Previously, the restrooms’ walls had mildew and the paint on the floors was weathered and cracking. Council members said it was mandatory to make the facilities ADA compliant because the Elaine Wood Therapy Pool is visited by many residents with disabilities. Click the photos below to view the renovated restrooms. Click here for “before” pictures.

After the Bellaire City Council voted unanimously on March 22 to consider the new parks funding mechanism, staffers will create a policy that would mandate that the city purchase parkland with any money from sales of city easements, rights-of-way, streets or similar public land.

“The big thought here was instead of taking this money and it just goes to operating funds and it’s gone, theoretically within a year, it would go into something that has value for residents for a long time,” Siegel said on March 22.

Last year the city council added a line item for parkland acquisition to the city budget, but never appropriated funds for it. In its annual report this year, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board asked to open a dialog with council about creating a funding mechanism for buying parkland. The board wants the council to set aside $200,000 per year for the fund.

“This year Parks Board was very interested in finding a way to be able to choose to react quickly in the real estate market to purchase additional park land in Bellaire,” the board’s annual report said. “If funds were readily available to use, the city and parks could benefit from a timely opportunity.”

Siegel said it was her husband’s idea to use funds from selling city-owned properties to purchase land for parks. Such sales do not happen with great regularity, so it’s possible the funding mechanism wouldn’t frequently add funds to the parkland acquisitions budget.

“But if we abandon just one street for whatever reason, it could be several hundred thousand all at once,” said City Manager Bernie Satterwhite.

It’s a good time to raise the idea, because the city right now is considering the sale of a portion of right-of-way on Chestnut Street between Bissonnet and First Streets.

First Street Hospital at 4801 Bissonnet St. is seeking city permits to double the size of its building. The two-story, $4.3 million addition would run parallel to Bissonnet Street, covering the existing parking lot. Part of the strip center on the tract would be torn down for a new parking lot.

The company has applied to buy part of Chestnut Street for the project. Community Development Director John McDonald said the appraisal on the tract was $400,000.

“It’s just a starting point,” McDonald said. “The council would look at that number and take into consideration other factors.”

Parks and Recreation Director Jane Dembski said $400,000 could conceivably be enough money to purchase land for a new pocket park in Bellaire. The city’s park master plan calls for a park within a quarter mile of any resident in the city.

“It’s kind of a national average of what you seek to have for your residents, is to have a park within walking distance,” Dembski said. “So they are able to walk to a park, have a picnic, or their kids can play on a playground.”

Since land values in Bellaire continue to rise year after year, and the market is competitive, Dembski said it’s important to be ready to act quickly when any suitable parkland comes on the market.

“Many people buy them up so quickly so the city doesn’t have time to go through the regular process,” she said. “The process would be shortened if we had a fund sitting there.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 35 percent of Harris County residents have completed and mailed back their forms, putting the county behind the national and Texas participation rates of 46 percent and 39 percent, respectively.

The state and federal government uses the U.S. Census to allocate funding for education, transportation and infrastructure, social services, healthcare and more. Population changes determine how many U.S. Congress Members an area receives — the 2010 count could add one member for the Harris County area. Texas leaders will use the census to redraw congressional and state legislative districts.

Harris County will analyze the 2010 census data to allocate funding for social services in the county, determine future transportation needs, and determine where to build new community centers, schools and other public buildings. School district boundaries could also be redrawn based on population changes.

Any households that do not mail back their forms can expect census workers to come door-to-door starting April 15, collecting answers for the 10 questions on the forms.

“We just submitted the application and let it speak for itself. There were a lot of silly things that took place, we just didn’t partake,” said Larry Parks, director of Bellaire’s Communication Technology Services department.

With visions of the future of Internet communications in mind, the city on Friday submitted an application to Google, beseeching the technology behemoth to choose the city of Bellaire for an experimental fiber optic network that would make Internet speeds up to 100 times faster than they are now.

But Bellaire has a lot of competition, including neighboring city West University Place. According to the Google Blog, by the application deadline the company had received more than 600 applications from cities, and more than 190,000 responses from individuals. All of them are begging and pleading Google to choose their cities for Google Fiber, a new project that is seeking locations for an experimental communications network.

