Coppell Chronicle Vol. 2, No. 45
Fences Proposed for All Campuses • District Arms New Security Coordinator • Coppell Heeds Ruling on Short-Term Rentals • Deposit Fee Instituted for Party Trailer
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Fences Proposed for All Campuses
Schools could be surrounded by 8-foot fences under a set of safety standards proposed by the Texas Education Agency.
The Coppell ISD Board of Trustees was briefed on those standards during their Dec. 12 meeting. Chief Operating Officer Dennis Womack said this is the rare case when the state government is offering to pay for a new set of rules.
“It’s not often that we can come before the board and say, ‘Here’s some proposed standards that the state’s given us AND here’s some proposed funding that the state will give us,’” Womack said.
The TEA would like to give each school district at least $200,000 to pay for these proposed safety standards. Larger districts would get more money, depending on how many students they serve. Womack said he’s been told Coppell ISD would receive more than $600,000 as part of this initiative.
The proposed standards, which the TEA announced in early November, call for 8-foot fencing unless the fence has anti-scaling design features; in those cases, a 6-foot fence is acceptable. Besides fencing, the eligible expenses for the associated grants include components of reinforced doors, forced-entry-resistant films for windows, and technology for silent panic alerts.
In response to a question from Board President David Caviness, Womack estimated that the standards will be adopted no earlier than February.
“Once we know what the actual rules will be, once they’re adopted, then we can determine how best to apply whatever funds we do have available,” Womack said.
Superintendent Brad Hunt tied this topic back to the work being done by the district’s Bond Steering Committee. He said campus security has been a critical piece of those volunteers’ discussions.
“We’d like to be able to discuss it more,” Hunt said, “but we’re dealing with some other issues, some misinformation that’s taking up a lot of the committee members’ time.” (See “District Asks Everyone to Remain Calm” in the Dec. 18 edition.)
The superintendent estimated that erecting fences around every campus in the district would cost much more than $600,000. That’s why such security measures may end up in the bond package that will likely be on our ballots in May.
Hunt, who began his career in Coppell ISD by teaching social studies, turned this into a quick lesson about the economics of supply and demand.
“If there’s a requirement that everybody has to have a certain level of fences, then all school districts in Texas are doing this at the same time,” he said. “You know that’s going to affect not just the cost but also the availability of the folks that are helping to make that happen.”
District Arms New Security Coordinator
The Keller ISD Board of Trustees made headlines a few weeks ago by voting 4-3 to allow their employees to carry firearms. On the same night as that split decision, Coppell ISD’s trustees voted unanimously to allow one employee to carry a gun.
That one employee is Greg Alexander, the district’s new Coordinator of Safety and Security. Like his predecessor, Rachael Freeman, Alexander is a former police officer. His previous employer was, coincidentally, Keller ISD.
On Dec. 12, Alexander helped Chief Operating Officer Dennis Womack brief the school board on safety and security. Until I watched that briefing, I didn’t know Freeman no longer leads such efforts for Coppell ISD.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Freeman has decamped to Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, where her initial title was Director of School Safety and Security. Just two months later, she was promoted to Executive Director of School Safety and Security. (That’s a career on the fast track!)
Before Coppell ISD hired Freeman in 2019, she worked for the Coppell Police Department, including several years as a school resource officer. There are six such officers patrolling Coppell schools today, Womack told the board, and their salaries are split 50-50 between the city and the district. (The Dallas County Sheriff’s Department supplies two school resource officers for the Coppell ISD campuses in Cypress Waters and Irving.)
At one time, the City of Coppell paid the school resource officers’ salaries in full. Trustee Leigh Walker wondered during the Dec. 12 briefing if the district could approach the city about revisiting the funding arrangement, given that Coppell voters recently approved a proposition funding crime-reduction programs for 10 more years via sales taxes.
When Walker and her peers were previously briefed on safety and security, they were told that the state’s first attempt to breach a Coppell ISD campus was unsuccessful. (See “CISD Passes First Intruder Audit” in the Oct. 2 edition.) On Dec. 12, Alexander said the district has passed three more state audits with flying colors.
Coppell Heeds Ruling on Short-Term Rentals
Coppell’s regulations on short-term rentals have been amended because a portion of them were deemed unconstitutional in federal court.
Since establishing its rules for short-term rentals in 2018, the City of Coppell has said that a home can be listed on websites such as Airbnb and VRBO only if it is the owner’s primary residence. The City of New Orleans had a similar rule on the books, but a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in August that said the Big Easy’s residency requirement discriminated against interstate commerce. Shortly thereafter, the Texas Municipal League advised its member cities to consult with their attorneys.
Faithful readers of the Chronicle Crumbs may recall that the Coppell City Council has had at least three private discussions about short-term rentals with City Attorney Bob Hager in recent weeks. Those discussions culminated in a pair of ordinance changes that the council approved on Dec. 13 without debate.
The first change says that if the applicant for a short-term rental permit cannot prove that the property is their primary residence, then the applicant must hire “an onsite property manager [who] will be onsite during the rental period.”
The language in quotation marks is from the draft ordinance, but Director of Community Development Mindi Hurley’s memo to the council put it differently: “The applicant must hire an on-site property manager who has to be at the property at the time of the rental.” During the Dec. 13 work session, Council Member John Jun clarified that the property manager does not have to hang around for the duration of the visitor’s stay, which would be quite awkward for all involved.
The second change to Coppell’s ordinance expanded the definition of “short-term rental” to include gardens, pools, garages, and outdoor accessory structures, presumably to address sites such as Swimply, which makes it possible to rent residential pools by the hour.
The City of Irving added language regarding short-term rentals to its Code of Ordinances last February. Irving’s rules do not include a residency requirement, but they do call for an owner to designate an agent who will be able to arrive at the premises within one hour of being contacted by a city employee regarding an emergency. The agent must be at least 21 years old.
Irving charges $200 annually for a short-term rental permit, while Coppell charges just $50 per year, unless the property owner is 65 or older; for seniors, the annual fee is $25.
Hurley’s memo said 11 short-term rental properties are registered with the City of Coppell. Yessemeri Chavez, who works in Irving’s Code Enforcement Department, told me on Wednesday that her city has issued 62 such permits.
Deposit Fee Instituted for Party Trailer
File this under “This is why we can’t have nice things.”
The City of Coppell’s Block ’n Roll Block Party Trailer, which debuted about a year ago, is packed with folding tables and chairs, canopies, coolers, and lawn games such as giant Jenga, ladder ball, and bean bag toss. Until today, Coppell homeowners associations, neighborhood associations, and community service organizations could reserve it free of charge.
Unfortunately, “a significant amount of items” in the trailer have gone missing or were returned damaged, according to a memo that Director of Strategic Financial Engagement Kim Tiehen sent to the City Council. Consequently, the council approved a resolution that calls for a $100 deposit fee when reserving the Block ’n Roll trailer. That policy change is effective today.
Tiehen’s memo said the $100 will be returned if the trailer’s contents are all accounted for and in good condition. If not, the city will use the $100 to replace or repair items.
During the Dec. 13 work session, Council Member John Jun asked what would happen if the cost of the damaged or missing items exceeded $100. Director of Community Development Mindi Hurley said the city would cover the difference in such cases, assuming the problem keeps occurring.
“Our hope is that, when they’re providing a deposit, that would give them some incentive to make sure that all of the items are returned,” Hurley said.
Jun also asked how much the Block ’n Roll trailer has been used. According to the reservation calendar on the city’s website, the trailer was booked 18 times in 2022 — at 16 block parties between April and October, at the kickoff party for the Cozby Library’s summer reading program in May, and during a pickleball tournament at Wagon Wheel Park in April.
One other thing: Tiehen’s memo, and the associated resolution, said the $100 deposit fee will also apply to reservations for the Tool Lending Trailer. I wasn’t aware that the city was in the business of lending tools. Hurley said the Tool Lending Trailer will be introduced in 2023.
Chronicle Crumbs
• The Coppell Police Department announced that two women — a 69-year-old Plano resident and a 41-year-old California resident — were killed in a collision that occurred Thursday evening at the intersection of Freeport Parkway and Bethel Road. Three other occupants of their car were hospitalized. Selvin Cuyuch, a 20-year-old Dallas resident who allegedly ran a red light, was arrested and charged with two counts of manslaughter.
• In last week’s edition, I questioned part of the math in Coppell Chamber of Commerce President Ellie Braxton’s “Discover Coppell” funding request. A $24,000 management fee was labeled as 12 percent of her $224,000 ask. I realized after publication that $24,000 is 12 percent of $200,000, the total before the fee.
• Trash and recycling fees for Coppell residents and businesses are increasing by 3 percent, effective today.
• Coppell High School graduate Corey Kluber, a two-time winner of Major League Baseball’s Cy Young Award, reportedly signed a free-agent contract with the Boston Red Sox last week.
• According to a form filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the Irving Diner on North Belt Line Road (formerly affiliated with Coppell’s Local Diner) will be replaced by a Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.
• On Dec. 16, the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD Board of Trustees had a special meeting to discuss two topics: “develop a profile for the superintendent” and “considering hiring a superintendent.” The vast majority of the meeting happened behind closed doors, so I’m mentioning it only to highlight the massive hat worn by Trustee Carolyn Benavides:
Community Calendar
Game Night: Families are invited to play classic and contemporary board games at the Cozby Library and Community Commons between 6 and 8 p.m. on Wednesday.
Cowboy Theatre Company Variety Show: This fundraiser for the Coppell High School theater program will feature a silent auction, a live cake auction, and the titular show, which is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Coppell Arts Center.
Teen Ice Cream Social: Middle school students are invited to celebrate the new year with ice cream and cocoa between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 11 at the Cozby Library and Community Commons.
MLK Day of Service Drive-Thru Shoe and Clothing Drive: The Coppell Community Chorale will accept donations to Soles 4 Souls between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Jan. 16 at the Coppell Arts Center.
Teen Craft — Canvas Bag: Teenagers are invited to decorate reusable canvas bags with fabric paint between 5:30 and 7 p.m. on Jan. 25 at the Cozby Library and Community Commons.
Coppell Chamber of Commerce Members’ Choice Awards & Community Gala: Metrocrest Services CEO Tracy Eubanks has been named the recipient of the Cliff Long Leadership Award. Other winners will be announced after 6 p.m. on Jan. 28 at the Courtyard by Marriott in Grapevine.
State of the City: Mayor Wes Mays will review the 2023 vision for our fair suburb during a luncheon scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 9 at the Coppell Arts Center.
Coppell Lions Club Pancake Breakfast: The 36th annual fundraiser is scheduled from 8 to 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 11 at the First United Methodist Church of Coppell. Tickets are $5 per person, with $20 being the maximum charge for a family.
Fences... So many questions. Would they completely surround each campus? I wonder how that would affect after school activities and access to the schools? Also, would it eliminate the ability for people to use things like playgrounds and walking tracks after hours? How many access points would there be? Are the monitored or locked? How do they directly address the current security concerns at our schools today?
It was worth the price of a paid subscription just to see (and ponder) trustee Carolyn Benavides' massive hat.