Carter Avenue update

Jerry Horton, one of the homeowners fighting a pipeline beneath her front yard on Carter Avenue, settled with the pipeline company this morning, the same day she was to appear in court for a condemnation hearing.

Officials with Texas Midstream Gas Services, a division of Chesapeake Energy, have said the line will be bored beneath the front yards of 44 homes and vacant lots, and the line will cause little surface disruption.

"All parties are satisfied with the agreement and Ms. Horton was charming," Chesapeake spokeswoman Jerri Robbins said Thursday morning.

Horton said Thursday morning she only agreed to give up the right-of-way for the pipeline after realizing that there is almost no legal way to keep the natural gas pipeline company from building its gathering line beneath her home.

"I am heartbroken," she said. "I had to sign."

The settlement guarantees a payment of $15,500, or $150 per linear foot.

It also says:

-- The line will be at least 20 feet deep

-- There will be no surface appurtenances, such as vent pipes, in Horton's yard.

-- Texas Midstream will replace for any trees that die within six months.

Horton's case is unusual because it involved an easement through her front yard. It sparked national news coverage and it came at a time when Fort Worth city officials are debating what, if anything, they can do to regulate the web of natural gas pipelines being built in Fort Worth.

There are more than 1,100 natural gas wells either existing or planned in the city limits, and more are expected as companies rush to tap into the Barnett Shale gas field.

Texas Midstream, like many companies that build gathering lines for natural gas wells, is considered a utility company under state law and has the same right to condemn property as other utilities such as Atmos Energy or TXU.

At least four homeowners on Carter Avenue have still not agreed to allow the line, and there are several other pipelines being developed in Fort Worth, including through the Greenway neighborhood on the northside, and through the Westcliff neighborhood just south of Texas Christian University.

Read previous stories here:

Eastside_neighbors_oppose_natural_gas_pipeline.htm

-- Mike Lee

Comments

[BH]

hardly a fortune you say? chump change?

fine, then everyone on Carter ave should

get the same deal and money she got.

problem solved, no hard feelings.

Make Everyone Happy.

[shesfullofgas]

