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Regional Transportation Council representative briefs Denton on MPO lawsuit and June General Assembly vote
Summary
A consultant representing the RTC told Denton City Council the North Central Texas COG is asserting MPO authority and said Denton County's lawsuit secured temporary injunctions; he urged council to ensure its RTC representative attends a June General Assembly meeting where board membership may be decided.
John Polster, a consultant with Innovative Transportation Solutions and the city's RTC representative, told the Denton City Council on June 2 that an ongoing legal dispute centers on which entity serves as the metropolitan planning organization for North Texas. Polster said the North Central Texas Council of Governments has been asserting MPO authority and that Denton County filed suit seeking to limit the COG's role.
Polster summarized the legal history: a 1974 gubernatorial designation that included a steering committee carve-out; later restructuring as the Regional Transportation Council; federal and state clarifications in the 2000s that, Polster said, left room for differing interpretations. He said Denton County obtained a temporary restraining order and later a blanket temporary injunction barring the COG from exercising certain MPO policy functions, and that the COG has appealed on jurisdictional grounds. "We were granted that relief in Denton County for a two-week period," Polster said, describing subsequent filings and an appellate denial of a COG request for a temporary restraining order.
Polster urged council members to ensure the city's designated RTC representative and allied officials attend the June 12 General Assembly meeting in Hurst, where he said a slate of executive-board nominees could determine whether the tri-party agreement is signed and the dispute resolved. "It's very critical that Denton be there," he said.
Council member Jester and others asked how regional funding and project decisionmaking could be affected; Polster described the RTC as the forum that allocates hundreds of millions in transportation funds and said the disputes reflect competing institutional control rather than differences over particular projects. Council members agreed to monitor the General Assembly vote.
The presentation was informational; no council action on the lawsuit was taken during the meeting. The council was advised of upcoming hearings in the appellate and trial courts and urged to coordinate attendance at the June 12 General Assembly meeting.