“The interest has been pretty significant,” said Google spokeswoman Erin Fors.

Google Fiber would transfer information at 1 gigabyte-per-second, which is basically light speed compared to the typical 100 megabytes-per-second speeds available in the majority of the United States. One gigabyte is equal to 1,024 megabytes.

According to the company’s web site for the project, Google hopes eventually there will be universal ultra-high speed broadband networks across the country that will allow people to do previously unimagined things on the Internet.

“Imagine sitting in a rural health clinic, streaming three-dimensional medical imaging over the web, and discussing a unique condition with a specialist in New York,” the Google Fiber site says. “Or downloading a high-definition, full-length feature film in less than five minutes. Or collaborating with classmates around the world while watching live 3D video of a university lecture.”

Parks said he thinks Bellaire would be an attractive “test incubator” for the experimental network.

“We are small,” he said. “We have pretty much what they are looking for as far as home users, business users.”

Because the city of Bellaire is so small, he said, the city government isn’t tied up in red tape. Parks said it would be natural to work with Google because city leaders have good, one-on-one relationships with communications service providers like CenterPoint Energy, Comcast and AT&T.

Google Project Manager James Kelly wrote on the Google Blog this morning that the company plans to review all the applications and narrow down the choices for locations. Google employees will visit the top candidate cities and meet with local officials to learn more. The company hopes to choose sites for Google Fiber by the end of the year.

“This enthusiasm is much bigger than Google and our experimental network,” Kelly wrote. “If one message has come through loud and clear, it’s this: people across the country are hungry for better and faster Internet access.”

Robbie Tolan will compete to earn an outfielder position in early May during spring training for the Oakland County Cruisers of Waterford, Michigan. The team is part of the Frontier League, an 18-year-old independent professional ball club that includes 12 teams in seven states.

“We look forward to him hopefully earning a spot on the roster,” said Rob Hilliard, president and director of team personnel for the Oakland County Cruisers.

Tolan and his family did not return messages seeking comment, but InstantNewsBellaire will update this story if they do.

Hilliard said Tolan has medical clearance to play ball again. The team became aware of him because its new vice president, Dmitri Young, played on the Cincinnati Reds, the same team that Tolan’s father, longtime Major League Baseball player Bobby Tolan, played for in the late 60s and early 70s.

Team management knows about the incident on Dec. 31, 2008 when Bellaire Police Sergeant Jeffery Cotton shot Tolan in his family’s front yard after mistakenly thinking the 23-year-old man had been driving in a stolen vehicle. Cotton now faces felony charges of aggravated assault by a public servant, and his trial is scheduled for May 3.

“What happened there has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on our decision to offer him a contract,” Hilliard said. “This is based on what his performance was while he was in affiliated ball. We think it’s great he’s been able to overcome his personal situation, but he’s earned this opportunity based on his past performance.”

The Washington Nationals signed Tolan as a non-drafted free agent in 2007, and he spent a year playing in minor-league clubs affiliated with the Nationals. In 2008, Tolan played for the Bay Area Toros, a minor league team in Texas City.

Spring training for the Oakland County Cruisers is scheduled to begin May 5, which may actually conflict with Cotton’s criminal trial on May 3. Tolan may be required to testify at the trial, which may last one week or longer, but it’s possible the court will work with him if his baseball schedule conflicts with the trial.

“Work is not a valid excuse, although judges really try to accommodate witnesses when they can,” said Harris County Assistant District Attorney Donna Hawkins. “Most of the judges are pretty reasonable and will try to work with witnesses.”

The Oakland County Cruisers invited 38 players to spring training to compete for 24 spots on the team. Whomever wins a spot will begin playing May 21, and will participate in 96 games in the regular season through Sept. 5. If he wins a spot, this could be Tolan’s chance to get back on track with his baseball career. Last year, the Cruisers sold three players’ contracts to major-league teams, Hilliard said.

