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Featured Articles
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Citizen's Police Academy
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Register NOW for new session of…. Murphy Citizen’s Police Academy
September 28, 2010 – November 30, 2010
every Tuesday from 6:30pm - 10pm
- Must be 18 years old
- Must be a resident of or employed in Murphy
- Must have a clear criminal background
Applications available at:
Murphy Police Department
206 N. Murphy Rd.
Murphy, TX 75094 Or
online at: www.Murphytx.org Application Deadline is Sept. 17, 2010 @ 5pm
Contact: Officer Kris Riebschlager #4143
CPA Coordinator
(972)468-4259
(972)468-4200
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City Council Meeting Highlights
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By Saudia Kroviak The August 16th City Council meeting covered a variety of items including the proposed City of Murphy 2010-2011 fiscal year budget and a proposed tax rate increase. During a public hearing Mr. Roger St. Martin addressed the budget with questions regarding percentage of reserve funds, stating, “You are the citizens’ first line of defense.” Mr. St. Martin also requested projecting revenues within the 5 year plan. In addition, Mr. Gus Delaloye commented on the proposed budget. He has been a Murphy resident for over 30 years and asks, “Is the city looking at electric efficiency?” Mr. Delaloye provided personal examples of how he has managed to cut his own electricity bill in half and recommends the city implement an energy efficiency plan for the municipal complex. Voting will take place Monday, September 20 at 6:00 p.m. for the City of Murphy fiscal year 2010-2011budget and the proposed tax rate of $0.5817 per $100 valuation.
Mayor Baldwin opened a public hearing with no comments submitted regarding consideration and/or act upon approval of an ordinance amending Chapter 22, Article II of the City of Murphy Code of Ordinances, regarding regulations pertaining to sexually oriented businesses. The hearing was closed with a motion to reconsider on the September 7th Council Meeting.
Council reviewed the 2010 Park and 4B projects with no action on this item and will submit their comments and priorities for the Park and 4B Board to consider at a future date.
Councilmember Daniel moved to approve an ordinance extending the hours of sale for alcoholic beverages to 2 a.m. Councilmember Halbert seconded the motion. A vote was taken and passed, 4-3 with Mayor Baldwin, Council member Richmond, and Councilmember Brandon voting in opposition.
Other items passed during the August 16th meeting include authorizing the City Manager to execute a contract not to exceed $475,000 to J & K Excavation for repairs to the Windy Hill Farms Lift Station. Councilmember Bradley moved to approve as presented. Councilmember Daniel seconded the motion and it passed 6-1 with Councilmember Halbert voting in opposition. Councilmember Daugherty moved to approve a resolution designating the Murphy Monitor as the official newspaper with the Dallas Morning News as secondary. Councilmember Richmond seconded the motion, passing 7-0. Councilmember Bradley moved to approve an ordinance ordering a Special Election to be held on November 2, 2010 to amend the City Charter with Sections 5, 6, and 7 of the ordinance to be amended with polling locations, early voting information, and required notifications; and to direct the City Secretary to make and publish all required notices. Councilmember Daugherty seconded the motion. Councilmember Halbert moved to amend the motion to remove Proposition 4, regarding the election cycle for councilmember places, not including subsection Councilmember Daniel seconded the motion. This passed 5-2 with Mayor Baldwin and Councilmember Richmond voting in opposition. A vote on the main amended motion was taken and passed, 7-0.
City Manager Fisher reported on the McMillen Road paving project informing council that the title searches are complete on determining public/private road. Maxwell Lane is not public road. Bids will be on the upcoming agenda along with the Ethics and Governance Policy. Finance Director Linda Truitt presented the July Financial report. Community Services Manager Kim Lenoir presented the Construction/Capital Projects update.
City Council held a closed Executive Session to discuss economic development negotiations regarding commercial or financial information that the governmental body has received from a business prospect; as well as to consultation with City Attorney regarding pending litigation or contemplated litigation or settlement offer involving Michael Cantrell v. City of Murphy, et al., Cause No. 6:09-cv-225 and the pending litigation or contemplated litigation regarding notice of claim from Johnny Boles.
Other closed session discussion included deliberation regarding real property and an evaluation of the Municipal Judge, City Prosecutor, City Secretary and the City Manager. There were no votes or action taken in Executive Session. Once Council reconvened into regular session, Councilmember Daugherty moved to set the City Secretary’s salary for the fiscal year 2011 to $77,000.00, Councilmember Richmond seconded the motion and it passed, 7-0. Councilmember Daugherty moved to set the City Manager’s salary for the fiscal year 2011 to $133,000.00, Councilmember Richmond seconded the motion and it passed, 7-0.
The next city council meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 7th due to Monday the 6th being a holiday.
