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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Coppell City Council Regular Meeting and Financial Strategy Session Summary (July 14, 2026)

City Council & Boards — Tuesday, July 14, 2026

BodyCoppell, Texas

SessionCity Council & Boards

DateTuesday, July 14, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 3:14:35

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.

Speaker 1

0:03

Good evening, everybody.

0:04

Today is Tuesday, July 14th.

0:06

The time is 5 30 p.m.

0:07

We're here for the regular session of the Cockel City Council.

0:10

We do have a quorum presence, so I'm calling the meeting to order.

0:13

This is going to be a little bit different type of meeting because we're uh gonna have official city council meeting first.

0:19

We're gonna break into work session after that.

0:21

Then we're gonna move downstairs for the rest of the city council meeting and finish up with an executive session after that.

0:27

So a little little out of sequence, but thought it was better to do the presentations up here in this conference room.

Unassigned speaker

0:34

Uh

Speaker 1

0:34

item number two is uh our we're gonna be focusing on financial strategy.

0:40

We have several sessions on that tonight.

0:44

And um our item A is our citizens' appearance.

0:48

We did not have anybody signed up to speak, so we'll move into our service organization's request.

0:55

Um Bij, did you have a

Speaker 2

0:57

yeah?

0:58

I know last year we did a workshop for the service organizations.

1:03

I'm concerned that we won't have enough time to ask questions to these service organizations asking for new funding.

1:11

Uh, do you think we have enough time today?

1:14

Because we are doing this all in a council session.

Speaker 1

1:17

Well, actually, we're doing it, uh we have two hours to go till the actual city council meeting, so yes, I I think we have enough.

1:24

Our option was to have another meeting last night, which we saw as being very short.

1:29

We just combined it in tonight's meeting because our agenda on the regular

Speaker 2

1:32

council meeting tonight is very short.

1:35

Did the did the council make that decision or who made the decision?

Speaker 1

1:38

Uh I did with Mike's uh recommendation.

1:43

Decided that you guys would rather not have a meeting last night and combine and do one tonight.

Unassigned speaker

1:49

Well,

Speaker 3

1:49

I think everyone here's gonna be so efficient in the presentation.

1:52

We're gonna be amazed.

1:54

So mayor, I look forward to

Speaker 1

1:56

Kevin.

Speaker 4

1:57

Just a quick uh to your point.

1:59

If uh if there's deliberation or discussion that needs to happen, we can always do that after the regular session, maybe before after the executive session, is that correct?

Speaker 2

2:08

Absolutely.

2:08

No, the reason I asked was last two council session we passed midnight here.

2:13

Remember?

2:14

Oh, yes, sir.

2:16

So I didn't want to go that further today.

2:18

That's why I wanted to make sure that we have enough time to ask questions to service organizations, especially if we have a budget of new um uh service organizations requesting money.

2:28

I appreciate you not wanting us to go past that.

Speaker 1

2:30

So we've got a we've each of the service organizations that's presenting tonight has been given some specific guidelines.

2:36

They've got five minutes to make their presentation, and then that gives us five minutes to ask questions, which will give us about an hour for the service organizations, and then we'll move into the other three items that are supposed to be very short.

Speaker 2

2:50

Five minutes asking

Speaker 1

2:52

questions very short.

Speaker 2

2:53

Um,

Speaker 1

3:00

we'll we're gonna we're gonna give it a try tonight.

3:04

Um as I said, we have requested the service organizations limit their uh conversations to five minutes, and then that would give us about five minutes to to ask questions and get answers.

3:17

Sorry,

Speaker 5

3:17

so quiet.

Speaker 1

3:19

Um at the end of the at the end, the strategic financial engagement group will uh let each one of the service organizations know uh about the resolution of the budget when we have made those decisions.

3:32

So it will come from Kim's group out of SFE.

3:36

Our first group is item one, uh, the Coppel Community Garden Corporation, and that would be Tracy Fisher as president of the Coppel Community Garden.

Speaker 6

3:47

Mayor, yes.

3:48

Oh, yes, sir.

3:50

Thank you, Mayor.

3:51

Tracy, if you can just give me 30 seconds.

Speaker 7

3:53

Okay.

Speaker 6

3:54

May I thank thank you for recognizing me.

3:56

Um I wanted to share a couple of my thoughts and and concerns before we get into uh the presentation.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Budget Equity Analysis█████████████13%

Fiscal Sustainability█████████████13%

Arts And Culture██████████10%

Water And Wastewater Management█████████9%

Public Engagement████████8%

Community Engagement███████7%

Parks and Recreation██████6%

Animal Welfare██████6%

Procedural█████5%

Summary of Proceedings

Coppell City Council Meeting and Financial Strategy Session Summary (July 14, 2026)

The Coppell City Council met on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, for a combined Financial Strategy Session #1 starting at 5:30 PM, followed by a Regular Session at 7:30 PM, and an Executive Session. The meeting focused on funding requests from six service organizations, strategic financial planning, special revenue fund reviews, the water and sewer budget, a public hearing for an alcohol variance for St. Ann's Catholic Parish, citizens' appearances regarding neighborhood nuisances and a demolition order, and various consent agenda items. Council provided direction on three specific financial transfers.

Consent Agenda

A motion was made by Councilmember Kevin Nevels and seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Jim Walker to approve the entire Consent Agenda (Items A through F) by unanimous vote. Items included:

Approval of the June 9, 2026 meeting minutes.
Adoption of Ordinance No. 2026-1648, amending the FY 2025-2026 budget.
Adoption of Ordinance No. 91500-A-845 for a Special Use Permit revision (S-1113R3-SF-7) to allow St. Constantine School to operate at the Church of the Apostles (322 S. MacArthur Blvd) with a maximum enrollment of 130 students.
Approval of the purchase of three vehicles from Caldwell Country Ford for $150,733.00.
Approval of the purchase of three vehicles from Sam Pack's Ford for $192,518.65.
Approval of Contract Amendment No. 1 with Quiddity Engineering LLC for the Deforest Lift Station Rehabilitation in the amount of $90,000.00.

Public Comments & Testimony

Financial Strategy Session - Citizens' Appearance: No residents signed up to speak.
Regular Session - Citizens' Appearance:
- John Murphy (931 Laguna Drive): Spoke regarding ongoing noise issues from the Kroger Fuel Center, specifically new 40-ton air conditioning units installed on the roof which produce 58 decibels of noise. He requested the council use its influence to address the noise with Kroger.
- Greg Martinez, Mary Knight Tyler, and George Cooper (Stratford Lane residents): Spoke in favor of the city proceeding with the demolition of the property at 631 Stratford Lane. They cited safety concerns, prolonged vacancy (over 10 years), structural issues from the 2020 freeze, and code compliance failures.
- Salman Ahmad and Roohi Ahmad (631 Stratford Lane): Spoke against the demolition of their home. Mr. Ahmad stated they have a contract and deposit paid to a contractor for rebuilding, have shown proof of funds to the city, and are addressing pest control and structural inspections. He alleged some city staff have not been forthcoming in helping them move forward with construction permits. Roohi Ahmad pleaded with the council to save the house, stating their daughter, a recent Harvard Law graduate, has contributed $90,000 of her savings to save the home.
Public Hearing (Item 8 - St. Ann's Catholic Parish): No public comments were received opposing the resolution. The applicant, Ken Wistler, thanked the council for their continued support.

Discussion Items

Service Organization Funding Requests (Financial Strategy Session): The council heard six presentations from organizations requesting city funding. A key theme was the transition of some organizations (Community Garden, Farmers Market) from being city programs to independent non-profits.
- Coppell Community Garden Corporation: Requested $22,000. Noted it is the city's largest volunteer organization and a top-ranked donation garden in North Texas.
- Coppell Farmers Market Association: Requested $131,000 to fund staff salaries and operating expenses. It reported over 6,600 visits in May and June and over $2.5 million in annual vendor sales.
- Coppell Humane Society: Requested $13,500 for a marketing and outreach campaign to grow volunteer and foster capacity. The organization is 100% volunteer-run and foster-based.
- Coppell ISD Education Foundation: Requested $61,000 to support its 'Give for Grants' program. This is the organization's first request to the city. Councilmembers expressed a desire for future requests to be tied to specific, measurable programs.
- Coppell Community Chorale: Requested $25,000 (an increase over the usual $13,000) largely for its 40th-anniversary celebration. This was characterized as a one-time ask.
- Coppell Historical Museum: Requested $135,000. The Executive Director noted significant fundraising and grant applications are underway to reduce the city's share of the budget (currently 80-85%).
- Councilmember Ramesh Premkumar initiated a discussion on establishing a funding ceiling (e.g., a percentage of the general fund) and encouraging service organizations to cover a majority of their own operating expenses.
Financial Strategy: Investing in Coppell's Future (Kim Tiehen): Director Tiehen presented a framework emphasizing long-term resilience. She highlighted the city's use of conservative revenue budgeting (budgeting under sales tax Rule 3.334), expenditure strategies, and strategic transfers (over $31M to Infrastructure Maintenance Fund, $5.5M to Municipal Drainage Utility District) to build financial strength and avoid reactionary decisions.
Special Revenue Funds (Kent Collins): Staff presented the six major special revenue funds.
- Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) Fund: Proposed using up to $50,000 for marketing consultant support for resident arts companies at the Arts Center.
- Municipal Drainage Utility District (DUD): A rate study is scheduled for August. Needs are outpacing current revenues.
- Infrastructure Maintenance Fund (IMF): Recommended a $5 million additional transfer from the General Fund undesignated fund balance to support rising project costs.
- Rolling Oaks Memorial Cemetery (ROMC): Staff requested a decision on the annual $250,000 transfer back to the General Fund, which was paused last year.
Water and Sewer Budget (Kent Collins): The presentation covered the fund's sustainability principles. Staff highlighted that despite planned reinvestments, the city's water and sewer rates remain among the lowest compared to other Dallas Water Utilities customer cities.
City Manager and Mayor Reports: Mayor Mays reported over 15,000 attendees at the July 4th celebration and over 80 attendees at the One Coppell 'Together We Dine' event. Councilmember Premkumar reported on the North Texas Commission.

