I first placed a cache in this area NINE years ago, as this megalomaniacal monument neared completion. The container didn’t last long. Neither did the next two containers I hid here. So I waited for some plantings to create a hardier hide – a tree, a bush, a shrub, anything. Eventually some PVC pipe was laid out for irrigation, and now NINE years later, not one damn thing has been planted. Nothing! Having run out of money on their ego project, they finally shafted a local hospital group that likes to advertise, and enticed them into sponsoring a health trail of sorts. Still no trees or bushes or anything a normal municipality would support. I guess they want to make sure they don't obscure any of this ego project from all those people driving by on I-30.
I'm betting that this container sticks around a lot longer than the others I've hidden here. Just for your fun and edification, here is the funny cache description from the second cache I placed at this site which also refers to the original cache description. Enjoy!
Bird's Eye View
More than $37 million was spent on this building, and apparently they don’t have one thin dime left for landscaping!!! If it was part of a homeowners’ association, the residents would have been receiving fines for dang near 2 years. They’d be in jail, which is exactly where everyone involved with this project should be right now. We live in a town where Helping Hands helps feed, clothe, and provide medical care for the poor. We can’t hire even one more teacher, because we can’t afford it. But our “leaders” felt strongly that we should crap away $37 million on a building for criminals and lawyers (redundant?). Now we don’t have one red cent to even plant grass in front of the monstrosity? We really can’t even afford grass?? Grass?? Welcome to Redneckville where our leaders lead us straight into poverty, shame, and embarrassment. Just in case these opinions are not hot enough for you, or funny enough for you, I have included the original description to the first “Bird’s Eye View” cache below. It still makes me laugh every time I read it. Enjoy!
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The newest addition that now towers over the Rockwall skyline is a domed 4-story, 135,000 sq ft behemoth. This building features numerous columns, terrazzo floors, granite wall paneling and mahogany ceiling panels. Many of the over-sized rooms are stone and mahogany, with traditional maple seating. So why are so many people in the community absolutely irate about this structure? Why did it cost several public officials their jobs? Because instead of listening to the people, these officials shot them the bird. No kidding. Here’s the story for you; proving that sometimes Tall Tales and Texas Tales may be the same thing:
This predecessor’s structure had just undergone 7 continuous years of county-funded improvements that were completed in 2002. The idea for a brand new mega-structure to replace it, along with the request for funding to do so, was put before the voters of Rockwall County in 2004. By a very large margin, the voters soundly rejected the proposal. Undeterred, the powers that be insisted that the smallest county in the largest state needed this thing so badly that they ignored the wishes of the voters and ran it up the pole again in 2005. Again, no dice. The voters were asked twice, and in no uncertain terms, the voters had overwhelmingly spoken – twice.
As if the voters of Rockwall County were ignorant hillbillies too stupid to know what they really wanted, in May 2008, the county commissioners voted 3-2 to use a whopping $30 million in tax notes, which don’t require voter approval, to build the structure. That’s right, just THREE PEOPLE overturned the wishes of the voters by a slender ONE VOTE margin to hi-jack $30 million in taxes from the people of the smallest county in the state. Democracy? My behind! This was grand larceny! The Old West still holds sway from time to time in Texas.
Of course, no building project ever comes in on budget, so money from the county’s reserve fund was used when the project was capped at $37.2 million. What’s a paltry $7.2 million? (Answer: about 25% of this project) Unlike many the stories of the Old West, the "County’s-Crooked-Three", as they are now known in tax-paying circles, were not killed, but their political careers were. Like a Tombstone, their names may be found on the front of the structure.
If you are feeling spunky when you find this cache, you can look up at one of the windows and do your thing so that those powers on high, sitting on thrones of marble and mahogany; those who ignore the wishes of their constituents; can have a little bird’s eye view of their own!