“This is really a league that’s invested in players. We think we have an upside potential, and an opportunity to get into affiliated ball, or back into affiliated ball,” Hilliard said. “The odds are long, certainly, but there is a path for those who persist and have the skill.”

Then on March 28, around 2:30 a.m., an officer pulled over a car because it had an expired registration. Police found that the driver, 23-year-old Jesse Delgado, was drunk and arrested him for DWI.

Two Bellaire residents became the victims of car burglaries during the week of March 22 to 29.

• On March 26, a woman reported she was at the Valero in the 4400 block of Bissonnet Street when someone broke into her truck and stole several items.
• On March 28, a man reported someone broke into his vehicle in the 400 block of Mulberry Lane and stole several items. Police are investigating the incident.

Police arrested three people during the week for driving with suspended driver’s licenses.

• On March 22, an officer pulled over a car in the 5000 block of Bellaire Boulevard, and ended up arresting the driver for having an invalid license and driving with no car insurance.
• On March 25, an officer pulled over a car for not using a turn signal and for crossing double white lines while exiting the freeway in the 5600 block of West Loop North. The officer ended up arresting the driver for driving with an invalid license.
• On March 28, another woman was arrested for driving with no license after a traffic stop in the 4700 block of Bissonnet Street. She also had outstanding warrants with the Houston Police Department.

Other incidents that happened last week include:

• On March 21, the manager of the El Ahorro Supermarket in the 5800 block of Bissonnet Street reported to police that someone used spray paint to mark graffiti on her car.
• On March 23, police responded to a disturbance call in the 4300 block of Jim West Street. A man had slapped his adult daughter during an argument, but the Harris County District Attorney’s Office declined to press charges.
• On March 27, a woman visited a store in the 5400 block of Bissonnet Street and tried to pay for items with a fake $100 bill. She was gone by the time police arrived.
• On March 26, employees of the T-Mobile store in the 5300 block of Bellaire Boulevard reported that a man and woman stole a cell phone from a display rack. They left the scene in a white Dodge Magnum with 22-inch rims.
• On March 28, a woman reported to police that someone had stolen her social security card from her home safe in the 4800 block of Beech Street.
• On March 29, an officer pulled over a car for speeding in the 6300 of West Loop South. During the traffic stop, the officer found Xanax and arrested the 19-year-old driver for possession of a controlled substance.

On Wednesday, the Houston City Council will vote on an interlocal agreement that would form a partnership between the city of Houston, Harris County and the Houston-Harris County Sports Authority to work on building the stadium on the downtown site just east of U.S. 59. The Sports Authority agreed to participate on March 25, and the county will consider the contract on April 13.

“I’m very excited about the Dynamo team getting a new stadium, and I think it’s the right decision for them,” said Bellaire Mayor Cindy Siegel, who lead the charge to oppose a Bellaire-area stadium. “I think it’s a win for the Dynamo and their fans, which I’m one of. And I think it’s a win for Bellaire.”

If approved, the interlocal agreement would require the city of Houston and the county to each contribute $10 million for the stadium, while the Houston Dynamo would pay $60 million. The city and county would pay for their portions through tax increment reinvestment zones, which allow them to issue bonds and repay them with increased taxes from future developments, assuming the stadium spurs more development.

The Sports Authority would help negotiate a lease with the Dynamo, serve as a construction manager while the stadium is being built, and serve as the property manager for the stadium during its 30-year lease.

The agreement charts out a number of tasks that must be completed by Sept. 30, or the parties must reconsider what to do about the stadium, said Houston Chief Development Officer Andy Icken.

“We’ve defined a path to get us to a deal by September 30,” he said. “A number of things need to happen along the way. The interlocal itself is just an agreement to agree.”

If the agreement is approved, it could put to rest the protests that erupted from Bellaire when news leaked in late January that the soccer team was considering a tract at Westpark Drive and South Rice Avenue.

David Turkel, director of Harris County’s community services department, said that stakeholders did seriously consider that 30-acre tract near Bellaire, which is owned by Midway Companies.

