Fort Worth City Moratorium on Salt Water Injection Wells Expires April 30, 2012

From: Lon Burnam
Subject: Let Fort Worth city council members know what you think about disposal wells before they vote!

Date: Monday, March 26, 2012, 3:57 PM

Dear Friends,

Many of you may have attended one of the five public meetings held this year regarding whether to lift the current ban on "salt water disposal" wells inside the City of Fort Worth. Unless the council votes to extend it, the current moratorium against saltwater disposal wells will expire on April 30, 2012.

The council will receive public comment at its next two meetings on April 3 and April 10. The council is planning to vote a new ordinance regulating disposal wells on April 10. The council could decide to extend the moratorium, prohibit wastewater wells altogether in the city limits, allow the wells certain land-use restrictions, or take some other action.

Because of the importance of the outcome of the April 10th meeting, I encourage you to attend the hearing on Tuesday, April 3, 2012, at City Hall, 1000 Throckmorton Street, at 7 p. m. City council members need to hear from you on this important topic that could impact our health, safety, and environment. If you would like to speak at the hearing, keep in mind that the usual rules regarding signing up before the meeting and speaking limits will apply.

For more information about the hearings, please see the City News page. You can find general information about disposal wells here. You may also call my district office at 817-924-1997 if you have any questions.

Best regards,

Lon

What is Chesapeake doing at this Barnett Shale gas well in Arlington, Texas?

What is Chesapeake doing at this Barnett Shale gas well in Arlington, Texas?

Westchester Gasette: Oh, My.

Westchester Gasette: Oh, My.: So here's Part 2 of that story about  an Arlington Church's business deal with Chesapeake: Wednesday, August 31, 2011 High Point Church...

Westchester Gasette: What the Quack is Going On?

Westchester Gasette: What the Quack is Going On?: The 5,000-member High Point Church was founded in 2000 by Simons and his wife, April, whose brother is Joel Osteen , well-k...

Obama Tax Plan Would Ask More of Millionaires | Truthout

Obama Tax Plan Would Ask More of Millionaires | Truthout

GP Mayor On Joe Pool Drilling: ‘It’s Scary As Hell’

GP Mayor On Joe Pool Drilling: ‘It’s Scary As Hell’

Westchester Gasette: It's a Hurricane

Westchester Gasette: It's a Hurricane

A must watch video for those who share living quarters with canines

Although this smart dog probably does not live in Arlington, this is being posted here because all the dog owners in Arlington who come home to encounter"Doggie decorating" or "household devastation" deserves to know that everyone does not encounter such with every dog!

Natural gas fields have provided a fount of cash for Texas cities Second of two parts

Arlington and Ft Worth are covered in the Pittsburg Gazette

By Bill Toland - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette -Monday, March 07, 2011


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11066/1130239-84.stm#ixzz1FwAUIq4t
Second of two parts. See Part 1 here: "Deep in the Heart of the Gas Drilling Controversy."


FORT WORTH, Texas -- Thirty-nine stories above downtown Fort Worth, in a private penthouse dinner club built with oil and gas fortunes, Mel LeBlanc endeavored to spell out the mindset of those who categorically oppose drilling for natural gas in urban areas.

"Where are they coming from, philosophically?" asked the Arlington city councilman and, as it happens, owner of a philosophy doctorate. "When you really get down to it, they are utopians in many cases. They accept zero tolerance -- [if] anything that you're talking about could ever go wrong, we're not going to do it."

Even if something were to eventually go wrong in Arlington -- and so far, he says, it has not -- Mr. LeBlanc, lunching at the Petroleum Club of Fort Worth, has ample reason to support the concept of urban drilling: Tapping the Barnett Shale, the 5,000-square-mile reservoir of natural gas embedded in rock beneath North Texas, has been a boon to his city's finances. In 2007, Arlington's city stewards set up a nonprofit to handle the city's share of gas royalties and lease payments. Ten percent of the lease money (and half of the royalty money) goes to the city's operating fund.

PG VIDEO: DEEP IN THE HEART: LESSONS FROM TEXAS, PART 2

The remainder -- 90 percent of the lease payments and half the royalties -- goes to the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation, which issues grants that support arts, recreation and historic preservation. In just three years, the foundation has put $70 million in the bank. In 20 years' time, the balance may approach $225 million.

"We're not Fort Worth. We're not Dallas," which have flush, old-money foundations, Mr. LeBlanc said. In Arlington, three years ago, the biggest nonprofit endowment was just $12 million. "This gas money [is] a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as a city to get the financial footing that we need, [to] become the city that we envision."

Imagine if Pittsburgh, with a budget and population somewhat comparable to Arlington's (our 312,000 people to their 380,000, our $450 million operating budget to theirs, $350 million), were able to leverage its position over the Marcellus Shale to create instant revenue. What might that pay for? A solution to the city's pension crisis? More police officers? More regular street paving?

This is the flip side to the anti-drilling argument: There's money to be made, jobs to be created and -- if you play your cards right -- public institutions to be rescued. To do it, though, requires drilling in places like Fort Worth and Arlington, already densely populated areas that continue to grow and sprawl into the disappearing Texas countryside.

As with southwestern Pennsylvania now, deep gas drilling in North Texas began in rural expanses, for a number of reasons. Land is cheaper and the plots are larger. Political barriers are lower. Media scrutiny is less intense. Neighborhood resistance is less organized, because in many cases there are no neighbors to be bothered.

But eventually, drillers crept toward the city. It wasn't necessarily because the energy companies were itching for a political fight.

"Where they want to drill has a lot more to do with what is below the surface than what is above the surface," said Paula Knowles, an intern for Democratic state Rep. Lon Burnam doing graduate research at the University of Texas at Arlington on urban gas drilling.

Energy company geologists look for easily accessible shale and gas formations first "and then they deal with the other issues accordingly," she said.

And Fort Worth, all 700 square miles of it, happens to be sitting on one of the Barnett Shale's many sweet spots. The Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth metroplex is home to nearly 7 million, growing by 150,000 every year, due in great part to the area's emergence as one of the nation's energy capitals.

First oil, then gas
It was not always so. Fort Worth was nicknamed "Cowtown" for its cattle stockyards; Dallas was built on cotton and grain; Arlington had barely 4,000 people living in it by World War II (Pittsburgh's population at the time was more than 670,000).

Though the first producing Texas oil well was drilled in 1866, three decades passed before oil was a commercially viable product. In the 1930s, when oilfields were discovered 100 miles to the east of Dallas, near Kilgore, Texas, it was Dallas that became the industry's nerve center, financing the development of oilfields in the Texas Panhandle, the Gulf Coast and Oklahoma.

"When oil came gushing into Texas early in the 20th century," writes Mary G. Ramos in the Texas Almanac, "petroleum began to displace agriculture as the principal engine driving the economy of the state."

But even though energy sector has been part of the Texas fabric for the nearly a century, drilling within the cities that financed the sector is a novelty. There are no oil wells in Dallas, nor are there any gas wells (not yet anyway, though ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Energy wants a permit to drill on city land and Dallas city council is considering it). The first gas well in downtown Fort Worth came in 2008, a decade after deep shale drilling began in suburbs and rural areas.

Still, given the region's infatuation with the energy sector, and a city council and mayor who have been accommodating, "Fort Worth was just the perfect location for this experiment of urban gas drilling," said Ms. Knowles.

"And it's a pretty risky experiment, isn't it?"

Urban gas drilling means putting rigs and fracking drainage pits near homes and apartment complexes, on inner-city industrial tracts and vacant shopping mall lots, and, in Arlington, even on an urban golf course. In 2010, Marsh Operating Co. laid a pad and erected drilling equipment at Rolling Hills Country Club, a struggling course hemmed in by commercial and residential development on all sides.

From that site, the horizontal drilling technique -- which allows for the drilling of L-shaped wells -- will allow Marsh access to a vast radius of below-ground mineral deposits, retrieving the natural gas beneath nearby homes and churches, with their consent.

Wells crowd out greenery
One symbol can mean two different things to two different factions. Drilling advocates point to the golf course drilling rig and say: See? Gas wells can co-exist with the urban landscape. Opponents point to the same rig and say, maybe so, but why would you want it there?

"This city has now become an industrial zone, and we've lost thousands of acres of green space to drilling in the past five years," said Don Young, an anti-drilling activist who lives in Fort Worth.

Mr. Young, a stained glass artist, says he became an instant activist when an energy company tried to drill in his front yard. In Mr. Young's case, his "front yard" does not belong to him; it is Tandy Hills, 180 acres of knotty oaks and hip-high bluestem grasses, one of the only authentic patches of native North Texas prairie you can find nowadays in Fort Worth.

From the front room of his home, you can see the prairie grass swaying across the street. Mr. Young and concerned neighbors used Tandy Hills to bring public focus to the issue of urban drilling, but Chesapeake Energy was able to secure the rights to a plot of privately owned land adjacent to Tandy Hills. It will be able to use that massive pad site to drill extensively for gas beneath the park.

In rural Texas, a pad site this size -- three football fields in area -- would be barely noticed. In the city, it can accommodate multiple wellheads and could mean multiple headaches for neighbors: dust, noise and increased truck traffic initially, and the installation of a pipeline that takes the natural gas away from the wells and to a main line.

