YOU pay

Over and over again.

Teri Hall and TURF spell it out for you, the Dallas Observer lays it out for you.

WHO's involved?  Oh yes, the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the Army Corp of Engineers, TXDOT and the Trinity River.  No, not Fort Worth, this time in Dallas.  YOU get the drift...and the shaft.

Notice how the cost escalates, as usual.

It's a total OUTRAGE to build this road 100% with federal and state tax money and then charge drivers a toll, a second tax, to use it! This is a tax grab, plain & simple.

But he didn't need to make much of a case; as Michael Morris, the head of transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, and TxDOT and city officials explained earlier this week, the Horseshoe Project is a slam-dunk. The $700 million is there, courtesy the state Legislature and myriad other funding sources that will pay for the bridges -- the other two Calatravas the city so desperately wants running over the Trinity River, for which there's $92 million in federal funds. (Pensock did say, at one point, that the project will more than likely cost closer to $800 million when it's wrapped in five years, fingers crossed.)

There are, of course, a few issues to deal with before the traffic jam, including finishing a design and getting a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, since, as Pensock said, the bridges go over the levees, which presents "a particularly sticky issue due to flooding.

"I don't know if we'll ever be able to truly solve congestion in Dallas." 

River of Denial

Guess there is a reporter in the county, and his name is Dan McGraw.

Don't miss the Fort Worth Weekly article, Unleashing a Flood of Questions.  You know how we love questions. 

This isn't a PR piece brought to you courtesy of the Trinity River Vision or the Tarrant Regional Water District or the Congresswoman's office.  YOU can't afford to miss it.  After all, it's YOUR $909 million.  Every penny of it.

Projected costs for the project have ballooned to about $909 million. The economy is still in the Great Recession, and federal, state, and local governments are all facing severe budget shortfalls that will leave their mark for years to come. Congress has put a temporary ban on earmark bills, the strategy by which local project funding was routinely added to unrelated bills and that U.S. Rep. Kay Granger of Fort Worth used to get about $60 million for the TRV in the past. And the Corps, faced with continuing fallout from the Hurricane Katrina debacles in Louisiana and this year’s massive flooding along the Mississippi, is dealing with many projects much more critical than improvements in Fort Worth to a river section that hasn’t seen significant flooding in half a century.

The Trinity River Vision Authority is the governmental agency created specifically to oversee this massive project, but the officials on its governing board are appointed, not elected by the public.

WHO was appointed to head it?  Oh, that's right, JD Granger, son of the Congresswoman.

The federal funding component of the TRV is now $487 million of the $909 million. That includes the Corps’ flood control work, along with contributions from federal transportation, economic development, housing, and environmental protection agencies.

In the convoluted world of Washington, as in Fort Worth, it is hard to get clear answers on where the Trinity River Vision stands. The Corps has ruled that the project is “technically sound and environmentally acceptable,” but the funding must be approved on a year-by-year basis. In the past five years, about $29 million has been appropriated for it. But that is nowhere near the Corps’ $466 million price tag to finish it.

“I think this is becoming a bait-and-switch plan, something private businesses would be prosecuted for if they did it,” said Steve Hollern, a local accountant and former chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party. “What the TRV is doing is buying property, tearing down buildings, using eminent domain, and having very little chance of getting the federal funds they need to complete it.

Granger wholeheartedly disagreed. “I am not concerned about the federal funds drying up, because this is primarily a flood control water project, and those have been a top priority in Washington,” he said. “This is not a short-term solution to flooding issues on the Trinity River, but a long-term plan that solves a very real problem.”

There are a number of opponents to this project, but they are very much in the minority,” Granger said. “Most citizens of Fort Worth I talk to see value in this project. It will change this city in so many ways, all of them for the better.”

JD should get out more (we don't mean on 7th street).  The minority is growing.

A new one...

A Fort Worth Star-Telegram Letter to the Editor has a new name for the Trinity River Vision.  We like it.

Stay tuned for more Star-Telegram letter writing info coming soon.  YOU won't want to miss it.

Fort Worth's mayoral candidates are running against Mike Moncrief's record and all sound alike. Fiscal responsibility, gas drilling precautions, yada yada. I want two things from a candidate:

(1) Oppose the police and firefighters, most of whom live outside Fort Worth, in their attempt to bankrupt us taxpayers with their overtime-inflated retirement pay.

(2) Believe that the Trinity Mud Puddle is a stupid idea or, at the very least, that we cannot afford it.

It's not easy to tell, but as far as I can discern, Cathy Hirt comes closest to meeting my requirements, so she will get my vote.

-- George Michael Sherry, Fort Worth

Arlington Flood help?

Read the latest flood pattern in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

With federal disaster assistance uncertain, the Arlington City Council is considering issuing bonds to buy and demolish dozens of homes in the Rush Creek flood plain to "get people out of harm's way," Mayor Robert Cluck said Thursday.

"I think that area gets so inundated that we should clear it and do something else with it," Cluck told members of the League of Women Voters during its annual State of the City luncheon.

"There is no way we can control flooding on Rush Creek. It's like a bathtub."

As Tropical Storm Hermine passed through the area Sept. 8, at least 129 homes and 68 units at the Willows at Shady Valley condominiums in west Arlington were damaged by floodwaters. Most affected homes are along Rush Creek near Pioneer Parkway and Green Oaks Boulevard.

At least 11 homes were so heavily damaged that they will likely be demolished, Cluck said.

Arlington officials have said they expect to learn this month whether President Barack Obama will declare Tarrant County and 12 other Texas counties federal disaster areas. The declaration would allow the city and flood victims to apply for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers.

