What’s Happening in Copper Canyon – September 2013
By Sue Tejml
Mayor of Copper Canyon
Department of State Health Services Issues Measles Alert!
Grateful for My Life after Vehicle Accident Crushes my Right Pelvis
Personal Thank You to Argyle Fire District First Responders and
HCA Denton Regional Medical Center, its nurses Trauma Physician
Some Observations on Accidents that Change your Life; Pain in General, and theInvaluable Support & Kindness of Family, Friends, and even Strangers
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Department of State Health Services Issues Measles Alert!
2011 – 6 cases reported in Texas
2012 – 0 cases reported in Texas
2013 - 23 cases reported in Texas as of August23
By County: Tarrant 15, Dallas 2, Denton 5, Harris 1
Measles is a hugely contagious respiratory illness spread by contact with an infected person through coughing and sneezing. Measles is so contagious that if one person has it, 90 percent of the people close to that person who are not immune or vaccinated will also become infected with the virus.
The incubation period of measles is about two weeks from exposure to onset of rash. People are contagious from four days before onset of rash to four days after the appearance of the rash. The rash usually appears on the face and spreads to the trunk. Other symptoms include fever (higher than 100 degrees), cough, runny nose, and sore eyes. Stay home until four days after the rash appeared.
Vaccination, either shortly before or after exposure, may prevent the disease or lessen its symptoms in people who are infected with measles. Immune globulin, given up to six days after exposure, may prevent disease among susceptible or unvaccinated people at high risk for complications such as: pregnant women, people with weak immune symptoms, and children too young to be vaccinated.
Possible Serious Complications from Measles: Encephalitis and Permanent Hearing Loss. Two of the most serious and common complications of measles may occur months after the visual symptom of the rash disappears. The first is encephalitis, which is an inflammation of the brain. It can cause convulsions, coma, and even death. The second is a bacterial ear infection which can cause permanent hearing loss. (Additional information can be found by googling “Mayo Clinic measles” or the Center for Disease Control at “CDC measles” or your favorite website for medical information.)
For Texas information on reported cases of measles to date call Christine Mann, DSHS Asst. Press Officer at (512) 776-7511 or check out Texas DSHS on Twitter.
Next Month: Congressman Michael Burgess sponsors Energy Summit at University of North Texas Discovery Park!
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August 12, 2013 – A very important Council Meeting; 2 Pending Annexations.
Copper Canyon’s Town Council only meets once a month, and tonight’s meeting was one of the most important ones of the year. Two annexations were pending, the award of the bid for the wastewater line from Flower mound to Copper Canyon’s Town Center South, the Preliminary Budget for Fiscal Year 2013-2014, and the setting of the Property Tax Rate (which fortunately would remain at our current low rate.)
Jim Carter, former County Commissioner and now Consultant for our Town Engineers Halff Associates, had been working for months to finalize the negotiations for the two annexations. Both annexations were proudly regarded as a win-win for both the Town and the landowners being annexed. For the Town the 7 acre Bridgeway Church property and the 10 acre Vickery Family pasture were considered a strategic anchor to round out the 92 total acres of Town Center South. As the Town Center developed over time the increased traffic might even justify a TxDot warrant and a traffic signal (red light) at Jernigan Road and FM 407. The possibility of a red light at that intersection had been a fervent hope of both homeowners and businesses at that intersection – and of both Bridgeway and Crossroads Bible Church as a way to ease ingress and egress to their services and special events.
The annexation would allow Bridgeway and the Vickery Pasture to become part of the Town Center and thus have access to wastewater. At present the highest possible use for both properties was one acre residential on septic systems. But the availability of a sewer system meant a tremendous increase in the value of both acreages, because they then had the option of being marketed as retail, restaurant or commercial along their FM 407 frontage. (The two tracts were 1400 feet deep, too deep to be used for commercial all the way back. So the back 800 feet of depth, backing up to Double Oak, was best used as single family residential lots.)
However, Bridgeway Church was not required to use the wastewater now and could remain on its septic system. But a certain amount of wastewater was reserved for the Church’s exclusive use for ten years; after that the reserved wastewater would be available to other landowners in the Town Centers. The Vickery Family also released all deed restrictions they held on the Church property. This had been a primary goal of Bridgeway, as it allowed the Church flexibility to stay as it was without any architectural supervision by the Vickery Family. However, should the church decidein the future to move to a more easily accessible location, their current 7 acres would have far greater sale value as FM 407 commercial frontage with wastewater available. The increased sales value would allow Bridgeway a wide choice of future locations, increased acreage size if they so desired, and the possibility of a church school had also been mentioned. But, no action was required of the Church. It’s future was totally in its own hands.
