February 2018 reporter

NORTH TEXAS HOMEBUILDERS ASSOCIATION

4410 Fairway Boulevard Wichita Falls, TX 76308

Volume 11, No. 2 • February 2018

P: 940.692.2211 F: 940.692.2214

www.nthba.com

From the President 2018 has arrived and was accompanied by some very cold weather. Hopefully the recent cold spell is behind us, and the warmer temps of spring and much needed rain are on their way. It is my desire for our current membership to engage with new members to help welcome them into the association. Membership is the life blood of our association, and I would like to challenge everyone to consider bringing in at least one new member. It is imperative we keep our membership growing and evolving with the ever changing New Home construction industry. Growing our association membership base at the State and local levels helps bolster our voice with local, State, and National governance. We can be triumphant in numbers when it comes to proposed industry and regulatory changes.

Maintaining affordable housing is critical for the continued economic success of Texas and our local area.

If you have any ideas or suggestions for the North Texas Home Builders Association, please feel free to contact any of the committee members or myself, so we are able to work on your behalf. We are always trying to find the best way to communicate and network with one another, as well as put together fun ways to socialize and raise funds for the association.

The involvement of all members to further the advancement of the NTHBA is encouraged and greatly appreciated.

We are still actively working with the City of Wichita Falls on a revised change proposal for the Subdivision Ordnance. The importance of sensible regulations for our industry is important for public safety, but at the same time overbearing regulation would cripple the current local uptick in development and housing starts. We look forward to a continued positive working relationship with City of Wichita Falls representatives as we continue to work together to reach an outcome suitable for all interested parties.

As always the North Texas Home Builders Association is here to serve its members and I encourage everyone to participate and be involved in the issues that face our industry.

Special Thanks to our 2018 NTHBA Partners: Platinum Atmos Energy Gold Union Square Credit Union Guarantee Title Silver American National Bank First National Bank Texoma Community Credit Union

What’s

INSIDE

• Dates To Remember

• Homeownership Rate Show Fortitude • Lake Wichita Revitalization Update • NAHB State & Local Issues Fund Update • Opponents of gerrymandering keep winning, but it might not affect 2018

2018 Dates to Remember March 1, General Membership Meeting March 21, TAB Leadership Conference March 22-23, TAB Winter Committee & Board Meetings

2018 Calendar of Events Publications & Communications...............................Feb. 13 Committee Meeting...................................................3:00PM Young Professionals....................................................Feb. 13 Council Meeting.........................................................4:00PM Budget & By-Laws.......................................................Feb. 21 Committee Meeting................................................10:15AM Board of Directors.......................................................Feb. 21 Meeting.....................................................................11:00AM

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February Birthdays Bobby Diltz....................................................................8 Doug McCulloch.........................................................8 John Thompson.........................................................11 Dennis Probst..............................................................15 Harold Newton..........................................................20 Barney Brock..............................................................22 Steven Klasse.............................................................23 Happy Birthday!

New Members Art’s Exterminators..........................................Lyle Riley McLain@ Son Consrtruction................Jordan McLain Welcome!

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General Membership Meeting March 1st, 2018 11:30 AM

Helping Build Our Community Since 1907

WFISD Career Education Center 500 E. Hatton Rd.

Member FDIC

Join us for a joint General Membership Meeting with the Association of Realtors.

The NTHBA will be making a donation to the CEC’s construction department.

After lunch, those who would like to stay will take a guided tour of the facility.

703 E. Scott Wichita Falls, TX 76308

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State and Local Issues Fund Update NAHB's State and Local Government Affairs Committee met during the 2018 International Builders Show and approved dispersements from the State and Local Issues Fund (SLIF). The committee approved funds to assist with passing legislation dealing with employee classification issues and construction defect notification, as well funding for a candidate training and education program.

SLIF is a great tool to help with a legislative, regulatory or ballot issue that has national significance or is a common industry problem whose resolution could be precedent setting. For more information please contact Karl Eckhart, 202-266-8319.

Homeownership Rate Shows Fortitude Another positive sign for the housing industry was recently revealed in the Census Bureau's fourth- quarter homeownership data. Contrary to some analysts' predictions that the rate would fall to 61% or lower in the coming years, the new estimates indicate it increased from 63.7% in 2016 to 64.2% in 2017. The data also showed six consecutive quarters of gains in the count of home owners, with notable growth among those under the age of 35.

Consistently strong demand is causing home prices to outpace income growth — a trend we expect to diminish in 2018 as tax reform-related shifts take place in some high-cost, high-tax markets. Nonetheless, NAHB expects growth for single-family construction to continue, much like it did last year. Despite a soft reading in December, total new home sales in 2017 rose 8.3% from the previous year. –NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz

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Wichita Lake Revitalization Update

(The majority of the information in this article is copied from Support Lake Wichita Web site).

The Wichita Lake Revitalization was the topic of speakers Tom Lang and Stephen Garner with the Wichita Lake Revitalization Committee. With the Revitalization of Lake Wichita being so near and dear to their hearts, Stephen Garner expressed how much they appreciate being a part of this community but in order for it to grow, it is vital to push this project forward.

