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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-04-25Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 A meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 25, 2017, by Mayor Tammy de Weerd. Members Present: Mayor Tammy de Weerd, Keith Bird, Joe Borton, Genesis Milam, Luke Cavener, Ty Palmer and Anne Little Roberts. Others Present: Bill Nary, C.Jay Coles, Jaycee Holman, Caleb Hood, Berle Stokes, Burle Stokes, Charlie Butterfield, Warren Stewart, 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 __X Mayor Tammy de Weerd De Weerd: Okay. I'm going to go ahead and start tonight's regular meeting. Thank you for joining us. For the record it is Tuesday, April 25th. It's 6:00 o'clock. We will start with roll call attendance, Mr. 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: Community Invocation by Larry Woodard with Ten Mile Christian Church De Weerd: Item No. 3 is our community invocation. Tonight we will be led by Larry Woodard with Cherry -- with Ten Mile Christian. Boy, Cherry Lane Christian Church. Woodard: Used to be. De Weerd: It was. aka Ten Mile Christian. Please join us in the community invocation or take this as an opportunity for a moment of reflection. Woodard: Well, I first need to apologize for missing last month. I simply spaced it and I apologize. Cavener: We will withhold your pay. Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 2 of 20 Woodard: I could pray twice as long tonight. De Weerd: That's all right. Woodard: That's all right. Okay. Let's pray. Our Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you tonight asking for wisdom as this Council takes up the important city business. We are blessed to have good leaders in Meridian and we thank you for their service. As I meet new people in our community each week they are uniformly impressed with our city. The growth and population is amazing and the only concern from new people is the increased traffic and as they try to become familiar with the city. As we approach 100,000 in population we need to be asking ourselves are we ready for the next hundred thousand . We have had a difficult winter. Lots of snow and cold. Now lots of rain. We thank these leaders for keeping ahead of the issues which affect our city in one of the toughest winters in recent history. I pray tonight for the children of our community. Our schools are full and we will see even more this fall. There are activities in Meridian that encourage young minds and healthy lifestyle. I pray tonight especially for our young men and women in the armed forces that serve around the world. Tonight I especially pray for the sailors, soldiers, airmen and Marines in the vicinity of Korea. I pray specifically for one young man that I know who today is flying drones over in North Korea and the tension he must be under as he of observes activities north of the DMZ. Tonight our prayer is for our police and EMTs and firemen who must deal with sudden events that require their services. One such event that seems to be needing is the impact of drugs filtering into our community from adjacent cities in the state of Oregon. Protect our -- our police as they carry out their duties and keep them safe. Lastly as our city leaders work on projects that will affect our community for years to come, may they continue to look to you for wisdom and guidance . So, I pray tonight that our streets be wide and safe, the water run clear and cold, and I do all of this in Jesus' name, amen. De Weerd: Thank you, Larry. Woodard: You bet. Item 4: Adoption of the Agenda De Weerd: Item No. 4 is adoption of the agenda. Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 3 of 20 Bird: Under 5-E the resolution number is 17-0208. Under 7-A the application has been asked to be continued to May 16th, 2017. 9 -B the resolution number is 17-2009. With that I move we approve the amended agenda. Borton: 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. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 5: Consent Agenda A. March FY2017 Financial Report B. Approve Finance Department to Pay Vendor Payments of $1,122,361.53 C. CenturyLink Utility Easement D. Professional Services Contract for Kleiner Park Live Concert Series E. Resolution No. 17-2008: A Resolution Urging the U.S. Air Force to Select Gowen Field as its Preferred Base for its Air National Guard F-35A Base Location in 2017 De Weerd: Item 5 is our Consent Agenda. Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Bird: As stated earlier, 5-E, the resolution number is 17-2008. With that I move we approve the agenda as printed and the Mayor to sign and Clerk to attest. Borton: Second. De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve the Consent Agenda . Mr. Clerk, will you call roll. Roll Call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea. De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried. Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 4 of 20 MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 6: Items Moved From the Consent Agenda None De Weerd: Under -- there were no items moved from the Consent Agenda. Item 7: Action Items A. Final Plat for Bainbridge Subdivision No. 5 (H-2017- 0043) by Brighton Investments, LLC Located Approximately 1/2 Mile South of W. Chinden Boulevard and 1/4 Mile West of N. Ten Mile Road 1. Request: Final Plat Approval Consisting of Twenty-Six (26) Building Lots and Four (4) Common Lots on 7.56 Acres of Land in an R-8 Zoning District De Weerd: Item 7-A has been requested to continue to May 16th. Council, do I have a motion? Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Bird: I move we continue H-2017-0043 to May 16th, 2017. Borton: Second. De Weerd: I have a motion and a secon d to continue Item 7-A to May 16th. All those in favor say aye. All ayes. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 8: Department Reports A. Mayor’s Office: Citywide Strategic Plan B. Resolution No. 17-2009: Adoption of Citywide Strategic Plan De Weerd: Item 8-A. Council, the strategic plan. You also have the resolution, 17-2009. I will ask if you have questions or discussion. Cavener: Okay. I guess I will -- looking at me? Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Cavener. Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 5 of 20 Cavener: I was curious. I got a sheet that was provided to us last week. When we first discussed this -- I guess not when we first discussed this this year, but our previous Council meeting on this subject there was a document that we shared with Council Members that had numerous edits and questions and Councilman Milam, in her infinite wisdom, made the suggestion that we wait to take action to give department directors and staff an opportunity to provide feedback. I'm just curious when we are going to receive that feedback. De Weerd: The feedback on what? I'm sorry. Cavener: That's okay. I will repeat my question. Our previous meeting we -- I brought a spreadsheet that had numerous edits and questions related to a wide variety of strategic action items that were on t he plan for discussion amongst the Council and Councilman Milam suggested that we get feedback -- because those questions impacted specific departments, directors, staff, as well as individuals that were in charge of each action item, that we withhold voti ng on that plan until we had the opportunity to receive feedback from those individuals. To date we haven't received that feedback and I'm not comfortable with making any decision until we have received that information. So, the question was when we woul d be able to expect that response. De Weerd: The meeting was continued and that discussion came up two weeks ago, which is when we asked to put this off two more weeks, because Mr. Palmer wouldn't be here last week. The plan that was brought back was removing the objectives, which is really the conversation I'm having with the department directors at the operational side. Cavener: Uh-huh. De Weerd: What we were seeking direction on is -- is, really, the -- the hundred thousand, fifty thousand, twenty thousand foot level of division and the strategic goals. As policymakers we were seeking your feedback in terms of are we in line of the vision of this Council and, then, we have direction from this Council in -- that we can start firming up our -- our objectives and the tactics that support the direction and vision of this Council. So, you brought some very good items to the table in saying those really are operational and those conversations need to be had with myself and the directors and -- and checking their relationship to the vision, the focus areas, and the strategic goals and the other piece to that discussion was an annual check in was not often enough. So, we are bringing it back saying a semi-annual check in would be preferred over the annual and with each of our departments bringing -- during their strategic plan update that they come and give once a year that they would be bringing some of the areas that they are the leads in that support the strategic goals and focus areas and vision and that you would be getting those once a month . What we are trying to put together is a consistent delivery for that section of the conversation they want to Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 6 of 20 have with -- with Council on how that should look, so that, you know, you're in the strategic plan piece to it. Cavener: For clarification, then, it's the intent that we won't receive the feedback to the document that was provided before you're looking for a vote tonight? De Weerd: We -- we are looking for the direction on the policy level of vision, strategic focus areas, and goals and -- and, yes, I would be more than happy to sit down and go through the objectives and what your concern is , but as I mentioned two weeks ago, Mr. Cavener, there is a hundred different ways of getting to where this Council wants the city to go. What we need to all agree on is where we are going and, then, the professionals that we hire need to help get us there and that's what we want to come and report back on. Cavener: Madam Mayor, to respond to that, I don't disagree, I don't think any of us disagree. I think the challenge has been this bouncing ball that has changed and -- it's changed a lot over the past 18 months. It's -- it's shocking to hear that it's taken 18 months to firm up strategic goals and objectives when we have already voted on those multiple times. Quite frankly, I also grow frustrated the more that we talk about this plan, that Council is being told what is and isn't their -- their purview. I don't think there is anyone here that wants to get into the operations, but when the Council is asked for their feedback and perspective on this goal -- on these goals and we provide them and we ask for questions and responses and we don't receive them -- multiple times, it makes it very challenging for me as an individual to be supportive of this plan , because, quite frankly, I don't have a lot of comfort in knowing that six months from now when this comes back to us and I have questions that those questions are going to be answered or addressed, because there has been multiple occasions where that