Friday, Aug. 15, 2008

Neighbors Cry Foul at Gas Signing Event

Some Cite Pressure to Ink 300-foot Setback Waiver

By Scott Price

Staff Writer

Some local residents who had come to a natural gas lease signing event last week with Chesapeake Exploration were surprised when they were asked to sign a waiver that would allow gas well drilling up to 300 feet from homes and businesses.

This setback was much less than the 1,000-foot setback that had been agreed upon, said Gary Jones, Grapevine Shadow Glen Homeowners Association president. The 1,000-foot setback is also the standard setback required by the city of Grapevine.

The homeowners were offered an additional $500 to sign the setback waiver, and some may have signed the waiver without fully understanding the ramifications, some homeowners said.

Chesapeake did not respond to phone and e-mail messages left by the Courier this week.

"I didn’t sign, but others have been signing this waiver," said Shadow Glen resident Susie Stonecipher.

Shadow Glen resident Lisa Nenow said she and her husband, Richard, were pressured to sign the waiver, and repeatedly refused.

"If I hadn’t heard about it in advance I wouldn’t have known what I was signing," Nenow said. "They just whipped it out like it was just another part of the lease. We just both felt it was not very clear."

To receive a setback waiver of the city’s required 1,000-foot setback, Chesapeake would have to come before the Grapevine City Council. Getting several residents to sign the waiver would make it easier for the company to persuade the council to reduce the setback, Jones said.

The 360 Northwest Coalition, at the northwest corner of Texas 360 along the west border of Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, includes 21 subdivisions in Grapevine and Euless, with 3,500 residential and commercial properties on about 1,500 acres.

The coalition negotiated an agreement with Chesapeake for a $23,500 per acre signing bonus for gas drilling within three years. If drilling does not take place in that time, another $23,500 bonus can be paid to extend the lease.

The agreement also includes a 25 percent royalty payment.

"Chesapeake Exploration and the 360 NW Coalition worked very well together to come to an agreement on the terms of the lease, so I was very disappointed to learn that they slipped a variance waiver into the signing papers that would significantly alter that agreement," Jones wrote in a letter. He said that Cimarron Field Services conducted the negotiations.

"They [Chesapeake] have given us assurances that the issue has been resolved, but that doesn’t change the fact that many people signed a waiver," Jones said. "We believe it is those who live close to a possible drill site."

Stonecipher said the drill site was evidently in the area of the Delaney Vineyards.

The 360 Northwest Coalition will have another lease signing event from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday at First Baptist Church of Euless, 205 N. Industrial Blvd. in Bedford.

See http://360nw.info for information about the 360 Northwest Coalition.

Charles D. Young contributed to this article.