ST9904-CS050714Thursday, July 14, 2005
121 loan
payment
weighed
Denton County: Tolls
blur protocol for cities'
$10 million debt
By BRANDON FOR2vIBY
Staff Writer
Long be/ore talk of tolls on
State Highway 121 began, Denton
County entered into an agreement
with Carrollton, The Colony, Cop-
pell, Grapevine and Lewisville to
provide money to move the high-
way construction higher on the
state's priority list.
The cities agreed to pay back a
$10 million loan secured by Den-
ton County. It was a deal that ~vent
well for years.
"It was that relationship and
that trust that made a difference,"
said Sandy Jacobs, the Denton
County commissioner who has lod
a 121 task force for about 20 years.
'qbe ... loan was the catalyst for
the whole thing,"
But recent agreements to allow
tolls on Highway 121 have led to
confusion about whether the new
pact supercedes the old agreement
between Denton County and the
five cities along the route.
The Regional Transportation
Council voted unanimously in Oc~
tober to impose tolls on the stretch
of highway fi'om the Business 121
split near CoppeH to the Dallas
North Tollway in Plane and Frisco.
One by one, cities along the
route voted -- some reluctantly --
to support placing electronic toils
in Denton County.
Coppell and Grapevine officials
DallasNews.com ~¢ ~alla~ ~ll~ratl~ Ntt~
TOLL TENSION
Denton County officials am at odds with CODOell and Graoewne over mone,
the cities agreed to pay the county for State Highwa) 121's construction. The
CltJes say provisions In a recent agreement to toll the highway mean mey oon'l
have to pa) The county wmcn nas a loan payment due Frida, olsagmes.
FLOWER MOUND
3040
4gg]
Lake
H~c. Paid te date:
$2.02 million $L68 mlilio9
$2 million $1.2 million
The Cek~r/ $L31 m~l~n $1.31 mli~n
~ $3.~ million $3,~ mlflion
With tolls on 121,
cities weigh debt
Continued from Page lB
say that because this new under-
standing requires the Texas De-
partment of Transportation to pay
the county $10 million to pay off
its loan, their cities should no lon-
ger have to pay the count)'. Coppell
stopped paying in 2002. Grape-
vine hasn't paid since 2003.
Coppell originally agreed to
pay $2 million but has only sent
$1.2 million. Grapevine had
agreed to pay $750,000 and has
paid $600,000. The Colony paid
its $1.31 million share, and Lewis-
ville its $3.89 million. Carrollton
has one more payment of about
$336,000 due later this year to
finish a total pa)qatent of about
$2.02 million.
At a Denton County Commis-
sioners Court meeting last week,
Ms. Jacobs suggested that the
Denton County distri~ attorney's
office should send a letter remind-
ing the cities about the debt.
Ken Griffin, Coppell's director
of engineering and public works,
said he told county officials earlier
this year that the city has no plans
to keep paying money for the loan.
'q'hat's the last conversation we
had on it," he said."lfthere's a con-
fiict, this is the first I've heard of it.
Them needs to be a conversation
between Denton County and us."
Grapevine officials have taken
a similar position. Jerry Hedge,
that city's director of transporta-
tion projects, said Texas Depart-
ment of Transportation officials
told him that all rite money would
be paid out this month and that
since Denton will be getting its full
$10 million back, there's no reasor
to keep paying them.
"That's the last word we heard,
he said. "If anything is different
we need to hear it. We can't re
spend to anything we don't knov
about. I assure you Grapevine al
ways follows through with agree
ments. It's not a problem, but w,
have to know what's going on."
But the expentation of a Jul
payback date was news to Brim
Barth, direetor of transportatio~
planning and development fo
TxDOT's Dallas district. He sai,
that's never been a goal. In fac
he's aiming to turn the funds ow
"within the next fiscal year," whic
ends in August 2006.
That leaves Denton Coun~
which has a payment due Frida
in the lurch.
"We kind of need to kno'
something other than a promise
said Jmes Wells, the eount,fs at
diton "We don't molly know wh:
to do. From a budget perspectiv
we need to know what's going t
happen."
Mr. Barth said Denton Counq
put itself in a bind when it r,
worked the loan payment sche{
ule after refinancing to leek in 1o;
er interest rates.
"If they hadn't refinanced t~
loan, they' wouldn't have this prol
lem," he said.
Ms. Jacobs, though, pein
back to Grapevine and Coppell.
'q%ey made that corem!
ment,' Ms. Jacobs said. "Th
need to understand they have
fulfill their commitments."
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