Wow, it’s May. I find it hard to believe it has been a year since I started working for you all in Copper Canyon. It has been my pleasure. Thank you for the opportunity to help keep our town what I call “country residential.” For the over 40 years I have lived here, there has always been pressure to change that country lifestyle. Not all of us live on large lots, but we are all connected to our open neighborhoods, our views of different livestock when we walk and the wildlife that visit us every night. That “country residential” development is the main reason we chose Copper Canyon. I will always remain focused on keeping Copper Canyon country.
I want to go over some of the things we have accomplished for our town this past year. Then I will look forward to items we see for next year. The first item your council approved was opening up meetings for opinions from everyone. We also made your elected officials directly responsible for establishing chairmanships for all town committees. This shows elections matter, as these leadership positions make decisions for the town. Make sure your voice counts by voting at election time.
We are currently at the midpoint of a complete review of the town ordinances. Input has come from an industry expert, town volunteer committee members and residents. As we go through this review, I hope to bring our guidance to a commonsense direction and bring ourselves up to date with current laws. Speaking of updating, just last month we brought our building and fire codes up to date. This will be important with all future construction moving forward. I updated our financial overview process by establishing a budget review committee. This has kept our budget on track, utilizing several financial professionals involved in the process via monthly meetings.
As a major priority, I initiated the development and implementation of a new town website. Several town members and outside consultants worked to achieve the product you can now see online. Permit applications and town information are very accessible. Videos of town meetings are at your fingertips, as well as agendas and associated documents. I hope that you will take a few minutes and check out this major improvement. We continuously look at issues affecting towns nearby. We took seriously the projections for future personal air travel they dealt with. We saw the need to establish controls protecting our families and our livestock. We addressed that need. We have established a road improvement review process between your town staff and our engineering consultant. Your town manager found a new tool that catalogs the condition of each roadway every two feet. We can now forecast predicted conditions a few years in the future. This sort of information allows us to plan a budget that will more accurately finance road repairs. The April Town Council meeting has a short presentation if you wish to review. Technology and computers are helping us make better use of your money.
Let’s look at where I think we should be going next year. I have asked the Town Council to consider adding an “open space” supplement to our zoning requirements. As I see the issue, our current standards do not require builders to have “park space” or “common areas” for homeowners inside of developments/HOAs. After this review involving several members, I hope we will take a large step forward in keeping our town with open space for new residents. I like to use the term “country residential,” where we enjoy our properties yet still have that country feel and views.
Of course, we will continue to keep an eye on budgetary constraints as we are beginning that process for next year. Roadway repairs will be a large part of the budget over the next couple of years. Although there are no unsafe roads today, we will have to work on a couple of public roads to ensure they do not cause you travel problems or create financial issues for the Town.
Your Town Council meeting on Monday, May 11 is the beginning of this council’s next term. We will be welcoming Nancy Henry as a first-time council member. Nancy has been a resident in Copper Canyon since 1983. Current council members Paula Castillo and Jeff Dahl will also start new two-year terms. I look forward to their input on town challenges and solving them for you.
Lastly, don’t forget about the annual July 4 town parade. 250 years of America deserves a great turnout, and I look forward to seeing you there. Also keep in mind the opportunity to volunteer for a town committee later in the fall. We always need folks who want to keep our town “country residential.” Thanks for your reading the mayor’s column.
