What’s Happening in Copper Canyon - July 2008
By Sue Tejml,
Mayor of CopperCanyon
FYI: This article is posted on the Lantana Links website at and also on Copper Canyon’s website at . At the top left of the Town’s website is a link called “Mayor’s Corner”. It goes directly to the most current and the last twelve months of “What’s Happening” articles. Other articles on Town issues are also posted there, such as the one on “Anatomy of a Gas Lease”, one on seismic exploration, and the most recent one titled “How to Find an Attorney Experienced in Gas Drilling Leases.”
Fire in Copper Canyon Burns 10 Acres – but no Structures were Threatened!
A fire early this month began around 4 pm in a field southwest of Copper Woods homes and east of Copper Canyon Road. Flower Mound’s Fire Chief Eric Metzger (a former Copper Canyon resident) arrived first and was designated the Incident Commander. Our own AVFD Fire Chief Mac Hohenberger arrived shortly thereafter, as he had been delayed by having to come through the ongoing construction on the curve at FM 407. Thank goodness for “mutual aid” and the help of fire departments from Double Oak, Flower Mound, Lake Cities and Roanoke. The wind was not blowing, so the fire did not spread nor did it threaten any homes. However, the 7 brush trucks responding had difficulty reaching the fire and had to access it from the end of Lonesome Dove Lane, which is west off of Jernigan Road.
As the fire was only a couple of days prior to the Fourth of July, Chief Hohenberger walked the start of the burn area afterwards looking for signs of firecrackers or matches. He saw none. And no one in the vicinity said they were burning trash or brush. Though this grass was only 12-13 inches tall, it could have been ignited by an exhaust spark from a ranch truck or equipment.
Town to Enforce new ordinance requiring Residents with Locked Gates to provide code to Denco 911 Dispatch
Nancy Henry, who lives on Lonesome Dove Lane, called me bright and early the morning after the fire. She had realized that she had NOT given the gate code to her home to the Denco 911 Dispatch. She was afraid her home would burn if the fire engines could not get through the gate to her home. I assured her that the fire engines would literally “go through” her locked gate if necessary to put out a fire at her home. However, it would be much simpler if she and other homeowners would simply call the Non-emergency 911 dispatch number (940) 349-1600and have the Dispatcher input the code to her locked gate into their database. That way – whether the emergency requires fire, ambulance or police – the 911 Dispatcher can give the emergency responders the gate code for swift entry. The effective date of this Town ordinance is August 1st.
Due to Fire Hazard, Town is Requesting Residents to keep their Grass Mowed
On the ten acres in Town that burned, the grass was only 12-13 inches tall. That is NOT very tall. But evidently - with little rain and low humidity – even grass this high can be a fire hazard in the summer. Therefore I really appreciate my neighbors on the south side of Orchid Hill, – Gary Nance and Ron Beardsley -who promptly mowed their multi acre yards when requested to do so. And I am especially glad to see Gary in good enough health to be able to personally mow and to see him out walking again. For many years during Gary’s regular walks, he was diligent in policing Orchid Hill Lane for litter – a much appreciated endeavor for a volunteer in Copper Canyon!
And many thanks to Linda and Phil Bergman of Hickory Hill for their efforts to rebuild the fence on Phil’s Dad’s acreage on the south side of Orchid Hill – and in this summer heat too. The Bergmans have always been very good about keeping the acreage outside of the fence neatly mowed. Phil’s Dad Henry Bergman suffered a stroke six months ago and cannot physically do this type of labor right now. We are very glad to hear that Mr. Bergman is able to be up and around again to some extent, after his long convalescence.
All of us in Town need to be resolved to keep our respective lawns and acreage mowed, because a wildfire is no respecter of property lines. A fire that starts in your high grass can easily jump the fence and endanger your neighbor’s home and property.
“The check’s in the mail…..” Town receives $5,107 when Lien for Lot Clean-up is Paid
Lots #13 and #15 on Blackjack Lane have been tied up in Probate Court, because the deceased owner did not leave a will. His daughter was perfectly willing to have the accumulated debris removed from the acreage, but she did not have the ability to do the required clean up herself. Two abandoned homes on the acreage also stood open as an “attractive nuisance” to small children, vagrants, and vandals. So, the Town secured the two homes by boarding up the doors and windows. Then a 20 foot long dumpster was placed on the acreage to receive all the debris And 70 old tires were hauled to a location that would dispose of them for $2.50 per tire without requiring that the tires be first shredded. The total bill for the Town initiated clean-up, including legal fees for filing the lien, was $5,107.
