Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutGBA 2007-08-09 MinutesMINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE GAS BOARD OF APPEALS OF THE CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS August 9, 2007 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairman Tom Duer at 6:01 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL PRESENT Tom Duer Randy Shiflet Brad Greene Kathy Luppy Garry Cope CITY STAFF Dir. of Planning & Development John Pitstick Asst. Fire Chief Kirk Marcum Lieutenant Greg Lindsey Recording Secretary Gina Harner 3. APPROVAL OF June 28, 2007 MINUTES APPROVED Randy Shiflet, seconded by Kathy Luppy, motioned to approve with the proposed change of wording on page 10 of the minutes from June 28,2007. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 4. REVIEW OF FINAL CHANGES TO GAS WELL DRILLING AND PRODUCTION ORDINANCE #2945 John Pitstick reviewed the changes to the Gas Well Drilling and Production Ordinance #2945 that were approved by City Council on July 23, 2007. Graham Ranch and Stephens-Morrow 1-H will be vested since they made application on July 30 started before the new ordinance went into affect on August 1, 2007. Page 1 of 6; 08/09/07 GBA minutes Closed loop mud circulating system will be required exclusively. The closed loop system is self contained and has the ability to reuse certain products. Permit fees were increased from $5,000 to $10,000 for each well. There will also be an annual permit fee of $ 2,000. New Screening Standards include 6 foot Chain link fences with wooden slats are required during drilling phase. Masonry walls with landscape must be put up within 90 days of completion of drilling. Kathy Luppy asked when the screening variance for Graham Ranch expires? Mr. Pitstick said that they have until November 7, 2007 but might be returning to Gas Board to request an extension. Hours of operation will be limited for all operations other than drilling between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Preparation for fracturing operations including assembly, perforating, disassembly and cleanup are allowed other than the designated hours as approved by Gas Inspector. Kirk Marcum said that the fracturing operation is louder than the drilling phase and after speaking to representatives from the gas company they don't do those operations at night due to noise and safety reasons. New Pipeline regulations require right-of-way agreement for all proposed pipelines with insurance and as-built plans required. Distance setbacks are exempt in the City Parks with City Council approval. Right now it appears they will only be drilling in Fossil Creek Park. New Construction setbacks from drill sites have been increased. There will be a 150 foot setback from outside fence or boundary of production gas well site for all habitable buildings. Mr. Pitstick said that the gas company will purchase a legal easement for the 150 feet outside the production site. Concrete Access Roads are required. All private roads on drill sites during the drilling and fracturing stages of a drill site shall be all weather hard surface and be maintained to prevent dust, mud and rutting. Permanent private access roadway constructed of concrete shall be constructed within (90) days after the production phase begins. Drilling in the floodway will be allowed with FEMA approval. Chesapeake is planning to drill in the floodway at Fossil Creek Park. Page 2 of 6; 08/09/07 GBA minutes Compressors and Compressor sites will be allowed with approval from the Gas Board of Appeals. The use of compressors allows for smaller pipelines and easements. Compressors are loud and the Gas Board will determine what will be allowed to use as buffers for the noise. Mr. Pitstick said that the Railroad Commission does allow the use of Salt water disposal wells. This would allow for the waste water to pumped under ground to avoid the constant traffic of trucks coming in to take the waste water out to be disposed. This is something that has been discussed but not decided upon yet. The water for the stock pond for fracturing will be purchased from the city. The stock pond holds 6 million gallons of water. Garry Cope asked if this would affect water pressure to nearby homes? Mr. Pitstick said no, they will be drawing water between the hours of 12 a.m. and 4 a.m. According to Public works this will also allow for the water to circulate through the storage tanks faster to keep from sitting for too long. Gas Operators and Pipeline Companies will be allowed to provide proper security and documentation for self insurance. Kirk Marcum said that he had told the Gas Company that as long as someone was on the site at all times working they wouldn't make them maintain a security person on site. Although after he drove out onto the site twice and wasn't approached by anyone working on site. At that point he contacted them and told them to provide security for the site. John Pitstick said there were new definitions placed in the ordinance. The new ordinance also allows for the gas inspector to make minor changes in the field as long as they are changes that would be allowed by the ordinance. Railroad right of way has 150 foot setbacks. There will be a forfeiture of fees after 180 days if drilling hasn't started. Burning or flaring had an original setback of 500 ft. which didn't work