In the February 12th City Council meeting, it was very clear that some Council members had absolutely no intention of listening to their constituents. Their minds were made up; they were simply going through the motions; ignoring any new facts or alternate analysis on the issue. The development agreement was going to be approved, no matter what anyone had to say … and that was that.
Well ..... two of the council persons who voted for this development agreement will be up for election very soon. There's no getting around this fact ...... they will be forced to listen to their constituents on Election Day!
Well ..... two of the council persons who voted for this development agreement will be up for election very soon. There's no getting around this fact ...... they will be forced to listen to their constituents on Election Day!
20 comments:
don't have too much to add. I had long suspected that the agreement would be approved, no matter what. I will be telling my kids about this deal in 15 years...as the nail in the coffin for Boerne, and especially for 46. What a nightmare that road is going to become. Next up will be the requests from TxDot to widen 46, and then we may as well all pack it up and move to Junction.
There are three council members up for re-election. The "one" that didn't vote for the Esperanza agrement will be sure to face a more worthy opponent guaranteed! Since it is an at-large candidacy I wonder if there will be enough votes to go around to keep this devisive councilman in office?
We will see who is considered "divisive" and who is considered "worthy."
You shouldn't count to much on developer and real estate agent campaign contributions ... they are a little tapped out now.
I hope everyone remembers to thank the 2 councilmen with the conviction to stand their ground. They need to know how much we appreciate them.
We've lost a lot more than the quality of life for Boerne. We've lost a fair and open process of doing government. Even the City staff felt that a Public Hearing and a more open forum would be beneficial. They were over ruled by the higher ups- that would be the Mayor. Judging by how he manuevered the proceedings at the Special Meetings, denying even our Council Members the opportunity to ask Esperanza's developer or lawyers questions (!), can anyone say 'Gestapo'?
The lawyer "for" the City, after inappropriately blowing up at Councilman Zeigler's questions, went around after the meeting making derogatory comments about him- saying he was not going to let a client 'sand bag' him, and bragging in the bar later that they were going to 'whip Rob tomorrow.' How dare a Council person, who represents his constituents, question the lawyer hired for the city. Oh, that's right- I forgot. The lawyer's salary was being paid for by Esperanza. Silly me.
Knowing that Esperanza would file for their MUD application the day after a "NO" vote, the city council made the best decision for our community. It was a "no brainer", let's see, millions for the city or zero, zilch. Not too hard to choose.
This is just the kind of discussion that should have taken place but was overtly suppressed. You assume it’s so easy to get a MUD. Lerrin Hills has bee trying for over two year now without success. Even if the developer succeeded in obtaining a MUD they didn't have enough water to support one-half of the homes they wanted to build. I suggest the only "no brainer" here is you.
They sold you a little "fear factor" there. Once the COB voted to accept the total acreage into the ETJ, COB had the trump card. They chose not to play it. Here's the law on MUDs, and the city has veto power on MUDs within its ETJ.
Texas Water Code §54.016(a) No land within the corporate limits of a city or within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a city, shall be included in a district[0] unless the city grant its written consent, by resolution or ordinance, to the inclusion of the land within the district[0] in accordance with Section 42.042, Local Government Code, and this section.
Now we've given up COB governance of this town (Esperanza) as well as the tax revenues and impact fees. It will actually cost COB taxpayers and utility rate payers more in the long term.
The difference between Lerin Hills and Esperanza is the water issue. Lerin Hills has none! Oh- as I read these comments I notice that there is a lot of name calling. Not a good strategy for promotion of meaningful exchange.Enough said!
Wrong again! ... Lerrin Hills has 750 acre-feet of committed GBRA water. You must have been talking to the experts on the City staff on this ….they have got a lot of things wrong recently. Sorry you were so offended, but it is very frustrating to see ignorant people like you misrepresent the facts.
And where is the delivery system for this water? How are they going to get it to Lerin Hills? By jackass?
What, no follow-up to your MUD-statement? Did those pesky facts get in the way of your spin?
Nevertheless, glad to see some actual debate going on here. We've heard enough of the moneyed interests blather.
Like everyone else receiving GBRA water, including the City of Boerne, the new WCID, Fair Oaks Ranch and others ... build a pipeline. DUH...
Give it up dude! You are making yourself look like a complete idiot.
I tought by now I'd have shaken this gut wrenching disaster but I need to pen my utter digust for the way the citizens were treated by the mayor and Councilman Ziegler was chided by that carpetbag lawyer from Dallas.
Now we will have a new set of neighbors who will be asked to pay for infastructure that decent developers in this county have always paid for. They will pay twice the taxes we will pay if they are lured in by realtors.
Maybe we need to warn them with a big billboard out 46.
Esperanza Home Owners Will
BE TAXED 95 CENTS Per $100 VALUE!
Hello Thom Dunaway. After reading your note, all I've got to say is "1, 3, 4, now that's logic I can follow!"
We just purchased a house here in Boerne in December because we thought surly it must be "different". Well I blame myself for being oh so wrong. We've already contacted an agent and will be moving on.
If you want to understand why the Lerin Hills development has not received it's MUD, you can go the the hillcountryalliance.org web page and click on history of Lerin Hills. Also, the Boerne Star reported last April that the investors were upset with the developer because he had misrepresented the fact that he does not have ground water rights. The mortgage company put the land up for sale last April. In other words, the developer has major problems and money issues.
Esperanza on the other hand has plenty of money and all their ducks in a row. Therefore, they would not have had trouble getting a MUD.
Again, COB has veto power over MUDs. It's the law. See above.
The TCEQ commissioners voted today 2/27/08, to deny Tapatio Springs challenge to the Lerrin Hills MUD; this despite all the experts who have posted comments to this blog. I guess the commissioners didn't bother to consult with all you "anonymous" experts.
Again, ag (that's not anonymous?) assuming you are literate, go read the law yourself. Tapatio is not an incorporated city, and therefore has no rights under the Texas Water Code to approve or disapprove a MUD within it's ETJ. Not being an incorporated city, it has no ETJ. Man, those darned bothersome facts, again!
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