Official site of Tribune News serving Tomball, Magnolia and Waller

Citizens in Magnolia and the surrounding area have experienced some serious emergency situations in the past few years. These included floods, wildfires and hurricanes, most notably the Tri-County Fire of 2011 and Hurricane Ike in 2008, both of which affected hundreds of residents and their properties. There are some critical steps that residents can take to help themselves and their neighbors in case of another disaster, and two organizations want to help be sure that happens.

This month, the U.S. Forestry Service is sending out surveys about evacuation actions taken during the Tri-County (or Riley Road) fire to Magnolia residents that will be used to build a better understanding of how to encourage people to evacuate in similar situations nation-wide. Also, the East Montgomery County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) just completed an Emergency Preparedness Fair, complete with disaster simulation, in an effort to inform the community about best practices for handling local disasters.

The efforts of both organizations are aimed at one common goal - making people safer in an emergency.

The U.S. Forestry survey is being mailed to a random sampling of 1,500 Magnolia residents and includes questions about whether or not they evacuated during the wildfire, and the reasons behind that decision. The survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete and will provide valuable information that will be used to develop public education programs.

"We want everyone who receives a survey to return it," said Sarah McCaffery, a U.S. Forestry research social scientist in charge of the survey. "The more people that respond can help us be more confident about our education perspectives."

Magnolia Fire Chief Gary Vincent agrees that those who receive a survey should fill it out and return it. 

"This survey is a great value to the American fire service as we learn from past incidents and prepare for future events," Vincent said. "It's important to capture the data that Magnolia-area residents can provide because of their unique experiences during the 2011 fire."

Jimmy Williams, Montgomery County Fire Marshall, wants all residents to formulate a fire preparedness plan just like the ones people have for hurricane preparedness. In addition, he would like everyone to sign up for the Montgomery County Code Red system, which worked well in the 2011 fire, so they can stay informed in such a situation.

"Code Red provides phone notifications to residents if their area is facing an emergency, and it worked well to launch evacuations during the 2011 fire," Williams said. "Our area could face another fire any time we have dry conditions."

Learn more about Montgomery County Code Red at www.mc911.org.  

Emergency preparedness is also becoming a focus in the area.

On May 4, the East 1488 Community Association and East 1488 CERT organizations sponsored their annual Emergency Preparedness Fair at the Home Depot on 1488. There were several booths that residents could visit for information, which included preparing a 72-hour kit to meet the needs of their family in a total shut-down emergency, providing for pets if they have to evacuate, making their homes less susceptible to wildfire, and preparing for emergency contact methods to be able to reach family members during an emergency. 

The Montgomery County Search and Rescue organization was on hand to explain that the various types of services they provide.
 

"We often are called upon to help subdivisions create evacuation plans before an emergency occurs," Search and Rescue vice president J. Carter Miller, Jr., said. "You'd be surprised how fast that becomes an issue if the one or two street entrances are blocked during an incident."

CERT team president/team leader Cindy Burks was encouraging people to sign up for the free CERT classes this fall.

"They will learn everything they need to be able to formulate and execute a community incident action plan, which could save lives in a disaster," she said.

Burks felt the highlight of this fair was the disaster simulation, which will likely be repeated next year.

She also mentioned that CERT members and other organizations are available to speak to community associations and civic clubs about disaster preparedness. Burks stressed there are three important steps people should take to make them better prepared in an emergency: get a 72-hour kit, make a plan and stay informed.

The national CERT program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help.

Although there is a CERT program on the east end of FM 1488, there is not one on the west side, so the team is looking for volunteers to start one.

To learn more about local CERT information, visit www.e1488cert.org. To become a CERT member or sign up for CERT training, visit the website: http://www.mctx
oem.org/go/site/1945/.

The Magnolia City Council approved a resolution April 9, to brand the central business district within the city limits as "Magnolia Town Center." This is good news for City Administrator Paul Mendes and former Economic Development Coordinator Deborah Rose Miller, both of whom have spent the better part of the last two years working on the city's comprehensive plan, which included a recommendation to re-brand the business area.

