Last Thursday, Oct. 5, we hosted the first stakeholder's meeting for the Southern Fifth Ward Mastplan. The southern Fifth Ward is the area most impacted by the presence of the 36-acre MDI superfund site. We had 21 individuals attend the meeting, representing local businesses, civic clubs, nonprofit agencies, housing development firms, political offices, faith based institutions and the local school district.
The purpose of this meeting was to engage these community leaders in a dialogue about the need for a masterplan for the area. These leaders have been asked to take the information that was discussed in the meeting back to their respective businesses or audiences. The city of Houston Planning & Development Department were particularly excited and impressed with the response from the community.
We were able to garner some media attention from KHOU Channel 11, which broadcasted both last night at 10pm and again this morning on the 6am news.
I haven't seen the footage yet but I heard it was a good take on what we are trying to accomplish with the community driven plan. I'll put in a request to the company that tracks the footage for a copy.
The highlight of the meeting was a surprise appearance by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. She expressed her appreciation for the Sierra Club and the Fifth Ward Superneighborhood Council for placing the destiny of the MDI site and the community into the hands of the residents. She also was assertive in expressing to Frank Liu, the developer that recently purchased the MDI site, that it is in his best interest to be mindful of the desires and needs of the present community. When given a chance to ask questions I inquired as to whether or not there are federal resources that would ensure that the developer could provide meaningful green space and quality affordable housing on the waste site once its remediated. Her response was absolutely and that she wanted to meet directly with our community group and developer to discuss what those federal resources may look like. She alluded to potential tax credits, green building subsidies, HUD funds that would buy down the cost of construction so that affordable housing and additional greenspace could be created without compromising the bottomline for the developer and his investors.
It was a great meeting, the first of many more to come and I will keep you abreast of the progress as we move forward.
Thanks for your support.
The purpose of this meeting was to engage these community leaders in a dialogue about the need for a masterplan for the area. These leaders have been asked to take the information that was discussed in the meeting back to their respective businesses or audiences. The city of Houston Planning & Development Department were particularly excited and impressed with the response from the community.
We were able to garner some media attention from KHOU Channel 11, which broadcasted both last night at 10pm and again this morning on the 6am news.
I haven't seen the footage yet but I heard it was a good take on what we are trying to accomplish with the community driven plan. I'll put in a request to the company that tracks the footage for a copy.
The highlight of the meeting was a surprise appearance by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. She expressed her appreciation for the Sierra Club and the Fifth Ward Superneighborhood Council for placing the destiny of the MDI site and the community into the hands of the residents. She also was assertive in expressing to Frank Liu, the developer that recently purchased the MDI site, that it is in his best interest to be mindful of the desires and needs of the present community. When given a chance to ask questions I inquired as to whether or not there are federal resources that would ensure that the developer could provide meaningful green space and quality affordable housing on the waste site once its remediated. Her response was absolutely and that she wanted to meet directly with our community group and developer to discuss what those federal resources may look like. She alluded to potential tax credits, green building subsidies, HUD funds that would buy down the cost of construction so that affordable housing and additional greenspace could be created without compromising the bottomline for the developer and his investors.
It was a great meeting, the first of many more to come and I will keep you abreast of the progress as we move forward.
Thanks for your support.
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12:25 PM
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