Coppell Chronicle Vol. 5, No. 49
Chickens Proposal Fails to Take Wing • Coppell ISD Seeks Feedback on Calendar • Landscape Changing Along Freeport Parkway • Flood District Tries to Appease Taxpayers
I recently received an email from one of the student journalists at The Sidekick. This is how it began: “My name is Neev Chickermane, and I am a junior at Coppell High School. I am contacting you regarding the possibility of taking part in an internship with the Coppell Chronicle.”
This is how I started my response: “I appreciate the formality of your email, even though it’s a ridiculous level of formality. I’m well aware of your name and what grade you’re in. I’ve basically known you your whole life, dude!”
I led a Cub Scouts den at Denton Creek Elementary School for five years, and Neev was one of my trustworthy, loyal, helpful, and friendly Scouts that entire time. Six years later, he’s my intern. This small-town life is something else.
Neev handled the first article in this week’s edition. Yes, I coincidentally assigned a story about chickens to a young man named Chickermane.
Chickens Proposal Fails to Take Wing
Chickens are still not allowed in Coppell, even though some may be flying under the radar.
This month, Coppell Police Chief Danny Barton briefed the City Council about regulations regarding chickens. This discussion was prompted by a request that Council Member Jim Walker made last year.
In June, Walker said there are quite a few people in Coppell who own chickens, despite the city’s ordinances prohibiting them.
“I just think it’d be good for us to go ahead and allow it,” Walker said then, “but at the same time to put some guardrails on it, so that neighbors and everyone else that are not as interested will also be protected.”
(See “Council May Allow Hens — But Not Roosters” in Vol. 5, No. 19.)
But on Jan. 13, Barton explained that raising or keeping poultry is one of the definitions of an “agricultural operation” under Texas law. Barton quickly made it clear that the state’s Agriculture Code says cities are not allowed to impose any kind of “governmental requirement” on agricultural operations within their limits.
“There are some ‘unlesses,’ but they’re like radiation, explosions, gunshots — very little to do with what a chicken may do,” he said.
Barton also explained that Texas law says any agricultural operation that has been up and running for at least one year cannot be restrained, even if a neighbor complains.
“The spirit of the law was for existing farms that were out there, and cities were encroaching on them,” Barton said. “But this will apply to us if we were to change our ordinance.”
Suddenly, an almost hidden yet powerful hand rose from the corner of the room. City Attorney Bob Hager spoke up to reinforce Barton’s points, and he referenced the 2023 “Death Star Bill,” which prevents cities from enforcing ordinances that don’t align with broad swaths of state law.
“It specifically says that agricultural operation regulations are preempted by the state,” Hager said. “What the chief’s really telling you is, if we open the door, we may lose the ability to regulate it.”
Walker asked about the nearby cities — including Carrollton, Flower Mound, Irving, and Lewisville —that do allow chickens. Hager explained that those cities are grandfathered in, because their chicken ordinances were on the books before the state law took effect. But if they change their rules, they would risk losing control over many aspects of chicken regulation.
“Anything that would remark on the number of chickens, [or] setback allowances for coops, that would constitute a regulation?” Walker asked.
Hager’s response: “Yes sir. And that’s my fear.”
Slowly but surely, the council members understood the problem with creating a chickens ordinance. When Mayor Wes Mays asked if anyone wanted to proceed, the majority said no — with one exception.
“You had one wing up,” Walker said in reference to his raised hand.
Coppell ISD Seeks Feedback on Calendar
Coppell ISD wants parents’ feedback before trustees approve the calendar for the 2026-2027 school year.
There are four options for the community to review. The major differences between them are the length of fall break, the timing of spring break, and whether or not the district should be closed on the day before Election Day.
During the trustees’ Jan. 12 meeting, Board President David Caviness said the lack of classes on Election Day inspires the most grumblings from parents. “We’re not off that day, and we’re trying to figure out what to do,” they tell him.
Superintendent Leanne Shivers reminded the trustees that the district began telling students to stay home on Election Day due to safety concerns, and those concerns have not lessened. Trustee Nichole Bentley said parents have asked her why the district doesn’t turn it into a four-day weekend, because what does attendance look like on that Monday?
The calendar proposals presented on Jan. 12 did not include a four-day weekend in early November, but that is among the options under consideration as a result of the trustees’ discussion.
“This is why there’s the time for feedback,” Shivers said, “and it’s important to take that feedback.”
The deadline for parents to submit feedback is 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 28. The trustees will further discuss the calendar options during a Feb. 2 workshop, and they are expected to make a decision during their Feb. 23 meeting.
Landscape Changing Along Freeport Parkway
A vacant house on Freeport Parkway was demolished last week, clearing land between a construction project that’s wrapping up and the site of another that’s in the works.
