NEW BOSTON, Texas -- In a private meeting Thursday in New Boston in which only members of the press were invited, the Sulphur River Basin Authority (SRBA) presented two programs which included engineering and economic teams to update the progress of the Marvin Nichols Project.
A second presentation was conducted later in the evening for public officials.
In a constant battle with opposition to the Marvin Nichols Reservoir, Sulphur River Basin Authority President Mike Huddleston has shifted to private meetings as opposed to public meetings where "they get out of control".
"I am taking full responsibility for this," Huddleston said. "We were not able to get the facts out to the public as well as city, county and school officials.
Huddleston said the constant outbursts and disruptions led to the decision.
"We were being asked by officials to not come to meetings," Huddleston said. "I can't really blame them because no one wants to have a meeting where it breaks out into a shouting match full of arguments and emotions flowing so high.
"But how do we get the facts out? The opposition is all over the place and they don't have to back what they say up," Huddleston said. "I have been asked several times to go to debates to talk about the Marvin Nichols Reservoir, but I wouldn't go because first of all I don't want to go somewhere and argue and be involved in a shouting match, and second, I didn't have studies available. I am not going to just talk figures without having something to back it up."
[COMMENT: This is clearly illegal activity on the part of Huddleston & Company. They are required by the statute that created their board to allow members of the public to attend all of their meetings. They probably thought that by allowing in only the press, then the contents of the meeting could not be considered "secret" and "illegal", since it would be reported in the newspapers. However, this is an elitist attitude, similar to what one might have found in Communist Serbia, where members of the media were regulaly "used" by government officials to manipulate the flow of information to the public at large. Even if there is no "criminal intent" here, then the intent could certainly be considered "unethical"; and these board members should be removed from their positions and replaced by others who will more carefully follow the legal provisions of their enacting legislation. As for "shouting matches", unless there have been some in the last couple of months, when I haven't attended any meetings, the only "shouting match" that I recall is when I shouted at them following the May 2002 meeting. Nobody else engaged in "shouting matches"; in fact, I think that overall people have been quite polite and calm in addressing this board, even when obviously displaying a great deal of "body language" indicating distress and contempt for this useless Reservoir for the Rich! R.]
Huddleston introduced Dr. Terry L. Clower of the University of North Texas and Dr. Bernard L. Weinstein as representatives of the economic study team that studied the potential impact of the Marvin Nichols Reservoir based on historical data.
A slide show of figures was presented showing the economic impact the reservoir would bring to the area. The group said local economic gains during construction of the reservoir would bring$1.5 billion to $1.8 billion to the region and open up 2,000 jobs for about seven years.
They said the local long-term economic gains would feature more than $242 million annually in new economic activity for the area, more than 2,600 full-time jobs and include region enhancement as a business location. In addition, the group submitted that there would be other local economic impacts such as in forest products in short term that would bring normal market fluctuations and long term that would have providers seeing new market demands.
Another impact stated was local taxing jurisdictions as, according to the study, would have substantial temporary sales tax revenue gains during construction and new revenues based on increased property values and new housing taxation. Clower went over several positive factors the reservoir would bring to the area. He went over the construction of the dam and the salaries it would bring and the pipeline construction project and the jobs it would create as well as the permanent positions needed to support it.
Weinstein and Clower said that after the construction of the dam and pipeline is completed, there will be on-going impacts from the operations and maintenance from these infrastructures. The study states that once the lake is impounded, new spreading [sic] will flow to the Northeast Texas economy as visitors will come to fish, boat and participate on other water recreation activities. These visitors will bring more than $45 million in new annual spending to the local economy.
Clower said that the lake will also attract new residents to northeast Texas.
[COMMENT: We don't need anymore new residents, Mr. Clower! Those who want more people can move to Dallas! R.]
"We estimate that over a 30-year period at least 2,400 new permanent households will be established around the lake. An additional 10,000 residences will likely be built as vacation/weekend/second homes," Clower said. "The construction of these homes will bring an average of over 500 jobs per year to the local economy over the development period. The construction activity will specifically boost market opportunities for local timber industries."
The study states the spending by new residents in the local economy will eventually rise to $219 million per year. When combined with the anticipated spending by recreational visitors, more than $242 million in new economic activity will be created for the Franklin, Titus, Morris, Bowie and Red River county area supporting 2,800 jobs and increasing the local labor income by $60 million per year.
The summary said the presence of the lake will enhance the region's attractiveness for business location and as a recreational amenity, the lake will enhance the quality of life features of the region.
Huddleston said the timber industry has voiced concerns over the impact the reservoir would bring. He said, according to the study, it would not hurt the timber industry. The study said the impoundment of the reservoir and attendant environmental mitigation will remove some timberland from production. Based on U.S. Forestry Service data, the reservoir and mitigation area represent an estimated 104.7 million cubic feet of local hardwood timber inventories, less than three percent of regional totals.
It also states that net annual growth, which is new growth and less harvesting, adds about 153.9 million cubic feet of hardwood timber to the region's inventories and would be more than enough to offset any losses. The study said the sawmills will see new market demand from infrastructure, residence and commercial structures construction around the reservoir.
In a feasibility study conducted by an engineering team several positive impacts were raised, such as that the population of the state and the North Central Texas area will double by 2050 and the water needs created by the growth cannot be met without resources of the Sulphur River.
The engineers said the water rights to the unappropriated water in the Sulphur River basin would be granted on need. "All of the surface water in the state of Texas belongs to the state," Dan Murray, engineer, said.
The engineers said there is a misconception that the North Central Texas area wastes water and according to their facts, the area has the lowest total per capita water use of any region in Texas.
[COMMENT: Say What?! Talk about "manipulation of the media"! SeRBiAns, All! R.]
The SRBA is authorized by the State of Texas to construc, maintain and operate any works in controlling, storying, preserving and distributing water of the Sulphur River.
Huddleston concluded the meeting by saying there would be more informational meetings on the progress of the project in the future.
[COMMENT: "Progress" on which "project", Comrade Chairman? You seem to be counting chickens before they are hatched, Comrade Chairman! R.]
