Coppell Chronicle Vol. 3, No. 24

Stay Thirsty, My Fronds; Watering is Restricted • Coppell ISD Innovates on Drug Discipline • Irving Commits to Trash Bags • Sushi, Souvlaki, and Cinnamon Rolls

More than three dozen people have ordered Coppell Chronicle merchandise from Tee Public since I shared that link in last week’s edition. Thanks so much!

---

Stay Thirsty, My Fronds; Watering is Restricted

The water situation is dire in Coppell, so dire that Stage 2 watering restrictions take effect just after midnight tonight. This handy graphic produced by the city explains when you’re allowed to water your grass.

Stage 1 restrictions have been in effect since early July, meaning no Coppell lawns should be watered between 10 in the morning and 6 in the evening. The additional restrictions taking effect tonight limit your early-morning and late-evening watering to certain days of the week, depending on whether your address ends with an even or odd number.

Longtime subscribers may recall that the even-or-odd system was put in place a year ago. It replaced a restrictions system that divided Coppell along Sandy Lake Road, a system that city administrators dumped because, they said, some residents may not know whether their home is north or south of one of our major thoroughfares. That’s an insult to Coppell’s collective intelligence that I’m still not over.

(See “We Really Need to Use Less Water” in Vol. 2, No. 23.)

Yesterday was the 13th consecutive day that local temperatures exceeded 100 degrees, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, and it was the 28th such day since June 25. The Dallas Morning News reported the region typically endures only 20 days with 100-degree temperatures. The record was set in 2011, when we had 71 days above 100. Meanwhile, it’s been three weeks since we’ve had any measurable rain.

The Stage 2 restrictions were triggered because Coppell used more than 16.65 million gallons of water — or 90 percent of our daily maximum — on five consecutive days. If we exceed our maximum daily allotment of 18.5 million gallons just once, the city’s contract with Dallas Water Utilities calls for an automatic increase of one million gallons that will cost Coppell an additional $320,000 annually for at least five years.

To help conserve water, the city encouraged residents to sign up for the Get to Know Your H2O portal, where you can see your water data and set up alerts that will be triggered if you use a certain amount in a day or a billing cycle. The data for my household shows that we used more than 250 gallons on only five out of the last 30 days, but one of those days was an extreme outlier. On July 24, the portal says, we used 581 gallons.

I’m going to blame that on my teenage sons’ fondness for long showers.

---

Coppell ISD Innovates on Drug Discipline

The Texas Legislature wants school districts to crack down on kids experimenting with drugs, but Coppell ISD will be a bit more lenient.

A new state law mandates placement in a “disciplinary alternative education program” if a student uses, possesses, sells, or delivers marijuana or vape pens on or within 300 feet of a campus. Under a newly approved amendment to Coppell ISD’s Local Innovation Plan, the district will allow a first-time offender to serve an in-school suspension rather than being sent to the Victory Place campus automatically.

Coppell ISD is one of more than 960 districts across the state that have created local innovation plans. Such documents allow a district to be exempt from certain sections of the Texas Education Code. For example, the state law says a fall semester cannot begin before the fourth Monday in August, but Coppell ISD routinely starts earlier than that. (Classes begin on Aug. 15 this year.)

The Board of Trustees approved two amendments to the district’s Local Innovation Plan on July 24, and the second one is a bit more complicated. The state says a student who has been assigned to an alternative school for the aforementioned drug offenses can serve an in-school suspension if there is no space on the alternative campus or if the drug offender’s seat in the alternative setting needs to go to a violent offender. However, the student caught with pot or a vape pen is supposed to be moved to the alternative campus as soon as space opens up. Under Coppell ISD’s policy, a drug offender serving an in-school suspension due to crowding would be sent to Victory Place only if there were at least 10 school days left in his or her disciplinary period. And a Coppell ISD student who gave up his or her seat at Victory Place to make space for a violent kid would be sent back to the alternative school only if there were at least 30 days of discipline to be served.

“We definitely want to make sure that our kids are staying safe,” Superintendent Brad Hunt told the trustees. “We don’t want them using drugs and alcohol at school or any school-related events.” However, Hunt said the district wants to give campus administrators some flexibility in these situations. Under the state’s policy, he said, a kid could get sent to Victory Place just for holding a friend’s vape pen.

“There are many times that some students, for whatever reason, aren’t strong enough in a moment to say ‘no’ for holding on to something that wasn’t theirs to begin with,” Assistant Superintendent Kristen Eichel added. “Very much a lesson that needs to be learned, but we feel like that can be taught and worked through, once again, on the campus, and with parent involvement.”

The amendments were approved on a 5-0 vote, with Trustees Manish Sethi and Leigh Walker being absent. Trustee Jobby Mathew thanked the administration for bringing the changes to the board for consideration.

“When kids make a wrong choice, you’re trying to minimize as much disruption as possible to get them back on the right track,” he said.

One more thing: The memo from Assistant Superintendent Angie Brooks regarding the amendments used the spelling “marihuana,” which looked like a typo to me, but that’s how the drug is identified in the Texas Education Code. This short article from a suburban Detroit law firm explains why “marijuana” is often spelled with an h in legal documents.

---

Irving Commits to Trash Bags

People of Irving, your voices have been heard: You want to put your trash in bags, and you want those bags collected twice a week. Now the city has to figure out how much that will cost.

On Thursday, before the City Council reviewed an ordinance designed to aid their beleaguered trash collectors, Mayor Rick Stopfer wanted to provide the administration with clear direction: Is Irving going to stick with manually collected bags, or is the city going to transition to carts that would be picked up through a semi-automated system?

“If we’re going to stay with bags, then let’s make that commitment today,” Stopfer said. “And if we make that commitment today, then we make the commitment to the staff to go out and hire the people that they need to actually do it.”

A majority of the council said their constituents want to stick with bags; more importantly, their constituents want the city to return to twice-a-week collection. Mark Cronenwett, who joined the council after winning a June runoff election, said trash was the predominant issue on the campaign trail, and some voters told him it was their only issue.

Irving cut back collection to once a week last October due to staffing issues. Thursday’s discussion may exacerbate that problem.

“The first thing you have to do is talk to your employees and let them know that that’s the direction,” Stopfer told Solid Waste Services Director Travis Switzer, “because some of them will not stay if they know that’s the direction that we’re going.”

Even if nobody quits, the mayor said the city already needs 9 to 18 more trash collectors than it has on staff today to successfully execute weekly manual collection. Twice-a-week collection would necessitate more manpower.

“Our residents are really upset with us for what they perceive as cutting service and raising prices,” Council Member John Bloch said. “I think they’ll be understanding that bags twice a week is gonna cost more, if it can be done at all. I’m OK with trying to deliver what they want us to deliver.”

City Manager Chris Hillman pointed out that 45 percent of the “solid waste services” fee on an Irving resident’s utility bill has nothing to do with collecting trash and recycling. That portion covers the management and maintenance of the Hunter Ferrell Landfill within the city limits.

“That is an extraordinary, very valuable asset, but it’s also a very expensive asset,” Hillman said.

The council has a budget retreat scheduled for Aug. 18. Hillman promised they’ll see a proposal for what it will take to hire enough people to manually collect trash and recycling twice a week.

Once that was settled, the council moved on to the proposed ordinance, which contained good news for Council Member Dennis Webb: The latest draft removed the word “toilet” from the definition of “construction and demolition debris.” As you might recall, Webb recently declared that he didn’t need a contractor’s help to change out a commode.

(See “Irving Leaders Back Trash Collectors” in Vol. 3, No. 22.)

Webb was absent on Thursday, but the rest of the council had a lot of feedback for Switzer. Examples: Should cardboard be collected if it’s not underneath a blue recycling bag? Should brush still be picked up if it contains trash? The nitpicking exasperated Council Member Kyle Taylor, who said 90 percent of Irving residents would never read the proposed ordinance.

“They’re just gonna continue doing what they’re doing,” Taylor said. “And so asking our guys, and putting more on our guys to say, ‘Oh, I can’t pick this up because it’s not clean,’ I think just leads to another hurdle we’re gonna have to clear in two or three years when we don’t have any CDL drivers ’cause they’re tired of having to decide whether they’re gonna sort brush or not. Common sense is let ’em just pick it up, and when it gets out there, they go from there. ’Cause our residents aren’t gonna read this ordinance.”

Speaking of not reading the ordinance, a formal reading was pulled from Thursday’s agenda because of the council’s requested changes. Their next opportunity for the first of two required readings will be on Aug. 31.

---

Sushi, Souvlaki, and Cinnamon Rolls

It’s time for one of our periodic restaurant roundups.

• Seven months after Zena Sushi closed its doors at 171 N. Denton Tap Road, Sushi Sakana has opened in the same space. And here’s a rarity for a full-service restaurant in Coppell: It’s open until 10:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and until 10 every other night.

• The Coppell Chamber of Commerce has scheduled a ribbon-cutting ceremony for San Daniele Italian Eatery & Bar at 11 a.m. on Aug. 29. The new concept from the owners of J. Macklin’s is taking over the two-story space at 110 W. Sandy Lake Road that was previously occupied by Kelly’s Texican.

