Wow what a fast year this has been! We’re coming up on the holiday season again. We have been busy lining up improvements for you as we reach the end of the year.
As I wrote in previous articles, after an interview process, outside firms were presented to the Town Council to start reviewing our ordinances. A final vote was taken for that project to get started before the end of the year.
The first step is for a detailed review of our ordinances for compliance and continuity. We then will determine what improvements are needed to ensure Copper Canyon stays the Copper Canyon we love. A big step toward citizen input was a joint workshop on Oct. 22.
There, we gathered feedback from Council Members, Board of Adjustment Members, Planning and Zoning Commissioners and residents. Our plan is to use that grass root input along with staff reporting to help the selected firm help us. All of this working towards the goal of improving our ordinances and keeping Copper Canyon the community, you want.
I want to thank the volunteers of the standing committees in providing their review of our ordinances. So often we can get limited input when decisions are made. That was not the case this time. Several members did an extensive review of our town operation and gave us some terrific new views. We need to ensure our building standards, subdivision guidance and engineering guides are all as “tight” as possible to make sure projects will be sustainable for many years.
We are working to keep Copper Canyon the town you want.
One example of being proactive is we will be presenting a stand-alone ordinance covering aviation activities. I saw what our neighbors went through and felt it important to get ahead of the issue for Copper Canyon.
We will go through the process of public hearings followed by Town Council discussions and voting. We will work the language and the timeline to have a workable ordinance on the books as soon as possible.
It is important that landowners can use their properties for their enjoyment, but equally important to protect everyone’s lifestyle, protect our livestock from noise and keep Copper Canyon the way you want.
A second example of your Town Council being proactive is they passed a new Tree Preservation Ordinance. I want to thank Councilmember Jeff Dahl for his work in getting this to the council. The experience he has brought to the council is really helping keep Copper Canyon the way you want.
As many of you know there was a tragic accident on FM 407 last month. Our prayers go out to all the families affected. Increasing population, speed on highways and our rolling terrain makes driving in North Texas something to be done with extreme caution — day or night. We are working with Denton County and TxDOT to see if there is help we can provide to keep drivers safe not only along FM 407, but on all our intersections in Copper Canyon. Please drive safe.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving with your families. We will be working with Republic Services to bring back a “Cease the Grease” station near town hall. This would be where you can recycle any cooking oil from those fried turkeys and hams.
Don’t forget about our annual Christmas Celebration at Town Hall, Dec. 6. Look to the town website for the exact times. Santa has said he will be showing up again this year.
