TxDOT nixes town-hall meeting
By Lori Mellinger editor@bullardnews.com

The community was going to have a voice in concerns over the driving conditions on FM 344, with a town-hall meeting tentatively scheduled to be held on Thursday.

But instead TxDOT officials decided to meet only with Bullard City Manager Larry Morgan and BISD Superintendent Jim Wright to discuss concerns last Friday.

According to TxDOT Public Information Officer Larry Krantz, there will be no open meeting.

"The meeting was accidentally scheduled for when (District Engineer) Mary Owen was out of town," Krantz said. Instead "we met with Larry Morgan and Jim Wright, and they seemed satisfied with our plan to begin - actually complete - our working beginning Monday."

Krantz said the agency would be overlaying two sections of FM 344 that had been scheduled for work but not completed because of adverse weather.

"We're expecting warm, dry weather on Monday," Krantz said on Friday.

TxDOT engineer Vernon Webb called Morgan Thursday afternoon, after calling that morning to set the town-hall meeting, and changed the plans.

Webb told Morgan this Thursday was not a good day and the agency decided not to hold a town-hall meeting. Instead, he said, the group wanted to meet with only Wright and Morgan.

One who was absent from the meeting was Bullard Fire Chief Keith Newburn - who not only has a list of wrecks dating back a year on the road - but whose son Garry was in the wreck recently that claimed the life of Bullard High School junior James Compton on Jan. 8.

"I was never made aware of the meeting," Newburn said. "If discussion pertained to a safety issue, I think that I should have been invited as the fire chief - as the one who works those wrecks on that stretch of road."

Newburn said he was unsure what role the city would play - since the area in question is outside the city limits.

"I did notice that they moved in equipment to the area where it looks like they're going to do some repair work," he said.

But that's of little solace to both Newburn and Wright.

Wright - at the behest of the school board - wrote a letter to TxDOT after this month's board meeting about road conditions.

"Basically, it was a plea," Wright said. "We've lost nine to 10 students since I've been here - the majority to wrecks.

"And just one is too many."

Wright received no response to the letter, but he's taken his own actions.

"We've asked bus drivers to be cautious, and Bullard High School principal Scott Franks is cautioning all his students to be careful," he said. "I don't think new drivers especially know how much weather, road conditions and speed can affect them."

He also said he wants students to drive more defensively.

"We're planning on asking a Bullard resident - who is a DPS safety officer - to speak to our students about driver safety," Wright said. "I drive that stretch of road every day.

"It's a beautiful drive. I hope everyone can take a few minutes to leave earlier and enjoy it."

Newburn isn't quite satisfied yet.

"It's amazing that TxDOT said there was no problem but they are suddenly moving ahead with some remedial work," he said. "I wonder if it's preventative or a sudden attempt to try and do some patchwork."

Morgan - while he agreed that the city itself was not directly affected - said he was satisfied with the meeting.

"They've got a lot of roads that are curvy, they've got a lot of dangerous situations they've inherited," Morgan said. "They have priority standards. It's my understanding money has been allocated statewide to address transportation safety issues, and I hope this work they are doing can help everyone in the area."

The Bullard Banner News submitted an open records request on Friday for any and all safety-related tests performed on FM 344 from the city limits to Teaselville.

The results will be published as soon as the newspaper receives the information.