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Part 2 of a 3-Part Series
By Lana Robinson
Field Editor
Fertile Brazos River bottom soils that yield three-bale cotton and 200-bushel corn in the heart of Central Texas. Cherished land that has been in the family for more than a century, handed down from one generation to the next. Sounds like a farmer's dream, yet it is a way of life that is constantly challenged by Mother Nature, government regulations, proposed farm bill changes, low commodity prices, unfair export barriers, and urban sprawl. As if that isn't enough, now a number of these farmers' properties lie right in the path of the proposed Trans Texas Corridor, which threatens to take and/or divide their prime farm land and disrupt their lives and agricultural operations.
"I'm not worried that they are going to take my land—I'm terrified!" says Wendall Crunk, whose 500-acre farm at Asa, in McLennan County, has been the pride of his family for 110 years. A year or so ago, Crunk succeeded in buying back the final interests of other heirs to become its sole owner. Now, the Trans Texas Corridor jeopardizes his hopes of passing the land and farming legacy on to his grandchildren. "I could have sold it. I could have mined it for gravel, but I want to keep it as a farm. I only inherited one-fourth. I've spent the last 40 years working to put it all back together again."
The proposed first phase of the TTC project, a 300-mile stretch of tollway from San Antonio to the Oklahoma border, is supposed to run east of, and parallel to, Interstate 35. Subject to environmental approval, the "Trans-Texas Corridor 35" construction is set to begin within the next five years. According to reports, Spanish-based Cintra will spend $6 billion to build the highway and will give the State of Texas an additional $1.2 billion to fund other road-improvement projects along I-35. In exchange, Cintra will get the right to charge state-approved tolls on the road for 50 years. The Texas Department of Transportation will spend $3.5 million to develop the master plan for the turnpike, but other details are still developing. What has yet to be worked out, as well as what has been announced, worries Crunk. After thoroughly studying a county map, and pinpointing all the cemeteries, lakes, and population centers—as well as the location of President Bush's Ranch—Crunk is convinced the flattest, most affordable land near I-35 for the parallel corridor is the land along the Brazos River bottom.
"Their latest map shows that as it comes out of Falls County, it comes right through here. This is one of the few spots in the state that really has good corn production. You see some in the Panhandle, in deep South Texas, and this little spot here in the Central Texas Blackland area," notes Crunk.
Crunk's neighbor, Daniel Holy, grows corn and cotton in the nearby Downsville area. Holy's farming business started when he leased 100 acres during his senior year at West High School in 1982. Today, he and his three brothers operate as the Holy Land and Cattle Co., which encompasses almost 5,000 acres, with 3,000 acres in McLennan County, a portion just over the county line in Falls County, and some acreage in Hill County, near Penelope.
"The way things are shaping up, it could actually impact us on our Hill County land, too," says Holy, who has worked very hard to make a go of it in agriculture.
Holy has lots of questions. While TxDOT officials have given assurances that fair market value will be paid for land, the Downsville farmer wants to know if he would be compensated for the expensive irrigation system he recently added. He also wonders about access to his property, farm program impacts, and the loss of minerals under his land (the river bottom has a vast reserve of gravel under it) to the State.
"If there's anything a farmer doesn't need, it's even more uncertainty," he says.
His friend, Crunk, who opened a farm supply company in Asa in 1965, agrees. Along with his agribusiness and farming endeavors, Crunk has held the county commissioner post in his corner of southern McLennan County since 1997. Lately, he has used his clout as an elected official to explore, and expose, the impacts of the Trans Texas Corridor on his rural and urban constituents alike. The veteran farmer recently spearheaded five weeks of testimony before the McLennan County Commissioners Court which allowed interested individuals and entities the opportunity to express their views regarding the TTC. TxDOT officials also accepted an invitation to come and answer the commissioners' questions and explain the details of the massive turnpike project.
"When I first suggested this, I couldn't find another commissioner against the Trans Texas Corridor. At the end of the five weeks of hearings, on Feb. 8, the McLennan County Commissioners unanimously voted for a resolution opposing it," reports Crunk. "They decided it was not only bad for agriculture and rural folks, but it's not going to be good for Waco either. They saw what they'd be giving up, and in exchange, all we'd be getting is a sign about 15 miles out with an arrow on it that points to Waco."
Many of the concerns, says Crunk, are linked to the county's tax base because as much as 4,000 acres of rural land would be taken to build the highway. That's tax money the county would lose, he says. Additionally, landowners in the proximity of the corridor will lose all protections they presently have afforded them by city ordinances, county regulations, private covenants, and deed restrictions.
"The Commissioners realized the that Corridor concessionaires, rather than local businesses, will get to sell the gas, food, and lodging to travelers. It goes against the city and county's economic development goals. And if you divert 20 to 30 percent of the traffic away from I-35, it could kill some businesses here in Waco," Crunk suggests. "The prospect of it is already hurting because some commercial developers have decided to hold off until they see what's going to happen."
Commissioners also believe improvements to I-35 could be slowed if the focus shifts to the Trans-Texas Corridor.
"The Hillsboro to Salado addition plan to I-35 was promised in the next four years. Now, it's not even in the 12-year plan," notes Crunk. "Funds are the problem. But what we have here is not a transportation plan. It's a revenue maker for the State of Texas. The State wants that $1.2 billion signing bonus, but the corridor is not going to address the traffic congestion in cities because it's bypassing them, and because of where and the way they want to build it, it's not going to be easily accessible."
