Dana Carvey's Grumpy old man: precursor to cane wavers of today

In the clip below, although supposedly portraying a child, Dana Carvey reprises his Grumpy Old Man Character of his SNL days.  Today's cane wavers such as LaredoTejas and LaSanbe seem to have been directly influenced by Carvey's archetypal Grumpy Old Man.

I'd rather have a waterpark than use water in fracking

In Laredo, this is currently called a mirage.

I'll keep it simple. With so many unlikely projects taking off in Laredo, I still say a waterpark makes a lot more sense than many of them.  Laredo is one of the hottest places in the country, one of the dryest. OK, so you say- exactly : we can't afford to use water for leisure. I would tend to agree with such a statement if South Texas was not currently using millions upon millions of gallons of water in fracking for oil and gas.

On top of using vast amounts of water, there is so much pollution going on. Of course, the oil and gas people paint a pretty picture and run commercials with pristine lakes and unspoiled land: the very aspects of nature that their quest for riches is ruining.

So, a water park should be brought up in the discussion for projects our city should seriously consider. If the "too much water" argument comes up, then fine- how do you justify the waste of precious water in fracking?  Of course, the mayor and virtually everyone else willl cry out "JOBS!".  Yes, jobs are being created but at what price?

If we had a waterpark for Laredoans to enjoy and cool off in, at least I could tell the mayor and seedy council to go jump in the lake...make that in the pool.

How long might the Eagle Ford Shale boom last? Depends whom you ask

The Eagle Ford Shale activity was one of the many subjects discussed by our city council at the now-infamous "Needmore Retreat".

Jose Ceballos, American Natural Gas Association (ANGA) spokesman/lobbyist spoke on the topic for a few minutes. He buttered up the mayor and the council abit and then everyone started taking turns at predicting just how long the EFS boom might last. Others, such as congressman Henry (Heh Heh) Cuellar have previously made similar predictions.

Ceballos butters them up. (Again, I paraphrase from the retreat's audio.)

The ANGA spokesman took to the podium and immediately commended council for holding the retreat. Ceballos then mentioned that he has been working on the EFS for over 2 years.  Also, he cited an ANGA study by UTSA that reveals positive county-level impacts. He said that this info will assist city/county in economic development planning.   

According to Ceballos, the city is in position to provide housing for “Southern rim” of EFS. He said that he expects to see many jobs, including Management/middle management positions, coming to Laredo.  Laredo is the "workforce hub for the EFS", he added.  

Ceballos also talked about “Texas clean air triangle” Houston- Dallas-San Antonio being developed for fleet and big truck purposes. This, he said, will benefit the city of Laredo.  He mentioned housing, workforce, airport, university (he didn’t’ mention I-35). He said that Laredo has one of the few CNG  (Compressed Natural Gas) filling stations in the state.

He then spoke about the continued expectations of the boom , starting off by saying that we’re at 13,000 wells now. He added that the potential in the EFS for oil & gas wells is about 20,000. He said this started in 2008, with very few permits. Now, there's  a better picture to be able to forecast the possible future of the EFS.

Guessing game?

As far as number of years, he hesitated but said that 20 years potential might be the length of the play. He added, maybe more.  He encouraged for city to stay and strengthen its role as a regional player. (He seemed hesitant to cite the 20 year estimate).

San Miguel estimates about 5-10 years of the EFS being really active, then forsees a longer but much slower period afterwards.

The mayor has also mentioned a 20-year stint for the EFS.

Carlos Villarreal mentioned that according to Rod Lewis, of Lewis Petroleum, it should be 35 years for sure.

Henry (heh heh) Cuellar has said before that the EFS play should be booming for about 50 years.

50 years? Why not? It sure makes for good press (heh heh).

Its Baa-aaaack! : Town Center Mall

Lights, camera.....what? No Video??

One of the things discussed at last weekend's City of Laredo council retreat at the remote and mysterious Needmore ranch, was the Town Center Mall.  Some of you might recall that a few years ago the developers of the mall wanted to eradicate the "wetlands" adjacent to the proposed mall across from the Laredo Intl Airport. Long story short: negotiations stalled and the developers failed to continue their venture after leasing the land from the city.

Incidentally, there was a big public outcry about the wetlands issue and thousands of signatures were secured on a petition. Wetland supporters addressed our city council and insisted that the wetlands be spared. Some say this action was enough to stop the developers, others say that it entirely a legal roadblock that helped spare the wetland area.

Now, after one of the worst droughts in Texas history, some (like Tom Wade) are saying the wetlands have since dried up and are no more. I admit I haven't confirmed this myself.

Anyway, following is my paraphrasing of the audio (no video was taken) at the retreat in regards to the Town Center Mall discussion.

