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.
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.
So this is what it boils down to. They're already prepared to spend 10% of the cost of this improvement project off the bat, they care not what any of us say, they'll approve it with probably one person saying no to the project.
ReplyDeleteGood luck emailing disapproval.. I just get a information packet.
Wish one of us was a lawyer who knew any way to get the ball rolling on how to delay this. It's being railroaded through over the objections of the voters. Does not matter if 90% of the town did not vote, those with a stake in it, voted for people who would say no and that should be listened to.
Anyone know how to find out who is in charge of Halff Associates? They're very mum on who runs the company.
I assume $1.25 M is the going rate for a project design of this magnatude. Maybe someone else knows something about Halff Associates. The Town usually uses the same vendors, so I assume they've done design work for us in the past. Again, I welcome input from anyone who has more information.
ReplyDeleteThe message I was trying to get across is that no matter how we got here or where this thing is going, Monday night is one of your very best opportunities to advocate your point of view, your concerns, your needs, your objections. The Council will essentially be giving Halff Associates and Town Staff their "marching orders".
One thing someone just said to me... is it customary for the Town to NOT do a competitive bid for the design work?
ReplyDeleteI am very comfortable with the lowest bidder constructing something to a design spec, but I don't know if I am entirely comfortable with "the lowest bidder" designing things like bridges and roads. But surely we can request bids from a few respectable firms?
I don't have time to comb through old Council meeting minutes. Does anyone know if the Town historically does competitive bids for road design work? If the road has to happen, it sure would be nice to have extra money to put towards addressing all of the issues we brought up at the Transportation Commission meetings.
Scott you have a point. Here's what I found and I do not like it.
ReplyDeleteThe Town of Flower Mound utilizes BidSync, an electronic bid response system, to advertise and receive bids electronically over the Internet. BidSync was selected because of the strong functionality of its software, the high degree of local flexibility of the system, and the large membership that serves as the Town of Flower Mound’s vendor database.
That being said, so here's another element of our town government being hidden from the public eye.
ReplyDeleteWhile not in the public eye I have solicited bids in excess of 25 million taxpayer dollars and I damn sure go out and view the work of the vendors involved. I never would use a electronic system and depend on the lowest number coming down, while I'm sure it has some sort of ratings system, it does not excuse the city manager or whoever is in charge of accepting and reccomending bids to the city council from doing thier job and investigating the work that will be performed.
That's why bids are a time consuming process!
So are you saying that this is just how Flower Mound normally cunducts business (like it or not)? Personally, I am not opposed to using preferred vendors or electronic bid systems... but only so far as they produce responsible and prudent use of public funds.
ReplyDeleteI think this is all on the level; I have no reason to believe it's not, and I would be very surprised if it wasn't. But this is why we have public records and freedom of the press (are blogs press?) to double-check everyone.
Can anyone confirm that what we are speculating here is true? That the Town used its regular processes... the electronic bid system, and then selected Halff Associates as the best value/quality vendor?
We'll there's no language as designating Halff as the Lowest Responsible Bidder.
ReplyDeleteNot trying to say this is a bad thing, but honestly for large projects such as a road going to ebay for road builders does not seem responsible at all. Now I'm sure they have done business with us in the past (They have a office in Flower Mound), but how does anyone know if this was a competitive bid, or just the city going with a "Friend".
I'm dead serious when I say this project has gone too far too fast. It comes out of nowhere, then the sweetener is a hospital(Good), but in return we have to suffer Apartments(Bad), and then on the back end we fast track a road expansion project that has not been proven to be needed other than "Guesstimates".
The bigger aspect to me is that they're considering bridges at 2499 and 1171 and at Gerualt and 2499. We know the Gerualt and 2499 one is included with the Morriss project, but the other bridge is suggested before 2020..
