Read a letter to the City of Fort Worth from a concerned taxpayer. All taxpayers should be so concerned.
Attend the Fort Worth City Council meeting February 14th, to find out what exactly what YOU are paying for. And remember that next election.
I would like to bring to the attention all in Fort Worth another atrocity by the Fort worth City Council and perhaps our State leaders. It appears that a pipeline and a distribution facility by Devon Energy was allowed to be placed in the way of a runway at Alliance Airport. In order to correct this blunder, Devon will be paid up to $3.66 million tax dollars. Fort worth's portion will be 5% or $180,000. Since Alliance is a Fort Worth project, why would the City allow this to happen? Did they not know there were plans or might be plans for a runway? If not, why didn't they. Even though Fort Worth's portion is $180,000, the remaining 3.5 million is taxpayer dollars, of which we individually will end up paying part of that too.
This is similar to another blunder recently, when Fort Worth allowed a gas drilling facility to be placed in a location along I-35 in the Northern part of Fort Worth. For a number of years the Highway Department and the City of Fort Worth worked on a plan to widen a highly congested portion of highway, I-35. While this project was in the works, neighborhoods along the route had been assured the highway would not be relocated closer to their neighborhoods. Someplace along the way in the City's need and greed or lack of concern, a gas drilling facility was permitted and allowed to be drilled in the location needed for the highway. Despite the previous assurances to local residences, the highway now must be rerouted closer to the neighborhoods resulting in more traffic noise, pollution and hazards as a result of the high volume traffic being nearer to their homes. How many tax dollars will be lost as a result over the years, because residential property located closer to busy highways always loses value. The well site will never produce enough to off-set the neighborhoods lost value. The drilling facility could be moved, but the the price to do so is staggering.
In a matter somewhat related, the City wants to place an injection well and place pipelines onto the Alliance Airport now, how stupid is that? What happens when another expansion or runway for the Alliance Airport is needed, will the Injection Well or the pipelines be a hinderance or danger? How much does it cost to move pipelines or an injection well? Guess who will bear that entire amount?
Some of these things could be prevented if the City had a Comprehensive Zoning Plan. Wait, they do, but the City Attorney's Office claims the Gas Drilling Ordinance regulates gas drilling and not the Comprehensive Zoning Plan, in essence the gas drilling is exempt from the the Comprehensive Zoning Plan. My question is, since when does a City Ordinance overrule State Law? It doesn't. The State of Texas mandates all Home Rule Cities have a Comprehensive Zoning Plan that must be followed, with very few exceptions. The City has no authority to disregard State Law and exempt the gas drilling industry from the Comprehensive Zoning Plan, but Fort Worth for some reason is placing itself above State Law.
The reason for a Comprehensive Zoning Plan is to protect the citizens from stupid or intentional blunders by individuals that seem to have an agenda or a City that doesn't seem to be able to plan or think past its nose.
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