Traditionally, the legacy area of Magnolia included the streets and businesses around the intersection of FM 1488 and FM 1774, east to Magnolia Ridge and south to Unity Park – the actual Magnolia city limits area. But the heaviest population growth in recent years has been on the eastern edge of the extraterrestrial jurisdiction.

"We have worked hard to extend the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the city all the way east to the edge of The Woodlands, so that Magnolia has plenty of room to expand," said Miller.

Recently, the east side around Magnolia Parkway has taken off, with new businesses going in every month. Many of the businesses on the east side of town also havelocations on the west side, within the legacy area. It is not unusual for two locations of the same business to both have FM 1488 addresses, but miles apart, with  one located on the eastern side and one on the western side. This results in confusion for customers.

"This resolution was about branding and definition," said Mendes. "We really wanted to make it easy to define location."

He also stated the city wanted to preserve the name Magnolia Town Center to prevent a developer or builder from using it first.

"It's a lot like registering a domain name for your business so that no one else can get it," he explained.

The Magnolia Town Center will also have a more defined business area. Mendes pointed out that the widening of FM 1774 is now slated to begin in June of this year and will take about 20 months to complete.

Following the widening, a sidewalk will be installed along the west side of FM 1774 from FM 1488 to the school, which will make it easier for people to walk in the area and visit multiple shops.

Magnolia businesses are ready to start defining their location as part of the Magnolia Town Center.

Several believe the new nomenclature will clear up any confusion about which part of the city they are located in and others just believe the new name has a positive ring.
Rene Benitez, owner of Las Fuentes Mexican Restaurant, appreciates the new name.

"We had a location on both ends of FM 1488 and there was a lot of confusion. This will definitely clear that up," he stated.

Papa John's Pizza has multiple Magnolia locations, which are actually owned by different franchises.

Jake Schaub, shift manager of the central Magnolia store, feels the new term will make it easier to define where his store is.

"When people call, we always need to give them directions to make sure they have the location they want," he said. "We usually say we are in the heart of Magnolia, but this name will simplify things for us."

Viren Vansadia and his wife Lila own the Magnolia Inn & Suites and haven't found that customers are confused about their location. Vinsadia does like the new name, however.

"Magnolia Town Center sounds better; it's a more upscale name than 'Magnolia West' or 'Magnolia East.' It's a good idea," he said.

Miller wants the new brand to help provide a positive connotation for Magnolia by imparting a dynamic, yet historical, identification for the central business area.

"This is one way we can demonstrate that the city population is actually more than the thousand-plus that was shown on our sign for years and years," she said. "We are now at more than 138,000 and we are starting to look like it."

The Magnolia Stroll may be a one-of-a-kind art gallery.

On March 24, weatherproof prints of the artwork of seven MISD students were placed on display on the Stroll, courtesy of donations from State Representative Cecil Bell.  Bell stated he was proud of the kids and the community – and felt these students showed real talent.

"I hope you go on to find more successes. We want you to know we believe in you," said Bell, who was present at the unveiling on the Bell Walk of Fame.

These seven won awards for their Western art that was represented in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Student Art competition: elementary students Abby Schnautz and Skylar Asaf, middle school student Sunny Brittain and high school students Katrina English, Olivia Rodriguez, Carly Sullins and Dylan Etter. In addition, Rodriguez' "Best of Show" art piece was selected by the Rodeo's Student Art Committee from literally hundreds of entries to one of about 50 auctioned at the annual School Art Auction.

Kyle Fontenot. Director of Fine Arts for Magnolia ISD, explained that Texas State Education District 6, which Montgomery County is a part of, has participated in the Rodeo's Student Art program for more than 30 years. School art teachers have encouraged students to enter each fall, and supervised the entries. Students spend from a few days to several weeks to complete their pieces. Lately, MISD elementary students had not been able to participate due to budget cuts that led to far fewer elementary art teachers.

The district introduced Art Camps for elementary students to "get them back in the game," according to Fontenot. Last fall, selected students from grades 3, 4 and 5 participated in two-day Art Camps outside of school time, and they produced all their Rodeo-themed art during those camps.

