It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve as your president of the Home Builders Association of Lincoln during 2019. During this year, I’ve had the opportunity to meet many of you personally and can say I have become even more impressed with the quality and dedication of our members. It is an absolute point of pride for me to say I am a member of HBAL.
During the year, HBAL has worked on many issues that impact our industry. We were actively engaged in the Sales Tax for Roads issue negotiating a 5-year freeze on impact fees and dedication of 25% of the sales tax revenue to construction of new streets for new growth. We worked on the task force that developed the radon resistive construction passed by the State Legislature. HBAL developed an ongoing relationship with City Council members and County Commissioners meeting regularly to keep the lines of communication open. We started a community task force to look at issues impacting workforce affordable housing. We have started our efforts to educate state legislators on the extreme costs of the new National Electrical Code proposed for wholesale adoption by the State during this legislative session. HBAL continues to work closely with Building and Safety to ensure a strong working relationship with their staff. These are several of the many ongoing efforts on the HBAL agenda in support of our industry.
During 2019, HBAL continued our benevolent activities in our community. We completed a house for Habitat for Humanity. The Lincoln Home Builders Care Foundation funded several scholarships to local students. We continue to work with students in local high schools, educating them about the opportunities in our industry. HBAL once again built toys for the Lincoln Police Union’s Santa Cop program. And, we were involved in a number of other activities that benefited our community including a $5,000 donation to the Lincoln Police Department – Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office Law Enforcement Memorial project through HBAL’s Giving Day.
Thank you to our wonderful HBAL staff. Michaela, Jennie, Andrea, Laure and Taylor are amazing! They made my year as president successful.
HBAL is sponsoring two educational opportunities in January: Sanitary & Improvement Districts 101 presented by E & A Consulting Group (date is to be determined) and Fall Protection presented by the Nebraska Safety Council (January 31). You can find more details in this issue of the Business Builder.
Once again, thank you for your trust and support during this year. It is an experience I will always treasure. Best wishes to Herb Reese who becomes our president for 2020. Herb has a passion for our industry and he will serve HBAL well!
Happy and safe building!