“The other one was a better idea, we felt, and the Dynamo felt it was the area that would be better for them,” Turkel said. “Plus there was a lot of push back from the local residents over there, and the city of Bellaire. I think the city and county felt obliged to listen to them.”

Icken said in the end, the downtown Houston location was more attractive because it’s centrally located, the site already has good parking and street infrastructure, and two light rail lines are planned for the area.

Icken said negotiations began progressing again after Houston Mayor Annise Parker visited county officials. Her visit had the most weight behind steering the stadium back downtown, but Icken said he’s glad the Bellaire community voiced its opposition.

“Frankly, we shared some of the same concerns on the access and mobility of people being able to get to it,” he said.

When news broke that the Dynamo was eyeing the site near Bellaire, Mayor Cindy Siegel protested the idea in front of the news media. Bellaire residents showed up at city council meetings in force to complain the stadium would bring too much traffic, noise, parking issues, and generally decrease their quality of life.

Siegel worked on an official resolution opposing the stadium, and the Bellaire City Council passed the resolution in mid February. Afterwards, the mayor said Dynamo President Oliver Luck called her to say he understood the difficulties of the Bellaire-area location.

Dynamo President Oliver Luck told InstantNewsWestU that he thinks Houston and Harris County officials did listen to Siegel’s protests, and it helped move the stadium proposal forward.

“She made very strong points, and it was clear a majority of citizens really backed her up,” Luck said. “That underscored the fact that the vast majority of people in the east end wanted the stadium there.”

Over the next few weeks, Luck said the Dynamo will work to refine its stadium budget and talk with Metro about future light rail lines and train stops near the downtown site.

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed, and we think we may have all this done at some point in April,” he said.

Sports Authority Executive Director Janis Schmees said if the city and county approve the interlocal agreement, the sports authority will begin negotiating the lease with the Dynamo.

“The goal would be to turn over the land to the Dynamo for construction by October 1st of this year,” she said.

The Dynamo would try to complete construction by April 1, 2011, Schmees said.

Earlier this year CenterPoint paid to remove four Hackberry trees, one Mulberry tree, one Chinese Tallow and one large vine. In their place, foresters chose Dwarf Crepe Myrtles, River Birches, Mexican Plums and Southern Wax Myrtles. Those trees grow to a maximum of 15 to 20 feet, which doesn’t require trimming or interfere with power service during storms.

Click photos to enlarge.

“I saw this, I thought the numbers were wrong. This is incredible we have $4 million,” said Bellaire Mayor Cindy Siegel. “I think this is appalling.”

In the past, the city hasn’t been aggressive about pursuing offenders to pay their warrants. But now, the Bellaire Finance Department will hand over 16,946 unpaid traffic warrants to the law firm of Perdue, Brandon, Fielder, Collins & Mott. The collections firm plans to track down anyone who got a ticket in Bellaire and failed to pay their fees within 60 days of the deadline, as well as people who never bothered to show up for their court dates in the first place.

“We send out demand letters urging people to contact the court,” said Michael Darlow, an attorney with the firm. “Pay it, talk to the judge about not paying it, spend time in jail and get credit. Somehow get in and resolve your situation.”

For warrants issued after June 2003, a state law authorizes the city to collect an additional 30 percent to pay the collections firm. For example, if someone owes $300 for an unpaid ticket, they would now pay $390. The city would keep $300 and send $90 back to the law firm.

However, the same state law doesn’t authorize the city to collect the extra payment for any tickets issued before June 2003. The firm has still offered to track down those tickets, and the city agreed to pay 15 percent of each unpaid ticket for the service.

Bellaire Municipal Judge Lisa Wesely spoke before the city council on March 22 and urged council members to consider other options to collect unpaid warrants. Wesely said using the collections firm was one option, but she was concerned it would be difficult for people to shell out an additional 30 percent. Many of them don’t pay tickets in the first place because they don’t have enough money, she said.

Wesely said the city could pursue other methods like making Bellaire’s warrant officer more effective, purchasing subscriptions for address databases to track down offenders without the firm’s help, and subscribing to a state system that prevents those with warrants from renewing their driver’s licenses.

