Tuesday, July 26, 2011

The Flower Mound Town Council, the Oil and Gas Advisory Board and the Petition Ordinance: The Real Facts

The email was forwarded to us by Flower Mound Council Member Filidoro

The Flower Mound Town Council, the Oil and Gas Advisory Board and the Petition Ordinance: The Real Facts

In the spring of 2010, more than 6,000 Town residents signed a petition and submitted a draft ordinance for the Flower Mound Town Council to consider a moratorium on permits for centralized natural gas facilities and natural gas pipelines. After more than a year of detailed review by the Town’s Oil and Gas Advisory Board and the Town Council, on July 18, 2011, the Town Council adopted comprehensive new ordinances addressing natural gas drilling in the Town as well as new standards for natural gas pipelines. Additionally, the Town Council repealed the centralized natural gas facilities zoning ordinance, approved by the previous council in January 2010. Despite the sweeping new changes to the face of natural gas drilling operations in the Town, over the last several weeks, a few Town residents have complained that the Flower Mound Town Council was not “committed to executing the petition mandate” and that last year’s petition was “hijacked” and “used for political agendas.” An objective review of the facts shows, however, that every portion of the 2010 petition was fully honored and that the current Town Council’s actions in all respects were in compliance with the petition ordinance.

What specifically did the 2010 petition ordinance mandate, and how did this Town Council respond?


1. Section 2(A) of the petition ordinance provided that “the acceptance and processing of applications for oil and gas and/or produced water pipeline permits . . . are hereby temporarily suspended, effective immediately upon passage of this Ordinance.” Similarly, Section 2(B) of the petition ordinance provided that “the acceptance and processing of applications for Specific Use Permits . . . for the construction of any “Centralized Natural Gas Compression Facility,” “Centralized Natural Gas Lift Facility,” or “Centralized Natural Gas Produced Water Storage Facility” . . . are hereby temporarily suspended, effective immediately upon passage of this Ordinance.”

The Town Council’s Response: On June 7, 2010, the Town Council approved Ordinance No. 38-10, which ordinance adopted the petition ordinance in its entirety, including the moratoriums referenced in Sections 2(A) and 2(B) of the petition ordinance.


2. Section 2(C) of the petition ordinance provided that “the aforesaid suspensions shall continue in effect until the completion of the review process and Council action upon any regulatory amendments found to be appropriate, provided such suspension shall terminate 180 [days] after the passage of this Ordinance unless the Town Council has not then completed its review and acted upon any amendments to such regulations. In that event the suspension shall be extended once for a period of sixty days by action of the Town Council.”

The Town Council’s Response: Town Ordinance No. 38-10 adopted the language contained in Section 2(C) of the petition ordinance.

3. Section 3(A) of the petition ordinance provided for the appointment of a 12-member Oil and Gas Advisory Board within 30 days of the adoption of the ordinance (Section 3(A)). The OGAB was to consist of (i) 8 Town property owners, some of whom owned their minerals and some of whom did not (Section 3(A)(1)) and (ii) 4 members who are “mineral lessors, independent experts . . . and a third party mediator without any financial or professional ties to the Town of Flower Mound or the oil and gas industry” (Section 3(A)(2)).

The Town Council’s Response: On July 6, 2010, the Town Council appointed 12 members to the OGAB and 4 alternates also were named, all in compliance with Section 3(A) of the petition ordinance.

4. Section 3(B) of the petition ordinance provided that “the Board shall conduct public hearings to identify the concerns of the citizens of the Town regarding (1) Centralized Natural Gas Compression Facilities, Centralized Natural Gas Lift Facilities, and Centralized Natural Gas Produced Water Facilities . . . and (2) oil and gas and/or produced water pipelines.” Section 3(C) of the petition ordinance required at least one public hearing on the OGAB’s findings relative to centralized facilities and oil and gas pipelines as well as recommendations “as to any amendments to the Code of Ordinances of the Town.”