I agree fully with your short but obviously well-thought out comments. Poster "fixedfortworth": you are correct ; especially when one considers the expected increase in insurance premium due to the pipelines; not that they will explode like the similar lines last Thursday morning northeast of Austin which fortunately was in a rural area thus averting and minimizing lives and limbs not counting costs to taxpayors in emergency medical-fire rescue-police as well as the psychological trauma to our children who normally could not help fearing that their front yard/street will explode too even after we reassure them that there no pipes in their neighborhood because their brains cannot make exceptions yet especially when it comes to a traumatic and powerful sensory condition like a , God forbid, possible (unlikely but like a housefire still in the realm of possiblity thus why we choose to or are required by lenders to buy insurance)explosion on Carter Ave which is in a dense residential neighborhood and close to a large nursing home to the east, a large hotel and office tower with a large technical school in it one block over and a few hundred feet from busy Lancaster Ave, Beach st. and I-30 running along the Trinity River next to Gateway Park and Fort Woof dog park. I have not heard of any emergency action plan for the Carter Ave.(should be renamed Chesapeake's Way in honor of our elected city leaders as well as our silent community leaders and citizens who are giving silent approval to the invasion--if it means unwanted occupacation and imposition of one's will on another--and theft, right on point, poster "Roger Sessions, if that means the forceful taking, use, and possession of another's property without a mutually agreed upon fair compensation)pipeline/s--why would they want twenty feet, after backing off from thirty feet when some people's living room and bedrooms were included in this un-easy permanent easement, for a 16-20 inch pipes underground? It's not because they need clearance space like an electrical line, which interestingly only requires a ten foot easement in most back alleys. Poster "BH"--this so called neighborhood leader's overall conduct reminds me of the conduct of our mayor, oil and gas man himself--hmmm, and other elected officials who will run toward every camera and spouts about fighting for the people and so on during the campaign. But they tend to have amnesia once in office/get what they wanted. So don't be surprised if she runs for elected office OR UNDER THE INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT OF Chesapeake as chief propagandist to future neighborhood that even consider resisting them because she will "testify" that it is futile to resist. Chesapeake should modify their ad slogan to say "Get behind the Shale OR WE WILL run over you!!" We never elected her or ever consider her our leader or spokesperson but the media seems to love her made for tv sob story and theatrics-- that make us chuckle and roll our eyes in amazement at her and the stellar journalistic quality on display when we see them leave her house right past us not bothering to slow down and try to verify and confirm any of her claims such as her close to outright dishonesty in portraying herself as dependent on a wheelchair/ramp because no one could recall her using any mobility assistance or device in her regular walks to "oversee" her little imaginary queendom. She is by no means , except being past the age of 65, representative of our street or neighborhood which is a mix working class families with children and have dark skin coloration either from birth or from working in the elements as the so-called blue-collar workers a label that means little to us since we just do our best to make an honest living to take care of our families and invest in our future by owning and taking care of our homestead. Our true investment is in the little ones playing in the very spot that the pipe/s will be under. From the media reports, one would reasonably conclude that the street is full of white-haired Anglo old ladies in sundress-mumu-nightgown who have lived in their homes since the New Deal. The opposite is the truth--ownership of less than a decade which adds to the cruelty on the part of Cheap-sapeake in wrestling away the dream of home ownership and the sense of pride in America for such opportunities for people willing to work and sacrifice despite language and cultural, educational and other challenges. These new immigrants reinvigorate our great nation with their hard work, appreciation for much that we "accidental Americans"--by winning the lottery of birth location--take for granted, and serve as visible reminders of our forefathers and the values and qualities that helped make this nation worth risking all by people from all over the world in getting here and partake in that very real and attainable "American dream" which through the misuse of eminant domain and questionable practices, at best, by our friends from north of the Red River--has made many of us wonder if it was in fact just a dream. Thank you Chesapeake for waking us up from this beautiful but apparently unconscious mental trickery. Better yet, we residents on the future "Chesapeake's Way" hope that their unfair and un-American conduct of exploiting us for callous financial and political gain (Note: they will be even more calculating in what neighborhood and street they will target and even more brazen in their "property and dream rustling" in the coming days if they are not exposed and shamed into changing their unfair and predatory practice) WILL WAKE OUR NEIGHBORS AND FELLOW AMERICANS FROM THEIR SLUMBER TO USE JOIN A LOUD CHORUS OF "Shame on you, rich corporation for stealing from these people because your blatant disregard for basic decency and right/wrong is a stain on our community that your eight figure PR campaign with the help of our long-time neighbor Tracey Rowlette and native son Tommy Lee Jones cannot ever erase. YOUR ILL-GOTTEN MILLIONS ON THE BACK OF AND FROM THE HONEST GAINS OF VULNERABLE NEIGHBORS MAKE YOU MORE LIKE THE NEW COMMUNIST CHINA THAN THE OLD-FASHION AMERICAN WAY!!SHAME WILL BE YOUR NEW NAME IF YOU DO NOT STOP AND REPAIR THE DAMAGES THAT YOU HAVE INFLICTED ON OUR NEIGHBORS AND COMMUNITY, STATE, AND NATION. IF THIS IS YOUR PREFERRED METHOD OF MAKING MONEY, TAKE YOUR SCHOONER TO CHINA OR BURMA BECAUSE THOSE DICTATORS WILL NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR DEEDS SINCE THEY WILL HAVE SIMILAR COMPANY!! SHAME !! SHAME!!

[fixedfortworth]

15k is hardly a fortune.

[BH]

She got her $$$$$, more than anyone

else on Carter ave. Hope she enjoys

her shopping at the expense of others

on her street.

[Roger Sessions]

No way big oil should be allowed to steal land... and they are stealing it. Ask your representatives to DC and Austin how they plan to solve this by laws that protect private property and if they don't give you the answer you want, don't vote for them.