In Mr. Young's view, drilling near Tandy Hills is not much different than drilling in it.

"The very landscape [of the region] is going to be altered," he said.

'You can't be undrilled'
Later, on a driving tour of Fort Worth and Arlington, he motions to the golf course and calls it an eyesore. While the rig was disassembled a few weeks later, the pad site and wells will remain there for years, decades, to come, all but prohibiting any future uses for that chunk of the golf course property. And on larger pad sites, you can drill multiple gas wells; the rig may be disassembled today, but another one may be built in a few years, once prices come up.

"Once you've been drilled," Mr. Young said, "you can't be undrilled."

Of course, the alternative to a drilling rig (and, later, gas wells) on a golf course might have been no golf course at all. Prior to striking the lease and royalty deal in 2007, Rolling Hills was under pressure from city officials and some country club members to sell the land to developers for $34 million; it was said to be the preferred site of the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

The $800,000 in gas lease revenue helped save the course, built in 1954 when outer Arlington was orchards and dairy farmland, when Interstate 30, which traces the course's south edge, didn't exist.

"There's just not many locations left like this, green belts left in the city," said John McGowdy, general manager of Rolling Hills' 97-acre golf course. But even though drilling helped preserve, and upgrade, this bit of green space, the decision to drill was controversial. Mr. McGowdy said his golf club lost 10 percent of its members because of the execution of the gas lease.

"That split the club down the middle," he said. Some left because they thought the course -- which is member-owned -- would be devalued, others because they simply didn't want to golf in the shadow of a rig.

But in the end, the golf course needed the money and Marsh Operating, which drilled and fracked six wells and may someday return to drill a dozen more, was willing to spend it, with upfront payments and the promise of future royalties.

Buying their way in
This is how drillers are often able to get their way, even in densely populated parts of the city: They flash a lot of green to people who need it. Sometimes it's an aging city golf course. Sometimes it's a poorer residential neighborhood.

Sometimes, it's an institution of higher learning. The University of Texas at Arlington, where Ms. Knowles was pursuing her master's degree, is within Arlington's city limits. But because it is on state-owned university land, it isn't bound by local municipal rules governing urban gas drilling. Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. operates 22 wells on university property.

"I was driving down to Austin several years ago and began to notice all these rigs popping up," said Rusty Ward, who just retired as UTA's chief financial officer and business affairs vice president. He learned that the drills were probing for natural gas, and began probing whether energy companies would be interested in the wooded 400 acres on the southeast edge of the campus.

That site is also within 500 feet of a YWCA, a day care and the nearest home. Neighbors worried about accidents, noise, even radiation and asthma -- one report, released in 2010 by the Community-wide Children's Health Assessment and Planning Survey, suggested that 1 in 4 children ages 8 and 9 has asthma in North Texas counties where Barnett Shale drilling is the heaviest. Drilling skeptics latched onto this survey as evidence that drilling was damaging air quality in the region.

"Once we decided to do this, all hell sort of broke loose," Mr. Ward said.

"People said I was going to blow up the place."

The place hasn't blown up, but its scholarship fund has. Since 2007, when the first rig arrived, UTA has made millions in royalties and upfront, per-acre lease payments, money that was directed toward endowments and matching funds for student scholarships.

And technology improvements have minimized the footprint of the drilling site. Several years ago, a pad to accommodate 22 wells might have been 5 acres or more, but Carrizo was able to install the wells on 2 1/2 acres, preserving additional acreage for future drilling.

Talk of the town
Despite success stories, people remain wary about urban gas drilling, and it's hard to overstate the degree to which gas drilling dominates the news cycles.

The local newspaper, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, runs a weekly report on all the newly active rigs in the 24-county area -- usually there are several dozen new rigs put up each week. In a three-day span three months ago, the newspaper and TV news reported on the city school district's ongoing gas lease negotiations, city council's long-debated air quality study, lawsuits over polluted water wells, and an early morning gas leak (and resulting vapor cloud) at an XTO Energy well site north of Fort Worth.

Some in Fort Worth object to urban drilling notionally, concerned about long-term water quality and health effects. But others object to the way they've been treated by the industry and its "landmen" -- the free-agent real estate negotiators who gather signatures on behalf of drillers, bundling them and then selling the waivers, titles and leases to energy companies.

The process sometimes pits neighbors against one another.

"I would describe myself as very pro-drilling, pro-oil, pro-gas," said Laura Reeves, a Fort Worth resident who lives in an impeccably decorated townhome and can't remember the last Democrat she voted for.

"I have friends who work for Chesapeake. I know people who need their jobs. I don't disagree with drilling for gas. I disagree with drilling for gas in the middle of a (populated area)."

Chesapeake Energy wants to drill on a vacant tract of land to the immediate south of her new, gated townhome community. Her complex, and that empty tract --being called "Westridge" by Chesapeake -- are just a few hundred yards west of Como, a historically black neighborhood. Mrs. Reeves says the industry has tried to take advantage of the poverty levels in Como.

The landmen wanted Mrs. Reeves and neighbors to sign waiver agreements, allowing Chesapeake to drill within Fort Worth's prescribed setback radius if city council subsequently approves the variance request. The "setback" is the minimum distance that a well must be from the nearest home; in order to drill inside the city's 600-foot setback radius, an energy company has to get enough neighbors to sign waiver agreements, and it often sweetens the pot with waiver bonuses.

The waiver payments are thank-you notes written in cash, because the people who sign the waivers -- townhome residents, renters, business owners -- often won't see any other money from the drilling. They won't get royalties, because most don't own any mineral rights, and they won't receive a surface lease payment, because the drilling isn't happening on their property.

The first offer that Mrs. Reeves received from the landman that knocked on her door in autumn 2009? Sign the waiver and she gets $74.

Small potatoes to her -- but more attractive to those living in poverty, she said. Waiver bonuses can increase dramatically if you live closer to a drilling site, or if you live in a more well-to-do neighborhood, but generally landmen want to get the best lease and waiver terms, at the lowest price, for the companies they represent.

"You may as well sign," the landman told her, because "78 percent of your neighbors have signed." Turns out only three of her 70 fellow townhome owners had signed waivers, she said.

But because landmen aren't employed by the energy companies, and because there is no state board that licenses or regulates these middlemen, punishing them for misrepresentations is difficult, according to foes.

"I realized some of them had signed the waiver and didn't have a clue what they signed," said Mrs. Reeves. "They felt stupid because they just believed what the landmen told them."

When Mrs. Reeves and others tried to fight off the Chesapeake project -- organizing community meetings, attending city council hearings, going door-to-door in Como -- she says she was caricatured by some in the energy industry as a bored, blonde housewife.

"I was insulted," she said. "They were counting on me, the white blonde, not [setting] foot in a black neighborhood."

But she did, and for a time, it appeared that the drilling project near Como would be rebuffed; Chesapeake withdrew its drilling request last August. In February, though, landmen made headway with one of the neighbors to the west of the Westridge site, a prominent businessman, and Chesapeake now intends to drill a few hundred feet to the west of its original location.

Ms. Knowles, the master's student -- whose boss, state Rep. Lon Burnam, called for a moratorium on new Texas drilling permits -- said the landmen are often accused of misrepresenting the degree of neighborhood unanimity as well as the scope of the drilling projects. They say that the rigs will be up for only a few months, which is often true.

What they don't say is that the rigs can return again and again to drill new wells, as long as they have an active lease. Or that a "few months" of disruption can turn into a few years, or that your home value could decline.

"Nothing can be done if they lie, cheat or steal," she said.

Gas lines another issue
Another thing that landmen may or may not bring up is the issue of gas lines. To get the raw gas to market, the energy companies or subcontractors will also eventually have to build "gathering" lines from the pads to the nearest processing plant.

In Texas, energy companies and private pipeline owners are treated more or less like public utilities, and they have the ability to condemn pieces of private property, if need be, in order to lay the gathering lines.

"That creates a whole new issue," said Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis, a former Fort Worth city councilwoman.

"You get lines crisscrossing all over your city ... and once you've laid a line that's carrying natural gas, you can't develop it" or put other utilities beneath it, like electric or sewage. "The most you can do is put a surface parking lot on it."

And that's just the lines they know about. Pipeline maps and surveys have proven unreliable, and records from the Texas Railroad Commission, which issues the operating permits for the raw gas lines, are often incomplete, critics say.

"There are lines all over the place that really no one at the city levels were ever told," Ms. Davis said. "And we may find that it inhibits" future development -- or, worse, could cause an accident when someone tries to dig a backyard swimming pool and finds that the gathering line is not where the pipeline company thinks it is.

Add the 360,000 miles of gathering line in Texas to the 20,000 Barnett gas wells, all of it being monitored by just a handful of state inspectors, and people have good reason to worry. "Who can feel safe [when] that's the way it's functioning?" Ms. Davis said. "You can't trust these companies to self-police."

Mr. LeBlanc, the Arlington city councilman, said issues such as setback distance and pipeline mapping are regulatory matters that can be tackled with a bit of legislative foresight. But no amount of regulation can eliminate risk.

"To apply the standard of zero tolerance and perfection to an industry such as this -- so important to our geopolitical situation worldwide, so important to our local economy, so important to cities like Arlington," makes no sense to him.

