What’s Happening in Copper Canyon – October 2013
By Sue Tejml
Mayor of Copper Canyon
Standard & Poors upgrades Copper Canyon’s rating to an awesome AA+
Copper Canyon Clean Up Day is Saturday October 5th, 8-noon, Town Hall
New Annexations complete for 10 acre Vickery pasture and 7.5 acre Bridgeway Church
Reception at October 14th Council Meeting to Honor Block Captains, the Vickery Family, and to welcome Bridgeway Church into our Town
Antique Tractor Club raises a phenomenal $6,000 for College Scholarships
Denco 911 announces results of Municipal Vote forDistrict Board of Managers
My Heartfelt Thanks to the Good Samaritan who helped me and called 911 for me Monday, August 12th!
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Standard & Poors upgrades Copper Canyon’s rating to an awesome AA+
Four years ago, in a town wide election, our citizens voted to authorize a $2.5 million bond dedicated to only rebuilding our 25-35 year old residential roads and drainage improvements. The Town applied to Standard & Poor’s for the required fiscal rating to be able to attract a buyer for the bond. (At that time the Council only sought a $2 million dollar bond, reserving the sale of the additional $500,000 for future road rebuilding.) Remarkably, for a very small town’s first attempt at a bond rating, Standard & Poors gave Copper Canyon a AA- rating! S&P attributed the solid rating to our Town’s “prudently managing its financial and capital plans.” The 20 year road bond sold for a very low net3.841% interest rate. And the incredibly low bids from local road contractors, due to the depressed state and national economy, resulted in a bonus for the Town in many more roads being rebuilt than we had originally anticipated. It was a win-win achievement: a low interest rate and an incredible amount of residential roads rebuilt!
Standard & Poors has just re-evaluated the Town’s fiscal rating under their new rating criteria for local government. S&P increased Copper Canyon’s fiscal rating from AA- to AA+. That is a jump of two levels in four years – and four very challenging years in our economy. Again, S&P credited the superlative rating for our small town to continuing prudent fiscal management in budget oversight and low property tax rates. S & P also recognized the Council and Staff for their advance planning for economic development, which was remarkable for such a small community. S & P also noted that many large cities are faced with crumbling infrastructure and needing to raise property taxes to rebuild it. S & P noted that Copper Canyon’s road and drainage infrastructure is almost all newly rebuilt to modern engineering standards.And the few remaining old roads are already scheduled to be rebuilt in 2014 and 2015.
If you will, please personally thank our dedicated Town Team that has made this fine fiscal rating possible: Council Members – Jeff Mangum, Steve Hill, Dan Christy, Dave Svatik, and Charlie Nicholas – and our Town Administrator Donna Welsh, Town Secretary Sheila Morales, and Municipal Court Clerk Carol McLeod – and our Halff Associates engineers and consultant Brian Haynes, James Gaertner, and Jim Carter. Keeping a prudent reign on municipal spending, while planning ahead for future basic needs, doesn’t just happen. It takes a commitment from our Team to manage your property tax dollars wisely.
(Many thanks to our Bond Advisors Nick Bulaich and David Medanich of First Southwest Securities for their ongoing personal fiscal guidance of our very small town!)
Copper Canyon Clean Up Day is Saturday October 5th, 8-noon, Town Hall
The Town’s third annual Clean Up Day is Saturday, October 5th, 8 a.m. to noon, at Town Hall, 400 Woodland Drive. Only Copper Canyon residents are able to participate, so please bring your driver’s license or utility receipt to verify your address. Once again, many thanks to Woodlands residents Carol Owens and Pam Marshall for donating their time all Saturday morning to check the ID’s!
Please check the following list for items that will be accepted.Acceptable items are from Residential Use ONLY! Please do not bring commercial items from a business.
Household Hazardous Waste: Aerosols, Flammables, Toxic Liquids, Toxic Solids, Corrosives Acidic, Corrosives Basic, Oxidizers, Batteries, Cylinders-Propane (small cylinders from outdoor cooking), Paints, Used Oils
Electronic Waste/Universal Waste: Televisions, Computers, Monitors, Laptops, Handled Computers, Keyboards & Mice, Scanners/Printers/Copiers, Fax Machines, Telephones, Microwave Ovens, VCR’s, CD Players, Stereos, Related Cables, Florescent Straight Tubes, and Compact Lamps (CFL’s).(Cell phones will be reprogramed and donated to shelters for abused women.)
Household White Goods and Furniture: Water Heaters, Washers/Dryers, Refrigerators, Freezers, Small Scrap Metal and Wire, Yard Furniture, Sofas, Chairs, Bookcases, Tables, Mattresses and Bedding, Light Fixtures
Tire Recovery: Car Tires, Light Truck Tires – Limit 4 tires per Household!
Scrap Fencing, Lumber and Wood Products, PVC Pipe: Limited to one pickup load per household.
On-Site Secured Document Destruction: Residential and Home Office only!
Items That Will Not Be Accepted: Medical Drugs, Yard Brush and Tree Limbs
Republic Waste is totally in charge of loading the clean-up items this year, as their employees are covered by their company insurance if injured during the Clean Up process. (An injured town “volunteer” would not be covered.) Please observe the 12:00 noon cut-off time for leaving items, as the Republic vehicles and clean-up crews are scheduled at other sites after ours.
For Questions: Please call Town Hall 940-241-2677, Ext 102
New Annexations complete for 10 acre Vickery pasture and 7.5 acre Bridgeway Church
In September the Council completed the annexation process for the Vickery Family’s 10 acre pasture and the 7.5 acre Bridgeway Church complex. These two properties will become part of Town Center South, a tract of 92.5 acres total, and anchor the east side of that tract.
