ST9302-CS010914 (2) Page 12S Friday, September 14, 2001 $N'0rtllll~t~t ~ll0rlfin~'fl~ _
What's theholdup? When I talked to Coppell City involves the replacement of exist-
Manager Jim Witt a year ago, he lng moderate-income housing in
It was three years ago August indicated that Ed Bell Construe- my neighborhood with homes for
that the Coppell City Council ap- tion was having some "problems" executives. I believe working peo-
proved a contract with Ed Bell with their management and the ple of various income groups de-
Construction Co. to reconstruct city was worldng with them. Wasit serve to keep the affordable bun-
SandyLake Road fromtwoto four a financial problem, a people galow-style housing and its
lanes between Denton Tap and problem or they just didn't have wonderful environment more
MaeArthur roads. Construction the expertise to handle the pro- than the city deserves to expropri'
began in October 1998 with a ject? Even now, turn lanes and ate it for targeted wealthy execu2
completion date of spring 2001. crossovers are incomplete while a fives.
The city now says that construe- sidewalk on the opposite side of Thisisnottosaythatthereisno
tion work should be completed by the street is being poured, way to convert this working-class
the spring of 2002, one year be- From Samuel to Denton Tap, environment into high-income
hind schedule. That translates in- half the roadway is now blocked housing gracefully, although it is
to tbur years, off to traffic, even after it was dearly an elitist ideal. The fact is
Isn't it ironic that in the same opened last year during construe- that Branch Crossing is a purely
time span (less than three years), tion. commercial endeavor undertaken
the Texas Turnpike Authority was It looks like the folks at Ed Bell by city government, and city offi-
able to start and complete a major still don't have a clue on how to cials have passed laws targeting
extension of the President George complete a road job. City officials the highest-quality working-class
Bush Turnpike from Midway and Ed Bell Construction need to neighborhood in town for eventu-
Road to Interstate 35E with multi- be held accountable for this fiasco, al eradicafion and replacement by
ple lanes, bridges, overpasses and which has been a major pain in the wealthy executives. It's not an
a multi-deck interchange at behind for city residents for the opinion, it's the law, per Ordi-
1-35E? past three years. In addition, Ed nance 2430.
So what happened with Ed Bell Bell Construction needs robe ex- This is not to say that change is
and the city ofCoppell? Whywas cluded from bidding on future city bad or that "renovation' is not a
there so much foot-dragging on projects because of nonperfor- laudable goal. The problemis that
this project? Why did work stop mance, the methods employed axe not
for months at a time? Why were PeterLeCod$1, Coppell consistent with progressive or
there only scattered crews around
for much of the dnration? Wal Ed Don't just target wealthy mainstream urban planning eon-
cepts.
Bell Construction be liable for any The Farmers Branch City In fact, the methods used in
pena]ties incurred in late delivery Council and city manager have a Branch Crossing are at odds with
of this project? Was it in their orig- vision for community develop- those suggested by representatives
ina] contract with the city? If so, ment that differs from mine in from HUD. They are out of step
how much? And who will step for- many respects. The aspect that di- with the government's role in the
ward and demand it? rectly affects my neighbors and me community. They axe decidedly
Brookhaven College ':.,,
2001
** Ca.reer Fair
Thursday, September 20
10 a.m.-2 p.m., Student Services Center
More than 60 employers-everyone welcome!
Allegiance Telecom · Bank of America · Bed Bath and Beyond
· ARAMARK Children's Courtyard · Comedca Bank · CompUSA ° Crowne Plaza North Dallas
. Dallas Police Department · Delta Airlines · Enterprise Rent-A-Car · GEICO
- Great Indoors · IBM · John Deere · Macaroni Grill · Macy's · MBNA Marketing Systems
· Office Max · Pappadeauxs Restaurant · Software Spectrum
. Stream International · Texas Instruments · Texas Health Resources · Southwest Airlines
· S~rint Starbucks 'offeeCompany UPS Walt World
mt Center