Accidents can and will happen, but they happen in steel mills and coal mines, too, and nobody ever talks about a moratorium on steel production, or banning air travel after a crash.

"I have been on American Airlines flights. They've exploded in the past. They're going to explode in the future. I'm still going to get on them -- that's just modern life."

Bill Toland: btoland@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2625.

First published on March 7, 2011 at 12:00 am

Read more part 2
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11066/1130239-84.stm#ixzz1Fw9pNuWv

Read Part One

Fracked: Barnett Shale drilling chemicals found in blood and organs

Fracked: Barnett Shale drilling chemicals found in blood and organs

Arlington residents fear pipeline

By WFAA - Sept. 2010

EPA links cataracts to ozone and UV exposure

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - July 31, 2010
Having personally had four cataract surgical procedures last year, and residing in the DFW Metroplex in Tarrant County, which ranks among the highest ozone regions of the nation, this EPA News Directive caught my attention.

EPA Report: 22 Million Cataract Cases Will Be Prevented by Stronger Ozone Layer Protection
Release date: 07/30/2010
Contact Information: Dave Ryan Ryan.dave@epa.gov 202-564-7827 202-564-4355

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency marked the beginning of Cataract Awareness Month by announcing a new peer-reviewed report predicting that more than 22 million additional cataract cases will be avoided for Americans born between 1985 and 2100 due to the Montreal Protocol. The environmental treaty, signed by 196 countries, was designed to reduce and eventually eliminate ozone depleting substances. Too much UV radiation not only increases the risk for skin cancer, but also increases the risk for cataracts -- a clouding of the eye’s lens that affects more than 20 million Americans age 40 and older.

“Since the 1970s, we have prevented millions of skin cancer cases and deaths through our work protecting the ozone layer,” said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “I am excited to kick off Cataract Awareness Month by announcing that the science has now enabled us to estimate our impact on cataracts.”

Due to the success of the Montreal Protocol, the ozone layer is predicted to recover to pre-1980 levels after 2065. In the meantime, under a compromised ozone layer, more ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaches the Earth’s surface. While treatment for cataracts is widely available in the U.S., the costs are high, with direct medical costs estimated to be $6.8 billion per year

For the first time, EPA is able to include data on cataract risk by gender and skin type in the report. However, all people, regardless of gender and skin type, are at risk for cataracts. This is why it is important for adults and children to use eyewear that absorbs UV rays and to wear a wide-brimmed hat.

The following changes in vision may be signs of cataracts:
- Blurred vision, double vision, ghost images, the sense of a "film" over the eyes
- Lights seem too dim for reading or close-up work, or feeling "dazzled" by strong light
- Changing eyeglass prescriptions often, and the change does not seem to help.

Information on the report .

More information on eye damage .

More information on the Montreal Protocol

/www.epa.gov/ozone/intpol/

Texas ranks third highest in teen birth rate

Texas Moves from Highest Teen Birth Rate in Nation to Third

Texas ranks 48th in teen birth rate
By DEAN TRAVINSKI - WFAA - July 28, 2010
A new study shows Texas has the third highest rate of teenage births in the country.
The annual Kids Count report, released Tuesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, says more than 54,000 babies were born to girls between the ages of 15 and 19 in 2007. The rate has improved since 2000, but still earns Texas a 48th ranking nationally.
Overall, the study ranked Texas 34th for children's well-being. Texas ranks near the bottom in the number of children living in poverty.

See more on WFFA.com

In 2007 the state ranked first in the number of births to teenaged mothers.

National Report: Texas Has the Worst Teen Birth Rate in the Country
By Lynsey Kluever and Frances Deviney - Center for Public Policy Priorities - July 25, 2007

Texas has the highest teen birth rate in the nation (63 births per 1,000 females ages 15-19) according to the KIDS COUNT Data Book, a national state-by-state report released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. This report is a precursor to the fall release of The State of Texas Children 2007, which will provide child well-being data for every county in Texas. Despite improving by 9 percent between 2000 and 2004, Texas has the nation's worst birth rate, with more than 51,000 births to Texas teens (or 63 births per 1,000 teens). Nationally, there are 41 births for every 1,000 teens.

Read more in CPPP

In 2009 The Texas Department of State Health Services stated:

Cost and Outcomes

The Costs. . .T
Medicaid paid for 173,226 deliveries in Texas, at an estimated total cost of $420 million (HMO deliveries are estimated). Approximately 10% of these deliveries were to teen mothers aged-13-17, at a cost of $41 million.

How Often Does a Teenager in Texas Get Pregnant?
Every 10 minutes, a teen in Texas gets pregnant.
Every 10 hours, a 14-year-old teen gets pregnant.
Every 3 hours, a 15-year-old teen gets pregnant.
Every 1.5 hours, a 16-year-old teen gets pregnant.
Every 52 minutes, a 17-year-old-teen gets pregnant.
Every 35 minutes, an 18-year-old teen gets pregnant.
Every 28 minutes, a 19-year-old teen gets pregnant.

What are the Outcomes?
Every 10 minutes a teen gives birth.
Every 48 minutes a teen has an abortion.

Teenage parenting often averts or postpones education for both girls and boys. While 7 out of 10 teen mothers eventually complete high school or receive a GED, they are less likely than girls who delay childbearing to go on to college. (Alan Guttmacher Institute)

There can also be serious consequences for the children of teen mothers. Research sponsored by the Robin Hood Foundation compared children whose mothers were 17 or younger with children whose mothers were 20-21 when they gave birth. The research indicates that children born to teen mothers tend to have:
- lower cognitive test scores and more difficulty in school
- poorer health yet receive less health care
- less stimulating and supportive home environments
- higher levels of incarceration
- higher rates of adolescent childbearing themselves

Until recently, most teen pregnancy prevention efforts were directed at girls. Too often boys have been left out of the equation. Examining the various roles that boys play in causing and preventing teen pregnancy, and involving boys in teen pregnancy prevention programs are important components of a comprehensive approach to reducing teen pregnancy.

Read more on TDSHS

City of Arlington Remembers Former Mayor S.J. Stovall

By City of Arlington - July 15, 2010


S.J. Stovall, former Mayor of Arlington, passed away Wednesday evening, July 14 at the age of 84. He served as Mayor for the City of Arlington from 1977 to 1983 and as a council member from 1963 to 1977.

For more than 20 years, S.J. Stovall was an important influence on Arlington's economic growth and leadership. Born in Lufkin, Texas, Stovall attended Texas A&M University after serving in the Air Force. In August of 1950, Stovall moved to Arlington to begin a new assignment with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. As a civil engineer, he designed and supervised the development of soil embankments, major concrete dams and roadways throughout Tarrant County and the north Texas region.

Stovall began his Arlington legacy as a city council member in 1963. During his tenure, Stovall worked closely on the Interstate 20 project. As a former employee of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he used his engineering expertise to help the Texas Department of Transportation navigate the best possible route for I-20 through Arlington.

While Mayor, Stovall was instrumental in forming Leadership Arlington, an organization that prepares community leaders in the theories and practices of local government.

During his three terms in office, Stovall also led the effort to develop and construct the Arlington Convention Center, as well as a new and improved Arlington City Hall. Additionally, to ensure a sound economic foundation for the city, Stovall built relationships with companies such as National Semi-Conductor and Wet 'N Wild, which led their executives to move operations to Arlington.

After completion of his final term as Mayor in 1983, Stovall continued his public service as Board Chairman of Mission Metroplex Mission Arlington, on the Arlington Memorial Board of Trustees, and was active in the Crime Stoppers program. His service also extended beyond Arlington, serving on the Tarrant County Commissioners Court. Known as always dependable, he was selected to take over the unexpired term of Commissioner Jerry Mebus, who died while in office. Stovall remained on the court until retiring in 1985.

In 1991, as a tribute to Stovall and his influence on Arlington's development, the City opened a 52 acre park named in his honor. S.J. Stovall Park is located at 2800 West Sublett Road in southwest Arlington.

Stovall also held various offices of distinction throughout his career, including President of the North Central Texas Council of Governments, Chairman of the Central Regional Waste Water System Advisory Committee of the Trinity River Authority, member of the Regional Transportation Policy Advisory Committee, member of the Society of American Military Engineers, and member of the Federal Business Association.

“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Mayor Stovall,” said Mayor Robert Cluck. “During his service as a city council member and mayor, he and his colleagues made many wise and strategic decisions that assured Arlington would continue to thrive. We continue to benefit from those decisions. He leaves a legacy of public service and a true love for Arlington. In this difficult time, my thoughts and prayers are with his family and all of those who knew and loved him. He was indeed a special friend.”

Services for Mayor Stovall will be announced.

READER BEWARE: Titan Air Study Misleading\i

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - July 15, 2010

This industry air test is referred to as "Fort Worth and Arlington" yet it does not include a representative sample from Arlington.
In the preface of the study Titan says they coordinated with officials of City of Arlington and Fort Worth.
I suspect that they included one Arlington site so that they could spin it to say that air in Arlington is not impacted by natural gas drilling. This does not appear to be a serious impartial.
Roger Vensbles (City of Arlington Real Estate) says that he didn't even know any Arlington site was being included in their test.
Derren Groth (City of Arlington Natural Gas Engineer) just said that he went to a meeting to decide whether Arlington was going to join in some testing with the City of Fort Worth but Arlington's decision was not to participate so they did not coordinate with him.

Mystery as to who the "officials" from City of Arlington they refer to in the preface of the report. I suspect (do not know) that they "jawed" with Mel LeBlanc and consider conversations with him as "numerous contacts with officials from City of Arlington."

Only one well was tested out of 187 in the city of Arlington.
One well out of 187 is not a representative sample.
Therefore no valid conclusion can be deducted from such a small sample to judge whether gas drilling does or does not impact the air quality in the City of Arlington.
PROBLEMS WITH THE STUDY CONCLUSIONS:
Each time elevated readings are found, the author of the study attributes them to something off site..
At one Ft. Worth site Titan concludes that the readings can't be caused by the well but by a compost site, but they don't mention where the compost site is, how far from their test site, the direction from their test site, the direction the air is blowing from said compost site to their collection point.
They claim on one site that it is elevated caused by some "unknown off site source." Geezzzzeeee.
PROBLEMS WITH DESIGN OF STUDY:
The study uses readings for exposure of less than 14 days to determine whether the air is safe or not.
Fine, tourist will be safe but what about folks who live by the wells, work by the wells, go to school by the wells, and mercy forbid have parents irresponsible enough to place their infants and toddlers into daycare centers next to the wells?
Those who are exposed day in and day out are not going to only be there less than 14 days therefore this study is totally designed to fabricate false security while the reality is that these sites do have emissions greater than is recommended for health for person exposed to the emissions more than 14 days.

Full Report: http://www.bseec.org/sites/default/files/BSEEC_Final_Report.pdf

Tenth Traffic Fatality of Year in Arlington - Single car accident on I-20

By City of Arlington Police Department - July 15, 2010

Investigators are looking into what led a car's driver to veer off I-20, hit a pole, causing a fiery, fatal crash.

Arlington Police Officers are investigating a fatal single-vehicle accident that occurred on Interstate-20 early Thursday (July 15, 2010) morning. Witnesses described seeing a car driving west on Interstate 20 near the Collins Street exit at about 3:30 a.m. The car went off the roadway onto the shoulder and then struck the pole of a message board next to the highway, witnesses said. The vehicle caught fire and the driver died at the scene. The driver was the only occupant of the car.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner will release the name of the driver once identification has been made and next of kin has been notified. It is unclear at this point in the accident investigation whether drugs, alcohol or speed played a factor in this fatal crash.

This is the 10th traffic fatality in Arlington this year.

Alvarado man killed at Arlington drill site

BY NATHANIEL JONES - fORT wORTH sTAR tELEGRAM - Jul. 14, 2010

The worker who was fatally crushed Tuesday afternoon by drilling equipment at a gas well site in Arlington has been identified as 34-year-old Nabor Alvarado of Alvarado, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office reports.

Alvarado is believed to be an employee of Trinidad Drilling, a Canadian company working for Chesapeake Energy, which owns the pad site in the 5700 block of U.S. 287 near the Kennedale border, authorities said.

Alan Kassen, Arlington assistant fire chief, said it appeared that a large piece of drilling equipment fell on the worker about 4:15 p.m., killing him instantly, during assembly of the rig.

Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram

Moving to another apartment in Arlington?

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - July 14, 2010

Sometimes it is difficult to know what a complex is like until AFTER you move in. Check out the code compliance scores for multi-family residences. This shows that sometimes those complexes which look better on first glance aren't maintained up to par while some of the older ones are more consistently kept within code.

The Arlington Police Department posts on-line the calls to the police department per apartment unit. Not all apartments are included yet the service helps you understand what kind of crimes are reported in a neighborhood. Complexes which have their own on-site security frequently appear better than those which rely totally on the police department for all incident reports. The main difference shows up in noise, or minor kinds of incidents. Thefts, assault, etc. get escalated to the police department anyway.

City of Arlington Crime Statistics.

Rangers' auction in limbo after opposition

By ANGELA K. BROWN - Associated Press - July 8, 2010
FORT WORTH (AP) — An auction to sell the Texas Rangers was in limbo Thursday following opposition to the process that would have been controlled by Major League Baseball.
Just days after seeking court approval for the July 16 auction, the team withdrew its motion Thursday following opposition from the court-appointed restructuring officer in the bankruptcy case. William K. Snyder, appointed to make sure the team was maximizing its assets, said he no longer supported the Rangers' bidding process but still believed the team should be sold at an auction.

"(Snyder) approved the motion before it was filed and supported the motion at the time it was filed. Based on changes in facts and circumstances since the filing of the motion, however, (Snyder) has concluded that the motion is no longer in the best interests of the (team's ownership)," Snyder's attorneys wrote in court documents filed Thursday.

Snyder did not say which terms of the proposed auction he did not like or if his rejection was based on any issues that arose during this week's mediation between the team and its angry creditors.
Outside experts had suggested the narrow guidelines in the bidding process were a clever maneuver to push through the long-delayed sale to the MLB's preferred buyer, a group led by Hall of Fame pitcher and team president Nolan Ryan and Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg.
But Snyder plans to finalize new bidding procedures quickly and present them to the judge for approval, although court documents did not give a timetable on the revisions or auction.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge D. Michael Lynn was to decide Friday on whether to approve the auction and its terms, but instead the team and creditors will meet to discuss the issue.
If an auction is not held July 16, the delay could push back the July 22 confirmation hearing, in which Snyder will recommend whether the team's bankruptcy plan should be approved. The American League West-leading Rangers want to resolve the case quickly.
The team filed for Chapter 11 protection in May with a plan to pay creditors $75 million and sell the Rangers to the Greenberg-Ryan group. The sale had been stalled for months by lenders' concerns over $525 million in loan defaults by team owner Tom Hicks' ownership group.
After creditors' numerous objections to the team's bankruptcy plan, the Rangers agreed to an auction after Snyder indicated that was the only way he would consider approving the plan.
It's unclear how the bidding procedures will change. In the team's auction proposal filed Monday, Major League Baseball would decide who was eligible to bid and set strict guidelines, including a $1.5 million deposit and an opening bid of more than $500 million. The league could have rejected the highest bidder and selected the runner-up instead.
The motion also included paying a $15 million "break-up" fee to the Greenberg-Ryan group if it was not chosen as the buyer.

Metropolitan Classical Ballet

Texas Hall, University of Texas at Arlington Saturday, July 17th - 8:00 p.m. Click here for more information and program details. Tickets available through Metropolitan Classical Ballet (817) 275-0598 or (817) 465-4644 or order online at www.utatickets.com Ticket Prices: Floor, Orchestra Front, Sections B, C, D: $30 Floor, Orchestra Back, Sections B, C, D: $20 Floor, Wings, Sections A and E: $10 View UTA Seating Chart To The Pointe Metropolitan Classical Ballet email: webmaster@mcballet.org phone: 817-465-4644 web: http://mcballet.org

Vapors, Drama Queen, the Arlington City Council Man, and Cutting through Industry Disinformation

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - June 28, 2010
On the State and Local levels (probably National too) Oil and Gas Industry Lobbyists and representative have been spewing out misinformation and misusing terms attempting to confuse and confound elected officials, property owners, media and regulatory agency staff. Two terms which get thrown up and out like a squashed soccer ball are "wet gas" and "dry gas" and "no vapor". In the June 22nd Arlington City Council meeting, Councilman Mel LeBlanc and the XTO gas representative attempted to pull the old tired "it ain't got no vapor in it so vapor recovery systems won't work on it ploy" (see Arlington City Council Aug. 22, 2010 - Evening Session Video - meter reading: 1:30

Old Town Neighborhood Association President Kim Feil cut through the rhetoric with a very simple more accurate explanation of the gas drilling termninology which the high powered lobbyist Ed Ireland has utilized with the Texas Legislature and which Mr. LeBlanc attempted to plant here locally. Mrs. Feil may refer to herself as "drama queen" in her e-mail to the councilman but it is very apparent that she is far from an air-head! She possesses an acute radar for discrepancies between reality and what some with $$$s instead of integrity try to feed us and, and exhibits a focused determination to get past tedious surfaces to the level where it is understandable. She also has a gift for grabbing folks' attention, even that of City Council members who don't completely agree with her, and whose attention might be sort of fading in and out during long, back to back City Council sessions.

Here is how she took it down to the basics to a level that even Mr. LeBlanc should be able to understand it.

No Vapor?
Dry gas cannot be stored unless it is made liquid and kept at the right temp and pressure. Once it is liquid, then condensate vapors can happen. If you don't store it-then U R venting it?....


Now the dry gas is cheaper to store than wet gas because the wet gas has to be separated from corrosive impurities and dehydrated by a more expensive unit. Also wet gas produces more product(with impurities) and requires a bigger, more expensive Vapor Recovery Unit.


But since "we" have dry gas, we do not need the added expense of separation/dehydrating and can use a smaller, less expensive unit to capture the lower volume (but toxic) emissions.


Now if you want to talk quantity, if the owners of gasoline stations were mandated to have vapor recovery nozzles and bear that expense, then why would big gas drilling companies get special treatment? They need to figure the COST to "drill right" and it cannot be at the expense of our health.


