DMN Video of Cherokee Horn Picketing

Dallas Morning News came out and shot a video of the picketing last night.

Check it out at:

http://www.dallasnews.com/video/dallasnews/hp/index.html?nvid=268517

Wednesday night picketing

Thanks to everyone who came out late this afternoon to picket at Cherokee Horn. The turnout was terrific, despite the rain and the lightening.

Watch for the story in Sunday's metro section of the "Dallas Morning News."

"A Letter"

Today's Messenger reports that the Town Council received a "threatening" letter prior to Monday's meeting.

I know nothing about it other than that type of behavior is completely unacceptable. Nothing else needs to be said.

Monday morning musings....

Tonight's Town Council meeting (6:00pm Town Hall) should be "spirited", as always.

I'd expect plenty of comments about the response to the Red Oak lawsuit as well as the proposed Riverwalk development.

I had someone point out a very interesting letter that Mayor Smith wrote to a Bridlewood resident, which besides Bridlewood mentioned Hillard and Northshore.

See it here: http://bqlc.org/ and then scroll down to the posting: "Bridlewood resident's letter to Mayor Smith".

Very nice web site, by the way.

More on Town Council tomorrow.

Town to Defend Itself Against Red Oak Lawsuit

In tonight's Town Council meeting it was decided that the Town WILL be mounting a defense against the Red Oak lawsuit.

More tomorrow.......

"Protect Flower Mound"

Please sign the Protect Flower Mound petition at:

http://www.petitiononline.com/FM75022/petition.html

This petition will be placed in front of every Councilmember tonight as they meet in executive session to decide what their response to the Red Oak lawsuit will be.

Whether you are for or against gas drilling in Flower Mound, please consider signing it.

Do we want our Town ordinances dictated to us and interpreted for us by outside developers? Or by our own neighbors who serve voluntarily on the Town boards?

This is important.

If you wish to communicate to Town Council regarding the Red Oak lawsuit

I was originally told that public comments would be allowed in Thursday night's (July 17th) Town Council workshop. That is not the case since it is not a regular meeting.

However, you still have the opportunity to communicate your concerns regarding the need for the Town to aggressively defend itself against the Red Oak lawsuit. (This issue is MUCH more than simply an O&G matter.)

Please see a discussion of the reasons that it is imperative that the Town defend itself on the previous blog entry.

If you wish to express your concerns to the Town Council prior to their workshop session this Thursday, please email each of the Town Council members as well as the Mayor. Be sure to include your name and address so that the Council can be confident that these communications are coming from actual Flower Mound residents, rather than people or organizations who do not live in our Town or even our state. Also, please copy Paula Paschal, Town secretary, at paula.paschal@flower-mound.com.

And finally, would you mind copying me at stopthedrilling@gmail.com? I'll also print off copies of the emails and deliver them to Town Hall just to make sure that they get them.

Here are their email addresses:
Mayor Jody Smith: mayor@flower-mound.com
Councilmember Joel Lindsey: place1@flower-mound.com
Councilmember Al Filidoro: place2@flower-mound.com
Councilmember Tim Trotter: place3@flower-mound.com
Councilmember Jean Levenick: place4@flower-mound.com
Councilmember Jeff Tasker: place5@flower-mound.com

Please mark your calendars for 6:00pm Monday, July 21st for the next regular Town Council meeting. As always, public comments will be allowed at that time.

One last thing...If you haven't signed the petition yet, would you please considering doing so? http://www.petitiononline.com/FM75022/petition.html

Consider forwarding the link to your friends and neighbors here in Flower Mound who, like you, want to protect this great little spot we call home......

Protect Flower Mound; Sign an On-line Petition

PETITION LINK: http://www.petitiononline.com/FM75022/petition.html

As you know, Red Oak filed suit against the Town and the O&G Board as a result of the Board's June 18th denial of all variances requested for the Riverwalk site.

There is a VERY strong concern that Town leadership may seek to settle this suit outside of court, rather than vigorously defending it. This would be against the best interests of Flower Mound residents. Why?

--It could immediately open up the center of Town to gas drilling
--It would communicate to aggressive developers/homeowners that all one has to do is threaten to sue and the Town will back down (this goes beyond gas drilling.
What's to keep for example, a used car lot, a liquor store, or an adult bookstore from insisting that they be allowed a location on every other corner?
--It would undermine the authority of ALL Town boards
--It would undermine the agreed-upon PROCESS for handling O&G variance requests. The Town Council put these in place--they need to uphold them.
--It would indicate a disregard for the will of the residents and the established processes for handling disputes arising out of board decisions.

