Resolutions passed by the Cities of Josephine, Fate, Wylie, Lavon and Nevada opposing the tollway

UPDATED! See the latest position of the affected cities and counties.

More and more local governments are passing resolutions opposing the proposed tollway. Please make your voice heard to your local government and encourage them to make a stand or explain to you why they support the tollway. Get them on the record, because this is an election issue for the next time they are up for our choice of who we want to represent us.
We will post copies of the individual resolutions as we get copies.
Resolution No.R-819 opposing the construction of the Blacklands Corridor Toll Way or the Northeast Gateway Toll Way.
FateResolution-R-819 Blackland Corridor

BLACKLANDS-NORTHEAST TOLL RESOLUTION 10-14 Nevada

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/plano/headlines/20141008-wylie-city-council-formally-opposing-northeast-gateway-tollway.ece

 

3 thoughts on “Resolutions passed by the Cities of Josephine, Fate, Wylie, Lavon and Nevada opposing the tollway

  1. City of Wylie passed ordinance against proposed toll road to include not only the City but also the ETJ in last night’s special meeting.

  2. I saw the video of the Wylie City Council meeting where they passed the resolution. They are certainly and unanimously opposed to the tollway. However, I have two concerns. First, one of the councilmen expressed that he wished the resolution “had the force of law”, and instead it’s not much more than a show of solidarity. This seems to imply that the NCTCOG and/or the RTC can simply ignore this resolution and those passed by other cities.

    My second concern is that one of the proposed routes, the one that goes between the Garland landfill and the Waterview neighborhood in Rowlett and then follows the Garland power line easement across the Equest acreage, doesn’t fall within the Wylie ETJ. It’s just south of it. So even if other entities honored the resolution, it would have no impact on that particular route.

    The Rockwall resolution also includes its ETJ, which includes (I think) the route on the east side of the lake. So this resolution is helpful if it is respected by the other entities. The Lavon resolution doesn’t have much detail, it simply says they’re opposed to the toll road.

    So the bottom line is…do these resolutions really have any power to stop the toll road?

    • Yes/No. Unfortunaltey we the people of Texas have allowed the COG system to grow more powerful since 1966 and more dominate over the government structures that are the individual members you were taught in civics. However when you read the offical organization of the NCTCOG, they are only a regional enhancement and no decisions are legally binding and are only adopted by the member entities needs as required. Sounds innocent enough, right?

      In this case the NCTCOG has the authority to submit to the RTC what they deem required to go on the Mobility Plans, and any amendments. If no action is taken to stop the approval of the plan or amendments, then they are approved, and that has been the practice and precedence except for a few rare exceptions. We asked Mr. Morris specifically what recourse does the public have if the RTC/NCTCOG makes a decision that the public disagrees with, and he responded with, ” really there is no recourse”.
      The local resolutions do have the ability to set legal documents, but the devil is in the details and while it might motivate some of the NCTCOG/RTC members to vote with their citizens, they aren’t required to. Most local governments have no idea what’s on the agenda or what’s being voted on. It’s become a whole separate branch of government controlling us.
      The resolutions might impact private investors, but professional politicians can always explain away the uneducated citizens unfounded concerns….
      Just like how the States lost control of day to day governance of the nation with the 17th Ammendment, citizens and local communities and cities have no real recourse to any decisions made by the COG, unless the memebers of the NCTCOG vote to against the tollway or individual memebers were willing to sue them in court if the majority wins the vote.
      Until Texas reforms how we manage our transportation (and energy systems) we will be subject to the decisions and actions of a committee of elected officials that form an unelected body with the power to dictate how and where our transportation dollars are spent, and our elected officials can play both sides of the issue.
      This system has been in place for 48 years and entire business are formed to profit from this system. We won’t fix it in one year, but we need to really ask ourselves each time we vote is the best way to support the needs of the citizens of Texas?

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