I don't know if you stayed for my presentation...drama queen or not...I had a conference call with Dale Henry yesterday after the VOC Storage Stakeholder meeting y and before last night's TCEQ/Public Hearing...


Mr. Henry, who has capped 3-5,000 abandoned wells, said if they cannot afford safeguards, that they have no business drilling...period.


Vapors can be captured per Dan at Hy-Bon in Midland 1800 725 1878 in three ways


1. All storage tanks
2. Condensate tanks
3. When they R venting their casings-whether dry or wet gas...


We currently have the unfortunate RRC threshold of 25 tons per year, which I feel is not giving thought to urban drilling. This threshold can and should change especially since we have so much Barnett Shale activity and need to come into EPA compliance.


Methane carries with it surrogate gases and other produced water toxic emissions. Holding tanks require Vapor Recovery Systems...period.


Have you seen the UTA video? Just watch it and tell me what is in that vapor? Carrizo UTArlington Facility Vent Stack Infrared Emissions from last summer *(embedded at the top of this website)


Why trust stakeholders that have profits at stake (R U one of them?), why not trust the REAL stakeholders that only care about what is priceless...clean air and water.


Kim

I was in on the call to Dale Henry with Kim Feil Thursday afternoon. The Natural Gas produced in the Barnett Shale, although it is sometimes referred to as "Dry Gas" is not actuallly "Dry Gas". It is just "Dryer" than some of the oil field gas which has more oil mixed with the gas. The terms "Wet" and "Dry" do not refer as much to the water content as to the amounts of VOCs. "Wet" gas has a significant Volatile Organic Compound content. The Natural Gas produced in the Barnett Shale contains VOCs in quantities measured in the tons ppb. The really sad thing about this dog and pony deceptive show many in the gas industry keep pulling out and replaying in attempts to avoid relative modest expenditures for proven commonly available technology which transform air pollution and deadly toxins into product which they can (and do) sell for profit is that for less money than Chesapeake invested in the Levitt Pavilion they can 90% of the VOCs on all of their wells in Arlington before they escape and contribute to greenhouse gases and have opportunity to harm the health of Arlington's children.

The Levitt Pavilion is a nice gesture but some of us find the air too unhealthy to allow us to enjoy the concerts. For me, I'd rather have clean air. How about you?

Stanford Professor reviews Arlington Gas Well infra-red emission footage

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - June 27, 2010
Kim Fiel, President of Arlington Old Town Neighborhood Association became concerned when she learned that Chesapeake was applying for a Special Use Permit to drill several Natural Gas wells under a water tower near her home. She began attending P&Z meetings, City Council Meetings. Kim takes notes and asks questions and goes home and researches what she hears to learn more. She is concerned about the safety of her family and neighbors. Seeing video of infra-red footage shot of the pflumes of emissions coming from the UTA well complex where Carrizo has 20 of 22 proposed wells completed, she sent a link to the video footage to Stanford Professor Dr. Mark Jacobson, PhD of Stanford University. Some gas industry reps and at least one Arlington City Councilman have been stating that there is no health risk from emissions from the wells in Arlington. Kim decided to outside independent experts and get clearer answers to some of her questions.

Here is Dr. Jacobson's reply:

Subject: Re: Growth of natural gas drilling without Vapor Recovery Systems

Dear Kim,

Thanks for your email. Local emissions of all pollutants have local impacts on health and the environment. CO2 itself increases air pollution by increasing local temperatures and water vapor, both of which increase the formation of ozone and other pollutants. Ozone increases respiratory illness and mortality and cracks rubber, erodes building materials, and is very corrosive. The effects of CO2 on local air pollution are outlined in the paper at

http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/urbanCO2domes.html

A summary of this effect by another group is located at

http://www.localcleanenergy.org/resources/the-jacobson-effect

Methane (CH4) emissions result in warming as well, but 21 times more powerfully per unit mass than carbon dioxide, so local emissions of CH4 will have similar impacts.

CO2 and CH4 will not directly affect health in normal polluted air. Their effects are by feeding back to other air pollutants through changes in temperature and water vapor, as described above.

Other chemicals are probably emitted in the plume in your videotape. Those will likely have direct health effects.

Industries will claim that pollutant concentrations in the outdoor air are lower than the federal standard for the pollutants. This may or may not be correct, but it is important to note that people are subject to health risk, including death, below the federal standard.

For example, the federal 8-hour standard for ozone is 75 ppbv now. However, epi studies clearly show increased deaths due to ozone start at around 35 ppbv. For particulate matter, there is no low threshold for health problems (e.g., they start above zero micrograms per cubic meter of air).

The bottom line is that all air pollution is bad and the only way to ensure a healthy environment for you and your family is to try to press your county to eliminate it as much as possible.

Sincerely,
Mark Jacobson
--
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Professor, by Courtesy, of Energy Resources Engineering
Director, Atmosphere/Energy Program
Stanford University
Phone: 650-723-6836
Fax: 650-725-9720
Email: jacobson@stanford.edu
Yang & Yamazaki Environment & Energy Bldg.
473 Via Ortega, Room 397
Stanford, CA 94305-4020
Website:
http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/

High insurance costs kill temporary rail station in Arlington for Super Bowl XLV

By JEFF MOSIER - The Dallas Morning News - June 22, 2010

Super Bowl XLV organizers said Tuesday they've dropped plans to build a temporary rail station in Arlington next year to bring thousands of fans to the game.

Instead, they plan to use a Trinity Railway Express station in Fort Worth and take riders to the stadium in buses.

Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, said using the Union Pacific tracks in Arlington would have been too expensive.

The biggest hang-up was the need for additional insurance, which would have cost $300,000.

"We could implement service on the other corridor [TRE] for one-fifth to one-tenth of the cost," Morris said Tuesday night.

He said Union Pacific policy is that operators must have $200 million in insurance before using its tracks.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit, which co-owns the TRE, has $125 million in insurance.

Rangers Expected To Change Bankruptcy Plan

By ANGELA K. BROWN - Associated Press Writer - June 22, 2010

The Texas Rangers will have to change its bankruptcy plan -- although not the amount paid to creditors -- to avoid having it killed by upset creditors, a federal bankruptcy judge said Tuesday.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge D. Michael Lynn said in a written ruling that creditors and team owners were adversely affected by the Rangers' plan to pay creditors $75 million and sell the club to a group led by Hall of Fame pitcher and team president Nolan Ryan and Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg.

The ruling allows the team and two groups of creditors to vote on the plan. Because creditors have said they would vote against it, the Rangers are expected to change the plan before a vote happens.

The judge said he was not ordering changes to the plan but took issue with some creditors' rights that were taken away.

"The court concludes that ... (the Rangers) must grant them their rights under their loan documents prospectively. While payment of the $75,000,000 plus interest will satisfy and discharge debtor's monetary obligations as required by (a bankruptcy code), in order for the plan to be confirmed without the acceptance of the lenders ... the treatment of the lenders must be modified," Lynn wrote.

In a statement, Rangers attorney Mark A. Semer said the team was pleased "that the judge remains committed to completing the sale of the Rangers expeditiously, and we are confident that necessary changes to the plan can be made to achieve that outcome." He declined to elaborate.

Attorneys for the creditors did not immediately return calls to The Associated Press. A final decision on the plan is expected at a July 9 hearing.

The judge has already ruled that the unsecured creditors in the case were not adversely affected by the Rangers' plan because they would be paid in full, plus interest. Topping the list of the 30 unsecured creditors is New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, who is owed $24.9 million in deferred compensation six years after he was traded.

Experts said bankruptcy plans are often changed but this ruling is likely to trigger quick action by the Rangers.

"The judge has opened the door to the lenders voting and thereby killing the plan as it was filed," said Jason T. Rodriguez, a Dallas bankruptcy attorney who is not involved in the case.

The team's $575 million sale to Greenberg and Ryan's group was announced earlier this year, but has been stalled by creditors' concerns over the financially strapped Hicks Sports Group.

At a hearing last week, creditors argued that the team doesn't just owe $75 million but is obligated to pay more than $525 million in loans that team owner Tom Hicks' ownership group defaulted on last year.

Andrew LeBlanc, an attorney for some creditors, said the bankruptcy filing took away creditors' rights in the original loan agreement, which stipulated that lenders had to approve the team's sale. LeBlanc also said the bidding process should reopen because the Greenberg-Ryan bid was not the highest.

