OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Regular City Council Meeting - February 17, 2026

City CouncilTuesday, February 17, 2026
BodyIdaho Falls, Idaho
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, February 17, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record

STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE

Transcript — Verbatim
0:04

All right.

0:05

Welcome as I call to order the Jebruary 17th regular city council meeting.

0:10

The time is 6 p.m.

0:13

We have some guests with us tonight.

0:16

Girl Scout Troop 67, did you say?

0:19

No.

0:20

647.

0:22

Huh?

0:24

647, 647 is here, and they are going to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

0:31

So if you rise with me, I'll give the invocation and then we'll allow the ladies to uh provide the lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

0:40

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

0:45

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

0:49

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

0:53

Your name we pray.

0:54

Amen.

0:56

Ladies.

0:59

Go ahead.

1:06

To the flag of the United States of America.

1:09

And for which it stands, one nation, very odd, and indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

1:20

Thank you.

1:25

And ladies, Girl Scouts was always a huge thing within my family.

1:32

It was very important.

1:33

Both my daughters went through, both my daughters earned their gold award.

1:37

It was exceedingly rewarding for them.

1:40

And your ability to work together as a community, your well, your ability to reach out to the community are all things that you can learn and will learn within within the scouting tradition.

1:53

So I really appreciate you coming out and visiting with us today, and we welcome you.

2:00

All right.

2:01

Turn the time over to City Secretary for Roll Call and Certification Quorum.

2:05

Mayor Scott Bradley.

2:06

Here.

2:06

Mayor Pro Tim Elizabeth Abraham?

2:08

Here.

2:09

Deputy Mayor Pro Tim Janay Butler.

2:11

Here.

2:11

Councilmember Place 2, Scott Smith.

2:13

Here.

2:14

Councilmember Place 3, Andrew Chase?

2:16

Here.

2:16

Councilmember Place 4, Ken Oldman.

2:18

Here.

2:19

Councilmember Place 5, Laura Gill?

2:21

Here.

2:21

Mayor certify the presence of a quorum.

2:24

All right.

2:24

Thank you.

2:27

All right.

2:28

Next on the agenda of public comments.

2:30

This is the time we set aside an agenda to allow residents to adjust council.

2:34

I'm an item not on the agenda this evening.

2:37

Do you have some talking points that I want to provide before we kind of move into the public comments?

2:47

As elected officials, we are here to listen to you.

2:49

We recognize you, the people have a First Amendment and tax Texas statutory right to speak at public meetings.

2:56

City has consistently placed an agenda item on the City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission meeting agendas for public comments.

3:03

The city, its officials, and its employees will act upon and consider only objective, non-discriminator reasons and factors and compelling government purposes for all city business, including land use issues.

3:15

The city, its officials and its employees will not consider any discrimination in any way, including religious discrimination.

3:23

The city, its officials, and its employees will treat all persons and property owners equally with that.

3:30

I do have a number of public comment forms.

3:42

So starting off, we're going to start with Mr.

3:45

Little.

3:46

Welcome.

3:55

Good evening, all.

5:00

The first column shows a comparison of sales tax receipts for October, November, and December to the same months in FY25, and each month contains four characters.

5:10

This is in the first column, four characters for a total of twelve characters.

5:16

Five of the characters are incorrect.

5:18

Five of twelve are over 40% are wrong.

5:22

Think about that.

5:25

These folks are the ones making recommendations for tax and fee changes.

5:29

The slide also shows the projected revenue versus actuals for the previous years and the projected value of F for FY26.

5:38

The estimated annual value for FY26 is 134,000 less than FY25 actual.

5:47

And some and the uh some 50,000 less than the previous three year average.

5:54

Whenever expenses are unreasonably inflated, and a probable future revenue is omitted, then a recommendation to increase taxes and fees will follow.

6:08

I believe this is the case for the stormwater fee increase.

6:11

In the last meeting I requested to meet meet with each of you, since each of you approved the fee increase and should know all of the details.

6:21

I wish to see the data that substantiates the projected expenses, where the stormwater fund balance was incorporated into the analysis, and why an estimate for future revenue increases for new construction was not included.

6:36

None of you contacted me to set up a meeting.

6:41

I contacted two members, and one was given and one has given me hope of a meeting, while the other did not respond.

6:51

In fact, that member has never responded to any of the uh any of the numerous emails I have sent.

7:01

Both have filed for re-election.

7:04

If a council member does not respond to the concerns of the residents, why is that person on council?

7:10

And why should anyone vote for that person?

7:13

I look forward to hearing from each of you to set up a meeting regarding the details of the stormwater fee increase.

7:21

Thank you for your attention.

7:22

Thank you, Mr.

7:23

Little.

