[Texgreen] TxDOT trying to keep toll road designs secret from public

[Roger Baker]

Plans for a giant new toll road opposed by the surrounding =20
neighborhoods not subject to the Texas Open Records Act?  Thats what =20
TxDOT claims. -- Roger

                  **********************************************

<http://www.oakhillgazette.com/default.asp?=20
sourceid=3D&smenu=3D73&twindow=3D&mad=3D&sdetail=3D621&wpage=3D1&skeyword=3D=
&sidate=3D&c=20
cat=3D&ccatm=3D&restate=3D&restatus=3D&reoption=3D&retype=3D&repmin=3D&rep=
max=3D&rebed=3D&=20
rebath=3D&subname=3D&pform=3D&sc=3D1846&hn=3Doakhillgazette&he=3D.net>

 =46rom the July 2 Oak Hill Gazette


News
TxDOT still mum on 290 design options
Ann Fowler 29.JUN.07

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has advised the Save =20
Our Springs Alliance (SOSA) that it believes the new designs for =20
Highway 290 West are not public information and are seeking an =20
opinion from the Attorney General=92s office to support that theory. In =20=

a letter to the Attorney General, Sharon Alexander, TxDOT associate =20
general counsel, said, =93TxDOT asserts that the requested information =20=

may be excepted from disclosure under the Public Information Act.=94

On June 11, SOSA sent an Open Records Request to TxDOT asking to see =20
the new designs for Highway 290 West. TxDOT officials had previously =20
said the designs would be revealed in a presentation to the =20
community, but several weeks ago Oak Hill Association of =20
Neighborhoods (OHAN) president Dwain Rogers announced at a monthly =20
meeting that TxDOT had decided to reveal the new designs only at a =20
private mediation run by the University of Texas Dispute Resolution =20
Center.

Invited to the mediation are representatives of several Oak Hill =20
groups: Fix290, a grassroots group that has thus far managed to stave =20=

off TxDOT=92s plan to build a 12-lane roadway through Oak Hill; OHAN; =20=

the Oak Hill Business and Professional Association (OHBPA), a group =20
representing Oak Hill=92s business community; and Consensus290, a small =20=

group created at the request of Travis County Commissioner Gerald =20
Daugherty, made up largely of representatives of OHAN, OHBPA and =20
Fix290 (two each).

A facilitator from the UT Center will run the meetings, which will =20
also involve TxDOT. The first session is Saturday, June 30, and will =20
concern questions or structure and participation. TxDOT officials =20
have said it is up to the representatives to share the plans with the =20=

public.

Sen. Kirk Watson, chairman of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning =20
Organization (CAMPO) transportation policy board, is credited as the =20
motivator behind the mediation. Attendees at the June CAMPO board =20
meeting said Sen. Watson said that CAMPO would front the money for =20
the mediation (estimated at $7,000 to $10,000), but said it would be =20
inappropriate for TxDOT to pay for it. OHBPA is reportedly searching =20
for funding for the sessions.

Colin Clark, communications director for SOSA, said although his =20
group was not initially invited to be a part of the mediation, they =20
have sent a letter to Sen. Watson asking that they be included. As of =20=

Thursday they had received no response. Clark said he was =20
disappointed with TxDOT=92s response to their Open Records Request. =20
=93Unfortunately they are not making [the new road designs] public on =20=

their own. They should be updating the plans and uploading them to =20
their Web site so the public can know what=92s going on. There needs to =20=

be more transparency in the planning of this very important highway.=94

A staff attorney for SOSA said the letter from TxDOT was telling. =93It =20=

pretty much invokes every exception you could possibly come up with =20
from the Public Information Act (PIA). I=92m sure there will be more =20
specific exceptions in the brief to the Attorney General, but at this =20=

point I would have to say that invoking every exception under the PIA =20=

is sort of an indicative of bad faith.=94

Clark said SOSA staff planned to view the documents on Friday, but =20
expected them to be heavily redacted. =93When we see what they show us, =20=

we=92ll have some idea of what they=92re not showing us,=94 he said. =
SOSA =20
officials made clear that they are not saying that TxDOT is =20
withholding anything. However, they are critical of TxDOT=92s use of =20
exceptions. A staff attorney explained, =93I think it's inappropriate =20=

for them to write in this tenth-day letter that they are going to use =20=

every exception available to them. I think that agencies should =20
determine a principled basis before invoking an exception to the PIA, =20=

and that it should truly be an exception =97 not the rule, and not a =20
blanket defense.=94

TxDOT gave SOSA an estimated cost for the requested documents: =20
$510.22. Copying costs are $132.92, with the remainder called =20
=93personnel and overhead costs=94 at the rate of $18 per hour for an =20=

estimated 21 hours. A SOSA staffer said, =93We won't be charged =20
anything until we copy something, at which point they will tack on a =20
fraction of these labor costs.=94

The law regarding reimbursements for items copied under the PIA =20
states, =93The charge for providing a copy of public information shall =20=

be an amount that reasonably includes all costs related to =20
reproducing the public information, including costs of materials, =20
labor, and overhead. If a request is for 50 or fewer pages of paper =20
records, the charge for providing the copy of the public information =20
may not include costs of materials, labor, or overhead, but shall be =20
limited to the charge for each page of the paper record that is =20
photocopied...=94

SOSA did not ask to see only the alternate designs TxDOT plans to =20
reveal in mediation, but asked for any documents =97 including e-mails, =20=

faxes and letters =97 having to do with an alternative design or =20
anything mentioning a parkway design.

Messages left for TxDOT to respond to this story were not returned by =20=

deadline. - Oak Hill Gazette=