[shesfullofgas]

Scooch- I am pretty much quite calm just about all the time even when I get a "drive by comment" like yours (as opposed to a calm, intelligent, and emotionally mature sharing of thoughts with the goal being that of continually learning from others esp. those with different ideas than my imperfect ones) unless your definition of "calm" is: not to offer any well thought out ideas and critique based on facts. Thanks for the needless admonition and I wish for calmness and peace in your life. However with our hot summer, I suggest instead that you, me, and everyone "stay cool." BTW, how do you know my thoughts and the foundation of my ethics and values that would result in me abandoning my strong conviction? Let's not read minds and instead read sources of facts like the S-Telegram (shameless but playful brown-nosing!) Consider:If I, as the leader of a neighborhood and the metroplex's "face of opposition" had repeatedly and publicly proclaimed that "I will never sign" based on stated principles, which in her case can be difficult to sort out since the issue became increasingly about her and life, her trees, etc. while the safety of her neighbors got lost along the way. I could be wrong, but if it is my conviction not to sign onto something morally or just simply personally objectionable to my taste or feeling alone, then I would stand by it to the end, especially if no significant part of my objection/conviction has been fairly dealt with and satifactorily mitigated.
If one had followed her story and this saga like someone, I for one, who lives on Carter Ave. and has gone through this ordeal (uh-um, "MP"--one should take not to assume because of the familiar saying about the meaning of the word "assume" when it's parsed) and is quite familiar with this "sweet helpless old widow" both by well established reputation and by personal experience. MP: what exactly was your advice? because like I said I am a lifelong learner willing to take advice from people with experience and wisdom. However, a sign of wisdom is publishing one's words carefully (see the opening of the movie "300" which has one relevant message to our discussion here: people with following through with their conviction in the face of an unsurmountable invader--sound like any certain corporation from Oklahoma now fortified in the gleaming Pier One Tower of Power?) One shows oneself a fool when one speaks without proper knowledge, facts, and thought or analysis. Just calling someone a derogatory name does not make them so. It only lowers the level of intelligent discussion based on reasoning and conclusions that are supported by facts. And people could arrive at different conclusions and opininions based on th same set of available facts and yet still disagree agreeably. You can choose your opinion and conclusions but you can't choose to ignore the facts, someone had said. Insults usually draws attention away from the substance of the issue and instead draws scrutiny on the person casting it because a reasonable person would want to consider the source. So,poster "MP", I actually do "have a place to talk"--although it seems awefully stifling and even un-American to limit thoughtful discussions to just those "who experienced" something personally. Or else why have this blog or history classes or letters to editor, etc. In fact I am one of you, poster "MP", who has observed and heard testimony (and some limited experience, by choice, with our new gigantic "neighbor" b/c I know their and their industry's less than benign/stellar reputation when it comes to fair dealing with property owners, especially ones new to the issue or weak and frail in some way and thus easy prey)from my neighbors on Carter avenue about the shameful behavior of Chesapeake, through its vetted and authorized agents and representatives. These shameful acts includes getting agreement signatures from non-English speaking-reading-understanding property owners and using "bait and switch" tactics, which I--by no means a lawyer--think would not stand a legal challenge based on one party's lack of understanding what they were signing (like getting a person with dementia or other incapacitating physical and mental conditions to make a legal contract) and based on fraudulent action in the latter category. But getting back to the issue in focus, this lady has enriched herself by getting from five times (or 500%) to ten times (or 1,000%)of the compensation for the neighbors that she was so concerned about (people got $15 to $30 per line foot compared to her $155.00/lf since she has 100 wide lot). She nursed her broken heart all the way to the bank while the neighbors who served as props and leverage for her deal with her "enemy" are sitting on our front yards, while we still feel safe, feeling used and dealing with heart burn. We'd rather deal with a "broken heart" like her, which we were led to believe she would include us as part of her "tiring ordeal" that involved talking to CNN, making a shortfilm, and of course in front of any camera or journalist within walking distance. Factoid: she walks just fine and the prop that is her crucial wheelchair ramp is leftover from her wheelchair bound mother, among several less than accurate portrayal, to be charitable to my elder and concerned neighbor with a definite heart condition of some kind as seen from the close up view of her nearby neighbors--has anyone notice that she got none to minimal support fro people who leve close to her and know her best but her supporters were people from the nicer outskirts of the city.
Finally, she had stated early on in the process in a S-T interview that she had been advised by her lawyer, who might/ could have assisted her in her strategy to get the most money she can from the company--if he's any kind of competent lawyer looking out for his client's best interest, he /could/might have told her: you cannot stop them from taking your property but you/we can squeeze them for every dollar of their millions using every means required. I get my fees or percentage, of course." It was quite clever and financially rewarding for her, reminiscent of a John Grisham legal novel. Or not and other theories or actual fact might contradict this possible scenario. All these aside, I am just expressing the feelings of many of my neighbors who felt wounded by Chesapeake's actions of taking advantage of our relatively low socio-economic level and resources but only to have the proverbial salt rubbed in our wounds by rightfully feeling used by this clever woman is not like how "she plays on tv". So poster with the long name, don't get too heart-broken about how ahe was treated because at least she could afford a lawyer, unlike the rest of us, and probably "gave more than she got" in terms playing the oil and gas industry's game of posturing , use of media, and treachery---all done to get mo money, which she obviously got and they are getting close to getting millions after the few left, who were hoping that she would help them as she proclaimed early on, but now dejected and will probably cave in soon and putting their property and children/relatives (she lives alonein a hughe house with a big wide lot as opposed to most whose exposure to the unthinkable is much closer and more devastating)at risk but getting getting an insulting fraction of her $15,500.00. It would seem that she and the corp. found common ground and value: mo money for the first person pronouns.Be cool and stay cool now y'all. And make sure to get J.R. Ewing off the mayor's seat--I think that's his name 'cause I never see him in my kind of neighborhood and 'cause his actions remind me of good ole J.R.

