Keller Residents for 4

I encourage you all to read this article in the Star-Telegram on a proposed 6-lane expansion for North Tarrant Parkway.

Sound familiar? Turn Morriss/Gerault on its side and you have a nearly identical situation on a smaller scale. It is almost surreal to witness this from a 3rd party standpoint. I think the Morriss Rd case against a 6-lane facility is much, much more compelling. There are no schools directly on N Tarrant Pkwy (looks like a Middle school backs up to it); nonetheless, it is similar in many ways:
- 3 primary road sections; central section is the tightest
  - years of development inconsistent with a 6-lane road
  - narrow pathways on sides
  - homes really close to the road
  - neighborhood ingress/egress problems
- west section (compare to Gerault) is newer with ample neighborhood setback
- funding already in place (from Tarrant County)
- Kimley-Horn study says demand for 6-lanes coming in 10 to 20 years
- Construction to be completed in 18 months and pushing forward fast
- Keller Council will be scheduling a public hearing

I cannot blame the early leadership in the DFW area suburbs too much; it was a huge transformation in less than 20 years from rural agriculture to a new suburban model. And even today, we are still trying to figure it out. I understand there were lots of incentives to build a certain way, and we are all complicit to a certain extent. But our suburban model is choking us with traffic and the proper framework to cope with that traffic was not laid when our communities were planned.

The Messenger

I'm glad to see some things do not change in this town. When I ready yesterday edition of the Flower Mound Messenger, I began to wonder if they attended the same Town Council Meeting. I also just recieved a phone call from Lindsey Bever of Neighbors Go supplement of the Dallas Morning News. She wanted to know our reaction to the road expansion plans, like we were in mourning for our loss. I had to laugh.

Not that I am telling them how to write their papers, but the headline should have read; Stop Morriss 6 Group gains huge victory.

How could anything else be the story. Other than the disruptive behavior of a certain group of you adults in attendance. We won, pure and simple. Granted we were not able to STOP the project, but on the other foot, the town wasn't able to ramrod the project through in the next 2 years as the Transportation Commission recommended.
We won. Admit it, write about it, talk about it. The horror of a six lane monstrosity will not exist in this town by the end of 2010. Yes, it might cost between a half million to one and a half million more by doing it in phases, but what does that matter. In the towns own words, Its not our money we are working with.

The actual headline should have read, The residents of Flower Mound win, big money developers with oil and gas interests lose.

And the hopes of this group disappearing? Very slim. Next years election? Watch out, we just got a taste of what hard work and the need to do the right thing can do to make a difference in this town.

I encourage all of you to write letters to the editors of these publications, just as I plan to do to set them straight.

The Name

Some may ask, what will become of the Stop Morriss Six group and movement now that it seems that the road will be planned for 6 lanes of construction.

To answer that question, our name and our group of residents along the Morriss corridor are not going anywhere. We will still remain Stop Morriss Six. We have succeeded on many levels.

We STOPPED the madness of a six lane locomotive that our friends on the Transportation Commission were trying to expedite to completion in 18 months.

We STOPPED the Towns elected officials from discounting our concerns and made them listen and actually come out and walk along Morriss during the busiest part of the day and got them to come and look at the "tunnel" just north of Forestwood Middle School to see actually how disgusting and not a viable alternative to safety.

We STOPPED the Towns staff from continuing to feed us misinformation and flawed data to make their case.

We STOPPED the town from paying more attention to developers than to our residents.

We STOPPED the town from talking down to us and scolding us for not being involved.

We will continue to STOP candidates from running for office unless they truly have the best interests of the residents and not developers.

We will continue to STOP any opaque agendas.

We will never STOP pressing for the best safety and health issues that environmentally friendly to all.

We will never STOP communicating to those that want to listen.

Nothing will STOP us from regaining a strong voice for the people of Flower Mound.

Congratulations

Thank you to everyone who was at last night's Council meeting (and to those who wanted to be there but schedules did not allow attendance). And thank you to our Town Council and the Town's staff. The StopMorriss6 group may put out a more official statement later, but I wanted to put something up here as soon as possible.

What we witnessed last night was a compromise. Many will be disappointed it was not a stronger compromise or a complete "no" vote; others will feel just the opposite. That is the nature of a compromise.

