Posted on 05/30/2006 3:11:13 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Pulbic hearing set for Aug. 3 at Floresville High School
AUSTIN — Wilson County residents will have the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process on the Trans-Texas Corridor 35 (TTC-35) this summer.
A public hearing is scheduled Aug. 3 at Floresville High School to answer questions and listen to public comments, according to a news release from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
The meeting will begin with an open house at 5 p.m. so that residents can review maps of the preferred corridor alternative and ask questions of the TxDOT staff. The presentation and oral comments will begin at 6:30 p.m.
Beginning in mid-July and continuing for five consecutive weeks, TxDOT will hold 54 such meetings throughout the TTC-35 study area.
The hearings, scheduled from July 10 through Aug. 10, will be the fourth set of public meetings on TTC-35 that give residents an opportunity to comment on the proposed development of the project.
These meetings will conclude a two-year public involvement process that has already included 117 public meetings netting more than 4,000 comments.
“The sole purpose of the public hearings is to get comments from citizens, local governments, business, property owners, and other stakeholders,” said Tim Brown, chairman of the Trans-Texas Corridor Advisory Committee. “Decisions will be made based on those comments, so it’s important that people participate in the process.”
The presentation at the hearings will focus on the preferred corridor alternative from Gainesville to Laredo and why it best meets the state’s long-term goal of relieving congestion and improving safety on I-35, according to the news release.
Other corridor alternatives that were evaluated also will be presented for public comment.
After the public hearings, staff will analyze the comments and submit a final environmental impact statement to the Federal Highway Administration. A decision from FHA is expected next summer.
FHA approval would allow the environmental process to continue with additional environmental studies focusing on the narrowed 10-mile-wide study area.
It is within this study area that a final project route would be determined for roads, rail, and utilities. Construction only could begin after the additional studies are completed.
A complete list of the 54 public hearings is posted on www.keeptexasmoving.org, or the link also is located on wcn-online.com, click on “editorial.”
Click here to go to "Trans-Texas Corridor Updates."
TxDOT HAS RELEASED PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULE FOCUSING ON THE TTC-35 PREFERRED CORRIDOR ALTERNATIVE ROUTE
We now have the list of dates and locations for the next 54 hearing that TxDOT will hold along the TTC-35 route. This series of Public Hearings will begin July 10, 2006 and conclude on August 10, 2006. (see list below)
It is important for the public to participate in this process to provide input and express concerns that they may have. However, it is equally important to understand that this is an environmental process mandated by the federal government. TxDOT has held more than 100 meetings as part of the required environmental process. It is not a process by which the State of Texas will determine whether or not to build the TTC, that decision has already been made (without your input).
There was never as much as a single meeting to solicit public input on the of the Trans-Texas Corridor concept or plan before it was made policy. Proceeding with the TTC was the unilateral decision of Governor Perry and has been faithfully implemented by the Texas Transportation Commission.
Your comments on this project are not limited to wildlife, endangered species and pollution (air, water, ground, noise, etc.). While all of those are important and certainly a part of the process the scope of a highway environmental impact study is much broader.
Here are just a few of the other issues of concern:
- Impact on local communities (jobs, effect on local traffic routes, etc.).
- Cemeteries and historical sites (including unmarked and private family plots).
- Social impact (cost of tolls, disruption of communities, etc.).
- Economic impact (competition with local commerce, loss of traffic associated business, etc.).
- Community objection to project.
====== PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULE ======
All meetings open at 5:00pm with presentations beginning at 6:30pm.
Date
City - Location - Address
July 10
Ennis Knights of Columbus Hall 850 S. Interstate 45
Gainesville Gainesville Civic Center 311 S. Weaver St.
Sherman Sherman Municipal Ballroom 405 N. Rusk St.
July 11
Bonham Bonham High School Cafeteria 1002 Warpath Dr.
Decatur Decatur Civic Center 2010 W. US 380
Denton Univ. of North Texas Gateway Ctr. Ballroom 801 N. Texas Blvd.
July 12
Cleburne Cleburne Civic Center 1501 W.Henderson St.
Paris Love Civic Center 2025 S. Collegiate Dr.
Waxahachie Waxahachie Civic Center Ballroom 2000 Civic Center Ln.
July 13
Hillsboro Hill College Performing Arts Center Auditorium 112 Lamar Dr.
McKinney McKinney High School Cafeteria 1400 Wilson Creek Pkwy.
Weatherford Weatherford College Marjorie Black Alkek Fine Arts Center 225 College Park Dr.
