2009 FBISD Tax Hearing (On YouTube)

CLICK HERE FOR THE 2009 FBISD CONTROVERSIAL TAX HEARING (YES THEY ARE RAISING THEM AGAIN--see petition of over 500 district taxpayers asking for board accountability) --In case anyone missed it they raised the property tax rate again (4th time) in 2010 and more than likely will do so again in 2011 facing another projected 15-20 million dollar budget deficit, according to some media reports. ***NEW*** ..Petition TO STOP THE GSTC (Global Science Museum being planned at the district central office--near $30 million dollar project that superintendent Jenney is pushing): http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stopthegcst/ (see update below on this apparently ending this project after 2 years)

Friday, May 23, 2008

FBISD Ends Sienna Land Contract

FBISD Terminates Contract To Purchase Sienna Property For School
by John Pape, FBN

Fort Bend ISD’s on-again, off-again deal to purchase property in Sienna Plantation for a new high school is off again, this time apparently for good.

In a specially-called meeting that lasted until after 11 p.m. Thursday evening, school trustees voted to terminate the contract with HW Sienna, L.P., and request the return of earnest money paid to secure the property. The vote came at the end of an almost two hour executive session during which the board debated the decision behind closed doors.

Trustees voted to terminate the contract by a 5-2 vote, with newly-elected board members Daniel Menendez and Susan Hohnbaum casting the dissenting votes.

In March, the board had voted to buy 77 acres of property from HW Sienna for $3.35 million. Although specific details on what caused the deal to fall through were not publicly revealed, trustees alluded to “conditions” and “constraints” placed on finalizing the deal by the seller.

The district has been under the gun to finalize the purchase in order meet deadlines to build a new high school in the eastern part of the district.

Trustee David Reitz, who made the motion to terminate the contract, voiced his frustration over dealing with the seller, asking Superintendent Dr. Timothy Jenney if the purchase of the Sienna property had been typical.

“How long have we been negotiating to do a routine transaction?” Reitz asked. “Dr. Jenney, you’ve been at this for a long time; is this normally a six-month process?”

Jenney said it was not.

“Generally, it’s fairly straight forward,” he explained.

Trustee Bob Broxson, who seconded Reitz’ motion to pull out of the deal, echoed the frustration.

“We’ve worked really hard to get a high school in Sienna,” Broxson said. “I’ve been (doing) contract negotiations for 25 years and I’ve never been in a process like this. I think it’s time to bring this sad chapter to an end and get on with building a high school.”

Get the full story at:

http://fortbendnow.com/pages/full_story?article-FBISD-Terminates-Contract-To-Purchase-Sienna-Property-For-School%20=&page_label=home&id=74971-FBISD-Terminates-Contract-To-Purchase-Sienna-Property-For-School&widget=push&instance=home_news_lead_story&open=&

See other related special session FBN piece:

http://fortbendnow.com/pages/full_story?page_label=home&id=75004-FBISD-Board-Votes-To-Not-Renew-Marshall-Teacher’s-Contract-&widget=push&instance=home_news_lead_story&article-FBISD-Board-Votes-To-Not-Renew-Marshall-Teacher’s-Contract-%20=&open=&

10 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

« heads-up wrote on Friday, May 23 at 06:45 AM »
What kind or type of conditions where being placed, to cost paxpayers more?
« JohnBernardBooks wrote on Friday, May 23 at 06:45 AM »
ridrigo do you have any idea why the voters said no to an uneducated illerate candidate for school board?
« heads-up wrote on Friday, May 23 at 06:34 AM »
FBISD Close session prohibit or limits public to know! Who said, what? Only in open public session, taxpayers can know what leadership or mis-leadership took place.

Anonymous said...

« JohnBernardBooks wrote on Friday, May 23 at 06:56 AM »
ridrigo not only is the Hannover parcel total more the cost per arce was more. The HW Sienna was less expensive but had stipulations not detailed here. How can you question the school board when you don't understand the issues?

Anonymous said...

« ragingbull wrote on Friday, May 23 at 08:10 AM »
VI (bookie),

Your comments continue to demonstrate what a low life you really are. You aren't half the person Mr. Carreon is!

" « JohnBernardBooks wrote on Friday, May 23 at 06:45 AM » ridrigo do you have any idea why the voters said no to an uneducated illerate candidate for school board?"

Go back to your cage and lock it this time!!!

Anonymous said...

« ragingbull wrote on Friday, May 23 at 08:37 AM »
I think the current BOT should be commended for their principled stand on this, especially Mr. Reitz who lives in that community and will get some heat on this. Hopefully all will work out for the families involved, but the BOT should not allow high handed tactics as seems to be the case reported here.

I agree with others that since these land purchases are a fairly large portion of our public taxes and debt that they should be held in the open. What's amazing to me is the fact that FBISD moved forward on this in March in an area without roads, water or infrastructure. Not like the Baines MS deal or any of the others. Why should they pay full market value on unprepared land and why should the taxpayers foot the bill when these schools do more to sell land and homes in those big developments than any other amenity?
« heads-up wrote on Friday, May 23 at 08:25 AM »
Two new dissenting votes left behind BY five OTHER FBISD BOT?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Way to go BOT!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous wrote:
"I think the current BOT should be commended for their principled stand on this, especially Mr. Reitz who lives in that community and will get some heat on this"

>>> No, Mr. Reitz does not live in Sienna Plantation. He lives in Sienna Point which is located a few blocks away from FM 521. And guess what ? The land parcel that the Ft. Bend ISD board indicated that they will pursue next is conveniently located on FM 521. And yes, Mr. Reitz does have children that will be attending high school as well. Co-incidence - it's hard for me to believe that's the case from where I stand.

Anonymous said...

No one I know in Sienna considers the point a separate area not included with the rest of the subdivision, they use the same amenities. Either location is about the same distance from Sienna Point, so what is your POINT?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous wrote:
Either location is about the same distance from Sienna Point, so what is your POINT?

>>> I recommend you google the location first before making this claim. The new land parcel is located South East of TX-6 and FM 521 which will be closer to Sienna Point. Also, I did NOT say anything about Sienna Point and Sienna Plantation being two seperate communities. But the fact is that though Sienna Point and Sienna Plantation share the same amenities, they are physically located in two different areas.

The Houston Chronicle did try to interview Mr. Reitz regarding his decision to terminate the negotiation with Hillwood, and all he can muster is "there are a number of things" without being specific. As an elected official, he needs to make clear to the public of the rationale of his decision and to keep the voters informed! There was some comments regarding Hillwood was difficult to negotiate with which is probably true, but this should not be the determined factor. I hope it's not the case of conflict-of-interest. Mr. Reitz did have a chance to clear this up but failed to do .

Btw, in case anyone is interested, here is the blog of a Chronicle staff which tried to get in touch with Ft. ISD board members for them to clarify why this decision is made:

http://blogs.chron.com/fortbend/archives/fort_bend_isd/

from what I see so far, no one from the board has explained the decision clearly. This, I can not wait to hear.