We are no longer a Dirty Bay

My bride and I were discussing Baytown, its future, and our perceived reputation as “just another working class oil town” or dirty bay as some claim. We have an organization here named Keep Baytown Beautiful which I aligned myself with for a short spell.  It has a mission to well, keep the city beautiful. For starters I think we need a paradigm shift to make Baytown beautiful first, and then we can keep the ball rolling.

Eleanor Albon and Kathy Nelson are the movers and shakers in this organization and my hat stays off to both of them.  Eleanor runs the Adopt-a-site program and Kathy overseas beautification projects. Both of these are crucial to making Baytown a better and cleaner place to raise our families. They are making headway and it is making a difference in our city.

My new goal is to have positive input into the Strategic Planning Advisory Committee with other like-minded citizens. Our aim is to plot the 5 year future of the city. As I’ve stated before, I am all about the quality of living here, not in a new restaurant or retail store. Other committee members can worry over that.

This past week, my bride and I made our 3^rd trip into Houston for outdoor activities.  Each time we racked up about 65 miles going and coming. The 1^st and 2^nd trip were to take our grandson to Donovan Park in the Heights. This closed-in and wrought iron-fenced castle-like playground is hugely popular and is large enough that it is never really overly crowded. There is covered seating so parents can watch their kids in comfort and the gate lock is high enough that only adults can open it.

Baytown needs one of these parks – or two. Again it will require a paradigm shift from the prefab playground stuff most cities erect, including ours. As a committee member planning our city’s future, I do not want to be the proverbial flea in a lidless jar, who only jumps as high as where the lid should be. There is no lid and there is no reason Baytown can’t have a unique park where people drive 30 miles to come to it.

Look at Kemah. Mainly through one man’s vision, it is an international draw. We have some of this amazing stuff in Baytown already, so it is not unreasonable. We have Pirates Bay and the new fountain on Texas Avenue which doubles as an ice rink in winter. We have the Royal Purple Raceway. Thanks to Scott Johnson’s leadership and our hard-working parks crews, we have well maintained parks for kids to play.

The Heights in Houston.

In talking to Director of Strategic Initiatives Nick Woolery the other day I suggested we have a second and maybe a third Calypso Cove. Parks are money sinks, but if one is breaking even, or better yet, making money like Pirates Bay, to me it is a no brainer to build another or expand the one we have.

Our disc golf course is the best in the Houston metroplex! The best! We are soon to expand the trails in Jenkins Park and I am asking for elevation changes and a certified 5K trail. This may not seem important, but if it is certified, runners will train here for competition. I would love to see a flyover connecting the Blue Heron Parkway trail to Jenkins Park. This would be hugely popular, as runners can practice their hill climbing other than running over the Fred Hartman Bridge.

In the Heights of Houston, the ten foot wide sidewalks are safe because they are so heavily used. Cyclists, runners, families, dog walkers, roller skaters, and yes, geocachers are on it constantly. People are choosing a healthier lifestyle over sitting on the couch simply because it is available and easy to get to. Our city is planning an entire loop of connecting 10 foot sidewalks that will allow us to take long bike rides, hikes, and runs. Everyone is aware that our kids need to lose weight and this is one great way as a family to accomplish that goal.

I’ve made the claim for years that Baytown is not friendly toward people on bikes or afoot and if I can change that, I surely will. Healthier cities have a lot of foot traffic, but when the only walking we do is a half a parking lot occasionally, we are kidding ourselves. There is a plan to have a 10 foot wide sidewalk from the Evergreen defunct golf course all the way over to the Baytown Nature Center using old RR tracks as a roadbed.

The Goose Creek trail starting at Bayland Park will run all the way to Emmett Hutto Drive in the next expansion. Baytown can be like Kemah. We have the water resources and we can exploit them with kayak/canoe launches and amenities to draw water lovers. I am working with the tourism department to bring a Geocaching Geotour here, which will attract people from all over the country. We should be launching it in the next few months.

So, the preconceived notion that whatever we do here is “good enough” is not good enough. We need to be that flea that jumps high enough that it realizes the sky is the limit. Baytown can be THE place to visit and the place to raise a family and through your help, we can make it so. So, how do you get involved? Send me input. baytownbert@gmail.com Talk to your councilperson. Call the tourism department or the parks department and give them your suggestions. Most of all when you hear the city is trying to push through a Parks-related issue, give them a high five.

You can also go online and submit your ideas by taking the Imagine Baytown Survey!  It is very short.

