HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-03-07Meridian City Council March 7, 2017
A meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 6:07 p.m., Tuesday,
March 7, 2017, by President Keith Bird.
Members Present: Keith Bird, Joe Borton, Genesis Milam, Luke Cavener, Ty
Palmer and Anne Little Roberts.
Members Absent: Mayor Tammy de Weerd.
Others Present: Bill Nary, C.Jay Coles, Jaycee Holman, Bruce Chatterton,
Jamie Leslie, Parry Palmer, Steve Siddoway, Clint Dolsby and Dean Willis.
Item 1: Roll-call Attendance:
Roll call.
X_ Anne Little Roberts X _ _Joe Borton
X__ Ty Palmer X_ Keith Bird
__X__ Genesis Milam __X__ Lucas Cavener
___ Mayor Tammy de Weerd
Bird: All right. Welcome to the regularly scheduled City Council meeting of
March 7th, 2017. It's 6:07. We are seven minutes late. I apologize for that. Roll
call, Mr. Clerk.
Item 2: Pledge of Allegiance
Bird: Thank you. Next -- if everybody would join us in the Pledge of Allegiance
to the flag.
(Pledge of Allegiance recited.)
Item 3: Community Invocation by Justin Jordan with Real Life
Ministries
Bird: We will have our community invocation by Justin Jordan from Real Life
Ministries. Justin, if you would lead us.
Jordan: Thanks, City Council. Let's pray. Lord, as we gather here tonight as a
community with the City Council, we pray, Lord, that as all great cities,
organizations, businesses, faith communities, it's always built around leaders
who have a character and a pursuit of excellence that matches their character,
Lord, and we pray, God, tonight for all the leaders tonight as they lead our city in
making decisions for what's best for our city. We pray, Lord, for all of the people
that work in this building, that they would continue to pursue what is right and
good for this city, not only for our generation, but for the next generation as well.
Meridian City Council Meeting
March 7, 2017
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We pray for those that are here tonight at the meeting, God, that they would be
able to contribute to this city by communicating needs, wants, and different things
that make this community great. We pray they be heard, that there be ability to
work together and, God, that you would continue to bless this community like you
have. And, Lord, that we would continue to be an example to others of what it
means to live in relation with one another, to love one another, to serve one
another, to bless one another and, Lord, that you continue to provide places for
people to thrive here in the City of Meridian. We thank you for this leadership
and, like I said, I pray for their character, their hearts, and you continue to mold
them to be the great leaders that we need them to be for our city. We pray this in
your son's name, amen.
Bird: Justin, I would like to give you a pin, if you haven't had one before.
Jordan: I have got one.
Bird: You got one. Thank you very much.
Item 4: Adoption of the Agenda
Bird: Okay. Next item on the agenda is the adoption of the agenda. Mr. Borton.
Borton: Mr. President?
Bird: Mr. Borton.
Borton: There are no proposed changes or additions to the agenda, so I move
that we adopt the agenda as published.
Cavener: Second.
Bird: I have got a motion to adopt and a second , the agenda as published. All in
favor say aye. Any opposed?
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 5: Consent Agenda
A. Approve Minutes of February 21, 2017 City Council
PreCouncil Meeting
B. Approve Minutes of February 21, 2017 City Council
Regular Meeting
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March 7, 2017
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C. Agreement for Connection to Sewer Service: 313 W.
Cherry Avenue
D. Golden Grove Heartland Townhomes Property
Management, LLC Water Main Easement
E. Final Order for Rainier Villas (H-2017-0008) by
Intermountain Pacific, LLC Located West of N. Meridian
Road, South of W. Pennwood Street and North of W.
Corporate Drive
F. AMENDED Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and
Order for Silverstone Apartments (H-2016-0060) by
DevCo, LLC Located 4225 E. Overland Road
G. US 20/26 Corridor Environmental Assessment Letter
H. Gift Deed from Thomas Coleman for Reta Huskey Park
Bird: Next item, Consent Agenda.
Borton: Mr. President?
Bird: Mr. Borton.
Borton: I would move that we approve the Consent Agenda as published and for
the President to sign and the Clerk to attest on all papers.
Cavener: Second.
Bird: I have got a motion to approve the Consent Agenda with a second and for
the Mayor -- or the President to sign and the Clerk to attest. Roll Call vote, Mr.
Clerk.
Roll Call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little
Roberts, yea.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 6: Items Moved From the Consent Agenda
Bird: Okay. Nothing was pulled from the Consent Agenda.
Item 7: Community Items/Presentations
A. Mayor’s Youth Advisory Council Update
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Bird: So, we will go down to Item 7, the Community Items/Presentations. The
Mayor's Youth Advisory Council update. Young Lady.
Bradford: Okay. Members of the Council, I am Susanna Bradford and I am the
vice-chair for the Mayor's Youth Advisory Council and this is the update for the
month of February and last month -- or last Monday we had Ignite Youth at the
Idaho Party Barn and we had six different presenters give presentations on a
variety of topics. Our presenters included MYAC'ers and just community
members and we learned about anything from starting your own small business
to -- to dinosaurs -- we learned about dinosaurs and it was super cool to hear
about whatever the presenters wanted to talk about. There we go. Okay. And,
then last night we had a fundraiser at The Counter for -- to raise money for our
NLC trip, which is this weekend. We have a few members of the exec council
that will be going to Washington D.C. for the National League of Cities
conference and it was -- it was a good turnout. There were -- we got a good
turnout from that. And, then, just as a look ahead we have NLC in Washington
D.C. this weekend and we are working on our STAND grant and we will get more
information about that as it comes closer and we are also working on school
surveys that we are going to take into the schools to give students, so that we
know how they feel about Meridian and how they feel about like safety in
Meridian and what their place is. And that's all. Are there any questions?
Bird: Council, any questions for the young lady?
Cavener: Mr. President?
Bird: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: A couple questions about your STAND grant. I'm just curious what
MYAC is planning to work on related to STAND and kind of what they are
submitting for funds for.
Bradford: Uh-huh. I think it's -- I'm not positive what the project is. I'm not
working on it. We have other people in the exec council that are working on it.
But I know they are trying to work on something to do with parents smoking in the
car with children under the age of 18 when they are present in the car.
Cavener: Mr. President, additional question if I may.
Bird: Yes, Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: I'm just curious what membership looks like right now. I know you
guys just seem to get bigger and bigger every time.
Bradford: Yeah.
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Cavener: I'm just curious what your current membership is.
Bradford: It always dwindles after Christmas --
Cavener: Sure.
Bradford: -- so right now we are -- we are hanging on, but we are getting pretty
small, so -- yes.
Cavener: Okay.
Bird: Any other questions? Thank you, young lady.
Bradford: Thank you.
B. Solid Waste Advisory Commission Annual Report
Bird: You bet. Mr. Cory on the Solid Waste Advisory Commission annual report.
Thank you for being here, Steve.
Cory: Thank you, Mr. President and Members of the Council. I want to express
my appreciation for this opportunity to go ahead and review the activities of 2016
for the Solid Waste Advisory Commission. Introducing myself. Steve Cory. I'm
chairman of the commission and I get the opportunity to make this presentation
on behalf of the commissioners. We have a very strong, active and full
commission and we have had some changes over the course of this last year .
