Holiday Schedule for Copper Canyon S Town Hall

What’s Happening in Copper Canyon – December 2013

By Sue Tejml

Mayor of Copper Canyon

Holiday Schedule for Copper Canyon’s Town Hall:

Christmas: Closed Tuesday and Wednesday, December 24th and 25th.

In honor of the holidays, our Town Council will not meet in December.

But Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all our readers!

Santa Party for Copper Canyon Children: The annual party is scheduled for the first Saturday in December, December 7th from 3:00 to 5:00 pm at Town Hall, 400 Woodland Drive. As usual, the most popular event is anticipated to be the rides by kids and parents atop the Argyle Volunteer Fire District fire engine! (Thank you Fire Chief Mac Hohenberger and volunteer AFD Captain, our own Copper Canyon Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Mangum, and longtime volunteer firefighter Denton County Sheriff Will Travis.) If the weather is cold, remember to have adequate jackets, hats, and gloves on your children. It gets very breezy atop the fire engine, even if the truck’s speed is very slow traveling through the Woodlands Subdivision.

There will also be a photographer for photos opportunities with “Santa” and

Treats for the children! Members of the Copper Canyon Women’s Club traditionally provide cookies and snacks for everyone attending! Thanks again to our Town Administrator Donna Welsh who has so lovingly again organized this fun event for Copper Canyon’s children!

Copper Canyon Road and Hickory Hill Road – Both Lanes Open!

Both local residents and commuters have welcomed the opening of Copper Canyon Road and Hickory Hill Road in both directions! The only significant county project remaining to be built is where the road from Old Alton Bridge dead ends into Copper Canyon Road. A concrete center median and heavy duty barrier arms will be installed east of that intersection to make the railroad crossing a quiet zone. The engineer in charge, Gary Vickery of Teague, Nall and Perkins, is asking the railroad for permission to install a median slightly shorter in length than the usual ones. This would allow Copper Canyon resident Dan Ruehs to access his driveway from both directions when his truck is pulling a long trailer for his business.

Railroad Quiet Zone Crossings in Copper Canyon

A long term goal of Copper Canyon has been to make all four railroad crossings in Town “Quiet Zones”. In a Quiet Zone, the locomotive engineer does not have to blow his horn at road crossings. This is because concrete central medians on the road and heavy duty crossing arms have been installed which prevent a vehicle from bypassing them to cross the railroad tracks when the arms are down indicating an approaching train. Orchid Hill Road and nearby Copper Canyon Road will shortly be official Quiet Zones. The road at the 3rd railroad crossing in the Hidden Creek Subdivision has been permanently closed. The 4th railroad crossing on Chinn Chapel Road will become a Quiet Zone when that section of Chinn Chapel is rebuilt in 2014. Besides the noise reduction to residents whose homes are located alongside the railroad tracks, Railroad Quiet Zones help maintain the property values of all homeowners in Copper Canyon.

Only Six Estate-sized home sites remain in Hidden Creek Subdivision

Copper Canyon residentValerie Pearson has represented her dad David Pearson in marketing the estate-sized lots in his Hidden Creek Subdivision. Hidden Creek is an incredibly beautiful area, located in the secluded center of Copper Canyon. (There is, on purpose, no cross street traffic access to the center of Copper Canyon’s rural heartland.) The 2 to 7 acre lots are heavily wooded and some have Poindexter Creek meandering through them. A picturesque lighted bridge crosses the Creek in the center of the subdivision. Only six multi-acre home sites are still available for purchase. Horses in pastures around the homes are an option for equestrians. Trails on the Corps of Engineers wooded acres are nearby and restricted to equestrians and pedestrians. For information see Valerie’s web site at or visit the beautiful model home in Hidden Creek priced at $825,000. (The model home was built by Valerie’s husband Michael Cannaday and showcases his quality construction standards.)