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Hear ye, hear ye! Baytown Talks!

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You may well remember that the long time Internet local forum Baytown Talks re-launched January 1, 2014 as baytowntalks.net.  Well, it has taken off, to put it mildly.  We are averaging 100 new subscribers per month.

Some of our notables are Mayor DonCarlos, council members Brandon Capetillo and Terry Sain.  I’ve written each of our councilmen inviting them to join.  After all, it is in their best interest to know what people are talking about, right? 

Professor Susan Cummings came on board yesterday, which to me is an endorsement of sorts.  Susan and I agreed to disagree about ten years ago and both of us enjoy reading what the other writes.  Terry Prothro joined to keep us informed about the nature Center’s activities.

The hand of the king is Anna “Booksie” Singleton.  She is the forum’s number one moderator and keeps everything running smoothly.  Booksie (a nickname I gave her as she is an avid reader) knows what is acceptable on the forum and what is not and watches everything, like a sharp-eyed gentle hawk.

For those who may not know, a forum differs from social networking sites in that those who are members post an email-like question or statement and anyone else on the forum can write a response.  All conversations fall into categories.  It is nothing like Twitter either, as a person can write a tome and it will post – or they can post a video or photograph in the category pertaining to their interest.

Unlike Facebook, where the posts scroll out of sight and are forgotten, the category – say, CRIME, will contain many threads with relevant responses.  The thread will stay until it is way down on the list, or eliminated by the moderator or admin because it is no longer relevant.

One thread that is very popular is:  What are they building?

In this thread (heading), if someone wants to know what is happening on a corner lot in a business zone, they will ask the question.  Often times, our City’s PR person, Patti Jett will post a “fact”.  What, not speculation?  Nope.  She will inform us that such and such a business has filed intentions to build.  Incredible.  Of course, before she posts, any member can speculate and often this is the case, for better or worse.

Read a good book?  Post it in the Books and Reading section.

Have something you want to buy, sell, or simply give away?  There is a section for non-businesses to post it there.

Baytowntalks.net is proud to have ExxonMobil refinery retiree and Vietnam Veteran Ren Fitts come onboard as our military adviser.  If you don’t know this guy, you should and if you have a question about Veteran’s affairs, or just want to toot your son or daughter’s military horn, this is the place to post it.  Ren is the moderator on military affairs on the forum.

Pets.  Who doesn’t love pets?  Or gardening?  What about firearms, or your favorite restaurant?  Yup.  BaytownTalks.net has a section for each of these topics and guess what?  It’s all on a local level.  That’s right; its Baytown area folks talking about our rapidly expanding city. 

Yes, Baytownians talk about the Walking Dead and Revolution (no, the TV program!) and what is showing at the Baytown Little Theater.  Big shot actor Kenny Wade makes sure of it as he is a member of the forum.

There is a section for politics, kitchen talk for sharing recipes, Baytown Business, and a general discussion category where things like computer virus’, the Houston Texans, pet peeves, whether or not it is okay to eat something that falls on the floor if you pick it up within 5 seconds, and should we prep for the coming possible apocalypse.

The theme of the forum is Baytown, Texas - Where friendly people share and after almost three months, it is running smooth as a baby’s bottom.  Can I still use that expression?  Maybe I should create a poll on BT.net and ask our members?

If you want to know what is going on in and around Baytown, simply register on BaytownTalks.net.  You will be instructed to verify your email address, but don’t let this scare you away.  It is strictly to ensure you are not a computer virus and no one including the moderator or admin can see your password.

Baytown is growing in such a manner that soon, we will be so big, even the old timers like me will have to have a tool to know what is going on around town, besides the Baytown Sun and by the way, the Baytown Sun staff watch BT.net also, as it is an excellent way to find out what people are talking about.

Welcome to Baytown!

This is what many believe to be a typical Baytownian.

“A horrible black hole of a town. it sucks you in and it is almost impossible to break it's hold on you. It is full of worthless men and stupid women. The few good people are always trying to get out. AKA Dirty Bay   God I can't wait to get out of Baytown.”

On more than one occasion, it’s been pointed out to me that I obsess over city parks, hiking and biking trails, and over-concentrating on making Baytown friendlier to joggers and people who enjoy riding a bicycle on our road’s shoulders.  One current councilman told me one time that’s all I need to worry about and he would worry about everything else.  He scored zero points with me for that self-righteous smug and flippant remark.

