For the proposition to ban hydraulic fracturing in the city:
Denton Taxpayers for a Strong Economy
For the proposition to make Denton wet:
For the four propositions totaling $98.2 million for public improvements
Don’t forget, these cover the period from Sept. 26 to Oct. 25.
The first round of reports are here.
The city has successfully petitioned to move the case with Arsenal Minerals, et al, to federal court. Here’s the original story to get you up to speed if you missed this important story when we broke it last month.
The court required attorney Charles Chandler Davis to refile according to federal court rules. The amended petition is here:
The city has not yet answered the petition, although federal rules require that they answer it more specifically than they would in district court. They have a few weeks before the answer is due to the judge. Here is the court order that lays out the initial deadlines.
Denton County has processed 7,637 new voter registrations, 1,968 of them in the city of Denton, since July 15.
Elections officials tell me that there are more being processed that will have made the final cut off, which was yesterday, but it will be a few days before the last of the rolls are in.
New voter registration in the city Denton has far outpaced registration in the county’s other major cities, including Carrollton (635) Lewisville (846), Frisco (641) and Flower Mound (541).
Younger voters continue to drive those numbers, with about 1,260 of them ages 25 or younger. Recently, Amber Briggle posted on her Facebook page that she was at a University of North Texas event ready to register as many as 100 new voters and ended up registering far less because so many of the students had already registered.
But that also means about one-third of the newly registered voters, or about 700, are out there in the wild in Denton.
The NT Daily is reporting that early voting will be available on the UNT campus at Sycamore Hall to make it easier for students there to cast their ballots.
Working on the story for you, Denton. But in the meantime, here are the reports:
Ban on fracking:
Bond proposition:
Building a Better Denton-30 days.pdf
Liquor proposition:
Recently, a Denton County couple was awarded $873,824 in their case against Crosstex Energy in a gas pipeline easement condemnation suit.
The company had originally offered Terry and Ossie Button $44,955, according to a press release from their attorney, Glenn Sodd and his firm, Dawson & Sodd, LLP.
The Fort Worth Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict that took into account the easement Crosstex Energy, now called Enlink Midstream, took across the couple’s undeveloped land near Lantana. Damages were awarded based on the reduced market value of the land caused by the pipeline. The pipeline’s placement limited development options for the land.
The company settled with the Buttons rather than appeal the matter to the Texas Supreme Court.
For many years, Texas laws and regulations have given energy companies wide latitude in establishing “common carriers” to move their product to market, latitude not seen in many other states. In the heyday of the Barnett Shale boom, many energy companies also formed pipeline companies to use eminent domain powers against landowners.
The Texas Legislature, through SB 18 last session, attempted some reforms to the state’s eminent domain laws.
Calvin Tillman, the former mayor of Dish, has called for more meaningful reforms. In an essay for the Texas Tribune, he underscores Texas’ low score on private property rights. He calls on the legislature to look to other states, such as Florida, which do a better job with private property rights.
Pre-filing begins Nov. 10. It will be interesting to see whether the Texas Legislature continues this important path of reform.
Tuesday night municipal attorney Terry Welch (currently Copper Canyon and formerly Flower Mound) addressed residents at a meeting organized by Frack Free Denton.
I live-tweeted from the event, which included a short presentation by Welch on legal issues around the proposed ban on hydraulic fracturing in the city limits and a question-and-answer session with the audience. You can see the chain of tweets on the Twitter fall of our main page.
The topic was especially timely since the city was just sued by a mineral owner. Welch kept it simple, letting residents know that a ban on fracking was not the same as a ban on drilling and, as such, was legal.
First, there is no real state case law for oil and gas takings, which is why there has been reluctance to try such cases, Welch said. Unlike other property rights cases where it might be clear and easy to measure what is lost, oil or gas isn’t lost in a drill-but-no-frack scenario, he said.
“The gas is still there,” Welch told the crowd.
Second, a recent Texas Supreme Court ruling on an unrelated case could be brought to bear on recent claims of vested rights. EagleRidge Energy and Devon Energy have written the city claiming that permits issued long ago for leases they hold allow them to drill under old rules. Welch’s opinion was that rights that vest for development are quite specific and don’t extend to evolving business regulations.
Third, Texas cities, particularly home rule cities like Denton, have always had the authority to regulate oil and gas to some degree. There is no pre-emption.
Health and safety always trump property rights, Welch said.
However, he said it was possible that the Texas Legislature could introduce legislation that would forbid cities from banning fracking.
Another 1,283 Denton County residents registered to vote in time for the November 4 election between Sept. 1 and Sept. 14.
A total of 305 of them are newly registered voters in Denton, bringing the total of new registered voters since July 15 to 1,361.
Again, young voters are driving those numbers. Of the newbies who registered in the first half of this month, 299 were between the ages of 18 and 25.
Note: Most candidates are continuing to carry balances, which could signal a willingness to run again. City staff tell me that mayoral candidate Donna Woodfork did not file a mid-year report.
Former candidates maintaining contributions:
Brendan Carroll
0340_001
David Zoltner
0341_001
Place 6:
Greg Johnson
0343_001
Place 5:
Hatice Salih
0337_001
Dalton Gregory
0345_001
District 2:
Glenn Farris
0339_001
John Ryan
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Mayor:
Jean Schaake
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Chris Watts
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Watch an entire backhoe of water rain down on the City Council, who was challenged by Mayor Chris Watts.
We don’t get to hear who they challenged here. I was told by Assistant City Manager John Cabrales they put out a long list before the backhoe driver was ready to go: county commissioners, the city manager, the assistant city manager.
Bobby Jones was one of two people who said they represented Denton Taxpayers for a Strong Economy when they delivered the plebiscite petition opposing a proposed ban on hydraulic fracturing in the city limits.
He filed paperwork with the Denton city secretary last week appointing himself as the treasurer for the group.
A quick look at property tax records shows that the Jones Family Trust is listed as part owner of five wells on the west side of town, all currently operated by EagleRidge. They are the Jones-Nelson Unit, the Mason Unit, the Jones-Sorrells Unit, and Mayday-Lattimore 1H and 2H.
UPDATE: Here are copies of documents on file with the Texas Railroad Commission which show who else pooled on those units with the Jones family.
0165_001 (Mayday-Mason Units)
0164_001 (Mayday-Lattimore Units)
Denton Taxpayers for a Strong Economy list their official purpose as to “oppose the drilling ban proposition.”
Just to be clear, the proposition doesn’t ban drilling, but hydraulic fracturing. When the City Council approved the proposition for the ballot, they added language beyond what the initiative petition had proposed, one that appears to further the distinction between drilling and fracking.
