Welcome as I call to order the September 16th regular city council meeting.

The time is 6 p.m.

Please rise with me as I offer the invocation leave the plug for allegiance.

Heavenly Father, bless us as we consider the agenda in front of us tonight.

Give us the wisdom to act with compassion and vision for what is best for the community.

Bless and watch over our public safety officers and the community they serve.

In your name we pray.

Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

And to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

I will turn the time over to the city secretary for roll call and certification of quantum.

Mayor Scott Bradley?

Here.

Mayor Pro Tim Elizabeth Abraham.

Here.

Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Janay Butler.

Councilmember place to Scott Smith.

Here.

Councilmember place three, Andrew Chase.

Here.

Councilmember place four, Ken Otman.

Here.

Councilmember place five, Laura Dew.

Here.

Mayor certified the presence of a quorum.

Thank you.

All right, moving on to item four, public comments.

This is the item we set aside on the agenda to allow residents to address counsel on an item not on the agenda this evening.

Would anyone like to address counsel on item not on the agenda this evening?

Seeing none.

Oh, yeah, no.

Heck yeah.

I've got two public comment forms, but I think they're both this is for um.

Is this one from Murphy?

Is this on the what agenda item is this?

Public comments.

Public comments.

Okay.

Well then let's call up Murphy Desig.

She just said, hey, me.

Go ahead, you give your name and address.

Honorable Mayor, City Council members and citizens of Murphy City.

Good evening.

My name is Mirthy Desai, and we are honored to stand before you today as a proud citizen of Murphy City to extend a warm invitation on behalf of BFPSri Samini Mundana Irving.

We invite honorable mayor and each member of Murphy City Council and City of Murphy resident to join us in celebrating this auspicious festival, Divali, also known as Festival Lights, on Tuesday, October 21st, from 1 p.m.

onwards till 8 p.m.

at BAPS Risemini Mundi and Irving.

Divaali carries profound significance across various cultures.

It symbolizes the victory of good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair.

It is a multi-day festival observed over a span of one to five days, depending on regional and personal traditions.

Well, Dewali is primarily celebrated by Hindu Jay Sikh fates.

It is a central theme of light resonates with all of humidity.

This festival serves as a powerful symbol of unity by bridging gaps between people of diverse backgrounds.

From intricate colorful rungodes lit by the sky with fireworks, Devalu carries light that brightens and lifts the human spirit.

It is a time for reflection, joy, and renew, fostering the sense of togetherness and shared happiness through the theme, light within light around.

By joining us at BAPS Reseminary Mundan Irving on Tuesday, October 21st, you'll not only partake in a beautiful cultural celebration, but also experience a universal message of unity and hope that Diwali brings.

We look forward to welcoming each member of Murphy City Council and Mayor of Murphy City along with City of Murphy residents at our celebration.

For additional information regarding this event, please visit BAPS.org slash Dallas or contact us at DFW.pa at gmail.com.

Thank you.

So one more time.

When is your your event?

Tuesday, October 21st.

October 21st.

And where is it?

At BAPS Risaman Mandir in Irving.

In Irving.

Okay.

And the times?

1 p.m.

onwards till 8 p.m.

Great.

Thank you.

All right.

Mayor, do you want to address council now or you want to wait for 9A?

It's up to you.

It is related to the budget.

Yeah, but you can go now or you can go to 9A.

I don't matter to me.

Either one.

You want to stick around?

You want to stick around?

Or you can look.

Yep.

Come on up.

Mayor, I don't know if some of the people here want to speak to the veterans.

I'm going to stage.

I'm still going.

Oh, my name.

Yeah.

Go ahead.

Go ahead, Mayor.

My name's Maynard Little.

I reside at 1004 St.

Mark Drive.

Good evening.

At last council meeting, I stated that I had two topics that I wish to discuss, but only had time to address one due to the time limit for public comments.

My topic last week regarded the lack of transparency in city government and the use of deception to justify increases in taxes and fees.

I provided several examples, including dis uh including deception via concealment.

I have tried to meet with staff and council to get the storm order study details and an explanation without success.

I believe that is moving forward, and I appreciate that.

Um my second topic is uh for comments about the FY26 proposed budgets.

I stood before council last year and stated that Murphy has a spending problem, and clearly it still does.

Yet another budget increase of 10% year over year.

How many years in a row is that?

And some items were proposed to increase 20 to 40 percent.

What are the justifications for these huge increases?

Will service be increased proportionately?

I have attended and viewed budget sessions along with council meetings, and I've never heard anyone ask how can spending be cut or reduced.

Murphy is a mature city.

Its infrastructure is in place and maintenance is what is needed to be funded.

Unfortunately, the water distribution system has not been maintained, and the resulting loss of water has cost the ratepayers an additional one million plus each year for the last seven years, despite the fact that the city ordinance, there's a city ordinance has existence since 2019 stating the annual water last should be less than 12 percent, or 12 percent or less.

This ordinance has been ignored, and I actually informed both the utility director and a council member that of the existence of this ordinance earlier this year.

During the years from 2019 to present, instead of addressing the water loss issue, the city forced taxpayers and ratepayers to fund numerous multimillion dollar frivolous vanity projects.

Rocks for dirt medians, rocks for dirt medians on medians owned by the state of Texas, and some partially owned by Wiley, tennis courts, redundant connectivity sidewalks, with some along the state right away, and yet and the yet to be completed bridges to nowhere.

If these funds had been used to fix or reduce the water loss problem, the city cap would have been much lower than the current cap, which was set in 2022, when the water loss was almost 30 percent.

Had the water loss been reduced, the water rates would have been much lower over the years.

As a result of this inaction, the city has recently issued millions of dollars via certificates of obligation to fund the maintenance, increasing the future obligations of the ratepayers.

