February 2018
THE CROSS TIMBERS GAZETTE
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Online at www.CrossTimbersGazette.com
Mayor Sue
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Council for 15 years and has filed an application to be re-elected to his current Position #1. Steve was elected Mayor Pro Tem by his fellow Council Members for six years. He then voluntarily relinquished that position and graciously nominated our longest serving Council Member Jeff Mangum (19 years) to be Mayor Pro Tem. Mangum reciprocated and nominated Steve to serve as Deputy Mayor Pro Tem. Steve retained that title until last year, when Council Member Dave Svatik nominated Council Member Valerie Cannaday for the position, due to Steve’s absences from some Council Meetings with his international business travel schedule. Valerie’s fellow Council Members, including Steve, unanimously approved her for the Deputy Mayor Pro Tem position. [NOTE: As Mayor, it is a pleasure to preside over a Council that works so well together with mutual respect for differing opinions on Town issues.] Steve served as the Chairman of the original Master Plan Committee in 2004. The Master Plan was the original brain child of former Mayor Larry Johnson, former Mayor Pro Tem Joe Chiles, and Steve. Prior to our Comprehensive Master Plan, Copper Canyon just grew with no real direction or complete building construction standards. Steve has also been the Town’s Financial Officer for over a decade. He ensures that the Town funds and property taxes, which are deposited in a local financial depository, are adequately covered by surplus collateral. He is also required by the State to complete educational courses that keep his knowledge as Financial Officer up-to-date. Steve also created our Pro Forma Budget. The Pro Forma is an invaluable tool! Steve worked for months in 2005 with myself and our former Town Administrator Paulette Hartman. We reviewed the financial history of every line item in the Town’s budget and estimated the future increase of each expense and revenue item. Steve was the one who in 2005 alerted the Staff and Council that our Town alone had too little revenue to provide quality fire pro-
Photo by Bill Castleman
A large crowd of town, county and regional leaders attended the 7th Annual Denton County Mayors Crime Prevention Luncheon. tection and emergency medical responses for its residents. Thus was born Denton County Emergency Services District #1, which was approved by 2/3rds of the voters in 65 square miles of Denton County. In essence, voters approved up to a 10 cent increase in their property taxes. However, the voters also knew this amount would strictly be applied only to fire protection of their homes and businesses and quality emergency medical responses for their families. The property taxes of ESD #1 fund our Argyle Fire District, which provides emergency services for the five towns of Argyle, Bartonville, Copper Canyon, Draper, and Northlake and 65 square miles of unincorporated Denton County, including Lantana and Canyon Oaks. [NOTE: The County pays separately for these services to Lantana.] Every year Steve dedicates hours and hours of his personal time to make the annual revisions to the algorithms that keep our Pro Forma Budget always up-to-date with the Town’s latest Annual Budget data. The Pro Forma Budget alerts Staff and Council to any additional revenue or expense per Budget Line Item for that specific month of the Town’s fiscal year. [NOTE: The 12 month fiscal year for all Texas municipalities begins October 1st.]
Steve is Global Head of Innovation for KPMG, one of the four largest international accounting firms. In his spare time, he enjoys racing Ferraris all over the United States. He also teaches high performance driving skills in his free time. Steve lives on Copper Woods Drive on 10 beautiful acres! Position #3 – Valerie Pearson Cannaday has filed to serve a 3rd two year term on Council. She initially served on the 2009 Long Range Planning Taskforce. Valerie drove every road in Town to better understand the need for a bond election to rebuild our deteriorating 24 to 35 year old asphalt interior residential roads. Valerie also supports and contributes to the college scholarship fund for Copper Canyon high school seniors. Valerie has been recognized in “D” Magazine as one of the premier producing realtors for RE/MAX DFW Associates. Many Copper Canyon residents have appreciated her professional guidance in buying or selling their homes in Town Her husband Michael Cannaday is a builder for Precision Builders in Copper Canyon. Michael has built luxury homes on multi acre lots in Hidden Creek and will build in the new subdivision Copper Creek on the west side of Copper Canyon Road (the prior 42 acre site of Camp Summit.) Michael has
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been dedicated in saving many of the beautiful mature trees to enhance the new home sites there. Valerie and Michael live east off of Copper Canyon Rd. [NOTE: To avoid a Conflict of Interest, Valerie recuses herself from the Council’s discussion and vote, if any Council issue is affected by her husband’s building of homes in Copper Canyon.] Ron Robertson and wife Sylvia moved to Copper Canyon a year ago. They seriously renovated a home on Pilot Drive in Pilot Knoll Estates, east off of Chinn Chapel Road. The home had previously flooded when Poindexter Creek rose out of its banks. Ron has also filed as a candidate for this Council Position #3. Ron is a former Mayor of Bartonville and former Coppell City Council Member. He is the owner of Robertson Pools. Position #5 – Bill Castleman has also filed to serve a 3rd term on Council. Bill served on the Master Plan Committee in 2004. He recently undertook the coordination of the Town’s Emergency Responses with Denton County and our Argyle Fire District. As a professional photographer, Bill has kindly volunteered to take gratis photographs of Town Events: The Denton County Mayors Crime Prevention Luncheon in January, Copper Canyon’s College Scholarship Winners in April, our annual July 4th Parade, and our Santa Party for Copper Canyon Kids. Bill has also used his skills as a drone pilot to aerially video Chinn Chapel to identify blind spots for motorists due to the road’s bends and vertical rises. His aerial videos were a tremendous help to our Halff engineers in safely designing the rebuilding of Chinn Chapel. Bill and his wife Lynne moved to Copper Canyon in 1983. They live on acreage on Lonesome Dove Lane, west off of Jernigan Rd. Bill is a licensed instructor in handguns and often teaches military and law enforcement officers. Bill reviews our signs at Town Hall to be sure they comply with the State’s firearms legislation.
See MAYOR SUE on Page A18