Mayor Corrie, Youth Commissioner Chambers and commissioner and former
chairman Nancy Mann all chose to do some other activities over the course of
the year and the commission very much wants to thank the Council for keeping
us at full capacity. We appreciate the variety of citizens that you're able to give to
us to represent the community. One of the activities that the commission takes is
the oversight of the community recycling fund program or CFRP -- CRFP. I want
to report to you that we are starting to get cash inflows into this account and it's
now a little bit over 11,600 dollars. To that effect we have opened up a
conversation with the Parks and Recreation Department and also with the
Meridian Arts Commission about a joint project that would go ahead and place
benches in city parks. This happens to be some work of artists that we found
fairly interesting, but we have got another project that's -- another type of bench
that's really developed some interest amongst the group and we are looking
forward in the near future to be able to come before you with a joint presentation
on something for the community. Looking back at the activities of 2016, early on
in the year we went ahead and presented a report to memorialize the origins ,
development, and current conditions of recycling in Meridian. We documented
the interplay of conditions and market variables and SWAC investigated services
and fees charged locally and throughout the west, pertinent contracts and other
industry resource information. The report compared how other local cities in the
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county apportion residential recycling risks versus revenue with Republic
Services. As a result of that work SWAC developed a greater knowledge of the
complexities of the recycling industry, a closer working relationship with Republic
Services and other local stakeholders, and a collective resolve to find innovative
new programs to support the CRFP. Another one of our activities was the
development of the Hand-In-Hand We Recycle program. SWAC created the
program -- the program with the support of Republic Services and Western
Recycling. Both Republic Services and Western Recycling agreed to donate
services so that close to a hundred percent of the revenue earned can be
returned to the CRFP. The program creates a mobile collection opportunity that
we can take to events within the community. From its title to the painted hand
prints of local recyclers, the program's objective is to promote that it takes
everyone in the community to recycle in order to improve the quality of life for
everyone in the community. It provides an opportunity for multi-family
households to participate in recycling and it promotes recycling generally with its
positive message, it's easily accessible reaching location near the Meridian
transfer stations gatehouse and it gives us the opportunity to educate the
community on the effect of contamination of the recyclables and the effect that
contamination has on the value of both single stream recycling that happens at
the curb and the commingled -- well, the source separated material that comes
through this end process. It was -- it rolled out very nicely with no cost to the city
or citizens directly and so we were very proud of the way that that rolled out . We
launched the program during the Public Works Expo with the activities that I have
just discussed and, then, followed it up with Republic Services entering in the
Dairy Days parade. SWAC commissioners and Republic Services
representatives walked the parade and handed out educational materials. We
went ahead and distributed bookmarks throughout City Hall and around the
community to further explain the program. SWAC initiated an annual activity at
the Public Works Expo. SWAC answered questions and educated the public on
clean recycling and Youth Commissioner Jacob Chambers was able to obtain
reusable bags from Albertsons to give away as swag during the event. Republic
Services donated some games that we could use and some more swag to give
out for the participants in those games. I want to say that SWAC -- the
commissioners are very excited about expanding the educational materials that
we can hand out in this year -- the second year of participating in the expo.
SWAC received numerous presentations throughout the year with Pacific
Recycling refreshing our understanding of their operations and Republic Services
detailing numerous aspects of their activities. SWAC handled numerous
activities to improve services in the community, including obtaining compliance
by contractors and you haulers, developing a rate chart to compare costs in the
Treasure Valley and maintaining a services chart to facilitate citizen, knowledge
something they can go to to see what they can receive at the curbside and
resolving questions about container standards. SWAC vetted and produced a
recommendation on safe and efficient collection of waste and recyclables at
schools and -- and commercial entities in the city. We thank the Council for their
consideration and support of that ordinance change. SWAC formed the annual
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rate adjustment review vetting proposed changes and recommending approval to
the Council. Again, we thank you for your consideration. SWAC participated in
the county solid waste advisory committee. The committee has been a valuable
path for communication between the communities and Ada County and
numerous issues were discussed throughout the year. The committee is being
renewed at this time and we look forward to the continued collaboration effort. I
was -- had the pleasure to represent Meridian at that committee meeting and in
my -- when I had to take a break with it, Commissioner Caldwell was able to fill in
for me doing admirably. I want to take a second and talk about 2017 and the
things that are -- that we are looking forward to. We are promoting -- going to
continue promoting that Hand-In-Hand We Recycle program. Continue the
development of a five-year strategic solid waste plan for the City of Meridian and
if it were developed to bring it forward for your consideration. We will continue
monitoring glass recycling and yard composting market trends. We are closely
monitoring the -- well, Republic's pilot grass recycling program in light of the
major changes that Boise is planning to implement this coming year . We will
continue to participate in the Ada County Solid Waste Advisory Committee. We
will participate in the Ada County Hazardous -- Household Hazardous Waste
Program meetings and Commissioner Nelson has been attending those
meetings and representing us quite well. We will continue to provide training with
Republic Services and staff commissioners assistance for code enforcement
officers on solid waste ordinance, including, but not limited to, sections pertaining
to you haulers. We will do continued expansion of the role of the youth
commissioner to coordinate with MYAC on many activities that we have
throughout the year and, then, we are going to -- we are working on a new
program, which is the presentation following this one on a Trash To Treasure
program. So, I will go into that next. In conclusion, it's been a very productive
year for SWAC and SWAC continues to gain experience and appreciation of the
many challenges facing the solid waste and recycling industries. SWAC's
commitment is steadfast to work with our partners to identify and recommend to
the -- to you, the Council, improved physically sound, trash and recycling
services and programs for the benefit of Meridian residential and commercial
customers and SWAC looks forward to an even greater productivity in the year to
come. And with that I would stand for questions or direction.
Milam: Mr. President?
Bird: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Thank you, Steve, for the very thorough report and it's nice to see so
much of your -- of your team here to support you tonight. There is a sudden
increase over the last year in the community recycling fund and I think we were
working on that close to zero balance for a few years it seemed like. Can you tell
-- can you just elaborate a little bit of where that money has come from ?
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Cory: Markets have been extremely soft for a number of years . There were a
number of problems. There was a port strike over on the west coast that made it
so getting recycled materials to China was not as possible and that created a lot
more material that was going to the domestic aluminum recyclers and -- and
cardboard facilities and such and a lot of those resolved themselves and, then, I
would say that the attention that was given over the last couple of years to the
program was very beneficial to us when we issued the report a year ago and
there were some efficiencies that were found and were put in place and,
basically, we are just seeing the market come back together, the economy get a
little bit stronger, a little bit more demand for cardboard and aluminum and
various other things and so were benefiting from that improved situation .
Milam: Mr. President, one more question.
Bird: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Thank you, Steve. I mean that's wonderful to see those funds just rise so
much. On the Hand-In-Hand We Recycle -- I love that program. Sorry. I know
Andrea fills it daily. But do you know who else -- or where else the products are
coming for into that utility that we are receiving so much money back?
Cory: Well, one of the great services that that is providing is that a lot of our --
our apartment complexes and other facilities did not have the -- were not
designed originally to have the dual bins for garbage and, then, for recyclable
materials and so as this program was developed those residents didn't have an
ability to go ahead and participate and so we are seeing quite a few people come
over with their materials -- strong indications that that's what we are getting is
that these people getting the chance to recycle where they really didn't have an
opportunity before.
Milam: Wonderful. Thank you.
Cavener: Mr. President?
Bird: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Steve, I look forward to your presentation. I think you're a great
representative of the commission and it's great to see so many of them here. In
your report you alluded to some potential changes occurring in the municipality to
the east of us and can see or read in the paper about the city of Boise moving to
composting. Is that something that SWAC has discussed and is there any
information that you're prepared to share with us tonight?
Cory: You know, the commission has considered this a very important topic and
for years we have educated ourselves on composting activities. We felt that as
far as we could go in a very unsure situation was to initiate the pilot program that
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we have had over the last couple of years. That pilot program allowed citizens of
Meridian to go ahead and pay a subscription fee and they could have their grass
picked up and delivered to one of the farms south of town and it was put together
into a soil amendment and, then, applied to the farms down there and used for
agricultural purposes. We felt like that half step was a good starting point,
knowing that Meridian -- that Boise was approaching this from a whole different
standpoint. Their council is indicating that their citizens are willing to go ahead
and do a program for grass and leaves that's fully orchestrated by the city . We
don't really know what -- we don't presume what would be appropriate for
Meridian, but we knew that that would be half the material in this county and it
would significantly affect the market and so Boise is moving to a process to have
another can at each of the residents where grass and, actually, food scraps,
banana peels and other things, would be picked up and it would be delivered to
the -- to their property out on Kuna Mora Road to allow it to be composted and,
then, provide compost to their citizens and they have created a fairly structured
fee system, essentially, building participation into their costs and, then,
presuming that you actually participate , then, you get a little bit of a break and if
you compost on your property, then, you can get a waiver and some other things.
It's certainly a pretty major impact to the Treasure Valley and the use of this
material. I think our position would be that we will try to work up a good report on
this and if it works for you to maybe talk about some things that we think might be
more attuned to Meridian citizens and , then, present it to you for your
consideration. I know in talking with Boise, their view is that their program will
take a little bit of time to stabilize and , then, they will go ahead and open it up
later on for other communities to participate and add on, but I'm not really sure if
that necessarily matches the way our citizens think. So, we are not prejudice on
this yet. We are not even sure how -- of all the facts associated with it, but we do
intend to go ahead and pull it all together and present it to you sometime this
year.
Cavener: Great. Thank you.
Bird: Any other questions at this point? Thanks, Steve, and thank you to all your
commission.
C. Solid Waste Advisory Commission: Trash or Treasure
Pilot Program
Bird: And I see the next item you and Brett is going to present that. Are you
ready to do that, too?
Cory: Yes.
Bird: Let's do her.
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March 7, 2017
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Cory: Mr. President. Yeah. And I do want to go ahead and thank our
commissioners that are here in attendance.
Bird: Yes.
Cory: Why don’t you stand up. I have really appreciated their work with me and
I'm glad they are here.
Bird: Thank you.
Cory: Thank you for your indulgence on that. The commission had the great
opportunity this year to have one of our citizens go ahead and bring forth
something that he had observed in another community and so I want to go ahead
and bring Brett Baranco, a member of our Meridian Police Department, up here
and he's going to go ahead and go into the details of it, but it was something that
really energized the commission and we think you might be very interested in it .
Bird: Thank you, Steve. Welcome, Brett.
Baranco: Thank you, Mr. President, Council Members. And, again, thank you,
Steve, for that introduction. My name is Brett Baranco, I am the chairman for
Trash or Treasure subcommittee and on February 22nd I was able to go in front
of the Solid Waste Advisory Commission and speak to them about this program
in hopes that they would vote for me to come forward to you guys today and as
you can tell unanimously voted an approval for me to share with you guys my
program. But first before I go into it, I do want to paint a little bit of a face that
was able to introduce this idea to me. It would be my family, specifically through
my wife Katie Rush, her sister's family. The Claus family. They are from Stony
Plain, Alberta, Canada, and the woman in the picture would be her sister Janine
Claus. Her husband Matt Claus. And their three beautiful children. In the middle
would be the oldest Abigail. For short Abby. On the right would be the middle
child. Rebecca. For short Becca. And, of course, you can't -- can't look away
from that little one, Karas in the purple shirt. One day Matt discovered a rash
near his armpit that wouldn't go away no matter what the doctors did to treat it.
They found out that he had melanoma cancer and on April the 19th , 2016, last
year, he did succumb to it and these three pictures were the last times these girls
got to see their father alive as they said their final goodbyes . My wife and I went
up to Stony Plain at the end of April to attend his funeral and to help our sister
around the house or in any way that we could for her eventually move back to the
States. While we were up there we found out about a program that has been
going on for ten years at Stony Plain, that one weekend annually the residents
would place unwanted items at the edge of their yard in hopes that someone will
come by and take it for their own use . The hunt for hidden treasure that might be
junk to one person, yet of use to another. If the items weren't taken, the local
garbage collectors would come and take what was left to the landfill. It was,
actually, truly amazing to experience firsthand. While helping my sister clean her
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house for the eventual move, we were able to get rid of so much stuff that would
have cost us time and money to give away, sell, or take the landfill ourselves, not
to mention the many times of me wishing that I was in the States, so that I could
bring back a lot of other -- of the residents' stuff myself. Seeing the community
come together to repurpose old items made me think that Meridian would be a
perfect place to have a program such as this. Since the City of Meridian strives
to be a place that is full of diverse activities to keep itself s eparate from other
cities and SWAC seeks programs to programmers -- to promote recycling in the
community and to divert materials from the landfill through focus of the se four
R's, reduce, recycle, repurpose and reuse, Meridian would be a perfect place to
make this idea work. So, I was able to bring this topic to the Solid Waste
Advisory Commission on June 26th, 2016, of last year, but they were missing
close to half of their board members, so they wanted me to come back to their
next meeting on July 27th. During this meeting the board members voted
unanimously to create a subcommittee to work out the details and create the
plans for a pilot year. This was when I was introduced to so many wonderful
people who helped put in their own time and efforts into this program. Without
these people and their dedication to the idea of Trash or Treasure this would
have been lost. I am truly appreciative to everyone involved. And forgive me if I
do mispronounce a name. Andrea Pogue. Genesis Milam. Rachele Klein.
Scott Walters. Steve Cory. Steve Sedlacek. Justin Jensen. Kaycee Emery.
Ken Corder. Cade Coltrin and Burney Glen HOA. Tim Dublin and Copper Basin
HOA. Cheryl Iseri. Carman Wilson. And Leslie McClurg with Havasu Creek
HOA. And Mike Madsen with MGM Association Management. Once again, I
cannot express how thankful I am to these individuals and communities for their
support. The Trash or Treasure subcommittee gathered for nine one hour -- nine
one hour meetings. The meetings were a mix of people in attendance, but we
were able to work hard and crackdown on details for the pilot year. This is the
logo that we came up with that we thought would reflect well on Meridian's views
and standards. We came up with the tagline give your unwanted items a chance
for a new beginning. We feel that really represents the purpose behind the
program and recycle instead of throwing away. We felt a good time to initiate this
program for the pilot year would be April 29th thru April 30th . The reason is
because of Meridian's already program that is in use spring cleanup. This is
what also made me think that the program could work for the beginning, because
Meridian has already worked so hard to create spring cleanup , as well as having
a few years of successful runs. But instead of throwing away the items, this is
where Trash or Treasure would really come in handy to merge with spring
cleanup in an attempt to get rid of the unwanted items before taking them to the
landfill. I have used spring cleanup myself before with happiness, but also a little
bit regret, because I got rid of something that could have been used by someone
else. I was lazy and it really wasn't a good donatable item , but now it's in a
landfill and Trash or Treasure could have given my items a second chance and
use. Spring cleanup in some residences is May 1st and that is why we thought
April 29th and April 30th would work well for Trash or Treasure and I should note
that the treasure hunt that Stony Plain does will not allow multiple items to the
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landfill that Meridian actually does, which means this will be an easier program
for people to participate in and more options for items to get rid of. We are not
sure at this point if the event will be targeted to a specific community every year
or to be a citywide event, but we didn't want to unleash this program to everyone
in Meridian on the first year. So, we picked a target area of HOA neighborhoods
that would find interest in participating in the first year. We came across Burney
Glen, Copper Basin, and Havasu Creek. All these neighborhoods loved the idea
and wanted to make Trash or Treasure a success. With these three
neighborhoods combined it will give us 488 residential homes to work with in
seeing what will happen during that weekend and I should also note that all of
these residents will have a garbage pickup Monday, May 1st. We were able to
develop a flyer that gives the details about Trash or Treasure. Republic Services
has graciously expressed support in paying for the cost of these flyers. The
flyers will be posted on the HOA Facebook pages and NextDoor accounts four
weeks prior to April 29th. The subcommittee, as well as possible MYAC
members, will, then, go out two weeks priors -- two weeks prior throughout the
neighborhoods and rubber band them to the doors. This will also be sent via
HOA and MGM Management e-mail to the residents Wednesday before April
29th. We feel this will be help embed the idea of Trash or Treasure before the
final weekend. We were also able to create a video that will be used to promote
the who, what, when, where and how of Trash or Treasure. Once again,
Republic Services has generously purchased the video , so that we may use it on
the city YouTube channel, through a link that is on the flyer and we will be using
the e-mails that will be sent via the HOAs and MGM Management's e-mails. I do
have the video. However, due to the technical difficulties I sadly will not be able
to play it. I know. It is very good, as you can hear in the background. But I will
have Andrea Pogue send to you -- everyone, so that you guys can witness it.
We thought having a vertical banner at the entrances of the HOA neighborhoods
would help spark interest into Trash or Treasure. They will be erected two days
prior to the weekend of the event and, once again, will be paid for by Republic
Services. I absolutely cannot express the gratitude we have towards Rachele
Klein and Republic Services for supporting us so much. When the day of the
event comes a few subcommittee membe rs will patrol the area, taking pictures,
documenting what's being put out, what's being picked up and just the general
foot traffic. We will also seek the aid of MYAC members in helping us obtain
these notes. Victoria Madrigal with MYAC and SWAC made a clear point to get
MYAC and her school involved with this task, that we are truly grateful to her. At
the end of the weekend, after Republic Services has picked up the remainder of
the items, we will have the HOAs and MGM send an e-mail that contains a link to
the Survey Monkey to ask a few basic questions about the community
experience. Questions like did they participate. What items did they place out.
What items did they find and keep. What were their overall thoughts on the
program, as well as a few other questions that the committee will fine tune. To
make sure no clutter is left on the streets, a week or two past the event we will go
to Meridian police code enforcement in help searching for any violations that
might be present. And, then, the subcommittee will once more gather to view the
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results and present them to the Solid Waste Advisory Commission and to the
City Council. If the event is a success, which it will be, we will create a news
release to show the community what was done and create interest and future
Trash or Treasure events. So, to sum up, Trash or Treasure will be a creative
and community involved program that promotes repurposing before disposing.
We will attach to your already in use program spring cleanup for the pilot year will
be held on the weekend of April 29th and 30th and will take place for the first
year in the Burney Glen, Copper Basin, and Havasu Creek communities. The
Trash or Treasure subcommittee will come together once more after the event
and present the final findings of the outcome to SWAC and City Council. Not to
mention that the pilot year will cost the city zero dollars.
Bird: We like that.
Baranco: Trash or Treasure. Where one person's trash is someone else's
treasure. And now I would like to -- actually, I was going to play my video, we
don't have a video, so as chairman of Trash or Treasure subcommittee I would
like to thank you for your time, answer any questions you might have, and
ultimately ask you to vote to allow Trash or Treasure to become a part of
Meridian city. Thank you.
Bird: Council, any questions for Brett?
Milam: Mr. President?
Bird: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Brett, great presentation. Obviously, I'm a big supporter, also on the
subcommittee. Did you want to explain the MJC or logo or --
Baranco: I was trying to sneak it in, but --
Milam: Well, you want to point that out.
Baranco: It is my brother's initials. Matthew Johnson Claus. MJC.
Milam: A little tribute to your brother-in-law. I think that's really -- really special.
Bird: Any other questions, Council? If not, I would entertain or --
Cavener: Mr. President, I will make a motion. Brett, great -- very thorough
presentation. As someone who as a child enjoyed going to my grandparents'
house, because we make the annual trip to the dump where I would find my
treasure. This intrigued me, but as I have always learned, though, sometimes
some people's trash is just trash. I was a little concerned when I first started to
hear about this, but I think the plan as it coincides with spring cleanup was very
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Page 14 of 31
thoughtful. It appears you have done your due diligence and I like that it is being
centralized in three neighborhoods. Can't wait to see what you guys accomplish
with this. So, with that, if Councilman Milam is okay, I want to -- I don't want to
step on your toes and make the motion, but -- all right. I would move that we
accept the presentation for the Trash or Treasure pilot program and allow that
program to occur the date presented.
Milam: Second.
Bird: Okay. You have heard the motion and the second. Mr. Clerk, roll coll.
Let's roll call it.
Roll Call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little
Roberts, yea.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Bird: Thank you, Brett, very much.
Baranco: Thank you, everyone. I really do appreciate it.
Bird: Thank you for your hard work. We appreciate it.
D. Historic Preservation Commission: Budget Amendment
for Certified Local Government Grant in the Not-to-
Exceed amount of $3,500
Bird: Okay. Hillary, we have got Item B, Historic Preservation budget
amendment.
Bodnar: Hi.
Bird: Good evening, Hillary. How are you?
Bodnar: I'm good. How are you?
Bird: Very good. Thank you.
Bodnar: Wonderful. Mr. President, Members of the Council, I am presenting a
budget amendment on -- for the Historic Preservation Commission. On February
23rd we were given a letter of award from the Idaho State Historical Society for a
grant for 3,500 dollars for the Meridian Walking Tour update. Right now, as you
guys know, we rolled out the walking tour in two phases. So, we actually have
two separate brochures which can be confusing to people at times and we have
actually ordered more of a single brochure with the -- knowing that we wanted to
eventually combine them, but we had a lot left over and we didn't want to get rid
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of something that we have already printed and purchased and so, conveniently,
we are getting close to the end of our two separate brochures and we had the
opportunity to apply for a certified local government grant from the Idaho State
Historical Society and we were awarded that grant. So, they are willing to match
all of the funds to, basically, update the design, they are not exactly consistent
with the updates and content and, then, reprint a combined brochure for the
walking tour. So, the budget amendment before you is, essentially, asking for
spending authority for those grant monies that were awarded to the Historic
Preservation Commission.
Bird: Any questions for Hillary?
Borton: Mr. President?
Bird: Mr. Borton.
Borton: Real quick. Hillary, while you're on the topic, can you give us an update
on the development of the walking tour app?
Bodnar: Yes.
Borton: I presume these funds can't be used towards a digital version.
Bodnar: These funds can't be used towards the app, but we will be able to
include a link, you know, like a scan to that app or information off that app in the
brochures also, which is another good reason. The app is, essentially, a digital
brochure, so that would be updated a lot more frequently and has a lot more
content. At the next HPC meeting, which is Thursday, we are doing training for
the app that's, essentially, ready to be rolled out for the public.
Borton: Great.
Bird: Any other questions? Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: Mr. President, I move we approve the budget amendment for 3,500
dollars.
Milam: Second.
Bird: You have heard the motion to approve for the budget amendment of 3,500
dollars and the second. Roll call, please.
Roll Call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little
Roberts, yea.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
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Bodnar: Thank you.
Item 8: Action Items
A. Continued from February 28, 2017: Final Plat for Movado
Estates Subdivision No. 1 (H-2017-0004) by DevCo, LLC
Located at South Side of E. Overland Road, Between S.
Topaz Way and S. Cloverdale Road
B. Continued to February 28, 2017: Final Plat for Movado
Estates Subdivision No. 2 (H-2017-0005) by DevCo, LLC
Located South Side of E. Overland Road, Between S.
Topaz Way and S. Cloverdale Road
C. Final Plat for Movado Subdivision No. 3 (H-2017-0012)
by Dave Evans Construction, LLC Located South Side of
E. Overland Road, Between S.
Topaz Way and S. Cloverdale Road
Bird: Thank you, Hillary. Okay. Going to Action Items. A, B and C has been
asked to be continued to March 21st, because some of the plats -- current
corrections needed to be made to the plat prior to approval. I would entertain a
motion, if it's ok with you, Council, to continue those three items to March 21st.
Borton: Mr. President?
Bird: Mr. Borton.
Borton: I would move that we continue Items 8-A, B and C, that's H-2017-0004,
H-2017-0005, and H-2017-0012 to March 21st, 2017.
Cavener: Second.
Bird: Okay. You heard the motion and the second. All in favor say aye. Any
opposed? Passes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
D. Continued from February 28, 2017: YMCA Building
Permit Partial Fee Waiver Request
Bird: Okay. Continued from February 28th, the YMCA building permit partial fee
waiver request. Mr. Siddoway.
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Siddoway: Mr. President, Members of the Council, I was before you last week,
so I'm happy to give as much or as little as you would like tonight. I do want to
thank you for allowing us to hold an initial conversation last week while Madam
Mayor could be here, as well as the vice-president David Duro, who are both out
of town this week. Some highlights may be worth mentioning. Last year we --
the city entered into a partnership with the YMCA for the project known as The
Hill in south Meridian, which will include a park for the city, as well as the -- the
YMCA, Hillsdale Elementary School is already there, and we are, basically, in a
partnership where we try to act in good faith to the benefit of each other and to
the benefit of the project. Examples on Y's side toward the city have included --
they are planning to build a parking lot for the park. They are handling on the
land -- accepting land donations until the property lines can be determined and
last year they sold us the Home Court at a favorable price, so that those
proceeds are not slated to be used at The Hill. The request before you tonight is
to consider waiving any portions of the building permit fees that are considered
indirect fees or soft costs. Bruce Freckleton presented last week. You have his
memo. Just as a quick summary, they are not proposing any waiver of the
planning division fees. No waiver of the land development division fees. Both of
those are already paid. They are not proposing any waiving of the Public Works
Department fees, including sanitary sewer and water assessments or water
meters. And they are also not proposing any waiver of police or fire impact fees.
The portion that is proposed to be waived is part of the permit fees that are the
city's cost for overhead. The -- a portion that is paid to -- by the city to
independent contractors are the hard costs that are not proposed to be waived .
In summary, the amount of soft costs proposed to be waived would amount to
$104,208.07 and I will stand for any questions.
Bird: Any questions, Council, for Steve? Okay.
Siddoway: Thank you.
Bird: Thank you, Steve. What's your pleasure, Council?
Little Roberts: Mr. President?
Bird: Mrs. Little Roberts.
Little Roberts: I move that we accept the proposal and waive the soft cost fees
not to exceed 105,000 dollars.
Cavener: Second.
Bird: Got a motion and second to approve. Any questions?
Palmer: Mr. President?
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Bird: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: I know we jumped to a motion, but I know it's not designated as a public
hearing, but I'm curious if we have interest in hearing from anybody from the
public, should there be anybody that would like to testify on it, which it looks like
there is.
Bird: Council, what's your pleasure? My pleasure is okay. We have got a
motion and a -- and a second.
Cavener: I will withdraw.
Bird: Do you want to withdraw your second?
Cavener: I will withdraw the second.
Little Roberts: I will withdraw my motion.
Bird: Okay. Anybody in the public wants to testify? State your name and
address, please.
Wardle: Thank you, Mr. President, Members of the Council. Shaun Wardle,
2239 East Griner Street here in Meridian. Thank you for j ust a brief opportunity
and thank you for holding this item over. I wasn't able to make it last week based
on sort of a short agenda notice. So, I appreciate just a brief question. Actually,
I have one question as I read through the staff report I noticed that there are
references to things that have not taken a precedence, so one of the questions
that I had either for staff or for the Council is what other fee waivers have been
approved by this body for projects?
Chatterton: Mr. President, Council Members, to my knowledge -- I'm not sure I
have a complete list over the years, but since I have been around the Girls &
Boys Club there were a considerable number of fee waivers associated with that
project. I'm not recalling any other off the top of my head.
Bird: Bruce, Council, I -- I know that we -- and I'm not too sure that we didn't
waive some fees at certain times, even when Mr. Wardle was a councilman, but
the Boys & Girls Club is the only one I think -- I know there is others. We waive
fees, of course, on the schools and stuff like that, but that's --
Nary: Mr. President?
Bird: -- that's just taking out of one pocket book to the other.
Nary: Mr. President?
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Bird: Mr. Nary.
Nary: Mr. President, Members of the Council, the other one that comes to mind
-- and it's been a number of years -- probably five years or more -- was during the
--at the peak or the valley of the recession period there was certain areas of town
that we waived impact fees. Portico area was one of those. So, that was to get
a stimulus opportunity. But in like recreation sense, probably, again, the school
facilities. We have an agreement with them to waive those fees, as well as the
Boys & Girls Club.
Bird: Thank you. Sean, that's all I can --
Wardle: Thank you. I appreciate it.
Bird: And I know we have -- I know we have waived fees, but I --
Wardle: So, just a quick follow up question. I guess maybe I'm not following.
Only a percentage of fees that would be waived. I'm assuming that -- that if any
or all of a portion of the fees are waived that the services provided under the
building division fees are still going to be provided; is that correct? Okay. So,
they will be provided. So, I guess my real question is who picks up the
difference?
Bird: The -- the only thing we are actually waiving is -- is the cost of our labor to
do the administration of it. Our inspectors that do the work, the actual fieldwork,
are not waving their fees.
Wardle: Okay.
Bird: Those fees are not being waived. So, all we are waving is what we spend
with administration fees, you know, off of help working at the counter or doing
this kind of stuff. We are not waving -- we are not waiving the others -- any hard
costs. These are -- this is soft costs.
Wardle: Okay. So, those -- so, those would be the General Fund costs or
building division -- I guess --
Bird: Well, they would -- this department has turned back quite a bit of money
every year to General Fund, but --
Wardle: I guess my real question is would the -- would the taxpayers be picking
up the difference or is it --
Bird: No.
Wardle: -- future and current building owners applying for this?
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Bird: This -- this department stands on their fees.
Wardle: Okay.
Bird: It gets little or none from the General Fund. Is that not right, Bruce?
Chatterton: I’m sorry, Council Member Bird, President Bird, I -- there was a
discussion going over here, so I missed the question.
Bird: We are not forfeiting any money to the taxpayers -- or the taxpayers fees;
right?
Chatterton: No. Actually, I believe that if Todd Lavoie were here he would tell
you that we have -- over the last several years has in the neighborhood of nine
million dollars of fees, which are in excess of projections.
Bird: Yeah. You were --
Chatterton: In excess of budget. And so, basically, is what it's doing is reducing
that amount. Typically that money goes towards the Council and you all typically
spend it on capital projects, often Parks and Recreation projects. So, what it's
really doing is -- is reducing that amount from the development services fund by
a certain extent.
Bird: Yeah.
Wardle: Thank you. I stand for any questions.
Bird: Any questions?
Palmer: Mr. President? I guess, then, to clarify, it would seem that the -- the
staff time is being paid for by profits made from other developers and their
projects?
Bird: It's like any private business, you have profit in it.
Cavener: Mr. President? Before maybe a motion is made, a question for staff.
Bruce, do you recall what the -- I know that with the Boys & Girls Club project
that some of those soft costs were donated, but what was the total cost of fees
waived that were controlled by the city with that project?
Chatterton: Mr. President, Council Member Cavener, I don't -- the amount I
believe was comparable to this amount in that it was in the -- it was in the six
figures -- low six figures. I don't recall the exact amount. I'm sorry, I don't recall
that.
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Bird: Mr. Cavener, I don't recall the same amount, but we are talking about a 18
million dollar building, compared to a three million dollar building. I'm sure that it
wasn't this amount, but --
Chatterton: It -- it would have been less, yes.
Bird: It would have been less, but it was substantial.
Cavener: Mr. President, if I may. I believe it was comparable and that's the
reason that I asked is -- in making full disclosure I voted against that motion
against the Boys & Girls Club, because I was concerned of the precedent that we
would set as a Council. This Council made that determination that we wanted to
support projects that were a benefit to our community and when I see the dollar
amount that this Council's -- that's before us to potentially vote to waive is
comparable to a much larger project with the same amount of fees, to me I think -
- I see this as -- as a good decision, so, obviously, I will be supporting the motion.
Bird: Any other questions? Discussion? If not I will entertain a motion.
Little Roberts: Mr. President?
Bird: Mrs. Anna.
Little Roberts: I move that we approve the request to waive the indirect and soft
costs not to exceed 105,000 dollars.
Cavener: Second.
Bird: Motion to approve and a second on waiving 105 dollars -- 105,000 dollars
of soft cost fees for the YMCA building. Mr. Clerk --
Borton: Mr. President?
Bird: Mr. Borton.
Borton: Just brief discussion. I think it's a wonderfully noble intent. The intent is
noble and I -- and I appreciate that. I can't get myself to make the findings
necessary to support the motion, so -- I know that probably needs to be on the
record as well what those particular findings are, but I don't think it can be done,
so -- I also do think it invites a precedent that -- that we may not want to open the
door to going forward. If our fees have validity in the first place and recapture
costs that are necessary to recapture, so --
Bird: Any other discussion?
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Palmer: Mr. President?
Bird: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: Mr. President, it's often cited that they are paying for a parking lot that
we would normally have to pay for for a park that we are building when -- instead
of trading asphalt for -- for permit fees, I'd much rather us just pay for the parking
lot and not waive permit fees, even if to the same dollar amount where -- if the
parking lot costs more than 105, we pay for the first 105 or figure out some way
of that to just kind of keep the record straight and to solve the issues that
Councilman Borton brought up that the -- the findings are hard to quantify or kind
of a stretch to -- to get us there.
Bird: Any other discussion? We got the motion and second. Call for the
question. Mr. Clerk.
Roll Call: Bird, yea; Borton, nay; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, nay; Little
Roberts, yea.
Bird: Four to two. Passes. Thank you.
MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. TWO NAYS.
E. Public Hearing for Destination Place No. 3 (H-2017-0013)
by Fulbright Investments, LLC Located 1510 S.
Celebration Avenue
1. Request: Short plat two (2) commercial lots on
approximately 1.77 acres in the C-G zoning district
Bird: Item E, public hearing for Destination Place H-2017-0013. I will open the
public hearing and I don't think you're Mr. Parsons, but Mr. -- Bruce, you're Mr.
Parsons tonight.
Chatterton: Mayor Bird. I'm sorry, I just wanted to say that. Mayor Bird and
Council, Destination Place No. 3 consists of 1.77 acres, zoned C-G, located at
1510 South Celebration Avenue. This proposed short plat depicts two
commercial lots on, as I mentioned, 1.77 acres of land. The plat is a
resubdivision of Lot 2, Block 2 of Destination Place Subdivision. All lots in the
proposed subdivision comply with the dimensional standards of the C -G zoning
district. A 6,200 square foot restaurant is approved and proposed to be
constructed on Lot 2A. Future development of Lot 2B will require the approval of
a certificate of zoning compliance and administrative design review application
prior to applying for a building permit. Staff finds the proposed plat to be in
substantial compliance with these requirements and recommends the approval
as proposed. Carl Porter -- a written testimony. Carl Porter representing the
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March 7, 2017
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applicant, is in agreement with the conditions of the staff report. Happy to
answer any questions.
Bird: Council, any questions for Bruce? Is the applicant here? If you would,
please, state your name and address.
Porter: My name is Gus Porter. My address is 2030 South Washington Avenue
in the Emmett. Carl fell ill this afternoon, asked me to come here and take his
place and stand for any questions that you may have.
Bird: You agree with the staff report?
Porter: We are in agreement with the staff report.
Bird: Any questions for the applicant? Thank you very much.
Porter: Thank you, Mr. President.
Bird: Is there anybody in the public that -- this is a public hearing and would like
to testify? Seeing none, Council, I would entertain a motion to close the public
hearing, unless you have got --
Borton: Mr. President?
Bird: Mr. Borton.
Borton: I move that we close the public hearing on Item E, H -2017-0013.
Little Roberts: Second.
Bird: I have a motion and a second to close the public hearing on H -2017-0013.
All in favor say aye. Any opposed? Carries.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Borton: Mr. President?
Bird: Mr. Borton.
Borton: I move that we approve Item 8 -E, H-2017-0013, consistent with staff
comments in the staff report.
Little Roberts: Second.
Bird: I have got a motion and a second to pass H -2017-0013. Any discussion?
Seeing none, Mr. Clerk.
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Roll Call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little
Roberts, yea.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 9: Department Reports
A. Finance and HR: Benefits Roadshow for FY2018 Budget
Bird: Thank you. Department Reports. Item A, Finance and HR, benefits
roadshow. Crystal or Todd, which one? No. Christena gets it.
Barney: While they are getting my presentation set up -- good evening, Mr.
Council President, Members of Council. It's nice to be in front of you this
evening. I stand before you to present the first in a series of informational
presentations known as the Finance and HR roadshow, which kicks off the
presentations for the FY-18 budget. I will wait for them to get that up real quick.
There we go. All right. Thank you. So, we have a full agenda of items to
present to you this evening. I don't anticipate dominating a whole lot of your
time, but this is for informational purposes. We will be communicating a lot of
information that will have significant budgetary impacts. The information will be
presented in a series to allow you time to process and, then, we will be back in
front of you in a few weeks for some direction and guidance. So, as I said, this is
the series that we will be coming into . This is the roadshow, as you call it. This
evening's focus is on healthcare benefits, which is my specialty. Next week we
will be back with a presentation for the city's compensation plan and, then, the
following week we will be back -- Todd will be back to do the allowable three
percent property tax projections and, then, receive your guidance and direction
for all three topics. So, just as a reminder, it's been a little while since I have
been in front of you going over benefits information , so I did want to remind you
that the city does have a standard operating process . It's titled group health and
related benefits policy. This policy is in place to outline the benefits that are
available to city employees, who qualifies for those benefits and, then, the
information we were required to provide those qualified employees. Also as a
federal mandate the city complies with the requirements of the Afforda ble Care
Act by offering benefits to all city employees who meet the ACA minimum
eligibility and I will get a little more into it. The last bullet there. So, any
employee that works 30 or more hours per week more than six months is
considered benefit eligible in the eyes of the ACA and IRS. We do have a
benefits committee that meets pretty much year around. You can see the
committee members that are listed here. The purpose of the committee is to
support and implement the strategic plan objective 3.B.1 to develop a cost-
effective and comprehensive benefits plan. It is important to know as we move
through the budget process that in order to continue to attract and retain high
caliber employees and be a premier city, the city must have a competitive and
Meridian City Council Meeting
March 7, 2017
Page 25 of 31
effective benefit program in place. So, when the committee meets these are
some of the goals that we strive to achieve . Create a competitive benefit
package that will attack -- attract and reach and retain employees, manage costs
for the city, as well as our employees, that is sustainable. Remain compliant with
the ACA and, then, provide employee choice. We do currently contract with
Mercer as our benefits broker. They assist us with providing market trends,
comparisons, guiding and educating our benef its committee, just keeping us in
the know of what the landscape looks like as healthcare is ever-changing and,
then, within the last eight years they have been able to negotiate almost 900,000
dollars in premium reductions, so they have done a good job in assisting us.
Some of the factors that the benefits committee has to take in consideration
before they make a recommendation to Council for approval is that the benefits
plan is fair and competitive, that it's fiscally responsible, it attracts -- attracts and
retains. We have to consider our experience rating and I will get more into that in
a minute. Employee choice and, then, ACA compliant. Those are all moving
parts that have to be considered before we can make a recommendation for any
benefit changes. And I'm sure you probably have all seen the hype about the
new administration changes. Everything is still unclear. There was a proposal
made last night, but I do want to reiterate it is a proposal at this point and I will
get into a little bit more of that later in this presentation. Here is where we landed
for 2017. So, our current employee benefits are in place. There were no plan
design changes and you received a rate pass from all of our benefit venders for
2017. We have 368 employees enrolled in the Preferred Blue, which is the
traditional medical plan and, then, we have 26 employees enrolled in the high-
deductible plan, which we began last year. So, this is the second year for that
plan. In 2017 -- this is just a brief breakdown of the employee premium. So, we
instituted a 40 dollar employee premium two years ago and of the employees
currently enrolled in the plan, 290 of them are paying zero premium. So, they
were able to buy that 40 dollar premium down by wellness participation and
nontobacco use. So, what does this all mean? Good news for us. Looking year
over year we have increased participation in wellness programs. We have
decreased sick leave usage and we have decreased our medical experience
rating. Why is that important? This information helps determine an ROI for the
wellness program, which appears to have a direct correlation with our medical
premiums and indirectly to our productivity. We have come a long way in the
wellness program and I'm very proud of what we have accomplished. Wellness,
however, is an ever change -- is ever changing with the needs of the employees,
regulations, et cetera. So, we will always continue to make improvements and
changes to our program to accommodate the changing landscape. Rates and
ratings. How are our medical rates determined? So, I have thrown out
experience rating a couple times already in this presentation. It has c ome to my
attention that not everyone knows what that means. Experience rating is derived
from the amount of premium that the city pays to Blue Cross versus the amount
of claims they pay out. That develops our experience rating and that helps
determine what our premium rates are going to look like for the next year . So, I
divert for a moment to give you some persp ective. A significant factor to our
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March 7, 2017
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experience rating is how we use our medical benefits , also known as
consumerism. Consumerism is knowing your benefits, knowing your treatment
options and making wise decisions. For instance, if someone has a cold over the
weekend, it's possible the best option is for them to wait until Monday to go see
their regular physician. Second would be urgent care and most expensive , least
optimal option, would be to go to the ER. Knowing available options and how
they affect the premium rates will be our employees education focus for this year.
So, I have discussed with Mercer some education that we are going to push out
to the employees that helps them understand experience rating and
consumerism and how their medical choice s affect their coworkers and the
premiums that everyone pays as a whole . So, with that in mind, if we have an
experience rating over a hundred percent Blue -- which means Blue Cross has
paid out more in premium -- or more in claims than we have paid in premiums,
we are likely going to see an increase in our experience rating and our
premiums. If the experience rating is below one hundred percent, optimally at 85
percent, we will see little to no increase. Last year we were very lucky. We had
102 percent experience rating and still received a rate pass. So, last year was
very nice. All of our choices as users of the benefits affects the bottom line. So,
that is going to be our communication to the employees. Thankfully we were
able to end 2016 calendar year with a 14-year low rating of 85.48 percent
experience, which is very exciting. I'm very proud of that. However, please,
keep in mind that the uncertainty of the future of the ACA may -- may have an
impact on our rates as a whole. Planning and looking forward. The benefits
committee will continue to meet to discuss plan design structure and funding for
the coming year. Finance has budgeted a 3.02 placeholder for the FY-18
budget. There is a chart below that shows the total insurance cost from 2002 to
2016 and in the budgeted cost for 2017 and '18 taking into account the -- the
placeholder. Actual 2018 rates will not be available until mid or late summer.
So, I will be back to discuss those rates with you and any recommendations that
the Council may have. Human resources will continue to monitor and provide a
formal recommendation for the FY-80 budget as renewal rates and data become
available. Just as a reminder, this is for informational purposes only and I do
have a packet that you can take with you to review the information, make any
notes that you may have. We will be back next week with more information on
the compensation plan and, then, again, on the 21st for property tax projections
and, then, seek guidance and direction at that time. Also the FY-18 budget
recommendations can be updated and changed until July 19th . Thank you for
your time and your attention this evening and I will stand for questions.
Bird: Any questions for Christena?
Little Roberts: Mr. President?
Bird: Mrs. Ann --
Meridian City Council Meeting
March 7, 2017
Page 27 of 31
Little Roberts: Christena, you mentioned in the beginning and I may have written
it down wrong. That you -- if you're an employee for 30 hours a week or more
and been six months --
Barney: Uh-huh.
Little Roberts: -- I thought it was 60 days. Is it different from a municipality or are
there some different levels?
Barney: No. The IRS states it's 130 hours in a month. It works out to about 30
hours a week. If we -- we look at a six-month period. If we know that the
employee is going to exceed the 30 hours or 130 hours in that six month period,
we go ahead and deem them eligible at the time of hire. So, that we are not
missing any of them or we are following all the regulations for the ACA and IRS.
Little Roberts: Follow up.
Bird: Go ahead.
Little Roberts: Do the majority of our employees meet that?
Barney: The full time, of course. We have about 90 percent or so of the
seasonals that do meet that threshold. With some of the proposed changes that
the Trump administration has proposed. One of them is repealing the mandate
that requires employers to provide benefits for those employees . So, that -- if
that goes through that may be something that we would need to come back to
Council and get some guidance on.
Little Roberts: Okay. Thank you.
Barney: Okay.
Bird: Any other questions for Christena? Christena, I got a -- it's off the subject,
but in your process -- and I don't know whether you or Crystal, but I would like to
know the retainage -- the turnover in our city of full-time employees. Not
retirements or part-time. I'd like to know the percentage if I could get it.
Barney: Okay. Certainly.
Bird: Okay. Thank you. And thanks for the presentation.
Barney: Of course. Thank you.
B. Finance: FY2017 Fund Balance Transfer
Meridian City Council Meeting
March 7, 2017
Page 28 of 31
Bird: That was very informative. Council, we got Mr. Todd coming up. Or is he
sending Jenny? Thanks, Christena, very much.
Lavoie: Well, thank you, Mr. President, Members of the Council. Again,
appreciate allowing us to present to you tonight. Again, tonight we are
presenting to you the recommendation from the Finance Department to you as
the Council on the amount of money to transfer from the General Fund to Fund
55, which is our capital improvement fund. You should have received some
supporting documents in your Council packet that goes along with this
presentation. So, again, today we are going to talk about the proposal that
Finance is recommending to Council to consider for funds to be transferred from
General Fund 01 to Fund 55. We are also going to talk about a proposal for
funds to be transferred from the General Fund 01 to Public Safety 08 and, then,
we will stand for any questions and stand for any actions that you wish to take
based on these proposals that we are recommending to you tonight. So, again,
the Fund 55 transfer, there is a city code, which is on the screen for you there
that talks about any excess revenues generated by the Community Developm ent
Department in the whole can be considered to be transferred on an annual basis
to the Capital Improvement Fund for expenses to be incurred at a later date. So,
we are here to inform you that the Community Development Department as --
has provided the city with excess revenues for fiscal year 2016 in the amount of
2.275 million. So, the Finance Department is in the position to make a proposal
to you based on the actual results from fiscal year 2016 and we are proposing
the full access revenues generated by the Community Development Department
to be transferred to Fund 55 for future capital needs for the City of Meridian,
which would take the current fund balance of 55 from 5.6 million to 7.9 million if
the action is taken by Council to move the funds from 01 to Fund 55. Down at
the bottom you will see that the General Fund generated a total excess
accumulation of a little over three million, which we presented to you last month
from our quarterly update. The four -- the five items that generated the three
million dollars -- you can see that Community Development generated an excess
revenue of 2.2. Impact fees generated an excess of 2.2. And, then, the three
following items generated a net deficit of the dollar amount accordingly there.
We add them all up you get your three million dollars total for our government
General Fund 01. So, again, with the General Fund generating a positive
position of three million overall, we do stand with the proposal to move the 2.2
from 01 to Fund 50 -- Fund 55. Apologize.
Bird: Todd, can I interrupt you?
Lavoie: Yes, sir.
Bird: Would you explain the General Fund, the one million, what that -- what that
is? That's -- isn't that a payback?
Meridian City Council Meeting
March 7, 2017
Page 29 of 31
Lavoie: The General Fund one million deficit would be the property tax portion of
the General Fund that is going to be the expenses incurred by the General
Services, the Public Safety, the Administration Department, the Parks
Department. These are going to be dollars most likely spent on capital needs
that were carried from year to year. So, these dollars we are t apping into the
fund balance to make sure those capital items that were previously approved
continue to be moved -- continued forward in fiscal '16.
Bird: Thank you.
Lavoie: You're welcome.
Borton: Mr. President?
Bird: Yes.
Borton: One quick question on this slide. Impact fees are already restricted
funds; correct?
Lavoie: Mr. President, Councilman Borton, you are correct. All impact fees are
restricted by ordinance. Therefore, the impact fees are not really up for
discussion. Fund 7 stays independent to itself. So, with that we also have
another proposal for you of Fund 8, which is our Public Safety Fund. Every year
we present to you what we believe could occur for Fund 8. As the slide says and
the document that we provided you, we do not feel that in fiscal year '16 we had
excess revenues that would be comfortable to propose to you to transfer funds to
Fund 8. Again, the General Fund number at the very bottom is the number that
we are kind of looking at. Did the General Fund generate excess revenues to
accommodate a proposal. The Finance Department at this -- at this time does
not propose to transfer from 01 to Fund 08 for your Public Safety Fund. But,
again, you are allowed to make a recommendation. In the documents that I have
provided you were the balances for all major funds for you to consider. For the
Finance Department for fiscal year '16 we are not proposing a transfer of funds
from 01 to Fund 08 at this time. I can stand for any questions on Fund 8 if you
have any.
Bird: Any question for Todd at all? Very plain. Thank you.
Lavoie: So, with that, again, there is a document I provided to you. If you wish to
take action on the proposals by the Finance Department to you in regards to
Fund 01, transfers to Fund 55 and fund date.
Bird: Mr. Nary, do we do that -- do we have to come back with a resolution to
transfer them or just a motion?
Nary: Mr. President, Members of the Council, just a motion is all you need.
Meridian City Council Meeting
March 7, 2017
Page 30 of 31
Bird: Okay. Council, what's your pleasure?
Borton: Mr. President?
Bird: Mr. Borton.
Borton: That seems well explained and justified. There is not a request to
transfer to 08. So, it's a single request to transfer from Fund 01 to Fund 55 for
capital improvements.
Lavoie: Mr. President, Councilman Borton, that is correct.
Borton: Mr. President, I would move to approve the recommended fund transfer
from Fund 01 to Fund 055 in the amount of 2,275,054 dollars.
Milam: Second.
Little Roberts: Second.
Bird: Okay. Got a motion and second. Any discussion? Seeing none, Mr.
Clerk.
Roll Call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little
Roberts, yea.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 10: Future Meeting Topics
Bird: Council, that takes care of the business. We got any future meeting
topics?
Milam: Mr. President?
Bird: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Not a future meeting topic, but just wanted to r emind everybody that
there is a new artist upstairs in the gallery and that it's a beautiful exhibit and I
encourage all of you to go take a look at the artwork.
Bird: Thank you. Any other -- I would entertain a motion to adjourn.
Milam: So moved.
Cavener: Second.
Meridian City Council Meeting
March 7, 2017
Page 31 of 31
Bird: All in favor?
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Bird: We are adjourned. 7:32.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 7:32 P.M.
(AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
TAMMY -E _ RD MAYOR
ATTEST:
C. JAY COLES, CITY CLERK
DATE APPROVED
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