The Vickerys own 85 acres in Town Center South. The land has been in their family for decades, even before Copper Canyon was incorporated as a Town in 1973. Paul and Marjory Vickery bought the ranch from her father and raised their five children there – Kent, Kathleen, Preston, Peter, and Kristina. Marjory and Peter and his wife Rose Vickery still live in the original two homes the family built. Paul Vickery was a member of the first Copper Canyon Town Council, and the Vickery family has always been full participants in Town activities!
Bridgeway Church, its members and elders, and senior Pastor Art McNeesewill be welcomed into our Town at a reception honoring them at the Council Meeting October 14th at 7:00 p.m. The Church will continue its current activities and is under no obligation to participate in the development of Town Center South. However, the Church will be welcome to participate, if the members choose to do so in the future.
Reception at October 14th7:00 p.m. Council Meeting to Honor Block Captains,the Vickery Family, and to welcome Bridgeway Church into our Town
Block Captains are the backbone of our Town’s low crime rate. Many thanks to our new Captains, who have unselfishly volunteered their attention to monitor anything unusual or suspicious on their block. They are: Paul Bosco (Mahogany Drive in the Estates of Copper Canyon), Gordon and Sylva Cohen (the East Orchid Hill area from the round-about at Chinn Chapel to FM 2499), Ann Horner (Woodland Drive), Sherri Woolston (Chinn Chapel from the RR tracks north to the creek – about half way to the Poindexter Creek Bridge.)
At the October 14th Council Meetings, Block Captains will each receive an updated map for their block and updated contact information for residents on their block. Each Block Captain may call residents on their block to verify the accuracy of the information. We need at least one email address and one telephone number that are reliable contacts for the Neighborhood Watch in case of an emergency. This contact information is NOT public knowledge.
Once again our Hostess Committee, under the tried and true leadership of Chairman Pris Johnson, will be providing homemade hors d’oeuvres and desserts for the Reception. If you’d like to volunteer one of your own favorite dishes, please call Pris and tell her what it is! We’d welcome your culinary contribution!
Antique Tractor Club raises a phenomenal $6,000 for College Scholarships
Once again Copper Canyon residents Raymond and Mary Fenleyhosted the annual picnic and scholarship fundraising event for theAntique Tractor, Farm Equipment, and Primitives Club. Tom Thumb grocery storelet the Fenleys buy 20 fresh chickens at their Friday sale price, and then Tom Thumb fried those chickens the Saturday morning of the event! Other Club members traditionally each provide side dishes for the picnic. Bargain hunters at the garage sale were also invited to dine. Raymond said they fed 90 plus folks that sunny Saturday!
By virtue of the garage sale, silent auction, and quilt raffle (the Club had sold raffle tickets for four months previously), a whopping $6,144.00 was raised for college scholarships. The Club had originally offered $500 scholarships, and then was able to increase the amount to $1,000 scholarships. This year the Club will offer SIX $1,000 college scholarships to students participating in agricultural related projects through 4H and FAA. (The Blue Ribbon Club at North Texas Fair Grounds traditionally selects the students.)
Denco 911 announces results of Municipal Vote forDistrict Board of Managers
Denco 911 reserves two of its six District Board of Managers positions for election by its 26 municipal members in Denton County. There were six nominees: Karl Hammond by Lake Dallas, Charla Marchuk by Shady Shores, Tom Newell by Corinth, Joe Perez by The Colony, Bert Witherspoon by Krum, and myself by Copper Canyon, our neighbor Double Oak, and others. My sincere thanks to the Mayors, Councils and Staff of the towns and cities that supported my request for a vote: Bartonville, Cross Roads, Denton, Double Oak, Flower Mound, Highland Village, Little Elm, Northlake, Pilot Point, Providence Village, Roanoke, Sanger, and Copper Canyon. (Seven municipalities did not vote or their voting Resolution arrived after the cutoff deadline time.)
Having the opportunity to serve on this stable, non-political Board is a real privilege. If you have any questions or suggestions for Denco 911, please feel free to contact me, and I will try to put you in touch with the appropriate Staff or Board person able to answer your question. For now, I am the neophyte trying to learn how this venerable organization performs so outstandingly with the third lowest operating expense for 911 organizations in the entire state of Texas!
My Heartfelt Thanks to the Good Samaritan who helped me and called 911 for me Monday, August 12th!
I have no ideawhothe man was who stopped and offered to help me after my right pelvis was crushed between two vehicles. I was standing like a stork on only my uninjured left leg (the right leg was rendered useless), and my body was half hidden behind the two vehicles. My left leg was quivering from the strain of supporting me, and had I fallen to the ground, no one would have seen me behind the two vehicles. My rescuer stopped in the middle of Orchid Hill, backed up, offered his help, called 911, pulled his pickup off the road, and brought his cell phone to me so that I could talk directly to the 911 Dispatcher. (He didn’t even know what street he was on, so he may not be from our local area.)
I hope he got his cell phone back. Things were so chaotic and I was in a lot of pain. At the time I did not even think to ask his name. But his swift unquestioning action, and that of the Denco 911 dispatcher to post haste get the Argyle Fire District ambulance and paramedics to me, were priceless to me. I hate to even think of the damage my body might have sustained if there had been any delay in the medical response. (The pelvis surrounds many vital organs and major blood vessels, so organ damage and internal bleeding are always an immediate danger.)
I asked Denco 911 if they could identify my rescuer’s cell phone number from the date, time, and location of the call. But Denco has a policy NOT to identify the cell numbers of incoming emergency calls to the public. I can understand their reasoning. But if anyone knows the identity of this Good Samaritan, please Thank him for me! And tell him that after seven long weeks, I am finally walking again- because of his kindness and unselfish act!