"We really want as much participation as possible, because this type of event is good for the kids - it helps them build aptitude for later and gets them to practice different skills," said Fontenot, who is hoping that the State Legislature sends more funds back to the schools this year.

The students honored on the Walk of Fame actually won awards twice. First, they were awarded the highest honors at the district judging in January, which was judged by members of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Student Art Committee. 

Next, their art was exhibited downtown as part of an area-wide show by the Art Committee. The top winners of that event were selected to be part of the Rodeo's Student Art Auction. Olivia Rodriguez' monochromatic drawing of the horse "Bo" made it to the auction this year. Each student in the auction netted at least $1,000 for a college scholarship. The 2013 Grand Champion art piece, created by a Pasadena ISD student, sold for $210,000. 

MISD student art has a long history with the Houston Rodeo. Each year several entries are selected for the area-wide show. In fact, last year's Grand Champion artwork, which sold for $206,000, was created by Magnolia West High School senior Barry Carter. As with other items auctioned at the Rodeo, the student only receives a percentage of the bid amounts for his or her personal scholarship fund, with the rest going into the general Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo scholarship fund.

Thanks to careful planning and astute spending, the Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department has been able to acquire four new tanker trucks. They are also  building three new station locations over the next few months. The department says it needs these upgrades in order to provide a dependable source of fire protection in some of Magnolia's most remote areas, but there is another benefit to all homeowners in the area – lower homeowner insurance premiums. Residents will pay less for insurance if their local fire department is modern and effective, which is what the Magnolia department has been working toward.

Fire Chief Gary Vincent explains.

"Every ten years, fire departments are rated by the Insurance Services Organi-zation (ISO)," he said. "These ratings are used by the insurance companies to help determine the prices that they will charge for homeowner's insurance. The highest rating is a '1' and the lowest is a '10,' which represents the most risk. The fire department is rated for each of its separate service areas. In Magnolia, the individual ratings go all the way from 1 to 10, but the department averages a 3. This is actually a very good score for a department where few homes have fire hydrants nearby. Our department services a broad area that is two-thirds the size of Austin, and growing."

To maintain this high rating with a growing population, the department administration plans ahead and gets competitive bids on everything. They spent more than two years planning for and designing the new tanker trucks, which were made by Farrara Fire Apparatus in Holden, La.

"We designed places for all the equipment to go that would give us fast, easy access, and even designed the red, black and gold color scheme for the trucks," Vincent said. "We think it gives them an identifiable, traditional look."

The new trucks will be strategically placed in stations where they will benefit the ISO rating of the area.

The new tanker trucks are state-of-the art, capable of carrying 3,300 gallons of water (which is considerably more than the existing tankers), four firefighters, EMS equipment, ladders and a thousand feet of five-inch supply hose. The trucks are still being outfitted at the station, but they should be ready to roll in early April and will bring the existing fleet up to 11 fire trucks.

Magnolia firefighter Josh Griffith is one of several firefighters who have been helping to outfit the new trucks.

"It's a luxury for us to be able to get our water, equipment and manpower to the fire all at once in one vehicle – these trucks are a valuable asset,"  Griffith said.

Along with the new trucks, three new fire stations are being constructed in locations that did not have ready access to an existing station.

"The codes go up all the time. In the past, a home could be located within a five-mile radius of a station and maintain a good rating, but now a home must be within five 'road miles' of a station," Vincent said. "Since most of our roads are winding, that makes a big difference. The later requirement left several areas with low ISO ratings. Our new stations will boost the ratings and provide more comprehensive coverage for the community."

Not all the stations are manned, although all do contain equipment the firefighters can utilize as soon as they get there.

Magnolia began as an all-volunteer fire department. Now, it has approximately 100 part-time paid firefighters who man the larger stations during the day. The department still maintains another hundred volunteers who man stations on nights and weekends, and who will be deployed to fight fire emergencies at other times.

"We are always in need of more firefighters and more volunteers in general. Many of our volunteers don't go near the fires, but they are critical to the operation of our department," said Vincent. 