During the hearing, the judge said he understood why the team may not have chosen the highest bidder because money isn't the only factor in such a deal.
(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Arlington police propose 'exclusion zone' around entertainment district to combat prostitution

BY SUSAN SCHROCK - Fort Worth Star Telegram - June 23, 2010
ARLINGTON -- In an attempt to reduce prostitution-related offenses in an entertainment district that includes top tourist attractions such as Cowboys Stadium and the Texas Rangers' ballpark, Arlington is considering creating an "exclusion zone" to try to keep prostitutes and their customers from frequenting the area.
Police Chief Theron Bowman told the City Council that the ordinance would allow police to arrest individuals who are in the area if they have been convicted of a prostitution-related offense within the past two years unless they are there for a legitimate reason such as going to work, seeing a doctor or meeting with an attorney.
"It's a pretty creative and innovative way to deal with one of the oldest problems on earth," Bowman said.
The proposed zone encompasses an area long considered to be a prostitution hot spot that includes bars, motels and other establishments where the police have attempted to crack down in the past.
The City Council is set to consider the ordinance in August.
If approved, the zone would be in place before the Feb. 6 Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium, when 150,000 to 200,000 visitors are expected in Arlington.
Mayor Robert Cluck said he typically hears increased complaints about sex solicitations on game days at the football and baseball stadiums.
"They know there are going to be people out there who have money," Cluck said.
Other cities, such as Reno, Nev.; Portland, Ore.; and Wichita, Kan., have established similar zones to tackle prostitution, but Arlington would be the first in Texas, Bowman said.
The zone
Arlington police looked at prostitution offenses the past four years and determined that most of them were concentrated in a small area of north Arlington -- generally north of Abram Street around Center Street, Division and Collins streets, and near Texas 360 by Avenue J and Lamar Boulevard, north of Interstate 30.
That area, which surrounds venues such as Cowboys Stadium and Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, attracts a large concentration of residents and tourists, city officials said.
"It's a family-oriented environment. Visible prostitution on the streets could certainly take away from that ambience," said north Arlington Councilman Mel LeBlanc, who represents the entertainment district.
Under the proposal, the city would notify people convicted of the prostitution-related offenses: the prostitutes, their pimps and johns.
Once notified, those people would not be allowed in the exclusion zone for one year and could face arrest for violating the ordinance, a Class C misdemeanor.
To maintain the ordinance's constitutionality, Bowman said that the excluded parties must have a prostitution conviction and must be warned before being arrested, and that the city must review prostitution offenses without the boundaries every three years to determine whether to continue the exclusionary zone.
Bowman said people who have been convicted of a prostitution-related offense, even in other cities, within the past two years will be notified about the exclusionary zone and given a map that shows the boundaries and a list of reasons they would be permitted to visit the area.


Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram

Arlington council rejects one gas drilling site near Cowboys Stadium Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/06/23/2285436/arlington-council-rej

BY ROBERT CADWALLADER - Special to the Star-Telegram - June 23, 2010
ARLINGTON -- The City Council on Tuesday rejected a drilling site near Cowboys Stadium and the city's entertainment district, siding with neighbors who complained that it was uncomfortably close to homes, schools and medical facilities.
The action came hours after the council discussed proposed ordinance revisions that could increase restrictions and costs on drilling projects in Arlington.
The specific use permit for what is known as the Ross Trails drilling site near the 1100 block of North Center Street failed without a vote after Councilman Mel LeBlanc's motion to approve did not get a second.
More than a dozen residents who showed up to oppose the permit applauded, and several were in tears as they left the building. Despite a Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation against the permit, the residents said they were convinced that the council would approve it.
"We were just hoping for a continuance so we would have more time to gather more people," said Paula Koontz. "But this is amazing."
The site was one of two in the vicinity of Cowboys Stadium under council consideration.
The second one -- the Truman Street drilling site near East Division and North Collins streets -- received its second and final council vote of approval at the same meeting. Next, the Truman Street project needs a drilling permit.
Safety concerns
Critics have contended that the projects could jeopardize the city's effort to fully develop its entertainment district, but the eight opponents who addressed the council focused on potential dangers.
Several cited instances of gas explosions around the country, although the industry in Dallas-Fort Worth has an extremely good safety record.
Opponents are also concerned about air pollutants from gas operations.
LeBlanc supported Chesapeake Energy's permit request and defended the industry, saying recent air-quality tests "have all come back negative in this area."
"I understand your fears and your concerns about safety," LeBlanc said in response to Koontz's remarks to the council. "I just want to set the record straight, that there has been a tremendously positive safety record in the Barnett Shale. There have been no explosions."
Koontz responded, "All I can say is you can buy my house and live in it and have that behind you."
Tougher ordinance
In a work session earlier Tuesday, Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Victor Vandergriff outlined the commission's research on toughening the city's drilling ordinance. Council members said they would schedule a special meeting later in the summer to get into the details of the presentation.
The commission, while not making specific recommendations itself, has worked since February to compile suggestions by the city staff, gas companies and residents on ways the city can minimize the nuisances and costs of gas drilling while reaping the financial benefits of it.
Vandergriff's report noted the city has received $70 million in bonus money and royalties and $1.25 million in tax revenue from gas exploration since 2006.
The commission now will start work on "Round 2" of its study, which will go beyond land use and look at pipeline routes, noise, seismic activity, air quality and other issues.
Among the potential changes are raising the road-damage fee to cover the cost of repairs; making it more difficult to drill within 600 feet of homes, churches and schools; and expanding the number of residents that must be notified when the city considers a permit.


Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram

Update on Arlington City Council Public Hearing

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - June 8, 2010


The City Council did not allow public comments on the Truman (Collins just north of Division) well zoning change. They voted to approve the zoning change. Council Woman Lana Wolff was the only member who voted against approval of the zoning change so that gas drilling can be considered on that site. They will have to open public testimony again when the gas company files an application for drilling.

They delayed the vote on the 1100 N. Center at Randoll Mill. Public comments were allowed but they continued the public hearing on that zoning change until the Chesapeake representative can be present (probably at the next council meeting). Please check the City of Arlington website under City Council meeting agenda to see when it is listed again for public comment and a vote. The City Council meetings are taped and can be viewed on-line from the City of Arlington website.

They opened public testimony on Drilling Ordinance changes. They will continue public testimony at the next council meeting on Drilling Ordinance changes.

Several citizens who live in Fanning Farm neighborhood objected to the well in that area.

Dangerous and DUMB move by Arlington City Council might be avertered if citizens show up tonight at CC meetingd

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - June 8, 2010


The Arlington City Council meets tonight(June 8) at 6:30 p.m. to approve zoning change to allow gas wells /frac ponds/gas pipeline within 1500 ft of Dallas Cowboy Stadium on major conduits in and out and between major trauma/ER center in area if there were an accident. Few people who are not mineral rights owners. I pray that they listen to P&Z who voted 100% against zoning chg and against permitting that site. Crazy. Irresponsible. Stupid. Greedy. Dangerous. Plain out and out dumb!

The Council must hold public hearings and vote at more than one meeting. They voted last session for approval. Lana Wolff was the only member voting against the zoning change (against a gas well and frac pond with connecting (unodorized) wet (most corrosive) natural gas pipeline at the NW side of the intersection of Randoll Mill and N. Center Street. This site is directly between the Ranger and Texas Cowboy's Stadiums and the hospital at Randoll Mill and Cooper Street. It is in the center of the Y as (Southbound) North Center splits off from (northbound) N. Mesquite Street, the two feeder streets onto the new Center Street Bridge at I-30. This plot of ground is zoned office and the zoning must be changed by a vote of the City Council to allow a gas well and frac pond at that location. The Planning and Zoning Committee met and heard testimony from property owners living near that site and voted 100% NOT TO APPROVE the requested zoning change. The City Council ignored the recommendations of the Planning and Zoning Committee at last session. They must vote again and take public testimony tonight for the zoning change to be issued.

They will also be voting again on requested zoning changes for a well that is called the Truman Site (under the water towers just north of Division on N. Collins Street a few blocks South of the Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Councilwoman Lana Wolff was the only member of the council who voted against changing the zoning at the Truman site (N. Collins by the water tower just north of Difision) to allow drilling a gas well and constructing a frac pond at that site. Hopefully, calls to city council members will inspire others on the council to join her in voting against it tonight.

HOW CAN YOU HELP:
- Show up at the Arlington City Council Meeting tonight and fill out a card stating you are against permitting gas wells at these site. You do not have to speak during the comment session on these agenda items, but you can speak for 3 minutes on each well when they are brought to the floor for public comment.

- Send an e-mail to the city council members and to the Mayor. Be specific. Mention the two agenda items on tonights CC Agenda in your heading and say AGAINST GRANTING ZONING CHANGE for gas well on Truman site at Collins N of Division and AGAINST GRANTING ZONING CHANGE for gas well at Randoll Mill and N. Center.

Be sure to list your name, address, phone number and e-mail.
If you want to submit your letters to the City Council to the Arlington Texan for possible use as a letter to the editor, send a copy to "faithchatham@gmail.com" and in subject say: LetterArlington Texas -

- Get your neighbors and co-workers to send e-mails and/or show up tonight at city council to protest the zoning change by filling in cards and/or speaking during the agenda item comment session.

- Tell people about this hearing. Only those people who live within 600 ft of the well sites have been notified officially. Those of us living 1000 to 1500 to 3000 feet will be impacted but are not notified. The merchants who lease space at Lincoln Square but only the mineral rights owners for that property were notified. Those who patronize the medical doctors in the medical office building adjoining to the Center Street /Randoll Mill well will be impacted by the noise and traffic and VOCs emitted during the drilling/fracking process but only the owners of the mineral rights were notified of the hearings. The agenda is on the City of Arlington website but many citizens do not think to check that regularly.
- Collect signatures on a petition against the zoning changes. Present the signatures tonight to the city council during the comment session. The text of the petition can be simply: We are residents of Arlington who oppose changing the zoning at N. Center and Randoll Mill from "O" to allow drilling of a gas well and/or construction of a frac pond.
Name Address Phone E-mail(if available)
Some identifying number; List either Tx Dr No . or Tx ID no. or Voter Reg No.

