What’s Happening in Copper Canyon – September 2014
By Sue Tejml, Mayor of Copper Canyon
Council Appoints Darrin Peterson to Serve 1st year of Dan Christy’s Term
Denton County Lowers its Tax Rate
Please Help us Identify Individuals Vandalizing our Town Road Signs
Town’s 4th Annual Clean-Up-Day is Saturday October 4th from 8-11:30 a.m.
Trail Clean-Up is Saturday October 11th from 9:00 a.m. to Noon
CERT conducting Search and Rescue drill on Saturday, October 4th on Corps of Engineers Trails. Hikers and equestrians requested to stay off trails!
Denco 911 is an Exemplary Organization for our County!
Thank You to the 15 Municipalities that voted for Jim Carter for Denco 911’s Board of Manager
Personally Experiencing an Emergency Event at DFW Airport!
The Duckworth Family, Copper Canyon residents for decades, says farewell to Carolyn Lawanda Duckworth McAnally
FYI: Preparing for Natural disasters (From USAA Magazine, Fall 2014)
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Council Appoints Darrin Peterson to Serve 1st year of Dan Christy’s Term
On very, very short notice, Town resident Darrin Peterson kindly agreed to serve the first year of immediately resigning Council Member Dan Christy’s term. At its August 11th regular Meeting, the Council appointed Darrin to serve on the Council until May 2015. At that time, Darrin may or may not decide to stand for election for the second year remaining of Christy’s two year term of office.
Darrin was raised on a farm in Utah. He loves the small farm community he grew up in, so moving to Copper Canyon was like returning to his roots. Darrin has lived in Copper Canyon for seven years and in Texas for 20 years. He and his sweetheart, Marnie, have been married for almost 24 years and are the proud parents of nine children. Their three oldest are students at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The others attend Heritage Elementary, Briarhill Middle School, and Marcus High School. The youngest is still at home and Darrin says he spends an “inordinate amount of time in his car seat,” while his mother Marnie is carpooling his older brothers and sisters.
Darrin is the CEO and Co-Founder of LifeSeasons, Inc., a company he started out of the barn on his Copper Canyon home site. LifeSeasons is a leading manufacturer of nutritional supplements that are sold in Whole Foods Markets, Sprouts, Central Markets, and Vitamin Shoppes across the country.
Darrin is also a partner in Texas Land Development, a high end residential land development company based in North Texas. Highland Oaks and Wichita Estates in Highland Village and Saddlewood in Flower Mound are projects developed by Darrin and his partner.
Darrin spends much of his free time volunteering in the leadership role of Bishop for the Highland Village congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. As the volunteer, unpaid Bishop of a congregation of 500 individuals, Darrin “listens” and helps counsel on individual and family issues. His duties also require management ability and oversight of Staff and volunteers at the Church. And as a financial fiduciary for the church, he oversaw the building of the church’s lovely new facility fronting on Chinn Chapel Road in Copper Canyon.
Darrin has also volunteered in many capacities within the Tonkawa District of the Boy Scouts of America, including Scoutmaster and District Commissioner.
Besides spending time with his family, Darrin loves meeting and building relationships with other people. He genuinely sees the good in others and finds great joy in helping them achieve their goals and dreams. Darrin’s hope for Copper Canyon is that it remains a small town community, so that his grandkids will one day enjoy the same freedoms and opportunities he did while growing up.
Denton County Lowers Its Property Tax Rate!
Denton County’s new tax rate is 27.22 cents per $100 property valuation. This is DOWN from the current rate of 28.49 cents. How many municipal or county taxing authorities in Texas can manage a LOWER property tax rate?!? The owner of property in Denton County valued at $100,000 would pay $12.71 less this year. (To find your personal property tax annual savings, multiply the tax savings per each $100,000 valuation of your own home or business property.) The property tax decrease is in spite of a $15 million increase in this year’s county budget – from $238.9 million to $224.1 million. The budget increase has funded our Sheriff’s Office, mental health, debt service, juvenile probation, and roads and bridges.
