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Frank ODonnell
Sharon Marsh-Wyly
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08/07/06 Irving's
current officials respect other people's money.
Sometimes even an optimistic Pollyanna like me gets
down and cynical about politicians, particularly some local Dallas politicians.
Just when you think things have hit rock bottom, there's a story that gives you
hope.
Ever since Grandpa Jerry Jones started trying to blackmail local city
governments to steal other people's land so he could have it for a new business
facility for his football team, I have been impressed with the folks who run
Irving, from the Mayor and city council to the City Manager. Who was in a
better position than Irving to know what a losing proposition it is to bankroll
a professional sports team?
After a half-hearted discussion with Grandpa Jones aka that Arkansas Freak, who
wanted to build a Jerryville next to his taxpayer-funded new stadium, Irving
backed out of the race.
The Irving officials see a much better and higher use for the land than a
stadium that sits idle most of the year. They envision a new community on
the 400 acres currently wasted on Texas Stadium with office towers, hotels,
residential development surrounded by EXISTING freeways and connected to DART
light rail.
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Ball
rolling on Texas Stadium plans;
Irving: Developers to present proposals next
month; city envisions mixed-use project
Saturday, August
5, 2006 By
ERIC AASEN / The Dallas Morning News |
After months of testing the waters
over the future of the Texas Stadium site, Irving is about to take the
plunge.
The city, which owns the stadium and
has been working with two other area landowners, expects to receive
proposals from at least two developers early next month that outline their
visions for the stadium land.
It will mark a significant step in
the transformation of the land once the Dallas Cowboys
leave for Arlington in 2009.
The landowners, which include the
University of Dallas and Southwest Premier Properties, have pieced together
more than 400 acres in the middle of the metropolitan
area.
... City officials say stadium-area development
could add hundreds of millions of dollars to their tax base and attract
businesses and thousands of new residents.
... Irving officials envision a place for people
to work, live and play. They're practically salivating over the potential.
"It will forever be the face of
Irving," Mayor Herbert Gears said. "We have a huge responsibility to
maximize this opportunity for our city's future."
... numerous highways and roads run around ?
and through ? the land, which is near D/FW International Airport and between
Dallas and Fort Worth, at the junction of State Highways 114 and 183. A DART
light-rail line is scheduled to run through the area.
... "It's hard to overstate the importance of this
project and its potential," he said.
... Mixed-use development makes sense
because it injects vitality into an area, said Tom Murphy, a senior fellow
with the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C. The project could be a
chance to lure people who are tired of long commutes back to the center of
the metro area, said Mr. Murphy, former Pittsburgh mayor.
"The ability to live and work and
go out and play ... all in one area that doesn't require a great deal of
driving is a huge attraction," he said. "And in a 400-acre site, you can do
all three."
... As the landowners talk with developers, the
university remains one of three finalists to land the George W. Bush
Presidential Library. ... |
After Irving decided which way
it was going -- which was about face from Grandpa Jones and his football team,
they got their voters to approve using the Brimer Bill to levy parking and
ticket taxes on the patrons of Texas Stadium to raise money for the future
re-use of that acreage. USER TAXES!
They even demanded Grandpa Jones honor the terms
of the Cowboys' contract with Irving to maintain Texas Stadium, which means
painting the roof. It has been a disgrace to the entire area for Grandpa
Jones to have allowed that roof to look like an ugly patchwork quilt.
User taxes could have and should have funded the Hicks/Perot arena, but they
didn't want their patrons to pay for their own party. Since Hicks and
Perot owned Mayor Ron Kirk/Con Jerk and then City Manager John Ware, they got
what they wanted and Dallas taxpayers got the shaft. That's why I can
never approve any candidate for any office who is being promoted by Con Jerk/Ron
Kirk. BIRDS OF A FEATHER flock together -- and all those other clich?.
Never for one minute fall for the line that the arena sales taxes on car rentals
and hotel/motel rooms were "tourist taxes" and not hits on Dallas citizens.
Even in 1998, 75-80% of all car rentals in the city limits of Dallas (the only
car rentals charged with the arena tax) were leased by Dallas citizens.
Tourists usually lease their cars at DFW, which is OUTSIDE the city limits of
Dallas and not impacted by the Hicks/Perot/Kirk car rental tax.
As for hotel/motel usage, the
arena sales tax has pretty much killed our convention business, even with New
Orleans out of the competition.
You and I are paying those "tourist taxes" in Dallas.
In Irving, Texas Stadium USERS are paying taxes to the City of Irving to park
their cars at Texas Stadium and to attend games and other events there.
Sounds fair to me.
It really is a major demonstration of political leaders and city management
looking out for their constituents first and planning for reality rather than
obsessing for eye candy like the ODB's dream of three String Thing Bridges across the Trinity
Sewer Trough.
Eye candy like the String Thing Bridges will do the same thing for our city's
infrastructure as candy does for your teeth and your health. Fill up on
sweets, and it ruins your appetite for your veggies and protein, which your body
needs. Fill up on concert halls and String Thing Bridges, and your city
can't afford to do the basic stuff like provide public safety, smooth streets
and green neighborhood parks.