Since Joe Hardman died in 2024, his former home at 192 Freeport has been repeatedly vandalized by trespassers. There was a fire there in July, and arson is suspected. The city placed a fence around the property to prevent ne’er-do-wells from causing more chaos.
In October, the Coppell Building and Standards Commission approved an order that gave the executor of Hardman’s estate, his brother who lives in Colorado, a deadline of 30 days to demolish the house; if not, the city would take care of it and bill the estate. The demolition permit was issued on Jan. 20.
Hardman’s house was directly north of a commercial building bearing signs for SFS Security Fire Systems and Mitsubishi Electric Elevators & Escalators1. On the south side of that building, construction of a 186,000-square-foot warehouse featuring 55 docks is nearing completion. A form filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation about a year ago said the $12.7 million project should be finished by the end of February. That form was filed a couple of months after the Coppell City Council approved a few zoning variances requested by the developer.
(See “Warehouse Approved Next to Cemetery” in Vol. 4, No. 39.)
Meanwhile, another form filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation this month provides details about an upcoming project on the land north of the Hardman property. Coppell resident Justin O’Neal plans to construct a 10,000-square-foot building for his O’Neal Commercial Painting business on the vacant parcel at 188 Freeport. The $1.5 million project should begin in June and last until the following May, the form says.
The Coppell Planning and Zoning Commission approved the site plan for the O’Neal building last May. During that meeting, they were shown this rendering created by another Coppell resident, architect Greg Frnka.
Here are a few other things I learned this month by poking around on the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation website:
• The City of Coppell plans to spend $4.5 million renovating and expanding Fire Station 3. That’s the one on Parkway Boulevard. The work is scheduled to begin in April and last for a year.
• A retailer called Homesense is moving into the MacArthur Park shopping center on the southwest corner of MacArthur Boulevard and Interstate 635 in Irving. Homesense is affiliated with the Home Goods and T.J. Maxx chains, both of which already have stores in that shopping center.
• A 200-room AC Hotel by Marriott will be checking into a vacant parcel at the intersection of State Highway 26 and Bass Pro Court in Grapevine. The $18 million project should break ground in March.
• A 37,000-square-foot indoor golf facility called Golf Everywhere will be built on Long Prairie Road in Flower Mound. Construction is expected to begin in March, and the estimated price tag is $12 million.
• Vista Ridge Marketplace is the Lewisville shopping center anchored by Best Buy at the intersection of Interstate 35E and State Highway 121. By June, one of its vacant suites should be dually occupied by a Cold Stone Creamery and a Wetzel’s Pretzels.
Flood District Tries to Appease Taxpayers
One of Coppell’s obscure taxing entities may soon have a new website.
The Northwest Dallas County Flood Control District’s website is a bare-bones operation. It does not feature any information about the meetings of its board of directors. Those directors’ names were not mentioned on the site until a document about the results of last May’s election was added.
During the board’s Jan. 20 meeting, President Bennett Ratliff said he’s talked to a company called BIS Consultants about building a new website for the district. It will probably look like the site BIS created for a similar taxing entity, the Valwood Improvement Authority. Ratliff said a contract with BIS should be on the agenda for the board’s February meeting.
Before Ratliff’s report, he and his fellow directors — Robert “Tex” Schmidt and Mike Wilcox — fielded questions from what may have been the biggest crowd to ever attend one of their meetings. I was among more than 20 spectators squeezed into the clubhouse of the Oaks Riverchase apartment complex.
Ratliff and Schmidt stressed that the board has been aggressively paying down the district’s restructured debt. An audit report approved during last week’s meeting shows that the district owed $7.2 million at the end of fiscal 2025. That’s less than half of the nearly $16 million the district borrowed as the result of a 2015 bond election. When the remaining debt is paid off, the district could be dissolved, or its tax rate could be reduced to just a nickel per $100 of valuation.
The current tax rate is 27.265 cents. The assessed value of my home on the west side of Coppell is $464,670. If it were magically transported within the boundaries of the flood control district, my tax bill would be $1,267 higher.
Pankaj Patel — whose 2025 tax bill from the flood control district was an estimated $1,631, according to the Dallas Central Appraisal District — asked whether he could pay off his portion of the district’s debt in a lump sum. Schmidt said no, and his explanation sounded a lot like what former director Wayne Reynolds told another taxpayer in 2024.
(See “Frustrated Taxpayer Wants to Pay Full Bill” in Vol. 4, No. 6.)
David Warner (estimated district tax bill: $1,992) wanted to know how he could get a copy of the district’s budget and more details about its debt. Ratliff directed all such inquiries to the district’s general counsel, Pete Eckert. His contact information is 972-271-3201 and peteckert@aol.com.
Ben Newnham (estimated district tax bill: $2,088) posed a question about whether Eckert had properly filed certain documents with the state. Eckert said he had, but he didn’t acknowledge hearing the question until Ratliff nudged him. Newnham had many more questions and remarks, several of which he uttered after the segment for public comments was over. At one point, Schmidt told him, “Sir, you don’t have a role in this discussion. This is a board discussion.” If Newnham tried to interrupt a Coppell City Council meeting or a Coppell ISD Board of Trustees meeting as much as he interrupted this meeting, a police officer would escort him out of the room.
Penelope Furry (estimated district tax bill: $1,687) asked who the board reports to. Almost simultaneously, Wilcox said “nobody” as Ratliff said “the voters.” Shortly thereafter, Wilcox pointed out that, unlike him and Schmidt, Ratliff does not reside within the flood control district — or Coppell for that matter. He and his wife live in Plano, where he chairs that city’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
“I am legally qualified to serve on this board because I am a taxpayer,” Ratliff said.
As I have previously reported, Ratliff owns 100 square feet of land in the district with a taxable value of $200. That means his estimated tax bill is 55 cents. Nick Fletcher (estimated district tax bill: $2,013) asked Ratliff — a former member of the Coppell ISD Board of Trustees and the Texas House of Representatives — why he wanted to serve on the flood control district’s board if he no longer lives there. Ratliff’s response: “That’s a really good question, and I don’t have a good answer for you.”
Lana Myers (estimated district tax bill: $1,977) lamented that the district’s board meetings happen in the middle of the day, when working people are unlikely to be able to attend, and that the venue is an apartment complex’s clubhouse, where music is typically playing and parking is always limited.
Since last week’s meeting, at least two of the directors have taken steps to address some of Myers’ concerns. Ratliff told me the complex’s managers have agreed to open their parking lot’s gates during board meetings, thereby freeing up more spaces for attendees. Meanwhile, Wilcox has begun circulating a petition that could lead to a new meeting location.
Sports Snorts
• Congratulations to Coppell High School graduate Nico Radicic, who kicked two field goals and three extra points for the Indiana Hoosiers on Jan. 19 as they wrapped up an undefeated season in the national championship game.
• Congratulations to Coppell High School senior Sibu Socks, who scored his 1,000th point as a varsity basketball player on Jan. 16.
• Congratulations to Coppell High School graduate Chris Merrill, who recently opened a GolfTRK (pronounced “golf track”) business in his hometown. The Coppell Chamber of Commerce posted a reel of the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan. 15.
Political Particles
• Jon Buchwald, Kevin Burge, and TJ Ware are the Democrats competing to take on Republican Beth Van Duyne in Congressional District 24, which encompasses the vast majority of Coppell and Coppell ISD. The trio is scheduled to appear at a forum set for 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 3 at The REC in Grapevine. Early voting for the March 3 primaries will begin on Feb. 17.
• The filing period for the May 2 local elections began on Jan. 14. The four incumbents on the Coppell City Council — Don Carroll, Mark Hill, Ramesh Premkumar, and Jim Walker — filed to run for reelection that day, and I’m not aware of any challengers. Coppell ISD Trustee Ranna Raval has also turned in her reelection paperwork, and Kevin Chaka is seeking the Board of Trustees seat that David Caviness is giving up; neither has an opponent yet.
• Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer can’t run for reelection due to term limits, and four people are competing to replace him so far: Ron Alvey, Jeff Cober, Herbert Gears, and William Sefton. But nobody has filed to run for the District 3 and District 5 seats on the Irving City Council — not even incumbents Abdul Khabeer and Mark Cronenwett. Each of those districts includes a portion of Coppell ISD. The filing period ends at 5 p.m. on Feb. 13.
Chronicle Crumbs
• As you might expect if you’ve looked out a window lately, all schools in the Coppell area will be closed on Jan. 26. Stay warm and safe, everybody.
• I was not able to make it to Coppell ISD’s School Choice Fair on Jan. 21, but Director of Communications Amanda Simpson tells me the event drew approximately 1,500 families. That’s about three times as many as the district was hoping for, she said.
• Coppell ISD announced last week that Cooper Hilton has been promoted to the role of Assistant Superintendent of Leadership and Administrative Services. For the past year, his title has been Director of Governmental Relations and Strategic Initiatives. Prior to that, he was the principal of Wilson Elementary School.
• The Coppell Chamber of Commerce announced last week that former Coppell Mayor Andy Brown will receive the Cliff Long Leadership Award during the organization’s Annual Awards & Community Gala, which is coming up on Jan. 29. Previous winners include former Coppell City Manager Clay Phillips, former Coppell ISD Superintendent Brad Hunt, and former Metrocrest Services CEO Tracy Eubanks.
• Last week’s edition included an article about Coppell’s Cozby Library reducing its cards’ renewal period from 20 years to two years. Meanwhile, the Irving Public Library is updating all youth/minor cards; any not renewed since Oct. 15 will expire on Feb. 20. Parents or guardians must renew such cards in person and choose their children’s level of access.