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Riley Frost Making a Difference This Saturday
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Cookies for Chris
Saturday, September 4th
9 a.m.
125 Sarah Way, Murphy
Sarah Way is in Windy Hills Farms, The Reserve. The street leading to 125 Sarah Way is John Close, off of Heritage Pkwy. next to Oak Brook Day Care Center.
From Riley:
My friend Chris needs a kidney transplant and I want to help raise $ for him to help with the costs. I will be selling cookies at my house, 125 Sarah Way, if you would like to buy cookies for a good cause.
My friend Chris is 37 years old and is battling end stage renal disease. He was born with a condition called Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis which resulted in blindness at birth. He recently found that the renal failure is a result of the Leber’s. While Chris is seeking a donor with Type O blood, I want to help him raise $ for his medical bills.
I would love to have you come to my home on Saturday and purchase cookies that my mom and I are baking for his fundraiser. If you would like to help me out by baking cookies, brownies, etc. and bring them by, I would love that too! Just call my mom and let her know. At least come by and say HI to Chris and me and give us a Hug! Hope to see you there!
Any questions, give me a jingle: 972-712-0703 Thanks~ Riley Frost
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Strike Up the Band!
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 The Plano East Senior High School Marching Band kicks off the year with its first event, the 5th Annual East Cluster Band March-a-Thon, Saturday, August 28th at 8:00 a.m. at Kimbrough Stadium.
Admission is free, and any and all are welcome to watch and support the bands! All of Plano East’s feeder middle and high school bands will be in attendance. This will include over 1000 students from Plano East Senior High, Clark High School, and Williams High School, and the following middle schools: Armstrong, Bowman, Murphy, and Otto.
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Electronic Recycling – August 28
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The City of Murphy is now offering disposal of used computers and electronic equipment. The City will provide a drop off location twice per calendar year at 206 N. Murphy Road on the last Saturday of February and the last Saturday in August.
Residents will be able to drop acceptable items off between the hours of 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. on these designated days. Please visit our website at www.murphytx.org or contacted our Customer Service Department at 972-468-4100 for more information.
Our partner, Erecycler, LLC will provide trained staff to unload residents’ vehicles and will charge a fee to each individual citizen for the removal of the waste. Erecycler wipes out any information on your computer and provides a receipt for your records. The company follows a no-landfill policy and all parts of electronics are recycled domestically.
Please note that this service requires the following cost to be paid by residents to Erecycler, $5.00 per CRT monitor, $10.00 per Television, and $0.15 per pound of other electronic equipment for services outlined as acceptable items listed below. Payments accepted: Cash, Check, AmEx, Discover, MasterCard and Visa.
The following items are ACCEPTED through the used computer and electronic equipment program and should not be placed in your refuse or recycling containers:
Acceptable Items:
Cables
Remotes
Printers
CD Rom Drives
Digitizer and Drawing Boards
Processors
Software
Disk Drives
Radios
Stereo Components
External Drives
Scanners
Circuit Boards
Fax Machines
Telephones
Chips
Hard Drives
Televisions
Computer Books
Keyboards
Line Printers
Video Cassette Recorder
Laptops
Mini-systems
Players
Modems
Telex Machines
Computer systems
Monitors
Terminals
Copiers
Mouse Components
Digital Video Disc Player
Phone Systems
*All items must be able to be handled by two people
Unacceptable Items:
Furniture (desk, chairs, etc…)
Appliances
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Recent Articles
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Murphy Fire Department beginning new program for emergency preparedness
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By Alexandra Pedrini
Murphy Fire Chief Mark Lee does more than put out fires in and out of the office. While working on getting his Bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas and serving as chief, Lee also works as part of a team to bring an emergency preparedness class to Murphy.
With multiple decades of firer-fighting experience under his belt, Lee joined the Murphy department in 2006 as assistant chief. Now as chief, he said even though riding the fire trucks was more fun, he learned the new challenges of administration.
One of his latest projects is working with a team to start a Community Emergency Response Team trained in disaster preparedness. This team will take classes to learn about basic skills in first aid, search and rescue and disaster readiness in case of emergency.
Because Murphy is a one fire station town, the fire truck and ambulance can only answer one call at a time. Typically other stations from surrounding areas send assistance whenever needed, Lee said. But when Murphy is affected by a disaster such as a tornado or sever storm, the towns around who work with the department and provide mutual aid, cannot send help because their area has been affected too. This emergency response team will be trained in what to do until help does arrive. Lee said he hopes to begin classes in October.
“We hope we never have a live event for them to respond to in the sense of a disaster,” Lee said.
This team will also be trained in search and rescue for situations such as a missing person or child. This team will help the fire fighters in a prolonged accident, he said.
