WENA Gas Lease News
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We are now part of a Coalition with 6 other neighborhoods.
Please check the Coalition website at www.wedgwoodgas.com
Subject: Fwd: WENA gas news Dale/Chesapeake March 24
All,
Hope you all had a good Easter...
First, just want to thank all the people who volunteered their time in recruiting more Interest Forms. They went and still are going door to door in most cases. We are dong well with 850 now and still climbing. The volunteer effort was from Glenmont south. We could use some volunteers north of Glenmont. Also thanks to Aaron Hines for donating the domain name http://www.wedgwoodeast.com to make it easier to get to our website.
A lot of emails and phone calls concerning this latest leasing effort since last Wednesday. People are saying the lot size is incorrect and less than previous leases seen including not measuring to the middle of the street. This is just wrong and cheating the homeowner. These incorrect lot sizes effect both your signing bonus and future royalties. It's important to stop and think before signing a lease since it will effect you and your property for the next 20-30+ years. I'm hearing quite a bit of concern for environmental issues and impacts on our quality of life once these guys come to our area. The WENA group wants to have a say in the development of the shopping center area Chesapeake is taking over. We don't want to see just pipes and red tipped photinias. The group WENA lease will look out for the homeowner and their property as best as we can and certainly more than any gas company would.
A new week and Dale/Chesapeake is having signing events again this week. This will continue for the next few weeks.
They are now in the neighborhoods to our west and these neighborhoods received the same card for the signing event.
People from these other neighborhoods will be in the parking lot at the signing event to educate people on the pitfalls of signing now. Anyone interested in joining that effort is welcome to attend.
We are getting to know our neighboring associations and it is amazing the message is the same. Chesapeake is NOT a 'good neighbor' and is trying to take advantage of our homeowners. Other associations are advising their homeowners to NOT SIGN for the very reasons we have discussed. We plan to voice our dissatisfaction of Dale and their tactics to Chesapeake. With a grouping effort of our neighbors we will cover all of the Panchos drill site area south of 820 along with Foster Park to the northwest of 820. We will get Chesapeakes attention to deal with the groups not take advantage of our homeowners. A group effort is a strong effort.
We are always looking for ways to reach ALL homeowners with info and the message of NOT TO SIGN the lease.
Signs is another way. You may have seen the very small ones around the neighborhood with 'Don't Sign a Gas Lease $Yet$' . These signs were seen in Ridglea Hills and they said it has been effective. Larger signs would be helpful.
Also a gas newsletter to all residents is a thought.
Other items of interest:
If you have friends/family west of Woodway without a neighborhood association, have them contact one of these folks as they are signing people up for a group gas effort on behalf of their new association, Wedgwood Middle :
Chuck Doyle Bill Lee
292-5404 292-0184
chuck.doyle@sbcglobal.net wolee@flash.net
Meeting:
Our neighbors to our west, Wedgwood Square, is having a meeting concerning the Dale/Chesapeake invasion and they have said our WENA area is welcome to come. It is Tuesday, April 1st at Wedgwood Baptist Church in their sanctuary, 7pm, 5522 Whitman across from Bruce Shulkey Elementary off Walton.
Please share this information with your neighbors and friends in the area. If you are contemplating signing a lease call or email and let me talk you out of it. Questions: 817-294-0880 or email tinbush@aol.com
I apologize for multiple emails being sent..it's AOL and if you have it you probably know what I mean...
Thanks,
Tina
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March 19, 2008
Folks.
Dale for Chesapeake has sent a lease out to our residents just like Carla for XTO did to try and pick off our homeowners instead of working with WENA. Please do not sign this offer as we do not endorse it and can do better than $13,000 an acre. Their meeting at the Altamesa Church of Christ is for signing and accepting payment so please don't go.
The most effective action you can take is to just ignore them.
Areas around us that are affected by the same 'Panchos' well site that Chesapeake has for us are being offered upwards of $16,500 and acre and that is thru their group negotiations not to individuals. We have the neighborhood to our south at Sycamore School Rd getting an offer from Chesapeake at $18,250 an acre. And then there are the neighborhoods in Arlington being offered $22,000 an acre then upping it to $25,000 an acre. So, we can do better than $13.000 an acre.
