annexation issues

The DERM oficial couldnt make the Council meeting but he DID give some kind of report to the Council members. There was NO debate or discussion of any possible areas of pollution in the Milam tracts. A DERM map as of 2004 indicates at least TWO open contaminated sites; three environmental crime sites and DERM enforecement cases; 3 facilties handling hazardous materials; 53 small quantity generators; 16 underground storage tanks; 4 hazardous waste material remediation sites; 16 grease traps; 4 solid waste disposal sites; one Superfund site; and one landfill at the site of the canada dry bottling plant. When are THESE potential pollution issues going to be debated and discussed? EVER? this map DOES say that all of the potential sites are NOT listed and that there may very well be more that are NOT listed. If the County has cleaned up some of these they need to tell us how many and where? Which ones were partially cleaned up? 20% ? 35%? How much has been done, and how much MORE needs to be done? Hoping businesses that have been bankrupt for 25 years will pay for a cleanup is not a real option. Are we willing to roll the dice, and HOPE no pollution shows up?

annexation issues

Where is the updated and accurate map of the areas being considered for annexation? What were the last years tax revenues for those areas? On what basis did the City Manager come up with the figures he did? If the County has been losing their butt, "hundreds of thousands of dollars", according to the City Manager, what magic pixie dust are WE going to use to turn it into a gushing revenue source for US? The City Manager hasnt been anywhere CLOSE on his last two projected costs, for the CC addition AND the bathrooms, not within $200,000 to $300,000, and sometimes more. Why would any logical person think his numbers are anywhere close NOW? IF he truly believes that his numbers are close and he has good reasons to back him up, he should have NO problem producing the computations and figures that he derived those numbers from, right? Lets see.

wishing and hoping

What about the pollution, zoning, and mitigation costs associated with the annexation? Is there ANYBODY who is suggesting that those are trivial concerns? Wishing and hoping that there is no pollution, mitigation costs will be little or none, and that the County will keep the zoning as it is, doesnt make it so. Of course, actually addressing those issues would require DUE DILIGENCE, a process which is alien to City officials. Due DILIGENCE is their right as elected officials, and their responsibility to the residents to look into ALL aspects of any proposed project in order to get the best deal for the PEOPLE, not to pad their pockets and/or realize their personal and political agendas. They DONT, and WONT, do DUE DILIGENCE because it may interfere with their personal agendas. And they dont care if we know what they are, or arent, in the case of DUE DILIGENCE, doing. How do you spell arrogance? self-centered? smug?irresponsible? corrupt? deceptive ? incompetent? horribly mismanaged, at best?(your choice, any or ALL of the above).

annexation and other stupidities

Let see, MS stupidly puts themselves deeper in debt and then expects annexation, with all its attendent risks- commissioners against it, mitigation fees, pollution cleanup fees, lack of boundary agreements,etc, to bail it out? THIS is leadership? Sounds like a pretty shaky foundation and premise for the future to me. We are only desperate for money because the Council has put us in this position and added to our debt load during a recession where residents are losing their jobs and their houses. That is just poor judgement or a lack of caring about the residents, if what needs to be done interferes with their personal and political agendas. It is the residents who will be left to pay for their stupidities for DECADES to come. Remember this next election.

BIG IFS

There are some BIG IFS connected to this annexation issue. I agree that IF the FEC parcel EVER becomes available MS should get it IF its not polluted or IF FEC will remediate the land. IF we can come to some kind of agreement with the other cities. IF the parties responsible for doing the pollution will agree to clean it up, IF they are even in existence now and, or can be found. Aerodex is gone. IF the County will make any kind of effort to make the polluters pay. IF the County ever decides to give up the lands we want. IF we get control over the zoning. Too many IFS for me right now, none of them inconsequential. To move blindly forward without looking seriously at ALL the pros and cons, like was done with the new gym, is another recipe for disaster. The ambitious but blindered is leading the severely visually impaired here down a polluted path, without any controls in place, to a cliff.

annexation

Wouldnt it be prudent to look at the pros and cons of the zoning and pollution issues BEFORE dividing up whatever land may become available? If either one of the issues makes annexation not feasible dividing up the land would be a waste of time, no? We need someone who is familiar with the environmental issues to advise us on this from an unbiased, realistic perspective. In addition, we need some clear guidance from the County regarding the control of the zoning problem, and to look at both the positive and negative potentials of this proposal.
Of course, this would entail doing DUE DILIGENCE, something the Council is incapable of, and has refused to do lately. It is the City's right and responsibility to do DUE DILIGENCE before making any MAJOR decision but since they failed us miserably on the new gym issue how could we POSSIBLY expect them to attempt it on this issue? THEY WONT. The message is clear- they know best and will decide FOR us what we want and need, without bothering us with a vote. They will decide which options are important and which ones will be looked at seriously, saving the residents the time and energy to actually look at and discuss ALL THE OPTIONS. Remember, these are the guys who graduated at the TOP of their class at clown school and never met a construction cost they couldnt TRIPLE, at least.

Personally, I dont see the County giving us valuable land and income they could use with THEIR budget cuts and belt-tightening.

annexation

I was very surprised to NOT hear ONE city official mention POLLUTION as a BIG problem with annexation, even though it is well known to locals. WHO will clean up these areas? AeroDex is out of business, the SuperFund is broke, the companies that did the polluting are gone, or wont do the cleanups.. WHO is going to do those expensive cleanups? NINE commissioners do NOT want to give up their zoning powers to us.. HOW is this POSSIBLY going to work in OUR FAVOR? I don't see it.

This is in response to last nights Council meeting where the Mayor is pushing annexation again. They apparently feel that they slipped the new gym by without doing their DUE DILIGENCE and can maybe slip another one over on the people. They are on a roll now and want to follow-up while the people are still sleeping. If the people continue to sleep, of course, they will deserve what they get. People will complain a while when their bills and taxes go up but apparently don't care enough to actually DO anything until its too late. It is my belief that the new gym will put us into bankruptcy by constant change orders and cost overruns into the MILLIONS. It is the history of these city officials in the past and will be no different in the future. They have no finished a project in the past 3 1/2 years anywhere CLOSE to on time OR on budget. To expect them to do ANY different THIS time would be insanity on OUR part because NOTHING HAS CHANGED. Since the contractors only have a sketch to work from there will be DOZENS of change orders that the City will request and they will be filled at the cost of MILLIONS OF DOLLARS to the taxpayers.
IF, by some miracle, the new gym project does NOT put us into bankruptcy, annexation will.