By Rhonda Hodge

After several presentations before the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council over the past few months, a vote was made to deny the application of Aldi, Inc. a Special Use Permit for a grocery store on property zoned PD District for Retail Uses. The proposed site was on property located on West FM 544, west of North Murphy Road, next to Sonic. Most residents refer to the property as “where the cows are”.  

Before the vote was taken, Mayor Bret Baldwin had convened the Council into Executive Session for consultation with the City Attorney.  Upon reconvening, a public hearing was held, in which there were no comments presented. Neither was there further discussion by the council. Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Colleen Halbert made the motion which was seconded by Councilmember Scott Bradley .The motion passed, 7-0.

The Charter Review Commission has completed its six months review of the City’s current charter. They received high praise from City Manager James Fisher as well as Councilmember Halbert. Citing their dedication and attention to detail going line by line on each item to thoroughly discuss and consider possible changes and improvements. The Charter Review Commission consisted of Martin Brenner (Chairman), Jory Denny (Vice Chairman), Greg Alway, Nancy Bartlett, Chuck Dern, Clay Dethloff, Bernard Grant, Barbara Harless, Donald McKinney, J. T. Oden, II, Dennis Richmond, Robert Russell, Betty Spraggins, Kenneth Tatsch, and Walt Thomas. Those present were given an ovation in recognition of their service. Along with the proposed changes, Fisher also submitted drafts of a proposed ethics ordinance and Governance Policy for review and consideration by the Council. He advised that for the charter amendments to be on the November 2010 ballot, the election must be called by August 24. 

The next regular scheduled City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 6 due to the July 4 holiday. It begins at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers located at the City Hall Complex, 206 N. Murphy Road.

By Alexandra Pedrini

At the city’s June 15 Parks Board meeting, the board discussed policies for community rooms, renovations for the old Murphy School and possible plans for Maxwell Creek.

Current policies regarding use of community rooms in city buildings work on a first come, first serve basis free of charge. With the policy changes, the city will require Murphy residents to fill out a pre-inspection form and sometimes place a refundable $100 deposit. The deposit may only be applied for events city staff members deem necessary, such as when food, drinks or messy crafts are involved in the groups’ plans.

Before a group uses the space, they will be required to complete a pre-inspection form for the room. This will allow people to document any previous damage done keeping them from being charged for the harm. Although there were concerns of people completing the forms after their event and claiming the damage done was present before their event, board member Cary Walker said they must go on the honor system; though this system is not perfect, he said it is the best they have.

The new policies will only allow a group to reserve a room twice a week. Reservations will be done by the group rather than the individual, stopping one organization from reserving the space for several days preventing other groups’ ability to use the space.

The motion carried unanimously to recommend the plan as proposed to city council.

The board plans to turn the old Murphy School building into a community center. Preserving the building’s historical character, the city plans to restore and expand the building providing meeting spaces for local residents.

The building will include four meeting rooms, two of which will share a moveable partition making the rooms larger and a gymnasium with bleachers and a stage. Each room will hold 12 to 22 people and the gym will hold 222 to 500, room capacities vary depending if guests are standing or seated.

There will be a kitchen for use in one meeting room, but there will be no swimming pool, workout or athletic equipment. This building will become a community center and a gathering place not a recreation center, Walker said.

The reconstruction will be done in an eco-friendly way because it will reduce long term costs and will fix original parts of the building in good shape to help cut costs. The total project cost is $3.25 million.

The board passed this proposal with a unanimous vote to be presented to the 4B committee the following evening.

Brian Jones spoke about his plan to build secondary trails to Maxwell Creek. The new trail would begin at the existing nature trail and extend closer toward the creek. Most parts of the trail would be about five feet above the actual creek, but board members worry during heavy rains the trail will become flooded and erode.

Signage may be placed along the trail informing people of the potential dangers present after and during rain.

In order to create this trail, Jones is looking for volunteers and said he has already discussed working with Boy and Girl Scout troupes and Murphy Middle School classes to build and maintain the area. Jones said he is looking into other groups for support as well.

This item was proposed to send to City Council as it is in July and carried unanimously.

The next meeting of the Parks Board will be July 20th at 6:30 p.m.

By Alexandra Pedrini

On June 16, the Murphy Community Development Corporation’s 4B members met to discuss budget plans for various projects in the city and for the fiscal years 2010 and 2011.