• Nick the Greek, a California-based chain founded by three cousins who are all named Nick (seriously), will celebrate the grand opening of its location at 7707 N. MacArthur Blvd. in Irving with free lunches starting at 11 a.m. this Friday.

• Cinnaholic is serving up gourmet cinnamon rolls at 8701 Cypress Waters Blvd, but the operating hours seem odd to me. It’s not open until 10 a.m.

• A banner posted at 2702 Lake Vista Drive in Lewisville, just outside Coppell’s city limits, heralds the impending arrival of a Turkish restaurant called The Flying Carpet. Its Fort Worth location closed last spring due to a fire.

• It’s been almost eight months since I bought two tacos from Taqueria La Ventana’s pop-up stand behind the Twisted Root at 505 Houston St. I’m beginning to doubt its supposedly permanent space next door will ever open.

---

Chronicle Crumbs

• A plan to build about 40 homes on a vacant lot next to MacArthur Boulevard Baptist Church has been put on hold. (See “Church Clears Hurdle for Developing Land” in last week’s edition.) The developer requested an indefinite postponement on Thursday after some Irving City Council members — including Al Zapanta, whose district includes Valley Ranch — expressed opposition to the proposed zoning changes. The current zoning would allow about 20 homes to be built on the church’s property.

• The staff of Coppell ISD’s Lee Elementary have a tradition of touring the surrounding neighborhoods before a new school year begins, and Channel 11 was along for the ride last week. The district’s first day of school is Aug. 15, but Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD will get started on Aug. 10, the day after Lewisville ISD will begin instruction. Charter schools Universal Academy and Coppell Classical Academy will start on Aug. 14 and Aug. 15, respectively.

• Coppell’s Future Oriented Approach to Residential Development Task Force wants your feedback about housing options for active adults older than 55. The Active Adult Housing Survey will be open until Sept. 1.

• Fellowship Church is planning a $3.4 million expansion of its Grapevine campus — which sits just outside Coppell’s city limits — according to a form filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

• Minor correction: The emailed version of last week’s edition said the City of Coppell’s proposed tax rate is 49.3466 cents per $100 of valuation. That looked odd to me when I reread it, so I listened to the recording of the July 27 budget workshop again. The proposed tax rate is actually 49.3496 cents.

• Substack allows me to apply tags to certain editions of this newsletter and then add corresponding tabs to the navigation bar on my website. I’ve started out with three such tabs: Coppell ISD Bonds, Old Town, and Silver Line. Does anybody want to suggest any others from the Chronicle’s recurring topics?

---

Community Calendar

Troop 842 50th Anniversary Celebration: Past and present Scouts and troop leaders are invited to mark 50 years of Troop 824 with speeches, skits, and games between 2 and 4 p.m. today at First United Methodist Church.

Mindfulness Practice: Guest instructor Sheela Singla will guide adults ages 18 and older through a mindfulness meditation practice between 2 and 3 p.m. today at the Cozby Library and Community Commons.

North Texas Job Fair: Need a job? Coppell’s Wes Mays and Irving’s Rick Stopfer are among more than a dozen mayors who will co-host a job fair with U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow at the Irving Convention Center.

Campout Family Storytime in the Plaza: The Cozby Library staff invites families to sing campfire songs, listen to stories, and enjoy s’mores-in-a-cup between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Town Center Plaza.

Teen Craft: Pom-Pom Garland: High school students are invited to get crafty at the Cozby Library and Community Commons between 3 and 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

Feed the Pollinators: A Guide to Establishing a Monarch Waystation: Be at the Valley Ranch Library at 6 p.m. on Wednesday to learn what resources are necessary for monarch butterflies to sustain their migration.

Four Day Weekend: The acclaimed improv comedy troupe will return to the Coppell Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Rounding Third: Theatre Coppell will stage nine performances of Richard Dresser’s comedy about youth baseball. The first show is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Friday in the Wheelice Wilson Jr. Theatre at the Coppell Arts Center.

Yoga in Nature: Advanced yoga therapist Latha Shanmugan will lead a class at 9 a.m. on Saturday at the Biodiversity Education Center in Coppell Nature Park.

Locally Sourced: The Coppell Creatives are soliciting submissions for an exhibit devoted to art created by people who live or work in Coppell. The entry deadline is Aug. 18.

Bachelors of Broadway: A “trio of dashing men” will sing showtunes at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Aug. 19 in the Main Hall at the Coppell Arts Center.

Lariettes Spaghetti Dinner: The annual fundraiser for the Coppell High School drill team is set for 5 p.m. on Aug. 25, before the varsity football team opens their season against Sachse.