On the form you need a line to list who collected the signature - address phone no.
The city has a form on their P&Z site for signatures of people who favor the well but they do not provide a form or template for those who are signing that they oppose the zoning changes and/or permitting of a gas well.




Here are a few of the reasons I think they should refuse to grant these requested changes:

Gas driller proposes demolishing two apartment complexes to drill well

Arlington Couple Accused Of Keeping Female Slave

By CBS 11 / TXA 21 - Dec 10, 2009
A federal grand jury has formally accused an Arlington couple of keeping a widowed, Nigerian mother of six in domestic servitude, or in essence holding her as their slave. According to the Justice Department, husband and wife, Emmanuel and Ngozi Nnaji, held the woman for nine years.

Officials believe the Nnajis promised the woman that she would be paid, and there would be support for her children, if she came to work for them as a domestic servant.
Read more

Pantego mayor pro tem earns praise after stepping in to lead town

BY ROBERT CADWALLADER - Special to the Star-Telegram - Oct. 11, 2009

PANTEGO — As Mayor Dorothy Aderholt lay dying of brain cancer in August, many found it difficult to see Pantego’s most energetic booster suddenly immobilized.

"I told her that I thought her legacy would be that she was always an incredibly hardworking mayor," said Mayor Pro Tem Jason Williams, who had filled in for her when she couldn’t attend council meetings. "I plan to be the same way."

After Aderholt’s death, the Town Council appointed Williams to the role full time. His council colleagues voted unanimously to forgo a hurried special election in November and gave him the office until the May election, when Williams can run to keep the seat.

The council also decided, for now at least, not to fill Williams’ Place 4 seat before May.

The appointment also saved the expense of the special election, about $4,000.

Harriet Irby, who challenged Williams’ re-election bid in the past May election, said providing residents a choice would have been worth the cost.

"We’re not going to go broke in Pantego," Irby said. "There would have been a campaign and a discussion. I’ve had calls from people saying, 'So, who’s the mayor?’ "

'We did what’s best’

Councilman Don Surratt, who was elected to Place 5 in May, said the continuity brought by Williams’ appointment is even more important than the cost savings.

"Jason has visions for Pantego that are similar" to Aderholt’s, Surratt said. "He runs a tight meeting, a very organized meeting. We get in and get our business done. Right now, I think he’s doing an outstanding job for the town."

Surratt said the council would have had to rush its application to get on the Nov. 3 general election ballot by the deadline.

Although Williams and Aderholt both were re-elected to two-year terms in May, Williams will have to run for re-election in May and only to serve the remaining year of Aderholt’s term.

"I would essentially have to run three campaigns in three years," Williams said. "But I think we did what’s best for the town, because we’re not going to pay for a special election."

As mayor, Williams had to give up his vote. He now can vote only to break a tie, which could occur more often because the Place 4 vacancy leaves four voting members.

Plenty to do

In exchange, Williams takes a leadership position in the city of 2,600 people and has plenty to do.

Among the priorities: recruiting businesses to fill vacant storefronts on Park Row Drive, Bowen Road and Pioneer Parkway to support sales taxes, which provide more than one-third of the town’s budget. The 1-square-mile town has 680 businesses.

"We have to continually be thinking of economic development," said Williams, 40, a director and adjunct business professor at the Dallas Baptist University Hurst-Colleyville campus.

The town is also kicking off a "Shop Pantego" campaign and pursuing a $1 million grant to install sidewalks, landscaping and streetlights to make Park Row more pedestrian-friendly, said Williams, who has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in marketing.

He’s no stranger to leadership roles, also serving as vice chairman of the North Texas Collegiate Consortium and as a board member for the Colleyville and H-E-B chambers of commerce.

"It’s a natural position for me, to take a team of people and lead them in a direction to keep things good and make things better for the organization — in this case, the town," he said.
Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram

'Jay Leno Show' hits Arlington to investigate the fast-food obsession

BY JOHN AUSTIN - Fort Worth Star Telegram - Sept. 11, 2009


First, Men’s Health dubbed the city the fast-food capital of the nation. Now, Jay Leno’s people are on the case.

A six-person crew from The Jay Leno Show hit Arlington this week to poke around the city’s soft middle.

The story started when the magazine decided to take a look at, in its own words, "cities where fast-food reigns." Researchers counted per capita outlets for McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and Taco Bells; threw in stats on the percentage of people who visit fast-food restaurants and how often they do so; and wrapped it up with obesity numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What came out of that calculation was Arlington at No. 1. Hence, Leno’s interest. And while the talk show host has certainly been called funny, he’s not exactly been called svelte.

But he has reportedly shed more than a dozen pounds, so perhaps the focus on fitness isn’t a shocker. The show is set to debut Monday, but it’s not known when the Arlington segment will air.

The city decided to cooperate with the film crew, said Angie Summers, Mayor Robert Cluck’s executive assistant.

"I guess they’re going to poke fun at us," Summers said. "So we might as well be part of the fun."

The Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau took the same tack, helping with hotel reservations and presenting a welcome basket, complete with pizza boxes, said Diane Brandon, marketing and public relations vice president.

"Jay Leno is going to do a story whether we talk or not," Brandon said. "I think overall the story is going to be fun and funny."

Cluck, a physician, granted an interview at City Hall. The crew, aided by a couple of University of Texas at Arlington film students, checked out the city’s defibrillators and watched a CPR demonstration then walked around downtown, Summers said.

A Leno crew member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the show’s folks were surprised at the number of all-you-can-eat buffets.

But in fairness, they also visited Green’s Produce, a local fresh food favorite on Arkansas Lane — even though it’s actually in Dalworthington Gardens.

"They wanted to show that there’s healthy options," Patti White, the daughter of the owner of Green’s Produce, said of the crew. "They stayed quite awhile."

Among the customers interviewed was JoAnne Kolanko, 52.

"We mostly talked about vegetables," Kolanko said. "I don’t think I’m going to get on because I don’t think I said anything funny."

Summers, a former Star-Telegram columnist, said the visitors were pleased to learn that they didn’t need a permit to shoot in Arlington and "shocked" at the hospitality.

They also asked about the high price of fast food and parking at the new Cowboys Stadium. Summers agreed that those factors might cut consumption and prompt more walking in Arlington.

"I said, 'We’re fixing to slim up quick,’ " she said.

Read more in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Technology Expo Scheduled in Arlington in March 2010

Six Flags Files for Bankruptcy

CNN - Sat. June 15, 2009(CNN) -- In an effort to shed $1.8 billion in debt, popular theme-park chain Six Flags announced Saturday that it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The filing will not affect the operation of the company's 20 parks in the United States, Mexico and Canada, said spokeswoman Sandra Daniels.

"This restructuring will have no impact on families who come out to our parks. They will not see an inch of difference," Daniels said.

In an online letter to employees, President and CEO Mark Shapiro said Six Flags inherited a $2.4 billion debt load that "cannot be refinanced in these financial markets."

"This process is strictly a financial restructuring of our debt and that's how you should view it and speak about it," Shapiro said in the message posted on the Six Flags Web site.

He said Six Flags was seeking expedited approval from the for the District of Delaware of a pre-negotiated plan of reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

He said the company actually performed well in 2008, attracting 25 million visitors and making $275 million. But it could not keep up with its debt obligations.

"That's a balancing act you just can't risk year in and year out," he said. "Today, we are moving to rectify our balance sheet once and for all. Believe me when I say we will emerge from this process stronger and more competitive than ever." Read Shapiro's online letter to employees

The restructuring would reduce the company's debt to $600 million.

Shapiro told employees that the company was on "solid ground" and the bankruptcy decision was "difficult." He assured them their paychecks and jobs were safe.
Read more on CNN

Daniel Drive DFW Midstream Pipeline Update

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - June 3, 2009

Photo by Harriet Irby @2009

By Faith Chatham - DFWRCC - May 3, 2009
In Texas, local ordinance do not apply to pipelines. Current laws in Texas do not stipulate how far a pipeline must be from a house or structure. The industry lobbies consistently for "self-regulation" stating that it is better for the people because "too much regulation" will be too "costly."
The Driver Pipeline (subcontractor) construction site in the ONCOR /LUMINANT 20' electrical easement through East Arlington is a blantant example of the INDUSTRY failing to self-regulate.

Self-regulation infers responsible practices. It infers being a good neighbor. It confers responsibility to the industry to respect the health and safety of neighbors adjacent to the pipeline.

A quiet residential street in East Arlington was transformed almost overnight two months ago into what looks like a war zone. Coring began by Driver Pipeline to install DFW Midstream's pipeline underneath ONCOR's 30 foot steel towers holding high-voltage electrical electrical lines. AT&T wires strung on telephone poles also run through this existing 20' wide utility easement. The operation to install the steel natural gas pipeline is similar to a gas well drilling operation in that they use horizontial drilling techniques to core down underneath the ground and drill holes underneath streets and other obstacles rather than trenching from the top of the ground. It was reported earlier this year in a FW Star-Telegram report that this pipeline installation is 75% coring and 25% trenching.