July 17
Fort Worth Will Rogers Memorial Center,.Exhibits Hall, Round Up Inn 3400 Burnett-Tandy Dr.
Greenville Fletcher Warren Civic Center 5501 S. Bus. Hwy. 69
McGregor McGregor High School Auditorium 903 Bluebonnet Pkwy.
July 18
Cameron Cameron ISD Performing Arts Center 303 E. 12th St.
Granbury GISD Pearl Street Conference Center 205 E.Pearl St.
Mesquite Poteet High School Auditorium 3300 Poteet Dr.
July 19
Clifton Clifton High School Cafeteria 1101 N. Avenue Q
Hearne Hearne Junior High School Aud. 401 Wheelock St.
Terrell Terrell ISD Performing Arts Center 400 Poetry Rd.
July 20
Caldwell Caldwell High School Auditorium 550 County Road 307
Corsicana Drane Intermediate School Auditorium 100 S. 18th St.
Groesbeck Groesbeck High School Auditorium 1202 N. Ellis St.
July 24
Georgetown Georgetown High School Klett Center for the Performing Arts 2211 N. Austin Ave.
Waco Waco Convention Cntr, Brazos Room 100 Washington Ave.
July 25
Marlin Marlin High School Auditorium 1400 Capps
Taylor Taylor High School Auditorium 3101 N. Main St.
July 26
Giddings Sons of Hermann Hall 1031 County Road 223
Temple Frank W. Mayborn Civic & Convention Center, Main Hall 3303 N. 3rd St.
July 27
Dallas Grauwyler Community Center 7780 Harry Hines
Blvd. Rockdale Knights of Columbus Hall 655 Highway 79 E
July 31
Beeville Beeville Community Center 111 E. Corpus
Christi St. Flatonia Flatonia ISD Cafeteria 400 E. 4th St.
Lockhart Lockhart High School Cafeteria #1 Lion Country Dr.
August 1
Gonzales Gonzales High School Cafeteria 1801 Sarah DeWitt Dr.
Kingsville King Ranch Museum 405 N. 6th St.
Manor Manor High School Cafeteria 12700 Gregg Manor Rd.
August 2
Bastrop Bastrop Middle School Cafeteria 709 Old Austin Hwy.
Calallen Calallen High School Cafeteria 4001 Wildcat Dr.
Pleasanton Pleasanton High School Cafeteria 1100 W. Adams St.
August 3
Floresville Floresville High School Gymnasium 1832 Highway 97 East
Smithville Smithville High School Cafeteria 285 Highway 95
August 7
Falfurrias Sacred Heart Parish Hall 201 W. Blucher
Laredo TAMIU Events Center Western Hemispheric Trade Center, Rm. 111 5201 University Blvd.
Pearsall Pearsall High School Cafeteria 1990 Maverick Dr.
August 8
Alice Knights of Columbus Hall 1050 Cecilia St.
McAllen McAllen Convention Center 1300 S. 10th St.
San Antonio East Central High School Cafeteria 7173 FM 1628
August 9
George West George West High School Cafeteria 913 Houston St.
Harlingen Casa de Amistad 1204 Fair Park Blvd.
Seguin Seguin-Guadalupe County Coliseum 810 S. Guadalupe St.
August 10
Brownsville City of Brownsville Events Center 1 Event Ctr. Blvd.
Yorktown Yorktown Community Mess Hall 60 Community Hall Rd.
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
Anyone who goes must compell them to use Robert's Rules to conduct the meeting, and not consensus and facilitation. A public record must be kept, include minutes for the meeting. Then VOTE, with the vote tallies also recorded.
Otherwise you will be wasting your time-- and the purpose of the meeting will be for the public to vent with no actual effect on the outcome.
Don't forget impact on sovereignty!
Thanks for the ping!
BTTT
You're welcome.
Bumpity-bump.
I went back to Mexia, to my pretty countryside. It was paved down to middle by a Government that had no pride.
Hi, neighbor. I'm east of I-35, but much concerned for many friends with land around Robinson. This isn't going to be pretty.
Privatization of our ... "roads, tunnels, bridges, electricity supply facilities, mass transit, rail transportation, airports, ports, waterways, water supply facilities..." was legalized when President George H. W. Bush signed Executive Order 12803, on April 30, 1992.
Since then the EO has been used to allow foreigners to lease and own vital American infrastructre. To allow significant investment in our infrastructure is to create "interdependencies" on foreign nations. This absolutely goes against the purpose of our Declaration of Independence and the idea of an independent America.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.