Please Help us Identify Individual Vandalizing our Town Road Signs
On Chinn Chapel Road, three speed limit signs and three directional “arrow” signs have been knocked over. The vehicle capable of doing this is probably a truck with a heavy duty front bumper. The three speed limit signs cost the Town approximately $360 and the directional arrows approximately $240 – or $600 total to replace the vandalized signs. (Our signs now have safer break-away posts and high intensity lettering that is more visible at night.) The damage was done during the weekend of August 30-31.
Law enforcement has a lead on a possible suspect. The Town is offering a reward of up to $200 for the identification, arrest, and conviction of the person or persons vandalizing our traffic signs. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office non-emergency number 940-349-1600 or Town Hall at 940-241-2677 Extension 3 for Town Administrator Donna Welsh.
Town’s 4th Annual Clean-Up-Day is Saturday October 4th from 8 to 11:30 a.m.
Republic Services will again be conducting Copper Canyon’s Annual Clean-Up-Day. There is free drop-off for Town residents only, but Proof of Residency is required. (I.e. current driver’s license or utility bill with an address within our Town boundary.) The recycle vehicles MUST LEAVE PROMPTLY at 11:30 a.m. to timely arrive at their next Clean-Up-Day location! Do not drop off anything at Town Hall after that cut off time! Items accepted within the time limits are listed in last month’s “What’s Happening in Copper Canyon” article and on the Town web site. www.coppercanyon-tx.org.
Copper Canyon’s Email Blast: 260 homes in Copper Canyon have signed up for the email blast to receive this type of specific Town information. Any resident can sign up for the email blast on the Town web site. Your email address does NOT become public information! You do not receive any solicitations.
NOTE: Canyon Oaks subdivision and other adjoining properties north and west of Copper Canyon are in unincorporated Denton County. As our Clean-Up Day is funded by Copper Canyon tax payers, we reserve the event just for Town residents.
Trail Clean-Up is Saturday October 11th from 9:00 a.m. to Noon
Copper Canyon’s Trail Committee Chairman Deb Valencia-Schmitz wishes to thank our long time Town resident and Sheriff Will Travis. Due to the efforts of Sheriff Travis and his Denton County jail trustees, no trail clean-up was scheduled for last spring. However, there will be a Trail Clean Up Saturday, October 11th, from 9:00 a.m. to Noon.
Volunteers please meet at the horse trailer parking lot on the east side of FM 2499 in Highland Village. (The parking lot is just north of the Orchid Hill Lane entrance to Pilot Knoll Park.) Bring the usual Trail Clean-Up Day tools: loppers for tree branches, shovels and hoes to root up smilax vines, chain saws, etc. It is recommended that volunteers wear work gloves and use mosquito repellant. Copper Canyon’s Trail Committee will provide coffee, doughnuts, bottled water, and black trash bags for the picked-up litter.
CERT conducting Search and Rescue drill on Saturday, October 4th on Corps of Engineers Trails. Hikers and equestrians requested to stay off trails on that Saturday!
CERT, the Denton County Community Emergency Response Team, will be conducting Search and Rescue training operations on our local Corps of Engineers Trails on Saturday, October 4th. Hikers and equestrians are requested to NOT access the trails on Corps land during this time period. Copper Canyon thanks you for your cooperation.
“CERT educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic, disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help….”
Denton County CERT was established to benefit “the citizens of Denton County, which consists of 993 square miles. Our CERT team is trained in Fire Rehab, Crime Scene Preservation, CPR/AED, Shelters, NIMS, as well as search techniques for missing children and adults. The team has also trained Storm Spotters and Ham Radio Operators.” The team members can help any Fire or Police entity in Denton County and NCTCOG Region.
CERT meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Denton County EOC (Emergency Operations Center), 9060 Teasley Lane, Denton, Texas. For Copper Canyon residents, go north over the new Old Alton Bridge, turn right (east) on Teasley Lane, continue one block, turn right (south) into the parking lot in front of the large EOC building. Call 940-349-2855 for answers to your questions. (Mayor Tejml and former Council Member Dave Svatik completed the initial CERT training course.)
