Dean Highland Neighborhood Association

Tag: Hillcrest Park

  • An Update from our City Councilman, Darius Ewing

    Hi Dean Highlanders,

    Wow, three neighborhood news updates in a row! How did we ever get so lucky? Councilman Ewing has heard us roar, and he sent us the following response on Monday (7/13):

    I want to apologize for my delayed response here. My wife and I welcomed our son two weeks ago and are still getting back into our normal lives and settling in as a family of four, albeit with much less sleep.

    I want to acknowledge that this process has taken longer than anyone would have expected. Not that any of you need an example of how long it’s been, but since we began this process we’ve had two city managers, two city attorneys, three mayors, and three separate presidents at Baylor Scott & White. Since discussions began in earnest in late 2020, there has been a lot of stop-and-go. Plenty of times it seemed like the path was clear and we had momentum, only to be stopped in our tracks by an unexpected roadblock.

    The process on paper is simple: Baylor Scott & White demolished their old hospital and has been looking to sell the acreage from the site ever since. Once the city engaged, there were no other serious conversations with other end-users. I sincerely wish it was as easy as the city fronting the money, acquiring the land, and soliciting plans for development. However, with the environmental concerns we uncovered last year, we’ve had to explore an alternative before the city can acquire the property. This looks like signing off on an MSD, or municipal settings designation, an official state designation certifying that groundwater beneath a specific urban property is not used for drinking and is legally prohibited from future use. To my knowledge, this won’t prohibit development of housing or a park, but it will allow us to acquire the land without prohibitively expensive remediation.

    As of June 12th, BSW was still working through their private contractor to complete the environmental process with TCEQ (the state environmental agency) in order to submit an MSD application.

    That is where we are now. We’re waiting on that application to be completed, submitted, and approved. Once approved, the city will continue our efforts to formally acquire the land and bring development and green space, including parkland, to the area. That is my commitment to you, both as your council representative and as a former neighbor.

    I wish I could put a definitive timeline on this, but with multiple large, regulated private entities and large governmental entities involved, I would only be giving you an estimate that would likely result in unmet expectations. I am committed to seeing this through, and if at any point you’re unsure where we are in the process, or feel it’s been too long since your last update, I’m happy to field any questions or concerns, or even meet for coffee.

    It’s not every day, or in every city, that you get such a swift, thoughtful response from a Councilman. You can still send him an email to let him know Hillcrest Park is on your mind: ccouncil4@wacotx.gov.

    Don’t forget to congratulate him on child #2…

  • An update on our Hillcrest Park email campaign

    Hi Dean Highlanders,

    Melett Harrison, who runs the City of Waco’s wonderful, fantabulous Neighborhood Engagement team, sent us this email in response to our email campaign for Hillcrest Park:

    I wanted to let you know that this property is not being ignored.  I understand it’s taking MUCH longer that DHNA wants it to, but rest assured it’s not fallen off the city’s radar. (neither elected officials nor staff)

    Thanks for continuing to include us in your newsletters.  It’s great to be able to keep up with your efforts.

    It’s truly great that we have such a thoughtful City looking out for us.

    What do you think, Dean Highlanders? Is Hillcrest Park still on the City’s radar?

    I encourage you ask our district’s Councilman, Darius Ewing, yourself via email: ccouncil4@wacotx.gov. If you’re not confident in your writing prowess, just copy-and-paste this:

    Dear Mr. Ewing,

    The Dean Highland Neighborhood Association is committed to bringing a 14-acre, world-class park to the empty Hillcrest lot.

    We are here to collaborate and bargain, not grovel for slivers of green space. Please ensure, Mr. Councilman, that Dean Highlanders get the respect and dignity they deserve when it comes to this space. As of today, this has not happened. The lot is still empty. The garbage is still piling up. And the intent of the land’s donors — a vast space for the public good – has not been met and may even be considered to be actively ignored by City actors and Baylor, Scott, and White.

    You depend on me for my vote, and I am actively paying attention to how you treat my neighborhood and the ongoing Hillcrest Park debacle.

    Feel free to “cc” the Dean Highland Neighborhood Association to the email you send to our councilman, too (our email address is deanhighlandwaco@gmail.com). Please, your voice matters. Email Councilman Ewing today.

  • Email Campaign for Hillcrest Park

    Hi Dean Highlanders,

    I trust your summer is going well. We on the DHNA board just wanted to remind you that the Dean Highland Neighborhood Association fought for a park at the Hillcrest location about 10 years ago. We were told by city council then that there were plenty of other green spaces nearby to enjoy.