In East Arlington, on city property at New York Avenue, where no houses are nearby, they used a site at a reasonable distance from the recreation center building, steel electrical tower and at a reasonable distance from the tennis courts for their coring operation. There are no homes within several hundred feet at that site, but they installed sound-baffling anyway. The site is contained to minimize risk to children or other curious people. At Daniel Dr., a few blocks away, where houses are only 40' apart, they didn't bother to install sound-baffling. They used the 40' strip of land between Mr. Eddie Crosswhite's house and Mr. Zapatha's house as a coring (drilling) site and filled it with equipment used on the NY site. Because the NY Ave site is on City Property, City of Arlington Code Enforcement was able to say: "If you don't abide by our ordinances, you can't use our property." On Daniel Dr., it is not on city property. State Law gives oversight of pipelines to the Railroad Commission. The Railroad Commission, according Jodie Kerl of the Dallas office of the Texas Railroad Commission (on May 27th), had not inspected the DFW Midstreams Pipeline construction site in Arlington on Daniel Drive during the two months of industrial construction in the once tranquil neighborhood on Daniel Drive.

Despite numerous calls to Ms. Kerl, and to the Texas Railroad Commission's Austin office this week, we have not had a response to our inquiry if they have inspected it in the past 7 days. Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, an Arlington resident, is "traveling this week." His office says they do not expect him to be in Arlington. They do not know if he is aware of the problems at the Daniel Dr. DFW Midstreams /ONCOR Electric construction site.

This job site, in our opinion, is a black-eye to the industry which lobbies for "self-regulation." Both DFW Midstream Pipeline and ONCOR, owner of the utility easement, are under the same parent company - Texas Energy Futures Corp.
Problems we see at the Daniel Drive Site:
1. Insufficient prior notification for landowners before commencement of construction. The Pipeline Company claims they sent earlier notice than the residents report they got.
2. Too much equipment in too small a space.
3. Use of residential neighborhood as storage lot for heavy-duty construction equipment used on other job sites (i.e. a City of Arlington park where city code enforcement stipulated requirements that would probably have applied to the Daniel Dr. site if State law allowed City Codes to apply to pipeline construction inside city limits).
4. Encroachment into yards and onto land adjacent to right-of-way without homeowner's permission or payment.
5. Failure to properly fence job site from adjacent homes for safety of children. One family adjacent to the job site has several small children. There is a deep pit where they are coring, filled with drilling chemicals, saltwater, slime, and sludge brought up from the coring operation. If a child gets outside for a minute and wanders 5' outside their backyard line into that right-of-way easement, they will fall into a deep hole filled with quick-sand like drilling sludge. There is no barrier between this family's yard and the drill site except for a 2' wide nylon orange banner!
6. Noise.
7. Storage of equipment on resident's property. Harriet Irby was visiting Mr. Eddie Crosswhite last weekend while he answered a call from a pipeline official. He put the call on speakerphone. Ms. Irby videotaped stacks of pallets and other equipment still on Mr. Crosswhites property and caught the voice of the offical telling Mr. Crosswhite that everything had been moved off of his land!
8. No protection of homes from mud and sludge coming up from the well during coring operations. Adjacent homes (and automobiles parked) by the drill/coring site are coated with mud and sludge from the pipeline construction.
9. Families cannot stand in their yards and children cannot play in their yards without being splattered with debris and mud and sludge coming from the drilling.
10. Fumes and Odors. Too much diesel equipment in too small a space creates fumes and odors which prohibit enjoyment of adjacent homes and backyards.
11. Endangerment to health of fragile individuals. Studies show that children subjected to diesel are at risk. Mr. Crosswhite, who lives adjacent to this site, is a cancer patient. He recently recuperated enough to return to work full-time. If he were home all week, subject to continual exposure to this job site, he would probably be too exposed to the contaminants. If he has to undergo chemotheraphy while this construction continues, he will not be able to live in his house because of the fumes. The stress and fumes and contaminants he inhales after he returns home and on weekends inhibits his ability to fight off the cancer and to enjoy the precious time he has.
12. This pipeline is to transmit wet unodorized gas for Carrizo Oil. State law does not require that the gas be odorized and dehydrated at the wellhead. Just because state law doesn't require something, doesn't mean that it shouldn't be done. It also doesn't mean that the gas and pipeline companies CAN'T DO IT. For the safety of residents along this pipeline and for the safety of school children in Blanton Elementary School and S. Davis Elementary School which are adjacent to this pipeline we urge Carrizo Oil, DFW Midstream Pipeline, ONCOR and their parent companies TO ODORIZE THE GAS AT THE WELLHEAD and TO DEHYDRATE THE GAS AT THE WELLHEAD so that it will be less corrosive and safer to tranmit to the refinery.

To see two news reports on the Daniel Dr. Pipeline site from NEWS 33 scroll down on this blog four or five stories Both are embedded videos.

See related coverage on ABOUT AIR AND WATER

Arlington's Pope Elementary likely to be designated Title I

By TRACI SHURLEY - Fort Worth Star Telegram - June 2, 2009
ARLINGTON — Teachers in the cash-strapped Arlington school district often have stories of buying their own supplies.

But, Pope Elementary art teacher Neina Chapman’s purchase was a big one.

Chapman wanted a $650 projection camera to show students how to weave and draw. She knew the school couldn’t afford it, so she asked her husband to buy it for her at Christmas.

"It was just so easy to show the kids how to do something, and they could all see it," she said. "Every teacher should have one."

Pope Principal Celina Kilgore said that kind of dedication is part of what makes the school great. And now, teachers like Chapman may see a little more financial help for the school and its 700 students.

Pope is likely to be designated a Title I school next year, qualifying it to get extra federal funding because of its high percentage of students on free and reduced-rate lunches. The money can be used for tutoring, updating technology and other needs.

That news has some teachers like Chapman excited about getting an extra $130,000, but it has been met with concerns and questions from some in the community.

Neighbors and parents at Pope have met twice with school officials to talk about what exactly a Title I designation will mean to their neighborhood. Neighbors have expressed fears that property values would drop, and not all of their questions have been met with concrete answers.

Hank Jacobs went to Pope and has two children there. He said that he wants the best for the school, but that he hopes that being Title I doesn’t stigmatize the school. And, what if the district’s calculations are wrong and Pope doesn’t really deserve the money?.

"I feel very strongly that people, if they need help, then they need to get help, but if people take help just because they can reach out and grab it, then they’re keeping other people that really need help from getting it," he said.

Changing demographics

Having an Arlington neighborhood school receiving Title I funds isn’t uncommon. The district is increasingly being called upon to meet the needs of low-income students, with the number of free and reduced-rate lunches rising more than 10 percent from October 2002 to October 2008.

Thirty-two of the district’s 52 elementary schools are designated Title I, with three added since 2006. According to the latest numbers available, 58.7 percent of Arlington’s 63,000 students are on the federal free and reduced-lunch program. That number has been rising for years.

Numbers at Pope have risen steadily. In September, the percentage of students receiving free and reduced rate meals went to 61 percent, well above the district’s 55 percent cutoff for Title I funding. Kilgore, who has been at Pope for 10 years, wasn’t surprised by the growing numbers.

"From the very beginning, when I first came here, I noticed our school was very diverse, not just ethnically but economically," Kilgore said.

Arlington schools are operating on a $16.8 million budget shortfall this year, leaving Pope with aging library books and classroom computers that are as much as nine years old. Still, Pope’s reputation is strong. It has been a state-recognized school for five years while receiving awards from state and national groups.

PTA President Betsy Bauer, mother of a third-grader, said she worries about the potential effect on home prices if the school becomes Title I. County officials said there’s no automatic adjustment in home appraisals for Title I schools, and any effect would depend on buyers’ and sellers’ perceptions.

"I love Pope Elementary. I love their staff. I love the teachers. My children have thrived there," Bauer said. "As a homeowner, I am concerned because my home is three blocks away."

Other concerns

Jacobs and Bauer are also concerned that an audit of families qualifying for free or reduced lunches is faulty. To qualify for free lunches, a family of four must make at or below $27,560; for reduced lunches, the threshold is $39,220 or less. By federal law, the district can request verification only from 3 percent of the people on the program.

This year, that audit included 417 families’ applications. Twenty-nine percent did not respond to requests and were automatically dropped. When responses were analyzed, 19 percent no longer met the income requirements.

Jacobs and Bauer wonder that if 48 percent of the audit sample had to be dropped because they couldn’t or wouldn’t provide qualifying income information, what do those results say about the accuracy of the numbers at Pope?

School officials defend the results. They say the 19 percent who were disqualified possibly got a job or a raise after they applied. Officials also don’t know why the 29 percent didn’t respond, said Jackie Anderson, the district’s food service director.

And, Anderson points out that about 33 percent of families on free lunches are "direct-certified," meaning that they got on the program because they get other government assistance that requires income proof.

What now?

School district leaders will decide this month what to do at Pope.

"What we don’t want to happen is we add a Title I school and then their numbers change or drop and we have to remove them from Title I," Deputy Superintendent Marcelo Cavazos said. "It’s a significant impact to the school in terms of how they use the funds."

Teachers and administrators at Pope have already begun training on how to implement Title I status. Part of the preparation will be a needs assessment to determine how the money should be spent.

Jim Labenz, incoming president of the Pope Dads’ Club, said he feels that becoming a Title I school is a good thing.

"If we qualify, it only makes sense to use all of the resources we can to provide everything we can for the education of our children," he said.

Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram