West University Place wants to beautify the way people are greeted when entering the city from the commercial district.
The gist
The city is looking to improve two brick entry walls on Sunset Boulevard and Kirby Drive. However, the walls line four properties, one of which belongs to Bank of Texas.
To gain access, West U administrative assistant Dominick Nieswiadomy, who presented the agenda item, recommended that the city sign access easements with the property owners. The contracts would allow the city access to the walls from the owners’ properties to maintain them.
The walls used to have lights on the pillars, and the city is considering cleaning the walls, adding new solar lights and creating signage to welcome people into the area.
Some background
Mayor Susan Sample said residents had the walls built years ago by collecting pennies.
“This was grassroots community desire to have a nice wall,” Sample said. “And as it sat there, it kind of fell through the cracks; who was cleaning the wall? One of them hooked the lights to their house. Now it's kind of time to make it the city’s. We need to maintain it.”
Sample added that "most of you have not seen [the gate], probably. But it’s nice to have a way to introduce people to the city no matter how they enter.”
One more thing
City Council unanimously agreed to the access easements, and all three homeowners also agreed. Bank of Texas is still reviewing the contract, Nieswiadomy said. Once the bank signs its contract, officials said they can meet again to discuss design specifications.
