I am running for Bartonville Town Council – Place One on a platform of open government that is responsive to its citizens.
Last year our current town council held an “emergency” meeting on a Sunday night with virtually no public notice for the purpose of de-annexing property from its extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ), which allowed a gas collection/compression facility to be built directly across Red Rock Road from an existing preschool.
The purported reason for the council’s action was that by doing so the Town of Flower Mound could then annex the property and impose their town’s more stringent zoning regulations. Of course, that didn’t come to pass and we now have a gas collection/compression facility on Red Rock.
The Flower Mound town attorney was quoted in the newspaper that the Town of Flower Mound was not consulted prior to Bartonville’s de-annexation action to determine if Flower Mound would annex the subject property, and even if it had proceeded to annex the property, the facility would have been grandfathered in prior to the time that Flower Mound would have been able to impose its more stringent zoning regulations.
Holding an emergency town council meeting for the purposes of relinquishing property from its ETJ does not constitute an emergency, and did not afford citizens an opportunity to present their views to town council.
I am a firm believer in open government, and “emergency” town council meetings held on a Sunday night with virtually no prior public notification isn’t appropriate. I question if it meets the legal requirements under Texas state statues for calling an emergency town council meeting. The irony is that the action the town council took did nothing to protect its citizens from a gas collection/compression facility being built in its ETJ (now within town limits). While the Bartonville town council might have acted under the misguided belief that by releasing the subject property from its ETJ it would allow Flower Mound to annex it and thereby protect it, why wasn’t this fully researched prior to the council taking this action?
My decision to run for town council is based on my belief in open government and a strong desire to keep Bartonville a beautiful, rural and peaceful place to live.
Wendy Wipperman
Bartonville, TX
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