    I recently received the same reply while trying to get a humble footpath installed over at Wenz Park, and it reminded me of just how precarious our park situation is. I spent 12 months making phone calls, writing emails, and researching history only to get a short, curt email stating that there are plenty of other nearby options for myself and my family to enjoy in Waco.

    We might get the same response from the City for our Hillcrest Park advocacy if we don’t continue to keep pressure on Baylor, Scott, and White and our City representatives.

    So, we are calling on all Dean Highland residents to send an email to our City Council representative, Darius Ewing, reminding him that he works for us and that we want a world-class park in the space that is currently occupied by an empty lot. If you’re not confident in your writing prowess, just copy-and-paste this:

    Dr Dear Mr. Ewing,

    The Dean Highland Neighborhood Association is committed to bringing a 14-acre, world-class park to the empty Hillcrest lot.

    We are here to collaborate and bargain, not grovel for slivers of green space. Please ensure, Mr. Councilman, that Dean Highlanders get the respect and dignity they deserve when it comes to this space. As of today, this has not happened. The lot is still empty. The garbage is still piling up. And the intent of the land’s donors — a vast space for the public good – has not been met and may even be considered to be actively ignored by City actors and Baylor, Scott, and White.

    You depend on me for my vote, and I am actively paying attention to how you treat my neighborhood and the ongoing Hillcrest Park debacle.

    Feel free to “cc” the Dean Highland Neighborhood Association to the email you send to our councilman, too. Mr. Ewing’s email address is ccouncil4@wacotx.gov, and our email address is deanhighlandwaco@gmail.com.

    This is our neighborhood Dean Highlanders, and sometimes we have to fight for what is ours.

    Our next Dean Highland Conservancy Initiative service project, by the way, is on August 8th. Mark your calendars!

  • Our Conservancy Initiative recap for Saturday, May 23rd

    Hi Dean Highlanders,

    Our last neighborhood cleanup before the summer break was a big hit. We didn’t find any guns (this time!), but we did do something different and tackled one of our streets directly instead of relying on the City to maintain the rubbish.

    Ten Dean Highlanders — that’s right, ten – showed up to pitch in this time: Austin from Pine, Tinker from Pine, and the Strietzels from Maple.

    Most of you will know Austin and Tinker thanks to their longtime service as board members of the Dean Highland Neighborhood Association, but the Strietzels are still relatively new so give them all a hearty greeting next time you see them (perhaps at our 6th annual summer meet-and-greet gathering!).

    We hit 27th Street with all we had, and did a good bit of work on it. I know many Dean Highlanders were, and are, grateful for our efforts.

    A conservancy for Dean Highland’s Hillcrest Memorial Park? Run by the neighborhood association? You better believe it, baby!

    Catch you all at Saturday’s (May 30th) sixth annual meet-and-greet gathering in the police station parking lot.

  • Fundraiser Friday

    Hello Dean Highlanders,

    It’s that time again. Your humble neighborhood association board has been hard at work.

    We’ve been serving others through our bi-monthly Conservancy Initiative cleanups. Will we see you at the next cleanup on May 23rd?

    We’ve been advocating for you. Don’t forget to head on over to the City Council meeting on May 19th (it starts at 6pm) if you’re concerned about the rezoning efforts for the northwest corner of Dean Highland.

    We love fellowshipping with you, too. Will we see you at the 6th Annual Summer Gathering on May 30th? It’ll be at the police station parking lot again.

    We have big plans for the summer and beyond, and we need your financial support as well as your physical and spiritual support. We won’t be paying ourselves a salary with your donations. We’ll be using it to assert a bit more independence from the City of Waco’s amazing grants program. We’ll be using it to further enhance our ongoing projects. We’ll be using it to throw another awesome Holiday Party in December. That’s it.

    Can you donate to the cause this Friday? If so, here’s our Venmo account. Just click on it to get started. There should be a spot for you to tell us why you’re donating this Friday.

    Are you giving because you support our ongoing history projects? Or perhaps you want to donate to the war chest we will need to fight for every acre of Hillcrest Park? Maybe you want to contribute to this years’ wild and wacky Holiday Party?

    If you don’t do Venmo, you can always drop off some cash or a check at our Treasurer’s house. Rick lives at 2925 Maple Ave. He says you can put the much-needed financial support right into his mailbox, without even having to knock on the door!

    Please, we need all the financial support we can get.

    (If you have any questions about taxes and donations to the neighborhood association, please shoot us an email.)

