A few major issues, including set-back distances from drill sites and whether to protect parks from fracking, have plagued the Dallas gas drilling task force for months ... and months. (Keep in mind: Yesterday's final meeting was more than three months past the scheduled end date.) At meeting after meeting after meeting, the group debated and decided on most issues, but set aside yesterday to revisit the topics at which they wanted to take another stab.

They essentially rewound what they had done, took into account the maps from the city of locations currently zoned for drilling and information that's been filling their in-boxes from industry and citizen activists, and came to new conclusions based on the materials and the benefit of hindsight.

Drilling on park land, a source ofongoing debate, came to a head. It had to, considering it was the last chance for task force discussion and vote. As detailed in letters to the task force by industry representative Dallas Cothrum, protecting park land -- along with other task force recommendations -- would make it impossible to drill on sites already negotiated by the city.

The task force had previously voted to include parks as a protected use, guarded by a 1,000-foot set-back. Park land encompasses much more land than parks as we know them, said David Biegler, task force member and Southcross Energy chairman and CEO. With that, he urged that the group allow the Park and Recreation Department and city council to decide on the issue on a case-by-case basis with strict guidelines.

Park Board