1. Flooding on Chisholm Trail and Stagecoach Road.
Throughout yesterday, the Village was involved in the flooding from the continual rain. This is what is presently being done:
Amber and I walked through the neighborhood as much as possible before early darkness arrived. Amber brought her waders from work and was able to go behind the houses and into the fields. She is seeing and gathering first-hand information on the water sources. 2.
Kim, City Administrator, is working with Hidden Glenn owners and engineers. She will know more today. Hidden Glenn does have a detention pond.
Michael McDougal, Alderman and Chair of the Streets Committee, moving forward with their investigation and will work closely with Kim.
Kim is planning a neighborhood meeting at the Municipal Building to bring everyone up to date with the latest information as well as solutions for the problem. Since more than two Aldermen/Lady may be present, it will have to be posted 72-hours in advance on the Village Website. We are also working with residents who will assist us with getting the word out.
Melanie Kirchmeier, Dave Swarthout, Dave Hermann, Larry Wolfe, Cheryl Hassmann, and myself met with:
Reed Clay, Deputy Chief of Staff
Drew DeBerry, Director of Budget and Policy
Jerry Strickland, Executive Director Governor’s Office of State & Federal Relations
Steven Albright, Deputy Policy Director 512-475-2171
Chuy Gonzalez, Policy Advisor for Transportation 512-463-5157
Presented from the Village:
-- The short history of I-35 Construction and the current situation to include newspaper articles, number of accidents, gag order, and broken promises.
-- A comparison of Hotel Occupancy Tax and Sales Tax for 2010 and 2015
-- A first hand account of how difficult it has been for Tourism, Businesses, and Neighborhoods
-- Request for 3 million dollars in damages
Everyone spoke with well rehearsed presentations. (There had been several meetings and much email exchange among us discussing and practicing what and how to say it.) In 33 Minutes, it was very clear from the reaction of the Governor's staff that the points were made. Their note taking, total attention, concern, and questions were a solid indication that they were more doing more than listening.
Results:
-- The information presented will be discussed and action taken. The Governor will be briefed thoroughly.
-- More meetings in the near future with the Governor's Staff will take place.
-- The 3 million dollar request was taken seriously and will be studied and staffed.
-- The 3 million dollar request was taken seriously and will be studied and staffed.
-- The Governor has been invited to Salado to see for himself. This is a possibility.
-- Congressman John Carter is very involved in our situation.
-- Congressman John Carter is very involved in our situation.
At 11 A.M., the meeting ended. This very professional and formal meeting was highly successful as indicated in this email received the day after the meeting:
"Thank you, Melanie, for your advocacy for your community. It’s the kind of energy all Texans should show toward their home.
We will be in touch with you all.
Thank you,
Jerry"
VR/Skip
We can’t be blaming TxDOT for what their contractor is doing. It is commonly known throughout that TxDOT has their hands full dealing with a group of people that have no clue what bid build work of this magnitude is about or how to plan the work as contracted. Watching this company make a mess of our Village is like a cartoon show or a new reality TV show on what not to do on bid build work. We see many of their competitors drive through and they themselves stop for lunch and are amazed just how stupid contractors can actually be but also insight on who not to employ should they come ask for a job. They’ve witnessed firsthand what a mess they make and are amazed what they see.
ReplyDeleteThis contractor must think everyone else is stupid but themselves. We aren't. By the looks of the mess these bozo’s make, it’s doubtful their managers have a clue what is required by contract or even if they have a usable CPM schedule that everyone involved can actually rely on to plan the work. There is so much of the work that is left uncompleted and nothing in reality that has been finished so it is doubtful they have one from the looks of the mess. They can’t even perform basic housekeeping without screwing that up so it is doubtful anything we’ll ever be told the truth. On the other hand if Mr. Sweet was telling us, we’d believe him since he never lied to us.
Listen to their own employees at speak amongst themselves at lunch. Not a single one trusts or believes the garbage we’ve been told. And by the looks of their monthly estimate, we want the truth not what we can visually see isn’t matching what we’ve been told.