What’s Happening in Copper Canyon - November 2008
By Sue Tejml,
Mayor of CopperCanyon
Santa Party for Copper Canyon Kids will be Saturday December 13th from 5-7 p.m. at Town Hall
Kelly Franks graciously agreed to be Chairman again for our Santa Party for Copper Canyon kids – her third year! Probably one reason she was willing is the able help of her Co-Chairman Erin Kain and hard working volunteer Wendy Robertson. The three mothers organized an outstanding party last year, complete with matching “elf” outfits for themselves and their children. The wonderfully costumed Santa, Kelly’s husband and Council Member Chris Franks, listened attentively to many a small child’s favorite wish for Christmas. Town PhotographerDenise Remfertagain donated her services and took photos of each kid on Santa’s lap, while her husband PhilRemfert printed them and Evangeline Farrar placed them in Holiday frames. This year will continue the offering of hot chocolate, hot apple cider and crafts for kids.
Many Copper Canyon kids especially look forward to the event because they love the rides on the Argyle Volunteer Fire District fire engine. Everyone who wanted to ride got hoisted up on top, including Moms and Dads. Our own firefighter Will Travis and our Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Mangum (also a long time volunteer fire fighter) took turns driving the engine around the Woodlands. Thank you Chief Mac Hohenberger for always making the fire engine available for the children.
Mountain Lion is sighted several times in Copper Canyon
Pat Joseph called me on a Monday morning to say he had just seen a mountain lion 30 feet in front of him crossing his front yard. And I asked the usual question, “You’re sure it wasn’t a bobcat?” (Bobcats have short tails, weigh 25 to maybe as much as 50 pounds, and have been seen regularly in Copper Canyon.) Pat said he had lived in Kansas for three years and had seen plenty of mountain lions on the prairies there. This one was a solid light beige color, with a very long tail, and weighed about 100 pounds. (Pat’s German shepherd weighs 80 pounds and this cougar was a good bit larger.)
Pat also said that in years past he and his son had hiked the heavily wooded area at the north end of Pilot Lane. Steep cliffs drop into Poindexter Creek there, and the cliffs have deep caves in them. He had thought then that the caves would make a great den for a wild animal.
Our newly formed Neighborhood Watch came in very handy for alerting residents in the north part of Town. I called Block Captains Butch Mallam andRamon Fouse and they alerted neighbors in Pilot Knoll Estates. I called homeowners in the area that I knew had children and called Deb Valencia and June Tyler to alert the equestrians. And our Project Manager Donna Welsh immediately put the alert on the front page of the Town website.
Our Animal Control Officer Brian Hall referred me to a professional company that has handled large wild animals for Flower Mound, Lewisville, Corinth and Denton. The owner of Animal Services, Inc. said a 100 pound cougar was probably a “yearling” cat, which is at the bottom of the pecking order of mountain lions. He was probably leaving home to find an “unclaimed” territory. He advised the Town to wait for a second sighting in a few days before acting. A mature male mountain lion will mark his territory with claw scrapes 4-6 feet up on tree trunks. A mature male will not tolerate a young male in his territory. It will take the yearling about four years to grow heavy enough to challenge a dominant male cat for his territory.
The second sighting came 9 days later from Gary Whiteman, a retired air traffic controller on the same street. He saw the cat in his back yard and then saw it jump his fence. The homes of both sighters back on to a densely wooded area of Poindexter Creek. The owner of Animal Services said they would speak to the eye witnesses and track the probable path of the cougar. Mark Schmitz’s ranch hand said he had seen a mountain lion several times this past year at the ranch pond early in the morning. Poindexter Creek flows into the pond at that point. The trapper said all the eye witnesses were credible. He scouted Poindexter Creek and said the animal was “running the ridges”, which is typical. (Rather than moving in the creek bottom.) But he also said clearly outlined tracks were hard to find, as the ground was so dry from lack of rain.
My next question to the Animal Services owner was could they trap the cougar live? He said they bait the trap with a bantam rooster, because they crow steadily and the sound carries a long way. (Our Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Mangum emailed me at 4:48 a.m. and verified that the rooster crowed constantly and the sound had carried all the way to his home – a good mile away!) The trapper did not use snares with raw chickens, because the cat usually seriously harms itself in trying to fight loose. Parks and Wildlife will take the live cat and relocate it to another less populated area in Texas.
The Town Administrator and I can each commit $500 in funds, so we combined our authority and authorized up to a $1000 for trapping until the Town Council could meet and address the issue. Since the first two sightings, others have said they have seen a mountain lion crossing the Bishop Lane parking pad, crossing at the Poindexter Creek Bridge on Chinn Chapel, and in the backyards of two homes on the west side of Chinn Chapel. The latest sighting was at the end of Knoll.
Every Council Member and Staff’s first goal is that no child or resident is harmed. And I believe our mutual secondary goal would be to capture the mountain lion live and relocate it safely to another part of Texas.Copper Canyon residents and parents – please feel free to offer your opinions, suggestions, and any sightings.
Reception Honoring our new Neighborhood Watch and all Volunteers is well attended!
Eighty plus volunteers attended the Reception in their honor at Sue and Emil Tejml’s home. And the refreshments were outstanding! I promised the Chairman of the Hostess Committee, she would NOT see her name in print. But I made no such promise to Pris Johnson, Marla Kelley, Mary Maddoux and Carol Owens! They were just incredible keeping all the various dishes replenished, and they left my kitchen and dining room spotless! (But we all missed Hostess Committee member Robin Fleury, who had helped so with the planning.) Thank you ladies! You make quite a team! And your “unnamed” Chairman is the champ of organizers! The detail of her planning always amazes me and makes any event or party run so smoothly.
Four of the winners of the Town’s 35th Birthday Party were also present with their winning entries to share. Our Town Photographer Denise Remfert took a great shot of the group – Annell Bradford, Kaye Hill, Mary Maddoux and Marjory Vickery. We missed Grace Weir, who recently had surgery; but she sent her unique First Place winner for everyone to try – her “Chop Suey Cake with Pineapple and Pecans”. And all agreed again, that the cake with the unusual ingredient is a real winner!
The real “sleeper” was Dale Svatik’s “Aunt Elsa’s Pumpkin Crunch Cake”! Everyone wanted her recipe for Thanksgiving! And yes, she did bring her recipe to share, and it will be in the new Copper Canyon Cookbook! Cookbook Chairman Pris Johnson was delighted to receive so many great recipe contributions for the cookbook that afternoon.
Twenty-nine Block Captains came to the Reception and gathered the new silver Copper Canyon decals for the residents on their block. The decals are only 3” x 5” with black “CC” horse shoes. Our Deputies have requested that you put them in the center of the back bumper of your car, trailer, horse trailer, golf cart, tractor, etc. They can see them day or night and identify if a vehicle is in town in a place it possibly shouldn’t be – especially late at night. One resident wishfully asked if the decal would cause a deputy to cut them some slack on “speed” in Town. Sorry. We can’t have two sets of traffic rules for Town’s people and commuters.
Town Photographer Bill Castleman lined the twenty-nine Block Captains up my curved entry hall stairway for their first group picture. Thankfully, the stairway held all that concentrated weight! We’ll try to post photos from the party on the Town web site.
My special thanks to our Municipal Clerk Sharon Knightstep. She organized and printed the 150 nametags, making sure each Block Captain had the name of their street on their nametag. She also made sure that some wonderful folks – who serve on multiple committees – had each committee listed on their nametag. Sharon, you’ll be happy to know that I chased departing guests a 100 feet down my driveway to retrieve those nametags. You did a beautiful job, and we’ll reuse your nametags over and over with each committee and Town party. Thank you, Sharon! (And Volunteer - if you took your nametag home, bring it back! We don’t want to “reinvent the wheel” for every Town event!)
Make-up Training for the Neighborhood Watch will be Tuesday January 6th, 7 - 8 p.m. at Town Hall
Official Trainer Leslie Willingham, with the Denton County Sheriff’s Office, is booked for Watch training sessions into January.She will provide our Neighborhood Watch with make-up training for Block Captains that missed the initial training session. She will also instruct us on the new vehicle information sheets. A Group Picturefor the Block Captains that missed the Reception will also be taken. Also turn in any additional Directory information sheets that night. Additional silver bumper stickers with the Copper Canyon name will also be available and Watch “eye” logo decals for your Allied Waste trash and recycle rolling dumpsters. (If you need extra bumper stickers, decals or Directory Information sheets prior to then, just call me – I happily deliver.)
Neighborhood Watch Signs: For Block Captains who have completed, or almost completed, their contact information sheets for their block, we will discuss where to place the Neighborhood Watch sign for your block. A Boy Scout is considering the project of mounting the signs for his Eagle Scout merit badge. (I warned him that some of the poles would require a posthole digger and concrete mix poured. He didn’t appear daunted by the manual labor required.)
Chief Block Captains: We will also discuss the responsibility of Chief Block Captain for each major subdivision or area. Sometimes only one or two geographic areas will be involved in the alert. Sometimes we will want to contact the north or south end of Town or just one road with a bad pothole or traffic problem. Being able to do alerts by areas makes our alert more targeted and not intrusive on the rest of the Town. The areas are:
(1) The Estates of Copper Canyon;
(2) Chinn Chapel North Subdivision;
(3) Jernigan,Lonesome Dove, South Copper Woods, East Jernigan, andWaite Drive;
(4) The Woodlands, Copper Woods, Hidden Creek Subdivision, Ferris Lane; Chinn Chapel south (south of Railroad tracks through the DeLancys);
(5) Pilot Knoll Estates;
(6) Chinn Chapel Road north of the railroad tracks, Blackjack, and Mobile;
(7) East Orchid Hill (from Chinn Chapel to eastern Town boundary), Bishop Lane and parking pad, and Meadow Lake;
(8) West Orchid Hill(west of Chinn Chapel Road), Lake Trail, Abbott, Landseer, Canyon Bluffs Court;
(9) north Copper Canyon Road (northern Town boundaries south to north of Post Oak), homes on private roads north of Orchid Hill, Bridle Path, Crepe Myrtle;
(10) Middle Copper Canyon Road (from Post Oak through Ranch Road and the new AVFD fire station), Post Oak, Copper Hill Circle, Ranch Road;
(11)Briarwood Retreat and Copper Canyon Road south to FM 407.
January 9th is the Deadline for Information for the Town’s first Resident Telephone Directory
At the bottom of the front page of the Town’s web site is a link to the information sheet for the Directory. You can fill in your information online and email it back or print out the form and mail it back. Please do so, so that we include your contact information as you want it to appear. The deadline to get the information sheets in is January 9th. After that we will be assembling the names and contact information for publication. Please do not leave the Information Sheets at Town Hall. The Staff is not responsible for the directory. Volunteers are doing the work of assembling the information.
Town honors Denton County Commissioners Andy Eads and Bobbie Mitchell
The Denton County Road Bond Proposal passed overwhelmingly! Two to one. Our fellow voters evidently realized that we can’t relieve the congestion in Denton County unless we pay for more and better roads. So they stepped up to the plate and taxed themselves. That is the kind of responsible action that makes me proud to live in Denton County.
For Copper Canyon that means that Chinn Chapel Road will be rebuilt in concrete and our drainage concerns in the southern part rectified. We have Commissioner Bobbie Mitchell to thank for sponsoring that project – and she isn’t even our Commissioner, but she saw the need. Bobbie was the Mayor of Lewisville for seven and a half years and has been a County Commissioner for the past five years. She is just the kind of honest, intelligent, hard-working public servant (and I do not use that term lightly), who has deserved every re-election she has won. Her granite plaque of appreciation from Copper Canyon reads as follows: To Bobbie Mitchell -
You are a pioneer and role model for women in government.
You serve selflessly, spiritually, and with remarkably good
“common sense” - a trait sometimes missing in elected officials.
As Mayor of Lewisville, you shepherded your city through explosive
growth with calm vision and including all citizens in the planning.
As Commissioner of Denton County this experience
was invaluable as North Texas’ population surged.
Somehow, you found the funds to relieve the
congestion by building the roads and rail now.
Thank you for including Copper Canyon!
Commissioner Mitchell was totally surprised at the Award! She reminded us that the boundaries between our towns in North Texas are invisible, and we often drive through side-by-side towns without even realizing it. Her lesson – we all have to work together and cooperate to overcome our common problems.
Our CommissionerAndy Eads, was late arriving, but for a very good reason. He had been at a Boy Scout event with his two sons Everett and Addison. Commissioner Eads is a devoted Dad and keenly realizes that there is no substitute for time spent with his children. But this often involves a huge juggling act in his schedule, as so many of the meetings a County Commissioner must attend are at night or on weekends. And because of the great geographic spread of Precinct Four, his meetings usually involve a very lengthy drive.
Commissioner Eads sponsored the rebuilding of Orchid Hill Lane in concrete. It made the cut for the County Road Bond proposal, which was just passed. This completes the funding of rebuilding all four of Copper Canyon’s perimeter roads and doing so in concrete – which is far less expensive for the Town to maintain than asphalt. Our Precinct Four Commissioner’s plaque reads as follows: To Andy Eads -
By sheer dedication and hard work, you have grown immeasurably in
stature in the two years since elected a Commissioner of Denton County.
You came to the office with a sound background in municipal government,
and instantly realized that County government in Texas is a wholly
different set of responsibilities. You adapted quickly and admirably.
You respectfully consider the needs of all residents of Precinct Four, whether
they live in a rural area or booming metroplex. You have the gift of putting
people at ease and welcome their input. You truly listen. And this increases
their respect and confidence in you as Commissioner. You have
sacrificed precious family time to become a remarkably