Despite the name, StopMorriss6 originally was about making this project known to as many people as possible and enabling citizens to be heard collectively. Thanks to everyone's efforts I think we can feel proud that we accomplished this goal.

For those who have not heard, here is what changed last night:

1. The project has been split into 2 phases:
2. Phase 1 includes the entire Gerault Rd portion (including the 2499 flyover)
3. Phase 1 includes elements for the entire length of Morriss/Gerault: intersection improvements, safety elements, fencing, and landscaping
4. Phase 2 includes all that remains, largely just 6 lanes of Morriss Rd.
5. Language was added to include emphasis on 8' fencing options where possible and living sound walls.
6. Phase 2 will not begin until the earlier of 2014/2015 FY or the completion of the Riverwalk Amenity (which is the $6M? main water feature of that project).

The biggest win for the residents of Morriss Rd is that this compromise allows us time to see if we think we can live with this road. If after the design process and the beginning of construction you feel like the road will impact your quality of life too much, then you will have the time to make an orderly and well-timed relocation. It is sad that some may have to consider this, but at least you have the option now.

The other key element here is that the "Riverwalk Amenity" is a good compromise trigger. If completed, this phase of the Riverwalk will prove to everyone that the Riverwalk is a viable project that is on its way to completion. Also, the "Riverwalk Amenity" is required before the developer can begin construction on the last 600(?) residential units.

For the record, the Council voted:
Al Filidoro - In Favor
Steve Dixon - In Favor
Jean Levenick - In Favor
Mike Wallace - Opposed
Tom Hayden - Abstained

• Mr Wallace supported the project, but opposed the time gap before phase 2 would increase costs slightly (by our estimates, between $0.5M and $1.5M - a hard number to pin down right now). He stated that 1 phase of construction was his preference.
• Mr Hayden abstained (which is essentially interpreted as a "no" vote on the record) because [as he stated] he made very strong campaign promises to not support this road project. My own interpretation is that he abstained rather than voted "no" because he felt Mr Filidoro's amendment was a move in the right direction. But that is only my interpretation.

Again, thank you to all.

*****Correction/Clarification*****
There was some procedural confusion after the vote. Some persons thought the vote was just on the amendment proposed by Mr Filidoro, others thought the vote was for the entire motion including the amendment. After the recess, a new vote was taken with the scope of the entire motion in its final form which included the proposed amendments (described in the original post). This last vote passed 3-2 in favor of the motion with Mr Wallace and Mr Hayden in opposition.

Agenda Item #9: The Council approved the CIP budget amendments to reflect changes to Morriss/Gerault, West Windsor connection, and the new firestation. Mr Hayden noted that the practice of combining disparate items is sometime not ideal. The item passed 4-1 with Mr Hayden in opposition.

Agenda Item #10: The Council approved funds for Halff & Associates to begin Morriss/Gerault project design. The item passed 4-1 with Mr Hayden in opposition.

Our Position, Your Chance

Wow, it has been a weekend of a lot of activity. Many of us have been talking back and forth about how to effect change. I've seen Tom Hayden going up and down Morriss Rd talking to citizens like he is back on the campaign trail. As you know, of the 3 council members elected in May, Tom had the strongest statements against the Morriss Road project. He campaigned with a slogan of "Citizens First" and I think he is living up to that.

+ Tom Hayden said he supports the citizens and the citizens don't support this road project at this time.
+ Mike Wallace said he thinks the road project is needed, but that he wouldn't support turning dirt until 2011.
+ Steve Dixon said he thinks Morriss should be widened some time before it is needed ([Steve's] example: if the road is needed in 7 years, then we should build it in 5 or 6 years.
+ Al Filidoro and Jean Levenick have no [meaningful] public statements on the record.

We as StopMorriss6, we as Morriss/Gerault residents, we as citizens who care about our Town and our quality of life, we have made a difference. It feels to us like we have been speaking, but not heard; that we have serious concerns that are being dismissed. That is not true. Our message is being heard. We forced them to double their efforts to spoon us the same tired spiel about why their first plan was such a good one. And yes, the Transportation Commission rebuffed all of our attempts to have them reconsider decisions made during the 2009 Master Thoroughfare Planning process (where Morriss Rd was not represented). But there is a lot of stuff happening behind the scenes on account of us speaking up for ourselves and our neighbors.