• Remember when Taylor Sheridan’s King Street Productions got permission to close the intersection of Business 121, Round Grove Road, and Denton Tap Road all day on Jan. 10 to record “stunts and precise driving, a simulated crash, and driving off-road and in the median” for an undisclosed TV show? I filed an open records request with the City of Lewisville to find out how much that cost. This was the response:
“The only funding provided to the City of Lewisville by King Street Productions for this closure was the $25 special event permit (invoice attached to request). Any Lewisville police officer working this event was an off-duty officer that was paid directly by King Street Productions as a contract employee. Hwy 121 Bus is a state highway that is under the control of TxDOT, and as such, they are the agency that approves or denies all road-closure requests on this highway.”
When I followed up with the Texas Department of Transportation, a spokesperson told me this: “In order to close State highways for filming, an Agreement for Film/Video Production on State Highway Right of Way is required. There are no funds exchanged for the agreement.”
A source within the Lewisville Police Department said the shoot was for Lioness, a show featuring Zoe Saldana. On Jan. 10, I saw a few small signs in the area that featured arrows and the abbreviation “LNS.”
Observations from a Special Guest
Other than articles written by a few interns and my wife/editor/muse, I’ve rejected contributions submitted by other writers because I figured it’s simpler to say “no” to everybody than to pick and choose. But I’m making an exception for Jean Murph, the creator of the Citizens’ Advocate, a newspaper that stopped printing in 2020, which was one of the reasons I started the Coppell Chronicle in 2021. She recently sent me the following observations:
“Coppell” seems to be popping up everywhere lately, on the state and national stage. A national magazine called The Week had an article during Christmas entitled “Deck the Halls.” If this article were really any good, I thought, it should mention Coppell and the company making all the huge blown-up Christmas and other figures. To my surprise, there it was, Coppell’s own Gemmy Industries in a major write-up, although the magazine described the company as “Texas-based.” It is Coppell-based, and its office is on Wrangler Drive.
Then, I opened a Christmas gift, a book, and of all things, it was printed in Coppell, Texas! It was the second Coppell-printed book I’ve seen, due to Amazon on West Bethel Road, I’m sure.
Around the same time, an acquaintance discovered her medical tests were being sent to Coppell, Texas, for analysis — on Freeport Parkway. She had to call Coppell to obtain a copy.
More recently, an old Shark Tank rerun featured the owner of Electra, a sports drink, saying her business was manufactured in a “small Texas town, Coppell.” Another national recognition! (I think she has since moved it to Austin.)
Coppell has a LOT of public relations material to capitalize on, and to give Coppell longevity.
Community Calendar
Coppell Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards & Community Gala: Awards such as Large Business of the Year, Small Business of the Year, and Emerging Business of the Year will be bestowed during the gala that will begin at 6 p.m. on Jan. 29 at the Four Points by Sheraton Dallas-Fort Worth Airport North.
Robotics Camp: The Coppell ISD Education Foundation’s camp will happen on seven consecutive Thursday evenings starting on Jan. 29.
Tuck Everlasting: Coppell High School’s Cowboy Theatre Company will stage three performances of the musical based on Natalie Babbitt’s classic children’s story. Shows were rescheduled for 7 p.m. on Jan. 29, 30, and 31.
Winter Paint-a-Long: Perhaps all this snow and ice will inspire you to paint a winter scene between 10:30 a.m. and noon on Jan. 31 at the Cozby Library and Community Commons.
Be Mine, Valentine Dance│Daddy-Daughter Mad Hatter Ball: Dads and daughters are cordially invited down the rabbit hole to a magical event set for 4 p.m. on Jan. 31 at the Coppell Arts Center.
Coppell Lacrosse Association: Registration for the association’s spring leagues closes on Feb. 1.
Coppell Girls Softball Association: Registration for the association’s spring leagues closes on Feb. 2.
State of the City: Mayor Wes Mays and City Manager Mike Land will discuss all things Coppell at 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 10 at the Coppell Arts Center.
Coppell Writing Fair: The Kindred Writing Collective, which was created by Coppell residents, will celebrate the power of written words between 1 and 4 p.m. on Feb. 15 at the Cozby Library and Community Commons.
My teenage son once cracked me up by noting the irony of this business occupying a one-story building.
Bennett Ratliff pointed out that I had one too many letters in Pete Eckert's email address, which is actually peteckert@aol.com. He also said anyone who wants flood control district documents can email him at ratliff.bennett@gmail.com.
I'd say Neev has a promising future in journalism, especially since he appears to share your wry sense of humor. Loved the title, pertinent, factual information, and plays on words. :)
Thanks, Dan, for another great edition.