Linda Truitt, city director of finance, discussed the FY2010 budget amendments to fund projects for this year. At the end of FY 2009, $59,000 was spent for unexpendable promotional expenses when only $10,800 was budgeted. Adjustments included increases to the unexpended promotional budget, the capitol, and conceptual master plan for municipal complex for a total increase of $116,000.

These budget changes will have an effect on events groups seeking unexpendable promotional money from the board, but this will be included in the budget for FY2011.

Kim Lenoir spoke to the board about the plans for the old Murphy School Community Center. After reviewing the plans and request of the citizens, the committee discussed the budget for the project.

The project will require $2.5 million to complete the renovation of the building, but is short an additional $500,000 for furniture and fixtures. 
“The bottom line is we can get this building done for what we have,” Lenoir said.

The additional money needed would go towards furniture, fixtures, extra parking spaces and an additional room. The plans will soon be presented to City Council.

Truitt then presented the changes to the FY2011 budget. The main changes will be to travel and training, promotional expenses and consulting fees.

4B president Cary Walker asked for a contingency for consulting fees. He said he would feel comfortable cutting the $8,000 in half for travel and training costs and putting $4,000 towards consulting. Because the city has already limited the number of people who go away for training and conventions, the cost is already limited. He said he thinks this is working.

After this meeting, the board chose to change their meetings to the third Wednesday of every other month at 6:30 p.m. and whenever needed.

City of Murphy Seeking Board & Commission Applicants
 
Murphy, TX – The City is still accepting applications for volunteers who are interested in serving on one of the City’s Boards or Commissions. Applications are accepted year-round, but in order to be eligible for the 2010 appointment process, applications should be submitted by June 30, 2010. Applications are kept on file for one year. Interviews will be conducted by Councilmembers Colleen Halbert, Dennis Richmond, and Dave Brandon during the month of June with appointments being made in July.

Applications and board descriptions are available on the City’s website, at City Hall, or via email from the City Secretary. Applicants should be qualified voters of the City of Murphy. Additional qualifications may apply depending on the specific board.  (http://www.murphytx.org/cityhall/bandc.asp.)

The City Council will also be appointing two citizens for a one year term to the Budgetary Finance Committee. This committee will work with two appointed Councilmembers and the Finance Director to review the annual budget, the audit report, and the City’s financial policies.

City Boards & Commissions
4A Economic Development Corporation Board
4B Community Development Corporation Board
Animal Shelter Advisory Board
Board of Adjustment
Budgetary Finance Committee
Building & Fire Code Appeals Board
Community Events Committee
Park & Recreation Board
Planning & Zoning Commission

At the May 24 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, Heather Rimmer, Denton division director of real estate for Aldi Inc. and Bryan Burger, civil engineer  from Lawrence A. Cates & Associates working for Aldi Inc. appeared before the committee seeking approval for a specific use permit to build a new grocery store. After discussing the location, design and appearance of the loading dock, the original motion carried with a 3-1 vote.

The proposal will allow Aldi Inc. to build a store in the block A, lot one of the purposed Murphy Plaza addition on West FM 544 and West of North Murphy Road. The 16,657 square foot grocery store meets all requirements of the board.

Gus Delaloy, Murphy resident, approached the committee to speak about what impression the Aldi grocery stores have made on himself and his family. He would like to see this business here rather than in further down FM 544 in Wylie.

The main point of concern brought up to Rimmer and Burger about the project was the appearance of the loading dock. With this plan, the dock will be facing the parking lot in plain sight of customers in the shopping plaza. Council chairman Kelly Smith said this is “a bit of an issue” for him. Burger said in order to make the prototype of the store work, this dock must be in plain sight. There will be landscaping around the area to help block sight of the dock. It cannot be moved to face the north because the retailers on the store’s north side may be using the parking lot area needed for the semi trucks to enter. The interior of the dock will be built to match the rest of the building, he said.

“You can match the brick, you can match the paint, a loading dock is a loading dock and they’re still ugly,” Smith said.

The committee asked about adding a gate to the dock as a way of hiding it. Burger and Rimmer both said a fence will be ineffective since many times store management will leave it open causing it to become damaged.
After discussing different options for the loading dock’s design, the committee moved to keep the case as submitted and carried. Aldi Inc. will appear on June 21 City Council agenda.