Telemarketing calls

If you haven't already been called, please be aware. Someone portraying themselves as a representative of Flower Mound Cares is sponsoring a telemarketing campaign that to some is very misleading. This is NOT any part of the Flower Mound Cares group or is it any part of the NFL campaign. It is a target marketing ploy by the Mayor and her group to see exactly where their support is and where they need to target their message. This is some of the questions they ask:
1. Do I oppose or support gas drilling
2. Ban on drilling in east flo mo
3. Why do you oppose (choices are dangerous, bad for environment, medical, truck/traffic issues, unsure of the safety (or something like that) and one other choice to choose from)... See More
4. Have I heard of the moratorium and do I support it
5. Plan to vote in upcoming election
6. If so, then Northern or Smith
7. Filidoro or blah blah
8. Lyda or blah blah

The calls show as from a 319 area code and they are very aggressive in repeat calling. I suggest if you answer, mislead them as much as possible.

Realize the drilling of gas in the eastern part of town is a true threat. If you haven't signed the petition for the moratorium yet, you will have an opportunity to do so this weekend at the McDonalds on 2499 at 3040.

Campaign

A lot of talk has been out about the Mayors problems with her son and how we should leave it as a private matter.

As a public figure you have to be ready for the heat. Whether it was the Mayors son or anyones kid, its a shame, but carrying a gun and possession of drugs and stolen property on a school grounds is serious. How the Mayor deals with it is her business, but it sorta goes against the famous Nancy Reagan phrase, Just say no.

While we are talking about mudslinging, I went back to the voters united website and re-read the chronological history for Flower Mound Politics in the last 15 year. It's a good read, sorta like a cheap novel or a TNT made for TV political drama. None of the intrigue of "The Good Wife" or "All the Presidents Men".

Check it out at www.voters-united.com and then go to about us and history. A familiar cast of characters and even the early days of Oil and Gas exploration, Outside developers interest in our little town and how far they go. It really does make the issue of this race the interests of the residents or the interests of big business in Oklahoma and other parts of the country. You decide.

Up coming Town Elections

A Few posts down from here was the recap of last June's Town Council Meeting where the approval of the construction was voted on. It was a very confusing meeting to some and the fact that some yes votes meant no and some no votes meant yes and some abstained votes meant no.

The simple facts are this. The Transportation committee recommended in a 5-1 vote (Steve Lyda voting no) for the entire project to be done at one time and the total rejection of our pleading to break it up into phases.

Before the June town council meeting, we met with Tom Hayden and Al Filidoro and were asked by Al what do we want and what is acceptable to us. We told them we needed to buy time and delay the meat of the project as long as we possible could. Al took those wishes to the meeting and proposed the project be split into 2 phases, the second being the portion between 1171 and 3040 until at least 2014 and based on traffic studies, needs and funding still available.

That is where we stand today. Instead of the bulldozers poised to plow up the entire 6.6 miles at one time in a few short months, we are sitting with a plan that includes intersection improvements, new fencing, two new traffic signals and many more of the safety features we asked for included in the first phase.

This all came to being because Al Filidoro worked with opposing council members and convinced them to accept the compromise of dividing the project into 2 phases. WE GOT THE TIME WE NEEDED! WE WON! Part of the time that we needed gets us past this May's election.

I urge each of you to support Al Filidoro for re-election, The election of Steve Lyda (a long time supporter) and the next Mayor of Flower Mound Melissa Northern.

They will be visiting your neighborhoods soon and I hope you get to know them better because they are what is best for our town and our most important asset, us.

Thanks for listening,
Kim Berg

Morriss Road Danger

As Scott mentioned in the previous post, the Super Bowl evening incident struck very close to home. Sunday evening as the game was winding down, my wife Holly too our dog Pepper out for a quick walk around the neighborhood. Her last leg of the walk was up Morriss from the cul de sac to around the corner to our house, one house from Morriss. After she rounded the corner and was walking up our drive way she heard the crash. A mere minute earlier and she could have been involved in a horrific tragedy.

Even though the town has spent the money for the planning, its not over by a long shot. We are a few months away from an election that will change the face of our town. Saner minds that are eager to listen to reality will be running our town. There are alternatives that have not been explored and will be. Keep the faith and we will defeat this horrible plan before any family has to endure a catasrophic tragedy.

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors; Broken Fences Make..

I don't know if anyone is really following this site much anymore since the Morriss expansion project has been in the design phase. So if you are still a follower, feel free to reply and let us know you are alive!

It happened again last Sunday; right after the Super Bowl. Another vehicle ran off Morriss Rd. This seems to happen about once every quarter or few months. (If anyone has the time to look up the police records, it would be interesting to see an actual tally.) This time the vehicle struck close to me; about a block north of Forestwood Middle School. It got my neighbor's fence and only slightly damaged one corner of my fence about 10ft from my kids' swing set and sandbox (just next to that dividing fence in the photo below). We are waiting on the police report.

My 7-year old was fascinated by the damage. In true 7-year old fancy, she imagined herself on her swing and watching a spectacular collision and catastrophe. I tried to explain to her the concept of low-risk probabilities and that her swingset is perfectly safe. But her eyes glassed over and her interests diverted to other subjects, thankfully!

I know this sort of thing can and does happen on roads all over town. However, it would be foolish to think that an expanded Morriss Rd with higher vehicle counts and higher speeds won't see an increase in this risk. It is just another reason why we [Morriss Rd residents] should have been involved before the Town submitted for funding this project. This section of Morriss Rd has no business being a 6 lane artery. But entering the debate after funding was approved proved to be too late to affect significant change.

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.