The Magnolia department is funded by Emergency Services District 10. Vincent mentioned that the enhancements were funded with existing revenue.

"We are good stewards of taxpayer dollars," he said. "We look for ways to invest wisely and keep spending down."

As an example, the new tanker trucks were outfitted in the station to avoid the costs of the factory doing the work. Another example - the main Magnolia Fire Station contains furniture that was built in Texas prisons, which kept the price down.

Fire trucks last about 20 years, but it takes two to three years after the money is appropriated to design and obtain the new trucks, then it takes two months or more to train the firefighters to properly use a new one. Training goes on all the time, according to Vincent.

Those wishing to volunteer can find information on the website: www.magnoliafire.org.

More than 60 members of the Keep Montgomery County Green (KMCG) organization gathered for the fourth Volunteer Recognition Dinner at the West County Community Development Center on Friendship Drive in Magnolia, Feb. 23. The main purpose of their event was to honor six special volunteers who gave a tremendous amount of time and effort to help promote the beautification of Montgomery County and to unveil the 2013 Growing Green Plant, the Black and Blue Salvia, and the award-winning poster for this year.

One of the winners of a KMCG award was the Magnolia Citizen's Police Academy Alumni Association, who won the award for Beautification/Community Improvement for the Roy Street Demolition Project, led by Alumni Association President Summer Foltz and member Jill Gabriel, with Officer Juan Lopez as leader of the academy classes. Magnolia Police Chief Domingo Ibarra nominated this project because of the effort mounted by the group to integrate several civic and neighborhood association members, along with local companies that donated their services to help, to remove an abandoned structure that was an eyesore and a danger to the community.

"We work hard to live up to our motto, 'In Partnership with Our Community,' and this project was a perfect example of that success," said Ibarra, who stated he was extremely proud of the Alumni Association. 

Other winners include: John Warner of the Texas A&M Forest Service with sponsor Anheuser-Busch, for heading a volunteer to replant 500 trees as part of the Texas ReLEAF project; Boy Scout Troop 1855 in West Conroe for donating more than 900 hours of time for trash collection; the City of Conroe for implementing effective water conservation programs during the recent 2011 drought; Cherrie Edwards of Project Building H.O.P.E. (Helping Others Play Everyday), a project to rebuild a park destroyed by the Tri-County Fire; and Jan Hatfield for leading the recycling efforts of Magnolia United Methodist Church Women.

Along with honoring the super volunteers, a $500 college scholarship for the organization's poster art contest was awarded to Dylan Etter, who is a senior at Magnolia ISD's Alpha Academy. Etter was sponsored by his art teacher, Regina Michaels, who is also a member of KMCG.

"I entered the poster contest last year and received some recognition, but this year I entered again and won," said Etter.

He wants to attend art school with the scholarship money and is interested in becoming a computer designer.

"I was surprised to see how much this organization does for the community and especially all the great progress they have made in helping the county recover from the recent fires," Etter noted.

The February Volunteer Recognition Event is held to honor outstanding volunteers who have been nominated for doing work areas that align with the mission of KMCB. Members and the public can nominate outstanding volunteers from November to January each year, in the areas of: recycling/waste reduction, litter prevention, beautification and community improvements, volunteerism, and environmental education.

Charlotte Riser Harris, the board chairman for the nonprofit organization, said, "We are so grateful to all our volunteers and also to our commercial sponsors, who helped us put on this event and provide the scholarship funding. We have many other projects in our community that we would love to implement - we just need help to make them happen."

KMCB puts on several events throughout the year, which include a Volunteer Recognition Dinner and a Growing Green Plant Sale. Volunteers also man the organization's booth at events and festivals and serve on the Board of Directors.

KMCG is based in Magnolia and was founded in 2004 as one of more than 350 affiliate organizations of Keep Texas Beautiful, a statewide nonprofit committed to improving community environments through programs and education. KMCG is dedicated to helping residents enhance their communities by volunteering with programs that promote waste reduction, recycling, litter prevention and community beautification.

Keep Montgomery County Green is looking for more volunteers of all ages and capabilities. For more information email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or visit www.kmcbtexas.org.