Town Attorney Terry Welch had worked all the hours needed responding tolast minute legal questions. Our Town Engineer Halff Associates – especially engineers Brian Hayes and James Gaertner – had spent hours designing the wastewater line according to NTCOG standards (which correlated with Flower Mound’s and even Double Oaks’ standards), compiling and reviewing the 7 competitive bids. And the recommended winning bid would be a pleasant surprise for the Vickery Family, who were totally funding the design and construction of the wastewater line.
As a courtesy to longtime good neighbors, Jim Carter had personally kept Facilities Manager Ian Cook of Crossroads Bible Churchand Mayor Mike Donnelly of the Town of Double Oak informed of the timing of the construction project. The wastewater line would utilize the ten year old dedicated public utility easement. The easement had been approved twice by both the Double Oak Town Council and by the four Double Oak private landowners involved (which included Crossroads Bible Church). The line crossed only Crossroads Bible Church’s portion of the dedicated utility easement. And both Cook and Donnelly had been assured that each tree had been mapped and the construction of the utility line would not affect the vast majority of the existing greenery. The underground location of the church’s sprinkler system had been noted and it would not be damaged. The land’s surface would be restored to ”as is” or better condition.
Town Secretary Sheila Morales had worked diligently to get all annexation and agreement documents to the correct parties, verified all the many returned signature pages, and prepared the documents for recording after the Council Meeting. Sheila had doggedly followed each Council Member’s busy individual business travel schedule; and four of our five Council members had repeatedly confirmed their attendance at the meeting for a quorum. Our 5th Council Member Dan Christy has a standard vacation scheduled for the month of August in Maine. But Dan had worked ahead of time reviewing the engineering construction plans for the wastewater line and the details of each of the responding seven bidders. Because of Dan’s years of construction background with managing large projects for Austin Industries – DFW Airport’s Terminal D and Dallas ISD’s $1.2 billion school expansion project– he is invaluable to Copper Canyon for reviewing engineering projects like this wastewater line.
And by the way, the Town was also adopting at this Council Meeting its Preliminary Budget and Property Tax Rate for Fiscal Year 2013-2014. Town Administrator Donna Welsh had followed the Council’s instructions and kept the budget flat with a small increase for pruning trees that were falling into our road right-of-ways or blocking driver’s line of sight. Donna and Town Secretary Sheila Morales had continued their project to identify savings in operations and had done so by switching to a digital telephone system for Town Hall.
So what happened in the few minutes thatMonday afternoon prior to the Council Meeting that significantly affected my life?
Emil and I had just returned Sunday from Houston and our favorite pastime – babysitting our youngest son John Rosson Tejml’s two little boys. Gentle giant Nathan is 6 months old and full of smiles! At 18 pounds, he is a chunk to carry on my hip. Nathan thinks his older brother Rosson, age 3, is a hoot! Actually, they have a mutual admiration society at present. Rosson and I have a special game we play. He calls it “Nana – FOUR!” Which translated means “Nana, FLOOR!” I sit on the floor with my knees spread and Rosson runs full tilt 30 feet across the room and dives into my arms and knocks me over backwards! We’ve had a few near bloody noses, when I “miss” my catch a little.
Grateful for My Life after Vehicle Accident Crushes my Right Pelvis
Personal Thank You to Argyle Fire District First Responders and
HCA Denton Regional Medical Center, its nurses & Trauma Physician
I had been working in the yard all that hot August day. I drove to Town Hall to pick up some missing pages in my council packet. On the way home I noticed a red pickup pulled just off Orchid Hill and onto our vacant lot next to our 10 acre home site. The truck had been there quite a while. I pulled my Lincoln Town car in behind the truck and noted that there were silver “CC” bumper stickers on the dual tool boxes. Those stickers usually identify a Copper Canyon resident. So, I decided to get out and write down the license plate number and have our Town deputies run it.
So, I put my car in Park, but did not turn off the engine or set the parking brake, as I routinely do. My husband Emil kids me, because when I turn into our driveway and stop to get the mail from our curbside mailbox, I ALWAYS turn off the engine and set the parking brake. I tell him it’s my old fashioned “belt and suspenders” approach to safety. (Actually, I’ve never forgotten a case in Bay City, Texas where a local woman got out of her truck and walked in front of the truck to open her ranch gate, and the truck vibrated out of park and ran over her and killed her.) But this time I only put my Lincoln Town Car in Park, but did not turnoff the engine or set the parking brake. (The gear was still in Park when my husband backed the Town Car away from the red pickup after the accident.)
