Harlingen launching neighborhood program, mulling block parties

HARLINGEN — There’s a new vibe coming into the city’s neighborhoods.

The city’s new Neighborhood Revitalization Project is getting ready to send commissioners along with officials into Harlingen’s five districts to work with residents to better their neighborhoods.

As part of the program, officials are even mulling staging block parties while screening movies.

“We want to create a better rapport and open the lines of communications, so if they see something they bring it to our attention,” Assistant City Manager Oscar Garcia said Wednesday. “It’s innovative and thinking out-of-the-box to foster better communication with the community.”

So far, the project’s grabbed the attention of cities like Round Rock and Cedar Hill, which are offering tips to help develop the program.

In Round Rock, the city’s Rock the Block Neighborhood Block Party is leading officials to drive a trailer into neighborhoods to screen movies while meeting with residents to discuss issues, Garcia said.

In Cedar Hill, the city’s Neighborhood Walk Program takes officials door-to-door into neighborhoods.

“There are some really good ideas,” Garcia told commissioners during a meeting. “I’m going to let you guys decide which ones we should pursue.”

After reviewing other programs, Garcia said he likes Round Rock’s Neighborhood Block Party.

“I just envision how many people would use that, especially in the Vestal Park area,” he told commissioners during the meeting Oct. 2.

At City Hall, commissioners are planning to join Garcia and city officials on walks through neighborhood streets, meeting with residents to help spruce up the area, picking out eyesores for makeovers, trimming shaggy trees and tagging abandoned houses for razing.

“The citizens are excited about this and they like to see the tax dollars at work for them,” Commissioner Daniel Lopez told commissioners. “This is not going to be a cost-intensive program. If it’s anything big-ticket, it going to have to come before the commission for financial approval.”

Last month, Lopez and Commissioner Ford Kinsley proposed the program.

”Harlingen residents envision a more beautiful and inviting Harlingen — a town proud of its history and heritage,” Lopez said in the program’s mission statement. “Commissioners and staff would utilize city resources to do three things — engage with residents in their neighborhoods, make immediate cosmetic improvements and collect information for future projects which require more intensive investments.”

As part of the program, commissioners will be joining officials on neighborhood walks “to speak to residents to learn more about what each neighborhood needs, either cosmetic, infrastructure or safety,” Lopez said.

Along their walks, officials plan to “notate the necessary improvements — trees that need to be trimmed, properties that need a visit from code enforcement, street signs that need to added or replaced,” he said. “The smaller improvements that staff could handle would be done over the next few months. The larger improvements would be directed to the appropriate department for further review and implementation.”

The program aims to better bond officials and residents.

“It’s going to bring you closer to the community,” Commissioner Rene Perez told commissioners. “This will be a good thing to actually kind of push commissioners to be out there more in the community. You get to actually go into the neighborhoods and be part of the solution.”