Lake Arlington groups merge, eye $18k bonus offer

The Barnett Shale's meant good business for churches lately. Neighborhood gas lease meetings have overrun private homes and the local Starbucks. Now they're overrunning the local church.

Not that the churches have any problem with that. Latest case: the St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church on Pleasant Ridge Road at Green Oaks Boulevard in southwest Arlington, host of back-to-back nightly meetings this week for two Lake Arlington-area neighborhood groups that brought in several hundred homeowners. The second meeting, hosted by the CATS group, drew 1,500 people Monday night, was standing room-only, and triggered traffic jams on Green Oaks, said Jeff Richman, jeffreyrichman@sbcglobal.net, one of CATS' organizers.

At the meeting, CATS agreed to merge with another group, Lake Arlington Property Owners, that -- like CATS -- was also organizing homeowners in the area around Miller Elementary School and hosted its own meeting at the church, Richman said.

The new, larger group will be called CATS, Richman said. Its boundaries stretch from I-20 on the south to Pioneer Parkway on the north, Little Road on the east to Lake Arlington on the west.

Homeowners in the neighborhoods have received lease offers from Paloma Resources on behalf of Chesapeake Energy, and Permian Land on behalf of XTO Energy. Paloma is offering a $15,000 per-acre signing bonus and 25 percent royalty Permian is offering an $18,000 per-acre bonus and 25 percent royalty. Both are offering three-year terms, with two-year renewals. Not all homes have received both offers, Richman said.

"Neither one has blanketed the area," said Richman, a salesman of packaged trial-size toiletry products who has taken so many calls since he began organizing CATS that he says his wife Kathie now answers the phone, "Jeff Richman's personal secretary."

Richman said CATS is working on signing up homeowners, getting them to hold off signing leases, and determining whether any drilling company has secured drill sites. Next up after that: Contacting companies that have drill sites, he said.

While the XTO bonus is among the highest neighborhood bonus offered in Tarrant County, Richman said CATS believes it can do better on the bonus. He also said the group wants to negotiate the best possible royalty structure, acreage measurements for purposes of calculating the bonuses and royalties, "and all the little extras that add up." He also said it's important to go with a drilling company that has secured drill sites.

Click here to visit CATS' web site.

Click here to read our previous post on CATS.

-- Scott Nishimura

Having a meeting on the Barnett Shale? Click here to publicize it on our Community Calendar!

(Photos: Lake Arlington, Miller Elementary kids donate stuffed animals to Arlington Police; Alamo history program at Miller Elementary)

Comments

[Ben Kee]

Thanks

[MRS. SHARON A. STAPP]

NO ONE HAS CONTACTED US. IN ORDER TO MAKE A MEETING I WOULD NEED MORE ADVANCE NOTICE. THANK YOU

[MRS. SHARON A. STAPP]

NO ONE HAS TRIED TO CONTACT US. I AM A WIDOW AS OF JAN. 2008. I WOULD COME TO A MEETING BUT I NEED MORE ADVANCE NOTICE.
I DO NOT GET THE NEWS PAPER.

YOU CAN REACH ME BY E MAIL OR BY LEAVING A MESSAGE ON MY PHONE. THE NUMBER IS AT FOLLOWS: 817-451-6080.

THANK YOU

[Ron Blume]

I have a neighbor that would like to register with out internet service. Can I do this for them?

I would like to sign up on line but don't know where or how to do this. Please advise, you can e-mail me at my address. Thanks

[Lisa McDonald]

We just received our first contact letter today from any oil/gas company, Paloma resources. They are encouraging us to make an appointment to sign with them any Tuesday evening thru March 25.

[Jalin]

I am in the same situation as the last poster (Lisa McDonald) and the only
Tuesday that I can make an appt is this upcoming Tuesday Mar 18th so I need to know what to do. Are you advising us to wait past the 25th in the hopes of getting a better deal? Or would the 25th be our last chance to get in on a deal? Did that make any sense? Thanks

[Gary Dorsey]

I would like to volunteer to be a block captain. What do I do and who do I speak to. I tried doing this online but had no luck. Please respond

I am a retired Professional Engineer and would be willing to work on/with a committee as needed. Let me know if my help is needed.

Joe Newman PE
817 483 5840

[Chanc V. Bennett]

If you need more information, are interested in being a Block Captain or volunteering for a committee in the CATS neighborhood group, go to lakearlingtongas.org. That is where we are organizing the neighborhood association.

[Chanc V. Bennett]

For those of you asking about the letter from Paloma or any other gas company for that matter, the answer is no on all counts. It is not your last chance to get in on the deal, It is probably not the last letter you will get, and if you sign up for that bonus, you will most likely be leaving money on the table. The CATS niehgborhood group is beginning negotiations on our behalf. To see if you are in the CATS neighborhood, go to lakearlingtongas.org and check out the map.

I have registered for Edmondson. I am
trying to register a neighbor. When I go to login it says case sensitive. I have
tried it so many ways and it won't work.
Is it just me. HELP Beverly

[Gerald Weisenfels]

The property information I listed when I originally registered has become garbled after the new website was setup. Will the system correct this or should each person correct their own? Also, will the CATS Group have a proposal before Tuesday, March 25?

[Keith Pettit]

I received a letter from Paloma on March 12. I called the number and was given an amount offered for a signing bonus. Two days later Paloma called and said they could come to my house that day with a contract. The next day I signed a memo of intent with lakearlingtongas.com. I haven't heard from Paloma since. I would appreciate any info on what to expect. Has Paloma seen my memo of intent? Is this why they have not contacted me? What is the timeline for future negotiations?

[Mischelle Copeland]

Does anyone know who is advocating for residents that live zip code 76017?

Thanks

[Chanc V. Bennett]

To answer Mr. Weisenfels, we will probably not have an offer by the 25th. CATS is currently talking to 4 different gas companies on our behalf. They expect to get bids this week but may not have them that soon. The CATS steering committee met last night. Things are moving forward but everyone needs to be patient and let the negotiations take their course. To answer Mr. Pettite, Paloma has most likely not seen your letter of intent. As far as I know, it would not make any difference if they had. The letter of intent is non-binding. You can call Paloma and sign with them at any time. The only problem with that is that you would most likely be losing money in the process. To answer Beverly, If you are having difficulty logging on to the website or registering a friend, wait a few days and I will post the next meeting date at this blog. You should be able to sign a letter of intent or get whatever information you need at the meetings. A set of community meetings will be planned very soon. Our group is very large so we may hold one meeting for people whose last names start with letters A-L and one for people whose last names start with letters M-Z.

[joyce broyles]

If one submits a memo of intent,can they be confident that CATS will contact them when the deal is made? Can you give me contact info for LAPO. I understand they have joined CATS. Would it not behoof all of us to have more groups in our area, all join forces?

[Chanc V. Bennett]

Joyce, LAPO and CATS merged a couple of weeks ago and are now just called CATS. The negotiations are going well but we are looking for some block captains to help in the individual blocks because CATS is getting very large very fast. Check out the website @ lakearlingtongas.org

[Chanc V. Bennett]

CATS MEETINGS SCHEDULED!!!

Informational meetings regarding an impending lease deal are scheduled for April 27 and April 28. They will be held at St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church. There will be 2 meetings each day. The first will begin at 4 p.m. and the second will begin at 6 p.m. They will each last for 1 hour with standing room only. You only need to attend one meeting. For more information visit lakearlingtongas.org

[Ronald L. Weston]

I have talked to some that originally were going to sign with CATS but went with Paloma instead. Say they are getting a larger bonus and better royalties. Anyone know anything about this?