Q &A about Howe growth

by Monte Walker, Director of Economic Development, HDA

Q: What in the world is going on at Summit Hill and why are there only four or five houses in that development?

A: Having met with the land broker who represents the owners from another state that purchased the land through bankruptcy from the 2008 housing disaster, the property is divided and ready for a developer to purchase the remaining lots A home builder has tried to negotiate a substantial amount of lots in that development, but deal has not been reached and talks stalled between the two parties However, a renewed interest has been recently discussed

Q: Why would we want a waterpark in our town? Wouldn't that cause strains on our existing infrastructure?

A: Tourism is a massive part of economic development because it attracts dollars from other town to come to our city, leave their money here and go home Normally to get the kind of money that something like that would bring, would also mean a burden to the school system This would take the sales tax money and the $ 005 Type B sales tax money and Howe would be able to use that inordinate amount of revenue to build on infrastructure, maintenance and further growth of new jobs to the community

Q: I like Howe the way it is Why do we have to see change?

A: I love Howe the way it is also. My family has been in South Grayson County since the 1800's. The great thing about Howe is the relaxed family atmosphere and the safety that a small community provides I agree with that and love that my kids can ride their bikes in the neighborhood because I know and trust my neighbors.

However, laying aside my everoptimistic hat and seeing the reality that has happened to cities like Frisco, McKinney and what Melissa and Anna are currently experiencing The only thing constant is change and that's the cold hard truth; especially in North Texas Growth is coming, whether we want it to or not We have two options for the plan of attack 1 Formulate a plan We have a great advantage of being able to see how it affected other cities and how they handled it Learn from Frisco, McKinney, Melissa on what we want versus what we don't want I believe The City of Howe, with the Howe Development Alliance and the investments they've made in economic development over the past year has proved that a formulated plan is in place. 2. The Ostrich Theory We as a community put our collective heads in the sand and hope it passes us by so that we "stay the same" When we raise our heads, I assure you, it won't be the same We will either be squeezed and practically absorbed by Van Alstyne and Sherman or we are the low-income branch of Grayson County The Ostrich Theory was used by companies like Blockbuster, K-Mart, Sears and even Microsoft Their counterparts with a formulted plan were Netflix, Wal-Mart, Target and Apple

Lets love Howe and celebrate Howe for what it currently is and has been in the past. Lets expand upon that in a way WE see what's best for us. That's the formulated plan coming from Haning Street