Please tell your neighbors and friends in our area that do not have email to please not sign this offer. These offers continue to go up and they won't stop here. We are on our way to a better deal if we can show these companies that we are not interested and that they must negotiate through the group effort.
Any questions call me at 817-294-0880 or reply to the email.
Thank you,
Tina Bush
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Recap of the meeting March 13th and other things
At the meeting, Chesapeake and Dale Property Services had a nice PowerPoint presentation on stages of a drill site, regulations, etc. and answered questions from the audience.
The real info for our area is that Chesapeake has purchased the shopping center where Panchos is ..Granbury Rd@820. This will become a drill site probably within the next 2 years. There is also a light rail station planned for the very corner of the property at Granbury and the service road to 820. The rail station won't happen for a few years. (See at the bottom for an upcoming meeting on this rail issue.) This drill site is a concern as to what will become of this area AFTER the well is in but it is too early to know exactly. This well site will cover enough of WENA that Chesapeake needs our area. From what I understand ..they are no longer considering the old Paloma sites of McCart/Sycamore School behind Tom Thumb or the site at McCart/W.Cleburne for us that Chesapeake inherited. This ‘Panchos' site is very good news for reaching us.
Dale for Chesapeake may start sending letters out something like Carla/XTO did. Please do not respond to their letters. We still ask that you DO NOT sign with any gas company at this time. A group deal that WENA endorses is probably a few months away. So whenever it is made with any company ..you will hear about it from us via email from this email address and other means of communication from WENA.
What about XTO? XTO thinks they can secure a site to our east that will reach us much like the Chesapeake site to our west. However, Chesapeake is bidding on the same site. If XTO can get it then that would bring the competition and higher offers that we are looking for to our area. The letters from Carla/XTO were probably sent out in anticipation of getting this site. Speaking of which... I heard from Carla for XTO and we have impressed them with our NO signing of the letters that they sent out. So we are getting their attention. Thanks to all of you! Until XTO has this drill site we can't really get serious about a good group offer from them. Hopefully that issue will be settled in the next few weeks and XTO will get this site.
So, we hope to have both XTO and Chesapeake to really deal with. This should create competitive offers between the two. With that said...it is vital in negotiations with Chesapeake to have/know the number of homeowners within WENA that are supporting a group lease effort. With a high percentage (upwards of 60%) of homeowners to be counted, a better group deal can be made. From what I understand ..if a group deal is made with Chesapeake they will only extend that group offer to homeowners that have signed up. The ones who did not sign up will not be granted the offer. I think this is because they will pay on the spot so they need these addresses to check mineral rights ahead of time. Homeowners can still signup to be counted via the WENA Interest Form or now on our website. http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/ftw/wedgwoodeast/main.html
For you that are receiving this email..you have most likely returned a form and we thank you for your support in this group effort. But we now need your help.. the number of Interest Forms returned is not impressive. We have about 40% of them returned. Out of 1750 homeowners/businesses we have 767 forms returned. I know we can do better. We mailed out the initial letter in mid December along with followup flyers on doors a little over a month ago.
So, we are asking for your help. If you will ask your neighbors and friends who live within WENA for their signup and support and/or can work your block(s) or street then please email me back or just reply to this email and I will set you up with forms for you to work with. Contact: Tina - tinbush@aol.com or 817-294-0880
Thank you for your continued support!
Thank you,
Tina Bush
Lead - WENA Gas Lease Task Force
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Other gas news.....
Just heard ....Candleridge and Wedgwood South just made their deal with Chesapeake for $15,000 an acre. They did this without any competition from other gas companies.
On the Star Telegram Blog... http://www.startelegram.typepad.com/barnett_shale/
Westcliff West and Foster Park which borders the NW corner of Granbury Rd and 820 received an offer from Chesapeake for $16,500 an acre. They will be affected by the same Chesapeake ‘Panchos' site that we will have.