Veterans in the area, Shepard Air Force Base, and Ft. Sill Army Base. The Veteran’s Memorial Plaza at Lake Wichita is designed to provide everyone in our community the opportunity to simultaneously support Lake Wichita and our area Veterans. This area will be a gathering place for many wonderful outdoor events. This area will be a draw for the community and provide an opportunity to learn about our community’s and Nation’s military history.

It will provide a scenic location for families and Veterans alike to enjoy the healing powers of nature and being outdoors. It will be accessible via the Circle Trail, the current boat ramp will be expanded to a four-lane boat ramp, there will be boat slips for 25 boats, a restroom, fish cleaning station, Lake Wichita Donor Recognition wall, trees, benches, and Lake Wichita historical marker. While the water is gone and the lake is being excavated two beach Continues on page 6

The outpouring of the generosity of the people of Wichita Falls has been tremendous and continues to be the heart beat and motivation to keep them on tract to seeing this dream come to fruition.

Tom explained their first step is to excavate. After 4 years of fund raising, a 350 page application and many grueling hours of educating the public to get aboard, the 404 permit issued by the Army Corp of Engineers was received in July 2017. This permit allows the project to move forward. The project is planned out in phases which allow the committee time to raise funds for future phases.

The expansion of circle trail - Circle Trail will be connected from Barnett Road to Lake Wichita Park.

A segment of which will be taken out over the water and include wildlife viewing and fishing stations ultimately diversifying the utilization of the trail. It includes the addition of a pedestrian bridge over the spillway and an extension of the trail down the entire east side of the lake increasing the public accessibility to any commercial development that occurs and the portion of the lake in that area.

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areas will be added to further enhance recreation.

One beach will be located in Lake Wichita Park and the other will be located near the emergency spillway off of Kemp.

Since the quality of fishing is directly attributable to the quality of fisheries habitat. The excavation will increase the storage capacity and provide the water essential for their survival. Aquatic plants like American Pondweed will be reestablished, rock piles that will both protect the shoreline from erosion will also provide quality fish habitat, development of brush piles and placement of artificial structures will also aid in increasing the quality of the fish population and help bring the fish to the angler by being placed strategically with the end user in mind.

Florida Largemouth Bass, Hybrid Striped Bass, White Crappie, Bluegill, Redear Sunfish, and Channel Catfish populations are planned to be reestablished through stocking by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The combination of fish restocking and diverse habitat types, strategically placed, will aid in making Lake Wichita a booming fishery again!

Over 200 acres of wetlands and aquatic vegetation plantings are planned and will be strategically placed throughout Lake Wichita to maximize their benefits to water quality, wildlife viewing, the ecosystem, hunting, and fish and wildlife populations.

Lake Wichita is being built for the public and will be inundated with a plethora of public access options. The plan includes the development and refurbishing of four boat ramps, four jetties extending out into the water (which also serve to protect the shoreline from erosion), a floating fishing pier on the dam which will provide great access to the lake and the plan is to add three more of these down the dam effectively ensuring the entire dam provides great and safe access to the water.

Future development projects includes a Pavilion type structure being rebuilt at the old site on the dam, the addition of a tent camping area near Continues on page 7

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Continued from page 5

Barnett Road, and finally the addition of a wake board park in conjunction with the beach area near the emergency spillway.

The Lake Wichita Revitalization Project is a t r e m e n d o u s movement to take Texas’ 3rd oldest reservoir, built in 1901, and return it to state in which it can provide significant social, economic, ecological, and recreational benefits to the community for another 100 years.

Tom said the Wichita Lake revitalization project is getting national attention because it is such a unique project. It could be a project that could get funding down the road if the Federal Government adds reservoirs to the infrastructure list.

This project will be a marathon project but the goal is to sprint until it’s done. You start with what you can handle while you continue to build relationships, acquire volunteers and find ways to raise more funds.

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Opponents of gerrymandering keep winning, but it might not affect 2018

People protest gerrymandering outside the Supreme Court while the justices hear oral arguments on Oct. 3 in Washington. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

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Opponents of gerrymandering have won a historic string of victories in the courts recently, yet millions of voters will cast their ballots this fall in districts that judges have declared to be unconstitutional.

Federal courts in Texas, North Carolina and Wisconsin found that either politics or intentional discrimination played an unacceptable role in drawing electoral lines and ordered new districts in place for the 2018 elections.

But the Supreme Court stopped them all.

The justices are traditionally reluctant to order changes in an election year, for one thing. And they have never thrown out a state’s redistricting plan because they found it so infected with partisan bias that it violates voters’ constitutional rights.

[Supreme Court takes up Wisconsin case on partisan gerrymandering] Unless and until it does — the subject is under review at the high court — the justices have routinely told states found to be offenders that they do not have to immediately redraw the maps, which almost surely means they won’t be in place for the 2018 elections.

Here’s how the Supreme Court could decide whether your vote will count VIEW GRAPHIC Continues on page 9

Continued from page 8

The Supreme Court’s action has been frustrating to lawyers involved in the years-long litigation. “A single election under an unconstitutional map is one too many,” Ruth Greenwood, senior legal counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, said after the court said North Carolina did not immediately have to redraw its congressional map.

