Howdy WHA Members!
January has been a busy month as we kicked off the year with three internally focused events: a board strategic planning session, committee leadership breakfast, and WHA Membership committee meeting. We have also already held a Government Affairs committee meeting, Sustainable Infrastructure Committee meeting, Water Resources Committee meeting, and Quality Planned Development committee meeting this year! We have also kicked off the WHA Fellows program, with Trevor Deines (Parks, Rec, Open Space Committee), David Hebert (Water Resources Committee) and Vivian Le (Regional Mobility Committee). Finally, we have kicked off three projects through our Rice University partnership where students will be collaborating with WHA members to look at the return on investment of sustainable infrastructure (w/Harry Thompson of ABHR), and two projects taking different approaches to explore the redevelopment of shopping malls (w/Taylor Reed of Vogler and Spencer & Ernesto Alfaro of LJA).
We have some major forums coming up quickly. On February 9th, the Parks, Recreation, & Open Spaces Committee and the Sustainable Infrastructure Committee are jointly hosting a panel entitled “Success in Business & Development Through Nature-Based Infrastructure.” On March 23rd, WHA will be hosting a Tri-County Commissioners Forum featuring Fort Bend Co. Commissioner Pct. 1 Vincent Morales, Waller Co. Commissioner Pct. 4 Justin Beckendorff, and newly elected Harris Co. Commissioner Pct 4. Lesley Briones. All three of these counties, and these precincts, meet in Katy, near the center of WHA’s footprint. On April 12th, we are hosting Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-7) who will be able to provide us with insights from the federal level on infrastructure funding and other issues. More details on this event will be coming soon!
We also have many committee meetings taking place in February. Education and Workforce Committee will have its first meeting of 2023 on February 8th, Government Affairs Committee will be meeting in the morning on February 13th while Flood Control and Drainage Committee meets that afternoon, Sustainable Infrastructure Committee will be meeting on February 14th, the Quality Planned Development Committee is meeting February 16th, the Regional Mobility Committee is meeting February 20th, and the Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Committee is meeting on February 28th. If you would like to be added to the email list or calendar invites for these committees, or any others, please let us know.
Later this month we also plan to release our 2022 Annual Report. It contains highlights of our activities throughout the past year, a snapshot of our financials, and listings of sponsors and members. Looking ahead, it also contains the current leadership of WHA as well as planned events.
Thank you for your support of the West Houston Association and working to improve quality of life for the 2,000,000+ people who live, work, and play across the Greater West Houston region!