The Town Council’s Response: The OGAB held multiple public hearings to solicit citizen input. After an extensive number of meetings throughout the late summer and fall of 2010, the OGAB presented its preliminary report to the Town Council on January 20, 2011. Additional public hearings were held on February 10 and February 12, 2011, to solicit further citizen comments on the proposed OGAB recommendations. The OGAB’s Final Recommendations were presented to the Town Council on February 28, 2011, and were discussed at the March 21, 2011, Town Council meeting. At that time, since several OGAB members considered there were additional outstanding items, a public comment period was designated from April 1 to April 18, and two additional public comment meetings were held on April 7 and April 12, 2011. After the presentation of draft ordinances, the Town Council held public hearings on June 20, 2011, and July 18, 2011.

5. The second Section 3(B) in the petition ordinance (there were two sections numbered 3(B) in the petition ordinance) provided that “upon completion of such public hearings, the Board shall assess the Town’s existing ordinances regulating centralized processing facilities and oil and gas pipelines with the objectives of (1) addressing the concerns of the citizens identified in public hearings; (2) recognizing any appropriate restrictions on the location of such facilities and pipelines and (3) balancing the rights of surface owners with rights of mineral rights owners while preserving the integrity of Flower Mound’s Master Plan and Smart Growth principles. Other factors which may be considered are impacts on the following: economic development, tax receipts, property values, air quality surface and subsurface water flows. Particular matters may be delegated to appropriate boards and commissions and/or staff to develop recommendations for referral back to the Board and/or Town Council.”


The Town Council’s Response: The oil and gas drilling and pipeline ordinances adopted on July 18, 2011, addressed all of the expressed concerns. Several matters were delegated to Town staff to address through the retention of experts (Integra and Kleinfelder, for example) in a comprehensive overhaul of the Town’s natural gas ordinances. Specific references were made to such studies and the topics referenced in Section 3(B) of the petition ordinance.

6. Section 3(D) of the petition ordinance provided that “the Council may expand the scope of the review as it deems appropriate.”


The Town Council’s Response: In adopting Ordinance No.39-10 (also on June 7, 2010), the Town Council extended the moratorium to include all permits related to natural gas drilling in the Town above and beyond the moratorium referenced in the petition ordinance. The Council also made detailed findings that oil and natural gas exploration, drilling and operations involve or otherwise impact the Town’s environment, infrastructure and related public health, welfare and safety matters, including noise issues, road repair issues due to use of heavy equipment, site security and signage issues, issues related to operating hours, venting of gas, fire suppression issues, lighting issues, containment systems, hazardous materials management, spill issues, operator insurance issues, environmental impairment matters and other regulatory issues. That ordinance also provided that due to the many issues related to oil and natural gas exploration, drilling and operations, “the Town is in the process of studying those issues and formulating modified regulations to address the multitudinous land usage, environmental and public health, welfare and safety matters related to such exploration, drilling and operations.” At that June 7 meeting, several residents stated that it was prudent to review the oil and gas ordinances and that increased setbacks were necessary.


After reviewing the petition ordinance in detail—according to its exact words—and comparing those words to the actions of this Town Council, how can anyone honestly contend that this Council did not “follow the requirements as they are clearly laid out in the petition ordinance” and that the petition ordinance “didn’t accomplish what it was written for”? This Council followed the petition ordinance line-by-line, section-by-section, and as result, with incredible diligence and hard work by the Advisory Board, Town staff and this Council, adopted outstanding new ordinances that are reflective of the values of Flower Mound, its residents, and all 6,000 voters who signed the petition in 2010.

51 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't leave it alone and let it fade away can you!!!! What a bunch of paranoid people you all are.

Anonymous said...

Al, really give it a rest! Your comments are too little too late for some of us who have made up our minds about this councils behavior which is not that far the behavior that we detested from prevous council... So let's just all move on and see what the next election season brings to FM. Good ridens..

FMCAUD said...

