Coppell Chronicle Vol. 2, No. 29
Chief Proposes Fifth Fire Station • Artists Laud Arts Center Staff • No Trial Necessary in Meth Case • Did Andy Brown Need More Tributes?
Chief Proposes Fifth Fire Station
Coppell’s fire chief would like the city to build a new fire station at an old location.
When Kevin Richardson began working for the Coppell Fire Department in 1992, he was stationed at 157 S. Moore Road, the building directly in front of Austin Elementary. When the new Fire Station 2 opened on MacArthur Boulevard a few years later, the original Fire Station 2 became the home of Theatre Coppell.
If Richardson gets his way, that building will be demolished and replaced by what would be labeled Fire Station 5.
During the City Council’s Aug. 30 work session, Richardson explained that the National Fire Protection Association says firefighters should be able to reach 90 percent of their coverage area within four minutes. Before Fire Station 4 opened in early 2021 on the west side of town, Coppell’s firefighters could reach 78 percent of the city within four minutes. Now they can reach 86 percent of the city within four minutes, as demonstrated on this map:
As I understand that map, the lighter areas can be reached from at least one of the four fire stations within four minutes. The darker areas can be reached from any of Coppell’s fire stations within eight minutes.
Adding a fifth fire station on Moore Road, Richardson said, would make it so Coppell’s firefighters could reach 91 percent of the city within four minutes. On this next map, the fifth fire station is represented by the green star.
That map is labeled “Option 3,” so let me briefly explain the other two options. Both of them involve moving Fire Station 1, which is on Southwestern Boulevard, just a few blocks to the east.
Option 1 is a property on South Belt Line Road. Richardson said its appraised value is about $2 million, and he estimated the total cost of building a fire station there, including buying the land, was $10 million. However, Richardson said his colleagues in the Planning Department told him a private developer is considering purchasing the property at almost three times the appraised value. So that would likely hike the final price tag for the city.
Option 2 would be to move Fire Station 1 to land owned by Coppell ISD on Sanders Loop, behind Domino’s Pizza and Rozana Market. However, that land is technically within the City of Dallas, which could lead to bureaucratic entanglements. His estimate of the total cost for that option was also $10 million, including establishing water and sewer services on the property.
Richardson said Option 3 would cost $7.5 million, because the City of Coppell already owns the land on Moore Road. He called the facility he wants to build there a “substation” because it would have a ladder truck but not an ambulance. Richardson envisions a 10,000-square-foot building replacing the 7,000-square-foot home of Theatre Coppell.
Besides being cheaper, Richardson said another advantage of his plan to build a fifth fire station — as opposed to moving one of the four — is that it would relieve crowding at the existing stations.
Speaking of crowding, City Council Member Don Carroll asked if wedging a fire station right next to an elementary school would be a logistical problem. Back in the day, Richardson said, the city and the school district worked together to establish “an additional fire lane zone” to ensure that firefighters wouldn’t be blocked in by parents waiting to drop their kids off at Austin. Richardson said parents would need reminders for the first week or two of each new school year, but it was not much of an issue otherwise.
He showed another map that demonstrates where the majority of the Fire Department’s calls come from, accounting for both fires and requests for emergency medical services. The darkest part of this “heat map” is where you’ll find the St. Joseph Village retirement community, the Sandy Lake Rehabilitation & Care Center, and the River Oaks facility that offers assisted living and memory care.
“If we’re going to add something, let’s just drop it right in the middle of our heat maps,” Richardson said.
City Manager Mike Land said the council can expect to hear more about Richardson’s recommendation in January, when they will begin budgeting for the fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1, 2023. If they approve a fifth fire station in 2023, Land said, the earliest it could open would be 2025.
Artists Laud Arts Center Staff
This is a postscript of sorts to last week’s article about the Coppell Arts Center.
Near the end of Managing Director Ginene Delcioppo’s Aug. 30 presentation to the City Council, Don Carroll shared an anecdote from the Four C Notes’ performance in July. He was struck by the fact that the group’s lead singer had kind words about their dealings with the Arts Center’s staff.
“He said, ‘This has been one of the best experiences we have had,’ and I thought it was a great testament, because he didn’t have to say that,” Carroll said. “He has to tell the fans they’re great, but he doesn’t have to tell the backstage staff that they’re great and this is a great experience.”
Carroll added that he hopes the Coppell Arts Center develops a reputation among performers as a venue where they will be well taken care of. Delcioppo said her staff is diligent about being welcoming and accommodating, so they can earn that positive reputation among both artists and booking agents.
Delcioppo also said she’s seen the other side of the hospitality spectrum. During her days as a performer, she said, she stopped at a venue in Huntsville, Ala., that was staffed by prisoners from the local jail.
“I’m very happy to say that that will never be us,” Delcioppo said.
Speaking of prisoners …
No Trial Necessary in Meth Case
Longtime subscribers will recall that federal agents raided a home on Ashford Drive in June of 2021. Michael Gaston Feathers and Marissa Patrice Gonzales were indicted the following month on two counts:
Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance
Possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime
The indictment said Feathers and Gonzales had conspired since June of 2018 to distribute more than 50 grams of “a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine.” The indictment also said a Glock pistol, a Bulldog revolver, an FN Herstal pistol, ammunition and assorted magazines, and $7,796 in cash were seized from their home six days after the raid. On the same day, a neighbor photographed these three vehicles being towed from the property.
Feathers and Gonzales were scheduled to go on trial last September, but the proceedings were delayed until April, and then delayed again until Sept. 12. I was planning on trekking downtown to the Earle Cabell Federal Building tomorrow, but I thought it would be smart to confirm that the schedule hadn’t been changed again. It’s a good thing I did.
Angelina Lowe, Assistant Division Manager of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, informed me via email on Thursday that the case is no longer going to trial because both defendants have pleaded guilty. She said Feathers’ sentencing is scheduled for high noon on Jan. 1. (Happy New Year to him.) Lowe said Gonzales’ sentencing date has not yet been set.
Did Andy Brown Need More Tributes?
As you may recall from last week’s edition, the Coppell Arts Center makes the bulk of its revenue from private events. And last month, I told you about a developer’s plan to build a shopping center along South Belt Line Road that will feature a banquet hall.
These recent articles about spaces for large gatherings prompted me to poke my nosey nose into the Coppell Conference Center, a facility I’ve long been curious about but never visited until recently. Have you ever noticed this joint attached to the Four Points by Sheraton hotel along Interstate 635? It couldn’t be more clearly labeled.
In addition to being clearly labeled, this conference center is appropriately labeled, because it has Coppell down pat. Not only are its seven conference rooms named after our city’s parks, the hotel even mimicked the city’s naming methods. I’ve always found it odd that we have three parks named after one former mayor, Andrew Brown. The Coppell Conference Center took that strategy to the next level: It has no fewer than four rooms named after him, a fact that made me laugh out loud in the hotel’s lobby, before I even noticed his name was misspelled.
The four Andrew Brown rooms — which are distinguished by Roman numerals, as opposed to the directional suffixes on the three Andrew Brown parks — were being prepped for a quinceañera when I stopped by yesterday afternoon. This 15-year-old’s birthday party was also spilling over into the Hunterwood room. Meanwhile, the Riverchase room was hosting a showcase for a designer who specializes in Indian fashion, while the Wagon Wheel room was in stitches as the site of a four-day retreat for the Embroiderers’ Guild of America.
The walls between these seven spaces can all be removed to create one grand ballroom with a capacity of 950 people. When I popped in on the Friday before Labor Day, the entire space was hosting a swanky wedding reception. I’m sure at least a couple of the stylishly dressed guests were pondering why some bald guy in shorts and a T-shirt was strolling through the “ballroom pre-function” area.
So this city has three parks and at least four conference rooms named after Andrew Brown. I wonder if any Coppell residents will ever go so far as to name five sons after him, a la George Foreman.
Chronicle Crumbs
• The Coppell City Council will vote on its budget and tax rate for fiscal 2023 during a meeting scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The Irving City Council will do the same during a meeting scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Each city’s new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.
• Coppell resident Hannah Bilka was a member of the Team USA squad that earned the silver medal last week at the International Ice Hockey Federation’s Women’s World Championship in Denmark. The daughter of Dan and Patricia Bilka of Coppell is a graduate of Shattuck-St. Mary's School in Minnesota and a senior at Boston College.
• A new restaurant is coming to the shopping center on South Belt Line Road that already features Dunkin and First Watch. A banner heralds the impending arrival of Paris Baguette, a chain with locations in Carrollton and Lewisville.
Community Calendar
National Night Out: If your Coppell neighborhood wants to host an official block party on Oct. 4, submit an application by Wednesday.
Cheer Bingo: The Coppell High School cheerleaders invite you to play bingo at their school at 6 p.m. on Friday, when the football team has a bye. Admission is $15, and raffle tickets are $5.
Organize Your World — Time Management & ADHD Organizing: Professional organizer Kendal Dodge will share simple steps for getting more time back in your day and more peace throughout your home, if you can figure out how to get to the Cozby Library and Community Commons by 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Latin American Folklore & Dance: The Cozby Library and Community Commons will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a program highlighting the culture and traditions of Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Venezuela. It’s scheduled from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 18.
A reader told me that Damn Tall Buildings, the trio that performed at the Coppell Arts Center on Sept. 9, had similar praise for the facility's staff.