Our Emergency Personnel Were Invaluable in Last Week S Icy Weather

What’s Happening in Copper Canyon – February 2011

By Sue Tejml

Mayor of copper Canyon

NOTE: This month’s article is short (yep, really short), because I have been working on a history of Copper Canyon’s transition over the last eight years from 2002 to the present. Change is not always something we want to embrace; but, often we don’t have the option of sticking to the comfortable and familiar. This is true personally – and it can be true of a small town like Copper Canyon. Yet how you adapt to the challenge of changes,that you may have very little ability to control, can often have an indelible impact on your future. Again, this can apply to you personally – and it can apply to a small town. The history of our Town over the past 8 years is from my personal perspective and not meant to be a definitive one. But, it certainly is from a “hands on” view. So, until next month – I’ll keep writing on a “personal” history of our Town.

Our Emergency Personnel were invaluable in last week’s Icy Weather.

A huge Thanks to our Argyle Firefighters and EMTs, Denton County’s Road and Bridge Crews, and our Sheriff’s Deputies

Fire Chief Mac Hohenberger spent many an hour patrolling our huge Fire District for persons in need of aid and road assistance. But his Emergency Medical teams managed to get the ambulance through the icy conditions and transport any injured to area hospitals. Our Precinct Four County Commissioner Andy Eads called me Wednesday night to tell me that he was with the County Road and Bridge crew, and they were sanding the entrances and exits to our Fire Station on Copper Canyon Road, so that the vehicles could respond to emergency calls. Commissioner Eads, very kindly, asked his friend Jean Campbell of nearby Canyon Oaks to make a huge pot of coffee to take to the men of the Denton County crew working outdoors in the severe icy weather. (If you know Jean, you know that she very generously did immediately make a HUGE pot of coffee.) And our Deputy Sheriff Danny Bates reported that Sheriff Benny Parkey had every available officer out responding to multiple vehicle accidents all over the county.

It is always reassuring how dedicated these men and women are when confronted with such challenging conditions. They are there when we need them the most. If you would, please send them a personal Thank You. , , , .

2nd Gala benefitting Children’s Advocacy Center is Saturday February 26th

The Children’s Advocacy Center for Denton County is having its 2nd Annual Champions for Children Gala on February 26th at Circle R Ranch in Flower Mound beginning at 7:00 p.m. My husband, daughter and I attended last year and had a fabulous time. We already have our tickets for this year, and the Gala promises to be even better. Renown chefs and sports celebrities will come together to give Denton County residents a sensational evening while supporting the Advocacy Center.

At the Gala, you can wander from station to station, trying a variety of chef’s specialties from beef and seafood to pastries and desserts. And special commemorative footballs, baseballs, and basketballs are available to be autographed by your favorite sports stars.These personally signed sports memorabilia trophies are great gifts to surprise your children or grandchildren – or in-laws or spouses! There are also lots of photo opportunities with sports celebrities.In addition, there will be dancing, wine tasting, a silent auction and a live auction offering unique trips to exotic vacation, hunting and fishing destinations.

The Advocacy Center’s mission is to provide justice and healing to severely abused children by coordinating a team approach to the investigation, prosecution and treatment of child abuse cases. The Children’s Advocacy Center helps children right here in our own county, and has helped to greatly increase the conviction rate for child abusers in Denton County–getting the abusers out of our community and away from our children.

Individual tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available at or at The Advocacy Center still needs silent auction item donations as well. Please consider attending the Gala or supporting the Advocacy Center in any way you can.

Sue’sNote: The children the Advocacy Center serves have been seriously abused - usually sexually and sometimes repeatedly. But with our help, they can reclaim their sense of self worth and their self esteem as individuals and not let this life crisis define who they are. These children have genuine courage. Let’s join hands to be their safety net and send them on life’s way with hope for their future.

My suggestions for donations of personal business services for the silent or live auction: (And remember, your donations at their business “fair market value” are charitable deductions on your income tax return – and you may just attract new clientele through your generosity. This is a win-win contribution!)

(1)If you are an attorney (and professionally competent in this field of law) –

Donate a will package for husband and wife together with “living wills” and Powers of Attorney Surviving Disability. You may have just attracted some new clients.

(2) If you are a dentist – Donate a professional cleaning of teeth. You may attract a new family as regular patients.

(3) If you have a lawn service – Donate 4 once a week mowing and edgings of a front yard for a half acre or one acre residential home site for April or May. Who knows, you may have a new customer for your lawn services for the rest of the summer.

(4) If you are a professional portrait photographer – Donate a sitting and an 8 x 10 color portrait of one of the following: a new mother and child, a grandparent and grandchild, a graduating senior, a business resume portrait, a performer in a dance recital, a young athlete in their favorite sports attire, a wedding anniversary couple, an engagement couple, an equestrian and their favorite mount, a dog lover and his or her favorite pet or champion bred canine. Be creative in your donation.

(5) If you are a piano or guitar teacher – Donate four introductory lessons. You may have a new regular pupil.

(6) If you have a nail salon or spa – Donate 3 once a month pedicures to a mother-daughter pair or two women friends. You may attract additional permanent clientele for all your services.

(7) If you have an established carpet cleaning service – Donate 2000 square feet of carpet cleaned and throw in the shampooing of a sofa and 4 chairs – or 3000 square feet of carpet and 2 sofas and 6 chairs.

(8) If you have a car or boat detailing service – Donate one super-duper detail service.

(9) If you have a gasoline station – Donate a $100 or $200 dollars of fuel of the winning bidder’s choice.

(10)And if you have a unique game ranch – Donate a magnificent exotic game hunt with all the trimmings. (Hint, hint) This may be the all time big charitable donation of the silent auction!

Max Miller, the Editor and Owner of this Cross Timbers Gazette, has led the way. He is donating for the silent auction not one but four free 4 x 5 inch add spaces to new advertisers. This is a $1.000 donation! Thank you Max for your generous offer to benefit our own Denton County Advocacy Center.

Special Alert: Children’s Advocacy Center is totally flooded by Water Pipes in walls bursting from the freezing temperatures.

Executive Director Dan Leal said that all 14,000 square feet of the new Advocacy Center flooded last week with water 3-4” deep throughout the building. 24 volunteers responded on short notice and worked 7 straight hours from 10 am to 5 pm last Saturday to hand mop and squeegee the water out of the Advocacy Center. Special thanks go to the Lewisville Police Department, the alums of the Lewisville Citizens Police Academy, the CACDC staff, community volunteers, and especially to restoration specialists Blackmon Mooring who provided the huge fans to dry out the building’s interior. Computers had to be unplugged. Telephone service may be resumed this week. Forensic interviews and counseling of abused children are on temporary hold until the building can be restored to functional use.

Town Council appoints June Tyler the Chairman of the new Trails Special Projects Committee

June Tylerhas donean awesome job the last two years of keeping the equestrian community informed of the ongoing impact of the construction of FM 2499 on the accessibility of our trails. With the completion of the road’s construction, I have been wondering how to channel June’s immense volunteer energy into continuing service for, not only Copper Canyon’s equestrians, but for all the people in towns surrounding Lake Lewisville who also treasure the public trails on Corps land.

June, as usual, was way ahead of me.

Trail Maps with GPs positioning can be downloaded from her Web Site

June has created a personal web site with a wealth of information about the equestrian/pedestrian trails around Lake Lewisville. Anyone hiking or riding the trails can download from June’s web site a map of the trails onto their Blackberry or I-phone. This should greatly reduce the number of persons on the trails who lose track of where they are, as the maps have GPS positions identified. She has also identified areas of the trail that might have temporary hazards, such as bog areas or wash outs after extensive rainfall.

Trail Historical Documents can be accessed & researched from her Web Site

For decades June has made faithful copies of all documents pertaining to our Trails on the Corps of Engineers easement. (She says she does this, because as a CPA she discovered that some of her clients were “functionally illiterate” when it came to a documented “paper trail.”) June can find authentic copies of documents that even the Corps and some surrounding Towns cannot locate the originals. These documents are not only invaluable from a historicalperspective, they also define some of the ongoing rights and duties of the political entities involved. In addition to the hours it took June to personally scan these documents onto her web site, she intends to make them “searchable” by key words.

The Scope of the Trails Special Projects Committee is Broad

Besides regular personal patrols on horseback, June will report on unique trail conditions that need remedied and special trail signage needs. She will also continue to work with Boy Scouts, who choose the project for their Eagle Badge as one that benefits our equestrian/pedestrian trails. On a more serious fiscal note, June will continue seeking financial grants that can further develop the public trails around Lake Lewisville. Her expertise in this area is invaluable, given the reduced budgets of almost every political entity involved with the trails. Her track record for obtaining grants is awesome. She was very instrumental in Denton County obtaining the Texas Parks and Wildlife grant for the horse trailer parking lot at the south end of the new Old Alton Bridge.

The firstWomen’s Introduction to Firearms Workshop is Full!

The Women’s Introduction to Firearms Workshop has already reached its limit of ten women. (However, women who register now will be put on a waiting list to see if there is enough interest to offer a second class.) Copper Canyon residentWendyRobertsonand her husband Scott Robertson own the Elm Fork full service shooting range on Luna Road in Dallas. Wendy is also a certified instructor for the State’s Hunter Safety Course.

For the Women’s Workshop, Wendy brings a variety of unloaded rifles and shotguns of various gauges for the women to handle firsthand. She also has a variety of unloaded handguns for her students to try holding and aiming – revolvers, hammerless revolvers, automatics and semi-automatics. She has found that the handgun that originally most intimidates a woman, often ends up her weapon of choice and the one she is most accurate firing

Many women, especially those who live alone or are a single parent, want a weapon for protection from a home intruder or when walking alone at night to and from a vehicle. The recent kidnapping of a woman resident in neighboring Double Oak has also spurred increased interest for women of this immediate area in the course for a Concealed Handgun License.

Wendy emphasizes that proficiency with a weapon comes from making the loading and firing a smooth routine by repeated practice of the firing procedure withouta bullet in the chamber. Accuracy comes with actual repeat live firing practice, from different handgun positions, at a target at a gun range. The last thing Wendy believes any woman should do is bring a handgun into her home without the skill to use it safely. The same safety principle applies to a concealed handgun carried in her vehicle or purse or briefcase.

This course lasts two to two and a half hours, depending on the number of questions. It is a good preview workshop, before taking the ten hour Concealed Handgun course required to obtain that license. Wendy has found that women are more comfortable asking questions in a women-only workshop setting – especially, if they are not familiar with firearms at all. The course will be offered Monday night, February 21st, from 6-8:00 pm at Town Hall. To register for the women’s waiting list email Wendy at . There is no charge for the class. Copper Canyon residents will be given preference, but only if space available becomes tight in the second class. If there is enough demand from Copper Canyon women, the course will be repeated.

Update on Town Road Construction

2010 Capitol Improvement Project: Quality Excavation has recently finished paving all but one residential road in our 2010 CIP. Blackjack Lane was completed last year. Current completed roads in the Woodlands Subdivision include: Hillcrest Drive, Summit Drive, and Knollridge Drive; and Hawse Drive, Edmondson Drive, Briar Grove Court, Shady Meadow Court, North Meadow Court, Mayberry Court, Valley Wood Court, and Foxhill Court in Chinn Chapel North Subdivision. Canyon Bluff Court, north of Orchid Hill, will be repaved as soon as the weather warms.

To Seed or to Sod – that is the Question? The one finish item remaining is seeding or soddingthe adjoining road right-of-ways. The seeding would include a mix of winter rye to germinate now and Bermuda seed to continue coverage when the rye grass dies out as the air temperature reaches 80 degrees in the spring. Eventually, the established grass already growing in the adjoining homeowner’s yard will spread into the right-of-way.

One consideration in deciding between seeding and sodding is the cost. Seeding is approximately a third the cost of sodding. Roughly calculating, $1 dollar spent on seeding equals each $3 spent on sodding. Any funds saved would probably be applied to the cost of repaving Post Oak Road and Copper Hill Circle this spring.

2011 Capitol Improvement Project: This CIP includes Mobile Drive east of Chinn Chapel Road; Oakridge Trail, East Woodglen and West Woodglen in the Woodlands Subdivision; and North Berry Court, South Berry Court and Hyatt Drive in Chinn Chapel North Subdivision. Bid notices were in the Denton Record Chronicle this month and bids will be opened on February 23rd. Construction will begin in March. Winning bids continue to be substantially under our prior engineering estimates.

Pothole Repairs: DDM Constructionis preparing bids for pothole repairs on Jernigan Road, Post Oak Road, and Copper Hill Circle. The latter two roads could possibly be candidates for Denton County’s spring asphalt paving program that assists small towns. The towns are responsible for preparing the roads for paving and paying for the asphalt and other paving materials. The county provides the labor and equipment for the paving overlay with its standard road and bridge crews. The savings to the small towns is approximately a 50% reduction in cost over bidding the entire job out to a private contractor. Typically, small towns cannot afford to maintain a standing road repair crew with the concomitant expensive paving repair equipment. This is a huge and very practical service that Denton County provides its small towns.

DDM Construction: DDM, a general contractor for roads, is owned and managed by Copper Canyon homeowners David and Jamie Markwardt. Brian Haynes, our Town Engineer from Halff Associates, has nothing but praise for the quality of DDM’s work. And our Council Member Dan Christy, who oversees the Town’s road and engineering projects, has also been very complimentary of DDM’s work product. DDM has also responded very timely when the Town has had road repairs that needed immediate attention. (Remember the monster pothole when you turned off of FM 407 onto Jernigan Road?!?) Thank you David and Jamie for your superlative service. It definitely has benefitted your neighbors in Copper Canyon.