The Town Council of Flower Mound, TX, which sits atop the Barnett Shale, has combined two existed drilling permit moratoriums into one and extended it until April 15 while it awaits an advisory board’s report on oil and natural gas development activities in the town.

The five-member council voted 4-1 for the ordinance extension, which combined two similar and previously passed measures as a procedural matter, Matt Woods, the town’s director of environmental services, told NGI’s Shale Daily. One of the original ordinances was drafted by petitioners who had sought a moratorium on drilling permits; the other was drafted by the council itself.

The advisory board is expected to make its recommendations to the council early next year, after which a 30-day public comment period will follow and then a hearing.

Flower Mound, which is in southern Denton County, has drawn scrutiny for air emissions from natural gas patch equipment. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has targeted the area for air quality monitoring (see Shale Daily, Nov. 24).

Late last year the council voted down a proposed an ordinance to temporarily suspend drilling permits (see Daily GPI, Dec. 21, 2009).