Colleyville homeowners concerned with future pipeline

Some Colleyville residents are concerned about the possible impact on their homes of a proposed natural gas pipeline.

City Council members recently reviewed preliminary plans for the installation of a 4.5-mile pipeline that will run through the city to North Richland Hills. Access Midstream, the company installing the pipeline does not have a design yet, but has surveyed land including in the Monticello neighborhood. Access Midstream shared its survey map with the city.

“We didn’t like it because some of it runs through people’s backyards,” Moniticello Homeowners Association President Jim Spisak said.

Colleyville project engineer Adam Marsh said the pipeline is expected to follow Big Bear Creek through the backside of the Monticello neighborhood into Keller and then come down Davis Boulevard onto the Colleyville side of Precinct Line Road until crossing the road to a staging area in North Richland Hills.

Access Midstream stressed that other than at the drill site, all of the pipeline would be underground in Colleyville’s city limits.

The pipeline will connect to seven wells, operated by Titan Operating, near the city’s northern border at 7504 Pleasant Run Road.

Councilman Jody Short, who lives in Monticello, asked why the pipeline appears to be on the Colleyville side of Big Bear Creek close to homes.

Midstream Access employees told City Council that it plans to follow the path of an existing Trinity River Authority sewer line.

“We want it right down the middle whether it’s in Southlake or Colleyville, as far away as people's homes as makes sense,” Spisak said.

Spisak said the pipeline would affect about 15 homes in the neighborhood.

“Their concerns are many fold,” Spisak said. “For those it does directly impact, it has to do with safety and the impact of values on their homes.”

Spisak added the HOA is waiting to see the pipeline design.

Access Midstream will design and construct the pipeline and plans to have the survey data completed by the end of January. Using the data, Access expects to take 150-180 days to design the pipeline. Once that is finished the company will submit a pipeline permit application to the city.

City staff members anticipate the review process to take anywhere from 90-120 days.

Access Midstream plans to begin construction in summer 2016 and expects completion in spring 2017.

Mayor Pro Tem Mike Taylor said he understands the residents’ concerns.

“I want to get them to accommodate our residents in the area,” he said.

City staff members made it clear to Council members that the City Council would have to approve the pipeline permit if it meets all the requirements of the land development code.

Titan plans to finish fracking the seven wells it currently has by March and has the option to develop 14 wells by November.

This story was originally published February 18, 2015 at 8:16 AM with the headline "Colleyville homeowners concerned with future pipeline."