“My point is you may well want to do this,” Wesely said about hiring the collections firm. “But I also think you probably want to know what your other options may be.”

But council members questioned whether the city has the personnel and time resources to track down all the unpaid warrants on its own. They said the city needs to change its tactics, because business as usual is obviously not working.

“I think clearly there’s a problem,” said Councilman Will Hickman. “I think we should get Mr. Darlow’s firm working and in the meantime it could take us a year to figure out the best solution.”

Darlow’s law firm has already been collecting delinquent property taxes in Bellaire for 13 years, which is one reason City Manager Bernie Satterwhite trusted the company to pursue unpaid traffic warrants. On Monday, the city council also authorized the firm to try to collect overdue utility accounts. Right now, about 152 customers owe the city $18,757 for utilities.

“I don’t know how successful it’s going to be, but I think in these times when revenues are really critical, that’s why we brought this forward,” said Satterwhite.

Because the new Comprehensive Plan envisions the area as an urban mecca centered on a future light-rail station, the city of Bellaire wants to act quickly to protect the 30-acre zoning district, previously known as the Research and Development District.

“Any projects that came forward would have to go through a review with the Planning and Zoning Commission as well as final approval by the city council,” said Community Development Director John McDonald. “This is a stop-gap measure. What we’re trying to do is stop any development from going forward in the RDD that’s not congruent with what’s put forth in the Comprehensive Plan.”

The city wants to control development in the area until an outside consultant has time to comb through the zoning code and make appropriate changes.

Only one Bellaire resident, community activist Lynn McBee, spoke at the public hearing on March 22 to express concerns that the city is using a piecemeal method to protect the area. Instead, she said, the city should issue a building moratorium until the outside consultant reviews the code and suggests permanent changes.

“What this will do if you adopt it is allow city council the sole right to make case-by-case decisions with very few standards in place, and opens up the door for poor planning,” McBee said. “I think it’s a poor approach to slice out this one district from the entire city and treat it like it’s something special.”

McDonald said he thought a building moratorium would take away too many rights from property owners, while the stop-gap change he is proposing — using the planned development process — would still allow owners to propose and possibly move forward on development projects.

“Given the tools we have today, I think the P.D. gives us the best option to put some control on the district without closing down development,” McDonald said.

In the planned development process, anyone wishing to construct residential, commercial or mixed-use buildings would need to go before the city to have their ideas approved before moving forward. Any type of plan would have to encompass at least two acres for the city to even consider it. The city would get a chance to review the plans, consider whether they conformed with the Comprehensive Plan, and reject any developments that did not. The area would be known as the “UV-T,” or the “urban village transit-oriented development.”

The stop-gap changes have a two-year sunset provision, after which the area would revert to its current rules unless the city council votes otherwise.

The Planning and Zoning Commission again considered the changes during a special meeting yesterday. Now residents can send written comments to City Clerk Tracy Dutton until April 1. The city council expects to vote on the changes on April 5.

The first beer run happened the morning of March 18 at the Randall’s on Bellaire Boulevard. Someone called police to report two boys had stolen a case of beer, left the store and jumped in a waiting car to flee the scene. But police found the teenagers and arrested them for theft later that day. The boys were also charged with minor in possession of alcohol.

But on Friday, another suspect got away with three 18 packs of beer that he stole from the Shell gas station in the 5900 block of West Loop South. The theft happened at about 8:30 a.m.

Two other businesses reported thefts during the week of March 14 to 22. Someone stole film negatives on March 16 from a store in the 5400 block of Bissonnet Street. Then on March 18, someone reported that a man had stolen and cashed a check from a reception hall in the 5200 block of Bissonnet Street.

