Tag Archives: Princeton TX

local news

Hoping for a moratorium extension

DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas — Looking around this thriving Central Texas community, I am struck by what is occurring back home in North Texas, where I now call home.

Both communities are growing at breakneck paces, although I can argue that Princeton is setting sort of an unofficial land-speed record for residential growth. Princeton is acting on it, believing it is time to put the brakes on residential construction to enable infrastructure development to keep pace with the demand on those services.

Princeton has imposed a four-month ban on residential construction. Four months, at first glance, doesn’t seem as though it provides enough time for the city to provide enough infrastructure to keep pace with growth.

Police Chief Jim Waters said he needs to hire 30 more officers. Thirty more officers? The city needs to erect more water towers to control the flow of water into residents’ homes.

Street repair, construction and maintenance also must be bolstered.

It looks to me that Princeton finally has tapped into its proactive streak in managing its growth. Man … it must act.

The question now becomes: Is four months enough time?

No. It isn’t time to do all the things the city needs to do.

I see a moratorium extension in the city’s immediate future. Other rapidly growing communities, such as Dripping Springs, would do well to follow suit.

business news, local news

Action — finally! — on business park

Well, you can just ruffle my hair and call me Frankie, for I have stumbled onto a project that has been a long time in the making.

I ran an errand this evening in Princeton, Texas, where I have lived for the past five years. My route took me south on Beauchamp Boulevard toward County Road 400. That’s when I saw a sign with the name of a general contractor just a few yards from a marker identifying the future site of Bois d’ Arc Professional Park.

What did I do? I took a picture of the sign and called the number of the contractor.  Then, expecting the call to go to voice mail, someone answered. It was Max Allen, the general contractor.

Allen then proceeded to tell me he is going to build a pre-school on the site. He said he expects to break ground “in about 60 days.” He said his work only entails the school but said there “might be other projects coming up as well.” I won’t take that last statement to the bank. Still, I am heartened to see some evidence of movement on a significant parcel of land that has just been growing weeds since I moved into the area all those years ago.

I have heard Mayor Brianna Chacon lament at least once that the professional park has remained empty. I will point out, though, that a new storage unit has gone up just south of professional park boundary. Chacon also has talked openly about the possibility of declaring a moratorium on single-family and apartment construction to enable the city to shore up its infrastructure.

With all that hanging over the city, I am tickled to reveal the apparent start of an important new commercial project on property that has been begging for it

local news

City finds way to beat low voter turnout

How do Texas cities do battle with an age-old problem of voter apathy and an inability or reluctance to actually vote for their political leadership?

The city I have called home for the past five years, Princeton, might have the answer. It schedules its municipal elections on the day we choose who should be our next president of the United States.

It’s genius, man!

Princeton will call for an election on Nov. 5 to choose who will serve as mayor. Incumbent Brianna Chacon already has declared her intention to seek another term as mayor. I am not yet aware of who would challenge her. Councilmen Marlo Obera and David Kleiber also are on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Now, normally these elections would come and go and virtually no one in this — or any — Texas city would notice. That’s because municipal and school board elections generally fall onto the laps of 10 to 15% of the voting public.

Princeton won’t have that matter facing it this election day.

The city is home to around 28,000 residents, which means roughly half of them are able to vote. If that’s the case, about 14,000 residents will be able to cast their ballots for mayor, city council and, oh yeah … for president of the United States.

That doesn’t mean that every eligible voter will actually do his or her part as a U.S. citizen on election day. Imagine, though, that a 60% turnout decides who will become mayor of Princeton. That means 8,400 residents will make a decision that, truth be told, will have more direct impact on their lives than the president.

I long have said that democracy functions better when more people vote than fewer of them do. I dislike the notion of handing all that power to someone else.

local news

High expectation for city manager

Mike Mashburn became Princeton’s city manager after a lengthy interview process with the mayor and reportedly a few senior city staffers.

He was introduced to the City Council, which met him in executive session; the council came back into open session and approved his appointment unanimously.

OK. Then came a peculiar event. The council approved a contract that pays the first-time chief municipal administrator a base salary of $240,000 annually. Not bad for a chief executive rookie. Then came a decision to give the new guy a bump in salary and an extension on his contract.

Get this: The new man hasn’t done anything — yet! — that commends a pay bump and a contract extension.

Mayor Brianna Chacon appears to be so high on this fellow that she is willing to pitch a pay and benefit increase on the hope that he’ll be a huge success.

Mashburn came to Princeton from Farmers Branch, where he served as an assistant city manager with duties that emphasized park development.

I have shaken Mashburn’s hand a couple of times. We haven’t yet spoken about anything of substance. I am struck, however, by the speed with which the council acted in approving the pay increase and contract extension.

Wouldn’t he first have to demonstrate his value? Wouldn’t the new city manager have to prove he is worth the faith that his employers have placed in him? That’s how they seem to do it in the world of private employment.

business news, local news

Let’s get busy, Mr. Manager

You may count me as a Princeton resident and taxpayer who has a growing fear of the future of what at the moment looks like a construction monstrosity.

They’re seeking to build a “luxury apartment” complex on the south side of US 380, just east of Walmart. Work stopped abruptly on the project in May 2023. The developer said he would hammer out a new deal with a contractor in 30 days.

Well, the 30-day window slammed shut. Still no contractor. Work is still waiting to resume … one year later!

Here’s a thought to toss at Princeton’s new city manager, Mike Mashburn. The city council recently gave Mashburn a five-figure increase in his base salary and extended his contract. This was done before Mashburn actually did anything in his new job!

My thought is that the city’s chief administrator has it within his power to summon the developer and any potential general contractors to his shiny new City Hall office. He should then order all the principals to work out an agreement that enables work to resume post haste.

I am not a construction expert, but I do know that time is not on the side of the contractors or the developer. The longer the complex is exposed to our fickle weather, the more damage is done to the exposed interior portions of the 360-unit complex.

Mashburn clearly has some skin in this game, as he now runs a municipal government with a direct stake in the success of this project.

I can guarantee that no one wants to be scarred by a project that falls victim to disputes of the type that has stalled work on this massive new project, which at the moment looks like nothing more than a massive eyesore.

environmental news, local news

A gigantic event awaits

Epochal events, by definition, don’t come around often, but when they do it is good for the authorities to prepare for them with all the resources they have on hand.

North Texas is about to be the scene of one of those events on Monday. It will occur shortly after 1 p.m. when the moon passes in front of the sun, turning the bright daylight of a mid-spring day into the blackness of night.

The last total solar eclipse I can recall occurred in the early 1980s. On that day the sky was overcast, just as the weather service is predicting for much of Texas on Monday. But the sky over Oregon got dark during that earlier event, as it will on Monday here in Princeton, Texas, where I am hanging my hat these days. I remember then hearing about how zoo animals cowered in the dark, how wolves howled and dogs barked.

The TV stations, plus all the cable networks are planning wall-to-wall “team coverage” of the event beginning around noon. I heard one of the local TV stations is planning to launch drones presumably to get above the cloud cover to take pictures of the moment the moon darkens the sun’s glow.

Police departments and Texas transportation officials are planning to make their presence felt on our streets, roads and highways to ensure motorists are paying attention to the traffic and avoiding the temptation to look skyward, even though the weather guys and gals say there will be nothing to see.

I obtained my eclipse-watching glasses. I am staying home that day. I’m going to look skyward at just the right time … hoping that a break in the clouds might occur in correct spot to get a glimpse of the event.

And no, I will not peer with unprotected eyes at the sun the way the 45th POTUS and his wife did some years ago when they looked at an eclipse that appeared over the East Coast.

However, I am ready to be thrilled by this event that won’t repeat itself in this country until I am long gone.

business news, local news

Traffic woes to mount

The more I think about the decision to bring a huge new shopping complex to Princeton, Texas, the more I also have to think about one of the consequences of that massive new business endeavor.

Traffic, man!

When I travel through this part of Collin County, I hear a bit of chatter about how Princeton is becoming a city motorists should seek to avoid. Why? Because the traffic along US 380 becomes impossible … and impassable!

Just yesterday, in fact, I was coming home from an outing in Tarrant County. I drove across Fort Worth, along the Sam Rayburn Tollway and then high-tailed it to US 75 northbound. I made the exit onto US 380 in McKinney and started to head east toward the house.

Then I stopped. And waited. And waited some more for the traffic to move. It did. It took a while!

The Princeton City Council has approved a 91-acre parcel to be developed into a major shopping complex on the north side of 380. I favor the decision. I want the business to come to the city I call home. I also wonder about the wisdom of the council’s decision. Why is that? Well, I covered a Farmersville City Council meeting a couple of years ago and watched that council reject an apartment complex because — here it comes — of the traffic problems it would create.

Princeton’s council seemingly doesn’t have such concern, as it approved a mammoth apartment complex a few hundred yards east of where the shopping complex is planned. Work on that project still appears to be far from finished, but when it’s done, it also will spill hundreds of vehicles onto the highway every day.

Maybe I should look at this issue more strategically. Texas transportation planners are hoping to build a freeway bypass around Princeton …. eventually! It is designed to relieve traffic congestion on 380. Last I heard, though, the state is a long way from turning over any dirt on that project.

That work likely will outlive this old geezer’s time on Earth.

Don’t misunderstand me, as I am not going to reverse myself and oppose the business complex. I am a pro-biz guy and the revenue the shopping complex will generate will be very good for this city.

