Coppell Chronicle Vol. 5, No. 20
Band Boosters Ask City to Help Fund Trip • Historical Museum Aspires to Acquire Train • Westhaven Residents Decry Traffic Dangers • Council May Expand Bike Helmet Rules
This edition is being published late in the day because I returned home on Saturday after being out of Coppell for a week. Thanks for your patience and your support.
Band Boosters Ask City to Help Fund Trip
Coppell High School’s band boosters are asking the Coppell City Council to help fund an overseas trip — and that’s not an unprecedented request.
The marching band has been invited to perform in next year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin, Ireland. On June 23, the boosters briefed the council on their request for $46,625 to help defray the costs of the trip.
Council Member Kevin Nevels, who was a member of the Coppell band that won a state championship in 1999, asked boosters Tara Henderson and Erin Malahowski how they came up with the “oddly specific” amount of $46,625.
Malahowski explained that the council granted the band $30,000 in 2015 to help fund a trip to London for a performance in that city’s New Year’s Day parade. She said the request for $46,625 was based on that $30,000 grant but adjusted for inflation and the growth of the band program’s roster.
Henderson said the program has nearly 400 participants, which represents approximately 10 percent of Coppell ISD’s high school students. About 275 students are expected to join the Dublin trip; if so, the city’s expense would equate to almost $170 per kid.
Last April, when Coppell ISD’s trustees voted to allow the band to accept the Dublin invitation, they were told the cost will be about $3,500 per student. That’s on top of the $1,700 fee that each member of the varsity band will be charged just to participate in the program during the 2025-2026 school year.
Mayor Wes Mays asked how the boosters chose Ireland. Henderson and Malahowski informed him that the reverse was true — the organizers of the Dublin parade chose the Coppell band.
“It’s a big honor,” Malahowski said. “They basically kind of look around and say, ‘OK, who looks amazing?’ They saw Coppell.”
The City of Coppell’s annual budget process includes funding requests from service and arts organizations. Here’s a breakdown of some of the requests for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, and what was allocated in each of the three prior fiscal years:
Last year, the City Council amended their policies so they didn’t need to sit through presentations from every organization requesting funds. They only want to hear pitches about new requests or requests that exceed $20,000 and are at least 50 percent higher than the previous year’s allocation.
Consequently, the council’s June 23 budget workshop also included first-time appeals from Carson’s Village, which is requesting $3,700, and the Denton County My Health My Resources Center, which is asking for $1,800. Metrocrest Services is asking for 45 percent more money than it received in prior years, and CEO Tracy Eubanks explained that to the council in late May.
(See “Metrocrest Services Needs More Money” in Vol. 5, No. 16.)
Mays told all of the organizations’ representatives that they will hear from the city’s finance team about the status of their requests after the council approves the budget in August.
Historical Museum Aspires to Acquire Train
Most Coppell residents are aware that DART’s Silver Line trains are testing their horns on the south side of the city. But did you know a much older train may soon be parked in Old Town?
The Coppell Historical Museum plans to salvage a train and a short length of track that could be displayed on the museum’s property at the corner of Bethel and Coppell roads. Chris Long said so during the City Council’s budget workshop on June 23, when she was explaining the museum’s request for a grant of $130,000.
Long mentioned the train — among other expenses — after Council Member Ramesh Premkumar asked her to detail how the $130,000 would be used. She said an intern who is majoring in museum studies found the train in a junkyard. Long said buying the train and moving it to the museum’s property will help attract more visitors.
“Coppell has a very strong history with the railroad, and that’s actually how we got our name, and so we want to be able to showcase that,” Long said.
The Coppell Historical Museum is among the service and arts organizations whose funding requests can be covered by hotel occupancy taxes because, in theory, they bring visitors to the city. Here’s a breakdown of such requests for the upcoming fiscal year:
Before the museum was established a few years ago, Long said, the Coppell Historical Society’s monthly open houses at Heritage Park drew fewer than 60 people annually. But she proudly said the museum attracted 9,000 visitors last year, and those people were all encouraged to visit the shops and restaurants in Old Town before leaving Coppell.
Council Member Biju Mathew asked how much funding the museum is getting from the state, because he was under the impression that the plan was to eventually run the museum without money from the city. Long said she has applied for six grants through the Texas Historical Commission, but none of them have come through.
“Y’all don’t have to [fund the museum],” she told Mathew, “and if we run out of money, we’ll shut it down. I mean, you know, that’s always a possibility.”
