Government
BY JESSICA SHORTEN
Precinct 3 sta work across multiple departments, including the recycling center, nature center and road maintenance.
COURTESY RITCH WHEELER
COURTESY PRECINCT 3 COMMISSIONER’S OFFICE
Meet Montgomery County Precinct 3 Commissioner Wheeler Montgomery County Precinct 3 Commissioner Ritch Wheeler sat down with Community Impact on Jan. 24 to discuss the future of Precinct 3 and what priorities he has for the next four years. Answers have been edited for length and clarity. When it comes to the operations of the Precinct 3 Commissioner’s O ce, are there any particular areas you want to grow or expand over the next four years? I haven’t identi ed any areas yet that we need to grow the o ce, per se. What I will say is we know that The Woodlands is 50 years old. I mean, we just celebrated a birthday, and we know that Imperial Oaks and Benders Landing and Spring Trails and Harmony and Woodson’s Reserve and Oak Ridge North, Shenandoah, all of those other areas in the precinct outside of The Woodlands, while they may not be, at least not all of them, as old, they have their own infrastructure needs as well. So what we’ve got to balance is where do we need new infrastructure to help mitigate some of the congestion that these folks are dealing with? Then where do we need to go back and start replacing existing infrastructure? Because [Precinct 3] is just aging, we’re 50 years old, and at some point you
The Precinct 3 Commissioner’s O ce oversees a number of facilities, including:
Residential Recycling Facility
South Montgomery County Community Center
George & Cynthia Woods Mitchell and South Montgomery County libraries
Mosquito Abatement Program
Spring Creek Nature Center
have got to start looking at replacing stu . What needs have you identi ed for a potential road bond in 2025? Intersection improvements, signalization improvements, ... but then we know we have some infrastructure needs in other areas that are going to help move tra c. That’s new infrastructure. That’s I’ll give you a couple of examples, for instance, Rayford Road and [the Grand Parkway] at Rayford Road, 99 at Birnham Woods ... neither one of those have a dedicated right-hand turn lane. We’re going to look real hard at Robinson Road in Oak Ridge North, and can we help with the project that Oak Ridge North is doing at the Robinson Road and Hanna [Road] intersection? Is there a way that we can help with storage and maybe even extend- ing some of those improvements to help move tra c through that area better? I think the big one is, can we take Townsen Boulevard from Rayford Road north to [the Grand Parkway]. That’s a big endeavor, but ... for those folks that live along Rayford Road, they only have one way in and one way out, and so it’s not safe if we have a natural disaster of some sort where they get bottled in, we can’t get rst responders down there. We
can’t get re trucks, ambulances—they can’t get out, because that’s their only access. What should Precinct 3 residents expect from the o ce going forward? What they need to know about this o ce going forward is we’re going to have a culture shift. So, we as an executive team, have really tried to put the message out, not only internally, but externally, that we’re here, we’re open, we’re open for busi- ness, we’re available. We want to hear from people. We want to collab- orate with them. We’re going to be as transparent as possible with new projects coming online so that we can get feedback, and so really, what we want people to know is that we’re open, we’re open and we’re available, and we’re going to have a culture shift to be more collaborative with the community.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For a longer version, visit communityimpact.com.
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THE WOODLANDS EDITION
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