What’s Happening in Copper Canyon – August 2012
By Sue Tejml
Mayor of Copper Canyon
Mayor Sue’s month off: For those of you who inquired about the absence of “What’s Happening in Copper Canyon” last month - I’m fine. But, thank you so much for asking. For the first time in 8 years, I decided to just take a break from writing the monthly column and enjoy the summer without a deadline. Nope, I didn’t go anywhere special. Just enjoyed visiting with our kids and grandkids here at home.
Denton County is again under a Burn Ban due to continuing drought and rising heat index. Details are on the Copper Canyon web site, Denton County web site, and Lantana Links web site.
Town’s Certified Tax Role increases over $5 Million Dollars
Copper Canyon’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2012-2013 will be discussed at the August 13th Council Meeting; No Major Expenditure Increases Proposed
Area Landowner sues three Local towns, one Retail area, one Developer, one Home Builder, two local subdivision Homeowners Associations, and one Church.
Area Towns address West Nile Virus Concerns with Variety of Methods
Teenage Driver rutting right-of-way ground on Chinn Chapel Road
Many Thanks to Highland Village’s Town Engineer Matthew Kite and City Manager Mike Leavitt for Volunteering to Fill in and Smooth Out the Ruts!
“Basic Firearms for Women” workshop Wed. August 16th 6-9 p.m. Town Hall
Texas Parks and Wildlife Hunters’ Education Certification – Saturday, August 18th, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Copper Canyon Town Hall
Two Grandsons speak movingly at service for longtime resident Bob Potts
United Way of Denton County serves 25 towns and 10 School Districts – and has sobering facts on Population and Needs in the UWDC Service Area.
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Town’s Certified Tax Role increases over $5 Million Dollars
Denton County Appraisal District certified all municipal tax roles in July. Copper Canyon’s Net Taxable Value was $176,391,566 - which is $5,056,815 or 3% above the prior year’s valuation. The Town’s total property tax assessed valuation of $183,442,191 was reduced 28% - or $49,605,916 for Productivity and Agricultural Use. Copper Canyon continues to maintain its “rural atmosphere” with our extensive state granted almost $50 million ag exemptions for crop and pastureland.
Copper Canyon’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2012-2013 will be discussed at the August 13th Council Meeting
The proposed next fiscal year budget will be available ahead of the meeting for inspection at Town Hall. It will also be posted on the Town web site in the Council Packet for the August Council Meeting. No major additions to current expenditures are proposed.
The Town is expected to underspend its current budget by an estimated $40,000. This savings is traditionally rolled over into the Road Fund, as a means of accumulating funds for the next major road project. Rebuilding Woodland Drive is the next anticipated major road project, as it is by far the most heavily traveled interiorstreet in Town. It will take approximately 3 to 4 years of budget savings to fund that project.
All Copper Canyon residents are welcome to come to the August meeting and offer specific suggestions or simply make their personal opinions known to the Council. As a courtesy to Town residents, Public Input is always the first Agenda item at the 7:00 p.m. meeting.
Area Landowner sues three Local towns, one Retail area, one Developer, one Home Builder, two local subdivision Homeowners Associations, and one Church.
On June 7, 2012 a lawsuit was filed in state district court in Denton by Plaintiff Kay Marschel against the Town of Copper Canyon, the Town of Flower Mound, the City of Highland Village, the Shops at Highland Village, Woods Chinn Chapel, Ltd (the developer of the Terracina residential project in Flower Mound), Toll Brothers (the home builder in Terracina), the Chapel Hill Estates HOA in Highland Village, the Chapel Springs HOA in Highland Village, and the Church of Latter Day Saints in Highland Village. The plaintiff owns approximately 40 acres of predominantly pastureland, which is located east of Chinn Chapel Road and south of the railroad tracks and within the town boundaries of Highland Village. The physical damage is alleged to be basically flooding and erosion of a small creek and road bridge over the creek on Plaintiff’s land. It is alleged that the damage is a result of the storm water, and possibly irrigation water that naturally drains both south to north and west to east from the defendants’ respective geographic areas to this pastureland. The Plaintiff is suing all nine defendants for one million dollars each.
All three towns have standard municipal liability insurance through the Texas Municipal League Intergovernmental Risk Pool. TML will provide the legal defense for each town as part of their respective policies and without additional cost to each Town. However, each Town will have to fund the cost of their respective liability insurance deductible, and this amount is not usually recoverable. It is expected that each town will petition to be dismissed from the lawsuit.
