Another Year Gone By

Happy Holidays TABA members!!!

We are wrapping up what has been a great year locally. Though we’ve all seen the reports that our industry has been in an adjustment period throughout the nation, Central Texas continues to march forward as Temple and Belton have seen a record year as far as building permits and housing starts go.

I believe this is due largely in part to our favorable climate for building and due to our area being one of the most affordable in which to own a home anywhere in the country. We are fortunate to live in an area in which our city leaders embrace development and work hard to create an area that promotes and attracts growth.

Eye Opening Experience

After a year on the job, it is now very clear to me that TABA and our Association leaders play a large role in assuring that this remains the case. We continue to develop strong working relationships with city staff and leaders and in turn are kept aware of the major goings on in our municipal governments – which by the way, is quite a bit, but I’ll get to that later.

I don’t think many folks fully realize how much our leaders do to make TABA the force that it is in our local jurisdiction. Not only do our leaders take care of their personal affairs such as church and family, but they run major businesses, serve on school, city, and/or county boards; and still somehow find time to serve on multiple TABA committees. I hear that some of them even find time for golf and hunting, but I’m not sure that is true.

It makes my head spin just thinking of all the endeavors some of these folks have taken on. I don’t know how they do it, but man I’m glad they do. To those that serve on TABA committees, such as the Board of Directors, the Government Affairs Committee, and Home-PAC, I want to say publicly that I appreciate everything that you do to make TABA so valuable to our members and such an asset to our community. Thank you very much for all you do!!!

The Coming Year

There are currently a number of projects developing that TABA is keeping an eye on and/or involved with. It is a very exciting time to live in this area and be a part of its growth.

In early 2007, the 80th Legislature will convene and TABA will be there to help spread the word about our industry’s prohousing agenda. On February 28th, TABA members will bus down to Austin for the Texas Association of Builders Rally Day.

This event will provide us an opportunity to join builders from around the state to promote a pro-housing agenda to the Legisature. The more members we bring, the bigger the statement we make to our legislators about the significance of our industry and our expectations for the way they do their job. Please be on lookout for more information about this initiative and plan on joining us in February.

Most of our energy will be directed closer to home due to the volume of projects that the cities in our jurisdiction are currently working on.

We continue to track issues in Salado and Belton, but Temple is currently where most of our focus is, simply because they have so many irons in the fire.

For example, an initiative to create Strategic Investment Zones has been developing via numerous work groups that have been reviewing ways to make Temple the most attractive community that it can be. In doing so, the City has looked at numerous ways to provide incentives for businesses to enhance their appearance. A number of items could directly impact our industry and TABA has provided members to serve on any committee that we feel could directly or indirectly impact your business. We will keep you posted on this through our website (www.tahb.org), emails, and our newsletter as this project develops in the coming year.

Additionally, Temple will be hiring a new City Planner in the coming months and we look forward to developing a strong relationship with him or her as we strive to do with all city officials.

The City of Temple has also put out a request for proposal for a consultant to help them develop a new Comprehensive Plan that will help guide growth for the city’s immediate future. That is yet another project that we can look forward to participating in. Finally, if that isn’t enough, I’d like to leave you thinking about two big words — Storm Water. Though most of us are already familiar with SWP3 (StormWater Pollution Prevention Program), we will be learning even more about it in the coming year. In response to EPA requirements, the City of Temple is currently developing a municipal storm water program in which they’ll have some oversight authority when it comes to the federal SWP3 program that regulates our industry. I will provide you with much more information on that as the situation develops.

Merry Christmas to All…

Have a Merry Christmas everyone! Try to get some rest over the holidays; it looks like 2007 is going to be a busy year.

Troy Glasson

 

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