Other incidents during the week included:

• On March 18, two vehicles in the 4500 block of Evergreen Street were burglarized. In both cases, the burglars stole purses from the cars.
• On March 16, someone used a rock to smash the glass in a back door of a home in the 4600 block of Holt Street, but no items appeared to be missing.
• Someone stole cash from a home burglary that happened March 18 in the 4300 block of Bissonnet Street. The burglar used a key to enter an apartment home through the front door.
• On March 15, someone used a white marker to vandalize the book drop at the Bellaire City Library.
• On March 14, a resident in the 8100 block of Ferris Street flagged down a police officer and reported there was a laptop on the sidewalk. The officer took the computer to the police department.
• On March 17, a resident reported someone used her credit card to make unauthorized purchases.
• On March 20, another resident reported that someone had tried to use his credit card information to buy things over the phone and in a store.
• On March 19, police tracked down and arrested a man who was accused of being involved in a car accident, but failing to stop at the scene and exchange car insurance information.

The first DWI arrest happened at nearly 10 p.m. on March 14, in the 6900 block of Ferris Street. An officer pulled over a car because a computer query revealed it didn’t have valid insurance. The officer investigated and found the driver, 42-year-old Ismael Olvera Castillo, was drunk. Police arrested him and charged him with the crime.

On March 18, an officer saw a vehicle swerving and it failed to stop at an intersection. When he pulled over the car, the officer conducted a field sobriety test and determined the driver, 31-year-old Rigoberto Lagunas, had been drinking and driving. Lagunas also had a butterfly knife in his pants pocket, and he was charged with possession of a prohibited weapon.

On March 19, an officer responded to a car accident in the 4500 block of Bellaire Boulevard. Police did a field sobriety test on one of the drivers, 27-year-old Brian Lowry. Lowry was arrested for driving while intoxicated.

The fourth drunk driver arrested last week was pulled over March 21 in the 5200 block of Spruce Street. An officer saw his vehicle hesitate before making a turn, pulling from side to side, then failing to use a turn signal when it finally did turn. The officer pulled the car over, and after talking with the driver, 49-year-old Juan Cavajal, he was arrested for driving while intoxicated.

Bellaire residents Charlotte Ehlers, 10, and her brother Karl, 12, spend time over spring break last week sorting books in preparation for the Spring Book Sale on March 27.

The Friends of the Bellaire Library is hosting its Spring Book Sale on March 27 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  The Book Sale will be held on the Parking Lot between the Bellaire Fire Station and the Library, 5111 Jessamine St. All paperbacks will be on sale for 50 cents, and hardback books will cost $1.

The sale, held twice annually, is the major fundraiser for the Friends and all proceeds benefit the library. The newly redesigned FOTBL imprinted canvas book bags will be available for sale. Also, membership forms will be available to join the Friends of the Bellaire Library.

“This is a great way to support the Library’s efforts and pick up some great books!” says FOTBL President and Bellaire resident, Andrea Ehlers.  “By supporting the Spring Book Sale, you are sending the message that the Library is an important part of the Bellaire community.”

Dr. Christina Joy Clardy, who lives in a $1.6 million house in the 6600 block of Sewanee Avenue, now faces a felony charge of engaging in organized criminal activity along with three associates: Tawny Hughes, Brandon Harris and Wilfredo Duran. The group allegedly collaborated to sell prescriptions for drug “cocktails” to 171 patients who came from all across the nation, paying $80 in cash for written prescriptions.

Authorities have now closed two clinics that Clardy operated, the Uptown Medical Clinic at 7231 F.M. 1960 in Humble, and the S&G Medical Clinic at 9110 Jones Road in Houston.

Dustin Deutsch, an investigator with the Harris County Fire Marshall’s office, uncovered the scheme after a fire on Jan. 23 at the Uptown Medical Clinic. According to court documents, Deutsch became suspicious because “there were few contents in the clinic which was inconsistent.” For example, there were no patient files.

The clinic’s hours of operations were abnormal, and Deutsch discovered the business hadn’t filed important paperwork like sale tax permits, licensing papers and more. He did find “doing business as” paperwork filed in December 2009.

Deutsch investigated the business and the four suspects and learned that Clardy allegedly received $14,000 per month to sign the blank prescriptions. Hughes and Harris ran the day-to-day operations of the Uptown Medical Clinic. Court documents accuse Duran of seeing patients, diagnosing them and writing their prescriptions, although has never been licensed to practice medicine in Texas, the court records say.

