Fire marshal shuts down toll road meeting - Local News - Rockwall County Herald-Banner Fire marshal shuts down toll road meeting NCTCOG says it will reschedule public forum 80 By Cliff Gibson | Posted 3 hours ago It’s no secret that the proposed Blacklands Corridor Toll Road project isn’t a popular subject with residents in the affected area. That public opinion went even further downhill following Thursday’s public meeting at NeSmith Elementary in Lavon. The event – hosted by the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) and Texas Turnpike Corporation – was shut down by the local fire marshal less than an hour after its 6 p.m. start, due to overcrowding in the school’s cafeteria, where the session was held. Residents from Hunt, Rockwall and Collin counties were in attendance, with one Wylie resident declaring, “They [NCTCOG] are trying to railroad us.” Rockwall Mayor David Sweet admitted he sensed trouble was looming once he arrived. “Once we started coming in here I had a pretty good feeling the fire marshal would have concerns with the amount of people in such a small location,” he said. “I’m not surprised by his decision, but I am surprised by the lack of planning and anticipation to have this amount of people here. We expected to see a huge crowd turn out to express their opinion on this project.” Rockwall County commissioner David Magness also noted the lack of organization by NCTCOG. “I think the lack of planning is evident and it could have been much better,” he said. “Certainly we could have had a better venue with a sound system that would accommodate everyone. It’s a shame that this didn’t happen because it just furthers the negative feelings of the public.” Things got off to rough start from the onset as 300-plus people filled the cafeteria, many of whom stood along the walls in order to hear the presentation on the toll road, recently renamed to Northeast Gateway. The adjacent gymnasium was used for another 200 persons, who were offered a chance to watch and listen to the meeting remotely. That scenario went south just 30 minutes into the meeting when the gym’s sound system failed. Representatives from NCTCOG immediately announced they were canceling the open forum portion reserved for public comments and would schedule another meeting where the public could have its say. Less than 15 minutes later – at 6:43 p.m. – the fire marshal put an end to the meeting, an announcement met with roaring laughter from the audience. The large crowd in attendance left unhappy, which – according to Sweet – will only hurt public opinion. “There’s no question that it damages the public perception,” he said. “If the folks use these events properly to get the message out, you could get two to three times as many people at the next meeting. I hope that between these two entities, they’ll take into consideration two things – the size of the facility and the urgency so they can quickly schedule another hearing for this project.” No timetable was given by NCTCOG for rescheduling the meeting – the last of five hosted by the organization. NCTCOG held previous meetings in Garland, Nevada and Greenville, as well as Lavon. More information on the project can be found at nctcog.org/blacklands.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 05:15:57 +0000
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