Additionally, the utility fund is burdened with both a 20% reserve balance and an annual transfer of 20% to the general fund for of projected expenses for the general fund to cover administration costs.

Yet no explanation has been given to substantiate the 20% figure in either case, how the 20% quote unquote administration costs are documented, and or if any other cities in the area require their utility fund to carry similar burdens.

Thank you for your attention.

Thank you, Mr.

Little.

All right.

Any would anyone else like to address council on an item not on the agenda this evening?

All right.

Seeing none, I've got nothing for a mayor's report, anything to report from council.

Seeing none, we're gonna go into presentations, presentation 6a.

Uh national night out.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Investigator Gilbert, who is responsible for our community relations with the police department, is actually gonna be presenting to you tonight on what our plans are for national night out that's gonna take place next month.

But I just wanted to give you an update of what we're looking at in the future.

We are looking at putting on a national night out here at our city hall complex.

However, that is gonna take strategy and it's gonna take a little bit of time, and we are in that process right now, and I just wanted to be clear with you that that is uh in the near in the near future, but it is not gonna happen next month.

Good evening, Mr.

Mayor.

Council.

So National Night Out will take place in Texas and the Southern States on Tuesday, October 7th.

You see a lot of things in the news about it happening earlier in the year.

Well, that's the northern states.

It's too hot to do it here in August.

So we do it in October.

So what we have here is a sample press release, something that we'll be putting out on our social media and the cross law enforcement, and we'll be happy to share this with community partners.

But it basically explains what national night is, national night out is and how it impacts our community and what good it does for our HOAs, our non-affiliated or uh neighborhoods, even some of the schools and just uh neighbors, neighbor groups that host these block parties, uh the way Murphy has done it consistently in the past.

These are the different HOAs that are currently registered within the city.

This is not all the neighborhoods, some of the neighborhoods do not have their own HOA.

Um, one of the side tasks that we're doing is updating all the HOA contact information across the city, as most of the information we have is old as far as which organizations, which uh companies are managing HOAs, who points of contact are HOA presidents.

So something I'm doing is going in and trying to rebuild these connections, have more current information, and that also allows us to rebuild our neighborhood watch, which is something that National Night Out it was spawned to strengthen the neighborhood watches.

So we aim to bring those back, and it's kicking off with our national night out program using these HOAs here.

You can see here on the top it says tentative block parties of note this uh the slide presentation was put together almost two weeks ago, so some of the information has been updated since then.

But these tentative block parties are ones that have affirmatively expressed an interest in having uh a block party.

They have had block parties in the past, and the ones on the bottom are ones that have had them in the past, and we're still trying to make that connection again with updated contacts to see if they will be hosting an event.

On the right side of the screen, you have the map, and those are the places across the city where neighborhood block parties will be uh taking place.

So those are where we're currently working with those HOAs and those neighborhoods, connecting them with some local vendors and local companies to have some sponsorship opportunities as well to have some fun events that night.

Uh of note, uh our plan is to have law enforcement presence at each one of those.

Some of them are a little easier to have officers there the whole time when they're right across the street.

But others, as we've done in the past, uh officers from the day shift will stay a little late, officers and night shift will be on, plus some other officers there, and so that we can rotate amongst those block parties have a presence.

Some of them will be closing down a couple of streets as they have in the past.

We're working with the fire department and public works uh for those road closures with minimal impact to the city.

So the next steps are that the block party application forms, they were due.

We had a technical issue, so we're still collecting those this week.

I'm working with the neighborhoods to send those forms in.

Um the requests for barricades and we're going through public works, and um some of the HOAs have expressed an interest in having a fire presence there as well, either with their fire engine or um just working with them for road closures uh as we do with uh the fire department for that.

Uh we're working strongly with our social media through there, and we'll be sharing that information with Bailey for the uh city web pages as well, and then we have some posters and flyers we'll be sending out here in the next week or two.

Um that concludes this presentation.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

Item uh 5B presentation, Murphy Veterans Tribute.

Mayor and Council, tonight I kind of want to give you a status update on what's been going on with the Murphy Veterans Tribute uh ever since June 6th when we sent the letter rescinding the half acre in Murphy Central Park.

Uh so let's just go through this a bit.

Back in August 2017, the city did designate that half acre of land in Murphy Central Park for the purpose of a veterans memorial.

In June 2025, a letter was sent to the Murphy Veterans Tribute rescinding the land dedication and offering the existing flagpole adjacent to the fire station.

August of 2025, the MBT board shared concerns about the available site at the fire station, citing parking concerns, the general location, and safety concerns.

Between August and September, the MBT board and I met a couple of times.

Uh they did provide suggestions for different sites throughout the campus of City Hall.

At least one has been analyzed and ruled out.

This month, I was informed that the fire station site is not an option that the MBT board is willing to utilize.

So that's where we are as far as status.

I want to give a little bit of uh financial information as well.

The MBT currently has approximately $50,000 on hand for the project.

They have been awarded uh 109,000 matching grant from Collin County, but it's still unsure whether or not that grant will be realized.

They have commitments for flag poll uh funding from a private donor.

They have sold an unknown uh number of pavers to honor veterans, and then the city has previously awarded them $21,500 from both MCDC and General Fund monies in the forms of grants and sponsorships.

And you can see the details there.

In 2018, uh MCDC granted $7,500.

They granted another 10,000 in 2019, and then over the course of a few years, uh, there were some banquet table sponsorships from the general fund in the amount of $3,550.

So tonight I just wanted to bring this back to you all because there has been some conversation with the board, between the board and I, and maybe the board and some council members over time.

And we I really wanted to bring this back to get some uh clear direction from council on where we want to go with this project potentially and give some clarity to the MVT board so that they know how to move forward.

So specifically, does the council want funds expended to determine the feasibility of additional sites for the purposes of the Murphy Veterans Tribute?

The pictures you see here before you are a few different sites that the board has uh mentioned to me, uh whether in meetings or in passing.

One is the flagpole area out in front of City Hall.

Another is the space north of the pond.

Uh you'll see the wall there for the bridge at the entrance of the city hall complex, and then the space adjacent to the police department wall is that other picture to the right.

Uh the feasibility of these sites have not been explored at all.

Um we did explore very lightly the flagpole location by the fire station utilizing some AI to come up with some designs.

Again, the board has said that is not an option that they are willing to utilize.

Uh I have not expended any additional funds to uh analyze the feasibility of the other sites.

That's something that we would need council direction uh for.

Okay.

Also, we do have the board here tonight.

We have a representative and Miss Ellich who would like to come and speak, and they have provided photographs as well.

Miss Ellage, do you want to come up?

Yeah, yeah, before whoever you whoever is speaking for the group before we uh we discuss on council.

Hey, I'm Mary Pat Elliott with Cal Ruiz Wealthy, and I'm chairman of the board of the Murphy Veterans Tribute.

I think all of you know that.

It's good to see you tonight.

Um, um I do want to bring up the preferred site that the city gave to us.

Um at this point, we realize that we um this site just was not going to work for us because it's too close to Murphy Road and it would not provide parking spaces near the site to accommodate future family events or offer a safe place for family picnics, and also the ordinances show that a 25 foot landscape buffer would need to need to be at that site according to the rules of the road uh that roads that you have here.

So we just don't see that that could be very good place to put our funding.

Another site was suggested near City Hall entrance by the three large flags, but when we're informed that this site could only occupy a small part of that area due to city events and sports activities planned by those flags, we became concerned that it might not be suitable for one of our main goals.

The goal was the veterans tribute was designed to be more than just a monument.

It is a space for gathering, educating school children, and honoring the sacrifices of our brave servicemen and women and their families.

We also need to consider a place for our papers that we have promised our veterans that we will have as a big part of the tribute.

Uh we thank the councilmen and women who have reached out to us.

We really appreciate those of you who have reached out and um mentioned how much this would mean to the city.

Um we stand by the original goals and our supporters to to build a tribute to honor all who have served our great nation.

We also understand the city intends to manage both the design plan and to transfer our current funds once a decision is made.

We request tonight that the Murphy Veterans that a Murphy Veterans Tribute small group be consulted to work with council and their committee on the design.

Since we have spent many years, more than seven years researching our project and having numerous resources to advise us on pricing and quality, we strongly suggest to partner with the planning and the design and distributing the funds to stay within our current budget.

The goal is to create a beautiful tribute for our veterans through Murphy City Tribute.

We understand you require us to suspend our fundraising raising efforts and to use only the funds we have on hand, which is curious because more funds we wouldn't uh we would have would enhance the beauty and the scope of this project.

More planning dialogue to move forward would be greatly appreciated in the next few weeks.

We have also pinpointed a site that we feel would be very good choice for the downsized uh city tribute.

The site is smaller, the smaller boulevard just east of the large boulevard where the three flags are located.

I have some pictures of that.

Did you have any pictures of that?

Is it is it that last one at the bottom?

Yes, right?

Yes, it is, and I didn't see those till I walked up here.

Yeah, so uh the big boulevard with the tall flags.

We were told that we could use very little space on that site because there are city events there, which we understand, and also some sports events.

And so uh then we came to this other smaller boulevard just east of it with nothing on it except the beautiful trees.

So that's when we thought maybe that could be a good spot for us, and um we probably we could just talk it out, but uh we might just use the flags that are in the big boulevard, and uh that would not require electricity to this site, the smaller boulevard is what we'll call it.

Um we need to report to the Collin County Park Commission by the end of this month on the status of our process progress for the tribute.

If this project stays within the Murphy City Park, we could stand to still receive a portion of that Collin Parks grant.

So we do appreciate your efforts to this point, but we would like to request, like I said, um a little bit more connection with the city so that we could with our experience for the last seven plus years on building the tribute that we had planned, we have made a lot of contacts, we have designers and so forth.

So we would just like to be included a little bit more in this planning, and we'd be happy to meet with you, but we can't wait forever.

And I think you understand that it's been seven plus years going.

And so we would like to for you to consider some of these things that I've mentioned tonight, and uh also to consider that um small boulevard site for our site for our tribute, because it is more private and it has better parking with less traffic.

So do you have any questions for me?

I'd like to answer any questions.

Any specific questions for Ray Back.

Thank you.

I'm gonna um before I give counsel, I know this is a presentation, but we'll expand it a bit.

Um give council an opportunity to kind of give their feedback so that uh staff has direction.

I just want to kind of uh revisit kind of what brought us here.

Eight years ago, um I was invited to a meeting by the core group of the uh Murphy Veterans Tribute to discuss putting in tribute and a very exciting time.

Um the space next to the food court was one that I actually pressed for.

Uh they had a lot of different other sites that they were interested in, and uh and I kept kind of pushing them over to that space because I thought it would really could lend itself to something dramatic.

And the original plans, it really I I think they were optimistic at uh for what they wanted to build at a million dollars, but it was gorgeous.

Right.

It really was something that was going to be uh something everybody could be proud of.

Now this always gets difficult and complicated when you have uh an outside organization building on your own property and you know what we were offering and not offering, and you know, the city city uh uh the laws that dictate what the city can and can't do, and just protecting you know our own infrastructure.

But you know, that was something I think we were really worried willing to work through.

The problem came as the eight years kind of moved on, is the group didn't generate the million dollars.

And so, you know, the the site started becoming smaller and smaller, adjusting it down based on the reality of what the fundraising was going to be.

Um eventually you know, uh they've got 50,000 uh now there's a lot of money that's been collected over the years, uh uh a lot.

I I I don't have the financials, but but there's been money spent as well.

So they haven't only raised $50,000, but they've got $50,000 on hand, uh, and we're we represent almost half of that, right?

Uh uh of money that we've we've contributed as the city.

And so it really came to the point where if we're going the the plans that we're being presented, you know, we've used DG in the past, uh, in three, four years it's gone, it's deteriorated, it doesn't last, and so that would have to be redone.

So the plans really uh the that ended up coming to us at this point, and the funding that was available was not something that was going to be a sustainable site.

It was something that within a few years the city was going to have to disrupt and and build out in a way that was something that could be maintained long term for years, not just for decades, not just a couple of years.

And so that was a concern.

And so we had a conversation uh really trying to define what the strategy of the city was because if we're gonna build it, then you know it if we're gonna end up having to pay for it anyway in three years, then why build it, why build it, why why not do that now?

So we discussed that.

And funding that really didn't make a lot of sense, right?

It wasn't something that was a priority for for council that we take it over and we fund that million, two million dollars.

It's probably what it would cost today to build.

Um so that's when you know I spoke with you, Scott, and and spoke with you, Elizabeth, and I said, you know, let's see if there's something else we can do.

Let's get out there and have a conversation.

And the idea of the the fire station was my idea.

We use it every year.

And it's something that I really want to enhance.

It's a something that is a solemn place.

Uh we've got uh uh we do the 9-11 vents there.

Uh FIRE did a fantastic job just you know with shovels and and stones they picked up at uh uh at Lowe's to put in that ring, but it's something that really should be uh celebrated and enhanced.

And so I felt like, well, this is something that I think between the city, you know, it's something I'd really love to see grow and improve, and and we could do you guys something we could collaborate on.

You guys don't like it, that's fine.

Um it's not a not a space.

I still love the idea.

I spent 23 years in the military, I served in through two combat zones.

I still love the idea of a uh a veterans tribute, but from a city perspective, it's gotta be something that it that fits the community, meets our needs financially as an organization, and is something that we can maintain that we can be proud of and maintain long term, and that's kind of what got us here.

And so staff is asking us tonight, you know, how do you want us to move forward?

And I think it's an honest question.

I think that there is a breakdown between MVP really, really wants to do something.

There's a lot of passion that's coming from this organization, and I feel it, and I love it.

And then the the realities of running a city and yeah, you know, you know, uh trying to maintain uh, you know, focus on what we're what we're doing.

The focus is set by council.

And so we've had this meeting when before once before, but really asking council, what guidance do you want to give tonight to staff in order to move this forward?

And when we're talking of it, any time we're talking about moving something forward like this and doing the assessment, doing the engagement, it's it's it there's a cost associated now.

It doesn't have to be excessive.

Uh but staff will come back and say, okay, in order to do an assessment, we have to do this and come up with the plans.

And if we do do something, absolutely it'll be a consolidated.

We'll create you guys as a commission and we'll we'll do it as an organization.

I don't have an issue with that.

We can certainly do that.

But I wanted to really throw to council where are you guys at?

How do you want to focus on this in order to move something forward?

Because we're disappointed, they're disappointed, and we're not getting anywhere ignoring each other on this.

So Scott, you I sent you out, you talked to them a number of times, kind of been my rogue in the whole.

What's your thoughts?

Well, I think I've been on record uh as a support for this.

I think this is something that I want, or we are personally that I want.

I agree.

What staff is asking is if we are giving staff direction to engage in a site selection process.

That's what I think I think is that is that as correct as it gets.

Yes, that's so essentially that's it, right?

W the last conversation that I had with all of counsel in the direction that I was given was to offer up the fire station site, right?

That's what we did.

That is a non-starter for them.

So now, you know, every couple weeks I'm getting an additional site that they've seen that they like that they want us to consider.

However, as the mayor alluded to, to consider those things.

It costs money, it costs staff time, and it's not a part of any priority or strategic plan or anything that we've discussed.

So what I want to know today is is this something that we need to bring into the fold?

We'll bring back a budget, we'll you know, we'll go through all of those things if that is your direction.

But and we can't get more concrete at this point, Councilman Smith, until we have direction to go be more concrete.

I understand.

Uh certainly not knowing what that that assessment, what that cost would be up front.

I think that's also a factor before we make a decision uh to go forward with this.

Well uh an estimated cost uh for an assessment, I think would be something that would be helpful.

I mean, you know, I think that would obviously uh it's gonna boil down a lot to that cost.

We're not you know, because we're kind of starting from zero on our end.

Um and I want to go back to one of the things that Ms.

Ellen mentioned earlier about the uh common park grant.

That is not by any means something that is 100% for sure.

Is that correct?

That that we what we're talking about here and could in a contribution from the veterans program is $50,000.

A hundred and some odd thousand dollars is not by any means a for sure deal.

Right, it is a matching grant.

So they would have to be able to match that with 109,000.

So I don't know what the time frame on it.

I see what I would love to be able to do, and and I wasn't going to kind of drive this, but I always do.

What I would love to be able to do is say, okay, give staff direction, um, sit down and let's do a viability and feasibility assessment on a couple of preferred sites of what something like this would work.

Uh it's a public part private partnership, and say, you know, uh, you know, within you know I don't know, $20,000 budget, whatever that ends up being, uh come back, you know, you know if it's if it's you know sketch drawings and that kind of stuff or specific place, budget, figure out what that looks like and how and and then we can come back and we can say what's the viability, right?

It what are we doing in a 2025 budget versus or you know the 2026 budget or you know if we're gonna offset something because you know if they've got they've got their 50, you know, if we're able to do it within, I think they had 18 months in order to kick that off, that clock is ticking fast.

So um so something would have to happen pretty quickly.

But I think I think in general that would be that would be my guidance to say, you know, two things.

One, yes, let's do a viability assessment on preferred locations and scope, not nothing major, just and scope, right?

Uh and then you know, structure it if we decide that it's something that we're gonna be able to support and move forward with, then we would structure it as a um, you know, turn the the MVP uh uh MVT into a committee, right?

And then you know, structure it if we decide that it's something that we're going to be able to support and move forward with, then we would structure it as a you know, turn the MVP into a committee, right?

And then we would do a collaborative program with them.

Or if we decide it's not something that we're going to be able to fund right now, then we could be honest with them and let them know that we've done what we can do.

But I just don't want to leave everybody hanging.

I agree with that.

I I would certainly be personally would be uh in favor of some type of feasibility study to see where we are.

Some type of assessment to see what we're looking at.

What are you thinking?

Um so if we spent 20,000 on an assessment, like what are we what are we doing, what are we taking away from to do that?

Because we have a lot of other priorities and things that are coming out of the master plan.

Um sitting here today, what I'll tell you is it'll likely come from fund balance unless we were able to scrub through the what will hopefully be the budget that's passed tonight and find something in part funding, maybe MCDC.

Um we probably look there first, but those are those are going to be our options off the top.

So for me, similar to what some other folks have said on here.

I was on Parks Board way back in the day when this first came across when the mayor was on council.

I at first was hesitant about clearing the land over there for that because I thought that was more nature preserve, but they presented such an amazing design that was like best best of class.

And that sold me because Murphy is a best of class city.

And that being said, I don't want to see just a tribute that is just a granite pillar with some words on it.

I think that we deserve, and our veterans deserve something that's special.

There's not money for that right now.

Yeah, is the issue.

But what I'm willing to do, fund this, fund the site selection.

Personally, I think that the location that Mary Pat has suggested, I think it's an appropriate location.

It's not it's too small for soccer.

It's it's it's hard, it's hardly used.

It's it's when you come in the entrance from the back, it's the first thing you see.

If it were up to me, I would say the city could probably find a way to fund a pad and that site, given that the if the feasibility works for it, we could fund a pad for it.

I don't know what the dollar amount that is, that that counts towards your matching funds.

Um, and then you guys, with whatever money you have working with the city and the committee, come up with something that sits on that pad that we all love.

I don't hate that site either.

I I really don't.

Yeah.

Can I speak a moment?

Sure.

Sure.

Uh just to be clear, we have not used, we have 109,000 from the Collin County grant.

That grant was for the site, our original site.

And um we had the 50,000, and we already that matched right there, it's 100,000 in our pocket.

And so uh we also had a big contribution for 30,000 that would have been matched as soon as we could get it taken care of.

So right there, if we don't answer to the parks board of Collin County by the end of this month, we don't have anything to take to them.

We might be able to put them off for three months, and I have been in contact with uh Cheryl Williams, and I'll take direction from her.

But if the if the board does not want to have the grant, then we're we're throwing away 109,000.

And that won't last forever because it's uh 18-month grant, and we got it back in last December.

Right.

And so that's why we are wanting to move this forward.

We can't afford to just sit there and say and talk about it, and that's why we wanted a retha and she's been great to um meet with us and take her time and we really appreciate that, Aretha.

She's been very understanding, but um we are 501c3, and we have certain standards that we have to carry with us, and most of you know that.

And so that's why we're trying our best to find something uh that would satisfy the city of Murphy and also satisfy our our constituents that have supported us through these years.

And so that's I just wanted to say, and a lot of the money that the city um contributed early on went to those plans that we are not using.

Did you want to can you say something?

Can I say something?

Sure.

My name's Mary Lang, I'm part of the Veterans Tribute.

I'm also uh Air Force Veteran, Vietnam era.

Um, and um I'm sitting here, I've been listening, and you're now discussing it.

Why didn't you do this a few months ago when you first sent us the letter instead of waiting now to where we're at the end of our time?

All of a sudden you're discussing this, you wouldn't talk.

You had Aretha come to talk to us, and we she did a wonderful job.

But y'all have just sat there and let us have to figure out what we're gonna do when y'all weren't honest with the citizens of Murphy about what you were going to do until we got that letter, and I've been up here every single meeting giving a public comment, and you finally have done this, but I don't think you're being fair to the citizen of Murphy because of the way you've you've treated the while to the way you've treated the Murphy Veterans Tribute.

I just wish y'all had talked with us.

You said we talked back and forth.

I don't remember ever y'all coming and talking to us recently.

You sent Aretha.

Thank you.

So we just I just wanted to tell you that our heart is still in it, and we have been trying to find sites around the city.

We have a beautiful park here, and we feel like there should be a place for this, even if it's downsized, and we may be able to keep our grant, but we don't know yet, and we have to maybe push it out another three months.

So that's just where we're coming from, and we do appreciate it.

We know you put up with us for seven, eight years now, and uh but we've stuck with it because we believe, and our Andrew and my husband, and Scott Bradley, we believe that they need something in the city of Murphy to honor them, and all the veterans that are here tonight.

There are many veterans here tonight, and we want to just continue this, we want to work with you, and we are here to help walk through this, but we can't put it off, and we can't if if we put it off, we'll lose it, and we may not even get it now, but we need something positive from the city or not.

And I thank you for those of you who have spoken tonight.

Do you have any questions for me?

No.

Thank you.

So I is there any do I have the Annie?

Do you have anything you want to add or something?

I think the guidance that I would give staff is there's a piece of property on the on the table.

Uh the at the rear parking lot, that tree line space.

Uh let's go staff, take a look at that, assess it for uh a possible site.

I think there's something very nice that can be there, and it's managed in its size.

Let's go ahead and see if we can help how quickly we can move back forward.

So we have a meeting in a few weeks, so uh, if you want to put it on the agenda to kind of give us an idea of time and schedule.

Uh come on.

Mr.

Mayer.

Hi.

My name's James Barber.

I'm at uh 338 North Maxball Creek.