When Deutsch secured an arrest warrant for Hughes, “she admitted they were running a pill clinic where the primary goal was to sell prescriptions,” the court records say.

Deutsch learned that the group had removed patient files from the clinic just before the fire on Jan. 23 on Clardy’s orders.

“She had a feeling that someone from S&G Medical Clinic was going to do something bad to the Uptown Medical Clinic,” according to court documents.

Eventually, the investigator did examine the medical records of patients who visited the Uptown Medical Clinic, which was only open for 11 days before the fire tipped off officials about the clinic’s dubious operations.

Court documents say the medical records revealed the clinic had treated 171 patients, and about 95 percent were diagnosed with lumbar problems. Many received prescriptions for a combination of drugs including hydrocodone, soma and Xanax. Deutsch said in court documents the combination is “referred to on the streets as a ‘cocktail’” and it is commonly abused by drug users.

According to the Texas Medical Board, Clardy graduated in 1976 from the Meharry Medical College in Nashville. She completed her residency at Baylor College of Medicine in 1981. Clardy has been licensed in Texas since 1983, and during that time the Texas Medical Board has not investigated her or issued board actions against her. She lists her specialty in the fields of anesthesiology and pain management.

After officers served Clardy with an arrest warrant, “she admitted that she knew that the prescription forms that she signed for Uptown Medical Clinic were not used for medical purposes,” the records say.

Bill White answers a rotary member's question about border security on Thursday as Bellaire/Southwest Houston Rotary President Byron Holloway listens.

White talked to about 40 members of the Bellaire/Southwest Houston Rotary Club about his six years as mayor of Houston and his thoughts on the Mexican violence, funding for NASA and alternative energy. He recalled working together with the cities of Bellaire and West University Place when he was Houston’s mayor, and said he was happy to visit with local residents.

“Whether there’s 40 citizens or 500 citizens, I want people to have a chance to know who I am and to ask questions,” he said. “Letting people know who you are, not in some environment controlled by consultants and media gurus, but by citizens who get a chance to talk to you.”

White took the chance to make jabs at Gov. Rick Perry, his opponent in the November general election. A Bellaire rotarian asked the candidate whether he would still take time to visit the club if he were elected governor.

“Old so-and-so has been in office too long,” White jokingly responded. “Whenever you get some politician who is too big in his britches to come see you, that’s when the public needs to impose term limits.”

White told rotarians that after speaking with law enforcement on the border, if he were elected he would order more drones to patrol the area to gather real-time intelligence for border security personnel. He said he thinks the state should use modern technologies to better identify the masses of ordinary, innocent people crossing the border every day, versus the drug traffickers.

Bill White chats with Rotarians Craig Wooten, left, and Don Beckner before his speech to the club.

White said he doesn’t fear the violence in Mexico will spill over to the U.S. unless traffickers are targeting the relatives of their Mexican enemies.

“We have honest law enforcement on this side of the boarder,” White said. “Generally the bad guys, they don’t want to commit a crime where there’s honest and effective law enforcement.”

White told InstantNewsBellaire he remembered working with Bellaire leaders in the past on solid waste and freeway projects, and partnering with West U. officials on sidewalks and street construction on Kirby Drive. Those interactions were “cordial and businesslike,” White said, and he’d use the same skills of merging diverse viewpoints to run the state if he were governor.

“We need folks who will work in particular to cut the drop-out rates and to remove barriers to higher education so we could move our economy forward in the future,” he said. “People in West U. and Bellaire are deeply committed to access to public education. Some of the best public schools in our state are in those communities. They should be proud of that.”

More familiar to the mass of teenage boys is a conversation Lewis had recently driving home from a Bellaire High School baseball game. A friend asked what type of car he wanted when he got his driver’s license, and whether his parents would pay for it.

Joseph Lewis fills an order from his online store, The People Person. He normally gets two to five orders per day.