The most consequential of the stay requests is at the Supreme Court right now, and the decision could play a role in determining which party controls the House after the November midterm elections.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court last month ruled that the congressional map drawn by the Republican legislature in 2011 “clearly, plainly and palpably violates” the commonwealth’s constitution. It demanded a quick redrawing of the lines so that 2018 elections could be held in fairer districts.

Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court justices are elected, and with Democrats in the majority, voted along party lines in demanding a change to the districts. Republicans hold 13 of the 18 congressional seats in what is usually considered a swing state. The ruling gives Democrats a chance to win more of those seats as they try to tip the balance in the House.

But Republican legislative leaders in Pennsylvania have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to put the decision on hold. And other Republican-led states told the justices they should refrain from ordering new districts anywhere, even if they find later this term that there is a way to gauge extreme partisan gerrymandering.

“Put simply, there is no need to hurry,” said an amicus brief filed by Republican officials in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri Continues on page 10

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Continued from page 9

and South Carolina. They note that the 2020 Census will require new lines to be drawn nationwide anyway.

Those who have challenged what they consider racial and partisan gerrymanders say they would be surprised if the Supreme Court intervened in the Pennsylvania case, because it involves a state court interpreting its own constitution.

“The Supreme Court’s duty is to say what the law is, but only federal law,” said Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles who runs a blog about redistricting and worked on the issue at the Justice Department under President Barack Obama.

[Over liberals’ objections, Supreme Court says Texas does not have to redraw lines] Levitt was involved in the case in Texas, which gained four congressional seats in 2010 as a result of population growth. Though that growth was fueled by increases in its minority populations, the Republican legislature drew a map in which white Republicans were elected in three of the new districts, and the lines have been embroiled in court battles the entire decade.

A lower court overseeing the redistricting cases last year called for a special session of the Texas Legislature to redraw the electoral lines.

But Texas went quickly to the Supreme Court, saying it would be a waste of time if the Supreme Court ultimately held that the districts did not have to be redrawn.

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By a 5-to-4 vote in September, the Supreme Court said the redrawing could wait, meaning all of the congressional elections of this decade in the state will take place under a plan judges have criticized.

“Justice delayed is justice denied, and that’s a lot of delay,” said Levitt.

The Texas case was about racial gerrymandering. Partisan gerrymandering was the reason lower courts invalidated the congressional map in North Carolina and a state legislative map in Wisconsin.

The Supreme Court granted Wisconsin’s request not to draw a new map while the justices considered the merits of the case. The justices held oral arguments in October but have not ruled. In the meantime, it has accepted a second case from Maryland, which will be heard in March.

Washington lawyers Paul D. Clement and Erin Murphy, who represented Wisconsin, persuaded the court to grant the same relief to North Carolina.

“It makes no sense whatsoever to force North Carolina to immediately remedy a purported partisan gerrymandering violation and commence ts 2018 election cycle under a new court-imposed map before this Court can even decide whether and under what circumstances such claims may be adjudicated,” they wrote.

[Supreme Court says North Carolina does not have to redraw maps] Usually, the high court takes a hands-off approach when a state’s highest court interprets its own constitution. But Pennsylvania’s Continues on page 11

Continued from page 10

Republican legislative leaders say, just as the court decided to reverse the Florida Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore, that there is a federal issue at stake also.

The Constitution’s Elections Clause provides that the “Times, Places and Manner” of congressional elections shall be decided by the “legislature” of each state, or by Congress. That leaves no room for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to usurp the legislature’s power under vague interpretations of the state’s guarantees of free speech and equal protection, they say.

The court’s 5-to-2 ruling was not accompanied by a detailed opinion, which it said would come later.

“For the first time in United States history, a state court, in attempting to play the role of ‘lawmaker,’ has invalidated a congressional districting plan without identifying a violation of the U.S. Constitution or a state constitutional or statutory provision providing specific redistricting criteria,” the GOP leaders told the court.

But the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, one of the challengers to the plan, told the court in its response brief that the Supreme Court on numerous occasions has said the meaning of “legislature” in the Constitution is not so literal.

To rule for the commonwealth’s legislative leaders, “This Court would need to overrule no fewer than six of its precedents, all upholding the power of state courts to review and remedy unconstitutional congressional districting plans,” the group’s brief said.

It added: “Their stay applications are just a ploy to preserve a congressional map that violates Pennsylvania’s Constitution for one more election cycle.”

Even if the effects are not seen in the 2018 elections, opponents of partisan gerrymandering are encouraged by the recent victories and the Supreme Court’s surprise decision to add the Maryland case to its docket.

The justices in the past have agreed that

partisan gerrymandering can be unconstitutional but have never agreed on a way for courts to measure when it goes too far and they should get involved.

“The fact that they took a second case” makes it more likely that the court is serious about finding a way in which courts can determine when partisan gerrymandering becomes too extreme, said Washington lawyer Paul Smith, who argued the Wisconsin case earlier in the term.

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