NOTE: This is the first time the Town of Copper Canyon has been named in a lawsuit. Because of the Town’s long term good track record for liability and accidents, the deductible is minimal
Area Towns address West Nile Virus Concerns with Variety of Methods
All area towns are concerned with the West Nile Virus and the mosquitoes that transmit the disease. But, a “one size response” does definitely not fit all situations. Currently, Highland Village is fogging designated locations, predominantly in the northeast area of that town adjoining Lake Lewisville. Residents are warned in advance of the specific areas to be sprayed. The town advises residents to stay indoors, and bring their pets and pet food and water bowls inside, during spraying hours from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. The Town also suggests that residents wipe down outside play equipment and pet feeding equipment afterwards. Evidently pool water is not negatively affected by the spray, but the spray could possibly kill fish in outdoor ponds.
Flower Mound also follows a detailed protocol for its response to the virus. If there are more than two confirmed cases of human West Nile Virus infections in one location (called a “cluster”), the town will trap mosquitoes to confirm a presence in that location of mosquitoes infected with the virus. Flower Mound’s Director of Environmental ServicesMatthewWoods said last week that the Town was spraying for mosquitoes for the second time this summer. Flower Mound is also providing two free “mosquito dunks” for each household. These larvicide “biscuits” can be placed in calm or stagnant water to prevent mosquito wigglers from being bred.
Bartonville is providing four free mosquito dunks per household, but that town has far less rooftops than Flower Mound. The Bartonville staff is also keeping a running list of those households that take the free dunks, so that no one “double dips” on the free “biscuits”. Double Oak has few ponds within its town boundaries and has opted to wait and observe the effectiveness of current mosquito eradication measures.
Chemical Mosquito Spraying:
In 2003, when the first West Nile Virus cases occurred in this area, former Mayor Larry Johnson asked then Council Member Jeff Mangum to research the effectiveness of mosquito spraying to reduce the incidence of the disease. Engineer Mangum concluded at that time that mosquito fogging was not an effective deterrent to the spread of the virus – and created its own human and animal health problems and additional environmental issues.The spray kills adult mosquitoes, but not their larvae. As the mosquito’s life cycle is only seven days, the next generation can become more immune to the toxic effects of the current spray. Not a good prognosis for ongoing eradication. The mosquito dunks are mainly effective only against larvae and only on shallow water sources and ponds. Jeff is updating his research on the subject and will brief the Council at the August 13th meeting.
Copper Canyon has its own challenges in spraying effectively, due to its large acreage lots. Vehicles normally spray from a Town’s streets, and the fog may not drift far enough to reach Copper Canyon homeowners’ back yards. Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Mangum emailed me after his research on the topic. “Chemical treatment only targets adult mosquitos that come in direct contact with the pesticide. Mosquitos can travel up to 5 miles. Treatment is affected by the population density and street network. As roads become more widely spaced in suburban and rural areas, the coverage afforded by the wind-driven spray cloud becomes diluted to the point of being ineffective. Similarly, only those properties on the downwind side of the street are treated by the spray. Dense vegetation (such as Copper Canyon’s wooded areas) may reduce the effective movement of the spray. No matter how pesticides are applied, however, pesticides have the potential to impact non-targeted species, including humans.”
Both Mike Levitt, City Manager of Highland Village, and Harlan Jefferson, City Manager of Flower Mound, have kindly provided Copper Canyon with the contact information for the professional mosquito spraying firms that each town is currently using. The spray is supposed to be non-toxic to humans and animals, environmentally sound, and not linger long on exposed surfaces.
NOTE: Most local pest control companies offer mosquito spraying services for residences. For several years I have used Exclusive Pest Control based in Flower Mound. The charge in May was $125 to spray for mosquitoes around my home, pool, garage and outdoor parking space, and surrounding yard areas. (The cost varies according to how extensive an area you want sprayed.) Owner Greg Rank can be reached at (817) 209-9421 or . (Greg’s brother Kurt Rank lives in Copper Woods and owns and manages Executive Pest Control in Southlake. (817) 531-0077, )
Biological Control of Mosquito Larvae, mainly with “dunks”:
Biological measures mainly are the use of bacteria that kill mosquito larvae and the use of natural mosquito predators such as fish. One bacterial agent is Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti). Bti is available at feed stores and garden centers. Home owners should follow all label instructions. Typical application is in either the form of dunks or granules. Coverage for 1 dunk is 100 sq. ft. of water and it last for 30 days or more.
The State also prohibits allowing any mosquito spray or larvicide dunks to be used where runoff, via creeks and drainage pathways, might leach the pesticide into our lakes which are the sources of our area’s drinking water.
Physical Reduction of Mosquito Breeding Habitats:
Reduce the risk for West Nile Virus at your home or business by eliminating mosquito hatching grounds. Survey around your home, barn, stable, kennels, yard, and business. Drain any standing or stagnant water that might harbor mosquito wigglers. (I.e. saucers under outdoor potted plants; small ditches or depressions in the ground that might hold water after lawn irrigation rotor systems run, etc.)
