandra Jenkins/ Community Impact)
BY LIZZY SPANGLER
said. “These are the people that are out there every day, telling us what they like, what they don’t like, what they need, what would make that parks experience more enjoyable. This is the feedback we really want so we know what we need to do in the future to continue to serve the community.” Lifelong Tomball resident Courtney Henry said her kids love to visit the local parks, and she would like to see current parks updated. City Manager David Esquivel said new parks could be part of the master plan to respond to new developments. “One of our biggest things is that we want to keep the feel of Tomball being a small community connected together, and so one way to do that is if you have a local park you can walk to,” Esquivel said.
Seeking feedback and opinions from the community for its parks, recreation and trails master plan, Tomball held an open house April 25. City Council Member Dane Dunagin said sidewalks and walking trails are things he is looking for in the plan. “We do not have enough safe places for people to walk,” he said. “And that’s something we really need to look into.” Developed by Four and One LLC, the master plan is expected to be put together over the summer and be adopted by City Council in early fall, Assistant City Man- ager Jessica Rogers said. “This is one of the most important, if not the most important, ways that we gather information for the parks master plan because these are the parks users,” Rogers
County launches billboards for hurricane season
The process to develop a parks, trails and recreation master plan is expected to wrap up by early fall. PARKS TIMELINE
BY CASSANDRA JENKINS
The Montgomery County O ce of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, in partnership with Clear Channel Outdoor, launched a countdown to the 2023 hurricane season via digital billboards May 11. Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough and Clear Channel representative Lee Vela said the billboards will create direct communications to residents. “When we have another incident, which we will, then we will have protocols in place to go ahead put up messages to the traveling public regarding shelter in place, evacuation, whatever the county needs to do,” Vela said. “These billboards make it available to them to be able to do that at no cost to the county.” According to a news release, eight digital billboards are posi- tioned in Conroe and Willis for public service announcements.
Dec. 19: Tomball City Council approves a professional services agreement with Four and One LLC to develop a parks, trails and recreation master plan.
April 25: The city holds an open house for the plan at the Tomball Community Center.
Summer: Tomball will put together the master plan.
Early fall: City Council is expected to
receive and adopt the master plan.
December 2022
December 2023
SOURCE: CITY OF TOMBALL COMMUNITY IMPACT
ESD 10 adds 11 full- time re ghters
BY LIZZY SPANGLER
Emergency Services District No. 10, which serves Magnolia, celebrated the hiring of 11 full-time re ghters during a swearing-in ceremony April 21, according to an April 24 news release. The re ghters were sworn in by re Chief Je Hevey. These new re ghters will serve alongside the 12 full-time re ghters who joined the department last August.
Montgomery County Emergency Services District No. 10 swore in 11 new re ghters during a ceremony April 21. (Courtesy Montgomery County Emergency Services District No. 10)
“You have chosen a rewarding pro- fession,” he said in the release. “You will have the opportunity to change, protect and save lives as a member of the Magnolia Fire Department.” ESD 10, which has a 164-square-mile
service area, also has projects underway to rebuild and remodel stations 182, 183 and 186, and build a maintenance and logistics facility in Pinehurst, Community Impact reported.
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Hockley tops list for home sales
1. Hockley Increase in home purchases (Q1 2022 Q1 2023) 2. Katy
HOT SPOTS
Out of the 206 ranked communities, only 10 saw positive year over year growth in home purchases.
0 +10% +20% +30% +40% +50% +60%
+53.9%
+49.3%
4. Porter/New Caney East
The Houston Association of Realtors ranked 206 communities by greatest increase in home purchases year over year. SOURCE: HOUSTON ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS COMMUNITY IMPACT
BY ANNA LOTZ
Homebuyers are migrating to the northern and western parts of the Greater Houston area, includ- ing portions of Hockley, Katy, Cypress, Tomball and Magnolia, a new report from the Houston Associa- tion of Realtors found. The report released April 25 ranked 206 commu- nities in the Greater Houston area by the greatest percentage increase in home purchases year over year in the rst quarter of 2023. Hockley tops the list with a 53.9% increase and an average sales price of $340,358, which is lower
3. La Porte/ Shoreacres
5. Cypress south
9. Denver Harbor
7. Sienna
+21.2%
+20.5% +19.8%
8. Five Corners +1.9%
10. Magnolia/ 1488 West
6. Tomball
+3.1%
+2.1%
+1.6%
+0.1%
anticipate that homebuyers will continue to be drawn to these outlying suburban communities,” HAR Chair Cathy Treviño said in the release.
than the Houston region’s, according to the report. “As a ordability remains a challenge and with the increasing popularity of remote work, we
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TOMBALL MAGNOLIA EDITION • JUNE 2023
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