The Murphy City Coun­cil at its April 6 meeting ap­proved moving forward with planned community events for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Councilmembers con­sidered the items in light of the ongoing pandemic. The events include three Moon­light Movies, to be held in late April and early May; four Sounds at Sundown Concerts in June; and Mur­phy Maize Days on Sept. 25.

City officials cancelled all Moonlight Movies, Sounds and Sundown Concerts and Murphy Maize Days for the FY20 fiscal year. Fund­ing for the events remained in the budget for FY21 be­cause city officials said they intended to reinstate these community events as soon as it became safe to do so.

As infection rates slow and vaccines become more widely available to the pub­lic, city staffers wanted ap­proval to move forward with all budgeted events for FY21, with additional health and safety measures in place to limit crowd size and monitor capacity and promote social distance and proper hand hygiene for event attendees.

At the Keep Murphy Beauti­ful Clean and Green event April 10, proper personal protective equipment was used and people were encouraged to stay in their cars, although one recycle station – toys, housewares and clothing – saw people getting out of their vehicles to unload items.

For the full story, see the April 15 issue or subscribe online.

By Don Munsch • [email protected]