"This whole thing is a no-win proposition for Grimes County."
TTC/ I-69 Fiasco
1/17/08
Reuben L. Grassl of Shiro
The Navasota Examiner
Copyright 2008
Please let me echo remarks of Mr. Schneider's, Shiro, letter of December 26 in The Examiner, which we most definitely agree with, in his assessment of the TTC/I-69 “fiasco.”
In conjunction with Mr. Schneider's letter, we have a few additional things to “ponder.”
1. Could the routing through the lesser-populated rural counties - where there is no chance of ever becoming a political “voting block” - even combined, could ever compete with the “metro” areas, which are being told with this TTC/I-69 traffic wise, is the best thing, for them, since the invention of sliced bread.
2. What happens to our counties' tax base - example: ASCISD and Richards ISD - TTC/I-69 is proposed through full length of both districts. ASCISD ponders expansion and needs bond passage. TTC/I-69 takes out thousands of acres of taxable property plus the county's largest tax contributor, Tenaska-Frontier, which lies right in the corridor's path.
3. Rerouting pipelines, railroads, utilities, etc. for TTC/I-69 removes these taxable identities from the tax rolls. (Of course they are for it, no more taxes for them and the taxpayer furnishes them right-of-ways
4. The reduction of remaining taxable land, businesses, etc. appraisals will be minimized and possibly even worthless, where located along TTC/I-69 pathways: remember, TTC/I-69 is to move things quickly, leaving their unwanteds behind in Grimes County - trash, pavement, runoffs into our creeks, stock ponds, drainage, noise, pollution, etc.
5. Businesses will not locate along this type of highway system - as stated - TTC/I-69 is to move goods, not accommodate business along its route. Ex.: Houston toll roads - virtually no business frontages, except possibly at on-off ramps, which in the realms of the TTC/I-69 there will be very few ramps and even then, only in metro areas. Then the toll road authority TTC/I-69 controls these, plus all traffic flow along its route to eliminate any competition with the toll way operation.
6. Private property - homes, farms, ranches, small businesses - values will be reduced drastically. No value in a home or rural setting in earshot or view of a corridor. Your $300,000 private investment may become worth $75,000, and on that basis, that is what TTC/I-69 is going to offer you (give you), non-negotiable, thanks to the latest out of Austin.
This whole thing is a no-win proposition for Grimes County. We give them our county and probably won't even get an on-off ramp. Our neighbors up north will probably get a ramp though; a lot of political clout there.
A personal opinion - this whole corridor scam is politically motivated on the highest levels of government to appease and pay back the outsourcing industrial northeast, and is a way to pay back a coalition debt as a result of our involvement in the East. Remember who was one of our larger coalition partners, and now, evidently, it's payback time for that European country on the backs of our little county of Grimes.
Please, please be present at the Grimes County Expo Center on Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. to observe TTC/I-69 and TxDOT's rooster dance around these issues. Tell your out-of-county friends of our plight and request their support in this. Your support and attendance is needed to stop TTC/I-69 at our county line.
© 2008 The Navasota Examiner: www.navasotaexaminer.com
To search TTC News Archives clickHERE
To view the Trans-Texas Corridor Blog clickHERE
1/17/08
Reuben L. Grassl of Shiro
The Navasota Examiner
Copyright 2008
Please let me echo remarks of Mr. Schneider's, Shiro, letter of December 26 in The Examiner, which we most definitely agree with, in his assessment of the TTC/I-69 “fiasco.”
In conjunction with Mr. Schneider's letter, we have a few additional things to “ponder.”
1. Could the routing through the lesser-populated rural counties - where there is no chance of ever becoming a political “voting block” - even combined, could ever compete with the “metro” areas, which are being told with this TTC/I-69 traffic wise, is the best thing, for them, since the invention of sliced bread.
2. What happens to our counties' tax base - example: ASCISD and Richards ISD - TTC/I-69 is proposed through full length of both districts. ASCISD ponders expansion and needs bond passage. TTC/I-69 takes out thousands of acres of taxable property plus the county's largest tax contributor, Tenaska-Frontier, which lies right in the corridor's path.
3. Rerouting pipelines, railroads, utilities, etc. for TTC/I-69 removes these taxable identities from the tax rolls. (Of course they are for it, no more taxes for them and the taxpayer furnishes them right-of-ways
4. The reduction of remaining taxable land, businesses, etc. appraisals will be minimized and possibly even worthless, where located along TTC/I-69 pathways: remember, TTC/I-69 is to move things quickly, leaving their unwanteds behind in Grimes County - trash, pavement, runoffs into our creeks, stock ponds, drainage, noise, pollution, etc.
5. Businesses will not locate along this type of highway system - as stated - TTC/I-69 is to move goods, not accommodate business along its route. Ex.: Houston toll roads - virtually no business frontages, except possibly at on-off ramps, which in the realms of the TTC/I-69 there will be very few ramps and even then, only in metro areas. Then the toll road authority TTC/I-69 controls these, plus all traffic flow along its route to eliminate any competition with the toll way operation.
6. Private property - homes, farms, ranches, small businesses - values will be reduced drastically. No value in a home or rural setting in earshot or view of a corridor. Your $300,000 private investment may become worth $75,000, and on that basis, that is what TTC/I-69 is going to offer you (give you), non-negotiable, thanks to the latest out of Austin.
This whole thing is a no-win proposition for Grimes County. We give them our county and probably won't even get an on-off ramp. Our neighbors up north will probably get a ramp though; a lot of political clout there.
A personal opinion - this whole corridor scam is politically motivated on the highest levels of government to appease and pay back the outsourcing industrial northeast, and is a way to pay back a coalition debt as a result of our involvement in the East. Remember who was one of our larger coalition partners, and now, evidently, it's payback time for that European country on the backs of our little county of Grimes.
Please, please be present at the Grimes County Expo Center on Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. to observe TTC/I-69 and TxDOT's rooster dance around these issues. Tell your out-of-county friends of our plight and request their support in this. Your support and attendance is needed to stop TTC/I-69 at our county line.
© 2008 The Navasota Examiner:
To search TTC News Archives click
To view the Trans-Texas Corridor Blog click
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Thursday, January 17, 2008
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