[MP]

Some advice to shesfullofgas: only a fool can claim to truly understand something they have never experienced. If you have been on the wrong side of oil company actions like many of us have then you have a place to talk.

[ilikemyhoodthewayitis]

This makes me wonder what kind of pressure and threats she was under by Texas Midstream and Chesapeake. I bet they made Ms. Horton an offer she "BETTER NOT" refuse.

[SCOOCH]

Hey, shesfullofgas, you would have done the same thing. Calm down.

[chris]

I know it's not germane to this topic, but the Southwest FW Alliance reached a deal yesterday with Vantage Energy. I got email about it over 24 hours ago... no mention of it here yet, though. I was hoping you guys could learn something about the terms...

[shesfullofgas]

So this is the "face of opposition" to dangerous gas pipelines, huh? Whatever happened to her declaration on the TV news "EVEN IF THEY OFFER ME MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, I WOULD NEVER EVER SIGN !!" It is obvious the sign$ she's been looking for all along. She got her 15 seconds of fame and $15K, enough to forget about those precious trees and yard and of course the "safety" of all her neighbors. Look for her to write a "biography" or book of some sort and maybe her own line of colorful hybrid nightgown-evening gown that she had been modeling for the Metroplex. Good thing there's so little to be "broken" !! Can't help but wonder what other deal$ FW's latest and greatest "activi$t" had made with those big bad mean gas drilling companies that she practically devoted her life to protecting from bullying and endangering her "beloved" home and neighbors. Bright lights from TV cameras and $$$ signs can cause impairment in so called principles-- not just to the eyes. Can't help but wonder if this whole media circus and melodrama was not a part of her plan all along to gain "fame and fortune"--more than expected and enough for a "sweet little old helpless widow fighting the power on behalf of her poor and economically disadvantaged neighbors" who's been living in the same house since a teenager. In hindsight, whatever happened to that poor family who was first sued and who she pushed out of the news? Why did she let Chesapeake do a survey on her property if she never ever intended to sign an agreement while that little family refused (maybe with her advise and counsel since she seems to be the leader of all those poor helpless people)to allow a survey and got sued? Things might not always be as they appear or are portrayed. My 12 year old learned that last year--he called it "critical thinking skills".

[Bill]

I wonder what TXSHARON is going to have to say about this...