It is a judgment call whether the Town issues the land owner a Citation for Court appearance and the Judge possibly fines the landowner or requires other remediation – or the Town initiates the clean-up and files a lien for repayment of expenses. Due to this land being tied up in the Probate Court, the latter procedure seemed the best remedy for eliminating a fire, safety, and health hazard.
The new owner has assured me that he realizes that the two old homes on the acreage can not be brought up to the Town’s current building code standards. He intends to raze both homes to the ground and put the newly cleaned multi-acre lot up for sale. This is a beautiful piece of land with trees and heavy woods that abut Corps of Engineers land. With the dilapidated homes removed, this will be a very valuable piece of property for a new home site.
Chairman Pris Johnson has plans for Town’s first Copper Canyon Cookbook
Chairman PrisJohnson has been researching the “nuts and bolts” of how to publish the Town’s first Cookbook with recipes contributed by Copper Canyon residents. We hope to have the Cookbook ready to sell at the Copper Canyon Fall Arts and Crafts Festival the first weekend in October. I hope the Gazette will have room to include the blank recipe form and instructions at the end of this article. The form is a Microsoft Word document. If not, email me at and I will email you back the recipe form, which you can return filled out to me and Pris. We also hope the blank recipe form will be posted on our Town website shortly and you can fill it out online and email back to us.
One of the most fun parts of a Family’s Favorite Recipe are the Notes at the end. Sometimes the memories are about at what Family Event the recipe was traditionally used, or which friend or family member you “inherited” the recipe from, or in some cases your specific remembrance of a “catastrophic failure” in reproducing the recipe for the first time. We have a few of those time-honored remembrances in our family. For instance, my maiden attempt to cook mashed potatoes was on my honeymoon. The end product ran like “wall-paper paste” all around the freshly home fried chicken on my husband Emil’s plate. (He has NEVER let me forget that incident, and I have NEVER made mashed potatoes from scratch for him again in the last 50 years of our marriage. Tit for tat, so to speak.)
The second event I remember was a “successful” one, which I will never attempt again. Emil’s dad’s family were full blooded Czechs, who emigrated from Europe to Texas before World War Two. They made the journey across the Atlantic Ocean by boat, not a luxurious tourist boat by any definition. ONCE – I made his family’s traditional recipe for Czech kolaches with apricot, poppy seed, and cream cheese fillings. It took me, literally, all day to accomplish. I’ll include the recipe in the Town Cookbook for anyone who wants to attempt it. But I seriously recommend going to Debra and Greg Rains’ “Kolache Depot” instead.
Terry Morgan of Tech Solutions is Town Hall Staff’s “newest best friend”!
For the last few months the women at Town Hall have been waiting for our Town’s computer service representative to get the computers at Town Hall to be able to “speak” to each other. Also, if the Municipal Clerk was paying Vendors via our Quickbooks software on her computer, the Town Secretary could not simultaneously cut the payroll checks in Quickbooks. And repeatedly the service rep stood them up and was a “no show, no call”. Well, let’s face it – the Town of Copper Canyon is not a very large account for a computer service technician. We have two full time employees – the Town Administrator and the Municipal Court Clerk; and three part time employees, including the Town Secretary.
Mayor Jody Smith of Flower Mound recommended Terry to me, when I was having major problems with my home office personal computer. Terry was great! He came when he said he would and even came when I called “desperate” late in the evening or on weekends. Terry came to Town Hall and immediately had our computers “speaking” to each other and working simultaneously. One computer was working so slowly that the previous service technician had recommended that we buy a new one. Terry said the computer just needed more memory. For a fraction of the cost of a new computer, Terry had that computer working fine. Thank you, Terry. Your expertise is a bargain!
Town cancels July’s once a month Council Meeting due to unavailability of a Quorum
Copper Canyon has struggled this summer to have three Council Members present for the required quorum for our once a month Council Meeting. Council Member Dan Christy informed us early in the spring that he would be on a business assignment out of state for most of the summer. (We have missed your wise and balanced advice, Dan.) Council Member Steve Hill is an international financial consultant, but strives to give priority to our monthly Council Meetings on his intense business travel calendar. Council member Chris Franks operates his business in several states and balances his travel schedule with his commitment as a father to his and wife Kelly’s two small sons. (The Council happily excused Chris from coming to our lengthy June Council Meeting, as it was on the same night as his and Kelly’s wedding anniversary.) Council Member John Brothers is an American Airlines pilot with flight commitments. Thank goodness, our Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Mangum works in the metroplex as a mechanical engineer and is reliably available for Council Meetings.