I walked in front of my town car, stooped down to read the license plate, and stood up to write the first few numbers. It was then that I realized that there was a huge mounting pressure on my right hip. I looked over my shoulder and realized that I was pinned between the two vehicles; the Town car was rolling forward on a gently downward slope. My cell phone and OnStar were unreachable inside my car. No one was around to help. And no 911 emergency call for helpcould reach me in time anyway.
In that split second I knew my only hope was to muster all my strength and push against the pickup in hopes of moving my Town Car back a fraction of an inch to allow me to slip sideways from between their crushing grip. I took a huge breath and PUSHED as if my life depended on it – and it did. Nothing moved – and then something “gave,” just a little. Just enough to let me slide out from between the grinding pressure. To my surprise, my right leg was useless. It could not bear my weight. (The fracture damage to my pelvic bones had evidently already been done.) So I stood on my left leg only and leaned on the very hot Town Car hood. Fortunately I had not fallen behind the two vehicles or no one could have seen me.
Two cars came down Orchid Hill headed into the “S” curve, but they could not see me for the trees screening the road. Our Town Secretary Sheila Moraleshad given me a stack of bright gold letter size dividers for the Council packet. I fanned them out and desperately waved them over my head and shouted at the next car to pass. The driver’s windows were up to keep air conditioning inside his truck, so he couldn’t have heard me. But some movement must have caught his eye. I frantically beckoned to him! He slowed down, backed up, lowered his window and asked “Can I help you?” I replied “Call 911”. He did. I relayed the address to him “835 Orchid Hill Road, Copper Canyon.” Then the Denco 911 Dispatcher wanted him to spell my last name. (Nothing like trying to spell “Tejml” phonetically to a stranger while you are standing on one leg in pain from a fractured pelvis!) I finally asked the driver to please bring his cell phone to me and I would directly answer the Dispatcher’s questions.
When the Dispatcher asked me to spell my last name again, I just said “Say Mayor Sue, Town of Copper Canyon.” Argyle Fire Chief Max Hohenberger is my long time neighbor and so is Denton County Sheriff Will Travis. Bless both my compassionate neighbors; Max and Will came immediately. (Oddly enough, I am currently a nominee for one of the two municipal positions on Denco 911’s Board. I can now answer from firsthand experience what a swift, fine job the 911 Dispatchers do!)
As did the Argyle Fire District paramedics. I was so relieved that traffic on the one open lane on Copper Canyon Road was northbound only that day. That alone helped speed the response time from Fire Station 13 on Copper Canyon Road. The paramedics did not have to come the long way around through Lantana – or the alternate long route east on FM 407 and then north on Chinn Chapel Road. Those two routes would have easily added 15 to 20 minutes extra driving time to reach the accident scene. (And thank goodness the ambulance did not meet head on one of the thoughtless drivers who decides to go the wrong way on a one way road under construction!)
While the ambulance was in route, my next door neighbor Kaye Hill had seen me and gone to get my husband Emil. Kaye and Emil tried to lift my body weight off my exhausted and trembling left leg, but no one knew how to touch me, because we didn’t know exactly which bones had been broken and if there were any extensive internal injuries. The hood of the Town Car was too high for me to lean on and the metal hood heated by the broiling summer sun too hot to even touch. Fortunately the ambulance arrived and my heart leaped with hope at the flashing lights and sirens.
The AFD paramedics immediately laid me over backwards on a flat board. They took my vitals and started examining me for any obvious bone breaks or blood leaks. None were apparent. It was so reassuring to see these familiar faces. (I’ve also served on the Fire Board for the 8 years since being elected mayor of Copper Canyon.) Mike Lugo does all the gas well inspections for our town and area. Chad McInis lives in Copper Canyon, as does his dad Willie McInis who is a Captain in Coppell’s Fire Department. I reminded Chad that I had been trying to get recipes for our Copper Canyon Cookbook, which funds college scholarships for our Town’s graduating seniors. (Firefighters are notorious for being superb cooks! Maybe Chad and his dadWillie will still donate a recipe or two?!? We’d treasure them!)
Then came the humorous part of my unplanned accident. My attire. Since I had planned to work in the yard for many hot, sweaty hours – I decided that morning to wear my favorite old maternity jump suit. It has paint stains, rips under the arms and around the well-used pockets, a commercial sized metal zipper, and holes worn in the seat where the color of my current underwear peaks through. It’s my favoriteoutfit for yard work because it is so comfy, and baggy, and nothing binds me anywhere. The paramedics were apologizing for needing to cut it off. At which point my husband Emil leaned over my shoulder and said, “OH PLEASE DO CUT IT OFF! And give me the remnants for a ceremonial burning! Our family has been trying for decades to get Sue to throw away that old jumpsuit!”