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Other meetings:
Public meeting Tuesday, March 18, 6:30p - Southwest to Northeast Rail Corrider (SW2NE) Fort Worth Transportation Authority http://www.sw2nerail.com/
Tuesday, March 18, 6:30 p.m. Texas Department of Transportation Regional Training Center 2501 SW Loop 820 (McCart South of I-20), Fort Worth
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WENA Gas Lease News February 19, 2008
Things have been relatively quiet with the gas companies but that will be changing shortly. We still ask that you do not sign with any company. As you may notice these offers are steadily going up and there is no reason they will stop here. That is why we ask you to wait. By not signing this will show these companies that we are a united group to deal with for a better offer including our lease.
Carla Petroleum for XTO has been leasing to the west of us for $10,000 an acre, 25% royalty, 3 year lease + 2 optional. They will now be coming probably to our area in the next few days by sending letters and/or a lease package. We have been working with them for the last month but they would rather at this time try to get our people without negotiating with the group. We still ask that you do not sign with them or anyone else. XTO will not disclose their drill site for our area at this time since they are still negotiating for it but we should know the location in the next few weeks.
We are also talking with Dale Property Services for Chesapeake. Paloma sold their leases to Chesapeake and Dale is planning to continue leasing where Paloma left off. We don't know of any offer out there yet to individuals. With XTO and Chesapeake we are hoping this will generate some competition that we need for our area. Chesapeakes drill sites continue to be the same that Paloma had....one at McCart and W. Cleburne Rd and the other at McCart and Sycamore School Rd.
We hope either company will be able to obtain a drill site at the TxDot site that is south of I20 on McCart. This site would be the best to cover all of our area and not be in the neighborhood. But working with the state can take time. The Gas Lease Task Force is monitoring the office responsible for leasing this property.
A few areas to our west are organizing into associations so we may have an opportunity to group with them to both help them and to increase the overall area and numbers of people interested in a group lease. Speaking of that... the number of interest forms returned is now just over 700. We should have well over 1000 since we have 1750 homes/businesses in WENA. These forms were initially sent out before Christmas and we just finished up a follow-up flyer to those who have not returned a form. I know most people receiving this email have already returned forms ..and we thank you!...but PLEASE tell your neighbors and friends in our WENA area to please return these forms as soon as possible. Dale has not been impressed with our numbers when you look at the size of our area. We certainly appreciate those who support our efforts but we need some help here. If you need another form reply to this email and ask for one.
Concerns heard about not returning a form are ‘we don't know if we own the mineral rights‘ ..well assume you do, you have nothing to lose. If you are concerned about your mortgage company then call them and find out.
Next general WENA meeting is Thursday, March 13, 6:30pm. This and future meetings, due to higher attendance, will be in the Unity Church sanctuary, between Kimberly and Wooten. It is the multi-sided building with the steeple and you enter from the back.
We plan to have Chesapeake at the meeting to tell us what their plans are for our area. Their presentation should be around 7:30pm.
Thanks everyone,
WENA Gas Lease Task Force -working for our area
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Gas info for those that missed the Jan. 10th meeting
Future WENA meetings will be in the Unity Church sanctuary due to number of people attending. This is the multisided tower looking building closest to Kimberly Lane. Entrance is from the back.
We went over WENAs boundaries:
North - I20
South - Altamesa
East - Westcreek and McCart
West - Trail Lake and Woodway
We have 1750 homes and busineses in our area
These people are on the task force:
David Gordon
Susan Ost
Paul Weide
Rev. Paul John Roach
Ellen Boyer
Mike Sears
Ted Rhodes
Gail Christian
David Trimble
Tina Bush
We have 2 petroleum engineers, an attorney, a property investment specialist, and people who have had their own gas leases with city and rural properties.
We also have many people that volunteer and help us. Thank you.
Leasing in the area:
We have Four Sevens for Chesapeake who has been leasing since the summer in an area approx. I20 and Westcreek to Vega and south to Kelvin. Their closest well site is north of I20 and east of McCart. This is a permitted well that currently is drilling in a northeast direction but can have other wells drilling in a southwestern direction that would reach our area. Gas production would not be for at least a year.
Paloma was leasing our southern area from approx. Altamesa north to Minot. They have 2 wellsites that are NOT permitted. One is McCart at Sycamore School Rd behind the closed Tom Thumb. The other is McCart at W.Cleburne Rd. where the Christmas tree lot is. Both of these sites are high impact meaning the well head would be closer than 600ft to a home, business, school, church, etc. They will need releases from these buildings to continue the permitting process. We will have to watch and see with these sites.