The Copper Canyon Council will discuss the West Nile Virus at its regular Council Meeting August 13th at 7:00 p.m. at Town Hall, 400 Woodland Drive. All Town residents are welcome to come and make specific suggestions or just offer their personal opinions.
NOTE: The Town posted on its website in June the Denton County Health Officer’s guidance on personal defenses to the West Nile Virus. With the latest diagnosis of more cases in Denton County, that information has been moved back up to the top of the web site’s information. The information also appears in the June “What’s Happening in Copper Canyon” article, which is also archived on the Town website.
SELF PROTECTION is the MOST EFFECTIVE PREVENTION: However, there appears to be large consensus among health officers, elected officials, and city and town staff that the most effective prevention of the virus is via education of our residents on how to avoid or protect themselves and their families from the mosquitoes. Remember the four “D’s”:
(1)DAWN & DUSK - Stay indoors at dawn and dusk, when the mosquitoes are most active.
(2)DRESS - If you must go outside during those hours, wear long sleeves and long pants.
(3) DEET - wear a mosquito repellant with the active ingredient DEET.
(4) DRAIN - Eliminate all standing water around your home and business. (Swimming pools that are adequately chlorinated or small ponds that have active aerators do not appear to be an active breeding ground for the mosquitoes.)
Teenage Driver rutting right-of-way ground on Chinn Chapel Road
Our Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Steve Hill noted a young vehicle driver purposefully rutting the grassed right-of-way ground along Chinn Chapel Road at the intersection of Harlington Drive and also at the intersection of Woodland Drive. Being observant, he noted the license plate number. The driver does not live in Copper Canyon, but in a neighboring town. Steve contacted the parents of the driver and asked for this destructive practice to cease. The father was cooperative, but his family was involved with a major move within a couple of days out of the area. Steve did not want to add to the complications of their immediate move. And, there were other persons involved in the actual acts of vandalism. If the vandalism doesn’t cease, Steve will file a formal complaint in Municipal Court. Voluntary compliance is preferred to a possible misdemeanor criminal record for a juvenile.
Many Thanks to Highland Village’s Town Engineer Matthew Kite and City Manager Mike Leavitt for Volunteering to Fill in and Smooth Out the Ruts!
Being a very small town, we do not have the personnel or the equipment on hand to fill in the ruts in the right-of-way at the Harlington Drive-Chinn Chapel Road intersection. Highland Village’s staff could not have been more helpful or more neighborly in volunteering to do the task for us. Copper Canyon would appreciate the cooperation of our residents and any commuters who travel that location to please report any vehicles re-rutting that area. If at all possible, note all or part of the license plate numbers, type of vehicle (SUV, pickup, small car, etc.), vehicle color, number of doors, and any distinguishing thing about the vehicle. (School logo, bumper sticker, etc.) Also note any obvious characteristic of the driver – male, female, young, old, etc. - and of any passengers.
“Basic Firearms for Women” workshop Wed. August 16th 6-9 p.m. Town Hall
Copper Canyon resident Wendy Robertson is again offering an “Introduction to Basic Firearms for Women”. This is a free workshop and will cover information from basic knowledge of equipment to where to go to find further information on firearms training and licensing. Many women have asked about how to obtain a “Concealed Handgun License” or CHL. Though Wendy is a certified CHL instructor, she will provide information on other CHL instructors in the area. The class is by reservation only by emailing . The class will be open to the first 20 participants who reserve a place: mothers, daughters, grandmas, sisters, aunties, and girlfriends. This was a very popular course when offered at Town Hall last year. Participants are welcome even if they are not Copper Canyon residents.
NOTE: There will be no live firing at Town Hall; but Wendy will bring a variety of unloaded firearms for the class to personally handle – revolvers, shotguns, rifles, etc. Wendy said she would NEVER bring “live rounds” into a classroom situation. She will bring empty casings and shot shells to illustrate what “life ammo” looks like.
Wendy Robertson will also hold the Skills and Testing portion of the Hunters’ Education Certification. This course is offered to the community as the hands on, skill, and testing portion of the Certification. The state has certain requirements that must be met before taking this portion of the certification process:
(1) You must have taken the online portion of the test with Texas Parks and Wildlife prior to taking this course.
(2) You must also bring a copy of the online portion of the test with you to this course.
(3) You must bring your social security card and your valid driver’s license with you.
(4) Certification is available for a minor child from the age of 9 years through 18 years, but it is recommended that a supervising adult accompany the minor. Minors with valid driver’s licenses can possibly attend without a supervising adult.
(5) You are welcome to bring a snack and something to drink, as this course runs approximately 5 hours, with breaks scheduled. You are also welcome to use the refrigerator at Town Hall to store your snacks and beverages.