Certain members of Town leadership may assert that a settlement is in the best interest of the Town as protracted litigation could be expensive. Litigation will be expensive and it may well be protracted, but the alternative could be much more expensive. Does the Town want to face a potential lawsuit every time a developer is denied a variance?

What can you do?

1) Sign the petition stating that the Town needs to protects its citizens by vigorously defending itself from the Red Oak suit. Furthermore, if Town leaders do not aggressively fight the suit, then we, the citizens, have no choice but to seek leaders who will stand up against Red Oak or any developer who doesn't agree with the decisions of our Town boards.

Sign the petition here:

http://www.petitiononline.com/FM75022/petition.html

Also, please forward this link to as many Flower Mound residents as possible. Write them a short note explaining why this is so important.

2) Attend the Planning and Zoning meeting on Monday, July 14th at 6:30pm. The Red Oak lawsuit will be discussed and public comments will be allowed.

3) Attend the Town Council work session on Thursday July 17th at 6:00pm. During the work session, the Council will discuss how they will respond to the Red Oak suit. There will be a public participation session in the beginning and public comments will be allowed.(In all instances, if you wish to speak, you should keep it factual and under three minutes.)

4) Write letters and send emails to the mayor and members of Town Council.

(Their contact information can be found here: http://www.flower-mound.com/council/council.php) If you send a letter or an email, please bring a hard copy to the meeting on the 17th and those will be presented to the Town secretary for inclusion in the meeting minutes. (If you cannot be at the meeting, give your letter or email to someone who will be there.)

5) Write letters to the editor of the local papers as well as the Dallas Morning News and the Ft. Worth Star Telegram.Your participation matters. Make your voice heard and let Town leaders know that they need to protect the citizens by fighting the Red Oak lawsuit.

The Town Council decisions made in the next few days will resonate for future generations of Flower Mound. If our Council will not look to the future, we must.

KRLD Coverage of Flower Mound Gas Drilling Issues

KRLD (1080 AM) will be covering the Flower Mound drilling issues, including the Red Oak lawsuit, on Wednesday morning between 5:00am and 10:00am.

Red Oak Challenging the Riverwalk Variance Denials by the O&G Board of Appeals

In a June 27, 2008 filing in state district court, Red Oak Gas is appealing the O&G Board of Appeals' decision on June 18th to deny all of the variances for the proposed Riverwalk site.

Quoting from an article posted last night on the "The Flower Mound Leader", they are challenging the Board's decision saying that it was “without reference to applicable criteria and standards, is illegal in whole or in part, constitutes an abuse of discretion, was arbitrary and capricious, causes Red Oak Gas an unnecessary hardship, is otherwise wrongful, invalid and unenforceable and should be reversed.”

I believe that this is just the start. It is the start of us having our rights stripped away and is nothing more than big 'ole oil and gas forcing themselves into our neighborhoods.

The question is, what will our Town do to protect us? Will they aggressively defend the Board's decision? Remember, the Board's decision was based upon the Town's O&G Ordinance, which was put into place by the Town Council.

This is an opportunity for those in Town government to show that they're listening to us--the residents--rather than the big monied interests of developers and oil and gas.

I believe the Town has an obligation to fight this lawsuit with everything its got. Otherwise, why have Town ordinances? If the Town rolls over for this, then what? A gas well on every corner?

More to come......

Cherokee Horn's "Happy 4th" Advertisement

This morning we woke up to small flags in our yards with a note from Cherokee Horn attached stating that "NATURALLY gas is good for our environment, our economy, our country. We wish you and yours a Happy 4th of July."

Again we're told we're unpatriotic if we don't support their efforts to destroy our neighborhoods.

My suggestion...toss the Cherokee Horn propaganda and place the little flag into the corrugated area at the top of your "Just Say NO" sign. That's what we did. Plus we put up a big flag on our fence surrounded by "Just Say NO" signs.

July 4th celebrates the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence and I quote from the preamble..."We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

I think that gas drilling 500 feet from my home impacts my Life, my Liberty, and my pursuit of Happiness.

Happy 4th of July.