    Thanks, and enjoy your weekends…

  • THANK YOU! Saturday’s cleanup (Mar. 28th) was a big hit

    A big shout-out to three “new” Dean Highlanders (including a little one!) for showing up and helping us get our conservancy initiative off the ground. We hit the empty-grass-field-portion of our future Hillcrest Park site hard, and we got some fellowshipping in, too:

    Our next cleanup will be April 11th. If you’ve got an alleyway you’d like to nominate for a guerilla-style cleanup, just click here and fill out the form!

  • This Saturday’s (the 28th) conservancy initiative project: Hillcrest Park

    Hello Dean Highlanders,

    We will be cleaning the empty lot at Hillcrest Park this Saturday. That’s right, we’re cleaning the empty lot that will hopefully someday be a world-class park. The fun starts at 10am, and will go until noon or so. Here is the empty lot on a map:

    Just look for the Dean Highland tent. The folks at Keep Waco Beautiful have loaned us the cleaning equipment for this project.

    As a reminder, the inaugural Dean Highland Conservancy Initiative (DHCI) project was a big hit: we hit an alleyway in between Ethel and Homan from 26th to 27th streets. It was a total blast, and I envision Saturday’s cleanup to be just as fun.

    For more on the DHCI in general, check this out.

    If you have any questions about this Saturday’s cleanup, shoot us an email!

  • Fundraiser Friday

    Hello Dean Highlanders,

    Wow, what a week. What a couple of weeks!

    We’ve been serving others through our bi-monthly Mitchell Park cleanup. We’ve been advocating like crazy for our vision of Hillcrest Park. On the fellowshipping front, our oral history project (in partnership with Baylor’s Institute for Oral History) has supplemented the best neighborhood holiday party that’s thrown in Waco.

    There’s no doubt about it: the Dean Highland Neighborhood Association has kicked its tempo up a notch. I hope y’all like it.

    In order to keep this tempo up, we need your financial support as well as your physical and spiritual support. We won’t be paying ourselves a salary with your donations. We’ll be using it to assert a bit more independence from the City of Waco’s amazing grants program. We’ll be using it to further enhance our ongoing projects. We’ll be using it to launch the Dean Highland Conservancy Initiative. That’s it.

    Can you donate to the cause this Friday? If so, here’s our Venmo account. Just click on it to get started. There should be a spot for you to tell us why you’re donating this Friday. Are you giving because you support our ongoing history projects? Or perhaps you want to donate to the war chest we will need to fight for every acre of Hillcrest Park? Are you giving to the flyers and equipment that we utilize to lovingly and humbly serve our neighbors?

    Please, we need all the financial support we can get. (If you have any questions about taxes and donations to the neighborhood association, please shoot us an email at deanhighlandwaco@gmail.com.)

    Thanks, and enjoy your weekends…

  • We’re back in the news…yet again!

    Hi Dean Highlanders,

    Your neighborhood association board has been hard at work behind the scenes and in front of the cameras. The good folks at KWTX 10 News reached out to us to report on our Hillcrest Park fight, and they did a great, thoughtful job. Here is the story.

    Careful readers and listeners will have noticed that the DHNA’s next steps are to launch the Dean Highland Conservancy Initiative. We will have more information about this next step in the fight for our vision of Hillcrest Park, but we have already been laying the groundwork for it with our bi-monthly cleanings of Mitchell Park. With our historical heritage, unique social & economic demographics, and laser-like focus on service, advocacy, & fellowship, Dean Highland is perfectly situated to launch this conservancy initiative. Stay tuned!

  • IT PASSED!! Plus some other news and odds and ends about your favorite neighborhood

    Hi Dean Highlanders,

    Yesterday’s (Mar. 3rd) city council vote — to approve or not approve a Municipal Settings Designation for the empty Hillcrest lot – has passed. Hooray! You can check out the video here. Once you click on the link, it will take you to a screen where you can click on the “Executive Session” button:

    This will take you right to the vote. Hillcrest Park was first on the agenda.

    A big “thanks!” to Melett Harrison at Waco’s Neighborhood Engagement team for digging up the link, and a big “thanks!” to our city councilman, Darius Ewing, for representing us so well. If you feel so inclined, please shoot him a “thank you” message via email to ccouncil4@wacotx.gov.

    There will also be another television segment about our advocacy for a world-class park in Dean Highland airing tonight on KWTX 10 News. It will be part of the 10 o’clock edition.

    This is just a tiny step towards making our vision for Hillcrest Park a reality. We still have a lot of work to do. Your humble neighborhood association board is currently hatching a plan to keep us engaged in service, advocacy, and fellowship (the DHNA’s stated goals) throughout the neighborhood while the city’s bureaucracy does its thing. Stay tuned!

    In fact, you can start by tuning in to our “Voices from Dean Highland” oral history project. Thanks for all your support.