VISD...THE CITY...JAMES WAYNE...ALL 3 of you need to sit down and NOBODY leaves till this is resolved. geez. Letting those kids be in harms way till you settle your issues is really poor behavior of ethics. Fix it!
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Still No Sidewalk For Torres Elementary
Written by Steve Broussard KAVU
The Cities Legal Department Has Been In Negotiations With The Land Owner Of The Property Adjacent To The School. But What Does The Property Owner Say.
Landowner James Wayne says he met with Mayor Will Armstrong, Councilman Paul Polasek and City Manager Charles Windwehen on June 16 of this year to discuss right away passage to build a sidewalk on his property.
The dimensions the city requires for the sidewalk is just over 750 feet long and 12.2 feet wide. The full size of the property is 9,126 square feet of land
However another meeting was held with other officials and city councilmen concerning the sidewalk.
"One of the subjects discussed was this property and the $18,000 price tag. However Rent-A-Lawyer George came up with 10 cents per square foot or $900. Even though he has no clue what Victoria Texas Property is selling for." says James Wayne, Property Owner. Wayne says the property is worth 20 times that.
He tells us that the property was appraised by Realtor Mark Redding at $2 per square foot.
But there were some councilmen that offered another solution. Trading some other property city owned property, in exchange for use of that land to build the sidewalk.
"Joe Truman with great effort on his part had worked out a trade of excess City land Trading me 4 small lots for this 750 foot piece of land on Lone Tree Road, and it would cost the City absolutely nothing rather than spending $18,000 out of their pockets." says Wayne
Wayne says he is definitely in favor of building the sidewalk, but is he says that he is getting stonewalled.
Meanwhile we contacted the interim City Attorney George Hyde about this issue; however he says that he has no comment.
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Ah.. More reasonable..Thanx..
September 25, 2009 at 7:47 p.m.I think they meant a 12' easement to place the sidewalk on. Not that the sidewalk would be 12' wide.
September 25, 2009 at 6:23 p.m.I agree with scarlett61, I know obesity is a problem with our youth but 12 foot wide sidewalks???
September 25, 2009 at 6 p.m.Just a joke, all you haters..
A few questions...Is this side walk going to be next to Lone Tree Road or further in like the one coming out ot the school property? Why in the world does this sidewalk have to be 12 foot wide?
September 25, 2009 at 5:50 p.m.All y'all who keep wanting Mr. Wayne to donate HIS land or to "drop eminent domain on him" seem to want his private land for nothing. It's HIS land. An eminent domain action would require him to be compensated fairly and the legal fees would be quite high in addition to the cost of compensating Mr. Wayne for his land. Since the land belongs to Mr. Wayne, he has the right to set the price for it. If the VISD and the city both want the land for a sidewalk, for cryin' out loud, just pay the two dollars and build the sidewalk.
September 24, 2009 at 7:50 p.m.Sooooo...what happened?
September 24, 2009 at 6:12 p.m.resolve. Mr. Truman/Wayne, thanks for coming to an agreement. If others, thanks as well. Sometimes a fair trade and a honest handshake develops a good faith closure.
September 24, 2009 at 5:50 p.m.I would like to see a sidewalk in front of Blackman Toyota and Uncle Mutt's.
August 29, 2009 at 12:21 p.m.now at tues'. council meeting do the right thing. public health/safety is a responsiblity of the council. you represent those that have a voice and those who have not a voice.
then think out of the box. do the other schools have the same issues?!? i drove around. east hs has the trail. the corner lots are bare. n.e. mockingbird is bare. i know its early but dont wait till it opens to fix what you know will be needed. pre plan.
dont let personal feelings affect your vote. location, population, social status and age are all variables.
lets not regress back to the days of under the hill thinking. lets be proud of what image we do have.
August 29, 2009 at 12:14 p.m.Onslow are you serious? its called helping out our kids. Greed gets you no where!
August 28, 2009 at 4:18 p.m.I remember walking to elementary school across a field behind my house. No sidewalk there and no danger encountered in the grass. I agree that a sidewalk would be nice but until this is resolved the kids can walk on the grass. No one is forcing them to walk in the street.
August 28, 2009 at 3:29 p.m.RU is correct . Someone needs to step up to the plate.
August 28, 2009 at 10:05 a.m.So what is really happening here is the kids don't get a side walk.. What a Shame.. Shame on the City. Shame on James Wayne.
August 28, 2009 at 9:14 a.m.VBB: There may not have been any easement provision in place for such a rural road. That would have been a mistake by the City.
Robert: I appreciate the need to solve this problem and keep the kids safe but I would not want the City to simply take my land away and I seriously doubt you would agree to let them do that to you either.
Didn't James Wayne say that some of the council members had worked out a land trade that he would agree to? This seems like the best solution because it immediately makes the necessary land available for the sidewalks and doesn't cost the City any additional money. Has anyone said why this wouldn't work?
August 28, 2009 at 8:33 a.m.drop Eminent Domain on him, problem solved
August 28, 2009 at 12:04 a.m.What about easements? Northcrest just got new sidewalks where there once were none...did those people who now have sidewalks on their property get paid for the sidewalk placement? When we bought our house & the one before it was stated on the deed that so much of the perimeter was "easement" which meant don't put anything permanent on it as it may get ripped up if the city needs access.
August 27, 2009 at 11:04 p.m.