Good Morning, everyone!
I hope you all had a wonderful start to the new year. It has been a while since the last update, so I thought I would give you a quick note on where we are in the legal effort against the Balcones development.
We had a call with the attorneys about 2 weeks ago. As you know, Letters of Preservation were sent to all possibly involved parties regarding the development in November. As of last Wednesday, a Public Information Request has been sent to the City. They have 10 days to either comply and send information or appeal to the state AG in order to withhold information from us. If they choose the latter, we can use that as fuel in our injunction to show their unwillingness to cooperate.
The attorneys are moving forward toward the injunction filing. Please understand that all of this takes time. An injunction is very much like a miniature trial. That means the case has to be fully developed and ready to argue in court. It may feel that nothing is really happening, but putting together the case in a careful, thoughtful manner is better than moving too fast and missing important points that we can use in our favor. It can make all the difference in how a judge decides to rule.
Personally, I have never been involved with legal action of this sort, so this has been a frustrating learning process for me. I expected things to move along much quicker than they have. I am assertive in our meetings with asking questions to try and move this along the best way I know how. Eric and Felicia are much more experienced with this process and have told me that this sort of case can take years. If we have the city tied up with legal activity, delays will occur. That bodes in our favor. No activity beats seeing heavy equipment.
Know that the team is still working to advocate for our beloved Lake Ridge community. At this time, we still have a balance on our original retainer with the attorneys, but if you are motivated to contribute to the GoFundMe account, you can do so at any time. Please take into account that there is a 3% processing fee, so add that to your contribution if your goal is to donate an even amount to the effort.
We sincerely appreciate your patience and support.
Kay Whitt and the Preserve Lake Ridge Team