And the Council is very concerned that this project as originally conceived is not viable for the citizens. They might have been hoping we'd go away by now or that the Staff PowerPoints would settle us down; they did not and we will not go away. This is important to all of us and the fact that we are still turning out for Council meetings shows them just how important this is to the Town's citizens.

Here is a dose of reality for us all: the Council will not do an about-face and vote to put the brakes on this project on Monday night. As much as we would like it, we just don't see that happening no matter how articulate our statements are. But that doesn't mean we won't see change on Monday night. They've heard that the original plan was unacceptable and there is a lot of support to make amendments to that plan. We have to stand up and advocate what is acceptable:

(1) That we won't accept a fast-track road construction schedule. The construction of anything on Morriss and Gerault should be commensurate with the need.
(2) That 6-lane roads are fundamentally un-safe for pedestrians. We will only support "improvement" if it does in fact improve pedestrian safety.
(3) That we won't sit back and wait for the design engineers to tell us what we have to live with. We want meaningful input and feedback throughout the design process.
(4) That [nearly] every single neighborhood lining Morriss and Gerault has tough issues created by past development decisions that did not really anticipate a 6-lane road. One-size will not fit all. We have schools, we have access concerns, we have sidewalk problems, we have fencing issues, and more.
(5) That all solutions and options should be on the table.

We point to precedent that the Flower Mound Rd extension of FM 3040 into Wellington was once going to be a 6-lane road but the citizens said no. We are citizens too. Show up at Town Hall on Monday night and we will see change. If we continue to advocate for what is important, right, and just; we will see response.

Anyone can make public comments during the meeting opening, but we don't have to use that this time. The Council has heard our message that this is important to us. They made this a public hearing item, so we will get to both ask questions and state our support/opposition when the agenda item comes up. Our questions will be focused on the meaning and interpretation of the written motion (Agenda Item #8). And our concerns, support, and opposition will be made during the following public comment period. The decision makers will be standing right in front of us, there is no better opportunity to show our convictions.

Position Statement - Coming Soon

Things are always hectic on the weekends, especially for those of us with young children. We are working on putting together a bit of a position statement for tomorrow's council meeting. Schedules and activities have delayed us considerably.

Expect something late tonight or tomorrow morning. Sorry for the short notice, but please do check back.

Thanks to all of you for your support and/or involvement.

6/15 Town Council Meeting

The agenda for monday's Town Council meeting was posted yesterday afternoon. I will pull out a few salient points here. I encourage you all to go read more in full context at:

http://www.flower-mound.com/agenda/TCarchive/TCAgendaPacket06-15-09.pdf

There are 3 items on Morriss / Gerault and about 250 pages of supporting text:

Item 8 : morriss/Gerault Capacity Improvement Project (Public Hearing)
Public Hearing to discuss the recommendations from the Transportation Commission regarding potential design enhancements and implementation of the Morriss/Gerault Capacity Improvement project and consider approval of a resolution providing direction regarding the design and implementation of the Morriss.Gerault Capacity Improvement Project.

Item 9: Consider approval of Ammendment No. 4 to the Fiscal Year 2008-2009 Capital Improvement Program.

Item 10: Consider approval of a Professional Services Agreement with Halff Associates, Inc., to provide engineering design services for Morriss/Gerault Improvement project, from FM 2499 to FM 407, in the amount of $1,252,890.00, and authorization for the Mayor to execute same on behalf of the Town.

What does that mean?

It means the Council will (1) formally declare their support for the project and spell out some specific directives to the Town Staff as they move the project forward. (2) They will approve the budget to spend the money* they already accepted on May 4th ($10.77M from 121 Toll) along with the TRIP-08 county bond money ($5.5M) and (3) they will approve $1.25M to Halff Associates to actually put the project design on paper in detail.

*Note, there is up to $4.9M from the Riverwalk project but that money isn't garaunteed so it doesn't go into the budget yet. And I think the TRIP-08 bond money is more like a reimbursement program; the Town will request the hard cash from the County as they spend the money.

Should you care about this? Yes, absolutely. This is a critical step in the process. At no other time will your input be more important than now. Remember that the Transportation Commission is only a recommending body; the Town Council has complete authority to do whatever they want. They will, of course, follow very closely to the recommendation of the Transportation Commission.