7:26

Next is uh Jan Stormont.

7:46

Hello, each and every one of you.

7:48

How are you?

7:49

My name is Jan.

7:51

I moved here four years ago from California and just love Murphy.

7:57

We moved here with six other families who are scattered all over uh McKinney, but we wanted to live in the country.

8:04

And I tell you, I've never met more friendly people in my life.

8:07

I have to plan 30 extra minutes no matter what errand I'm running, just so I can talk to people.

8:13

With that, I've been a little bit disillusioned with the last couple of years.

8:18

We've been infiltrated.

8:20

And I'm a little bit nervous.

8:23

With that, I have to remind each and every one of you, your elected officials, your elected officials to represent Olive Murphy.

8:31

You are to uphold the Constitution.

8:34

With that, this is the set of laws that the U.S.

8:38

was started and founded on.

8:41

With that, I don't believe that the Muslims are a peaceful religion, as they'd like to make you believe.

8:50

This is a political ideology masking as a religion.

8:55

With that, their agenda, and this can be researched online, it can be researched on social media, that their agenda is to infiltrate, populate, dominate.

9:09

They do not want to assimilate.

9:12

Jan?

9:13

Yes.

9:13

Jan, uh we there are there are land use issues that they're happy to talk about, and I know there are concerns that happen on both sides of this conversation.

9:26

Uh I I want you to feel like you're you're capable of uh of being heard.

9:33

Young ladies and their parents are taking them out today, uh out here who came to visit with us.

9:40

So I guess we try to focus a little bit more on kind of what the outcome that you'd like.

10:00

I guess what I'm trying to wrap up real quick is if we look at examples like Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Somalia, Syria, and the UK, just as examples that we're faced with the same decisions you're faced with right now in the little town of Murphy, and what's happened to all of those countries.

10:14

Okay, that's that's scary.

10:16

So I understand what you're saying.

10:19

I'm not going to go through all of you know that I might plan to, but I just want to leave you with one story that is the true story of my neighbor who was born in Iran.

10:32

She was about six years old when they captured her dad when the Islamic Republic took over.

10:38

They put him in prison.

10:40

They tried to force him to become a Muslim.

10:44

And when he didn't, they killed him.

10:47

Then her mother knew I have to take my children and I have to flee the country, or we're going to be subject to the same thing.

10:54

They froze her assets, and she was a doctor.

10:57

So by God's grace, she got through the embassy, and the UN helped her get to the United States.

11:04

And this is one of my neighbors.

11:06

This is what I'm asking all of you.

11:08

Please search her souls.

11:10

We love our Muslim brothers and sisters.

11:14

We just don't like the ideology because it's not assimilating with our constitutional rights.

11:20

Okay?

11:22

And that's that's basically what I want to say.

11:24

Thank you, Jim.

11:25

So thank you very much for coming in.

11:34

Samuel Hand.

11:46

Mr.

11:47

Hand.

11:47

Welcome.

11:48

Thank you.

11:49

Good evening.

11:52

Um I'll just like to spend some time addressing some of the things that was said at the last meeting and clear up any misleading comments or misconceptions.

12:00

Uh Yuri spoke on this, but first I'd like to speak to the calls to limit free speech.

12:05

The council is unable to speak on the issues presented during the comments, as they well understand and made clear to us during the meeting.

12:11

This forum is a perfect example of utilizing our right to free speech.

12:14

We appreciate you upholding these laws.

12:17

I also wanted to speak to the feelings some shit at the last meeting of being fearful.

12:23

There would be no threats of violence, and no one in the community should feel unsafe.

12:27

Fear is not being sowed by those that spoke at the meeting during January, and no one in the community would condone any threats of violence or intimidation.

12:38

I didn't even want to mention this, but I I had to say something about it.

12:42

Someone also made the outrageous claim that at a previous meeting uh it was similar to the lead up to the Holocaust, which I didn't even want to breathe life into such a ridiculous claim, but it was just such such an absurd thing to say.

12:55

Um also a comparison of the number of mosques in nearby cities to the number of churches.

13:02

Although comparisons can be made to the current number, the number of mosques being built versus churches in recent years is substantial.

13:10

What many people were sharing their thoughts on was how rapidly things were changing, which is a concern that they had the right to share as a member of the community.

13:19

I want to remind everyone here that this is the perfect opportunity for members of the community to come and share their opinions on what is happening in our city.

13:28

It can also it cannot be ignored how large of an impact the new developments will have on our city.

13:34

It will significantly add to the already heavy traffic flow in the area, which will affect the safety of the residents and all the students in the area.

13:42

I urge the committee to work to preserve the closeness and safety of our community.

13:49

It is also worth mentioning again the fact that the community so far has been developed to be segregated and only allow members of this lit group to be included.

13:58

Our community, as I understand it, is always accepting of others' cultures and does not exclude others from any other areas of the community.

14:06

All members of the community should be allowed to venture and buy houses where they wish.

14:11

Whether it has been written down or not is irrelevant when in practice we can see segregated practices.

14:17

Thank you for your time.

14:18

Thank you.

14:23

That's the last form I have.

14:25

Is there anyone else who would like to address counsel tonight?

14:30

Come on up.

14:33

Please provide your name and address for the record, please.

14:36

Yes.

14:37

My name is Christine, and I live at 409 Shady Oaks, Murphy Drive.

14:41

And I have been a homeowner in Murphy for six years.

14:45

I'm here today to respectfully voice my opposition to the Islamic mosque development in Murphy.

14:52

The United States was founded on the principles of freedom and local self-governance.

15:00

These values require us to protect our constitutional rights and carefully consider how large developments affect the character, infrastructure, and well-being of our community.

15:08

I want to be very clear that I hold no hostility or prejudice towards individuals of any faith.

15:15

My concerns are about the scale, location, and impact that building a mosque on North Murphy and McMillan Road would have on our town.

15:24

We have already seen how large religious centers in nearby cities had significantly altered local demographics, traffic patterns, school capacity, and the businesses in our community.

15:36

It is not Islamophobic to point these changes in our community out.

15:40

It is basic pattern recognition.

15:43

American values include open dialogue, accountability, and the right for citizens to question developments that will reshape our town.

15:52

Wanting to preserve the culture of our community, ensure public safety, and maintain responsible growth is not intolerance, it's civic engagement.

16:02

Today I would like to ask the council to please delay the approval of this project until all of the residents of Murphy are made aware of what is happening in our city and give residents a chance to voice their opinions.

16:14

Of the 13 families I have spoken to about the mosque, only two had any idea of its development.

16:23

To my neighbors, I encourage you to stay informed, engaged, and respectful as we work together to preserve the community we love.

16:30

Please help us spread the word and stand with us in opposition of building an Islamic center in our beloved town of Murphy.

16:37

Thank you.

16:38

Thank you.

16:57

Thank you.

17:00

Name and address for the record, please.

17:03

I'm Dedra.

17:04

I've been here for over 25 years.

17:08

I've seen the city grow.

17:10

I've seen it grow big, I've seen it grow in many ways.

17:15

I'm a Texas veteran.

17:18

I want to address what happened last time.

17:23

A lot of people said we had paid actors.

17:26

Nobody was a paid actor.

17:28

No one had anything.

17:29

Okay.

17:30

They come together because they care about Murphy and they want to fight back for what is going on, and we see the city where it needs not to go.

17:38

Okay?

17:39

There are already many traffic issues on Murphy Road.

17:42

You can't even get out of your house at 6 p.m.

17:46

due to PSA and all there.

17:48

You have to go back towards Glen Ridge to get out.

17:52

And also on Murphy Road is already constructed.

17:56

I mean, there's already construction, there's traffic jams on Murphy Road and Betsy Lane.

18:01

And also McMillan.

18:03

So I'm asking you, are you going to are you going to add more police officers?

18:09

Are you going to shut down the lanes to bring traffic in and out?

18:14

I mean, you're already going to have to close two lanes.

18:17

Is it going to be like epic every Friday?

18:19

Have y'all drove by to see Epic?

18:21

I was there last Friday.

18:23

I drove back home to get to Murphy to check on my dogs.

18:26

Two lanes of traffic.

18:27

I was in there for 15 minutes, stopped, and the traffic was not going.

18:32

Okay.

18:33

How many PD will you be directing traffic in and out?

18:36

What's the cost of the police?

18:39

For 50 people or more cars.

18:41

And also have you checked the foot traffic.

18:43

There's foot traffic on both sides on Epic every Friday on both sides.

18:48

So I asked you to look at all these areas, and I asked you, don't make Murphy and they're epic.

18:54

Murphy's our beautiful town, and we love it.

18:56

And we want to keep Murphy safe.

18:58

Thank you.

18:59

Thank you.

19:06

Any other comments this evening?

19:14

Seeing none, we're going to move on to uh we're on Mayor's report.

19:19

I don't have anything specific for tonight.

19:21

Anyone have anything they'd like to add?

19:23

All right.

19:24

Presentations, we won't be doing uh uh the proclamation tonight.

19:29

There isn't anyone here to receive it.

19:31

Uh item B, presentation on water loss update.

19:35

I would have to get back.

19:44

We're not doing it.

19:46

Why not?

19:47

Oh, it's off the table.

19:49

There will not be uh it's not an issue.

19:54

Thank you.

20:00

Okay.

20:01

Good evening, mayor members of council.

20:04

Come up here tonight and give you a real quick water loss update.

20:07

Please keep in mind that the stats that I'm going to give you mostly for the entire calendar year of 2025.

20:14

So you can see that our complete 2025 water loss was a 168 million gallons, which was significantly down from 2024 and even more than that from 2023, which was the peak that we've seen.

20:31

Do we know why it went down?

20:33

Is it do we think it's because of the leaks that we've been fixing over time?

20:36

I think there's that's a hard question to answer.

20:40

I know.

20:41

Yes, I believe a big part of that is uh a big part of that is the leaks that we've fixed over time.

20:48

A big part of that is that we've gotten on the same page somewhat extent with North Texas municipal water about when they read their meters and when we read our meters and tried to iron some of that out as best we can.

21:01

Um and then probably the biggest factor is is that I don't think we were consistently calculating water loss as described by the the uh Texas Water Development Board, and that's what we're doing now.

21:15

What was the difference?

21:16

I would agree with that, because I think that we before we're getting numbers kind of all over the place and nothing really consistent.

21:24

So I like those three things that you've implemented now to kind of give us more accurate results.

21:31

So we think that we have improved it, but we also think it maybe wasn't as bad in those.

21:37

Yes, I I can't go back and tell you that sure, but I I believe just from what I've seen, I don't think that we were consistently calculating water the same way every time.

21:48

Okay, thank you.

21:50

Donald, you are you tracking uh 26 the same uh and I know we're just a month.

21:55

We're yes, we're using the Texas Water Development Board's method for calculating water loss.

22:00

We're tracking it the same.

22:02

Okay.

22:02

So I I say for the for the first month tracking January of last year, we pretty much on track part of you.

22:08

I know it's not on your slide.

22:09

I just curious.

22:10

Yes, sir, and I I did look at it, but unfortunately I can't remember exactly what it was.

22:14

That's right.

22:14

But I think we're I think we're showing improvement if I remember correctly.

22:17

Is this fiscal year?

22:18

This is calendar year.

22:20

Do we think that all of 2025 was calculated consistently, or did that okay?

22:27

All of 2025 is calculated.

22:28

I believe they started from what I saw, I believe they started calculating it consistently towards the end of 2024.

22:35

I believe 2025 is calculated correctly.

22:37

Okay.

22:38

So in the past, um there was always uh a differentiation between unbuild and uh uh known loss versus unknown loss.

22:51

Yes, sir.

22:52

So when I'm looking these numbers, is this total loss or is this unknown loss?

22:57

This is uh what they would call what Texas Water Development Board calls unaccounted for water loss.

23:02

Okay.

23:03

So that means you can't tie it to metered, you can't tie it to metered and unbuild or build, you can't tie it to um flushing of fire hydrant or maybe uh the flushing that we do on a regular basis just to just for uh bacteriological purposes.

23:21

And we estimate that, I'm not sure.

23:22

Yeah, and that's estimated.

23:24

Yeah, you just can't tie it back.

23:26

It's just you don't know it's just a loss.

23:28

You don't know what it is.

23:30

It's exactly good.

23:34

Okay.

23:35

Ready to move forward?

23:37

Okay.

23:38

So 2025 annual water loss, total water development, total water from the North Texas Municipal Water District was 1.341 billion gallons.

23:47

Total water pump from the Hawthorne water uh Hawthorne pump station was 1.328 or two nine billion gallons, which leaves one point uh and the total accounted for water consumption was 1.160 billion gallons, which leaves total water loss for the entire year 168 million gallons or 13 percent.

24:12

That's a lot better.

24:13

That's 10 percent less than it's still a lot of water to be lost, and we're working on getting it better, but it it's a vast improvement.

24:22

You'll see that in the kind of the next slides.

24:24

Where's the benchmark for that?

24:25

So where do you want your water loss to it?

24:27

I would like the gold standard for Texas Water Development Board is 10% or less.

24:32

Okay, and so that's where I would like to see it.

24:34

Um however, they also see anything 15% or less is to be acceptable.

24:39

Yeah.

24:40

Okay.

24:40

And statewide water loss like this is like it happens in every city.

24:44

Yes, it's you know, there's always some.

24:47

Unfortunately, it's a common thing.

24:48

Because we're gonna not lose water.

24:50

Yeah, some I I would I'll be honest with you, some cities are better than others, uh, obviously, but uh uh you know, if anybody says they're not losing water, they're not telling you the truth.

25:01

Right.

25:02

So is that based mostly on infrastructure like the oldest.

25:07

You know our we're lucky here our our infrastructure is in really good shape.

25:11

It's the service lines that are really the problem.

25:14

Um I'll use an example.

25:16

I since I've been here, we haven't had a uh a true mainline leak.

25:20

And talking to Daniel, who's been here about three years, a little over three years, he hasn't had a mainline leak either.

25:28

So uh we've got great infrastructure.

25:32

You all know that number will go down.

25:35

I think we'll get to mine and Donald's desired outcomes as we continue with the service line replacement project.

25:42

So it's exciting to see it go downward this way.

25:45

A lot of this, like Donald said, is calculating properly, but also those leaks that they've been fixing time over time.

25:51

So uh we expect that the number continues to get better.

25:54

Have we have we actually started uh the service line?

25:58

Not yet.

25:58

Okay.

25:59

Are we still out?

26:00

Have we gone to bid?

26:01

Uh we should go to bed at the end of this month or early March, which we're gonna talk about a little bit very soon.

26:07

Another slide.

26:08

Um so here is the monthly water loss by percentage.

26:12

Uh and you can see uh December was a little bit of improvement over October and November, it's 10%.

26:17

Uh September was a great month.

26:21

Uh there was absolutely no leaks reported in uh in September.

26:25

So again, we had some October, November, and December.

26:31

And what are we doing right now for leak detection?

26:34

Uh it's it's the same thing that we talked about last update.

26:37

We're trying to be proactive and get out on the streets and investigate any ponding or pooling or running water that we see.

26:43

Uh you know, we want to be out there.

26:45

All our crews are instructed to keep an eye out for it.

26:50

And then we're reacting to anything that we uh we get from a customer.

26:53

You know, they'll tell us, hey, I don't have water pressure, we'll go out and investigate uh nine times out of ten, that's probably a leak on a service line, and we'll go out and uh fix that right away.

27:03

Try to try to get those down.

27:07

Here's uh 2025 water leaks.

27:10

Uh for 2025, we had a total of 40 leaks, which is down from 23 and 24.

27:15

Umfortunately, I've seen several in January already, so January may peak up a little bit as well.

27:22

Uh and these are just some of the just some examples of the water of the leaks that we have.

27:27

Different size, different size holes in the line, you just never know what you're gonna get when you pull that thing out of the ground.

27:34

So can go back.

27:35

So when you say like here is an estimated water loss of um whatever that one million three hundred thousand.

27:42

So does that get counted in our water loss percentage, or because you know what it came from, does it get subtracted?

27:51

It will get so this number will be counted for as accounted for water.

27:56

However, we know that this leak was probably ongoing for longer.

28:01

Uh-huh.

28:02

So we don't know how long that would be the unaccounted for portion.

28:06

If that makes sense.

28:08

Yeah.

28:08

So we go through and we estimate each leak that we fix, and then we subtract that out from like what it might have shown up as.

28:17

Because that's no longer I'm just thinking through it in my head.

28:20

Okay, I got it.

28:20

Thanks.

28:21

Yes, ma'am.

28:23

So what's next?

28:24

And this was the copper service line project that we were just talking about.

28:28

Uh I'm anticipating having that go out for bid uh later this month or early in March.

28:34

That's about 5300 service lines that we're looking to replace.

28:43

And that's all I have.

28:44

Happy to answer any questions.

28:46

So on that, can you go back to the not the last slide, the slide before that?

28:50

But yeah, uh the one that showed the pictures of the pipes.

28:53

Oh, this one for so these were all on the private side, right?

28:58

No, this was our this was our side.

29:00

This was all so what happens is we'll get a call from uh we'll get a call from the uh customer that says, Hey, I don't I have low water pressure, we'll go out and verify what the water pressure is.

29:11

And um, obviously if there's no leak on their side, we're not nothing servicing, then it's probably on our side.

29:16

So we'll if they have you know really low pressure, say 40 or less, we'll go ahead and replace it immediately.

29:23

If they still have some pressure, 50 or 60, um, then we may let it sit for a little while until we can you know fit it in the schedule amongst the other priorities.

29:33

But typically this is on the back side of the meter in between the main, and we'll we'll pull it out of there and and put in a new a new uh a new service line.

29:45

Okay.

29:46

Thank you.

29:47

Are we applying for any state grants?

29:49

Not for this, we're not, no sir.

29:51

No, sir.

29:52

But we do we do keep our eye on some of the Texas Water Development Board funding.

29:57

They have some uh some funding out there, it's available.

30:00

It's available.

30:01

Unfortunately, it's usually for um uh cities that uh more low-income cities that uh and they do have some uh also have some uh low interest loans that they'll give out, but typically those interest rates are higher than what we can get bonds for.

30:17

So we keep an eye out, see if they have any programs that might fit us, but uh they usually don't quite fit us the right way.

30:26

You know what would be great is if we sometimes on our website, you know, we send out information, but to remind people if they have low water pressure, any type of issue to contact you guys to have you come out because as you said that I was like, guess who's been having some low water pressure since that winter storm?

30:44

Yeah, that would be me.

30:45

Yeah.

30:46

Okay.

30:47

We can definitely but I guess that serves as a reminder sitting here that oh yeah, I do need to it is lower storm.

30:56

Right, yeah.

30:57

Well, and that's a good point.

31:01

Yeah, uh as we look at this, a storm like that, an ice storm like that, the change in the weather, it moves the it moves the soil and it makes poles worse.

31:10

Which which is why we believe we're seeing more uh more leaks popping up right now.

31:14

Yeah.

31:15

That makes sense.

31:16

Yep.

31:17

Any other questions?

31:19

Thank you.

31:20

Thank you.

31:20

Yep.

31:22

Right.

31:23

City manager staff reports.

31:25

All right.

31:25

Mayor and council, just a few updates for the community.

31:29

The rainbow trout roundup is coming up in the next couple of weeks.

31:32

It'll take place on February 28th at the uh City Hall Pond from 10 a.m.

31:37

to 1 p.m.

31:38

This is kid-only fishing um from 10 to 1.

31:43

Fishing before 10 a.m.

31:45

is strictly prohibited until after the event is over.

31:49

The recycling truck art contest is underway.

31:53

The um contest is officially open.

31:55

The submission deadline is February 28, 2026, and there is a new drop-off location.

32:01

You can drop off your artwork only on eight and a half by eleven uh inch paper at the Murphy Community Center or the Murphy Act Ten Activity Center, excuse me.

32:12

Um create a mascot based on what Murphy means to you.

32:16

Please ensure it is an original drawing, not using AI assistance or reusing mascots from previous years.

32:24

Um and just as a reminder, this the winner of the winners in the different categories of the artwork does go on to a recycling truck that drives around Murphy.

32:34

So your kids will have the opportunity to have their artwork on full display for the entire community for a year.

32:40

So please participate if you have little artists at home.

32:44

Food Truck Friday is about to take uh start back up again in March, March 13th and 27th.

32:50

Uh join us at Murphy Central Park from 6 to 9 p.m.

32:53

for Food Truck Friday.

32:55

Uh we will have live music, entertainment, and all the fun that we've had in past years.

33:00

And then our next council meeting will actually take place on Thursday, February 19th.

33:05

It will be a joint work session between the P and Z and the City Council, and that will be held in the community room uh at City Hall.

33:14

Thank you.

33:15

How many Fridays will that food truck uh the 13th and the 27th?

33:19

Two.

33:20

Two.

33:20

Very good.

33:22

All right.

33:23

Moving on to item eight consent agenda, all consent items will be considered to be routine by the city council.

33:29

Be enacted by one motion.

33:30

There will be no separate discussion of those items unless a council members have request in which event the item will be removed consent agenda and voted on separately.

33:39

Would anyone like to remove an item from the consent agenda at this time?

33:45

Seeing none, I'll take a motion.

33:47

Mayor move that we approve the consent agenda as presented.

33:50

Second.

33:51

I have a motion, second.

33:52

All is in favor.

33:52

Aye.

33:53

Any opposed?

33:54

Motion passes unanimously.

33:56

Item nine, individual consideration.

33:58

98.

33:59

Consider underact on a resolution authorizing city manager to execute a general services agreement with Neil Shaper Inc.

34:06

to provide engineering services for design work associated with the rehabilitation replacement, approximately 6,000 linear feet of sanitary sewer line and concrete roadway in the timber subdivision, an amount not to exceed 411,900.

34:22

Is this going to include how many panels of actual road ways to be the entire roadway?

34:29

And the reason that is because we will tear up the entire roadway when we replace the sewer lines.

34:35

Which specific road is going to be I can show you a uh exhibit or an attachment if uh Carter can bring that up.

34:44

It's the same area as the uh cast iron main project that we came before council a while back.

35:00

And I would I would anticipate doing this in phases.

35:02

All the green lines?

35:03

Yes, sir.

35:04

So we're gonna have all brand new roads in the timbers.

35:11

If we take those sewer lines out, we're gonna destroy the roadway.

35:14

Yes, it is a a good answer.

35:16

I mean you just roads need to be replaced.

35:19

Yeah, but need to be replaced.

35:21

Yeah.

35:23

I don't want council to think that um I guess I guess what surprises me is 411,000.

35:32

That's the design.

35:33

It's just the design.

35:34

That's just the design, yes, sir.

35:36

All right.

35:37

All right.

35:38

I was gonna say you're not replacing 80% of the roads and the timbers for 411,000.

35:44

No.

35:44

But I don't want council to think that these are in the end if that's the case.

35:50

Yeah, TMU.

35:51

Yeah.

