City Blunders

The City Blunders page was not created to make fun of anyone or to show how various departments or people got things wrong. On the contrary, it is here to show that plans are just plans. No one sets out to waste millions of dollars. No one knows exactly what will happen. No one can tell what will or won't happen in 5-20 years. 

No matter what we're told about a perfect scenario that will bring X economic development dollars, we're still never guaranteed anything. Take grand plans with a grain of salt, and we'll all be a little more realistic and less likely to trust grand schemes and "visionaries" playing around with other people's money.

  • The Gateway -- now called Southgate -- Please read about all the serious MEDC and city dollars spent on this gem since 2000.
  • Because a trailer park hotel was such a slap in the face to the future dreams of McKinney, our city spent over $2M in City of McKinney v Arch Resorts
  • And, because a storage container business in McKinney's ETJ needed to be stopped, we spent over $1M and had to settle McKinney v Custer Storage
  • How about the time McKinney decided to forcibly annex nearly the entire Northwest sector without thinking?
  • How about the time the city destroyed a woman's house and wouldn't pay damages until she got a civil rights firm, the Institute for Justice, to represent her in Baker v. City of McKinney
  • Speaking of the airport, what about the time when the city entered into a public private partnership with a company to build a newer FBO? That company went bankrupt. The city hired another company...and that company went bankrupt. Subcontractors came to city council meetings trying to get paid for their work. Here's a youtube video of the groundbreaking in 2018. (63) McKinney breaks ground on new FBO terminal - YouTube

  • Here's a bit from the Facebook group before I make it into an article here:
    "At McKinney's next city council meeting, 7/7 at 6pm, city council will pass a resolution to allow the city manager to pick a developer without a required competitive bidding process to finish the unfinished terminal at our airport because they say it is a health and safety emergency.

  • How was Western (edited from TKI) even selected as the public private partnership developer in the first place? Are the subcontractors who came to past city council meetings to complain they were not getting paid for their work finally getting paid? What's our return on investment for the airport after this? How is the city going to pay for it? What a mess.

    Here's the wording from the resolution itself because it tells the story better than I could and picture of the unfinished FBO terminal:

    WHEREAS, Section 252.022(a)(2) of the Texas Local Government Code exempts from the State’s competitive bidding requirements an expenditure for “a procurement necessary to preserve or protect the public health or safety of the municipality’s residents”; and

    WHEREAS, Section 252.022(a)(3) of the Texas Local Government Code exempts from the State’s competitive bidding requirements an expenditure for “a procurement necessary because of unforeseen damage to public machinery, equipment, or other property”; and

    WHEREAS, the prior building owner, Western TKILeasing, LLC, filed for bankruptcy protection, abandoned and left incomplete the FBO Terminal at the McKinney National Airport which FBO Terminal has remained in an unfinished state for a significant period of time, to the point where exposed materials are becoming degraded and deteriorating in a manner that they pose a risk of being blown into and across the adjacent runway, taxiways and hangars as well as endangering aircraft taking off and landing and taxiing upon, over and about the airport property; all of which constitutes a threat to the public health and safety of the residents of the City of McKinney; and

    WHEREAS, the abandoned and incomplete FBO Terminal at the McKinney National Airport has remained in an unfinished state for a significant period of time, to the point where exposed beams and construction materials used in the structural framing are becoming degraded and damaged; and

    WHEREAS, competitively bidding to select a completion contractor to finish the construction of the abandoned and incomplete FBO terminal would be time consuming and threaten the health and safety of the residents of the City of McKinney by preventing the City from remedying this dangerous situation in an expeditious manner; and

    WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of McKinney finds that it is in the best interest of the health, safety and welfare of the residents of McKinney to select a completion contractor to finish the construction of the incomplete FBO Terminal pursuant to Sections 252.022(a)(2) and 252.022(a)(3) of the Texas Local Government Code rather than through the processes described in Chapter 2269 of the Texas Government Code.


No comments:

Post a Comment