We’d all better prepared ourselves, though, for some major teeth-gnashing as we seek to get home in time for dinner.

local news

Mayor wants to build city identity

Princeton (Texas) Mayor Brianna Chacon and yours truly are of like minds on an important subject.

We both happen to agree that the city over which she presides lacks a personality, an identity, a characteristic that defines it.

She wants to change the direction the city has been traveling for the past decade or even longer. I happen to agree wholeheartedly with her intent.

To be clear, I am going to declare that I wrote about this very thing some weeks ago. Chacon a few days ago mentioned it publicly in a State of the City speech she delivered at the Princeton school district administration building. I will not presume for an instant that she got the idea from my blog. However, it is heartening to believe that we are of like minds.

Seek an identity, Princeton | High Plains Blogger

Chacon announced her intention to enact a residential building moratorium. She wants to build up the city’s infrastructure, to bring it up to speed to provide for the thousands of people who have moved here in the past two decades.

The population today is estimated at about 28,000 residents, which is roughly 11,000 more people listed on the 2020 Census. “We grew too quickly,” Chacon told the Princeton ISD admin building crowd. Princeton has become a classic “bedroom community” comprising thousands of new homes.

Residents say they love living here, Chacon said, adding that the city needs to “give them a reason” for why they have embraced this community.

Chacon said she is excited about the city’s decision to hire Mike Mashburn as its new city manager. She believes he brings a refreshing new outlook to municipal management. It’s too early to tell whether Mashburn is the right man for the task, but I, too, am optimistic.

Chacon said the city’s identity is hidden from view. “We have been piecemealed together,” she said of Princeton’s growth history. Her intent, as I heard her say it the other day, is to craft a municipal identity for Princeton, giving it a personality.

Brianna Chacon and I are singing off the same page. Welcome aboard, Mme. Mayor.

local news

If only I could tell her …

The more time that passes from the worst day of my life to the here and now, the fewer times I am tied up in emotional knots seeking to tell my bride something that I notice along the way.

That’s normal, I understand, as I progress along this journey without Kathy Anne by my side. But … I drive around Princeton, Texas, these days and I see things I know with absolute certainty she would want me to tell her.

I lost Kathy Anne to cancer on Feb. 3 and my life — to put it mildly — has been changed forever.

The city has completed a big street improvement project just south of the house we purchased in Arcadia Farms. Myrick Lane is now complete from Beauchamp Boulevard to Farm to Market Road 982. It’s a wide, divided thoroughfare and is much less rough of a ride than it was just six month ago. Kathy Anne would be pleased.

I keep seeing this new breakfast and lunch eatery on US 380, which Kathy Anne wished we had. I want to tell her that our son and I have eaten there several times and the chow is pretty good. That, too, would bring a smile to her face.

I notice construction continuing apace at the site of a proposed supermarket complex at the corner of Beauchamp and US 380. That would make her smile broadly.

And the city has built a park just south of our house on land donated to it by a local family. She wanted a fresh place to take Toby the Puppy for his walks. He’ll visit the park once it cools off enough for him to take it.

Hey, I get that the journey will continue to be difficult at times. There will be more of those commemorative dates I will mark without her presence by my side. However, I always have cherished the 52 years we had as a couple, 51 of them as husband and wife.

Time only will make those memories even more vivid. It also will enable me to experience the here and now with less pain at being unable to share it with her.

Then again … she knows.

local news

Huge project on the rocks

A gigantic construction project that began along Princeton’s major thoroughfare has hit what one must describe as “not your everyday construction hiccup.”

A huge luxury apartment complex has seen work stopped for several weeks over some sort of dispute between the developer and the general contractor. The complex has arisen partly next to Wal-Mart on U.S. 380.

The Princeton Herald reported this week that construction is expected to resume next month once the developer hires another contractor. The developer says he has “identified a new team to continue the project” and is working out the details to sign them up to get cracking, the Princeton Herald has reported.

Oh, brother. I am shuddering at the prospect of this half-built complex comprising several hundred apartment units sitting there … unfinished and unoccupied for only God knows when.

I do not know this as fact, but I have to believe that City Hall’s senior management is set to move every obstacle out of the way to get the developer, Frontline Construction Management of Coppell, hooked up with a general contractor … as quickly as possible!

The developer and the former contractor got into some sort of snit that brought construction to a halt on May 19, according to the Princeton Herald. The stoppage does not mean the project is in financial peril, says the developer. Man, I hope he’s telling us the truth.

I am not going to push any panic buttons on this matter, given that I am just a chump civilian … who also pays his taxes that help pay for the city’s myriad levels of municipal government.

One of them happens to be the senior administration, which has the task of ensuring that this job gets completed.

I am one taxpaying resident who wants to see that job swarming with workers and construction equipment. The sooner the better.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com