Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Just the Facts about Copper Canyon — September 2019

Ron Robertson

Mayor Ron Robertson: Just the Facts 

Malcolm Gladwell once said: “The single most important thing a city can do is provide a community where interesting, smart people want to live with their families.”

Over the last ninety days we have made great strides in opening communication with the residents and involving them in “their” town government. The most important thing we have done is listen. The last Council meeting was a good example of improving the quality of life for our residents.

Approved the Preliminary Plat for the McKinley Addition. Thirty-one acres off Copper Canyon Road that will have 17 lots ranging in size from one acre to three- and one-half acres.

Approved an Ordinance to provide a tax exemption for Disabled Persons and Persons 65 and older. This will freeze the dollar amount a resident pays. If you already have the Disabled Exemption or Over 65 Exemption, you are not required to file any paperwork to receive the new tax freeze from the Town.

For the past several years the town has received complaints about how long it takes TCEQ to inspect new septic installations, designs, repairs and complaints. The Council approved an Ordinance for the Town to become an Authorized Agent for “On-Site Sewage Facilities.” We also hired Leslie Roy Freeman as the OSSF Representative who will perform inspections on new systems, confer with contractors, builders, system designers, installers, state agencies and our residents. Leslie is a Registered Sanitarian, in good standing, with the Texas Department of Health/Texas Department of licensing; as well as, a Designated Representative, in good standing, with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). We look forward to working with Leslie and he will be a great asset to our team.

The Council entered into a contract for animal control services with Kerry Payne, North Texas Animal Control Authority. Kerry has worked in North Texas providing animal control and we look forward to working with him.

The 2019-2020 Preliminary Budget was presented and is based on maintaining the tax rate at .297505. In the presentation to the Council and residents at the last meeting, I presented an overview of the proposed budget and presented projects for the next fiscal year.

Revenues are projected to be up $253,151 over last year. Expenditures are projected to increase $51,609.

Below is a list of long overdue projects we are excited about and will be implementing in the coming year:

New Software that will improve efficiency and allow us to be even more transparent in our finances.

New Website that will allow us to communicate better with our residents while providing more online information and better communication.

New Computers will replace outdated computers that will improve efficiency.

Capital Improvement Projects for road repair and maintenance. We are proposing the use of tax notes for road and bridge repairs. By bringing together road and bridge projects planned for the next five years, we will save thousands of dollars in road repairs, engineering, legal and staff time. Each time you bid a project it takes all these elements and that is costly. Interest rates are extremely low and by completing these projects now, the town will save thousands of dollars.

Our plan in the upcoming budget was to be proactive and use our tax dollars wisely. As you can see, we are improving efficiency, implementing an interactive website to communicate with the residents, and upgrading infrastructure. We are doing all of this while maintaining the current tax rate of .297505.

Cleanup Day: Mark Saturday, October 5th on your calendars for Cleanup Day. This is always a very successful event so if you aren’t signed up on the email blast list go to the website and sign up. We will send out a reminder in September and post a list of the services that will be offered at the event.

CTG Staff
CTG Staff
The Cross Timbers Gazette News Department

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