WTH is going on in Trophy Club?!

Good thing for the citizens that THE PEOPLE are following the trail.  Too bad the "news" isn't.  As with most things in Tarrant County, it leads back to water and money.

Here's the latest incoming from Trophy Club concerning their water, MUD, SLAPP, corruption and lack of "news" coverage.

We know we've asked this before, but is there a reporter in the county?  Anyone?  Hello...

Trophy Club's Wastewater Woes Worsen

Trophy Club Municipal Utility District(MUD) officials showed little Christmas cheer on Tuesday December 20th as they reviewed  the findings of a local wastewater treatment consultant hired to review MUD 1 operations after repeated violations of the plant's permitted limits for Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD).  The MUD District Manager and newly hired wastewater treatment superintendent briefed the 5 directors on the report and detailed the problems that contributed to the previous superintendent's resignation just last month.

The report addressing chronic violations of BOD limits was a 180 degree deviation from the previous administration's handling of the matter.  As late as 2010, MUD director Jim Budarf had claimed in writing that the wastewater treatment plant had, “...never been in noncompliance.”

According to the report, the MUD wastewater treatment equipment was designed to meet a BOD permit limit of 10 parts per million (ppm) by  the engineering firm CDM when it was installed.  The current MUD permit limit however is 5 ppm(one half the equipment's capability).

The MUD was required to install approximately 3 million dollars in equipment in 2003 as a part of an agreed enforcement order by the Environmental Protection Agency.  The enforcement order came after multiple permit limit violations of BOD and other pollutants.

Details about the wastewater treatment equipment had been requested repeatedly by the group Citizens for MUD Accountability.  Ironically, MUD attorney Pam Liston, who had stated that there were no records responsive to those requests in 2009, presided over    Tuesday's discussion.

Kevin Carr, who was the subject of a formal ethics complaint by Citizens for MUD Accountability in 2009 over the environmental violations, was also present.  Mr. Carr, who had  been quoted in 2009 as saying that he was “insulted” by the ethics complaint, stated for the record that the report was not related to drinking water.  He did not clarify why he thought the discharge into Grapevine Lake (a source of drinking water for millions) had no impact on drinking water.

The Title of this article pays homage to the editorial travesty published by the Star-Telegram Times Register on Nov. 18, 2009 titled “Water Woes Wrapped Up” .  According to that article,“Trophy Club resolved its wastewater violations months ago and no longer has issues needing correction...”

Unfortunately for the Trophy Club MUD, the Star Telegram holds little sway with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality who issued the permit this year with the 5 ppm limit.  According to Trophy Club's most recent notice from that agency penalties can be subject to fines of $32,500 per violation per day with the possibility of imprisonment for knowing violations.

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Hush Money?

More than a few readers have noted the glaring differences in the news coverage of the Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) in Trophy Club. This follow-up article should provide some clarity on how two news sources can publish such radically different stories about the same event.

By way of history, this story was broken by the Star Telegraph on November 12th and 27th of this year. The Star Telegram article was not published until weeks later on Dec. 13th.

The Star Telegraph Article cites the relevant court case and provides details about all the participants.  The Star Telegram article only provides details about former Town Councilwoman Kathleen Wilson's defamation claims and her Pyrrhic judgment obtained against former citizen of the year Steven Kohs.

Most importantly, the Star Telegraph article identifies the lawsuit by definition as a SLAPP action.  As previously noted, the Star Telegram article focuses solely on the former Town Councilwoman's claims and completely omits that the actions instigating this lawsuit occurred on a political website during a local election campaign.

The reason for these glaring differences can be summed up in one word. That word is money.

The Star Telegraph receives no income from the Town of Trophy Club.  By contrast, the Town's online check register indicates that Trophy Club paid the Star Telegram $1,363.76 in the last 30 days alone.

Shame on Trophy Club's elected officials for suing the people they represent and covering it up with newspaper hush money.  But above all, shame on the Star Telegram for taking the money and pretending to be an unbiased source of news.

