Corinth Cares

• Water Use Agreement questioned
• Lake Sharon HOA Board of Directors is seeking legal counsel

Read on for the details:

The “Water Use Agreement”, upon which XTO is apparently relying their authority to take water from Lake Sharon, was originally signed on April 22, 2008. The agreeing parties in the Agreement were Braden Exploration, LLC and 777 Lakes LP, signed by Zena GP 3 LLC, its General Partner. Zena was, and is, the original developer of Lake Sharon Estates. Of particular interest in the Agreement is a statement made within paragraph iii of the Recital, wherein it is stated “Braden contemplates the drilling and completion of one or two wells, (emphasis added), on the Lands (the “Well(s)”), and would like to take water from the Lands for use in a multi-stage completion of each of the Well(s)”.

This fact is particularly interesting because, as stated during the last Council hearing of April 15 by XTO representative Robert Manthei , XTO could drill “up to 20 or more” wells at the current site. This apparent earlier understatement of one or two wells contemplated, may lend credence to the often heard complaints from Lake Sharon homeowners who state that they were told by Braden representatives during the solicitation of their leases, that there would be “one drill operation at a site far away from the current site”.

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On Saturday, volunteer group Corinth Cares collected resident signatures through petition booths. We spoke to many concerned citizens who expressed their opinion. ‘It’s going to impact all of our lives,’ said Gabriel J. Rodriguez, who has been living in the Cypress Pointe Estates neighborhood for two years. Many residents are not against drilling, but they are concerned about the gas drilling site’s proximity to their neighborhoods and worried about the safety of their children. Corinth resident Dwight Mikkelson worked in the oil and gas business for 20 years and says it’s a safety issue. ‘It’s in a neighborhood,’ he said. ‘You’re going to have a lot of noise, a lot of polution.’ Corinth citizen Tony Pressly sums it up: ‘Do it right.’

Here are videos of some Corinth residents we spoke to:

Interview with David Goodwin, Corinth resident

Interview with Debra Donley, Lake Sharon Estates resident

Interview with Tom Bowater, Lake Sharon Estates resident and Corinth Cares volunteer.

On Thursday April 7, the Corinth City Council workshop held a workshop regarding the permit application for two wells on the property of the Lake Sharon Christian Center. Report by Corinth Cares’ Tom Bowater:

The City Council of Corinth held a regularly scheduled workshop on Thursday, April 8, 2010 with the overwhelming lion’s share of the agenda devoted to the proposed drilling application, along with eleven variances, for the site at the Lake Sharon Christian Center. The purpose of such a workshop is
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To give all residents a chance to review what was discussed at the April 7 information meeting we have uploaded all information to our blog. Please click the below links to review the presentation of each speaker.

Calvin Tillman – mayor of Dish, TX
Review the presentation as shown to the public – Calvin Tillman presentation

Tim Ruggiero – land owner with drill sites in Decatur, TX
Read Tim’s story in the Denton Record-Chronicle – click here.

Sharon Wilson – Texas Oil & Gas Accountability Project
Review the presentation as shown to the public – Sharon Wilson presentation<
Sharon blogging about the information meeting – click here

Peggy Bush – Corinth resident
Summary of the variances requested by the permit applicant for the 2 wells on the property of the Lake Sharon Christian Center. Click here – for a description of the variances.

From left to right: Tim Ruggiero, Sharon Wilson and Calvin Tillman

As part of the permit application, XTO has requested the City Council to approve 11 (recently increased from 10) variances to existing city ordinances. The vote on the XTO permit has been rescheduled for Thursday, April 15, 6:30 at the City Hall.

What is a Variance?
A variance is a special legal consideration to ignore a rule, law/ordinance.

Variance #1:
The current ordinance requires of a letter of credit from a bank for the potential damage to the roads from truck travel in the City of Corinth for the purpose of drilling each well.

XTO has requested to give a bond or a check in the amount of $25,000.00 per well instead of a letter of credit from a bank for the potential damage to the roads they travel in the City of Corinth. This is primarily for Oakmont Drive as FM 2181/Teasley Lane/Swisher Rd is a TXDOT road not a City of Corinth road.

Variance #2:
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The proposed XTO gas well site is located on the property of the Lake Sharon Christian Center on Oakmont dr. This is in direct contradiction of common believe that the site would be located on the West side of Lake Sharon. A recent article by the Denton Record Chronicle article said “Many residents also said they signed mineral leases based on the belief that the wells would be located on a different site, west of the lake. “

The below images show the location site in Google maps (North of the indicated road) and the tree removal plan, showing the planned removal of 801 trees. This ensures the site will be directly visible from the two bordering neighborhoods, Lake Sharon Estates and Cypress Pointe Estates , as well as Oakmont dr.

Exact location:

Interactive map:

View Larger Map

The below pictures were taken South property line of the Lake Sharon Christian Center and from Oakmont dr. at the front gate. The red line indicates the edge of the proposed site. According to the tree removal plan all trees behind this line will be cut down.