The city will also apply for FEMA grant money to buy out homes that have flooded at least twice, known as severe repetitive losses, funding that is not contingent on a federal disaster declaration, Public Works Director Bob Lowry said.

In the meantime, city leaders are considering their alternatives to pay for buyouts.

Arlington, which has been collecting appraisals on affected properties, would need $13 million to $18 million to buy and tear down structures in the Rush Creek flood plain, Cluck said. Most of the flood victims who attended public meetings since the storm have told city leaders that they want to be bought out.

"Those people want their homes gone. They have been through three or four floods. They are tired of it," Cluck said.

Some have questioned why the city allowed homes and town houses to be built in a flood plain. Arlington officials say the area wasn't flood-prone when much of the construction took place. But the flood plain has expanded as development has spread.


Four years ago, after the last big flood along Rush Creek, the city spent $2 million from FEMA to buy and demolish six houses.

More Arlington Flood Information

From THE PEOPLE in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Good questions.  Any politicians want to answer?  City Staff?  Anyone??

Arlington flooding

Having family that has been flooded out of their home three times, rebuilt twice and now faces the onerous permit issue created by the city of Arlington, they are in financial limbo. The federal flood insurance only pays to repair the home from flood damage. It doesn't pay unless you rebuild. Further, it doesn't pay to raise it two feet above the mean 100-year flood elevation.

A simple solution would be to pay insurance proceeds directly to homeowners with the proviso that the home be removed and the land deeded to the city. Insurance proceeds from contents and flood insurance policies would put money in people's pockets and allow them to move elsewhere.

The amount of money being doled out by the federally backed flood insurance program grows with every flood. It seems prudent to make one final payout and be done with it.

Here's my two cents' worth after living in Arlington since 1954:

There are about nine weather stations in south Arlington providing accurate reports of rainfall every hour. They reported about 1 inch rain Sept. 7. At 9:30 a.m. Sept. 8, the rain increased rapidly to 2.5 to 3 inches an hour and continued for several hours, all of it heading for Rush Creek.

A station off Sublett Road reported a total of 11.33 inches; the average was 8.76.

Why didn't the city emergency management folks have knowledge of this (I did) and sound our tornado/flood sirens?

Next, we are all paying a hefty stormwater fee. Why can't Director of Public Works Bob Lowry's crew use these funds now to clean up Rush Creek so it will drain decently, instead of waiting for approval by the Corps of Engineers? Rush Creek is badly overgrown with trees and brush in south Arlington and probably a lot of other places too.

-- Howard Livingston, Arlington

Jeers: To area news stations for their lack of coverage of the recent flooding. Two of my family members live in a condominium association that flooded so badly that it took ladders to save them from the rushing water. Apparently the unrealistic happenings of soap operas superseded actual human lives.

Cheers: To the Euless Fire Department, public works and city officials who were quick to respond to the victims of flooding in Trailwood, bringing pumps, helping hands and encouragement. Thank you also for taking the time to make safety checks in those homes. To live here really is FabEuless!

-- Audrey Morrison, Euless

Real People, Real Flooding

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has an article about the most recent Arlington flooding and what to do about it.  Some excellent points made in this one, also brings up some excellent questions.

Many residents are expressing an interest in being bought out of their flood-ravaged homes, with some blaming development for exacerbating the damage.

"There are a lot of unknowns," Lowry said. "The best-case scenario is 12 months to two years. But just with those condos, we're looking at 100-plus units. It could be a very lengthy process, and there are no guarantees."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's Hazard Mitigation Program can leave homeowners in limbo as they wait to see whether their homes will be part of a buyout.

Texas Lone Star - Shouldn't the agency named EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT be able to help people in an EMERGENCY? 

"When we bought the house, we weren't in the flood plain, but now we are. It's from years of unchecked development," Saenz said. "I don't know when this is going to become a priority with the city -- maybe when somebody loses their life.

Texas Lone Star - Don't hold your breath, Mr. Sanez.  A little girl lost her life three years ago in a flood in Tarrant County, guess what's been done to the creek since?

One other avenue that Arlington could pursue for buyouts is the Army Corps of Engineers, but that does "take some time," said Elston Eckhardt, branch chief for civil works in the Fort Worth District.

As an example, Eckhardt cited the corps' involvement in an effort, beginning in 2002, to buy out homes along Onion Creek in southeast Arlington.

It has received federal authorization and matching local funding but is still waiting for Congress to provide funding, Eckhardt said.

Texas Lone Star - If the Corp and FEMA are involved, WHY would it take so long?  If their priority is protecting people and property why is their time and OUR money being spent on the Trinity River Vision? The money for the "Vision" was said to be "in the bank" as recently as last week.  WHY would Congress not provide funding?  WHO appropriates the funds?  Ask YOUR Congresswoman.

"I think it's a combination of an overwhelmed storm drain system with not enough previous ground," Gittiban said. "There's more asphalt, more concrete and roof areas."

Some have questioned why the homes and town homes were built in a flood plain. But Arlington officials say the area wasn't in a flood plain when many of the homes and condos were built.

"The flood plain grew as development grew," Deputy City Manager Fiona Allen said.

Texas Lone Star - We are sure Gittiban's statement was PERVIOUS ground, not previous.  WHO is responsible for growing the flood plain?  The developers or the city/county/agencies involved that should be regulating that?

"Anytime you develop upstream in a watershed, runoff increases," Lowry said. "To qualify that, you have to talk to a qualified hydrologist. But we don't believe this storm was in excess of a 100-year flood."

Texas Lone Star -  Guess what's downstream of the Trinity River Vision?  PEOPLE, Property and Arlington.

Don't worry Arlington, help is on the way in 2016, right?  Ask Haltom City about that.  You might also want to find out what the local funding portion will be by then.  Then, ask WHY it's taking so long?