Last year, the museum asked the council for $50,000, most of which was earmarked for the construction of a storage shed. Council Member Jim Walker pointed out that the museum’s two most recent requests average out to $90,000 per year, which is $27,000 less than the museum’s allocation for fiscal 2024.
As mentioned in the previous article, Long will find out in August how much of the museum’s fiscal 2026 funding request was approved by the council.
Westhaven Residents Decry Traffic Dangers
I apologize in advance for the confusing nature of this article. However, given its subject matter, perhaps a certain level of confusion is appropriate.
Westhaven and East Lake are a pair of subdivisions that were built along the eastbound frontage road of State Highway 121. There are five points of access with varying levels of difficulty.
The west end of Westhaven Road cannot be used by drivers who are northbound or eastbound on State Highway 121. It is accessible only by people who are driving southwest on the connector between Business 121 and State Highway 121 but then divert to the “TURNAROUND” loop under the highway.
Bridge Street can be accessed by northbound/eastbound drivers who exit State Highway 121 at Freeport Parkway and then stay on the frontage road for another minute or two.
The east end of Westhaven Road has similar access to Bridge Street, but it has a huge monument sign denoting it as the main entrance to its namesake subdivision. It is the only one of the five access points that features a deceleration lane for drivers turning right from the frontage road.
Wingate Road is just a hair past the exit ramp that drivers on 121 use to get to Denton Tap Road. In my estimation, you’d have to be insane to turn right on Wingate immediately after using that ramp. (Raise your hand if you’ve ever encountered an insane driver in the Dallas area.)
The final access point is Eastlake Drive, which is about a tenth of a mile east of Wingate. Making a right on Eastlake after using the Denton Tap exit ramp is still a dicey proposition, in my opinion. Exiting at Freeport would be the safer move.
In late May, the Coppell City Council approved a funding agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation regarding the construction of a deceleration lane at Eastlake Drive. TxDOT has committed $250,000 toward the estimated total cost of $321,500. The work should begin this fall.
I briefly noted this arrangement in a June 1 article called “Funding Secured for 121 Deceleration Lane.” Nine days later, four Westhaven residents signed up to speak at a City Council meeting.
Deepak Jayavant identified himself as the president of the Estates of Westhaven Homeowners Association. He said drivers turning onto the frontage road from Wingate already have to navigate around vehicles exiting the highway and making a right turn onto Eastlake. He thinks the installation of a deceleration lane at Eastlake will make things more dangerous for people who use Wingate.
“It is my humble request that we consider options to mitigate this risk,” Jayavant told the council during the “Citizen’s Appearance” portion of the June 10 meeting.
Chandramouli Basoor said the Westhaven subdivision has five to six times as many residents as East Lake. Consequently, it has five to six times as much traffic.
“There’s already so much complication out there in our — you know, all of our exits,” Basoor said. “So this is gonna cause much more confusion to everyone.”
Amrit Jain, who bought a house on Wingate Road last fall, said his street can surprise drivers because it appears after a curve in the frontage road. Jain has already decided it’s too dangerous to access his neighborhood via Wingate. He uses Bridge Street instead.
Another Wingate Road resident, Vinay Bhatia, said he considers himself a safe and confident driver, but he agreed that Wingate’s intersection with the frontage road is too risky, whether he’s entering or exiting the neighborhood.
Because Westhaven traffic was not on the agenda for the council’s June 10 meeting, our elected officials could not immediately address these residents’ concerns. Time will tell whether they are addressed down the road (so to speak).
Council May Expand Bike Helmet Rules
Coppell has an ordinance on the books that says any cyclist who is 14 or younger has to wear a helmet. Those rules may soon be amended so they also apply to 15-year-olds and 16-year-olds.
A majority of the City Council seemed to be on board with such a change on March 11, when Police Chief Danny Barton talked to them about accounting for e-bikes in the city’s laws regarding bicycles.
Barton said the Texas Legislature has already decreed that riders of electric bicycles have to follow the same rules as cyclists. Consequently, his officers have pulled over e-bikers for running through stop signs and educated them about the rules of the road. But the state will not allow a city to prohibit e-bikes in an area where conventional bikes are permitted.
“Everywhere a bicycle can go, an electric bicycle can go,” Barton said. “And they’re saying we can not override that.”
