Cherokee Horn's latest attempt to snooker Northshore residents

Cherokee Horn's latest mailing touts their association with "Titan Operating, LLC". The mailing explains that Titan will be the operator and will be responsible for "permitting, drilling, and management of the well sites." It continues that "Cherokee Horn will continue to manage all leasing efforts."

Yawn.

In the last paragraph it says that they have enough acreage to start their next process...to begin drilling. They add that they need to hear from you asap as they're "finalizing our preliminary pooling unit."

So what?

They want you to think that a) Texas has forced pooling and if you don't sign you'll just be left out. (It doesn't work this way.) b) that they've now got enough acreage leased and that it's just a matter of paperwork to get the application finalized and to get started drilling.

It's not that simple. Here's why.

While an approval for a drilling application may be a slam dunk at the Texas Railroad Commission, it's not with the Town of Flower Mound. The proposed drilling at Northshore cannot take place without approvals for multiple variances to the Town's O&G ordinance.

That is not going to happen any time soon--if ever. Ask Red Oak about their attempts to obtain variances to drill at the Riverwalk site--they've been denied twice and have now filed suit against the Town.

Northshore will be many, many times harder to obtain variances than Riverwalk. Northshore has literally hundreds of residents within 1,000 feet of the proposed drill sites. (There are two proposed sites--north and south ends of the property.) Riverwalk's most recent proposal (which was denied in June 2008) didn't have any residences within 1,000 feet of the proposed drill site.

The O&G Board of Appeals has been very outspoken in their opposition to locating drilling closer to residences than the 1,000 feet mandated in the O&G ordinance.

We are grateful for their steadfastness. They are protecting the citizens of the Town and in particular, those residents who live close to the proposed drill sites.

And while Cherokee Horn can argue that "you're gonna miss out if you don't sign now--drilling's just around the corner"; that statement is absolutely false and is nothing more than an attempt to scare people into signing a lease because "it's gonna happen anyway."

Well it's not. Drilling is not inevitable.

And that is why we fight it and that is why we will continue to do so.