Crunk says no one wants to raise the gasoline tax, but he believes it would be a better way to go than the toll roads. Under the current legislation, he says Cintra will have the ability to set the toll fees, which may be anywhere from 20 to 40 cents a mile or more, which alone may discourage travel.
"Something nobody is talking about is the toll costs," he says. "How many people would pay $30 to drive to Austin from Waco when they can take I-35?"
Crunk says when he questioned a TxDOT official about the county roads dissected by the corridor, he was told they would be closed, and that farm-to-market roads would remain open only if traffic counts justified the need.
"I told him that defeated the whole purpose of a farm-to-market road," says Crunk.
Besides the inconveniences caused to landowners whose properties are split, closure of these rural roads will impact mail routes, school bus routes, EMS and fire vehicle access, and other vital services, Crunk suggests. Assuming the corridor takes the course he thinks it will, Crunk fears that some landowners in his precinct, with property between the corridor and the river, will essentially be cut off, and those with property on both sides of the river, if roads with bridges are closed, will not be able to cross the Brazos without driving for many miles. Crunk says the estimated cost of an overpass is $15 million, so those will be kept to a minimum.
Crunk has also lobbied other county officials in Bosque, Hill, Falls, Limestone, and Navarro counties, who have already passed a similar resolution in opposition to the Trans Texas Corridor or have it on their agendas, he says.
Crunk supports H.B. 1273, an amendment authored by Rep. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham), which would limit the width of the corridor to 800 feet and ensures that, at each intersection of a highway or turnpike of the Trans Texas Corridor and a state highway or farm-to-market road: (1) the highway or turnpike and the state highway or farm-to-market road are directly accessible to each other; and (2) the state highway or farm-to-market road has uninterrupted service across the corridor. The bill would also give TxDOT oversight of department contracts with a private entity for the collection of a fee for the use of the Trans Texas Corridor; and seeks to limit acquisition of rights-of-way to accomplish the Primary purposes defined as "purposes that further the transportation and utility functions of the Trans Texas Corridor. It would also strip private corridor developers of the exclusive rights to develop hotels, gas stations, and restaurants along the corridor.
The TTC, if it moves forward, will pass through 143 of the state's 254 counties, disrupting the lives and livelihoods of many of the citizens in those communities and counties. Crunk is hopeful that Kolkhorst's amendment will slow down the process and give people a chance to have more input.
"At least it's a start. The secrecy in this contract, the way it was negotiated, and this unsolicited bid from Cintra—we don't really know anything other than what they want to tell us. The way the original bill was written, they are not subject to the Open Meetings Act and the Open Records Act like county governments are," says Crunk. "I've told lawmakers `Let's slow down, take a time out. Let's look at this, and see if this is what Texas wants. You're supposed to be representing us, and so far, I can't find anyone in favor of it.'"
Richard Cortese, a farmer and county commissioner in Bell County, also believes the project is moving way too fast.
"It's going from conception to action before we have a chance to look at the plans," says Cortese, a longtime Farm Bureau member. "The governor is trying to compare the Trans Texas Corridor to Farm-to-Market roads or I-35. It's not a comparison.. .You can't compare a 1,200-foot wide corridor to a 100-foot wide road. We have got to get the public to understand how wide this monster is (the width of four football fields end to end)."
Cortese's precinct is in the Holland-Bartlett area of Bell County.
"Depending on where it goes, that is part of my family's land. Where it's going to go in there, we're not sure. It can't get close to any town."
Cortese says environmental studies have been "fast tracked."
"They're halfway through with those," he says.
The Bell County farmer/commissioner is convinced that something must be done to address the problems of the TTC during this legislative session or it may be too late.
"Our number one priority has got to be going to Austin and changing H.B. 3588, so the state can slow down TxDOT," Cortese insists. "They need to back off and give more analysis and study of the traffic situations. It's going to kill agriculture. The Blacklands of Texas are some of most pristine lands in the state. They're fixing to cover up thousands of acres of the most pristine land without knowing where they're going to put the roads."
Mason County Judge Jerry Bearden, a former vocational ag teacher and a farmer, is rallying the troops in West Central Texas. One of the proposed routes, early on, stretching from Fort Polk, LA, across to Fort Hood and then to Fort Bliss, would cut across the northern part of Mason County. A vigorous opponent of the corridor ever since, Bearden has enlisted 20-plus counties in an effort to stop the project.
"We've just got a lot of concerns about this. If it were to come through Mason County, it would take 20 miles of it. We're almost totally dependent on agriculture here, and wildlife. We've got a fairly big area, but under 4,000 people in the county. This would waste ag lands, and the access and egress issues are of real concern," says Bearden.
The Mason County judge has worked with a San Angelo rural news reporter to make people aware of the Trans Texas Corridor and its potential impacts.
"I have also written letters to the Governor, the Lt. Governor, our state representative, Harvey Hilderbran, and Sen. Troy Fraser. I sent them copies of our resolution. I did receive a reply from Governor Perry, which was kind of a canned reply, but the reply from Lt. Gov. Dewhurst was much more promising. I also met with Pete Laney in Austin. He was on the Transportation committee when this thing passed. I inquired about that, and he said `It was one of those midnight to one o'clock deals that caught us unaware.'"
All the more reason to slow things down and take a closer look, says Bearden.
Part 3 will explore other TTC impacts, and Texas Farm Bureau efforts to stop the project.
