DISH - Residents here will need another bulldog come May, maybe sooner.
Mayor Calvin Tillman - an outspoken advocate for this town of 201, especially when it comes to the negative effects of shale natural gas production - told residents over the weekend that he will not seek re-election. Calvin Tillman
Tillman and his wife, Tiffiney, announced earlier this year that they had put their home up for sale. They decided they had to leave the area after the couple's two young boys both got nosebleeds in the night at the same time.
Dish is home to three metering stations, 11 compressor stations and more than 20 gas-gathering pipelines. Residents have complained for several years about odors from the production equipment and possible related health effects, including nosebleeds, from emissions of toxic compounds.
A buyer's offer for his home has gone through, Tillman said, declining to give financial details. The Tillmans bought their 6-acre property in two parts and paid cash for much of it, he said. While they will be able to satisfy their mortgage lender, they will lose money on the property.
"It's a loss we're willing to take," Tillman said.
The couple paid $139,000 for the house on 2.86 acres in 2003, according to Denton Central Appraisal District records, and an unknown amount for the adjoining 3.21 acres in 2005. The appraisal district valued the two properties in 2010 at $136,675.
The buyer did meet one unusual condition contained in the Tillmans' counteroffer - to watch the Oscar-nominated documentary Gasland on DVD as part of their disclosure. Calvin Tillman is featured in the film.
The deal is scheduled to close Thursday.
The couple found a house in the Aubrey area on a quarter-acre that was in foreclosure, he said. Given the couple's experience in Dish, they researched pipeline routes in the area before committing to the new location.
The family's furniture is in storage, but he is not sure when they will move.
"The house in Aubrey isn't ready yet," he said.
Tillman and the town commissioners have been talking about a transition plan.
"I'm willing to serve in whatever capacity they need to make a smooth transition," he said.
Commissioner Charles Smith said he and the other commissioner, Bill Sciscoe, will have to speak to the town's attorney, but they hope they will be able to authorize Tillman to do as much as he is able and willing to do.
"We've got a lot going on," Smith said.
While the move itself doesn't come as a surprise, the fact that the Tillman family was able to sell was a surprise to others in Dish, given the economy and the problems in the area, Smith said.
The house, though surrounded by production equipment, may have been easier to sell than others because there weren't gathering pipelines or gas wells on the property itself, Tillman said.
Residents have been talking about names for a possible successor, but so far, nothing has settled for the upcoming mayor's race, Smith said.
Tillman will be "sorely missed, to say the least," Smith said.
While he will no longer be mayor, Tillman said he's not walking away from the issues that drove him and his family from the only home his children have ever known.
"We're going to have to put a chain-link fence around the Barnett Shale - that's the reality," Tillman said. "I'm moving away, but I'm not going away."
PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com .
