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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

June 16, 2026 Regular City Council Meeting Summary

City Council — Tuesday, June 16, 2026

BodyIdaho Falls, Idaho

SessionCity Council

DateTuesday, June 16, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 25:20

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

0:01

Oh, cow.

0:02

All right.

0:03

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

0:08

Time is 6 p.m.

0:09

Rise with me as I offer the invitation.

0:10

Leave the pledge of allegiance.

0:17

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

0:20

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

0:24

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

0:27

In your name we pray.

0:29

Amen.

0:30

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

0:35

And to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible.

0:41

With liberty of justice for all.

0:51

Mayor Pro Tim Scott Smith.

0:53

Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Ken Otman.

0:55

Here.

0:56

Councilmember Place 1 Elizabeth Abraham.

0:58

Here.

0:59

Council Member Place 3 Debbie Ison.

1:01

Here.

1:01

Council member place five, Kevin Kelly.

1:03

Here.

1:04

Council member place six, Janay Butler.

1:06

Here.

1:06

Mayor certified the presence of a forum.

1:08

Thank you.

1:09

Moving on to public comments.

1:10

It's time we set aside the agenda to allow residents to address council on item not on the agenda this evening.

1:16

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

1:22

Seeing none, move on to mayor's report.

1:24

I have nothing in the mayor's report.

1:26

Is there anything from council?

1:28

I do update, of course.

1:32

All right.

1:33

So I had my NCT 911 Board of Managers meeting debrief on June 10th.

1:40

Great.

1:41

So the action items we approve the March 11, 2026 board meeting minutes.

1:46

We adopted revisions to policy ADM 2.8 boundary changes and annexations to align with NG 911 GIS based service boundaries and routing practices.

1:58

So it's going to say take 60 days to make changes, or whenever somebody submits a change, it'll take 60 days for that to, or they have up to 60 days to make that change.

2:07

Authorize a contract with Verizon Wireless for emergency communication wireless services and backup connectivity not to exceed 150,000.

2:16

And then authorize a contract with SHI government solutions for Microsoft licensing maintenance services supporting critical infrastructure, and that was not to exceed 250,000.

2:32

So we have been getting ready for FIFA, making sure that all of our emergency calls work.

2:38

If you are from out of the country, that we're able to actually pull up a phone number and call that person back if they call in with an emergency.

2:47

So that started about 16 months ago.

2:49

And so so far it's going well.

2:56

Especially as they get ready for the Olympics in LA coming up.

3:00

So more to stay tuned for on that.

3:04

And then also working with translation issues since there's so many different countries, uh, people from different countries coming.

3:10

So that's a work in progress as well, but they use voyance for their language interpretation.

3:14

Um and so now trying to also use AI to recognize the language so that they can get them connected to the right uh interpreter.

3:22

Um we talked about our quarterly financial report.

3:26

Um we had our director's report highlights.

3:29

One thing that will probably affect Murphy is going to be the call handling equipment workstation utilization review.

3:36

So we're going to be looking at that.

3:38

Um we are on target because the stations that we have we use, but there are some cities that don't use the stations, and so they're thinking about maybe going back and you know, telling them, okay, well, you only really use two, so we're only going to pay for it to stations for you, and then if that city decides, they can actually pay to have um that extra station if they would like.

3:58

So that will be coming up.

4:00

We will have a special meeting for that.

4:02

Um we worked on the safe streets and roads for all grant application uh application that was submitted.

4:08

Um we've been working on the legislative and strategic visioning uh for 2050, and we had some updates provided there, but we'll also have a separate meeting for that as well, so that we're prepared and then um NG911 core services procurement narrowed to the final vendors.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Public Safety█████████████████████21%

Personnel Matters██████████████████18%

Procedural██████████████████18%

Parks and Recreation███████████████15%

Racial Equity██████████████14%

Community Engagement██████████████14%

Summary of Proceedings

June 16, 2026 Regular City Council Meeting Summary

The Murphy City Council held a regular meeting on June 16, 2026, at 6 p.m. The meeting included proclamations for Juneteenth, recognition of Mary Pat Ellard for the Veterans Tribute, and Parks and Recreation Month, along with awards for city communications. The council also approved the consent agenda, discussed updates from the NCT 911 Board and COG, and entered executive session to discuss legal matters and the city manager's contract, resulting in an amendment to that contract.

Consent Calendar

The consent agenda was approved unanimously without discussion or any items removed.

Public Comments & Testimony

No members of the public addressed the council on items not on the agenda.