“I said no, I have my own little business and I’ve been making some money off of it. When he asked me what it was and I said ‘Legos’ he was like, ‘really?’” Lewis said. “No one believes I can make money doing this, but I can.”

Four years ago, when he was 12, Lewis turned a lifelong passion for Legos into an entrepreneurial venture when he formed The People Person, an online store selling rare, hard-to-find Lego pieces, mini-figures and sets. He already had national recognition for his Lego building skills — Now Lewis has another title that celebrates his business sense. He was recently named a Texas Youth Entrepreneur of the Year in a competition hosted by Texas Christian University in the Dallas area.

The evidence of Lewis’ lifelong Lego obsession is strewn throughout the family home just outside Bellaire’s southern border. His Lego creations decorate the hearth, coffee table and hallways. An intricate pirate ship with lifelike figurines. A luxurious cruise ship — One of Lewis’ own designs, built in three weeks with 5,000 pieces.

The evidence of his Lego business is even more prevalent. In the teenager’s room, thousands of Lego heads, arms, torsos and bricks are meticulously stored in cubbies, shelving and under-the-bed bins. Somehow, he can always find the exact piece he’s looking for to fill orders, said Klara Lewis, his mother. The inventory — more than 11,000 pieces worth about $40,000 — has spilled into any available spot in the family’s home.

“You see boxes everywhere. Boxes, boxes everywhere. So I said, we can’t do this anymore. We’ve got to stay with the mini pieces and the mini-figs,” Klara Lewis said. “It looks like a warehouse.”

David Minor, chair of the TCU Texas Youth Entrepreneur program, said he remembers Lewis was well prepared and gave a great presentation in the competition. Judges were impressed Lewis had run his online business for four years, and had grown the business over time.

“We look for kids who appear to be really entrepreneurial, and might go beyond the little businesses they’re running now and do bigger and better things,” Minor said. “He was just impressive.”

Running The People Person has taught Lewis the basics of business. He studies past trends to determine what pieces he can sell for the most money in the future, and he purchases those items in advance at the lowest possible cost. The importance of good customer service is another valuable lesson.

As he ships orders all over the world — 36 countries so far — sometimes the packages don’t arrive at all, or deliveries can take a long time. One French customer was so upset he hadn’t gotten his package in four months that he wrote negative feedback about Lewis’ store. Eventually, the package was returned to Lewis because it was caught by customs enforcement in France. Lewis immediately sent the package back at his own expense, and the customer got his Legos.

“He ended up giving me a positive feedback because I handled the situation well. So sometimes you have to take a sacrifice, you have to take a loss for the order,” Lewis said. “It’s better to do that than to make your reputation look bad on the web site.”

Klara Lewis said as her son grew up, she tried to create an environment where he could pursue what he obviously loved.

“I think one of the goals of parenting is you have to make sure the child knows how to keep themselves busy. You don’t come to parent and say I’m bored, I’m bored,” she said. “He always has something he’s working on, whether it’s Legos, or practicing piano, or practicing violin. He’s a very busy kid.”

Winning the youth entrepreneur award inspired Lewis to expand his business to new areas and to make his existing operations more efficient, he said. Lewis hopes to start selling custom building instructions for sets he designs on his own. He also wants to buy Legos directly from the Lego Group in Denmark, to get parts cheaper and turn a larger profit.

His entrepreneurship may expand to new areas after college, where he plans to study business or design.

“I really like business, so maybe a similar kind of thing but maybe with a different item. I don’t think I can make a living off of doing the same thing, Legos. Maybe on real estate or cars or something like that,” Lewis said. “Since I like Legos and I have talent for it, I could also maybe move to Denmark and work for them, design for them.”

The first joint public hearing begins at 6 p.m. and relates to proposed revisions to the city’s code to update the zoning regulations in accordance with the intent of the Comprehensive Plan. Read more about those changes here.

The second joint public hearing will begin at 6:15 p.m. and relates to an amendment to a permit for an urgent care center at 5300 Bellaire Boulevard. Read more about the urgent care clinic here.

The Bellaire City Council Regular Session will follow the hearings at 7:00 p.m.