I've never seen a government entity so quick to spend money on a road of all things. Usually it's wait and see and I'm okay with that as long as the government maintains the ability to build when needed. Sadly Texas has a horrific track record to the point were now leasing taxpayer built roads to foreign countries in a classic case of taxation without representation. West Texas senators love to vote in a toll road in Dallas so they can build more dirt roads with our taxes.
I just love this state.
The way I see it is that we need to figure out if we can force this to a vote..
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm getting from the city..
Thanks for your email. We enjoy a representative government here in Flower Mound and our local government would not work effectively if every time we had a "hard decision" before us we scheduled an election.
Hope to see you Monday night.
Steve Dixon
Flower Mound Town Council, place 1
If we ran a petition to force this to a vote anyone know how many signatures we would need?
Places like California seem to put everything on a ballot and that sometimes works well, sometimes not. I'll leave it to you to debate that with Steve or others.
ReplyDeleteI will say that you are not the first person to mention the option of bringing this (or some aspect of it) to a Town vote. There are various options in our Town Charter (Article VII):
http://www.flower-mound.com/charter/pix/pdf/charter.pdf
Certainly, we have to let our current Council have a chance to deliberate first. Every conversation I have heard about this seems to reach the same conclusion I do. A public ballot is an expensive and poliically dangerous option. It is feasible, but we all would much rather reach a logical compromise within the existing governance framework.
This is all the more reason why attendance on Monday night is important.
My experience with the city leadership is they will do what they want.
ReplyDeleteI'd be curious how much of the town would have to show up before they'd listen. I doubt if 500 people stormed the place they'd change their minds.
There's nothing politically dangerous about the citizens demanding that they be listened to. If they are not prepared to defend their position as we are then they should not be forcing this road down our throats.
ReplyDeleteThat being said.
§ 7.04. Council Either to Pass Ordinance or Call Election.
If the petition accompanying the proposed ordinance is signed by qualified voters equal
in number to fifteen percent (15%) of the qualified voters of the Town or three hundred (300) of
the qualified voters of the Town, whichever is greater, and contains a request that the ordinance
be submitted forthwith to a vote of the people at a special election, the governing body of the
Town shall either:
(1) Pass said ordinance without alteration within forty-five (45) days after the
attachment of the Town Secretary's certificate of sufficiency to the accompanying
petition (subject to referendum vote under the provisions of this Charter); or
(2) The governing body of the Town shall proceed to call a special election at which
the ordinance, without alteration, shall be submitted to a vote of the people.
So reading that, if we gather signatures the city can either wait on the road or cancel it, or call a vote.
ReplyDeleteAll I would ask for is a 5 year moratorium on building the road. In 5 years if the situation warrants the construction through appropriate studies which means traffic counts, intersection stuidies etc. We can move forward.
Seeing how they looked after our interests with the section of SH 121 that had the bridges added, we really need to work this out in a intelligent manner. Anyone who through that Lakeside would be a quicker way to 121 found out that they did not get a onramp built at lakeside, you have to go all the way up to the 2499/121 bridge to get onto 121.
Okay folks..
ReplyDeleteHow can our council be independent when the Mayor is funding their political campaigns..
Mayor Jody Smith funded Steve Dixon for 500 dollars of his 1200 dollar campaign.
There can be no impartiality by the council member when he's beholden to the Mayor for his seat.
That just stinks..
Some might consider the guy you are saying is not impartial a potential swing vote or a voice of reason on this issue. Hope he does not pay any attention to your comments.
ReplyDeleteIt's not slander or anything it's a valid question no matter what their stance on this issue.
ReplyDeleteIf the president funded the campaigns of key members of congress or paid for a national tv blitz to get his supreme court nominee through, people would be screaming. The first part is outright illegal if you applied the same percentages to campaign finance laws.
It may not mean nothing, it definately does not look good either way you swing it. Professionally it's a rule that needs to be enacted by the council and adhered to so someday down the road some other mayor does not end up funding 4 council member seats and causing a big issue.
Just because it's not allowed, does not make it right.