Proclamations & Recognitions

Juneteenth Proclamation (Item 6a): Councilmember Janay Butler read a proclamation declaring June 19, 2026, as Juneteenth Independence Day in Murphy. June Jenkins, President of the Collin County NAACP, was present to accept. The council encouraged residents to attend a community celebration on Friday.
Recognition of Mary Pat Ellard (Item 6b): Mayor Pro Tem Scott Smith read a proclamation honoring Mary Pat Ellard for her nine-year leadership in establishing the Murphy Veterans Tribute, which recently celebrated its grand opening.
Parks and Recreation Month Proclamation (Item 6c): A councilmember (self-identified as a former Parks Board member) proclaimed July 2026 as Parks and Recreation Month, thanking the Parks and Recreation Department and board members present.
TAMEO Communications Awards (Item 6d): The city’s Communications Director presented two awards from the Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers (TAMEO): second place for a social media post (out of 711 entries, achieving 1,900 followers) and first place for a budget video. The director also announced her resignation after 12 years of service, effective soon.

Discussion Items

Council Updates:
- Councilmember Janay Butler reported on the June 10 NCT 911 Board of Managers meeting. Key actions included approving minutes, adopting policy revisions for boundary changes, authorizing a contract with Verizon Wireless for emergency services (not to exceed $150,000), and a contract with SHI Government Solutions for Microsoft licensing (not to exceed $250,000). She noted preparations for FIFA and the LA Olympics, including improvements to emergency call handling for international visitors and AI-based language interpretation. A future review of call handling equipment workstation usage may lead to reallocating costs among cities.
- Mayor Pro Tem Scott Smith provided an update from the North Texas Council of Governments (COG) General Assembly, which elected new officers and discussed legislative matters. He described the meeting as “a little longer and more contentious” than usual.
City Manager Staff Reports (Item 7): City Manager Aretha Adams announced:
- Murphy's Sounds at Sundown summer concert series resumes Friday, June 20 (7–10 p.m.) at Central Park, continuing June 26 with an Elton John cover band.
- A budget work session is scheduled for June 30 at 6 p.m. in the community room.
- City Hall will be closed on June 19 (Juneteenth) and July 3 (Independence Day).
Executive Session (Items 9a–9b): The council recessed at 6:23 p.m. into closed session under Texas Government Code Chapter 551 to consult with the attorney on pending litigation (code enforcement nuisances) and receive training on employment law basics, and to deliberate the appointment, evaluation, and duties of City Manager Aretha Adams. The council reconvened at 8:16 p.m.

Key Outcomes

Consent Agenda: Approved unanimously.
Executive Session Action: The council voted unanimously to authorize the city attorney to amend City Manager Aretha Adams’ contract regarding housing and severance provisions, as discussed in executive session, and to authorize the mayor to execute the addendum.
No future agenda items were requested. The meeting adjourned at 8:17 p.m.

Meeting Transcript

Oh, cow. All right. Welcome as I call to order the uh June 16th regular city council meeting. Time is 6 p.m. Rise with me as I offer the invitation. Leave the pledge of 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 of justice for all. Mayor Pro Tim Scott Smith. Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Ken Otman. Here. Councilmember Place 1 Elizabeth Abraham. Here. Council Member Place 3 Debbie Ison. Here. Council member place five, Kevin Kelly. Here. Council member place six, Janay Butler. Here. Mayor certified the presence of a forum. Thank you. Moving on to public comments. It's time we set aside the agenda to allow residents to address council on item not on the agenda this evening. Would anyone like to address counsel on item not on the agenda this evening? Seeing none, move on to mayor's report. I have nothing in the mayor's report. Is there anything from council? I do update, of course. All right. So I had my NCT 911 Board of Managers meeting debrief on June 10th. Great. So the action items we approve the March 11, 2026 board meeting minutes. We adopted revisions to policy ADM 2.8 boundary changes and annexations to align with NG 911 GIS based service boundaries and routing practices. So it's going to say take 60 days to make changes, or whenever somebody submits a change, it'll take 60 days for that to, or they have up to 60 days to make that change. Authorize a contract with Verizon Wireless for emergency communication wireless services and backup connectivity not to exceed 150,000. And then authorize a contract with SHI government solutions for Microsoft licensing maintenance services supporting critical infrastructure, and that was not to exceed 250,000. So we have been getting ready for FIFA, making sure that all of our emergency calls work. If you are from out of the country, that we're able to actually pull up a phone number and call that person back if they call in with an emergency. So that started about 16 months ago. And so so far it's going well. Especially as they get ready for the Olympics in LA coming up. So more to stay tuned for on that. And then also working with translation issues since there's so many different countries, uh, people from different countries coming. So that's a work in progress as well, but they use voyance for their language interpretation.

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