The Council has [wisely in my opinion] put this item on the agenda as a "Public Hearing" so we will get to comment directly. This is your chance to state your position:
(a) Against the project
(b) In favor of the project
(c) Advocate specific design elements
(d) All of the above (is that possible?)
Are you concerned about the excessive U-turn movements a 6-lane tip-to-tail road will create? Are you concerned about pedestrian safety risks going up? Are you concerned about phasing construction smartly to make any potential work easier to live with? Are you concerned about speeds? Noise? School zones?

Be at Town Hall at 6:00pm on Monday June 15th! The Council made this a Public Hearing item so that they can hear what we have to say. You get a direct audience with the decision-makers 10 feet in front of you. Use your opportunity.

After the 1:00am Transportation Commission meeting, I think everyone will appreciate direct and to-the-point comments to get through this quickly. Just because it has been said before doesn't mean you can't say it again though. No one likes to sit through a repetitious display, but if it is important to you then you need to advocate it. Get a baby-sitter for the kids and come exercise your civic responsibility. This decision WILL affect your quality of life, so make your concerns heard.

Meeting with LISD

On Tuesday, June 2nd, Patti Fennessey and I met with Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, Brant W. Buck. Also in attendance was Tommy Ellington, Dr. Rocky Brookmole and a representive from Durham School Services.

It was a very cordial meeting and I would like to thank the gentlemen again for their time. We asked if they were aware of the project proposed to widen Morriss Rd to six lanes in the area populated by two large schools. They were aware of the project and are very well experienced on dealing with road construction throughout the very large school district. They stated that during the construction, buses would be used to transport students due to the hazards related to major construction and they have many schools in the district where students cross major roads by use of Crossing Guards.

We mainly wanted to use the meeting as an informational meeting and didn't ask for the District to become involved in our fight. We were pleased to hear they had a good plan in place in the case of impending construction. I wanted to make the point to them that MANY of the parents whose children attend Forestwood and Marcus are VERY concerned about the project, not just the increased safety issues that they were prepared for, but the fact that the project, according to a very large group of parents and other residents, don't think the project is necessary at all. I asked if they had received correspondence not only from parents, but from staff at the schools stating this fact. They were not aware of any complaints. I explained that this group of residents are so vehemently opposed to this expansion project, that it brought over 500 first time voters to the May election and have produced overflow crowds at rallies, forums, and Town Council meetings.

Another fact that came out of this meeting was that the LISD operates over 50 hazard operation areas a day that require buses. Each bus route that the district operates cost $36,000 a year. When Forestwood and Marcus become another "hazard area" it will produce at least an additional six bus routes to be operated by the district at the cost of $216,000 a year! That is staggering! And the town is trying to tell us that there is no cost to the residents and tax payers of the town?
That is almost a quarter of a million dollars a year that won't be spent on education.

We asked if Mr Buck would mind receiving letters and emails from parents and residents and TAX PAYERS of Flower Mound. He said "whatever you need to do."

So, this is where you come in...

Please email Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, Brant Buck at
buckb@lisd.net . I'm sure Superintendent Dr. Jerry W. Roy ( royj@lisd.net ) would also like to hear your concerns. Not just about the safety of your children, but why are we going to go to all this expense because of a road project that we clearly don't need. Please take the time and write these gentlemen with your comments.

My thoughts about the Transportation Commission Public Hearing

After a few days of recovery and much thought, I would like to pass on to you my views of this past Tuesday's Transportation Commission Public Hearing. First, I would like to thank Steve Lyda for his valiant effort to have this meeting tabled. It was the right decision and the clear decision to make.