Anyway, we learned after noon on Friday that Council Member Brothers would not be available for the Monday Council Meeting. It would have been a short meeting, but an important one. After two months of intensive review of “mis-posted” items, the Budget Amendments were ready for adoption by the Council and then posting on the Website and recording by the Denton County Clerk. Our Town Budget is looking very “transparent”, but the Budget Amendments need to be adopted by the Council at a Council Meeting to be official.
Town should have estimated $90,000 available now for major Road Repairs
Most asphalt road repairs need to be done when the weather is hot and dry. In Texas that means scheduling asphalt road projects for the summer or early Fall. The Town has two plus months before the end of our fiscal year September 30th. Money is available for major road repairs now. Otherwise, the Town will need to wait until warm weather next Spring. Hopefully, the Council will be available for a Budget Workshop the end of this month.
Copper Canyon forms a Town-wide Neighborhood Watch –Over 40 Residents Volunteer!
Copper Canyon will have its first training session this week for volunteers for our newly formed Town-wide Neighborhood Watch. The goal is to blanket the Town with “Watch” Block Captains and Co-Captains, as a deterrent to malicious mischief, vandalism, burglaries, and more serious crimes. Our Town has been blessed with few such incidents. We want to keep it that way. “Watch” volunteers act as the “eyes and ears” to keep our two Deputy Constables abreast of any unusual happenings within the Town.
Denton County Sheriff Benny Parkey is backing the Neighborhood Watch program to the extent of having one officer dedicated solely to the Crime Watch program. Officer Leslie Willingham will be conducting the training at Town Hall from 7-9 pm on Thursday night July 17th. Neighboring Canyon Oaks Homeowner President Dwight Grimm will be joining us with several Canyon Oaks “Watch” volunteers. Our Town Hostess Committee will be welcoming everyone with refreshments and homemade goodies.
Please check the town website for individual “Watch” Block Captains and their designated streets.
The difference between a General Law Town and a Home Rule City; the difference between a Town Administrator and a City Manager
Texas towns are divided into two major categories. Towns under 5,000 in population are governed by the General Laws of the State of Texas. Towns over 5,000 population have the option of drafting a Home Rule Charter with individual provisions specific to that town. If passed by a town wide election, that town is thence forth governed by the provisions of their individual Home Rule Charter. Either size town may by town wide election decide to have a Council/Manager form of government, whereby a City Manager is the Chief Executive Officer of the town.
City Managers often earn a salary (even $200,000)commensurate with their years of experience and expertise. In our area George Campbell, City Manager of Denton, and Harlan Jefferson, City Manager of Flower Mound, are two outstanding examples of Manager/CEOs of towns with 60-80,000 populations. They oversee huge city staffs, full service police and fire departments, full service utility departments, public works crews, multiple subdivision and retail developments, mega million dollar budgets and bond issues, health departments, and various services such as parks, recreation and libraries. These distinguished City Managers are worth every penny they are paid.
Copper Canyon, by contrast, is four square miles with a population of less than 1500. Our budget is well under one million dollars and the Town is solely residential with no retail area. Under the General Laws of the State of Texas, the Mayor of Copper Canyon is the Budget Officer and the Chief Executive Officer of the Town. As an elected official, I can not delegate that responsibility to someone else. Nor can the Council delegate that responsibility to someone else for me - either by informal means, resolution or ordinance.
Under our former Mayor Larry Johnson, the Council by simple ordinance created the position of Town Administrator. This is a position of limited responsibility, much more restricted than the vast authority of a City Manager created by a town wide election. I agree with the former Mayor and Council that Copper Canyon needs a full time Administrator daily at Town Hall. Our TA oversees the day to day affairs of the Town and our Staff of one other full time employee and three part time ones. However, the Town Administrator remains under the direct supervision of the Mayor, subject to the Council’s direction at its monthly Council Meetings. This is our TA Quentin Hix’s first time in the position of Town Administrator. But in the past year he has overcome many challenges as several Town roads failed unexpectedly and several gas well drilling sites became active. Quentin is presently on a well earned ten day vacation, and we hope he comes back rested and refreshed and ready to tackle Copper Canyon’s issues in the coming year.
What does the volunteer Mayor of a small Texas town do?
This is a question I have been asked many times. Three years ago, I could not have answered that question.
As Mayor of Copper Canyon my responsibilities are outlined as follows: