HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-08-11Meridian City Council Workshop August 11, 2015.
A meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 3:03 p.m., Tuesday, August
11, 2015, by Mayor Tammy de Weerd.
Members Present: Mayor Tammy de Weerd, Charlie Rountree, Keith Bird, David
Zaremba, Joe Borton, Genesis Milam and Luke Cavener.
Others Present: Bill Nary, Jaycee Holman, Bruce Chatterton, Warren Steward, Tracy
Basterrechea, Mark Niemeyer, Sean Kelly, Jake Garro, Austin Petersen and Dean Willis.
Item 1: Roll-call Attendance:
Roll call.
X David Zaremba X _ Joe Borton
X__ Charlie Rountree X_ Keith Bird
__X__ Genesis Milam __X__ Lucas Cavener
__X_ Mayor Tammy de Weerd
De Weerd: Well, good afternoon. Welcome to our City Council meeting. For the record it
is Tuesday, August 11th. It's a few minutes after 3:00. We will start with roll call
attendance, Madam Clerk.
Item 2: Pledge of Allegiance
De Weerd: Item No. 2 is the Pledge of Allegiance. If you will all rise and join us in the
pledge to our flag.
(Pledge of Allegiance recited.)
Item 3: Adoption of the Agenda
De Weerd: Item No. 3 is adoption of the agenda.
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: On Item 4-R, the resolution number is 15-1079. On 4-F the resolution number
is 15-1080. On Item 7-B the resolution number is 15-1081. On 7-D the resolution number
is 15-1082. And with those additions, Madam Mayor, I move that we approve the agenda.
Bird: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve the agenda as read. All those in
favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carried.
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August 11, 2015
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MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 4: Consent Agenda
A. Approve Minutes of June 17, 2015 City Council Budget
Workshop Meeting
B. Approve Minutes of July 14, 2015 City Council Workshop
Meeting
C. Approve Minutes of July 21, 2015 City Council Meeting
D. Approve Minutes of July 28, 2015 City Council Pre Council
Meeting
E. Approve Minutes of July 28, 2015 City Council Meeting
F. West Ada School District Resource Officer Agreement
G. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for ZOA 15-001 Human
Bean by Ada County Highway District Located 1648 N. W. 1st
Street Request: Text Amendment to Table 11-2D-2 of the Unified
Development Code to Include a Drive-Thru Establishment as a
Conditional Use in the O-T Zoning District and a Modification to
the Associated Specific Use Standards Listed in UDC 11-4-3-11
H. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for RZ 15-001 Human Bean
by Ada County Highway District Located 1648 N. W. 1st Street
Request: Rezone of 2.08 Acres from the R-4 to the O-T Zoning
District
I. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for CUP 15-014 Human
Bean by Ada County Highway District Located 1648 N. W. 1st
Street Request: Conditional Use Permit for a Drive-Thru
Establishment in the O-T Zoning District
J. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for PP 15-009 Kentucky
Villas by C4 Investments, LLC Located 835 W. Victory Road
Request: Preliminary Plat Approval Consisting of Eight (8)
Building Lots and Two (2) Common/Other Lots on 3.87 Acres of
Land in the R-4 Zoning District
K. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for MDA 15-007 Hill's
Century Farm by Brighton Corporation Located 5340 S. Eagle
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August 11, 2015
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Road Request: Amendment to the Development Agreement to
Remove the School Site from the Development Agreement
L. Final Order for FP 15-024 Ambercreek No. 3 by Trilogy, Idaho
Located Southwest Corner of E. McMillan Road and N. Meridian
Road Request: Final Plat Consisting of Twenty (20) Single Family
Residential Lots and Three (3) Common Lots on Approximately
4.91 Acres in a R-8 Zoning District
M. Final Order for FP 15-025 Southern Highlands Subdivision No. 2
by Brad Pfannmuller Located West of S. Eagle Road Between E.
Amity Road and E. Taconic Drive Request: Final Plat Consisting
of Forty-Five (45) Building Lots and Four (4) Common Lots on
20.68 Acres of Land in an R-4 Zoning District
N. TimberGrove Subdivision Water and Sewer Easements
O. Renewal of Professional Services Agreement for Mayor's Anti-
Drug Coalition
P. Christmas in Meridian 2015 Sponsorship Agreement Between
the Idaho Independent Bank and the City of Meridian for a Not-
to-Exceed Amount of $750.00
Q. Christmas in Meridian 2015 Sponsorship Agreement Between All
American Insurance and the City of Meridian for a Not-to-Exceed
Amount of $750.00
R. Resolution No. 15-1079: Authorizing Donation of Filing Cabinets
to the ARC and Youth Commission Idaho
S. Resolution No. 15-1080: Approving the Retirement of Police
Canine Ivan and Approving the Donation of Police Canine to
Meridian Police Officer Jeremy Lindley
T. Streetscape Sublicense Agreement with Meridian Development
Corporation for placement of Kiosk at E. Idaho Street and 2nd
Street
U. Approval of Task Order 10518.a to Jensen Belts Associates for
the “Bellano Creek Park - Design” Project for a Not-To-Exceed
Amount of $52,598.00
V. Approval of Award of Bid and Agreement to J2 CONSTRUCTION
for the “IDAHO AVENUE SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENT” Project for
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August 11, 2015
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a Not-To-Exceed Amount of $59,162.00. This project is funded by
a Community Development Block Grant
W. Fall Creek Subdivision No. 2 Water Main Easement
X. Chinden and Linder Crossing Sewer Easement
Y. Recreational Pathway Easement Between Chinden and Linder
Crossing LLC and the City of Meridian Regarding a Multi-Use
Pathway Easement as Part of the Chinden/Linder Crossing
Development
Z. Approval of Award of Bid and Agreement to Pipeline Inspection
Services, Inc. for the “SEWER MANHOLE RETROFITS AND LINE
REPAIRS 2015” Project for a Not-To-Exceed amount of
$62,500.00
De Weerd: Item 4 is our Consent Agenda.
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: I move that we approve the Consent Agenda with the previously approved
resolution numbers. Authorize the Clerk to attest and the Mayor to sign.
Bird: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve the Consent Agenda. Any
discussion? Madam Clerk, will you call roll.
Roll Call: Rountree, yea; Bird, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 5: Items Moved From Consent Agenda
De Weerd: There were no items moved from the Consent Agenda.
Item 6: Community Items/Presentations
A. Republic Services Rate Adjustment Report and Schedule
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August 11, 2015
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De Weerd: So, we will move into Item 6-A under Republic Services rate adjustment report
and schedule. So, who is kicking us off? Dave? Welcome to our City Council meeting.
It's nice to see you.
Fisher: Thank you. It's good to be here. My name is Dave Fisher. I'm the general
manager for Republic Services and I have a couple of folks that came with us today.
Rodney Remling is our business unit controller and we have Steve Sedlacek in the
audience.
De Weerd: We always love seeing Steve. And, Rodney, welcome.
Fisher: And I think Rachel is on her way. So, we appreciate a few minutes to be able to
be before you to talk about kind of the -- what's going on in trash and recycling and some
other programs we have.
De Weerd: We love trash talk.
Fisher: Yes. We do, too. We do it all day long, so -- we are going to split this up a little
bit. Rodney is going to talk about a couple of elements and, then, I'm going to come back
and visit with you about something and -- and, then, Steve is here, too, from -- to give us
an historical perspective of kind of prior to Republic being on the scene and -- and it is --
we did include it in your packet, so there is quite a bit of information in the packet and we
will kind of talk about the highlights of that.
De Weerd: Okay. Thank you, Dave.
Remling: Madam Mayor, Council Members, three components hit our price adjustment
request this year. The annual CPI, which is -- we always consider. And two other pieces
were involved this year related to fuel tax with House Bills 132 and 312, which go into
effect July 1st of this year and, then, the household hazardous waste piece, which Dave
will speak to. The Consumer Price Index for western United States, 90 percent of that
adjustment is 1.01 percent or about 14 cents on a residential household per month. The
change in law, Idaho passage of House Bills 132 and 312, impacts us about four cents
per residential household per month. So, we have 15 routes in the City of Meridian.
Currently three of those are CNG routes and, then, the balance if those are diesel routes.
That's about -- the tax increase on that is about a thousand dollars a month or 12,000
dollars per year. That's the four cents per residential household per month. We are
putting in place three more CNG trucks, so beautifying our service here a little bit more.
That's not impacted here in these rates, so it's historically been three CNG rates or three
-- excuse me. CNG trucks. Tax went from two cents per gallon in CNG to 32 cents or an
increase of 30 cents per gallon and diesel went up seven cents per gallon, so -- if you
have any questions on that part of it at all before Dave comes back?
De Weerd: Council, any questions --
Bird: I have none.
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August 11, 2015
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De Weerd: -- at this point? Okay.
Fisher: Thanks, Rodney. The -- as we look -- and traditionally in the industry as we look
at contractual obligations we have with cities, generally there is some mechanism in place
for adjusting the rate on an annual basis and here in the City of Meridian it's 90 percent of
the Consumer Price Index, which over the last several years the Consumer Price Index
has been really low, not much inflation going on, and so we have seen a trend actually
where our -- our actual costs are exceeding the conditional use permit and so it continues
to be a little bit of a concern for us where we are eroding margin every year, but we are
not asking for anything different there than what is stated in the contract. The other part of
that is that the other common stipulation in a contract is if there is a situation where there
is a change in law, an uncontrollable cost is created or changed that cities traditionally
build in some sort of a stopgap for that and that could be disposal -- what we pay for
disposal, tax increases that kind of go beyond the pale of the -- or the scope of the CPI.
So, that's why we are -- we are talking about that. We fought very hard to not see the
passage of those bills. We think the fuel tax bill particularly on the national gas is the
wrong direction for the state and really took a Draconian step backwards in dealing with
that. We understand that we need more money for highways, but the -- the steps they
took on that -- it was really a 1,200 percent tax increase and -- so we will continue to work
on that. We'd like to see something change on that, but this the way it stands right now
and the law came into effect in July 1st. On that household hazardous waste collection, I
thought we would -- we would update you a little bit on that. So, beginning in October of
2000 the City of Meridian began a monthly collection of household hazardous waste and,
then, over time that was increased to a weekly. Now, the collection that happens is on our
property out on Franklin Road. It's once a week and the money that we are talking about
here pays for the manpower to actually collect it and, then, move it to the Ada county
household hazardous waste building and, then, the county pays for all the processing and
transportation and that. It's a countywide program and, then, the -- each city, then,
decides to what extent they want to have collection sites locally and that's -- the City of
Meridian is once a week at our facility. In the past this program has been funded by the
sale of recyclables and so what's happened in the recycling markets are that there used to
be two sources of revenue on curbside recycling. It's -- the fees that the customer paid for
or paid and, then, there was always a small portion came back through the sale of the
commodity and world markets have changed to the point where now the commodities,
once we gather them, the processing of them, the bailing of them and the transportation to
the market outweighs the value that we get for that. It would be a little bit like a farmer
raising hay that cost a hundred dollars a ton and you can only sell it for 90. That's,
basically, kind of what's going on. So, we were -- what was being used was that value
above the cost of the commodity was used to fund the household hazardous waste
program. That has eroded to the point now where there is no money left. In fact,
Republic Services has subsidized that for the last several years, so not only was there not
money available, but we have been paying out and it looks like it's going to be around
500,000 dollars where we have actually subsidized the household hazardous waste
program and the commodity -- the sale of the commodity over the last several years. And
what we are talking is that this -- we feel like this is not sustainable, that in line with what
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August 11, 2015
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the other cities do that the service that is being provided to the city and the citizens is
funded by the citizens, rather than out of the sale of the commodity, which is not available
anymore. So, as part of our request for that is that we are asking that 24 cents per month
per household be added to the -- to the bill and that can either then be forwarded to
Republic Services to pay for the household hazardous waste or it could be just paid
directly by the city. Either way. We are hoping that the commodities -- the value comes
back, but for the foreseeable future we are not seeing that right away. So, even if you
take this action today Republic Services will continue to subsidize curbside recycling. So
far this year we have subsidized it about 67,000 dollars. So, in other words, you know,
you paid to collect it, then, it was processed and, then, sent to end users and the
difference in that processing and transportation was -- it cost 67,000 dollars more than --
than the value of the commodity and we are not proposing that we -- we are not asking
the city to do anything different on that, but we are asking that because there is no funds
available from the sale of those commodities that if we are to continue the household
hazardous waste program we need a way to be able to fund that. So, I will stand for any
questions or our group will stand for any questions.
De Weerd: Counsel, any questions?
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Dave, a couple of questions for you. Talk to me about usage of this household
waste program. Is it something that a significant amount of more citizens are taking
advantage of? Is it a small percentage of citizens that are taking advantage of? I mean
how are you tracking the popularity or the usage of that program?
Fisher: I appreciate that question. That's a good one. Let me -- we do track and we ask
if -- if you have used it before or if you're new and the statistic I remember that it's about
80 percent of the customers have done it at some point before, which could be five years
ago they came in and about 20 percent each month are new and this is the most popular
collection site in the county and it's -- and you can cross jurisfiscal boundaries, so
meaning if you live in Meridian, but you work in Boise you could take your household
hazardous waste to one of their sites and I think we get maybe a little of that back, but if
you're within the county -- and they do ask if you live in the county or before they will
provide the service. So, I'm looking here at -- yeah. In June it looks like we had just over
a thousand participants coming through the site.
Cavener: Okay. Follow up, Madam Mayor? Dave, is that a -- is that a good ballpark
number? Is that about a thousand people a month give or take?
Fisher: Yeah. I think that June was a fairly good month. It looks like July was 520. May
was around 500.
Cavener: Okay. So, between five and a thousand.
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August 11, 2015
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Fisher: Yes. So, between 500 and a thousand. And, like I say, from what statistic I
remember, like I say, about 80 percent have used it at some point in the past. It doesn't
mean they come every week. And about 20 percent are just people that have never used
it before.
Cavener: Madam Mayor, maybe another question. You state -- and maybe you can
indulge me, because you are definitely the subject matter expert on this stuff. Around the
country is this the model? To me at a 101 level approach it seems like we are asking a lot
of our citizens to front the cost for what a very small percentage of our citizens use and I'm
just curious is this the best mousetrap to address this issue?
Fisher: It's interesting in that a lot of things in residential service is -- really it's a value
statement of the community. Obviously here in Idaho we don't have a shortage of landfill
space and it's always the cheapest to just put it in the landfill --
Cavener: Sure.
Fisher: -- and there is actually exemptions for household hazardous waste. There is no --
there is nothing really legally that there is hazardous waste in your house, because of the
limited commodity -- or the amount that you produce, but it's really a value statement that
communities make as to what programs you're going to have on top of just put it at the
curve and it goes into the landfill. So, curbside recycling household hazardous waste tend
to be -- in my mind at least a little bit like parks and libraries and things like that, that they
don't necessarily pay for themselves, but they are a part of the services provided by
communities and people look to those communities for those services and it becomes --
so, a household hazardous waste program is not -- kind of like way out there, that's very
normal service provided in a municipality. We are fortunate in that Ada county has got
very good contracts in place for the disposal of it, so I would say for the amount of
household hazardous waste that we are keeping out of our landfill, the amount of money
we are paying for that is -- we are getting a real bargain because of the arrangements that
are put in place.
De Weerd: And certainly I think you find that prevention costs less than -- than clean up
and overloading our -- our landfill and that is -- I guess if we asked Mr. Historian over
there that we would talk about this approach. While we have been very fortunate to have
been able to cover it through the recycling and, you know, the commodities that have
seemed to tank and -- but recycling and disposing of -- of this kind of household waste is
very important to the environment and the cost if we don't do it and -- and I guess that's
just been a policy decision that the city has made up to this point and that would be part of
the discussion if that cost is still worth it. I think for the few that do use it or the smaller
percentage, I'm hoping that everyone that has the kind of qualifier, they are not just
dumping it in the sewer.
Cavener: And that's to my point, is that I think that there is a significant amount of our
citizens that are just probably doing that, that there is a thousand households that are the
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August 11, 2015
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leader in this, just like there is a small percentage of households that are doing the grass
recycling program, which I applaud both of them, but with the grass recycling program
that's something that our citizens are paying to take advantage of. It's not a cost burden
that has been put onto all of our citizens and I just -- I wonder -- as much as I applaud the
household waste recycling program, the collection program, is it something that all of our
citizens should be paying for a very small percentage of them.
Fisher: Well, it is interesting -- I appreciate that and that's a great perspective, because
you look at it and you say, well, should everyone be paying and taking advantage of it.
So, if you're not using it, you're actually the one putting the pollutants in the landfill. So --
so, we have given you a vehicle to not do that. Now, if you choose to go ahead and
increase the amount of chemicals and paint and things in the landfill, that -- that really is
adding cost to what we have to do to manage that waste stream. So, I think that's a great
-- it's kind of the reflection of that perspective is rather than look who is not using it, so you
don't -- maybe they should be paying, to try to encourage them to do something other than
just throwing it in the landfill.
Cavener: I appreciate that. But my question is is this the best mousetrap that's out there.
Fisher: I think it is. Yes.
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Zaremba.
Fisher: If you're willing to try to capture it.
Zaremba: Just to sort of resurrect a discussion that we had several years ago in response
to somebody that wanted to opt out of the trash collection program entirely and say, oh, I
will haul my own to the landfill, I don't want to pay you to pick it up, what came out in that
discussion was the experience in other communities where they don't charge everybody
and, therefore, say, okay, you're paying for the service, you might as well use it, is that
people tended to collect far more stuff in their garage than they should or find a place on
the side of the road to dump it and at that time I think we wisely choose to subsidize
whatever we needed to subsidize and tell the public, no, you can't opt out of this. Yes,
you are going to pay for it and, please, use it, because we don't want to it collecting in the
garages or being dumped in the middle of the night on the side of the road. So, I'm -- I'm
in favor of subsidizing it if we need to.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Also -- so, Luke, I asked the same question at a SWAC meeting. Why don't we
just charge people to drop off the hazardous waste? But, really, the answer is, then, there
will be a lot fewer people will use this program, a lot more hazardous waste will get put
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August 11, 2015
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into -- into the dump and -- which is bad for our community altogether and the price is less
than a quarter per household, I say -- I figured -- I think it's worth it for our community as a
whole. So, that's where I'm at.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: I'm going to get back to -- Dave, are you able to articulate how much we have
been able to divert from the landfill since this program has began in Meridian? And I
recognize I'm putting you on the spot and I --
Fisher: Yeah, you are.
De Weerd: Yeah. But maybe Mr. History over there knows.
Fisher: Yeah. I don't know if Rachel is --
Cavener: And if not, Dave, that's fine. I just was -- I'm just curious.
Fisher: I will follow up. I have got some good information. I don't have it right at my
fingertips, but I will follow up and get that to you.
Cavener: And Madam Mayor? I think this is probably the third time I have said one last
question, but, Dave, can you talk to me about your fuel costs now versus a year ago?
Recognize that as a state we have increased our fuel taxes, but what I see at the pump is
that fuel costs less now than it did a year ago and I'm just curious what that impact has
been on you and your organization as far as cost savings.
Fisher: You bet. Yeah. I'm happy to do that. The Consumer Price Index that we use,
one of the elements of that is fuel. So, what we see is when fuel prices go down that
drives down that Consumer Price Index, so we -- we do see that fluctuate up and down,
but it is reflected in that. There are other indexes that more accurately reflect our actual
cost structure. There is a water-sewer-trash index. As we have looked at that it's actually
higher than -- and I don't need to tell this group that, you know, sewer-water increases
have been more than -- than the rate of inflation the last few years because of all the laws
and the changes there that -- so, conditionally the index that we use has a lot of different
elements in it. One is fuel and we think it actually lags behind what our actual cost
increases are. To give you an illustration on the fuel tax increase on the natural gas, we
are just starting our fleet of natural gas trucks in Meridian. We have a number around the
valley and the impact on us was 300,000 dollars in fuel tax increases. So, a significant
increase. To give you an idea, the way the state was working with the natural gas is you
could actually buy a fuel permit and it was around 300 dollars a year and, then, you didn't
pay on a per gallon and so we went from about 300 dollars a year to now paying on a per
gallon basis to 2,500 dollars. So, we saw an 1,800 dollar a truck increase just in that tax.
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August 11, 2015
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And, then, a seven cents a gallon increase on -- on all the diesel. So, yeah, it does
fluctuate up and down, but we see that reflected in the Consumer Price Index.
Cavener: Madam Mayor? Sorry. And one additional follow up. If -- if the -- the changes
are based on -- on the CPI, why, then, an additional amount based on the fuel tax
increase? Walk me through that, the process behind that.
Fisher: Right. As I was talking about the -- most municipal contracts have a normal CPI
type increase, but they also have a provision for increases in taxes. That Consumer Price
Index is a -- one we use is the western United States, so it doesn't -- you know, a data
point for fuel taxes in Idaho probably aren't even reflected in that, so that's why you have
those two different things. One is uncontrollable cost increases and we -- we had no way
of knowing or could predict that the state was going to do a 1,200 percent tax increase on
us for natural gas and I would argue that it's not even reflected in the CPI. The other thing
-- like I say, there is other things that could do that. We enjoy relatively cheap landfill
disposal costs, but that could go up 30 percent and if it did we would have no way of the --
the Consumer Price Index reflecting that, because it's really a -- it's a broad index over I
think basically the western United States and so it wouldn't reflect things like that
accurately.
Cavener: I appreciate it. Thank you.
Fisher: Yeah.
De Weerd: Other questions? Comments? Okay. Well, thank you, Dave. Okay.
Council, you have the report and the schedule. Should we ask how SWAC -- what SWAC
did?
Nary: Madam Mayor, yeah, there are a couple SWAC members in the audience, but the
SWAC did move it forward with a recommendation to approve.
De Weerd: Okay. And so the next step is to look for Council's action on moving this
forward to a future meeting -- through resolution?
Nary: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, yes. This is less than the five percent. By
statute you can move forward with just a resolution to approve the increase. At a future
meeting we can bring a resolution forward, if that's your direction.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: I move that we approve the recommendation of the SWAC commission to accept
the increases proposed with a resolution at a future meeting.
Bird: Second.
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August 11, 2015
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De Weerd: Okay. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Do we want a date
specific?
Nary: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, probably the -- the day you would like to
have it back, certainly, but also the date you want it to be effective. I don't recall
specifically if there was an effective date recommended by the SWAC or by --
De Weerd: It's October --
Nary: Yeah. Oh, that's right. It's based on the fiscal year. So, it's the October billing
cycle I think.
De Weerd: You can bring the resolution back next week?
Nary: Next week.
De Weerd: Okay. Okay. Anything further from Council? Madam Clerk, will you call roll.
Roll Call: Rountree, yea; Bird, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, nay.
De Weerd: Okay. Motion passes. Thank you for being here.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE NAY.
Item 7: Action Items
A. Public Hearing: Proposed Fall 2015 Fee Schedule of the Meridian
Parks and Recreation Department
De Weerd: Item 7-A is a public hearing on the proposed fall fee schedule for the Meridian
Parks and Recreation Department. I see Jake here. Hi, Jake.
Garro: Good. How are you? Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. As
you see before you, we have our activity guide fees for this fall, 2015. Our guide will go to
print tomorrow and be released Friday. A couple new classes this fall use. On the youth
side of things we are excited to offer a Robotics One camp with PC Adventures Learning
Lab in Eagle and another activity that I'm excited about is Starlight Mountain Theater
dinner and show for the seniors in our community. So, like I mentioned before, trying to
ramp up those activities for that demographic in our community and excited about taking
that trip up to Garden Valley on September 11th and with that being said I can stand for
any questions regarding this fee proposal.
De Weerd: Thank you, Jake. Council, any questions regarding the schedule?
Garro: Thank you.
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August 11, 2015
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De Weerd: Thank you. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone who would like to
provide testimony on this item?
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: Seeing how nobody wants to testify, I move we close the close the public hearing on
the proposed fee schedule for the Meridian Parks and Recreation Department.
Rountree: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to close the public hearing to Item 7-A. All
those in favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
B. Resolution No. 15-1081: A Resolution Adopting the Fall 2015 Fee
Schedule of the Meridian Parks and Recreation Department;
Authorizing the Meridian Parks and Recreation Department to
Collect Such Fees; and Providing an Effective Date
De Weerd: Item 7-B is Resolution 15-1081.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I move we approve Resolution No. 15-1081 for the fee for Meridian Parks and
Recreation Department.
Rountree: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 7-B. If there is no discussion,
Madam Clerk, will you call roll.
Roll Call: Rountree, yea; Bird, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
De Weerd: Thank you, Jake.
Garro: Thank you.
Meridian City Council
August 11, 2015
Page 14 of 26
C. PY2015 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Annual
Action Plan Public Hearing and Approval
De Weerd: Item 7-C is -- I think it's fiscal year. I don't know what the P stands for.
Kelly: Program year, Madam Mayor.
De Weerd: Program year. Thank you. I will turn this over to Sean who will tell us what
we need to know.
Kelly: I hope that will suffice. Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, thanks for allowing
me to be here this afternoon and talk to you about next year's -- which is program year
2015, which is going to be fiscal year 2016, coming onto calendar year 2016. This
presentation of the draft action plan and the public hearing is a final step for submission
and approval for our coming year's projects. The priority focused on coming years
supported by our current consolidated plan, the strategy is being decent housing and
suitable living environment. I will leave the slide here for a moment. This slide is a
breakdown of our 2015 program year allocations. As a program overview, the expected
award for next year is 330,000 dollars, approximately. Just a quick note on clarity. This is
not meant to be -- the total is not meant to be misleading from the sub total. It does not
equal 330,000 dollars until you recognize that 49,000, roughly, is coming from three
previous program years, '11, '12, and '13. That unallocated funds that we have had from
prior years that has been sitting there. We have been using it ongoing for different project
like the sidewalk projects and things like that. However, with the first-in, first-out process
with HUD going away, we don't want to leave any unexpended funds in prior years. They
haven't decided how it's going to work going forward, but it's probably apropos to move
that from previous years, apply it to the next coming year and, then, deal with '14 and '15
and '16 in their own program years and reallocate as needed as quickly as possibly. The
math does add up once you take into account that 49,000 dollars from previous years.
This is our geographic distribution of funds. As you can see we have three public service
projects -- or public facility projects that are actually going to happen within the LMI
community itself. One thing to note with this map -- you saw one last year and some of
you -- in previous previous years. There was only three. Our LMI area has doubled in
the last year. That is just a catch up of some other data from ATS. So, the two north --
Cherry Lane and Fairview is one -- being two only north of Fairview and one south to the
highway. So, for future years this gives us another opportunity to use CDBG funds in
those particular areas where public service -- or for public service and for public facility
projects. Are there any questions on this slide?
De Weerd: Any questions on this slide? How is that compared to the former LMI area?
Kelly: Madam Mayor, the former LMI was --
De Weerd: Cherry to --
Meridian City Council
August 11, 2015
Page 15 of 26
Kelly: It was Cherry to Franklin. So, those two there. Cherry to Franklin. And, then, the
one east of Main. And that was all we had and we have had that for several years. So,
this is the new computation with the new ACS data from 2006 being formulated and
added in that the new area needed income has changed and that shifted the area needed
income to the right, so this probably captures individuals who did not -- who were either
previously at area needed income or above and are now west of that line, as well as the
ACS data that just hadn't been -- hadn't caught up with what the funding sources were
yet.
De Weerd: Okay. Thank you.
Kelly: For our distribution of funds, this is -- the public service dollars -- the public service
dollars, the ask was actually left in the cap, as I have explained before. Because of that
Meridian Food Bank we decided to increase their ask to meet the cap. It seemed
appropriate. In previous years we had asked them to take less to give room for some
other public service agencies that were trying to use those funds. This is an interesting
year, because we didn't have -- or, rather, we accepted every full application in some form
or fashion for this year's action plan, probably because we had enough money to do so
and the projects that were being asked for were both qualifiable and smaller dollar
amounts than we had in previous years. So, we were actually able to include pretty much
everyone. For public service that meant we had a little extra, so that's where that was put
forth with the Meridian Food Bank funds. The senior advisory board, that resource guide
is meant to capture some specific information. It's mirrors -- it's supposed to mirror some
of the old -- we had a Meridian citizen resource guide that we still have -- that we have
some copies of around here. This is specific to seniors. It's meant to be a resource for
probably the most heavy out of those hard hit seniors that we had within the City of
Meridian. A senior board is heading that up. CATCH, who we have worked with just this
past year, they have also asked to be included. They decreased their amount significantly
from last year and that probably has to do with -- they have decided that their capacity to
meet Meridian need and the Meridian need itself with one individual that's working there,
is a little bit less than what they had originally intended for last year. So, public facilities,
the Five Mile Creek pathway is a direct enhancement to the LMI. It's actually -- this
particular segment of the pathway is right in one of those LMI areas that connects to one
of our new LMI areas and completes the pathway from Pine to Fairview. Just as a note,
Washington Park Apartments, which is a USDA funded low income housing facility, is
within a hundred feet of this -- or a few hundred feet of this continued pathway project.
The Meridian Elementary picnic shelter and recreational facility, this continues to shape
probably one of the large -- one of the LMI's largest green spaces to be a community
amenity. This project in connection -- in conjunction with the fitness path that was just
now constructed this year, continues to turn this into a park like and have park like value
to that green space right in the middle of the LMI. The Meridian Boys and Girls Club --
this particular project will fund them for painting the exterior, to bring that exterior from its
current dilapidated appearance to, hopefully, online with what the new gymnasium is
going to look like, so that should marry up. Madam Mayor, regrettably there is a slide
missing and I will just go ahead and talk to that. It's the decent housing that's the portion
of this next year's program year. We are going to partner with Neighborhood Housing
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August 11, 2015
Page 16 of 26
Services and Boise City, Ada County Housing Authority for 50,000 dollars to each of those
organizations to total 100,000 dollars. Again, 49,000 or so that is coming from previous
years and what that is for -- as we have done in the past is work with them to find low
income housing individuals -- or low income individuals who meet qualifications -- bank
qualifications to qualify for a loan, but can't afford the closing cost, can't afford some of
their down payment, and that's what we have done in the past with them here in Meridian
and so those two projects will go forward with this program year with this action plan.
And, then, for program administration, the city is asking for 20 percent, which is our cap,
which is not usually normal, we usually ask for a little less than that, and the reason why is
because we need to start our planning schedule for 2107. We are there already. We
have to start it about a year early. We also have the analysis of impediments that
happens area wide that we partner with Boise and -- and Nampa to actually conduct. So,
that is why it's at the cap there. Fair housing outreach and education. We are keeping
the same amount that we usually do every year for fair housing. This year we are
including a couple of alternate products to the action plan based on previous
recommendations and the fact that we have had projects that were large dollar amounts
that did not -- were not able to fulfill their commitment or go forward. These two projects
were both MDC projects. One of them is sidewalk improvements. The second one is the
façade improvement. This is very similar to what we have done in the past with MDC and
in the past it didn't work very well. MDC has a new plan to institute that that has a
different cost measurement to the individuals and the businesses that are applying to that.
This particular alternate activity is completely contingent on finishing the slum and blight
plan that will happen this following year and that is not tied to the action plan, but is
contingent upon. As of right now there has been zero public comment. I have received
none. If there is any other public comment tonight they will be included, addressed, and
added to before submission to HUD. At this time, Madam Mayor, staff will stand for any
questions that you or the Council may have and subsequent to those questions present
these requested actions on the slide to Mayor and Council for action.
De Weerd: Thank you, Sean. Council, any questions? Okay. Thank you, Sean. This is
a public hearing. Is there anyone who would like to provide testimony? Yes, please.
Good afternoon, Ralph. If you will, please, state your name for the record.
Chappell: Ralph Chappell. 1899 South Swan, Meridian.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Chappell: Where does the money come from for this?
De Weerd: The money comes from the --
Chappell: Federal government?
De Weerd: From the federal government.
Meridian City Council
August 11, 2015
Page 17 of 26
Chappell: I see. So, we are 18 trillion dollars in debt and now we are going to take and
spend this, so our grandkids can pay for it in the -- at the end? Is that what this amounts
to?
De Weerd: Well, I think that's a philosophical question that I'm not prepared to answer. I
would offer it to Council to. I think that to a certain degree, yes, but to another degree
there is a number of funds that are allocated in all of the budgets. If one doesn't accept
the funding it's reallocated to others. So, I don't know if you're necessarily saving money,
but you're allocating those funds to the taxpayers that actually pay them.
Chappell: The future taxpayers.
De Weerd: To the current taxpayers.
Chappell: We are borrowing from the Chinese. So, our grandkids are going to have to
take care of it and I don't like this at all. Yes, it has good programs, but it's sure making
somebody else pay for it. Thank you.
De Weerd: Thank you, Ralph.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Ralph, I agree with you and I believe there are also -- there are a ton of wasted
dollars that the federal government spends. You know, unfortunately, we are not in that
position to -- to make those huge changes that I believe need to be made where there are
a lot larger amounts of money and like the Mayor said, if we don't -- if we don't accept this
money to improve our -- our neighborhoods, they are just going to give it to somebody
else. So, that isn't going to fix the problem.
De Weerd: Any further testimony?
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Seeing no further testimony, I move that we close the public hearing on
Resolution No. 15-1082.
Rountree: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to close the public hearing on Item 7-C. All
those in favor say aye. All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Meridian City Council
August 11, 2015
Page 18 of 26
D. Resolution No. 15-1082: PY2015 Community Development Block
Grant (CDBG) Annual Action Plan Approval
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: I move that we approve proposed resolution 15-1082 for program year 2015 of
the Community Development Block Grant annual action plan.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve resolution under 7-D. Any
discussion? Madam Clerk, will you call roll.
Roll Call: Rountree, yea; Bird, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Can you now direct staff to forward that program recommendation onto HUD for
the review and approval?
De Weerd: They will -- they will do that per our resolution.
Cavener: All right. Thank you.
Item 8: Department Reports
De Weerd: Thank you. Thank you, Sean. Item 8-A is under Department Reports and we
will hear from our Public Works Department with a streetlight enhancement report. I'm
assuming that, Warren, you are the lucky person to give this.
Stewart: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, actually, Austin is supposed to be here
to give that report. I know he prepared a presentation, because I reviewed it and, quite
honestly, I'm not exactly sure where he is at. So, maybe we can postpone that or move it
further and --
De Weerd; We will certainly do Item 8-B first and, then, we will -- we will get back to --
Stewart: Sorry about that.
Meridian City Council
August 11, 2015
Page 19 of 26
B. City Council Liaison/Committee Updates
De Weerd: Okay. Council, this is under City Council liaison and committee updates, so
we will start with Mr. President to my right. That would be Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: Just a point to Ralph's comment. And I appreciate that very much. If we will
recall here a couple years ago our -- our Congress -- just probably the only step that I
know of in recent years to try to reduce its spending through the sequestration act, these
HUD fund monies, as with a number of grant programs that the federal government
supports are subject to the sequestration process, which is a process to reduce federal
spending and, in fact, the grant monies -- we have seen the grant monies that are
available reduce over the past few years, now they are starting to come back. I don't
know why. But at least that act was an act to get a handle on the budget, but not
necessarily the deficit. So, if that's any solace, at least they are attempting to balance the
budget through actions and the final point is we didn't raise our hand and say we -- we
want this money that -- the dollar amount was sent to us saying you have this much
money based on income level in this particular area to spend to improve the communities
in which they live and improve their lives. So, that's where we are, for what it's worth to
you, Ralph. Just my thought. As far as the liaison stuff, Madam Mayor, we all know how
well you use your head and do your job and the last week you have taken it to an
extreme.
De Weerd: Well, it's a good thing I'm hard headed; right?
Rountree: As far as the other liaison activities go, the budget and the budget numbers
have been moved forward into and through the budget hearing process. I will let the
Mayor talk about her activities and whatnot that she's undertaken the last couple three
weeks. I will point out that -- not a city, nor a liaison activity, but another activity that the
Western Ada Recreation District board yesterday did approve a resolution to move
forward with a potential bond for an aquatic center to be partnered with other partners that
are coming together with the school district, the library, YMCA at the southern Meridian
area. We are waiting for the amount to be established, but we will be moving forward with
-- with an attempt to get a bond to do that, as will the library board.
De Weerd: Thank you for that update. I appreciate it. Mr. Borton.
Borton: Madam Mayor, met most recently with Chief Niemeyer talking about what's
developed in the Fire Department, specifically the -- the master planning process. The
study that was funded by the Council is going to commence soon and there is also going
to be some good feedback provided to us this fall with regards to the alternate response
vehicle opportunities, pros and cons, get some feedback from us as to what problems we
are looking to solve from that financial and operational and, then, we should, in
November, December, have some report back on opportunities with that program and
also how that could help address some of the issues we have talked about in the budget
process, most specifically with the fire truck replacement cost and additional opportunities
to lengthen their lives -- of fire trucks and kind of do more with less, as every department
Meridian City Council
August 11, 2015
Page 20 of 26
has to do with limited means. So, those are two big action items that are underway and
we should have a lot of good information back for the end of the year on both of those.
So, big project moving from Fire.
De Weerd: Thank you. Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: Thank you, Madam Mayor. Well, my two departments -- the Legal Department
is doing just fine and trucking along. Public Works is also. The director told me recently --
and I'm trying to remember the details. I'm going to make some details up and Warren
and correct me if I get them wrong, but my understanding is that the federal NPDES
permit has been given to us in draft form, as well as Nampa's and Eagle's I think it is, that
came out at the same time, and we have something like 45 days to respond to that. Am I
going off base here?
Stewart: You're really close, but -- Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, actually, the
final draft -- it's not a draft form anymore. The actual permit has been issued. There is a
60 day comment period, which we have opportunity to provide comment, so does
anybody else, and we are evaluating with our consultants what comments to provide
regarding that permit and it's Nampa and Caldwell and City of Meridian who have all had
their permits issued at this point.
Zaremba: Thank you. An example that even though I wear hearing aids that doesn't stop
things from going in one side and out the other. Thank you for saying I was close.
Separate from that, Valley Regional Transit -- some of us are going to get together next
week to do a review of our Saturday bus service and some updates and some ideas on
making it more effective. Councilman Rountree has had a preview of that, because he's
going to be gone next week and won't be able to meet, but we will learn what we can learn
and I will make a report on that later. But we are looking into the Saturday bus service
and how it's gone and what else we can do. That's it for me.
De Weerd: And perhaps if we can use that money in a different way that would have a
greater impact.
Zaremba: Yes.
De Weerd: Thank you. Mr. Bird.
Bird: Thank you, Mayor. Well, in the Parks Department tomorrow we will expect
everybody out there at 4:00 o'clock to cut the ribbon for the Bark Park -- Meridian Bark
Park. I'm sure a lot of four legged citizens will be out there running around doing it. Other
than that, they just keep making our parks look nice and do a good job there. My Finance
Department has got the budget ready for public hearing the 25th and, then, we will
proceed on getting it through. And at the MDC tomorrow morning at 7:30, anybody that
wants to come and hear our proposed budget is welcome to show up 7:30 here.
De Weerd: Thank you, Mr. Bird. Mrs. Milam.
Meridian City Council
August 11, 2015
Page 21 of 26
Milam: Madam Mayor. So, with Information Services, they started a project this week
with the Clerk's, IT and Legal to write a software program to automate the public records
request process. That will be nice. And the Police Department, they are going to install
all the furniture tomorrow, including the defensive tactics mat in the PFPC. They have got
temporary occupancy and are waiting for the signage before they can get final sign off.
The first classes are scheduled for August 30th and we will have a grand opening ribbon
cutting sometime in September. The two new officers are about three weeks out from
graduating from the academy.
Rountree: Very good.
Cavener: All right.
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Last but not least. Community Development shared with me today that the
New Ventures Lab continues to be successful. They are hosting a variety of events and
they have been able to partner with the Harvest Church on some parking related issues,
so that the attendees have plenty of parking, which is appreciated and at this time that
space continues to be used. Project Burbank continues to move forward and there is a
new project in the works type of project, Arcadia, that could bring up to 500 jobs with an
average salary of about 75,000 dollars. So, Economic Development is excited about the
possibility with that and we are about two weeks out from the close of the RFP for the
performance arts center. We are hopeful to get some responses on that. In HR they are
taking a big rest coming off of our budget hearings, but are quickly jumping into open
enrollment and Patty -- just in time for me sharing their communication plan to educate our
employees about potential changes, make sure everybody understands the new offerings
in our benefits package this year. A couple other things. Thanks to the Police and Fire for
National Night Out last week. I know many of us were able to attend. I thought it was
great. It's always nice to come hungry and leave happy from events like that. It was great
to connect with some of our citizens and, Mayor, it's nice to see you back. I'm glad you're
okay. I know we all are.
De Weerd: Thank you. I'm glad to be here.
Holman: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Miss -- yes, Madam Clerk. Miss Whatever.
Holman: I just wanted to quickly make a clarification that the -- the public hearing for the
budget is on September 1st.
De Weerd: Thank you. I guess Mr. Rountree suggested that I tell you what I have been
doing. Didn't do much of anything last week. And if I did I don't remember. So, that's my
story and I'm sticking to it. I'm just hopeful that I didn't send any e-mails out that I will
Meridian City Council
August 11, 2015
Page 22 of 26
regret later, so -- but, you know, for a while I could always blame a concussion. So, that
was -- that was my story. Again I will stick to it. We were glad to wrap up the budget and
have things firmly in place for our public hearing and we will be working on making sure
that our citizens know what is in the upcoming proposed budget and they know they have
an opportunity provide public comment. We did do a town hall meeting about three weeks
ago at the Meridian library. We appreciated the library and their hospitality. We had a
fairly good turnout in particular because it is summer, but we really appreciate the
unplugged format where the people that were in attendance had the opportunity to ask
questions that were on their mind and we also reached out via social media and had
questions that were asked in advance of the program, so that we could answer those as
well. It was streamed and so those that asked the questions online did have an
opportunity, if they couldn't join us, they had the opportunity to join us online and view the
answers to their questions as well. We did put it out via social media, answered them
directly to the citizens as well. So, we had a -- our executive council strategic planning
meeting with the Mayor's Youth Advisory Council at my home and had an opportunity to
do some team building, but also look at the year ahead. We have a very dynamic
executive council. I'm so excited to work with this group. I -- each year I think it can't get
better and, then, they make me wrong. They show me how they can just beat the year
before with their enthusiasm, their ideas, their dedication and hard work. So, I'm really
looking forward to this group and working with them and seeing what they are able to
accomplish. I just try and stay out of their way. We had retreat with our senior
management team to start filling in the tactical plan with our strategic plan. There is a lot
of work to be done, but we did make a commitment to the Council that we would have
something to you in November and because there is a lot of work to do we spent a day
over on the Scentsy campus and tackled some of the all-hands-on-deck strategies that
will require all of our departments, gave an idea of what -- the format and walking through
a process that -- that each can employ as they -- they fill out their strategic initiatives and
put together the tactical plan. We had a meeting with senior advisory committee and this
-- the senior advisory board meets quarterly. We have decided to start meeting monthly,
which is good, until we really find our pace and find the direction, establish some real
focus areas. Their monthly meeting makes a lot more sense. At some point if we were
well established and we know the direction we are going, we might move back to meeting
less frequent, but for now we have moved it to a monthly meeting. Councilman Rountree
and I met with -- in regards to the golf course and met with the operators and the golf
associations and had a really good dialogue with them. I know that we wrapped up our
youth work life skills program. Had a real good group of -- of young teens that got a lot of
great exposure to what public service is all about. They talked about the things they liked,
the things that we could improve with the program, but we had a real energetic group this
year and they weren't really excited about the types of work that they were involved in and
what they were exposed to. They were very appreciative of the program and send kudos
to the -- the Council for continuing to -- to allow the savings to be invested in our youth.
And, finally, we had our first ever Kids Fest in the Kleiner Park. For a first year event that
was very well attended and they had a lot to offer to our families and our young ones in
this community. So, there is always a lot going in. It's always amazing to me how much is
going on in our community to -- to choose from and I will leave it with that. Anything
further from our Council Members?
Meridian City Council
August 11, 2015
Page 23 of 26
A. Public Works: Street Light Enhancement Report
De Weerd: Okay. I will, then, go back to our 8-A and offer the podium to Austin. Thank
you for being here.
Petersen: Thank you, Madam Mayor and Members of the Council. I apologize for my
tardiness.
De Weerd: That's all right. I think we probably surprised you by doing it quicker than you
thought, uh?
Petersen: Well -- and I was listening to the live stream, but, apparently, I just realized
maybe if you hit the pause button, when they do something else, it doesn't, when you hit
play, immediately go to where things are happening, so as far as I knew you were still
talking about Republic Services. Anyway. Thank you. I'm here today to give an update
on where the streetlight enhancement funds have been spent for the past few years.
Back in the budget hearing in June you asked the Public Works to come and give an
update to you and that's why I'm here today. So, to start with, over the -- since 2011 we
have done four capital streetlight improvement construction projects and we have another
one underway this year. The pictures that you see below are representative of those
projects. Down in the bottom left-hand corner we have Northwest 8th Street. In the
center is Linder, Biddick to Cherry. In the bottom right-hand corner you can see there is
also Linder, Cherry to Sandalwood phase one, and the top right-hand corner -- that's an
image after our Main Street corridor conversation project. So, the next few minutes I'm
going to give you a little more information on each of those projects, as well as some of
the projects that we are going to be doing in the future. So, the Northwest 8th Street
pedestrian lighting was the first capital street lighting project that the Public Works
Department had done in quite some time. This was constructed in 2011. Here in the
bottom left-hand corner you can see how 8th Street looked prior to this project. It was --
was very dark. There were bike lanes that were installed and this was a major walk to
school, so it became a priority area for us to install streetlighting and this project was
constructed using CDBG grant funds and it resulted in installation of seven new light poles
and eight LED fixtures. We were able to reuse one existing pole that was there. Another
project that was also done in 2011 was an energy efficiency grant funded project and this
was on the Main Street corridor conversion where we converted 57 decorative fixtures
and 91 roadway fixtures to more energy efficient fixtures. The decorative fixtures went
from being 150 watt high pressure sodium lights to 80 watt induction lamps and the total
result in electric savings is over -- is 81 megawatt hours of electricity annually, which
correlates to a 4,200 dollar reduction in our annual electric cost. We also expect from that
project to see over 70,000 dollars in reduced maintenance due to the longer life span of
the LED and induction lamps. The total cost of this project was 113,000 dollars. We
received those funds from an energy efficiency grant program that was available in 2011.
So, both of those projects were received very well and they led us to come to you and ask
for enhancements to do projects throughout the city. The first of these projects that we
did in 2012 was Linder Road, Biddick to Cherry, and in looking at areas where streetlights
Meridian City Council
August 11, 2015
Page 24 of 26
were needed, the Linder Road corridor between Biddick and Chateau was identified as a
high need area and became our top priority for these projects. This area in the walking --
is the safe route to school walking area for three different schools Meridian High School,
Meridian Middle School, and the Barbara Morgan STEM Academy. So, this first project,
Linder Road, Biddick to Cherry, included the installation of 13 new streetlights. The
design was completed in house and the total cost was 60,000 dollars. Here on the image
you can see the result of these -- of this project. It's resulted in very good illumination.
We had received a lot of positive feedback on it and, unfortunately, I do not have a before
picture of this section of roadway, but I'm sure that some of you can remember how dark it
was prior to this construction project. The next project that we did was Linder Road,
Cherry to Sandalwood phase one, and this included the installation of two LED lights north
of Cherry Lane. This also complimented ACHD's sidewalk installation on the side of the
roadway that they installed as part of their safe route to school program. Here on -- and
you have seen this pictures before. Here on the left is the before picture. You can barely
even see that there is an intersection there and a pedestrian crossing versus after the
lights that area is lit up as is the sidewalk on the east side of the roadway. So, this year --
starting next month -- we actually had a bid opening for the Linder Road, Cherry to
Sandalwood phase two, yesterday. That project came in within budget and so we will be
installing five lights north of the ones installed on phase one. This image that you see on
the right is taken in the exact same location as the two on the previous slide, it's just
facing north, so next year this area will be illuminated as well and I will have an after
picture to show you then. So, in addition to these construction projects we have also
spent some of the funds on design projects. The largest of these was the Franklin Road,
Black Cat to Ten Mile, illumination project. ACHD and ITD are doing a major road
widening project with -- in 2016-2017 and with this we will be installing 46 new LED
streetlights. The street lighting qualifies for the federal funds of the project being that it's
part of the roadway infrastructure, but we are required to pay a local 7.3 percent match on
those funds. That money was included in the enhancement that was brought to you
earlier this year. The second construction -- or design project that we have done was the
Settlers Park frontage lighting and this will be installed with the ACHD construction
projects on Ustick and Meridian Road in 2017 and it includes a total of 17 streetlights. So,
in addition to those designs we will talk about the upcoming construction projects that we
have. So, in 2016 we are looking at paying for the Franklin, Black Cat to Ten Mile, road
construction and we are also looking at doing some residential streetlighting
improvements as we talked about with the enhancement brought to you earlier and in
2017 we are looking at also continuing installing lighting and needed areas in some of the
older subdivisions on the residential streets, particularly in areas where there is
intersections that have no lighting along safe routes to school and near bus stops and
areas where kids walk and we are also in 2017 going to have a Cherry Lane, Linder to
Meridian, roadway widening project that ACHD will be installing roadway lighting along
that whole mile and that was done -- that will be done with local highway safety
improvement grant funding and I will be coming to you for an enhancement on that for a
local match with that project as well. And are there -- with that are there any questions?
De Weerd: Thank you, Austin. Council, any questions?
Meridian City Council
August 11, 2015
Page 25 of 26
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: One question, Austin. What determines where you do these projects at? I
mean do you have a matrix that you look at and say what intersection is more important
than another and -- how do you ultimately determine where you go?
Petersen: Madam Mayor, Councilman Cavener, yes, for the intersection improvement
projects that we will be doing in 2016-2017 I have put together a matrix. That matrix
identifies the higher need areas and the part that go into that are the number of legs on
the intersection, the roadway geometry, how hard it is to see the signage and other things
that are happening there. Complaints that we have received from citizens is a factor in
that, as well as crime in the area. So, those all go into the matrix and determining the
priority for the intersection where we will be installing lights.
Cavener: Thank you.
De Weerd: Okay. Anything further? Thank you for bringing this back in follow up to the
presentation we had during the budget workshop. I know Council appreciates the
information and the improvement. This has -- this has been a priority for life safety and
community safety reasons and I think you have been able really show the -- the positive
outcomes at the program and the direction that it's going. So, thank you, Austin, for doing
that.
Petersen: Thank you.
De Weerd: You need to watch that pause button.
Petersen: I did.
Item 9: Future Meeting Topics
De Weerd: I paused there for awhile myself. Okay. Council, anything for Item No. 9,
future meeting topics?
Bird: I have none.
Item 10: Executive Session per Idaho State Code 74-206(1)(d) – Records exempt
from disclosure as provided in Chapter 1, Title 74, Idaho Code.
De Weerd: Seeing none. Do I have a motion to adjourn into Executive Session per Item
10?
Bird: Madam Mayor?
Meridian City Council
August 11, 2015
Page 26 of 26
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I move we go into Executive Session as per Idaho State Code 74-205(1)(d).
Rountree: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to adjourn into Executive Session. Madam
Clerk, will you call roll
Roll Call: Rountree, yea; Bird, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea.
De Weerd: Thank you. All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: (4:17 p.m. to 4:46 p.m.)
Bird: I move come out of Executive Session.
Rountree: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to come out of Executive Session. All those in
favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Bird: Move we adjourn.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: All those in favor say aye. All yes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 4:56 P.M.
(AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
_______________________________ ______/______/______
MAYOR TAMMY DE WEERD DATE APPROVED
ATTEST:
_____________________________________
JAYCEE HOLMAN, CITY CLERK
Meridian City Council
August 11, 2015
Page 26 of 26
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I move we go into Executive Session as per Idaho State Code 74-205(1)(d).
Rountree: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to adjourn into Executive Session. Madam
Clerk, will you call roll
Roll Call: Rountree, yea; Bird, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea.
De Weerd: Thank you. All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: (4:17 p.m. to 4:46 p.m.)
Bird: I move come out of Executive Session.
Rountree: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to come out of Executive Session. All those in
favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Bird: Move we adjourn.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: All those in favor say aye. All yes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 4:56 P.M.
(AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
DATE APPROVED
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