Happy Valentines!  Check out the candy heart messages today on the Montrose trees btw W Clay and W Dallas - all of which are slated to be cut down by the Montrose TIRZ unless we show up in MASS to show the new mayor that mature trees can and must be saved.  Mayor Whitmire IS listening and he cares about this project being done right the first time.  Tree-razing is irreversible. 

A WORD ON DRAINAGE:

Don't let the propaganda coming out from the other side fool you!  They say the drainage work will kill all the trees anyway, BUT THAT'S NOT TRUE - IT DOESN'T HAVE TO.  Houston has put in new drainage all over town with out taking out EVERY SINGLE TREE on the sides of the streets.  It is the 10 foot sidewalk design that is dooming the trees.  And that can be changed.  INSIST ON A TREE-PRESERVING SIDEWALK DESIGN.  

The "drainage vs. trees" arguments that they are pushing now are no different than the "bikes vs. trees" or "school kids vs. trees" arguments they used against us in the fall.   These are false dichotomies.  Don't buy into their continuous spinning of the message.  Lots of our taxpayer dollars are being spent to pay a professional PR firm (Holloway Environmental + Communications) to cook up this nonsense and try to greenwash this ill-conceived project.  https://www.hollawayenv.com

And by the way, they also say this project needs to be speeded up before the next hurricane season because Montrose has such a terrible flooding problem.  Huh? Many of us have been here from Allison to Harvey and this doesn't ring true so we began to look at the real data. We will soon be releasing a comprehensive report that shows, using detailed evidence from the TIRZ's own drainage study, that: a) Montrose doesn't really have a terrible flooding problem and b) this project is going to do woefully little to incrementally improve Montrose drainage anyway!  And at what cost in $$ and trees?  Is this wise urban development and a good use of YOUR tax dollars?  

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP THE TREES AND ENSURE RATIONAL PROJECT DESIGN: 

Monday, February 19, 6:30 pm is the next public board meeting for the Montrose TIRZ.  It will be held at St. Stephen's church in the Havens Center which is the small purple building facing W Alabama.   You can also attend via Zoom, by registering here for zoom link:  http://tinyurl.com/22jmn3se  Please WEAR RED to indicate you oppose the project moving forward with its current design. 

After the mayor's recent offer to pause this project until a Town Hall can be held, the special interest groups who are pushing hard to accelerate the project and get the trees down before spring arrives will all be there in force.  

WE MUST SHOW UP TO COUNTER THEIR INTENSE LOBBYING!   PLEASE ATTEND AND BRING YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS!