The FOIA Documents - Over 1,400 pages of documents were obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request to Bastrop County. They range from March 2008 to October 2010. The documents include correspondence between members of the Bastrop County Commissioners Court, Jim Carpenter and their respective legal representatives and staff. They have been arranged chronologically within each topic. Supplemental FOIAs were made to the County at later dates. Additional FOIAs were made to the State of Texas and to the County for campaign contribution documents. This section also includes relevant documents obtained from other sources. Note that documents listed on this page only include those from 2010 and a few from 2011. Other documents from 2011 and subsequent years are presented in posts on the Factoids blog at the time they were obtained.

Permit application to the Army Corps of Engineers - This is a March 25, 2011 Public Notice of a permit application which was submitted by ACI Consulting on behalf of CTA, LLC. The USACE regulates all work or structures in or affecting the course, condition or capacity of navigable waters of the United States. The TCEQ is also reviewing this application to determine if the work would comply with State water quality standards. The public comment period is now closed.

CTA Timeline - This chart includes important dates concerning the proposed CTA under five categories - County, City, State, Federal and the 'Project'. The earliest date listed is the August 6, 2007 application to the FAA for the Colorado Riverland Ranch Airport (later to become the Central Texas Airport) and the timeline concludes with the deadlines in the 381 Agreement that the developer must meet to fulfill his obligations.

Airport Compatibility Zone - An Airport Compatibility Zone (ACZ) is required by TxDOT and the FAA to control property use and structures that may cause hazards to low-flying aircraft. Property owners within this 32.5 sq. mi. area may lose some control of their property and see declining property values.

CTA Facts - Full page flyer lists deficiencies in the 381 Agreement, environmental and property rights issues and other considerations relating to the proposed airport.

Stop CTA Flyer - This half page flyer lists 20 well-established subdivisions that are likely to be affected by the Airport Compatibility Zone as well as changes the proposed Central Texas Airport will bring to residents within this area.

381 Agreement - This 381 Agreement provides extremely generous tax incentives to Carpenter & Associates if they are able to comply with the terms stipulated by the County. If history repeats itself, 'tax incentives' will likely translate to defacto taxpayer funding of this corporate boondoggle. Another bonanza is that Carpenter & Associates are exempted from some FAA environmental, safety and regulatory control (please see the following letter).

Bastrop County Commissioner's Court Response - A citizen request for specific information about certain aviation aspects of the 381 Agreement was addressed to the Commissioner's Court. If there is anything substantive in this response from the County's attorneys, we can't find it.

CLOMR - Document that has been submitted By Carpenter & Associates to the Bastrop County Floodplain Department showing the proximity of the runway to wildlife hazards.

Rebuttal letter sent to TCEQ - Bastrop County's proposal to be exempted from the 5 county non-attainment area was challenged in this rebuttal.

Airport Compatibility Guidelines - These are the guidelines by which the ACZ is determined - a specified distance from either end of the runway and on either side. They also regulate property use within the ACZ.

FAA 14cfr.139 rules - These are the FAA regulations that the 381 Agreement says the proposed Central Texas Airport doesn't have to follow.

Hazardous Wildlife Attractants On Or Near Airports - The FAA Advisory Circular that shows the proposed Central Texas Airport site does not meet the minimal requirements for operating jet engine aircraft safely.

Wildlife Hazard Management at Airports - Yes, folks, wildlife IS an airport hazard. There are some really great photos in this document.

Wildlife Strikes To Civil Aircraft In The United States 1990-2008 - FAA statistics on damage caused by wildlife strikes.

Noise Control and Compatibility Planning for Airports - Guidance from the FAA under Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 150 and the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979 (ASNA) (P.L. 96-193).

Liability Issues for Airport Managers - Aircraft collisions with birds (bird strikes) and other wildlife are a serious economic and safety problem.

TSA Security Guidelines for General Aviation Airports - This guidance document was developed by TSA, in cooperation with the General Aviation (GA) community. It is intended to provide GA airport owners, operators, and users with guidelines and recommendations that address aviation security concepts, technology, and enhancements.

Legal Aspects of Airports - The object of this project is to develop a list or an index of legally related topics, substantive areas, and/or issues that airport attorneys encounter and to develop an index and a bibliography of sources that airport lawyers may consult for purposes of research or for purposes of keeping informed of developments in airport-related legal issues.

FAA Airports Desk Reference - This document helps the FAA integrate the compliance of NEPA and applicable special purpose laws to the fullest extent possible. Although not totally relevant to the CTA because of lack of Federal oversight, it may contain useful information that can be applied in a different context.

Title 30: Chapter 293 of the Texas Administrative Code - State law defining the TCEQ's role in the creation of various types of water districts.

Texas Statutes: Chapter 51 - The statutes controlling the formation of Water Control and Improvement Districts (WCIDs).

Texas Statutes: Chapter 54 - The statutes controlling the formation of Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs).

Noise Contours for Robert Mueller Airport - A Day/Night Average Noise Level (DLN) study provides the data on which these contours are based.

Noise Contours for ABIA - City of Austin spent $33 million buying condemned property within the 65db zone. Does Bastrop County have that kind of money? This graphic was extracted from the following study.

Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan for ABIA - This lengthy document provides the information needed to identify potential sources of pollution and implement work practices etc. that will prevent or control the potential for degradation of storm water runoff. Browse the complete colletion of Storm Water Pollution Prevention documents.

Estimated Noise Contours for proposed Central Texas Airport - This contour is based on that of the Robert Mueller Municipal Airport Noise Study. Approximately 166 tracts (within the orange area) could be condemned as 'uninhabitable' due to 65 decibel jet noise levels.

Estimated Wildlife Hazard Zone Area - The FAA Wildlife Hazard Zone recommendations prohibit the operation of jet engines within 10,000' of bird rich wildlife habitat. The Colorado river is approximately 2500' from the end of the runway and a 26 acre rainwater detention facility is planned 1000' to the east to the runway. This airport siting FAILS the FAA safety recommendations.

ABIA's Off-Airport Land Use Compatibility Planning study - "The issue of aviation related noise and its impact on people continues to be a controversial topic in the vicinity of our nation's airports. Airports throughout the United States have been adversely affected by the encroachment of land uses that are not compatible with levels of sound generally associated with ground and flight operations of aircraft. In response to the increasing encroachment of these incompatible land uses, airports, working through local units of government, have initiated land use management actions to facilitate the compatibility of development occurring in the airport environs across the United States."

Airport Noise and Apartment Rental Rates, Addison, Texas - This study investigates the relationship between rental rates and airport noise, specifically; to what degree does airport noise affect current (2002) apartment rental rates within 2 miles of Addison Airport (ADS)?

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) - None pending.

Traffic Study of Impact on FM969 and FM 1404 - None pending. Do you see a pattern here? A good comparision might be the traffic patterns expected for the F1 (Formula One racetrack) coming to Elroy.

Whose Democracy? - 'Whose Democracy?' is a series of 11 editorials that were written for and published in the Smithville Times the fall of 2000. The first one discusses the Alcoa situation which was happening at that time. The rest of them will help you understand why corporations and not we the people rule.