Anon 4:14. We posted this because it was sent to us and because there has been a lot of negative things said about how the Town Council handled the petition.
We think it is only fair to the council and those that supported their efforts that this email be shared.

Anonymous said...

Anon 4:14 and 4:21. Seriously, talk about moving on? Isn't the bashing of Al Filidoro getting old for you yet? And you wonder why he feels he has to constantly defend himself. You people are pathetic

Anonymous said...

Your all pathetic.... Don't you have a life?

Anonymous said...

When urban drillers leave, we will ALL get our lives back.

Anonymous said...

"When urban drillers leave, we will ALL get our lives back."
Amen to that. We would all live in harmony if the gas drilling companies hadn't pit us all against one another. Divide and conquer is their plan and it looks like it is working. I will continue to support candidates like Filidoro and the rest. No matter what their opponents want us to believe, they have made a difference.

Anonymous said...

How DARE this blog "present" this comprehensive, well written, and factual representation of what was contained in the petition and what ACTIONS (you know, those things that you do that actually change things, posting on facebook doesn't actually DO much of anything) the Town took to protect the health and safety of all of the residents. The hubris of defending yourself against attacks coming from people who you are trying to help. In this "present" day and time, I'm glad to have leaders such as these. I might even want to give them a "present", but I know I can't, ethics laws and all.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this information. I was wondering what Ms. Roger's comments at the council meeting were about. It appears that she may have been interpreting it different than council. I for one am grateful for what and the way council took care of this issue. Unfortunately, we will have to continue living with what Jody Smith and her administration created before these people even took office.

Thanks to the petition people, Advisory Board, and current Council to making Flower Mound a better place to live.

I am also looking forward to the new Waste Management Service. They serviced another community I lived in and they are top notch! More services for less money in this economy – my hat is off to this council.

One last thought… No one is perfect so let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Anonymous said...

When has ethics laws stopped this group , and for that matter this council. (bet they had a quorum when that email was written) Blahhhhhhh

FMCAUD said...

Thanks for the humor and sarcasm anon 5:04. It lightened things up a bit.

Anonymous said...

None these council members have ethic charges against them...oh wait except for one who has a pending charge. But she wasn't "present" on the council till May of this year.

Anonymous said...

Amen!! To that last post. We can take that one all the way to the bank. This day in time I'd rather have an Ethical council member than not and especially council members who have accomplished and done everything so far they have told the community. It will be very interesting how all that ends up for that Council person. Wonder who that maybe??? What is up with all these unethical people bashing our council members who are ethical?

Anonymous said...

NFL give it a rest you won for now. Interesting how NFL uses exact wording sometimes and intent other times. Guess it depends on how the wind is blowing.

Anonymous said...

At least Northern, Filidoro, Lyda, Hayden and Wise took a stand and voted in the ordinance. "Present" is unexceptable. There is No excuses if she is really for protecting our community...

jenny said...

i am enjoying lots of family visiting and birthdays and such. fun summer times ;) but, when i have a chance, i guess i will respond to al's 'facts' with my 'facts'. i thought we were putting this behind us, but low and behold, here we go again....

Anonymous said...

now fmcaud wants to be fair. wish ya'll had those ethics when mayor smith was in office.

Anonymous said...

ANON 4:47: You can thank Smith & Tasker for the urban drilling in FloMo. NFL & H has improved our safety tremendously with this new ordinance. 1,500 ft setbacks is nearly unheard of. It's the best you can get and they made it happen. They have accomplished so much in such little time. Kudos to NFL & H! I will continue to support them always. Have any of you even bothered to read all the facts about the petition ordinance that is posted here? Geez!

FMCAUD said...

Again, we posted this because there has been a lot of criticism about the way the council handled the petition. We have seen this criticism on Facebook, at the Town Council Meetings and even in comments on this blog. We feel this posting tells the other side of the story.

Anonymous said...

and again, where was the other side of the story when mayor smith was in office? you haven't been fair and balanced in the past why start now? that's right, filidoro is up for re-election this year now i understand.

Anonymous said...

Just an observaton but Jenny and anon 6:27 must not know where the shift key is. This wouldn't mean they could be the same person?

Susan said...

@Jenny, I don't want to be mean but haven't you said enough. I agree with FMCAUD. Criticism has been all over the Internet like they said. Let the council have their say. You certainly have had yours.

Overallofthis said...

So just wondering- how many people follow this mess- seems alot todo about nothing - time to put it to bed and move on, doesn't this town have anything else ro talk about?

How about Morriss Rd, what a mess .....

FM Old Timer said...

anon 7:20. Lets talk Riverwalk! oh wait, it went bankrupt before NFL was in office. Hmm lets see, what council had at least 4 years to develop Lakeside after the town spent over 26 million in infrastructure? Not the current one. As a senior, I heard many promises from the old council for a senior center. Never happened until now. You talk about ethics, how about Mayor Smith not recusing herself from discussions about the CCF by Scenic when she had signed a lease with Williams. Who really let Scenic in? Not NFL but Ms. Rogers and and her friends want them to clean up the mess. You can't clean up a pile of crap in a little over a year that took six years to make.
And don't get me started with the moral issues concerning Mayor Smith.

Anonymous said...

I find it interesting that everyone has a problem with Councilmember Stephenson's "present" vote when Filidoro and Hayden both voted "present" on the Morriss Road project.

Anonymous said...

Anon 8:16. Filidoro and Hayden didn't pretend to be for Morriss rd. But. Ms. Stephenson claimed she wanted better practices and preached long distance, 2 miles away, drilling. Then claimed the new ordinance wasn't defendable because it was too strong? Maybe she voted present because she forgot what she really wanted.

Anonymous said...

I have to commend our current council for getting our roads completed on a timely basis. Fm3040 is complete and Fm1171 is now complete. They are working as fast and furious as they can on Gerault and Morris. Our council as saved our town from a CCF, stronger oil and gas ordinance,our wonderful trailheads, $1.1 million in annual savings on our trash collection services. Residents monthly rates were reduced by $2.50 or 23%. Market Street is coming back to FloMo I have heard. They have done a lot of positive things for our community and I believe there is more to come. I voted NFL and H and Wise and would vote for them again...Thank You for all that you do for our community. Your job is not easy. If anyone else thinks they can do it better WE will see your name on the ballot in the Spring of 2012. Good Luck!
REL

Anonymous said...

The reason why people have a problem with her Present vote is she was all about a stronger ordinance and protecting our town from the drilling. But we have all been shown that when you really have to put your money where your mouth is she would prefer to shut it and not stand up for what we all thought she believed and stood for. I was a Stephenson supporter but now this has opened my eyes and I am not the only one feeling mislead.

Anonymous said...

We could talk about how bad the schools are.

[ducks]

Anonymous said...

anon 10:58 kinda like we all thought filidoro and hayden were against morriss road, but yet voted "present". enough with the double standard

jenny said...

@ anon 7:27 - i only post under my name. i do not post anon. tammi, please back me up here to whomever made the comment, as you are the only one who really knows who all the anons are. @ sharon - i thought i had said enough, but i am disheartened to see my council person lie to the public. i can not let that go. accountability and transparency are required from my council members, and traits that i will continue to expect and request. @ all those against kendra's present vote, i think it would enlighten you to go back and watch the video on fmtv when she reads her statement. it is very clear why she voted present, and all who voted for her should be thanking her for being the ONLY (shift key) council member who stood up for what is right! please do your research before you make statements that are untrue. it is unfair to the individuals being unduly criticized and just plain mean!

FMCAUD said...

Jenny, you may be refering to Susan.

Anonymous said...

Transparency is not with holding information. She told Town staff and the Council she had information. When asked she didn't have it and couldn't give the information. Transparency is being visable and clear to the public.

Proud Flower Mounder said...

@ Anon July 26, 2011 10:53 PM

Thank you for pointing out most of the positives of our community and how Northern, Filidoro, Lyda, Hayden (and will include Wise due to his support of NFL&H) have brought all of these positives into being. Flower Mound also two of the best emergency response departements--police and fire--in the state of Texas. We have exemplary schools and beautiful neighborhoods, in addition to the roadway systems and parks and trails. The list goes on and now we have one of the strongest oil and gas ordinances in the country.

If jenny, Kendra and their friends think that Flower Mound is such a bad place, they need to move. Their only purpose is to be adversarial toward NFLH&W. Sad.

Flower Mound. Love it or leave it.

Anonymous said...

Jenny,

I am confused about what you want from our council. What did they do that was so awful? I thought you were for protecting our Town from a CCF and wanted a stronger ordinance? You got it? What is the problem here? WE would all like to know. WE can't help you if we don't know the problem and why you are so angry?
GMI

Anonymous said...

For the record and verified. Hayden voted NO for Morris Rd.
per Hayden!
Stop misleading the public again!

Anonymous said...

Most citizens of FloMo appreciate and support our majority council and their courage to protect our health, safety and welfare. They did not give lip service, but delivered.

We appreciate Mayor Melissa Northern and councilmembers Al Filidoro, Steve Lyda, Mark Wise and Tom Hayden.

Anonymous said...

@ Jenny 8:40 a.m.
How hypocritical you are! You are always critizing and have been mean. Give it a rest.

FMCAUD said...

We apologize if you don't see you comment right a way. Some of them are going to our spam folder and it is a little difficult to get them out of there and post them.

A leaoard can't change it's spots said...

Quoting Jenny. . . "but i am disheartened to see my council person lie to the public. i can not let that go. accountability and transparency are required from my council members, and traits that i will continue to expect and request."

Jenny, do you not get the fact that Kendra Stephenson met with the attorney that the Flower Mound Cares Petition Association hired? Kendra has been implicated that she wrote petition language herself, while she served on the Oil and Gas Board of Appeals, a quasi-judicial board. Her time spent working with the attorney firm was billed to the FMCPA. There was also an eye witness account of Ms. Stephenson at Virginia Simonson's house when a group of people were having a strategic meeting regarding variance requests for the Hilliard appliation and approval of Titan application to drill at Hilliard. Kendra had not resigned from the board at the time of that meeting.
In a joking manner, Ms. Simonson told the attendees of that meeting that they did not see Ms. Stephenson in the room
Maybe this does not count as unethical in your book since Ms. Stephenson was not elected to council at the time of her indescretions. Sadly, Jenny, Ms. Stephenson has never been transparent and never will be.

Anonymous said...

Hayden voted No. This group (Kendra Supporters) cannot even get 1 simple fact straight!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Jenny, it seems just you and a handful of ppl that have a problem with the way the petition was handled. Council did a superb job - we have the best ordinance any town can have and you still want to whine about it. Can you be grateful and appreciative? I truly believe that the residents are not "listening" to you. You remind me of a high school student hanging around the wrong crowd. Please stop your whining. You are beating a dead horse.

Anonymous said...

I believe the disagreement here is not about the oil and gas ordinance or even the” present” vote. It is about who you support to lead this community.

Ms. Roger’s supports the Stephenson & Smith camp because they have something in common. Neither of these groups likes the Town’s Attorney. Nor do they support N. F. L., specifically Filidoro. He brings history, knowledge, and experience that does not allow special interests groups to sway him from making decisions for what is best for the whole community.

It was no secret that Smith could not get the votes to get rid of the attorney firm, even when Mr. Stone called for their head.

Simonson & Rogers are angry about losing a lawsuit and are blaming the attorney and council for doing their duty to protect FM against these types of actions.

They also have something else in common. When confronted with their own issues they want to sling mud on someone else to distract from themselves. (Pinching police officers, conflicts of interests, ethics violations, and lawsuits…)

I understand now, that a vote for Stephenson was a vote to bring back the Smith administration.