This past weekend, we received a copy of the agenda for the Trans Comm Public Hearing. The agenda was laid out a bit different than how it was initially explained to us. First noticeable difference was the Visitors Comments Section. On the agenda it was listed as Item C, following the Pledge of Allegiance. When Scott Cleland stood up to make his comments on the Morriss issue, he was interrupted by Chairman Paul Stone and admonished that this time is for Public Comments for OTHER business before the board. What other business was before the board this evening except the Morriss/Gerault Public Hearing? (first misstep of the evening for Chairman Stone). Next on the agenda Assistant Town Manager's report at which time Kent Collins launches into the Morriss/Gerault project. Second error by Chairman Stone of the evening. If the Visitors Comments, Section C would have to fall into the order of the Regular Agenda Items, than the Assistant Town Manager's report should have also fallen under the Regular Agenda Items. Kent Collins presented his report by rehashing line for line the exact information with charts and graphs he had presented during the Workshop Session last month. Kimley-Horn's spokesman, also presented the exact, word for word data and charts and graphs he had presented a month earlier without even taking the time to correct obvious errors that were pointed out in the workshop. One example of this was a slide that was posted stating something about 25,000 cars a day and some other data, but no reference date. It was very misleading last month and equally confusing the second time around. The only new data was information about proposed landscaping and wooden fence replacement. This went on for TWO HOURS. The only comments that were made by the Commissioners was about policy of changing street names and whether there would be any rocks or pavestones used in the landscaping. Steve Lyda asked several substantive questions to which Kent Collins and/or the Kimley-Horn associate could NOT answer. Third error by Chairman Stone, this was a session for answers and this Commission was charged with getting them, not "I don't know, I'll have to get back to you". How can this Commission come to the conclusion they did with lots and lots of still unanswered questions? What if they got back to them (which I highly doubt they ever will) and the answer would cause them to change their mind? (not that they didn't know how they would vote at 6:30pm). The meeting should have been tabled then and there.
Next came the Q & A portion (error number 4, not listed on the agenda and no rules or guidelines listed, but only explained by Stone prior to it). It was very confusing as residents lined up to ask questions. We were told to limit our questions to three minutes and wait for an answer, then step away. Many were asking very important, pertinent questions that were going unanswered due to the sheer volume. Resident were trying to get as many questions asked as possible, including myself as Kent Collins sat glassy-eyed staring at them and maybe being able to acknowledge one or two of their questions with the answer, “I don't know or I have no knowledge of it“. When a question was asked about other roads in Western Flower Mound operating under level F LOS, the resident was TOLD "that is a rhetorical question that won't be answered". Why wasn't there someone on staff that could write the questions on an overhead transparency when it was asked so the responders could give an intelligent answer or a tally could have been made to see how many questions were not answered at all? Steve Lyda was the only Commissioner to recognize that while the citizens were being allowed to speak, their questions were being left unanswered. Recognizing this, he made a motion to allow the Commission and Staff to address all of the gaps, but received no support.

The Q & A session went on for at least another 2 hours. During my own question, I respectfully asked the Transportation Commission to table this meeting due to the countless unanswered questions from the public and from the Commission. I was told by Chairman Stone that he would take that under advisement. Sadly, many questions became "rhetorical" due to the lack of caring.

Next, (11:30pm), after many of the residents had left due to the late hour, came the Visitor Comments part of the evening. Earlier in the evening, Stone mentioned the numerous emails that were received by the town from residents and NONE of them were sent to him, The Chairman. He seemed rather perturbed that he was bypassed. He was later advised by me, during public comment, that we were following the instructions from the Town to send the emails to Kent Collins and Harlan Jefferson to be included in the minutes of the meeting.
We, as citizens and taxpayers, couldn't do many things right this evening.

My view is this. The first charge this Commission and Staff had from the Town Council was to LISTEN TO THE RESIDENTS CONCERNS. They failed.


Stone was later overheard saying:
“There is a core group of StopMorriss6 that will never be satisfied with anything other than a 4-lane road; it has to be their way or nothing. SM6 ran their candidate and he lost“.
Its obvious Chairman Stone was already biased from an earlier meeting he was invited to, that he was in favor of the project, and to not make it an election issue. Well, he was wrong, it was an election issue and it drew over 500 first-time May voters to the polls, gave Tom Hayden an overwhelming victory, got Steve Lyda within 29 votes of defeating Steve Dixon and got Bob Butler, who spent 10 times less than Mike Wallace and campaigned almost exclusively in the Morriss Corridor over 1000 votes.
I know the opponents of our group will say, Sour Grapes, get over it, you lost. But, if our words had been HEARD by an unbiased chairperson and commission, it might have been at least fair.

I would also respectfully submit to town council to have the minutes and the validity of The Transportation Commission Public Hearing, dated May 26th,2009 be ruled invalid and the minutes expunged.