In the news Paloma has now sold their leases and drill sites to Chesapeake. They have until mid February to turn over to Chesapeake. So we will probably see Chesapeake in our area. This is good news as Paloma has a bad reputation with other neighborhoods and little drilling experience which is of concern.
For the time being it appears there is no active leasing going on. As Chesapeake regroups we may see Dale or Four Sevens start up again. So we will be talking with them about negotiating a good lease/deal for our area but it will take competition and patience to get there..in other words..months most likely.
Our area is lacking in competition due to a lack of available drill sites. The city is looking to promote Urban Renewal where old shopping centers and buildings could be used for well sites if large enough...3-5 acres. So that could be an option for us.
Some questions from the meeting...
Do we own the mineral rights? We can only assume we do if a gas company offers a lease. That's one reason why the group lease would not warrant the deed as it would be the gas company's responsibility. If you want to find out you can go down to the old courthouse basement and do your own deed search with your lot and block info as you most likely won't find anything in your own deed.
What about mortgage fees for leasing? We don't hear much about this anymore BUT you would need to check with your mortgage company. It's not unusual for the gas company to pickup any fees charged.
Will our property taxes go up? Well like anything else most likely..how much...do not know. Jungus Jordan said there was an initiative to lower our property taxes although not because of gas leasing.
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We are starting to get interest from XTO in the area. They would like to obtain the TX DOT land south of I20 on McCart. This would most likely reach all of our area but may take awhile to get since they have to deal with the state.
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We are distributing flyers to homes that have not returned an Interest Form. Many people have said they did not receive one in the mail. It is still important to return the forms. To date we have 525 forms returned. We would like to see over 1000 returned. Thanks to all who have returned the forms. If you have signed a lease with a gas company we would like to know. As always we ask that you do not sign a lease with any gas company if you support a neighborhood group lease that protects both you, your property, and quality of life. Something the gas company lease won't do.
We plan to have Chesapeake at the next WENA meeting, March 13. They will give a presentation and Q&A after our other WENA business and speakers.
Other WENA news
Councilman Jungus Jordan will be hosting a District 6 Town Hall, Monday, February 4, North Crowley High School Auditorium, 7-9 pm.
Approximately 20 of our city departments will be present to give out information and answer questions at tables set up in the foyer before the town hall begins. This will be a great opportunity to meet and get to know many of our departments that you may not know much about and to visit with the representatives of those departments.
Participating with Councilman Jordan will be our city manager, some of our assistant city managers, CISD superintendent, Greg Gibson, County Commissioner Roy Brooks, representatives from police/fire, transportation and others. There will be some presentations and of course there will be plenty of opportunity for questions/answers.
WENA website http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/ftw/wedgwoodeast/main.html
If you are receiving this email multiple times 'reply' and let me know.
Thanks
Gas Lease Task Force
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Gas News - Jan. 8, 2008
ALL,
Happy New Year.
The WENA Gas Lease Task Force had a meeting with Paloma last week and no agreement was reached.
There was no negotiating..an offer was made from Paloma and they were not interested in looking at our lease but instead wanted us to use theirs which is lacking in both quality of life issues and protecting the owner from unwarranted expenses and legal issues. Since our job requires at least an interest in our lease and an offer that goes along with other neighborhoods..we could not endorse this. Without competition right now good offers are hard to come by. Although disappointing, our area is early in the game of leasing and we expect the next few months to bring increased interest in our area. Time is on our side...right now.
With that said..this gives us the time we need to organize which is really critical to be effective. Returning these forms, as said before, gives us a negotiating edge if we can tell a gas company we have 'X' number of owners interested in signing a group lease. It makes our area one big block of land that has to be dealt with for these gas companies to continue their operations. Thank you to those who have returned forms. They come in daily..so keep them coming!
What are we going to do now...
Continue to check, at least weekly, with gas companies to see their interest and/or plans for our area.
We discuss possible sites in our area with these companies and even look for sites for them.
