About 20 volunteers gathered Thursday night at the Lantana District office in Bartonville Town Center to coordinate their strategy for collecting signatures from residents on a petition to request traffic enforcement from county commissioners.
The petition drive was organized after Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott issued a ruling last fall that Lantana and other Fresh Water Supply Districts do not have the authority to adopt and enforce traffic regulations on the streets inside their communities.
In response to the ruling, Texas legislators passed a law this spring to provide a solution that would allow traffic enforcement to once again be allowed inside districts.
House Bill 2541, which was signed into law by Governor Rick Perry on June 17, authorizes residents in a FWSD to file a petition with their county’s commissioners court requesting traffic enforcement in their community.
“We’re the first district to do this, this is a brand new statute,” said Clay Crawford, who serves as Legal Council for Lantana’s two Fresh Water Supply Districts.
At least 50 percent of Lantana homeowners have to sign the petition in order for it to be presented to county commissioners for consideration. More details on HB 2541 can be found here.
“The petition does not add dedicated patrols or additional costs to residents, it is simply a process set out by the state legislature to allow the county sheriff to enforce our existing traffic regulations on Lantana’s streets as they were before the Attorney General’s ruling last fall,” said FWSD #6 board member Max Miller.
The petition drive will kick off this Sunday, Dec. 11, with resident volunteers going door to door in Lantana asking for signatures to support the initiative.
There will also be a signing table at the North Community Center meeting room, 11555 Lantana Trail, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. that day.
“We need roughly 2,500 signatures to make this happen; 1,900 in District 6 and 600 in District 7,” said Ross Ferguson, president of FWSD #6.
A pizza party will be held on Sunday evening for the volunteers, courtesy of Lantana’s developer, Republic Property Group.
Volunteers are still needed to assist in the effort. Contact Ross Ferguson at [email protected] or call 940-728-5050 if you would like to help with the petition drive.