The team will be called in for various emergencies where large numbers of people are needed, but they can also be called to aid the fire department when fighting a prolonged fire. The team will be asked to provide rehab supplies. Lee said they’d like to have somebody to bring in water, ice cold wet towels and other supplies to help keep the fire fighters from becoming dehydrated since putting out a fire is very taxing on the body.
“Murphy is a community in every sense of the word,” Lee said. “People tend to be very involved in their neighborhoods and their town. Most of the people here are of the giving spirit and like to help.”
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Back to School Safety is not just for the kids
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ATTENTION MURPHY DRIVERS It is illegal to use a wireless communication device in a  school zone unless the vehicle is stopped or a hands-free device is used. Signs are posted at the beginning of each school zone to remind drivers that using a wireless communications device is prohibited and the operator is subject to a fine.
Murphy Ticket Cost for cell phone use in a school zone: $327.00 Get caught speeding in a Texas school zone and you can expect to pay a hefty fine.
Murphy Ticket Cost depending on the rate of speed in a school zone: $228.00-$327.00 Red flashing lights and extended stop arms indicate that the school bus has stopped, and that children are getting on or off. Motorists must stop their cars and wait until the red lights stop flashing, the extended stop sign is withdrawn, and the bus begins moving before they can start driving again.
Murphy Ticket Cost for passing loading/unloading school bus: $327.00 Let’s keep all of our kids safe and your money in your wallet!
Photo by Carolyn Alvey, pictured are Mary Jane Coker of Murphy with kids Caitlyn, Cole and Carson at Miller Elementary on first day of school.
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AUGUST YARDS OF THE MONTH
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Glen Ridge Estates .JPG) Brad and Sarah Irish along with their sons Jack and Conner.
127 Shirehurst. Brad does his own yard work and the rest of the family pitches in as they help keep Glen Ridge looking great!
Hunters Landing II and IV
Bobby and Tona Payne at 302 Covington. They have lived at this address  for 6 years and have consistently had a well groomed yard. Congratulations!
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Community events committee prepares for Maize Days
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By Alexandra Pedrini
Maize Days was the topic of the August 12 Community Events committee meeting. The group spent over two hours hammering out details of the September 25 event.
 The committee plans to bring a variety of events to the festival for adults and children of all ages. The first event of the day will be the Murphy Maize Days A-Maize-ing 5K Run at 8:15 a.m.
The largest part of the event will be the kids’ zone. Over 175,000 square feet will be designed for children and teens. Attractions will include face painting, pottery painting, a rock climbing wall, a video games truck and more for free or at a small fee.
“We’re going to have a rocking kid zone,” said committee member Barbra Dube.
The committee chose to not have a car show at this year’s event because the show would not be located in a convenient location in relation to the festival. Even with shuttles running back and forth between the potential locations of the show, this would not add to the festival other than adding something adults will be interest in going to, members said.
Instead of just cutting the car show, the committee decided to approach car dealerships to ask if they would display some of their new cars. This will still give adults a chance to look at cars, but the city will not be out $600 for fees and trophies.
Maize Days will also feature Karaoke Corn Idol, corn spitting and scarecrow decorating contests, and a corn cook-off with cash prizes awarded to winners.
The committee will be getting a bin from the North Texas Food Bank and will be accepting canned food donations before and during the event.
Various venders will be selling food and goods at the festival. The committee said they are still accepting applications for venders.
For festival-goers’ entertainment, bands Hard Country, Zane Williams and Eleven Hundred Springs will perform at 3 p.m., 4:15 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. respectively.
For event times and information, visit www.murphymaizedays.com.
Pictured left to right: Barbara Dube, Nancy Dinh, Keri Kirkwood, Debbie Ison and Margaret Whitt
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Two Year Old Dies In Parked Vehicle
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Wylie TX, - On Thursday, August 12, 2010 at approximately 5:33 P.M., Wylie Police and Wylie EMS responded to a 2 year old female not breathing call in the 2900 block of Katie Circle. Upon arrival Wylie EMS found the child to be non-responsive. The child, Carson, was pronounced dead on scene. Jason Dean Adams arrived at his residence at approximately 2:30 P.M. He had five children with him ages, 9,8,7,6 and Carson. Adams went inside the home and thought Carson was with the other children. At approximately 5:20 P.M. Adams went upstairs to get the children ready for soccer practice. He did not see Carson and the other children did not know her location. Adams and the other children searched the house for Carson and did not find her. Adams went to his SUV parked in the driveway and found Carson inside the vehicle not breathing. He immediately contacted Wylie 911 and performed CPR. The Wylie Police Department and the Collin County Child Abuse Task Force are continuing the investigation.
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