Murphy City Council Regular Meeting – July 20, 2026
Murphy City Council Regular Meeting – July 20, 2026
The regular meeting of the Murphy City Council was called to order at 6:00 PM. The meeting included a presentation of the Employee of the Quarter award, a water loss report, a city manager update, and approval of the consent agenda. Council also recessed into executive session and reconvened without taking action.
Consent Calendar
- Consent Agenda: Approved unanimously by a motion and second, with all members voting in favor. No items were removed for separate discussion.
Presentations
- Employee of the Quarter: Ashley Hudson was recognized as the Employee of the Quarter for her work on large‑scale events (e.g., Hop & Hunt, barbecue event). The award was presented by the Recreation Superintendent, who praised her contributions.
- Water Loss Report: Donald (staff) presented the annual water loss update. Key points:
- Historical water loss peaked in FY2022‑23. For FY2024‑25, loss was 13% (16.8 million gallons), within acceptable norms per Texas Water Development Board methodology.
- June 2026 showed 14% loss vs. 13% in June 2025; year‑to‑date loss was 10% in 2026 vs. 14% in 2025.
- Leak repairs: 51 in 2024, 40 in 2025, and 19 so far in 2026.
- Council‑approved copper service line replacement project (July 7) is expected to begin Aug./Sept. with an 18‑month timeline. Staff noted proactive leak detection is limited during dry conditions, relying on citizen reports.
City Manager Staff Reports
- HEB will officially open to the public on July 21 at 6 AM; traffic delays are anticipated.
- The Emerald City concert (previously canceled) will be rescheduled for Friday, July 31, 7–10 PM at Murphy Central Park.
- The next council meeting will be a combined regular meeting and budget work session, starting in chambers then moving to the community room.
Executive Session
- Council recessed into executive session at 6:16 PM under Texas Government Code §551.071 (consultation with attorney on pending or contemplated litigation) and §54 (code enforcement). Reconvened at 7:00 PM with no action taken.
Key Outcomes
- The consent agenda was approved unanimously.
- No action was taken following executive session.
- The water loss report was received and discussed; no formal vote was required.
- No items were added to a future agenda.
Meeting Transcript
All right. Welcome as I call to order the July 21st City of Murphy, regular city council meeting. Time is 6 p.m. Rise with me as off the invocation. Lead the Budget of Allegiance. Our Heavenly Father, bless us as we consider the agenda in front of us tonight. Give us the wisdom to act with compassion and shouldn't 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. Mayor Scott Bradley. Here. Mayor Pro Tim Scott Smith. Deputy Mayor Pro Tim Ken Oldman. Here. Councilmember Place 1, Elizabeth Abraham. Here. Councilmember Place 3, Debbie Ison. Here. Councilmember place 5, Kevin Kelly. Councilmember place 6, Janae Butler. Here. Mayor certified the presence of a quorum. Thank you. All right. We're going to move on to public comments. Is the time on the agenda we set aside to allow residents to address council on an item not on the agenda this evening? Would anyone like to address council on an item not on the agenda this evening? Seeing none. I wanted to just take a moment to thank staff. We had our we had the grand opening today of HEB. And this has been the culmination of about four years of work between staff and HEB to make this come to fruition. A lot of times we don't always see all the things that are happening behind the scenes. This has been quite a lift for you guys over the let over the years. Thank you for everything you did in order to bring this to uh uh the product. Does anyone else have anything they'd like to add from the mayor's report? All right, seeing none, we'll move on to presentations. Item 6A presentation employee of the quarter, Chelsea Montgomery. You're always the employee of the quarter. I know. Well, good evening, Mayor and Council. Jump the gun there. Um tonight I have the pleasure of introducing our next employee of the quarter. Um so for those of you who don't know, this program is designed to publicly recognize a Murphy team member who consistently embodies our core values of being Murphy cool. Um so the way that it works is each quarter of the fiscal year, employees have the opportunity to nominate anyone who they believe is um deserving of this award, and then the final selection is made by the city manager's office. So without further ado, I am pleased to announce that our next employee of the quarter is Miss Ashley Hudson. Yay. And I'm gonna hand it over to our recreation superintendent to present Ashley's award.
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