Last month was filled with activity. The Texas Legislature is in session, so I went to Austin and spent a day and a half with our State Reps. First, I met with Representative Richard Hayes. We discussed his bill, HB950 and how it might harm Northlake. We were able to make some adjustments to the bill before it was submitted so that the town would not have to pay millions of dollars to fund water and sewer projects to landowners that do not want or need it. We worked on our concerns about other bills that remove the local control of government and give power to the state. Most of these changes would directly benefit developers to run freely and build against our comprehensive plan. I would like to thank Richard for taking the time to meet with us for so long and to go over so many topics.
The next day I met with Representative Ben Bumgarner. We had a slew of conversations on several topics, but stayed focused on what our town, and other fast-growing towns, need to flourish. Now, Ben served previously on the Flower Mound Town Council and understands that local control is the best control and was in favor of all our arguments and points. We moved to talking about the lack of TxDOT funding and the projects that were moving too slowly for our rapid growth needs, particularly FM 407 and our 407 Breakout Project at I-35W. Ben has been a great ally in terms of supporting our town through legislative needs and I cannot thank him enough for the time he spent with me.
I also met with the staff of Senator Tan Parker and Senator Brent Hagenbuch. Both were in committees that day, however their staff was very accommodating. Much like the prior meetings with representatives, we pushed hard for local control and larger state issues like TxDOT funding and the lack of progress in Denton County on much needed mobility projects. Thank you to their staff for meeting with me.
Finally, I spent some time with our newest Representative Mitch Little. This was the first time that we really had a chance to get to know each other and then focus on the needs of Northlake. He was also very receptive to our needs, and I look forward to collaborating with him more as time goes on.
Just prior to this article being released, I will have gone back to Austin to look at more bills with a full delegation from Denton County called “Denton County Days” on April 2 at the legislature. There, I will have meetings with these representatives again to discuss progress on these bills and new bills that keep coming up. I am looking forward to this event, as well.
Recently I met with our new U.S. Congressman Brandon Gill to discuss our needs as a town in his district. Brandon has been exceptionally welcoming as he entered this role in the U.S. Congress. We met to discuss things like our identity and needing a ZIP code, difficulties with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other small topics. I am proud to say that on March 27, he formally introduced a House Resolution to order the U.S. Post Office to give Northlake its own dedicated ZIP Code. If this passes Congress, the Postal Service will be forced to award Northlake a single, unique ZIP Code applicable to the entire area encompassing Northlake. This is a huge win for Northlake if it passes and I am proud that our congressman is supporting us.
In the upcoming May election, we do have one contested seat on Northlake Town Council. I am endorsing Mr. Josh Pezzuto as he has served on several boards for Northlake over the years and is currently the Chairman of the Planning & Zoning commission. He has done an excellent job representing the council and I know his values reflect many in our town. Please get to know the candidates and come out to vote! There are other issues affecting our residents on the ballots like school bond elections and school board seats. These are important races, and I cannot stress enough how important it is to get to know the candidates before you vote! See candidate profiles in Section B of this issue.