Experienced Builder Michael Cannaday agrees to serve on Planning & Zoning

Copper Canyon resident Mike Cannadayhas been building homes for twenty years. His company, Precision Builders of Texas, builds in Highland Park, Southlake, Westlake, Copper Canyon’s Hidden Creek Subdivision, and in the neighborhoods of Chateau du lac and Pointe Noble in Flower Mound near Lake Grapevine. His homes range in value from $500,000 to $1 to $3 million dollars; his architectural style varies from modern to Mediterranean. Cannaday also has built commercial projects such as the Neurology Center in Flower Mound and the Eye Center in Denton. Currently he has the “Mellow Mushroom Pizza”restaurant under construction in Mansfield, Texas. (See for examples of homes Mike has built.)

The variety of his building experience, in both residential and mid-sized commercial, will be invaluable as Copper Canyon’s Planning & Zoning Commission addresses the development of our Town Center on FM 407. Thank you, Mike, for being willing to give part of your very busy schedule as a volunteer for the Town.

Developer Darrin Peterson is unanimously appointed to Planning & Zoning

In October the Town Council unanimously voted to appoint Copper Canyon resident Darrin Petersonto our Planning & Zoning Commission. Darrin and his wife Marnie Peterson and children have lived in our Town for seven years. Darrin volunteers as the Bishop for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is the Committee Chair for Boy Scout Troop 612. (The Scouts in this troop recently volunteered six hours on a Saturday and removed litter from our Town roadsides. No less than NINETEEN large black yard trash sacks were filled with the litter the Scouts picked up!)

Currently Darrin is a co-developer for a 60 acre residential tract in Flower Mound on FM 1171 adjacent to the Pumpkin Patch. He also was involved in the construction of the Mormon Church on Chinn Chapel Road and developed the homes in Highland Village adjacent to the church. Darrin’s experience as a developer will be a major contribution to Planning & Zoning. Thank you, Darrin, for being willing to volunteer your time!

Grand Opening for new AFD Fire Station is Saturday January 11th2:00 p.m.

New fire station 511islocated in Argyle at 511South Simmons Road, just south of FM 407. (For your GPS, input Argyle, TX 76226.) Festivities will begin at 2 p.m. (The official Opening Ceremony for the fire station is scheduled for 5 p.m.) All the station’s vehicles – fire engines, brush trucks, ambulances - will be outside for guests to inspect. Firefighters will be available to answer any questions.

CareFlightmedical evacuation helicopters will land in front of the fire station andPHI medical helicopters will land behind the fire station. (Care Flight is based at Denton Regional Airport and PHI is based at Denton Regional Medical Center.) The Denton County Sheriff’s Posse is attending, with two members on horseback. The City of Denton Fire Department’s renown clowns will also give a safety show for kids. In 2013 Argyle Fire District sponsored the clowns for three shows to elementary students at Liberty Christian and at two Denton ISD elementary schools in Lantana.

Earl Harrington, co-owner of Fuzzy’s Restaurant in Argyle, has volunteered to provide gratis all drinks, food, and refreshments for the Opening! Fuzzy’s is located in the old Poppy’s locationon Highway 377, on the northeast corner of the intersection with FM 407. Harrington has also bought the old adjoining AFD fire station on 377 and is converting it into “Backdraft Pizza”! The pizza building will architecturally resemble an old fire station. Harrington also plans a Coffee Shop as part of the eating ensemble there and a park for outdoor dining. If you come as a guest to the Opening, please thank Earl Harrington for his generosity in providing all refreshments!

Each day firefighters move a truck load of gear and equipment from the old fire station on Highway 377 to the new fire station on Gibbons Road. It is a tedious task, but they plan to be totally moved by January 1st. Harrington, the new owner of the old fire station, has been very patient allowing the firefighters time to move and unpack each truck load in manageable daily stages. This in-house moving has saved ESD#1 taxpayers the considerable cost of hiring a commercial mover and vans.