hasn't happened and I feel that we have asked for some very simple feedback from those on-the-ground people because we have been asked for our feedback and we haven't received it. De Weerd: Mr. Cavener, I understand your frustration, but those are areas that I'm responsible for, frankly, and I would love to sit down with you one -on-one -- in fact, you did take -- I think all of us by surprise when you came with a document and it did initiate some discussions and I think those discussions, because they are operational in nature, that's -- that falls under my responsibility and if you're frustrated -- be frustrated with me. Cavener: I am. De Weerd: -- and we can certainly talk about that. I have talked to many other communities on their strategic planning and it's a year out when you adopted the official document and we came back with our annual update . There are still communities that are three years into it that have tried operationally to figure out the best reporting, their performance measures, what really was -- was Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 7 of 20 achievable and what wasn't and until you start working that plan -- and I think that's what our directors stood in front of you -- until they started to implement that, looked at -- because that whole year was developing tactics and even those tactics, looking at them and seeing how they related to the objectives, that's where you start making sense of does this objective make sense or not. Is it in the right order or not? And does it really support the high level vision that the policymakers and the elected officials are envisioning and those are still the conversation we have had and I can tell you whether it's other cities, other corporations, it's a living document. We wanted to ensure that this Council knows that it wasn't just a document that sat on a shelf, that there were changes and there were questions that were a result of starting to put the tactics together and starting to work the plan that made it obvious that verbatim that what you adopted over a year ago was not necessarily realistic. Some of them have been accomplished. Some of them more vague and needed more detail in that and those are the -- the conversations that certainly the directors or the lead and I are having in terms of the accountability to the plan. But I would be more than happy to sit down with you and talk operationally what all that is and to answer the questions that -- that you raise, because I think the raising of those questions really did make us take note and say how deep down does the conversation need to be at the policy level. So, I'm sorry you're frustrated with me, but I would be more than happy to -- to set up a meeting with you following this and we can go through your concerns and -- but I will say there is not one director in this city that is not taking that plan serious and rolling up their sleeves and working it . Palmer: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Palmer. Palmer: Madam Mayor, when I ran for the position I felt like I wasn't running for an oversight committee to look down from twenty, thirty thousand feet to set a -- what -- what looks to me like a bullet point ed mission statement. I ran because I felt like I was running for a position as a -- a policy-making council where we do get into the weeds a little bit. We get into the objectives. We get into things beyond the feel-good statements that are on, you know, this one page version of the plan. And so while Councilman Cavener's -- his amended version that he had presented to us there was a few things I would have tweaked, I feel like it presented us a lot better view as to what each of -- you know, of the objective -- or I guess each of the goals were appointed here, the next step is to -- to make those things happen, whereas this was saying, yeah, these things are all great, now go forth and I hope you do them -- I want to know how that's going to happen and how I can help -- I can help set the policy to make that possible and facilitate the different departments being able to accomplish those goals. So, I have a hard time with this. It just doesn't feel like a -- just -- again, just, you know, a feel good mission statement, rather than what we actually want to see accomplished over the next several years. Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 8 of 20 De Weerd: Well, I hope during the annual strategic updates that the departments bring you it will bring some of those areas that they are leading that will support the focus areas and the strategic goals. That is where they are seeking your feedback. But there is a clear separation between the Mayor and the Council responsibilities, and our departments cannot have seven bosses. So, I -- I do take serious my role in the operations and the day-to-day business of this city. You set the policy and you set the budgets and when you do that, then, it's my responsibility to make sure that they are executed. Not one place in the state code does it suggest that our departments should have seven different bosses. That's really complicated and I should be the responsible party to the strategic plan and bringing back the progress to it and I -- as I think Councilman Borton suggested annually -- we need to -- to see that on a more frequent basis and quarterly seems to -- or not quarterly. Oh, my God. Semi-annually. Not biannually, because you don't want it every two years. It seems to be a good pace, as well you will hear it monthly in the strategic updates as it pertains to individual departments. Palmer: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Palmer. Palmer: Maybe as an example, picking one on here, 2-C, it says promote and -- promote a diverse and sustainable economy. I feel like Council can be more of an asset to figuring out how to make that happen than saying go do that, let us know in a year how it's going and we will check in again the next year. I want to be involved in saying, okay, how can we make this happen, what -- what are -- what are the objectives to make this happen and, then, go forth with the tact -- and figuring out the tactics to accomplish the objectives that promote a diverse and sustainable economy, not just go do that and tell us how it's going. Too broad. De Weerd: Okay. Well, I would imagine that during the -- the semi-annual update you will hear the activities that are going on to support those and that is where the conversation is really beneficial to say, well, are you doing these things, we would like to see something here and definitely we can bring information back. That's where the conversation is very beneficial. Little Roberts: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mrs. Little Roberts. Little Roberts: Knowing that it must have been quite a process to go through what we end up with at first and voted in -- basically the book, all the way down to a sheet. Would it be possible to take like a -- one of our workshops and have you lead us through that? Not that we have to have all the department heads in, Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 9 of 20 but take us through kind of the process and the changes that have happened in drilling it down. De Weerd: Well -- so, Councilman Borton and I talked about maybe when -- when those semi-annual updates could coincide in -- in terms of at the beginning of the new budget year and right before our budget workshops. So, October and March. I think I -- as I work to -- to bring your update back in October, that will be a good time to -- to really see -- again, what I mentioned before is we are trying to put kind of -- some format as what those semi-annual updates can look like that's going to give you enough meat that you feel that you can dive in and we can have a productive conversation. So, yeah, I could do it during a workshop and maybe we can see how we can best work through -- through that and I will work with the Council President and Vice-President to see what kind of structure we can put to that, so we can have those kind of meatier discussions. Other -- Cavener: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Cavener. Cavener: During one of our presentations it was shared about a computer portal that -- of managing the goals. It was my hope that we would have been able to have seen that by tonight. Can you give us a status update onto the progress and at the last meeting it was shared that Council would be able to log into that and be provided with an online portal, since none of us are in City Hall full-time. Hadn't heard anything about it since then. In light of I think some significant changes into the document that we now have before us versus what we had, I'd like to have an update as to will we have access to that, when should we expect to have access, if, and what we would be able to see. De Weerd: We are working on what that portal would -- would give and at what level of reporting -- kind of at that time we even said we don't know how to show the percentage completed, because now it will have several different influencers to the objectives and -- and that sort of thing. Certainly that tool has become extremely important in my one-on-ones with -- with the departments and the leads on those adjectives and where they are at and where they are going to need policy discussions or budgetary impacts and those kind of t hings. So, I don't know what that tool will look like. Cavener: Okay. De Weerd: Those are still conversations that we are having. And it is a tool that for the operational piece it's essential in having discussions and greater accountability with the -- the directors. Palmer: Madam Mayor? Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 10 of 20 De Weerd: Mr. Palmer. Palmer: He asked the exact question I was -- I muted my mike to -- but further onto that point -- I mean I got to kind of see its creation in meetings when I meet with Ms. Holman and even contributed to the functionality that -- that exists within it. A function that was important to me as a Councilman to be able to see everything and ask questions, what's in the system, but, then, would have an answer in it that if anybody else were to happen upon that particular objective or tactic or goal or whatever, that they would be able to see the answer -- that there was a question, that there was an answer, so as to avoid, you know, one per son having a question and, then, another person ask that later and it just being an e-mail chain of being there and also subject to public records request in case somebody was interested in how a particular piece of the strategic plan is progressing and so for me I absolutely want access to it, because I'd like to be able to participate and see -- I understand the seven boss issue, but certainly to be able to watch progress and -- and have a good understanding of things that are taking place, because when we get to the budgeting setting process, the more information the better throughout the rest of the year on how things are going. De Weerd: We will -- we will bring that back. Cavener: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Cavener. Cavener: Council Member Palmer touched on something that at least made my ears perk up and I want to make sure that I'm -- I'm clear on. Is it contemplated that Council would be prohibited from seeing all the information available? De Weerd: No. Cavener: Okay. That's why my -- Mr. Bird, why my ears perked up is if that was contemplated I think that's something that we would need to discuss here tonight, because I don't think that's -- Bird: I don't even know how to get into it. Cavener: Well, just because -- De Weerd: Other questions? Borton: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Borton. Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 11 of 20 Borton: I had my mike muted. Here is my take on it, for what it's worth. I saw the spreadsheet that Councilman Cavener provided to be illustrative of some disconnect between legislative and executive branch. Had a lot of proposed amendments and questions in it. But something else that -- that was apparent -- 2015 to 2016 through this, the various levels of this plan, I'm starting at the highest level with the five focus areas, we are all on the same page on it and the goals that were listed under each of the five focus areas we all still seem to be on the same page and rowing in the same direction and at least when I looked at the summary sheet with regards to those two levels, it wasn't a requested change and I see that's what you have -- you have summarized in not an adoption, but sort of a reaffirmation of the strategic plan, at least on those two levels. The discussion which hasn't happened, which I think is a good one, in which will continue to happen in perpetuity, is the objective and what I saw what Councilman Cavener did here is made reference on the objective level to a multitude of objectives that either were marked as arbitrary or there is no progress or no known progress, maybe some more information could be provided on them, but I saw that as the objective level -- and to back up a little bit, when reviewing the resolution that we all have and I double -checked with C.Jay now that we all have before us, whether it goes forward today or in a future day, speaks to the objectives and even the tactics as being the most dynamic part of the plan and changing. There will be objectives I imagine under each of the goals that changes. May change month to month, certainly semi-annually when we get reports as to each goal that we all have within each focus area, there are some -- and there, quite frankly, could be some that could be removed now and I think Councilman Cavener's -- and, Madam Mayor, you have noted that there may be some that were not intentionally arbitrary that might have evolved and become discovered to be such, that objective would be removed or maybe not a critical mission for the city. But I didn't take what you're proposing to be to the exclusion of objectives and the reference in the resolution still speaks to objectives and still speaks to the Mayor's responsibility, at least semi-annually, to come before the Council and speak to these and identify those objectives that -- that we are at least including now, some of which are being removed or propose some new ones, have feedback, engagement from Council, here is additional objectives that are those goals that we should consider and perhaps all support and adopt and include and that's the dynamic feature of the plan. So, I -- maybe I'm just too glass is half full. I saw this -- I didn't see these two to be diametrically opposed. I thought they were consistent with each other and I took Councilman Cavener's proposal this -- to bluntly address the objective. So, if we adopted this, I'm all for it, because what I expect is -- it's the same as we have had the last couple years and the executive branch has their feet to the fire and you've committed to that on a semi-annual basis to come forward and speak to focus area one, here is the objectives, and here is what our departments have accomplished. Here is what we have -- that we failed on. We haven’t accomplished this. This objective doesn't fit. Let's take that out. Council, what do you think we should add in as a new objective? We can have -- not even just semi-annually, but maybe have more dynamic input -- having these objectives Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 12 of 20 evolve and, then, be able to come to Ms. Holman, and the portal to be able to track progress. I hear everyone talking the s ame way in that regard. So, to adopt and act on this doesn't negate, I don't think, what Councilman Cavener has presented. I think the dialogue that you two have -- are both eager to have now is great. Don't have to wait every six months to have that report, but -- and, quite frankly, Madam Mayor, I think that helps you, too. So, there is nothing -- no one's hiding the ball or any perception of such when you get to that six month review if there is additional objectives that should come in, let's talk about it early and often and if there is problems and it's brought to light, concerns with several of them, let's address it, too. De Weerd: Well -- and I would hope that you address it with me -- Borton: Certainly. De Weerd: -- because that's -- I am -- I am the owner of that plan and when you have questions they should go through me as the responsible party. So, I think we are all saying the same thing and when I report back those -- those are the areas that we will be touching on. But as far as the directional, the visionary piece, the focus areas and the strategic goals are really what we are working and developing a plan to and executing towards and that's what we will be bringing back monthly in the strategic updates and they will be talking about the objectives that they are working on and that their leads, too, and any -- any issues they have in that area and collectively it will be brought back twice a year to discuss progress as a whole, because as you can see in that strategic plan that there is a lot of owners and in every single one of the focus areas. So, it's all hands on deck and -- and everyone owns a piece to that. Borton: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Borton. Borton: And it may be quicker that we hear feedback after conversation with -- with Councilman Cavener about some of the objectives and I don't see -- I see us being involved and aware of the objectives and their development and promotion -- it's not so much getting in the weeds to Councilman Cavener's -- or Councilman Palmer's comments. I think that's appropriate knowing the objectives. It's, you know, going further and now within individual departments directing day-to-day affairs, that's not the intent of an objective or any member of Council. But I think the involvement with the objectives is appropriate. And I don't -- and, again, I don't see what you're presenting as an attempt to exclude that. Your objectives are always going to be the critical part of it and, then, we can all have an opportunity to view the progress on them. That's all my thoughts. And Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Uh-huh. Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 13 of 20 Borton: The comment with regards to the reporting time and I don't know if Council -- if they have got other suggestions certainly present them, but the semi- annual date -- somewhat arbitrary date of February, March, the idea that I thought was March is a good status report as you prepare your budget and , then, October is a good status report now that the executive branch understands, for better or for worse, what budgets has been approved, what tools there are to execute the strategic plan going forward. So, somewhere within those two months seem to be appropriate and it also holds the executive branch's feet to the fire, so to speak, on a month certain when those reports shall occur. De Weerd: Thank you. Nary: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Nary. Nary: I have the document up on the screen and I can add that in if that's the Council's desire. I just added a section two, if you were looking at the resolution on the bottom there it says the Mayor will report progress for the objectives to the City Council semi-annually in the month of March and October, is that -- De Weerd: I think I will be presenting a semi-annual report on the plan. Bird: Say it now? De Weerd: Huh? Bird: It don't say it now. Nary: No. I am adding that in if that's Council's desire and, then, we can -- I can go print it and, then, you can approve that or -- De Weerd: We can bring it back next week. Nary: Okay. De Weerd: So, bring it back next week with the changes as noted? Bird: Yes. De Weerd: Okay. Anything on this? C. Legal: Open Forum Discussion and Guidelines De Weerd: Okay. Item 8-C is under our Legal Department. Mr. Nary. Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 14 of 20 Nary: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. If you looked in your packets -- and I had previously sent it to you as well -- we have created some guidelines for the open forum that we have been discussing having. Get the correct page. There we go. So, in looking at the code and looking at the law, we came up with, essentially, four guidelines that would be part of our agenda, so it would be clear to folks what the rules are in this. These are pretty straightforward. Again, it's just sign your name, tells us what you want to talk about. Again, we are not going to have individual complaints about anybody, that's really not the purpose. Again, testimony about things that are active and pending we can't have that. And, then, of course, if there is anything inappropriate or something like that the chair obviously can stop the discussion and end it. We talked about when to have this in the meeting and in speaking with the Mayor we had been talking about doing it at the beginning of the meeting and one of the concerns is that, again, on any given week there might be nobody here and there might be ten people here and we don't know what it's going to be. So, the thought was maybe initially we do it on the second Tuesday, which is your normal workshop and we put it at the end of the workshop, which puts it about a 5:00 -- 5:00, 5:30'ish time, which can work for some people I think. You know, if we do it too early -- if you did it at 3:00 they probably would complain they can't get here. Put at the end of the workshop. That's one. If we do it on the fourth Tuesday, again, I would suggest putting it at the end, because you always have land use hearings and, of course, people have paid for that hearing to occur by all the noticing and everything and, again, I don't know if there is one person here or ten and we said 30 minutes, we want to try to at least put some limitation on how long this would be , and certainly on those nights when there is -- you know, if there is people here that you know of, we look at the list enough and there is a lot of people that have signed up, you know, you can always move it around here in your agenda, but at least if you put it as you plan at the end of the meeting, then, people would know that's when you do it, if that would make sense, but that was just a suggestion. But if you're okay with these -- with these guidelines I think the only question would be is do you want to go ahead and add that and when do you want to