I am a foreign service officer retired, and I've been listening to this.

I mean, this is news to me, but I think there's a we're concerned about this grant.

And I'm familiar with grants.

I spent 20 years dealing with federal grants.

And I think while we're talking about this, we might lose that money like I just heard.

And it's most likely you will if we don't make a decision.

So I'm just gonna throw an ideal out for you.

Go ahead and have the city say, yes, we want it.

Go ahead and make that proposal to your grantor.

Okay.

Go ahead and accept it, bring in the grant, appease the grant officer, take the money, put it on your books, and then decide what you're gonna do.

If you do not use it, you can always give it back.

Well, the grant money goes to them.

Well, the grant money is not to the city.

The grant is to the organization.

I understand.

But the grant officer will give you the money, and you're gonna hold it because you're going to do something with it.

That's just my comment.

Thank you.

I think I would challenge, I would challenge staff to take a look at you know, options on the grant as well coming into that meeting.

All right.

We are going to, so my promise to you guys is is that we'll do we'll assess this site that you've got, we'll see what kind of calendar we can set up and um and try to create a valid path board, or if not have the honest conversation with you about what the deal is.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right.

Moving on to consent agenda.

There is an item I wanted to pull out.

I want to pull out eight.

Oh, sorry.

Item 7A, City Manager's Death Reports.

All right, Mayor and Council.

Uh, just a couple of updates on events.

Moonlight Movie Series continues on September 19th at Travis Farm Park beginning at dusk.

The movie will be Minecraft movie.

And then our most exciting event of the year, annual Mays Days Festival will happen on October 4th at Central Park, beginning at 12 p.m.

and ending at 9 30 p.m.

with a fireworks show.

Um to find a schedule of events, parking, and any other information, you can go to Maysdays.com.

And then on October 11th, we will be having the fire department open house at 206 North Murphy Road from 10 a.m.

to 2 p.m.

There will be several activities for families.

Also on October 11th will be the cleaning green from 9 a.m.

to noon, and you can visit our city website, MurphyTX.org for more information.

October 24th brings in our celebration annual Halloween event at Murphy City Hall Complex from 6 p.m.

to 9 p.m.

out in front of City Hall.

There will be a trunk or treat event with a variety of activities.

And also that day we will have an animal shot clinic from 10 a.m.

to 2 p.m.

at the animal shelter, which is located at 203 North Murphy Road.

And then our next council meeting will be in the same room, same time on October 7th.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Now moving on to consent agenda.

I want to I'm going to pull B just because I want an update on that.

Uh anyone else want to pull an item consent agenda this evening?

No.

Take a motion.

Mayor, I move that we approve the consent agenda minus which one was that?

Item B.

Minus item B.

I have a motion seconds in favor.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed.

Motion passes.

Item B, who can speak on this?

We do have evil Eva Hummel here from Atmos.

Um, but this is our annual rate case with Atmos Eva.

Do you want to come down?

She doesn't.

Not really.

Well, good evening.

I'm Eva Hummel with Atmos Energy.

Umice out of 1310 Highway 66 in Garland, and I'm here this evening on behalf of Atmos Energy, asking the council to pass an ordinance or resolution approving the rates based on the rate review mechanism.

As you may recall, the city approved the rate review mechanism tariff in spring of 2018.

The RRM allows us to adjust our rates on an annual basis to recover the investments made in our gas delivery system based on the agreement Atmos Energy file to increase rates per the RRM in April.

The initial filing would have increased the average customer residential customers bill by nine dollars and thirty-four cents per month, and the average commercial bill by $30.70 per month.

Following the filing, we negotiated with the ACS coalition to finalize our rate.

Together with the coalition, we have agreed upon a rate structure that will increase the average residential rate bill by 783 as opposed to the 934 per month and the average commercial customer bill by 25 or 25.73 cents per month as opposed to the $30.70 per month.

The ACS coalition, which the city is a part of, has recommended that the city approve this item.

And if you have any questions, I will try to answer.

Yeah, that's the reason I brought it back.

9.2% is a pretty sizable increase on rate.

The $7.83.

Yeah, $783.

Yeah, it was negotiated down to $7.08 and 83%.

I mean that's like a third of my bill.

Yeah.

Yeah, no, it's it's pretty it's pretty sizable.

Um how much did it increase last year?

I don't remember the percentage.

I don't have that information.

Um each year we uh we continuously uh invest in our infrastructure all over the midtext division.

And um our capital investments this year were um over 177 million dollars uh through this negotiated settlement, which really um it's it's beneficial to the cities because it gives you a seat at the table when it comes to um reviewing our capital investments and uh the coalition along with Atmos Energy sit down and they take this you know 177 million dollar capital investments and they negotiated it down to 148.9 million.

So um it's important to us that you have a seat at the table.

Our relationship with the city is important to us.

Um, every year we are continuously investing in our infrastructure.

So rate R how many how many municipalities are included in that in this calculation?

Uh well, you mean how many are uh members of the coalition?

Right.

What that would be that fall under radar, right?

The the the this specific rate.

So I don't know.

In your coalition, you have multiple, right?

Do you have multiple rates?

Uh yeah, I knew you got R and C, but is that it?

Or is Murphy on one?

How does that work?

Okay.

Uh well, I mean, you're you're part of the ACS.

I'm I don't know if I really quite understand your question.

Yeah, we're part of the ACS.

So I guess let me see if I can make my question more clear.

Um I'm wondering, so you this is a negotiated rate, and I know we have uh we have people elected uh representatives from across the communities uh in order to sit at the table during the during this process.

So I get that.

How many rates for residential do you guys come up with as part of that conversation?

Is it just the one?

There's just one.

Just the one.

So Wiley would have the exact same rate as the city emergency.

Yes, everybody that is a part of the ASC, uh AS ASCS coalition.

Okay.

But happens.

Which is not everybody because like the city of Dallas is not.

They're separate, yeah, they're separate.

Yeah, there's a lot of negotiations.

How many are in it?

How many cities?

Um there's two coalitions.

There's this one and there's the ATM.

On this one, the majority, I believe it's close to 400 that are on this.

400 municipalities.

Is it just municipalities or is it other governmental?

It's uh municipalities.

400 municipalities.

All right.

I I just saw the number looked large.

Uh, you know, I I'm not negotiating a rate here tonight.

I didn't realize that.

Um, but I I wanted to kind of understand the process.

Any other questions?

Okay.

All right, I'll take a motion.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you.

I move to approve item B as presented.

I have a motion second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion passes unanimously.

Okay.

A lot of things on there.

Moving on to item nine.

Individual considerations.

9A is a public hearing.

Hold a public hearing on fiscal year 26 proposed budget for the fiscal year October 1st, 2025 through September 30th, 2026.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

I just wanted to uh kind of do the timeline again where we started this budget process in January, where um we started developing the calendar and then um HR analyze of positions.

We then adopted that calendar in March and went on to the budget kickoff that happened in uh March 5th.

So then city manager meetings occurred with the departments in April and May as we built those budget requests into this um presentation, and then separate council meetings.

If you'll remember we had those budget work sessions that happened in May, June, and July, with additional fee schedule discussions that happened in June in June and July as well.

So on August 19th is when that maximum rate was set.

And so tonight is just that final step of getting the budget um approved and getting the tax rate approved so that as it begins on the fiscal year for 26 is October the 1st of 2025.

I'm happy to answer any questions.

I don't know how we want to handle the public hearing itself.

Um I was going to walk through some of the changes that happened with the House Bill 1522.

If you'll see some of the key provisions, it laid out a little bit differently in the um the structure of the agenda, and there was a misalignment that's um partly due to just the software itself, but the House Bill wanted to make sure that we were transparent in everything that we gave you related to the tax rate related to the budget and how it would impact individuals.

And um the bill aimed to increase that um transparency as well as making sure that we've got the language involved in order to um do that public awareness so that they can empower the citizens with the knowledge that they need in what we're doing for spending and the decisions that we have to make throughout the year.

So in the budget meeting requirements, there we also have to discuss and adopt the budget and the public hearing notice has certain things it has to include.

It's going to include the physical copy of the budget if it's not on the website.

In our case, it is on the website, so it's an additional step of transparency to give you that proposed budget um in paper as well.

And then they created a taxpayer impact statement that they wanted um us to show how the estimated property tax impacted on now, it's a median value.

Before we've shown it on market value, um we've also shown it on average homestead, but now they've added the median value homestead property if the budget was adopted.

So this is the way the table would have looked in making that comparison to show the taxpayer that the current rate in the tax year of 2024 would be a median house value of five hundred and nineteen dollars and um I'm sorry, five hundred and nineteen five forty, and the current tax rate gives an estimated taxes of one thousand eight hundred and eighty-four.

Now we are proposing to pass the um the voter approval tax rate, but we also need to show you according to House Bill 1522 the no new revenue rate.

So the no new revenue rate on the median house value uh for this um tax year, this fiscal year is 553,991.

And so then when you do the no new tax rate, then that estimated tax is 1,903.

The proposed tax is above the no new revenue rate, and so that tax comes out at 1,981.

You will also see as we step through, because the proposed tax rate, which is the voter approval rate, is greater than the no new revenue rate.

There'll be one additional thing that you see tonight for approval on a ratification.

And did this change apply to just cities, or is it everyone who's levying taxes?

It's mainly adjusted to cities.

Don't let me misspeak, but it's it's mainly associated with municipalities because we're the ones that are going to be passing the budget in order to do the budget items that are related to state statute and certain requirements of the way that we're supposed to present it.

So it would apply to school districts as well.

Okay, but it's not gonna apply to any private industries.

Okay.

So it took you picture.

It's in the opening meetings.

So it's a list of entities in that chapter 51 active.

It's those same accent.

Okay.

So it's primarily like she said, it's cities and school districts, but it's in you would expect it to be in 102 or in the tax code chapter 26 where the other rules are that govern this process and it's not.

Okay, thank you.

So this is just a picture of showing you the transparency and the public awareness that we've already tried to put out.

This is going to be the taxpayer impact statement that has a lot of additional knowledge right there in one place so that we'd able to make this comparison no matter if you had a market value or average homestead value, the median value, and then it's going to show that no new tax rate as well as just the summary of the detailed tax comparisons that happen with the the M and O and the no new revenue as well as that voter approval MO.

We also have it on the website as well as in the agenda, as well as in the actual proposed budget so that we can be compliant on making sure that everybody is aware of the impact of the taxes that we're passing tonight.

That's all I have currently.

All right.

Any questions on council?

I'll take a motion.

We still need a motion.

Oh, it's a public hearing.

Anyone like to address counsel on this item at this time?

Seeing none, I'll close the public hearing at 701.

Then we'll take a motion.

Mayor I move to approve.

Um item 9A as presented.

Sorry.

I do need the additional language.

The language for D.

Yeah, we we take the record vote on C and D.

Do we take a vote on A and B?

You do not.

Okay.

But it's not a record vote.

We can just then there's no specific language for these two.

All right.

I have a I have a motion second.

All is in favor.

Aye.

Motion pass it unanimously.

Item B.

This is also a public hearing.

We'll public hearing on the FY26 proposed tax rate.

Fiscal year 26, which is the maximum tax rate council approved on August 19th, 2025.

Yes.

So there is a little bit of cleanup.

I have notes on the public hearing that there is some certain language where we want to say that we're actually going to be voting on it again tonight.

Is it okay to don't we need to read this language?

The motion language?

No.

It's announcing the vote as later.

No.

They just did the language.

They approved it.

Yeah.

But before we put the language says we vote.

C and the how do we see it?

There's specific motion language, and then there's the ratification piece afterwards, but okay.

So we will continue the uh the voting on tonight.

This is the public hearing related on the tax rate itself.

Um that information has been provided already.

The tax rate is that voter approval tax rate at 0.357514.

It is about 1% lower than the current tax rate and the basis for the the fiscal year 26 budget.

Even though the tax rate is lower because everything else went up, there is an increase in the taxes.

Any other questions?

All right, yeah, no, no, the public hearing is 704.

Anyone like to address counsel on this item?

Seeing none, close the public hearing at 704.

I'll take a motion.

Mayor, I move to approve item uh 9B as presented.

I have a motion second, all in favor.

Aye.

Aye.

This is a tax adoption.

Motion passes unanimously.

Voting on item C.

No, they just voted.

Consider andor act on an ordinance of the city of Murphy approving the assessed assessment roll certified by the Collins Central Appraisal District and making appropriations and adopting the fiscal year 26 budget for the fiscal year being to beginning October 1st, 2025, and the ending on September 30th, 2026.

Continuation, this is um one of the steps.

We actually want to adopt the budget in this step.

We've done the public hearing where we announced if it had been on a different night, they would have said tonight is the night that we're actually going to do that budget adoption.

And that's what we're doing right now.

We are going to um adopt with the record vote the language and the appropriations that have already been presented to you for fiscal year 26 budget.

All right.

Any questions?

Who's got the motion?

Okay.

I'll take a motion.

Mayor, I move to approve the ordinance of the City of Murphy approving the assessment roll as certified by the Collin Central Appraisal District and making appropriations and adopting the FY26 budget for the fiscal year beginning on October 1st, 2025 and ending on September 30th, 2026.

Second.

I have a motion and a second.

I'm going to turn it over to the City Secretary for record vote.

Mayor Bradley.

Aye.

Mayor Pro Tim Abraham.

Aye.

Let the record show Deputy Mayor Pro Tim Janay Butler is absent.

Place two, Smith.

Aye.

Place three, Chase.

Aye.

Place four, Altman.

Aye.

Place five, deal.

Aye.

Go ahead.

All right.

Motion passes unanimously.

With uh councilmember Butler.

And item D, uh consider under act on an ordinance of the City of Murphy levying taxes and adopting tax rate on all taxable property for the year 2025 at a rate of.

Anything extra?

Yes.

So I did want to make a clarification that it this tax rate does raise more taxes for maintenance and operations than last year's state tax.

And that tax rate will effectively be raised by 3.5% and will raise taxes for MO on a $1,000 home by approximately negative $5.02.

Okay.

Okay, I have the wording.

Are you ready?

Yeah, I'll take a motion.

I move that the property tax rate be increased by the adoption of a tax rate of .357514, which is effectively a 4.08% increase in the tax rate.

I have a motion of second.

I'll turn it over to City Secretary for record vote.

Mayor Bradley.

Aye.

Mayor Pro Tim Abraham.

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Pro Tim Janay Butler is absent.

Place two, Smith.

Aye.

Place three, Chase.

Aye.

Place four Altman.

Aye.

Place five deal.

Aye.

Thank you, Mayor.

Having received the vote, uh, is unanimous with Councilmember Butler absent.

Thank you.

Moving on to item E, consider and or act on ratifying the property tax revenue increase reflected in the 2025-2026 FY26 fiscal year budget.

So this is the last step of the budget process I was talking about because of the fact that the rate that we are approving that voter approval rate is greater than the no-new revenue rate, then it is a requirement that we um go ahead and ratify this property tax rate increase so that it's clearly noted that it isn't increase over prior year.

Very repetitive.

I'm sorry.

I said it's very repetitive.

Yes.

And transparent.

Yes, and transparent, yes.

Any questions for the for uh Berna?

All right, I'll take a motion.

Mayor, I move to approve ratifying the property tax revenue increase reflected in the 2025-2026 or FY26 fiscal year budget.

Second.

I have a motion second.

Those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion passed.

Unanimously.

Item F.

Consider under act to appoint place seven to the youth advisory staff advisory committee.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Uh during the appointments and the interviews for the youth advisory committee, we had seven applications, and there are seven places on that board.

Six of the applicants were able to attend.

The seventh applicant did show interest, did state that they wanted to attend, however, they were out of the country during the interviews.

And the subcommittee requested we bring this application forward for appointment.

Is there any questions?

Yeah.

Any questions?

Mayor, I move that we appoint Matthew Curtin to place seven of the youth advisory committee.

Second.

I have motion second.

Most in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion passed unanimously.

All right.

Council going to move into executive session.

According to Texas Government Code, Chapter 551, sub chapter D, the City Council will now recess in the executive session to discuss the following.

Item A, deliberation regarding an appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public uh officer or employee, uh City Secretary, Candy Jackson.

And item B, uh deliberation regarding the appointment, employment evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer, employee, city manager Aretha Adams, the time is 710.

All right.

In accordance with Texas Government Code Chapter 551, subject D, City Council will now reconvene in regular session.

Uh the City Council uh do it to pursue to chapter 521 subject will take any action necessary regarding uh 551.074 deliberation regarding the appointment to employment evaluation reassignment duties discipline or dismissal of public officer employee uh city secretary Candy Jackson and same section uh uh city manager Aretha Adams.

Uh there was no action taken exec, there's no action following exec.

Uh the time is 842.

With that, uh does anyone want to uh item 12 future agenda my items?

Does anyone want to add an item for a future meeting?

Mayor and council, I do just want to say that on the October 7th agenda, we will have the requested legislative update and we will have the trails update as well.

Great, thank you.

All right, anything else?

Seeing none, 843, we are adjourned.