Our Area of Interest (New!) 5-28-11 Our Negotiating Committee is still working for the Watauga Homeowners living in the West Phase of HWCC. We did not anticipate the mineral leasing process to take this long, but similar to life, it is unpredictable. We still have the advantage of an agreement written by an attorney which protects the homeowners and their properties. In recent days we have had some of our homeowners approached for permission (mineral permission only-no surface access to property) to conduct a 3-D geophysical survey, under their properties. A favorable result from these seismic shoots could help to speed up the process of our leasing. Since agreeing to these surveys would not likely be harmful, and could move the leasing process along more quickly, The HWCC Committee highly recommends our property owners agree to the survey. Of course, if any problems would develop, please contact your addition leader or email a member of the committee. Here is some information from one of our Addition Leaders, Linda Sanders, obtained from the survey landman: "[Permit Company] has been hired by [Gas Company] to get the permits for [Survey Company] to do the seismic survey. [Survey Company] has been hired by [Gas Company] as well.[]. They are surveying from Mid-Cities Blvd on the south, to almost Roanoke on the north, I-35 on the east, to east of Rufe Snow. They are wanting all the properties not already leased to [Gas Company] to be signed.[] No smaller properties will have surface access. This does not affect mineral ownership or leasing in any way. Seismic mapping is done with radio waves. Five trucks will use main streets, not residential streets, and when the survey is being done, it will take less than 5 minutes to complete at each stop. A garbage truck makes more noise. This is being done so [Gas Company] can see how the pool undulates under the ground. If they know where the gas is, they can drill more wells. From my understanding, they are only allowed to frac so many times and if they miss, they will not be able to pursue further drilling. This is a way for [Gas Company] to be able to get 10 million gallons a day, instead of 3 million by knowing exactly where the gas is." THANKS FOR CONTINUING TO BE A PART OF HIGHTOWER-WAMRA CONSOLIDATED COALITION. 2-9-11 While there is still interest in our immediate area, for the time being, the gas companies are mainly focused on protecting and extending their current leases in Tarrant County, thousands of which are subject to lease expirations in the upcoming months. Therefore, the gas companies are mostly drilling single wells and holding as many leases as possible. Until they can get caught up (or ahead of the curve), new leases will be in very small focused areas and on much reduced terms. Although we will certainly remain strong as a group, everyone is free to do as they need to do, but we are hoping that our block of coalition LOI's will encourage a gas company to solidify its interest in this general area with a group lease proposal at much higher terms, such as the other group leases in the area. 11-10-10 Caffey has been sending out letters stating they will be terminating leasing efforts this month. This may be true, but if they do so, they will be unable to acquire the gas they are wanting to drill for without our, the landowners, permission or Railroad Commission intervention. If any gas company attempts to contact you, please refer them to our website, hwcc.angelfire.com, where they can find the contact information of our negotiating committee. Thank you to all of our loyal members keeping us strong. 10-11-10 We would like to update you on our current status. Our attorney has had several negotiation meetings with gas companies, and also one scheduled with the committee shortly. We will send out a message if we encounter any new developments. 8-16-10 With a Chesapeake drill site to our east, a Carrizo site southwest and a proposed Collins site in the west, it is a matter of time before we move closer to a finale. As seen on the city website, they have declined similar offers that have been proposed to us. A meeting with Caffey is scheduled this week and we will let you know of any new developments. We are still very large and strong and are striving for the best deal and lease. 6-30-10 Dear Homeowners, We have a couple of new developments to announce. First off, we are pleased to announce Claud Armstrong has accepted our offer and has joined our Negotiation Committee. Claud has taken an very active role by organizing the entire Sunnybrook Addition. He has been a member and a dedicated leader since the formation of our coalition. Please join us in welcoming Claud to our Committee. Second, the City of Watauga has just approved an oil and gas lease with Carrizo Oil & Gas out of Houston, on a small tract of City owned minerals in the far southwest sector of the City. Of note, the lease terms include a $10,000 per acre bonus, 25% royalty and a 2 year lease term. Just like the Chesapeake activity on our east side, and Caffey Group on our Northwest side, this represents more activity in our area, which can only be good for all. Sincerely, HWCC Committee (New!) 6-28-10 Dear Friends and fellow homeowners in Watauga, There have been some developments in our area that I think everyone should be aware of. The Caffey group are continuing to hit our area hard with their lowball offer and I appreciate all that have turned it down and waiting for a better offer. I do know that if the Caffey group wants to do their drilling in our area they have to talk to us as an association and deal with our negotiators directly. Our lawyer has been in contact with them and is optimistic that the Caffey group will in fact raise their offer to our group. What we as a group need to do is to stand firm and just say no to their lowball offer and convince our neighbors that are not in our association to do the same. We need to get the grass roots campaign up and running again to get the word out. And the word is: "Don't Settle For Their Lowball Offer" The City of Watauga has a council meeting this evening the 28th of June and one item on the agenda is an offer from Carizzo Oil to lease 3. 315 acres of City property for $10,000.00 per net mineral acre for a total of $33,150.00 with royalties of 25% for a term of 2 years. The property in question is 6 parcels of land that run along Western Center Boulevard just west of Highway 377. This is a good sign for our association because it shows just how much an oil and gas company is now willing to get oil and gas rights. I request all of our members to check out the link below and read over their offer to the city. The City of Watauga Council Meeting is scheduled to start at 6:30pm and the Citizen's forum is immediately prior to the start of the Council Meeting. If any member wishes to attend and/or speak to the Council, you must first fill out a "request to speak form" and present it to the City Secretary at the beginning of the Pre-Council Meeting. Speakers will be limited to three minutes. Again, I call on all West Phase members to get out the word to their friends and neighbors. Hopefully if we convince our neighbors to stop signing for the lowball offer with Caffey, Caffey will see that we mean business and that they have to talk to our lawyer and negotiators and bring an offer that we as a group are comfortable with. Stay united as a group and we will prevail. "Don't Settle For Their Lowball Offer" Douglas Chapman Director/Negotiator H. W. C. C. Click here for Watauga City Council Meeting information. To prevent any rumors or misconceptions, we would like to reiterate that we are representing EVERYONE in Watauga. Please see the additions we represent above and on our home page. If anyone tells you otherwise, please give them our contact information on our Committee tab, and we will give them clarification. If you have already signed a lease, please view # 11 on our FAQ. 6-10-10 After many years of hard work, Marty Leicht and Cheron Stults have stepped down from their Co-Director positions. We thank them for their hard work and perseverance. Marty will still be available to our homeowners and assist with questions and comments. Cheron will continue her role on our voting committee. With that said, we are pleased to announce Doug Chapman as our new Director. Doug has been on our negotiation committee since the beginning and played a major part in securing the deal for the East Phase. With the east phase negotiations complete, Doug and the team will be working full force on the West Phase. Please join us in welcoming him. Sincerely, HWCC Committee: Doug Chapman, Director/Negotiator Rodger Mullins, Negotiator Lisa Worley, Treasurer Scott Worley Cheron Stults Marty Leicht, Consultant Faith Baker, Communications Hope Brennan, webmaster 6-3-10 We have had several calls and emails regarding gas companies asking our homeowners to meet them at certain locations to sign a 2 or 3 page "slick lease". I would like to commend one of our homeowners who sent one such company an email stating they refuse to sign such an inferior lease and they referred them to our website www.hwcc.angelfire.com. We ask that you also refer any company offering you a lease, to our website and to contact our negotiating committee. Our goal is to get the same as the East Phase. Thank you for keeping us posted and letting know what is going on in our area. 5-22-10 Watauga City Council 4-26-10 Meeting minutes. Watauga City Council 5-24-10 Agenda. 5-19-10 (excerpt from our 2-24-10 post) The Caffey Group has mailed letters, attached letters to the door, and called on the telephone, in some areas as many as six times in the last couple of months. When asked, "what can we do to stop these letters?" Our answer is always the same, refer the landman to our website http://hwcc.angelfire.com and contact our Negotiating Committee via the website. 5-18-10 Dear HWCC Homeowners: We are still working hard for you and a fair mineral rights lease agreement and we will let you know of any developments as soon as they come available to us. On 4-26-10 (as seen below) the Watauga City Council met and had a discussion regarding an oil and gas lease agreement. A few of our members attended and spoke out in opposition of the proposed lease. The council members unanimously voted to take no action at that time. The regular May City Council meeting is on Monday, May 24th. The agenda is posted 72 hours in advance of the meeting. You can view the agenda on the City of Watauga website and the instructions as to what you need to do to address the council are on the website. If another discussion is scheduled regarding an oil and gas lease for the city, we hope for a good showing of Watauga residents as the city's negotiations could impact our individual outcomes in a significant manner. Even if nothing is on the agenda regarding mineral rights leases, try to attend the meeting. It is not necessary to comment. If you are more comfortable with email, you can get the email address for each council members on the city web site, also. Please remember the Watauga City Council is there to represent the citizens of Watauga and they need your input, ideas, and opinions to do their job successfully. Sincerely, HWCC Committee 5-7-10 Dear H.W.C.C. Homeowners, After years of waiting, and several months of negotiating, we have reached a leasing plan with Chesapeake for a good portion of our coalition, with hopes to lock up a suitable proposal on the remainder in the near future. As it currently stands, the eastern portion of Watauga and our members in North Richland Hills fall within Chesapeake's current plans. The gas companies' split of interest is based principally on where they have acquired drillsite locations. Thus, it looks like we will need to have two leases and/or two phases of leases, being the East Phase and the West Phase. Based upon the foregoing, after much struggle over the decision to divide our group, our Negotiating Committee has recommended Chesapeake's lease proposal on the East Phase, to the entire, extended Committee . For several reasons, including that some unified large scale leasing activity within our footprint is better than none, our Committee unanimously approved the Chesapeake proposal for the East Phase. Further, the lease form was negotiated and approved by our attorney, Mark Nastri, and contains virtually all of the protections we wanted. Please forward your questions and comments to your Addition Leaders. WEST PHASE Please rest assured that our Committee and attorney will fully continue to work diligently to secure a suitable lease for the West Phase, as soon as possible. To that end, once the East Phase is signed and there is wholesale action in the area, the West Phase should become more attractive to the gas companies. The following additions are included in the West Phase: Amber Glen Brookdale Heights Browning Heights North Bunker Hill Courtside Estates Echo Hills Greenfield Village Hilltop Hillview Northpark Village Old Town Watauga Park Vista Quail Meadow Estates Ridgecrest Schellinger Singing Hills Sunnybrook Watauga Addition Watauga Heights Whitley Courts. (If you are not sure what addition your property is on, please go to the Tarrant Appraisal District website at www.tad.org and do a property search or please email Faith Baker at fabaker@embarqmail.com or Hope Brennan at hope.tom@verizon.net and we will help you.) We will continue to post all news and important information on our website and send emails to our contact list to keep all HWCC members informed. Sincerely, HWCC Committee MESSAGE FROM OUR DIRECTOR, MARTY LEICHT: 4-30-10 Dear Homeowners, Because we are too big for just one gas company at this time, we are working on an East Phase/West Phase split. Stay strong and we are close to the end. More information to come soon. URGENT: TIME SENSITIVE 04-26-10 Dear Fellow Homeowners, One of our members, Nelson, notified us of a Coucil meeting at City Hall tonight at 6:00pm and stated the following: "There is an agenda item on tonight's City Council meeting to approve a gas lease between Caffey and the City of Watauga. Terms (you can view it on City's web site under: City Council; Current Agenda - if you click on the item, it should also show the actual contract) are about $275,000 for nearly 75 acres (about $3500 per acre) and 24%." You can view this information at the City of Watauga website. Additional information can be found at the Texas Railroad Commission. We feel this is too low an amount. A few of our HWCC members will be attending this meeting to voice their opinions. We hope for a good turnout. Any feedback is appreciated. UPDATE: The council members present voted unanimously to take no action at this time. This means the City is also waiting to get a better deal which can favorably impact our individual outcomes. Please visit the City of Watauga website for more information and you can also obtain the contact information of our City Council Members. VIEW ARCHIVED POSTS