We stay current on news and activity going on. Thanks to everyone who keeps us up on what lease offers are hitting our area. Please keep doing that. We will continue our contact with surrounding Neighborhood Associations to share activity and what could benefit each of our areas. We all are always open to grouping together if it would be effective. Some of these gas companies are drilling from directions that don't include us or vice versa and it is not to an associations best interest to have another area that a company is not interested in. It just drags down the desired associations negotiating. But on the other hand if there is interest from a gas company then we all are available.
It is supposed to be another good year for leasing. So with that on we go.
Thank you for your continued support and patience. As with other neighborhoods it can take many months before a good deal is made.
WENA Gas Lease Task Force
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Gas News -December 31, 2007
Hello All,
For those that live south of Fenton Ave. you have probably received another offer from Paloma for $7500 per acre with a $1500 minimum along with the chance of winning Cowboy tickets and a big screen TV.
Wedgwood East N. A. (WENA) does not support this lease offer and asks that you DO NOT sign this offer.
We are trying to negotiate our area with Paloma and these offers are meant to pick off our homeowners and weaken our negotiations with the gas company. If they can get our homeowners for less money why should they pay more. When an agreement is reached between WENA and ANY gas company we will let you know.
And furthermore, their lease does not protect you. For instance the royalty you are being paid has you paying their costs such as production and transportation before you get paid. After awhile there is not much left of the royalty payment. Our lease proposal will not pay these costs, only the taxes involved which you pay anyway. These production and transportation costs are the gas companys, not yours..we are not business partners with them. We are only leasing land with the promise of royalty payments for that use and production from the land.
Thanks to all who have returned forms even though it is the holidays. It does matter. To date we have received just over 300. But of course we could use more. If you have not returned your interest form and have intentions of doing so, please return it at your earliest convenience so we know who is intersted in a better deal all around.
Thank you so much for your support.
Have a safe and Happy New Year.
WENA Gas Lease Task Force
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Gas News Dec. 7, 2007
Hello All,
We sat down with Paloma Wednesday evening of this week and they are interested in our whole Wedgwood East Neighborhood Association (WENA) area. Four Sevens and Paloma are currently in our area with leases and/or signing events.
WENAs boundaries are:
North - I20, South - Alta Mesa,
East - Westcreek/McCart, West - Trail Lake/Woodway
What does that mean for me?
That means whether you have received a Four Sevens lease and/or a Paloma lease or no lease
at all and have NOT signed a lease you are eligible so long as you are a homeowner within
WENAs boundaries. So at this time it is even more important that we ask that you do not sign
a lease if you have received one or have been asked to go to a signing event. By you not signing
strengthens our negotiating power with these companies. You still may receive a lease from
Four Sevens or Paloma in the mail or an invitation to a signing event. Unless Wedgwood East
Neighborhood Association has recommended a lease please DO NOT sign it.
We have NOT recommended anything to review and sign yet.
A new lease
If a negotiated agreement is reached with Paloma then there will be a new lease that Wedgwood
East Neighborhood Association will recommend for your review/signing. We want this lease to
have provisions in it such as traffic and pipeline restrictions. We also want a signing bonus that is
in line with what other neighborhoods have received, not the signing bonus that is currently being
offered by the gas companies.
Where is Paloma drilling?
Paloma's proposed drilling locations are south of Alta Mesa. McCart at Sycamore School Rd
behind the closed Tom Thumb. Another possible site is on the west side of McCart between
Madrid and W. Cleburne Rd where they are selling Christmas trees. These sites are good news
for us as they are far away from our area. We are fortunate that there are no close sites available
in our Neighborhood and with advancing technology these sites can reach further without the noise
and disruption a closer site would bring.
So what do I do now?
Please just be patient. This negotiation may take time.
Again, you still may receive a lease from Four Sevens or Paloma in the mail or an invitation to a
signing event. Unless Wedgwood East Neighborhood Association has recommended that lease please
DO NOT sign it. We will let you know when the lease is available for you to review and sign
if you so choose.
We appreciate our residents who have let us know about the leases and signing events they
have received. It helps us track activity and to go to these companies with valid information.
It really makes a difference when you have good communication and the support of residents.
Thank you,
Wedgwood East Neighborhood Association Gas Lease Task Force
Please pass this information to your neighbors who may not have email.
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