Although I admit he was partially true and I say partially because frankly, there’s hardly a shoulder on any of our side roads.  Riding a bicycle around Baytown is akin to playing in the street – not a smart thing to do at all.  Forget that on any given weekend around the state, thousands of educated and hard-working Texans are competing in foot and bike races, or training for the MS-150, so when I read Chris Presley and Scott Sheley’s stance on the “most viable source of future revenue for the city” in the Baytown Sun, Tuesday, I took a keen interest.

And a little alarm sounded.

Presley went first with this: “We need to stop declining property values. Property values do not appreciate in Baytown like in most other communities. In fact, values have been trending downward in District 2 in recent years. If we can find ways to better stabilize our older neighborhoods and better stabilize those property values, in tandem with being more fiscally responsible with taxpayer’s dollars, we could eventually roll back the tax rate.”

“These people are known to be generally hard-working, if somewhat unsophisticated. Many of these people could be called hillbillies or swampers. Trailer trash is commonly seen in and around the Baytown area. Sometimes these people are referred to as "refinery trash."

Sometimes these people are referred to as "refinery trash."

Mr. Presley is in line with what I believe.  Not only do we need to stop the downward slide, we need to encourage high end house-building by hook or crook.  It’s been a pet peeve of mine for some time that many who speak about supporting this town, live in Sommerwood, Atascocita, or Jersey Village – anywhere but the Dirty Bay – a term I resent by the way. 

Sheley’s reply sounded okay, but did not make provision for expanding amenities, namely fixing up “what we already got.”  Now I like Scott.  I think he’s a great guy and to my knowledge, I haven’t met Chris and what I am saying is simple.  If we want Baytown to grow, we have to bring it all up at the same time and not just push business expansion.

Sure, Pirate’s Bay is a money maker.  I’ve never been there, but folks seem to like it and I have no problem supporting Mr. Sheley on his idea to promote it.  I like the idea of the Industrial complex kicking in their share also, but if either of these fellows were in my district and they said we’re going to three-lane the heavily traveled McKinney Road and add sidewalks or connect all of our parks with a hike bike trail (or die trying to get funding), I would poke a hole in their ballot in a heartbeat.

“A crappy city East of Houston that has absolutely nothing to do or see except for a mediocre mall in which half of the stores are either closed or run by ######”.

I’ve got my feelers out and have been communicating with Dustin Schubert and John Dupois about the future of Jenkins Park and the Blue Heron Parkway and as soon as something concrete – no pun intended, becomes available, they are going to help me bring it to this column.

Baytown is in serious need of a certified 3.1 mile (5K) loop so runners can train for races.  A 6.2 mile (10K) trail  would be better.  Recently, my bride and I have been over off Beltway 8 and highway 90 to the Gene Green Beltway 8 Park, which is a well kept secret.  It’s basically two detainment ponds separated by a forest.  The forest is a giant dog park with a hiking trail snaking through it and around the 250 acres is a wide cement sidewalk measuring 2 miles per circuit.

A small part of the Gene Green Beltway 8 Park

Inside, the environmentally-friendly park’s most popular features are a zip-line, an extensive exercise area, a kiddie spray park, tennis and basketball courts, a BMX freestyle course, dog runs, paved trails, an amphitheater and well-equipped skate park.  It also has a first class restroom, something we can’t have at Walter Jenkins park due to recurring vandalism.  We have a portacan.

“Baytown, the ultimate low of existence.”

Am I saying that Channelview Texas has a better park than the entire city of Baytown?  Yes, I am and it saddens me.  No, it embarrasses me.  We have been in this heavily used park a number of times and always there are men, women, and children of all ethnicities exercising in a safe environment.

Again, I am not knocking our Park’s super – I think he does a great job.  I can’t go into one of our parks without seeing maintenance crews doing the place right.  What puzzles me is how can these other areas I visit have what we have and seemingly so much more?  I’ve been to some retention/detention ponds that have fountains, bridges, benches and all kinds of other amenities and I want it for Baytown.

Pond B of the Baker Road Extension - Future Retention pond.

Our Park engineer Dustin Schubert replied to my questions about expansion in an email, knowing full well I will quote him verbatim.  “On the Jenkins park connector it is high on our list to make that connection, however funds are not available in the near future.  On the retention basin we have not put a plan together as to what amenities it will have.”

City Council.  Find the funding.  Make Baytown a place where proud Baytownians who have 6 figure incomes want to raise their families, spend their money, and jog, ride their bikes, and support this town.

Quotes, compliments of Urbandictionary.com