with the existing setbacks so it was changed to 300 ft. Open pits can only be used for freshwater storage. One foot of freeboard is required between the surface elevation and the top of the berm to eliminate the possibility of overflow. The effective date for ordinance changes was August 1, 2007. There are currently 2 existing applications and there may be another application submitted in September. Primarily Harding Company is drilling North of Mid Cities and Chesapeake South of Mid Cities. There will probably be 6-8 sites in the city with 10-15 wells drilled per site. By the time the wells reach final production they will hardly be noticed with the screening requirements. There will be some hassle during the drilling and fracturing operations with distance and safety requirements. Kathy Luppy asked if there are 4-5 wells at each site? Page 3 of 6; 08/09/07 GBA minutes Kirk Marcum said that they will have 11 wells at Graham. Kathy Luppy said that there were 3 wells originally approved at Graham. Kirk Marcum said yes that was what they originally brought forward. Kathy Luppy said they are now proposing to drill additional wells. Kirk Marcum said yes they would be adding 8 more wells. Mr. Pitstick said that they have approval from the Gas Board for setbacks set from Billy Grahams existing house. On the other 8 wells they will need to come before the Gas Board to get permission to drill the additional 8 wells. Kathy Luppy asked if they would drilled in the same vicinity? Kirk Marcum said yes, they will be set 10 feet apart. Chairman Duer asked if the current setbacks on Graham are set from the drilling site? Kirk Marcum said that it is 300 feet from the bore site. Chairman Duer asked if there were any houses ready to be built within that area ? Mr. Shiflet said no, they are holding up building in that area. Mr. Marcum said that from what he understands Ben Johnson will start building from the West and build back towards the East. Ms. Luppy asked if the empty land between Walgreens and Billy Graham's house would be residential? Mr. Pitstick said yes. Mr. Marcum said it would be 2 separate additions. Ben Johnson's development and Graham Ranch. Mr. Pitstick said that Ben Johnson's development will be resolve a lot of drainage problems. It is a different type of housing but shouldn't lower the value of the neighboring properties. Mr. Shiflet said that it is a Planned Development directly behind Walgreens and Blockbuster. Unlike Graham Ranch it ties everything together and should also take care of existing drainage problems. Page 4 of 6; 08/09/07 GBA minutes Ms. Luppy asked how many homes would be going into this development? Mr. Pitstick said he isn't sure. Mr. Shiflet said that it would have an entrance off Hightower and would go down and loop around and come back out. There will also be a Fire Entrance behind Blockbuster. Mr. Greene asked what size of homes would be in the development? Mr. Shiflet said that they would be the larger homes on smaller lots. Mr. Shiflet said there were quite of few people from the nearby neighborhood at the Planning & Zoning meeting. The developers also went and met with all of the neighbors on the North side. Chairman Duer asked if all the wells would be complete before any houses are built? Kirk Marcum said he didn't know. Chairman Duer asked if the goal was to have the drills completed before any new construction? Kirk Marcum said that a house could not be built within 150 feet. Ben Johnson has made an agreement with Harding Company not to work the East side of the property until all drilling is complete. Mr. Greene said that they wouldn't know where to measure the 150 ft setback would be until the final production wall was built. Mr. Marcum said that this doesn't apply to them. We will have to go out on site and pick a spot to measure the 150 feet. Chairman Duer asked what the farthest distance from the Graham 1-H? Mr. Pitstick said that it would be 30 feet. Ms. Luppy asked if they would be drilled in a circle? Kirk Marcum said no, they will be drilled in a line. Mr. Pitstick said they will drill one and then move 10 feet and come back across. Mr. Marcum said that if anyone has any questions and are unable to reach him that Lt. Greg Lindsey will also be available to help. Page 5 of 6; 08/09/07 GBA minutes Mr. Pitstick said that if anyone drives by a site and sees something that needs to be addressed to feel free to contact someone to check into it. Chairman Duer asked if anyone has an idea when they would be able to do an on site tour? Kirk Marcum said that he would like to get the Board out to a site and also has a slide show. He will find out if he can get them out on the site when they start fracturing. Mr. Pitstick said that he thinks it would be helpful. Chairman Duer asked when they were going to begin drilling the next well? Mr. Marcum said that it wouldn't be until they finish fracturing the current well. Chairman Duer asked about the Stephens well? Kirk Marcum said that it hasn't been approved yet so it is still a couple months out. Randy Shiflet asked if Stephens-Morrow has been combined on one site ? Kirk Marcum said they have moved the site. They moved off of Morrows site and put it all on Stephen's site. 6. ADJOURNMENT The chairman adjourned the meeting at 7:10 p.m. Chairman Secretary Q~ Tom Duer ~ - Kathy Luppy Page 6 of 6; 08/09/07 GBA minutes