Denco 911 is an Exemplary Organization for our County!
Denco 911 is an exemplary organization for our County! Cutting edge technology, with no debt and no increase in fees since creation of the District in 1988 – for 26 years! Executive Director Mark Payne said “Denco 911 is proud to be partners with local law enforcement and firefighter/EMTs for the safety of everyone in our County!” Thirty-four municipal entities are included in Denco 911’s jurisdiction, and each one has one vote for a nominee for each of the two municipal representatives on the Board of Managers.
The current six member Board consists of: Chairman Jack Miller (former Mayor of Denton, who is also the appointed Commissioner on the Texas State Commission on Emergency Communications; appointed by the Commissioners Court), Vice Chairman Bill Lawrence (former Mayor of Highland Village, appointed by the Commissioners Court), Secretary Terry McGrath (current Assistant Fire Chief in Lewisville, appointed by the Denton County Fire Chiefs Association), Advisory Board Member Rob McGee (appointed by Verizon, the largest communications utility in Denco 911’s jurisdiction), and myself Sue Tejml (current Mayor of the small town of Copper Canyon – elected by municipalities to succeed former Mayor Olive Stephens of Shady Shores, when she decided to retire from the Board after many years of service!)
The Board’s membership is fairly diverse, representing large and small municipalities. Ideally, its limited membership of only six Board members represents most geographic areas of Denton County. The largest area previously not represented geographically was the western third of the county. Our former County Commissioner Jim Carter’s Precinct Four covered all the small towns in the western third of our County, including the western part of the larger municipalities of Denton and Flower Mound. Personally, Carter has lived in Trophy Club, Roanoke, and now in Bartonville.
Thank You to the 15 Municipalities that voted for Jim Carter for Denco 911’s Board of Managers
Copper Canyon nominated Jim Carter to be a candidate for Denco 911’s Board of Managers. Jim served as our Denton County Commissioner for 8 years and now serves as the President of our Emergency Services District #1, which funds fire and emergency medical protection to 56 square miles in our county. A sincere thank you to the following 15 municipalities for casting their vote for Carter: Argyle, Bartonville, Carrollton, Copper Canyon, Cross Roads, Denton, Double Oak, Flower Mound, Hickory Creek, Highland Village, Justin, Krum, Lewisville, Little Elm, and Trophy Club.
And a Thank You to the additional candidates willing to serve on Denco 911’s Board: Drew Corn, Tom Newell, and Connie White.
Personally Experiencing an Emergency Event at DFW Airport!
Each year the North Texas Commission arranges a unique experience for the 30 members of its current Leadership North Texas class! We get to “hands on” participate in a response from the EOC (Emergency Operation Center) of DFW Airport to a theoretical, but very possible, airport disaster. Our event originally concerned “two active shooters” in Terminal D, followed closely by an eminent weather crisis.
One shooter was killed; one escaped. Seven other individuals in the terminal reception area were killed; 21 were wounded. The shooters had arrived in a vehicle they left curbside with a suspicious package (bomb?) visible on the front seat. The two shooters were both observed carrying assault weapons when they exited the vehicle curbside and entered the terminal lobby actively shooting.
How do you know the Extent of this Emergency?
The critical factor originally is that you DO NOT KNOW the parameters of this disaster. Is the questionable package on the front seat of the vehicle a bomb already programed to explode? (Alert the bomb squad immediately.) Is Terminal D the only location of active shooters? Or, is this a case of simultaneous or sequential shooting events in the same terminal or in other terminals or airport locations? Is this a “trap” for First Responders? Often in Iraq and Afghanistan, the second bomb was delayed after the first; so that First Responders would bear the brunt of it. (And, respond in the future with that psychological and very credible fear in the back of their mind. As a First Responder, am I really the terrorists’ target?)