Key Outcomes

Consent Agenda: Items A through F were approved unanimously.
Public Hearing (St. Ann's Catholic Parish): Resolution RE 2026-0714.1 granting a 241-foot distance variance for the temporary on-premise sale of alcoholic beverages was approved unanimously.
Financial Strategy Direction (Items 2D and 9 - End of Meeting): The council provided direction on three specific staff recommendations:
1. Approved: Up to $50,000 in marketing support for resident arts companies from the HOT Fund.
2. Approved: A $5 million additional transfer from the General Fund undesignated fund balance to the Infrastructure Maintenance Fund (IMF).
3. Approved: A return to the annual $250,000 transfer from the Rolling Oaks Memorial Cemetery (ROMC) fund to the General Fund.
Executive Session: The council met in closed session to consult with the City Attorney regarding legal advice on the property at 631 Stratford related to the Board of Building Standards Order of Demolition. No action was taken as a direct result of this session, though the matter was discussed.
Deferred Items: Formal approval of the service organization funding allocations was deferred to a future meeting for further deliberation.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, everybody. Today is Tuesday, July 14th. The time is 5 30 p.m. We're here for the regular session of the Cockel City Council. We do have a quorum presence, so I'm calling the meeting to order. This is going to be a little bit different type of meeting because we're uh gonna have official city council meeting first. We're gonna break into work session after that. Then we're gonna move downstairs for the rest of the city council meeting and finish up with an executive session after that. So a little little out of sequence, but thought it was better to do the presentations up here in this conference room. Uh item number two is uh our we're gonna be focusing on financial strategy. We have several sessions on that tonight. And um our item A is our citizens' appearance. We did not have anybody signed up to speak, so we'll move into our service organization's request. Um Bij, did you have a yeah? I know last year we did a workshop for the service organizations. I'm concerned that we won't have enough time to ask questions to these service organizations asking for new funding. Uh, do you think we have enough time today? Because we are doing this all in a council session. Well, actually, we're doing it, uh we have two hours to go till the actual city council meeting, so yes, I I think we have enough. Our option was to have another meeting last night, which we saw as being very short. We just combined it in tonight's meeting because our agenda on the regular council meeting tonight is very short. Did the did the council make that decision or who made the decision? Uh I did with Mike's uh recommendation. Decided that you guys would rather not have a meeting last night and combine and do one tonight. Well, I think everyone here's gonna be so efficient in the presentation. We're gonna be amazed. So mayor, I look forward to Kevin. Just a quick uh to your point. If uh if there's deliberation or discussion that needs to happen, we can always do that after the regular session, maybe before after the executive session, is that correct? Absolutely. No, the reason I asked was last two council session we passed midnight here. Remember? Oh, yes, sir. So I didn't want to go that further today. That's why I wanted to make sure that we have enough time to ask questions to service organizations, especially if we have a budget of new um uh service organizations requesting money. I appreciate you not wanting us to go past that. So we've got a we've each of the service organizations that's presenting tonight has been given some specific guidelines. They've got five minutes to make their presentation, and then that gives us five minutes to ask questions, which will give us about an hour for the service organizations, and then we'll move into the other three items that are supposed to be very short. Five minutes asking questions very short. Um, we'll we're gonna we're gonna give it a try tonight. Um as I said, we have requested the service organizations limit their uh conversations to five minutes, and then that would give us about five minutes to to ask questions and get answers. Sorry, so quiet.

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