We have such treasures in our Dallas Zoo and Fair Park, but the ODB for all
their talk of concern for the Southern Sector do not want to promote anything
south of Downtown. These treasures would be great tourist draws if City
Hall would just devote a tiny bit of money on Fair Park and the Dallas Zoo.
A tiny bit of the money they are willing to waste on String Thing Bridges.
I have never believed we would have one, much less three String Thing Bridges
over the Trinity. The entire Trinity Project is a city budget busting
fiasco. I was dismayed that my so-called fiscally conservative Congressman
Pete Sessions (who I campaigned for) supported wasting Federal Transportation dollars on
those bridges when so many more people desperately need for LBJ to be improved.
It's the same issue of Councilman Bill Blaydes and his buddy Deputy Mayor Pro
Tem Don Hill trying to bully DART into diverting funds for light rail to the
Southern Port dream when there is a current need for East-West
light rail in the LBJ area. The Southern Port is a worthy goal, but you
have to tend to current and real needs first.
Still, I was shocked to read Emily Ramshaw's excellent story where she gets the
City Manager to admit City Hall had been warned by
Transportation Dept. people that Calatrava's estimates were too low -- BEFORE
the June bids came in with a low bid of $113 million, when Calatrava was
estimating a cost per bridge of $57 million.
There is so much needed to be done in this city -- so much more important than
trying to turn a sewer trough into a recreation area. Rather than face the
music and reality, our City Manager (who is usually pretty practical), our Mayor
(who is usually very fiscally conservative with our tax dollars) and
everybody else at City Hall (except watchdog Councilman Mitch Rasansky)
seem to be hell bent on spending money we DON'T HAVE on something we DON'T NEED.
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Trinity bridge estimate low, city was
warned;
Dallas: State told officials cost would top
$57M; Suhm hopes for $65M
Wednesday,
August 2, 2006
by EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News
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Texas bridge engineers warned Dallas officials for
years that their cost estimate for the first Trinity River bridge was too
low, sources from the state Transportation Department said this week.
Construction bids for the Woodall
Rodgers bridge, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, came in
nearly twice the budgeted price of $57 million in June ? sending city
officials scrambling to cut costs and jeopardizing two other bridges planned
for the Trinity River Project.
In e-mails obtained by The Dallas
Morning News this week, Transportation Department
officials say they repeatedly advised the city that Mr. Calatrava's estimate
was too low.
"The Calatrava design team produced
the low estimate, despite repeated advice by TxDOT bridge engineers and
staff throughout the project's history, that the estimate was low," reads
one e-mail, sent Monday by spokesman Mark Ball to his colleagues. Other
transportation officials said they warned the city that the cost would be
closer to $108 million.
June's low bid was $113 million, a
cost increase that Dallas officials attributed to soaring prices for steel,
concrete and fuel.
... The city raised funds to proceed with the
first two bridges ? at Woodall Rodgers and Interstate 30 ? above and beyond
the basic bridges the Transportation Department would have built.
"Yeah, they've been telling us it
would cost more," Ms. Suhm said.
... Ms. Suhm said she now believes the Woodall
Rodgers bridge can be built for $65 million without "major" design tweaks.
The city has that money in the bank, she said ? a
combination of additional Transportation Department and private donor
dollars.
... Ms. Suhm wouldn't specify what design features
he may eliminate to build a $65 million Woodall Rodgers bridge.
... critics question whether Dallas officials are
fighting a losing battle. Mr. Calatrava has a reputation for breaking
budgets.
... Mr. Calatrava has already made design changes
to the Woodall Rodgers and I-30 bridges to cut costs.
... Ms. Suhm said cost concerns will not derail
plans for the second bridge at I-30. The third bridge,
at Interstate 35E, is not funded. Its fate remains in question.
... Transportation Department officials, who revealed bids for the
Woodall Rodgers project in June, said they've been patient and are working
with the city to bring the costs down.
... "I told them we'd figure it out [by July 27],
and we weren't able to do that," said Ms. Suhm, whose staff is working
closely with Mr. Calatrava to find a redesign solution. "We've asked to have
until the end of August."
... One official with the Transportation
Department said that Dallas was trying to secure additional funds from the
highway administration but that the agency wasn't swayed.
... But Ms. Suhm acknowledged: "We
may not get there, and the whole design might have to change." |
Texas bridge engineers warned Dallas officials for
years that their cost estimate for the first Trinity River bridge was too
low, sources from the state Transportation Department said this week.
Construction bids for the Woodall
Rodgers bridge, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, came in
nearly twice the budgeted price of $57 million in June ? sending city
officials scrambling to cut costs and jeopardizing two other bridges planned
for the Trinity River Project.
In e-mails obtained by The Dallas
Morning News this week, Transportation Department
officials say they repeatedly advised the city that Mr. Calatrava's estimate
was too low.
"The Calatrava design team produced
the low estimate, despite repeated advice by TxDOT bridge engineers and
staff throughout the project's history, that the estimate was low," reads
one e-mail, sent Monday by spokesman Mark Ball to his colleagues. Other
transportation officials said they warned the city that the cost would be
closer to $108 million.
June's low bid was $113 million, a
cost increase that Dallas officials attributed to soaring prices for steel,
concrete and fuel.
... The city raised funds to proceed with the
first two bridges ? at Woodall Rodgers and Interstate 30 ? above and beyond
the basic bridges the Transportation Department would have built.
"Yeah, they've been telling us it
would cost more," Ms. Suhm said.
... Ms. Suhm said she now believes the Woodall
Rodgers bridge can be built for $65 million without "major" design tweaks.
The city has that money in the bank, she said ? a
combination of additional Transportation Department and private donor
dollars.
... Ms. Suhm wouldn't specify what design features
he may eliminate to build a $65 million Woodall Rodgers bridge.
... critics question whether Dallas officials are
fighting a losing battle. Mr. Calatrava has a reputation for breaking
budgets.
... Mr. Calatrava has already made design changes
to the Woodall Rodgers and I-30 bridges to cut costs.
... Ms. Suhm said cost concerns will not derail
plans for the second bridge at I-30. The third bridge,
at Interstate 35E, is not funded. Its fate remains in question.
... Transportation Department officials, who revealed bids for the
Woodall Rodgers project in June, said they've been patient and are working
with the city to bring the costs down.
... "I told them we'd figure it out [by July 27],
and we weren't able to do that," said Ms. Suhm, whose staff is working
closely with Mr. Calatrava to find a redesign solution. "We've asked to have
until the end of August."
... One official with the Transportation
Department said that Dallas was trying to secure additional funds from the
highway administration but that the agency wasn't swayed.
... But Ms. Suhm acknowledged: "We
may not get there, and the whole design might have to change." |
I asked
Dallas Observer's
Jim Schutze if he thought they would find the extra millions in time to meet the
August deadline because he has been saying for months and months, along with
CBS-11 Sarah Dodd, that they don't have the money for those bridges. He
said he didn't know, but if they got the needed millions it would have to be
diverted from some other project because there is just so much money to divide
up.
When he said that, I had one of those "duh" moments. You know where you
think to yourself, "I knew that". We know lots of common sense stuff, but
we get so caught up in the big picture and the politics and the power games --
we forget to focus on the basic, real stuff.
Common sense tells us it makes NO SENSE to divert money from real needs to
spend it on "eye candy".
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Dallas Calatrava Suspension Bridge Over Budget
Sarah Dodd, reporting
Jul 10, 2006 8:33 pm |
 |
CBS 11
News) DALLAS CBS 11 News has learned that the first of three Calatrava
suspension bridges, being built in Dallas, is coming in millions of dollars
over budget. Given the overrun, the bridge may have to be changed, if it's
going to be built.
If the city doesn't have $83 million
in the bank by the end of July, then the process of authorizing a contractor
will start over, putting the project at least two months behind.
Architect Santiago Calatrava is
famous for his ability to create suspension bridges that are as much ?art?
as they are functional. The City of Dallas is planning to build three as the
centerpiece of the Trinity River project.
As it stands, the city can only
afford $65 million dollars per bridge, and the first one on the drawing
board has a price tag of $113 million. One city leader is still optimistic
about the project. ?That bridge can be built for less and it will be built
for less,? said Mary Suhm, Dallas City Manager.
The bridges are already
controversial, with many critical of the expense. ?Too
much downtown and city hall time has been put into these bridges, we can't
afford them and they are not Dallas,? said activist, Sharon Boyd.
The Texas Department of
Transportation, along with the federal government, will put in about $30
million for a concrete bridge at Woodall
Rodgers, but the city wants to build a
suspension bridge.
Fifteen million dollars has been
raised privately, but that still leaves a large gap. Now, TXDOT says it may
be too late to minimize the project, without having to re-do the bid process
with contractors.
?If they get the money in the bank,
then we'll move forward with the project,? said Bill Hale, Texas Dept. of
Transportation.
The city has only raised a total of
$65 million dollars, including the money from TXDOT. The lowest bid for the
bridge was $113 million, and the contractor has already been awarded the
project.
If the City of Dallas doesn't come
with $83 million by the end of the month, everyone, including Calatrava,
will have to go back to the drawing board.
The city says in its contract with
Calatrava, he must design a bridge that fits into the $65 million budget.
Contractors say the bridge cost would be reduced by $14 million if they
could use steel from Asia, but since federal money is involved in the
project - it has to be American made. |
Dallas city officials may get the money they need for those String Thing Bridges that we do not need.
If they do get the money, it will be as Jim Schutze surmised -- from some other
project that we really do need.
Dallas taxpayers can only dream of the day when someone other than Laura Miller
and Mitch Rasansky at City Hall see our tax dollars as REAL MONEY. Even
Mayor Miller gets blinded when she thinks of those String Thing Bridges.
Irving officials are in touch with reality and demonstrating how a true
fiduciary protects and uses carefully taxpayers' money because they understand
it's REAL MONEY.
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