In regards to town center- they owe us money, it’s true says Villarreal (CV). They no longer want to pay a rental fee – they want to buy the property.  We’re in process of negotiating with Laredo Town Center and I’ll (CV) send you a draft letter of a proposed letter in trying to negotiate a letter and it’ll include any past rent they owe . Draft letter should be sent out Monday (March 25^th).  

Some of the reasons they didn’t’ want to build was: 1) environmental concerns, 2)Also, they didn’t’ want to lease, they wanted to own.   Mayor says that the “people” who came to talk about buying that property were “very, very interested”.  Mayor says it would be a multi-million dollar project that would create at least 100 jobs.  Mayor says we need to revisit as soon as possible.  

San Miguel chimes in- asks about some warehouses (city property) that were demolished once the land was leased to the developers.  These were worth about 3Million dollars.  He says city should take that cost into consideration (Airport director says that these buildings were fairly new) so CV says then, yes- it should be taken into consideration.

Charlie then asks if town center property is within metes and bounds of LEA sports venue tax district. CV says “no” this is not part of the sports venue tax district. CV says that Texas Attorney General decides if a certain project is within the sports venue tax guidelines.   

CV then provides some info on the proposed draft letter concerning possible sale of town center property. They are NOT paying rent BECAUSE city is in negotiation for the sale of the property according to CV.

Narvaez- (inaudible) – something about Riverdrive mall.

Rendon-(inaudible)-something about the township proposal again.

Rangel then asks when might deal be finalized with township sale. CV says that well it might be soon- letter is ready to send but was not sent because CV wanted to discuss it at retreat. Rangel asks if the buyers have any time limit to build something on that property. CV keeps saying that if they buy it, it’s theirs. Rangel says  that we don’t want to sell it to someone who’s just going to sit on it.  CV says this is America and they have a right to do with the property whatever they wish. We cannot force to do something specific with them- Legal (Casso) agrees with CV.  Rangel keeps asking if there’s any way to “force” them to build something in a certain amount of time.

That's all for now

PA fracking related law is insane in the membrane!

By Susie Madrock

Under a new law, doctors in Pennsylvania can access information about chemicals used in natural gas extraction—but they won't be able to share it with their patients. A provision buried in a law passed last month is drawing scrutiny from the public health and environmental community, who argue that it will "gag" doctors who want to raise concerns related to oil and gas extraction with the people they treat and the general public.

[...] There is good reason to be curious about exactly what's in those fluids. A 2010 congressional investigation revealed that Halliburton and other fracking companies had used 32 million gallons of diesel products, which include toxic chemicals like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene, in the fluids they inject into the ground. Low levels of exposure to those chemicals can trigger acute effects like headaches, dizziness, and drowsiness, while higher levels of exposure can cause cancer.

Pennsylvania law states that companies must disclose the identity and amount of any chemicals used in fracking fluids to any health professional that requests that information in order to diagnosis or treat a patient that may have been exposed to a hazardous chemical. But the provision in the new bill requires those health professionals to sign a confidentiality agreement stating that they will not disclose that information to anyone else—not even the person they're trying to treat.

Meanwhile down at the ranch

It's was peculiar that the city of Laredo decided to hold it's brainstorming, workshop session at the Needmore ranch somewhere out on Mines road. The mayor said that it was being held there in order to provide a change of pace and perhaps take advantage of the different surrounding in the hopes that the rustic atmosphere might trigger some good ideas for a change.

An interesting question is this: is it legal for the city to hold public meetings on private property? They did post the agenda and it did say that the public was invited but still it seemed rather strange for the event to take place at a non-public location. In this case, the Needmore Ranch, which according to the press is owned by the LaMantia family.

Just to be on the safe side, the mayor and council should really just stick to holding their meetings at City Hall or some other public facility. I wonder what the Texas Open Meetings Act has to say about this situation if anything.  All in all, it seems rather odd that they decided on the ol' ranch, I reckon.

Revisiting the llantas-cross fit connection

Last year (or some time ago), LaredoTejas posted on Laredo's affinity for dumping used tires practically all over our city. This is especially true in our city's West and South Sides, as has been painstakingly documented by Laredo's colossal blogger, Bordertown Blues.

In our previous post, we suggested that Laredoans who want to get rid of old tires, simply call one of the increasing number of cross-fit centers in town and generously donate your worn-out "llantas".

The cross-fitters could then send paying customers out to your place jogging to either roll back the donated tire or even bring it in by hurling it a few yards at a time.  Once the tire is on the cross-fit premises, it will be a valuable addition to its equipment inventory.

After all, tires are used to toss around, jump over, take out your aggressiveness on- by beating it up with a sledgehammer and they are especially perfect for the tried and true agility course.