35:51

I don't want to think I don't want council to think that these are these sewer lines are in in danger of catastrophic catastrophic failure.

35:58

They are not uh this is yeah, this is a proactive approach.

36:03

Right.

36:04

Yeah.

36:04

And this is the same project we talked about last meeting.

36:08

Yes.

36:08

Right?

36:09

Okay.

36:10

Yes.

36:11

This is the one that we deallocated about $511,000 for, and then council approved reallocating 411 for this project.

36:20

Right.

36:20

That's what I thought.

36:21

Thanks.

36:23

Donald, what is the you talked already about having uh this completed in phases?

36:27

Do you have any idea of timeline?

36:29

I I do not.

36:30

I'm waiting on engineering to come through on this after we, but I would think that you know you're gonna look at six plus months of of engineering and design.

36:38

Uh depending on how they see the phasing coming out, I would think you would probably tear up the tear up the roads to get to the sewer lines in one place while you and then one year fixing the road, you move over to the next phase.

36:53

So I'm thinking you're probably looking at from start to finish, including design, three and a half to four years.

36:59

So the it'll be interesting to see your do your your uh your your traffic planning on this.

37:08

Especially during school, like with school buses and you know, all of that activity going on trying to get down the road.

37:14

All of that would be taken in consideration.

37:16

And the reason that we would want to phase this is obviously you you would want to you want to phase it in such a manner that you're not bringing heavy construction equipment right back over a road you repair you just replaced.

37:27

So that'd be an important part of the phasing.

37:29

Well, there's limited egress in some of these areas as well.

37:32

Yes.

37:33

Uh there's some work that I know that we're gonna be doing behind the curb.

37:36

Is that gonna be included or try to include that in this same time, or is that gonna be separate?

37:40

You're talking about the water lines or the it's gonna depend on the uh on the phasing and if we can get any uh economy of scale uh from that.

37:49

And that's something that we've talked to the engineer about.

37:51

Is there a way to possibly combine the two projects into one?

37:55

Um we would already torn up.

38:00

We've talked, we brought that up with the engineer, and it it's gonna depend on the economy of scale for sure.

38:04

Okay.

38:04

So I have an additional question.

38:06

Now that now that I understand a little bit more about this.

38:09

Right.

38:09

Okay, at the bottom, we'll look at Rocky Glen.

38:12

Um my friends that live over there telling me about drainage issues that they've had with stormwater.

38:19

Would this be an opportunity to help kind of fix stormwater on that too?

38:24

If you're tearing up the street anyway for that.

38:26

It would depend on where the yeah, it would depend on where the I'd have to look at those lines to see where they run and what kind of issues they're having.

38:34

Okay.

38:34

I I don't know if like just talking about it, I won't know if it's an issue with the lines or if it's something downstream that's blocking it, and we just need to.

38:42

I'll send you a report.

38:43

Yeah, absolutely.

38:44

Okay.

38:45

Be happy to look at that.

38:46

Thank you.

38:51

Any other questions?

38:52

Take a motion.

38:53

Mayor, I move that we approve um agenda item A as presented.

38:58

Second.

38:59

We have a motion signal in favor.

39:00

Sorry.

39:01

98, yes.

39:02

Uh I have a motion, all those uh and a second, all those in favor?

39:06

Aye.

39:06

Any opposed?

39:07

Motion passes unit.

39:09

All right, we're gonna move into executive session.

39:11

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

39:17

Item A 551.071, consultation with attorney on pending or contemplated litigation.

39:22

And on a matter in which the duty of the attorney to the government body under the Texas disciplinary rules, professional conduct, state by Texas clearly conflicts with this chapter in reference to 103 pioneer.

39:34

All right.

39:35

And the time is 6.39.

39:38

I know.

39:41

All right.

39:42

City council reconvening the regular session pursuant the provisions of chapter 551 sub chapter D text and government code take any action necessary regarding A51.071 consultation with attorney on pending or contemplated litigation and on a matter in which the duty of the attorney to the governmental body under the Texas disciplinary rules of professional conduct of the State Bar of Texas clearly conflicts with chapter uh in reference to 103 Pioneer Lane.

40:08

Time is 711.

40:12

And we are just a second.

40:22

And I'm going to go on to item 12, future agenda items.

40:25

Council may members may request topics for future agenda meetings.

40:29

No member of the city council may discuss any of the requested subjects until such a matter has been properly placed on the agenda.

40:35

Would anyone like to add an item to a future agenda at this time?

40:41

Seeing none, we are adjourned.

40:43

Time is 711.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Water And Wastewater Management█████████████████████████████29%
Community Engagement█████████████████17%
Public Safety███████████11%
Engineering And Infrastructure█████████9%
Procedural████████8%
Budget Equity Analysis███████7%
Parks and Recreation██████6%
Procurement████4%
Public Engagement███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Regular City Council Meeting - February 17, 2026

The Murphy City Council held its regular meeting on February 17, 2026, at 6:00 PM. The meeting included public comments on a proposed mosque development, a water loss update, and approval of a contract for sewer line rehabilitation in the Timber subdivision.

Consent Calendar

  • All consent items were approved unanimously by a single motion.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Mr. Little: Expressed concerns about the stormwater fee increase, stating that 5 of 12 characters in a sales tax comparison were incorrect (over 40% wrong). He requested meetings with council members to discuss projected expenses and fund balances, noting that only two members responded and one never replied. He questioned why unresponsive council members should be re-elected.
  • Jan Stormont: Voiced opposition to the Islamic mosque development, characterizing Islam as a political ideology rather than a peaceful religion. She shared a story about a neighbor from Iran whose father was killed for not converting to Islam, and urged council to oppose the development.
  • Samuel Hand: Addressed misconceptions from a prior meeting. He defended free speech, stated no threats of violence were made, and called a Holocaust comparison "outrageous." He expressed concerns about rapid demographic changes, traffic safety, and segregated development practices, urging preservation of community values.
  • Christine (409 Shady Oaks): Opposed the mosque proposed at North Murphy and McMillan Road, citing traffic, school capacity, and demographic changes. She asked council to delay approval until all residents are informed, noting only 2 of 13 neighbors knew of the project.
  • Dedra (Texas veteran): Opposed the mosque, highlighting existing traffic congestion on Murphy Road and McMillan. She questioned whether additional police would be needed for traffic control and the associated costs, and warned against making Murphy like Epic (a nearby development).

Discussion Items

  • Water Loss Update (Presentation by City Staff): The 2025 annual water loss was 168 million gallons (13% of total water purchased), down from prior years. Staff attributed the improvement to consistent calculation methods per Texas Water Development Board guidelines, fixing leaks, and better coordination with the water district. The goal is to reach 10% or less. The upcoming copper service line replacement project (approx. 5,300 lines) is expected to further reduce losses. Staff reported 40 leaks in 2025, with several already in January 2026. No state grants were being pursued for this project.
  • Timber Subdivision Sewer Line Rehabilitation (Item 9A): Council considered a resolution authorizing a $411,900 agreement with Neil Shaper Inc. for engineering design to replace approximately 6,000 linear feet of sanitary sewer line and concrete roadway in the Timber subdivision. Discussion included phasing over 3.5–4 years to minimize construction disruption, potential coordination with water line replacement, and addressing stormwater drainage concerns on Rocky Glen. The item was approved unanimously.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved: Resolution authorizing the city manager to execute a general services agreement with Neil Shaper Inc. for sewer line design in the Timber subdivision, not to exceed $411,900 (unanimous vote).
  • Executive Session: Council entered executive session at 6:39 PM under Texas Government Code §551.071 to consult with attorney regarding pending litigation (103 Pioneer Lane). Reconvened at 7:11 PM with no action taken.
  • No future agenda items were requested.
  • Meeting adjourned at 7:11 PM.

Meeting Transcript

All right. Welcome as I call to order the Jebruary 17th regular city council meeting. The time is 6 p.m. We have some guests with us tonight. Girl Scout Troop 67, did you say? No. 647. Huh? 647, 647 is here, and they are going to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. So if you rise with me, I'll give the invocation and then we'll allow the ladies to uh provide the lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Our Heavenly Father, as we bless uh 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 serve. Your name we pray. Amen. Ladies. Go ahead. To the flag of the United States of America. And for which it stands, one nation, very odd, and indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. And ladies, Girl Scouts was always a huge thing within my family. It was very important. Both my daughters went through, both my daughters earned their gold award. It was exceedingly rewarding for them. And your ability to work together as a community, your well, your ability to reach out to the community are all things that you can learn and will learn within within the scouting tradition. So I really appreciate you coming out and visiting with us today, and we welcome you. All right. Turn the time over to City Secretary for Roll Call and Certification Quorum. Mayor Scott Bradley. Here. Mayor Pro Tim Elizabeth Abraham? Here. Deputy Mayor Pro Tim Janay Butler. Here. Councilmember Place 2, Scott Smith. Here. Councilmember Place 3, Andrew Chase? Here. Councilmember Place 4, Ken Oldman. Here. Councilmember Place 5, Laura Gill? Here. Mayor certify the presence of a quorum. All right. Thank you. All right. Next on the agenda of public comments. This is the time we set aside an agenda to allow residents to adjust council. I'm an item not on the agenda this evening. Do you have some talking points that I want to provide before we kind of move into the public comments?

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