Coppell Chronicle Vol. 2, No. 22
More Shops Coming to Old Town • Plans Laid Out for Parks Projects • Bingo Card May Help Belt Line Businesses • Like Simple Minds, I’m Alive and Kicking
Last Sunday’s lead article was about how Coppell needs to reduce its water usage. On Monday, the city’s water usage hit an all-time high. If nothing else, this proves that not enough people have subscribed to this newsletter.
More Shops Coming to Old Town
Old Town Coppell may soon have up to three new stores, with a couple of new residences sitting on top of them.
There is a vacant lot on West Main Street, across the parking lot from the Farmers Market pavilion. Coppell resident Diana Ahmad wants to erect a two-story building there with a pair of three-bedroom apartments on top of retail space. The ground floor could have a single business or up to three, depending on the tenants Ahmad can attract.
During a public hearing before the Coppell Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday, Ahmad was asked if she had any particular types of businesses in mind. She did not speak into a microphone, but I believe she said an ice cream shop or a pizza shop.
Ahmad was represented at the microphone by her architect, William Peck, who designed the building that is under construction on the adjacent property. That is also a mixed-use project, with the first floor being a new home for the Let It Shine boutique and the second floor being a new home for the boutique’s owners, Gary and Michele Cramer.
Putting Peck in a potentially awkward position, the only person who spoke in opposition to Ahmad’s proposal during Thursday’s hearing was Gary Cramer. Unlike the Cramers, Ahmad does not plan to reside in her building on Main Street. She could have up to five tenants — two residential and three commercial.
Gary Cramer told the commission that he and his wife aren’t jazzed about living next door to a building occupied by multiple renters. He also said his better half would have been at Thursday’s hearing to say more, but she was stuck at their boutique, helping a customer who was dealing with a “fashion emergency.”
(I’ve had a lot of varied experiences in my nearly five decades on this planet, but I can’t recall a “fashion emergency” being among them. My wife may have other thoughts.)
Regarding those multiple renters: Peck’s design calls for the apartments in Ahmad’s building to have balconies facing Main Street. Commission Chair Edmund Haas asked if there were any rules regarding what could be done or kept on those balconies. For example, he asked, would the tenants be able to hang wet towels over them? City planner Matt Steer said Ahmad’s upstairs tenants will be subject to the rules of the Old Town Coppell Homeowners Association.
Peck’s design also calls for a pair of rear garages, one large enough for two vehicles and the other being able to hold just one. Steer recommended that the proposal be approved only if it includes a pair of two-car garages. The commission followed Steer’s advice when unanimously recommending approval.
Ahmad’s proposal still needs the City Council’s blessing. That hearing is scheduled for Aug. 9.
Assuming this project comes to fruition, the last undeveloped parcel in Old Town will be the lot due east of Twisted Root. The city owns that land, and I’ve heard Steer and other officials say they’d like to see a restaurant there. Fingers crossed that it becomes a restaurant with late hours that would accommodate Coppell Arts Center patrons.
Plans Laid Out for Parks Projects
The Coppell Recreation Development Corporation is making plans to spend a portion of the city’s sales taxes, and you will have a chance to weigh in on those plans.
In 2007, 63 percent of Coppell voters approved devoting a half-cent sales tax to projects involving parks, recreation, athletics, entertainment, etc. In 2013, the same percentage of voters reauthorized this practice for another 25 years.
The Coppell Recreation Development Corporation, or CRDC, is governed by a seven-member board that is, at the moment, led by President Thomas Dwyer and Vice President Aaron Straach. Other members include Mayor Wes Mays and City Council Member Cliff Long. Last Monday, the board tentatively approved the CRDC’s annual work program and budget, which will be the subject of a public hearing on a date to be determined in September.
Typically, this work program is full of large-scale projects, but city staffers are being fiscally conservative until Coppell’s lawsuit against Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar is resolved. Hegar wants to shift sales taxes for online transactions from the seller’s city to the buyer’s city. If he gets his way, Coppell would lose an estimated 18 percent of its annual revenue.
“We have a lot of plans and wishes and lots of things waiting on a priority list,” Director of Parks and Recreation Jessica Carpenter told the CRDC board, “but nothing that’s emergency status that we feel like we should do this year before we know the true outcome and the true impact of 334.” (The official name of Hegar’s proposal is Rule 3.334.)
Director of Finance Kim Tiehen estimated that the CRDC’s fund balance will be $13.5 million at the end of fiscal 2023. About $12.4 million of that will be unallocated, due to the City Council opting to pay for the Magnolia Park trail and the Moore Road boardwalk with a windfall of federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.
“Those were, in my opinion, excellent decisions, because it really helped this fund,” Tiehen said.
The plan that got a preliminary thumbs-up from the board on Monday calls for spending a little more than $1 million from the CRDC’s fund balance on two big projects: $810,500 for renovations at Duck Pond Park and $250,000 for designing renovations at Thweatt Park.
The plan also calls for $723,000 worth of capital outlay:
$200,000 for erosion repairs at Andrew Brown Park East
$200,000 for upgrades to the parks’ lightning prediction system
$150,000 for weight machines at The CORE
$60,000 for resurfacing the playground at Allen Road Park
$50,000 for lobby furniture at The CORE
$35,000 for refurbishing a bridge at Andrew Brown Park West
$25,000 for “unexpected building projects” at the Coppell Arts Center
$3,000 for a “seat back program” at the Arts Center
Tiehen told the board the CRDC had received about $440,000 worth of revenue from the Arts Center as of June 30, but the CRDC had covered about $1.2 million worth of the facility’s expenditures.
“The Arts Center has not been fully operational long enough for us to have a solid estimate of the revenues the Arts Center will generate as well as the actual costs of operating the Arts Center,” she said.
The plan also calls for $253,500 worth of maintenance for the pools at The CORE, including new indoor lighting, a new pump, and a new tower for the outdoor slides.
“If you have a pool at home, you know how at about that 20-year mark, things start falling apart?” Carpenter said. “Well, our pool’s going on 23 years old, so we’re looking at some needed maintenance and replacements there.”
Overall, Tiehen expects the CRDC to bring in about $225,000 more than it spends in fiscal 2023, which begins Oct. 1.
As a reminder, the City Council’s final budget workshop is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday at Town Center. All who attend will get a free scoop of Marble Slab ice cream. Perhaps I’ll see you there?
Bingo Card May Help Belt Line Businesses
The City of Coppell has been sending mixed messages about the reconstruction of Belt Line Road. Officials urge commuters to avoid the road at all costs, but they also ask us to support Belt Line’s businesses.
The latest effort in the supportive category is a game: Buy on Belt Line Bingo. Click that link to download a bingo card that features businesses in and around the construction zone. If you can produce receipts from five of them in a row, you’ll be eligible to win $200.
“With drivers avoiding the construction zone, some of our local shops have seen a significant decrease in traffic through their doors, and they desperately need the community’s support,” Director of Community Development Mindi Hurley said in a press release. “This is a fun way to remind our residents about these businesses and to support the local economy.”
I didn’t see anything about a deadline in the press release or on the bingo card, but I could always use a couple of extra Benjamins, so I’m already playing. Given my family’s natural shopping habits, the horizontal row that features Armando’s Tacos, Chevron, Domino’s, Rozana, and Quik Trip seems like the best fit.
In response to the press release, I asked why some businesses got two squares on the bingo card while others got just one. City spokeswoman Hannah Cook explained that the businesses with multiple squares are in the construction zone, while the ones with single squares are on the outskirts. I couldn’t help but notice that a few businesses near the zone — such as Chicken Express, Dairy Queen, and Grow It — aren’t listed at all.
“There were criteria that had to be met for inclusion on the bingo card,” Cook said. “All retail businesses directly in the construction zone, or just north of the construction zone, that rely on foot traffic for business were included.”
On a related note, I haven’t seen any new information about the Revenue Recovery Grant Program since Hurley briefed the City Council in June. At that time, she said businesses within the construction zone can start applying for $5,000 grants on July 25, which is tomorrow. Businesses on Denton Tap Road between Southwestern Boulevard and Sandy Lake Road are also eligible, but they can’t apply until Aug. 8.
Clarifications: After publishing this edition, I was informed that the prize for Buy on Belt Line Bingo is $200 worth of gift cards, not $200 cash. I was also informed that the Revenue Recovery Grant Program dates in the previous paragraph have been pushed back to Aug. 25 and Sept. 8.
Like Simple Minds, I’m Alive and Kicking
Despite an oppressive heat wave, surging COVID statistics, and the looming threat of monkeypox, I’m alive and kicking this summer, courtesy of the Coppell Parks and Recreation Department.
The city offered recreational leagues for adults in three sports this summer: softball, volleyball, and kickball. The last of those intrigued me, even though I hadn’t played kickball since sixth grade. So I logged into a Facebook group for Coppell and Valley Ranch residents who participate in Camp Gladiator workouts, and threw out an offer: Would anyone want to form a kickball team? Much to my delight, several of my fellow gladiators enthusiastically said, “Yes!”
Our team, the CG Kickers, is one of seven in the league. We came together on a whim, but some of our competitors have played together for years. Tiffany Anderson, the Parks and Recreation Department’s community engagement manager, told me there were nine teams in the kickball league last summer and 10 in the pre-COVID summer of 2019.
There are three games each Friday evening at Andrew Brown Park Central, with the seventh team getting a bye. Every tripleheader has been officiated by an umpire named Steve, who takes his responsibilities far more seriously than you would think. During a pregame meeting with me and the Kickaholics’ coach on Friday, Steve stressed that outfielders need to stay on the grass until the ball is kicked; the same goes for infielders crossing the base paths. If those rules were repeatedly violated, he said, he would start awarding free bases.
I don’t know anything about this man except his first name and that he brings a no-nonsense attitude to the park every Friday, much to my delight. I like to imagine he spends the rest of his week studying the rules of kickball and muttering about the sport’s good old days. If what I’m imagining is not true, I’d prefer to be kept in the dark.
For those in the dark about kickball’s rules, they’re basically the same as baseball, except that you can record an out by pegging a runner with the ball. In that respect, there’s a bit of dodgeball to it. During a game against the New Kicks on the Block, I unsuccessfully tried to field a line drive while pitching. The ball bounced off my stubby fingers and headed right toward the player who had just kicked it. I thought I was in luck, because she would have been called out if she’d come into contact with my carom. However, she was athletic enough to leap over the ball on her way to first base.
This is a co-ed league, and the rules dictate that each team’s lineup must have an equal number of men and women. The CG Kickers’ only win so far has been by forfeit, because one of our opponents could not comply with that gender breakdown. We played an unofficial game against them, though, and they unofficially kicked our butts.
Despite our lopsided win-loss record, I’m having a grand time playing kickball. I believe my teammates — some of whom I’d never met until our first game — feel the same way, based on their post-game smiles. Most weeks, we meet at JC’s for burgers and drinks before or after the game, so we’re forging friendships while getting a little exercise. It’s one of the best things about living in this suburban paradise.
Chronicle Crumbs
• When I got to meet Melissa Arnold, the new principal of Coppell Middle School East, on Monday, I asked her how many teachers she still had to hire. Much to my surprise, she proudly said zero, but other Coppell ISD campuses still have plenty of openings. Classes begin on Aug. 17.
• The Coppell Community Chorale announced John Sauvey as their new Music Director. A veteran of various opera companies, he is also the Director of Music Ministries for Fort Worth’s Ridglea Presbyterian Church and the Director of Music for Beth-El Congregation of Fort Worth.
• Congratulations to the Coppell High School Wind Symphony, which finished sixth overall in the Texas Music Educators Association’s 6A Honor Band competition. The winner was Hebron High School.
Community Calendar
All of Your Beeswax: Middle and high schoolers can learn about the many uses of beeswax — such as lip balm, rolled candles, and encaustic painting — at 2 p.m. on Monday at the Cozby Library and Community Commons.
DART Community Meeting: If you want to learn more about the Silver Line trains that will start rolling through Coppell in late 2024, stop by The Sound at Cypress Waters at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.
Dallas Zoo: Don’t count on seeing a giraffe or an elephant, but animals from the Dallas Zoo will be at the Cozby Library and Community Commons between 1:30 and 2:30 on Tuesday. Heads-up: This free program is only for children who will be in elementary school this fall; younger siblings and parents will be redirected to other areas of the library.
Little Shop of Horrors: You have three more opportunities to see Theatre Coppell’s production of the musical about a carnivorous plant. Performances are scheduled for 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. on July 31.
Coppell Baseball Association: Aug. 1 is the final day to register for the fall leagues. The same deadline applies to the Coppell Girls Softball Association’s fall leagues.
Caregiving Heroes: This support group for people who assist loved ones with aging or other concerns meets once a month at First United Methodist Church of Coppell. The next meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Aug. 6.
I enjoyed this Chronicle. Thank you for all the info. I was wondering about the water usage because our family really tried to cut back, but one area that’s hard to cut is filling our swimming pool because of evaporation. It has to be at a certain level or the pump will burn out. I’m sure that’s true for many coppell residents.
FWIW, the 2007 CRDC sales tax authorized the 1/2 cent sales tax was for very specific and limited uses; I believe it was just for the CORE and hike and bike trails. (As I understood it… initially, the funds could only be used for building/improving the CORE and hike/bike trails but later on was re-interpreted that the funds could be used for some operating expenses and a portion of the parks department budget that serviced the CORE and trails was also funded by the CRDC funds). The 2013 re-authorization was all about removing essentially any restrictions to using that money… and now the funds can be used for pretty much anything, which is why the funds have been used much more broadly since 2013 (namely a portion of the Library expansion, Andy Brown redesign and the life safety park - none of which could have been done under the 2007 rules).