NewStation 511 is absolutely beautiful! And very functional! ESD#1 Commissioner Jon Donahue and AFD Fire Chief Mac Hohenberger and President James Price and volunteer firefighterBrad Kokoron (a professional builder) have worked hard to reduce construction expenses without forfeiting quality. The four men have spent numerous volunteer hours supervising this building project! All of us in the Argyle Fire District have benefited from their dedication!

The new station has a 4th bay to accommodate a future purchase of a “quint”. A quint is a large fire engine with folding ladders that elevate to reach buildings taller than 35 feet. As our area, especially along I-35W, has commercial buildings over two stories tall, a quint will be required to protect the upper floors.

Copper Canyon residents volunteer as Denton County Master Naturalists

At present Copper Canyon has four active Master Naturalists – Jean Chaka, Susan Kilpatrick, Rita Lokie and Karen Mangum. (Socie Lemke and Karen Bishop Smith are inactive.) The Master Naturalists program is co-sponsored by the AgriLife Extension Office of Texas A&M Universityand the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In the late 1990’s state budget cutbacks began to limit the educational programs that Parks and Wildlife employees could offer to the public. Thus was born the idea of training volunteers to be certified Master Naturalists and let them staff the educational and research programs. The first Master Naturalist program began in 1997 in San Antonio. Now there are over 400 Master Naturalist Chapters in Texas. Our local one is the Elm Fork Chapter, and its web site is or the state web site is

The local Elm Fork Chapter in Denton County begins classes each September. (The cut-off date to apply for the classes is in the prior summer.) Volunteers donate one day a week for 13 weeks. There are 6 hour classes and/or field trips each week. Certification comes after 60 hours are completed. However, each year thereafter to remain active, each Master Naturalist must complete 8 hours of approved Advanced Training and 40 hours of approved Volunteer Service Projects. Certified volunteers often speak at Garden Club meetings and in our schools on subjects the Master Naturalists have studied or about active research projects that are currently underway. (The Canyon Oaks Garden Club invites a Master Naturalist to speak each year. This year the topic was on “Harvesting Rainwater”. In appreciation, the COGC gave a donation to the Elm Fork Chapter for a college scholarship to a student of the Chapter’s choice.)

Copper Canyon resident Jean Chaka is serving at LLELA (which stands for Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area.) The location by the dam is the site of hiking trails, prairie restoration, and bird banding. Jean is also a docent for the Pioneer Homestead, which includes a dugout, a smokehouse, and a cabin.The pioneer’s first home was usually a “dugout” created underground on the prairie for shelter. (Trees for building wood structures were often in short supply on the open prairie.)Jean also leads nature hikes. Jean has been a Master Naturalist since 2006 and recently received her 1000 Hour Pin!

Susan Kilpatrick has been a Master Naturalist for many years and involved in multiple projects. She home schools hers and husband Scott Kilpatrick’s three daughters – Shelby and twins Kaitlyn and Lauren. The girls often participate in Master Naturalist sponsored educational and research programs. Shelby became a certified Bee Keeper, a Master Gardener, and an intern for the Master Naturalist program. This year Shelby was awarded a college scholarship to study entomology at Texas A&M University.

Karen Mangum is the Project Manager for Feeder Watch, under the direction of Cornell University’s Ornithology Lab. From November 9th to April 4th Master Naturalists report online the daily weather conditions, temperature, precipitation, and types of birds they have spotted at the feeders. This helps the Cornell Lab determine the migratory flight paths of different birds and if certain species are increasing in numbers or decreasing.

Copper Canyon resident Rita Lokie has just completed her Master Naturalist training. She thoroughly enjoyed the bird banding program at Lewisville Lake. She is also an enthusiastic bird watcher for the Cornell Lab Feeder Watch research program. She encourages anyone interested in participating to go to the Elm Fork Chapter web site to learn how to build and observe a bird feeder. Volunteer participants do not have to be Master Naturalists.