Ms. Stephenson is not an independent, but a fox in sheep’s clothing. I read somewhere that she even used Ms. Smith’s campaign strategist. Odd that a Republican strategist would help a Democrat, don’t you think?

Fooled once, but not again, I wouldn’t touch anyone Ms. Rogers supported again. My family will be voting for N.F.L. again this election season. Is it football season yet?

Anonymous said...

Please move on! FM needs to heal from the divisions caused by this mess. NFL, Jenny, Ginger and company please SHUT UP!

Your continued whining is only bringing negative attention. What is infuriating is that the people that actually lost something in this fight ie mineral owners are moving on without a peep. Why can't you? You are all the biggest bunch of sore winners I have ever seen.

Whoever runs this blog - do us a favor and stop accepting posts and comments on this sorry subject.

Anonymous said...

what strategist did Smith use? I am sick of things/people being eluded to with nothing to back it up. give us all the name of this strategist, if the person actually exists.

Anonymous said...

I just finished reading all these comments and the sad thing is that at one time Jenny and Ginger supported those that are on our current council. I understand they may feel some anger over a failed lawsuit and I understand those that are defending the current council here. I feel that we are better off than we were before May 2010.
I would like to move on and hope that others follow. Anyone check out the map that was posted earlier today on this blog? You should, it validates how out of control gas drilling has become. God Bless all.

FMCAUD said...

I agree with the last two comments, let's move on. I also agree with the last comment about the map. We need to move forward and look at the future impacts to our communities.

FMCAUD said...

I meant I agree with anon 2:07 and 3:36.

Jodie Boutilier said...

I want to clarify something that I hope will put this who topic to rest, the main theme I see throughout this and other posts is - why didn't Kendra just say who the expert was?. I hope this clears things up.

During the advisory board meetings we all collected factual documents and additional information to support various topics addressed in our ordinance. One of the topics I found near and dear was that of vapor recovery along with several other members we did extensive research on the topic. As part of my research I contacted TCEQ regarding a specific program they offer, the gentleman I spoke with referred me to an expert in the field of vapor recover.

When I called him, I explained who I was and what we were doing. I asked him specifically " if you lived in a neighborhood near a pad site and your children were to attend a school that had a pad site sighing 1000ft from it, what would you want to see on it."

He answered me in what I believe was an honest fashion and educated me on what types of vr are available, which types of wells should have which types and the pros and cons of all types.

He asked me not to use his name of company pubic ally as in the past he has assisted people in the past and it has had a negative effect on his business. Having seen our "good neighbors" at work I could see where that would happen.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago I was having a conversation with a council member (not Kendra ) and offered to call him again and get mor information and ask if he would be willing to speak with staff should we (the town) find it necessary.

I did that and forwarded it to a number of council members and staff members were copied, (was my understanding)

Again I asked that we not publicly out this gentleman that was willing to discuss various vr options with us.

Although I have not specifically asked Kendra if it was this expert she refused to name I believe it would be reasonable to assume that is who she was referencing. She was doing this out of respect for me and for the contact that works in the industry and has great advise. As were the other members of council for not publicly naming him.

To that resolve, we as a town need to band together. The ordinance is better than it was in many ways and to be
honest we will not know if it has issues until it is applies.

So please can we stop. If you would like to know more about this expert please contact me on facebook.

I am not a "town crazy" as previously depicted I really want what would be best for all concerned.

Legal Eagle said...

Jodie, I would like to address the expert that wanted to remain anonymous. In a legal situation like a lawsuit challenging the ordinance, creditability is lost when they refuse to give their name. Unfortunately, this expert becomes useless.
I agree we need to move on.
One more thing, you are not crazy :)

Jodie Boutilier said...

@ legal eagle - please contact me on Facebook - for what it's worth we didn't use anything that was suggested. Council addressed vr in a different manner. Thanks