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"Breaking" News

Incoming from Trophy Club....

WHO owns your "news"?

As you are probably aware, the Star-Telegram Times Register is the official paper of the Town of Trophy Club via a Town Council resolution.  Unfortunately, this has resulted in an improper relationship between the current administration and the Times Register reporters and editors.

As a result of this improper relationship, no information which could possibly be construed as a negative reflection on the current administration is ever printed in the Times Register.  

Your coverage of the 26 acre proposed development is a good example of this.  While the Star-Telegram has published factually inaccurate articles claiming that only a few Trophy Club citizens have concerns over this development, you are willing to publish a much less biased article detailing the issues.

This highlights a much larger issue with this improper relationship between the Times Register and the current administration.  The Mayor and MUD board members are currently engaged in a 2 year long SLAPP(Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) lawsuit against a Trophy Club citizen. The Time register refuses to publish anything about this SLAPP action and Trophy Club citizens are blissfully unaware of the risk they take when they petition corrupt officials in their local government for redress.

The SLAPP litigation against this citizen was initiated because he revealed that the MUD was placed under an agreed order by the EPA for violations of the clean water act and as a result forced to spend 3 million on wastewater treatment upgrades(see attached). Of course the Times Register glossed this issue over when Lee Graham published a wildly inaccurate and biased article entitled "MUD Water Woes Wrapped Up".

Feel free to review Denton County Court case No. 2009-60142-393 for more details and keep up the good work reporting the facts.

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Calling Trophy Club

Trophy Club Clock Tower

You paying attention out there?

You better be.  A developer wants to develop and side step the council and planning and zoning commission.  Read the story and the letter to the editor (from a citizen who's paying attention) in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

To Town Manager Mike Slye, the 26 acres east of the clock tower are "our golden nugget" that could reduce residential property taxes if the owner is allowed to develop the land for commercial and other uses.

What has some residents concerned are the prospective uses, the owner and a proposed new way of approving zoning changes.

Rumors arose last week after a joint meeting of the Town Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission to discuss an 88-page proposal by Scott Beck, whose family once owned much of Trophy Club, to develop land bounded by Texas 114 and Trophy Club and Indian Creek drives.

At Monday night's council meeting, about two dozen residents sought assurance that Beck's plan would not be approved without their input.

"I'd like to see the whole concept so we can let you know if we think it's right," said Jodi Ashby, who said she opposed the 12-story buildings in the plan.

If approved, Slye said, the town's staff could authorize changes to the Beck development without having to take it back through the zoning commission and council. The changes would have to meet the restrictions of the original plan, he said.

Slye said the council and commission will have a workshop Oct. 10 and a public hearing Oct. 17. The plan could go for a vote Oct. 17, he said.

Planned development

I attended a Trophy Club workshop on Monday about a rezoning document for the development of the 26 acres by the clock tower entrance of our town.

I know we have a lot of new residents who don't know the history of Trophy Club, but the ordinance change is being presented so that the site developer is not required to get full independent review of his development by our Planning and Zoning Board.

The Planning and Zoning Board is made up of residents and is in place to protect us from letting a developer do whatever he wants with only minimum guidelines. On Monday I heard our city manager mention apartments, brownstones, town homes and possible hotel sites.

Residents of Trophy Club should contact City Council members to inform them that all developers should have to go through full independent review with the Planning and Zoning Board for everything. No exceptions. It's not that we don't want development; we just want to be sure that all precautions are made to keep Trophy Club as beautiful as it is at this time.

-- Jennifer Winmill, Trophy Club

UPDATE - For the latest on Trophy Club corruption, go here. 

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Where will YOU be tonight?

You have options.  You could attend the Arlington City Council where they'll be discussing the Hike and Bike Plan.  The last Arlington City Council meeting was so much fun, YOU might not want to miss this one.

Or you could attend the Trophy Club/Roanoke Town Hall where Congressman Michael Burgess will be speaking. 7-8 at Byron Nelson High School.

See you there!

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