There are a couple of caveats, though. Barton said the state does allow cities to prohibit e-bikes on unimproved trails, such as the ones in the Coppell Nature Park. And he said cities can institute speed limits for bicycles and e-bikes on paved trails.
“I don’t know how enforceable that is,” Barton said with a chuckle. “I don’t have an officer with a speed gun out on the trails.”
Barton said there are officially three classes of electric bicycles with 750-volt batteries:
Class 1 — These can go up to 20 miles per hour, but the battery kicks in only if you’re pedaling.
Class 2 — These can go up to 20 miles per hour also, but you don’t have to pedal.
Class 3 — These can go up to 28 miles per hour, and riders must be at least 15 years old.
However, Barton said there are plenty of other battery-powered two-wheeled vehicles that can reach speeds between 40 and 60 miles per hour. Before making or authorizing a purchase, parents need to be aware of their children’s e-bikes’ capabilities.
“That’s just irresponsible to let young kids on bikes that fast,” he said.
As much as people complain about e-bikes on social media, Barton said the number of calls his department fields regarding e-bikes isn’t any different than the number of calls the cops get about regular bikes.
“The only concern is the skill level of these kids with some of these e-bikes just don’t match,” he said. “I mean, they’re falling, they’re scraping themselves up, but they do it on bikes too.”
Because Barton’s briefing happened in March, I’m surprised that the revised ordinance has not yet appeared on a council agenda for a formal vote. Police Department spokesperson J.J. Ceniceros told me in mid-June to expect that in the next month or so.
Chronicle Crumbs
• Congratulations to Shreeya Gedda, a rising senior at Coppell High School who has been awarded the prestigious Congressional Award Gold Medal — the highest honor a youth civilian can earn from the United States Congress.
• Congratulations to Coppell Mayor Wes Mays, who has been selected to serve as president of the Metroplex Mayors Association for the next 12 months. Coincidentally, Coppell City Manager Mike Land will become president of the International City/County Management Association in October.
• The July 8 meeting of the Coppell City Council will include a public hearing on the zoning change requested by the Saint Constantine School of Dallas, which intends to offer weekday classes at Church of the Apostles this fall. Signaling confidence, school officials applied for a certificate of occupancy on June 26. (See “Private School Plans Temporary Stay” in Vol. 5, No. 18.)
• I intentionally did not tip my toe into the “Coppell, Texas” group on Facebook during my vacation, but I received an alert when a member of that group tagged me with a question about the Jason’s Deli that’s planned in the former home of Tangerine Salons on Denton Tap Road. I have since learned that Jason’s representatives applied for a permanent restaurant registration permit from the city on June 26. (Representatives for Playa Bowls applied for the same thing on the same day; they’re taking over half of the previous home of Anamia’s.)
• You might think we have more than enough fulfillment centers in this part of the world, but maybe not. On July 1, the Lewisville Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously endorsed a plan to redevelop a vacant office park at the intersection of State Highway 121 and Lake Vista Drive. The Trammell Crow Company plans to raze the two office buildings and two parking garages formerly occupied by the Mr. Cooper corporation and replace them with three distribution warehouses. The Lewisville City Council will consider the rezoning request on July 21.
Community Calendar
Silver Line Biannual Community Meeting: If you’re tired of hearing the Silver Line trains test their horns, here’s a chance to let DART officials hear from you directly. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on July 10 inside Town Hall, an event venue above the Flying Saucer in Cypress Waters.
Moms Unhinged: The Coppell Arts Center will host a standup comedy show featuring Emily Holden, Kimberly Koester, Donna Lee, and headliner Magen King at 7 p.m. on July 10.
82 Major: The South Korean boy band will perform at the Coppell Arts Center at 7 p.m. on July 11.
Caregiving Heroes: This support group for people who are assisting loved ones with aging or other concerns will meet at 10 a.m. on July 12 at First United Methodist Church of Coppell.
Minute to Win It Games for Adults: Grownups are invited to play games at the Cozby Library and Community Commons between 2 and 3:30 p.m. on July 19. Prizes such as Market Street gift cards will be on the line.
The Pirates of Penzance: Members of the Coppell Community Chorale and the Coppell Community Orchestra will join the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players for a one-night-only performance at 8 p.m. on July 25 at the Coppell Arts Center.
I hope the Historical Society’s grant request is approved. I would love to see an old train added to the museum and think it would attract more interest to the shops and restaurants in Old Town!