add it. Do you want to add it with the first workshop in May? De Weerd: Any questions? Palmer: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Palmer. Palmer: I would think if -- if we are going to not have it at every meeting, the workshop meeting would be the one that we don't have it at and have it right after the -- the adoption of the agenda or the -- right after the Consent Agenda, because -- I mean to have somebody wait to have their three minutes for four hours I think is -- sure, if we have ten we are going to have people who are going Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 15 of 20 to take an hour or two, so their item might have to wait 30 minutes. But I think at least as a trial that we do it and see how it goes and if it gets to where it's just -- we are getting ten every single week, then, maybe look at moving it around on the agenda. But it's not a problem if we only ha ve zero, one or two, you know, people who are going to take an hour for their item can wait three to six minutes. Unless it gets out of hand. That way it's early enough in the evening, but after most people's work hour that -- would give us a good trial and see what happens. Milam: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mrs. Milam. Milam: I agree with Councilman Palmer, but -- and I think that because this is a -- something new that we are adding we can -- it's mobile, we can change it and let's try it at the beginning. If it's not working, if it's putting things off, if it's creating problems for our -- our meetings and the people who are paying for items on the agenda then -- we move it to the end. But, like I said, there may only be one or two and we sho uldn't make them wait until the end of the agenda just to have their three minutes of say. Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Bird: Questions to Councilman Palmer and Genesis. If you're running a business and a customer is coming in to buy, do you wait on them first or the one that's looking? And that's -- that's the way I look at this thing is these applications that come before us, these people are paying a pretty good penny to be heard and we are allowing these other -- other people to come in and voice and I have no problem with it at all, letting them come and talk, but I think -- I think we take care of the -- the business at hand first and, then, take care of the public forum afterwards. Milam: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Council, I guess when Councilman Bird and I talked about it at the agenda-setting meeting, it was -- it was there is sometimes citizens here that are here for those public hearings and they have already invested their time in the neighborhood meetings, they invested their time at Planning and Zoning and they are here because there is a particular application that is on the agenda that we need to get to their hearings for and -- and that was more the discussion, it's -- it's not necessarily the -- the applicants, but we have ACHD here, we have a lot of people here to -- to give comment or to have us available for questions for those public hearings and that was more what -- what the discussion was centered around. So, I don't want you to think just because they paid an Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 16 of 20 application fee that gives them a greater voice, but it's the citizens that come in response to that that we -- that's how we came up with the recommendation. Milam: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mrs. Milam. Milam: Because you brought me into this, Councilman Bird, every one of our citizens and constituents are just as valuable customers to me as any other. So, does it need to be at a specific place on the agenda? You have agenda-setting meetings every -- every week. So, maybe base it on what is on the agenda -- I don't -- the agenda goes out so people can look at it ahead of time and have some idea when to come in. I agree that we -- we certainly don't want a room of 300 people and, then, all of a sudden there are three people here that were here to speak and now you have 300 people that made -- and, then, it really could extend that out, though we have a cap at 30 minutes I guess anyway. It's tough. I have mixed feelings about it. Because we don't know what to expect and that's why like for the first time put it on an agenda where we don't have a huge -- huge long action items and put it at the beginning of the agenda and see what happens. De Weerd: Again, it was -- even if it's once a month -- we have Coffee With The Mayor. We have the Town Hall meetings. You have the online comments. You have a lot -- our city -- if you look at other ways of approaching your elected officials -- has great accessibility. We are trying to find something that is predictable and as we get calls or you get calls you can direct them at a second and fourth meeting we have these open comments. On the second meeting it's closer to 5:00 o'clock and the fourth meeting It's -- it depends on -- on the agenda and -- but there is also other ways they can get on the agenda. If they want to write the letter and say I'd like to come in and address the Council on this policy, because I think that we should have a leash law for cats, we can specifically put that and we can have that -- we can schedule it on the agenda for that . I can't wait to see our police and what their testimony is going to be on enforcement, but -- I guess we are trying to -- to add this, see how it goes, but we -- we do have many forums that they have to -- to have a dialogue with their elected officials. This won't be the only way. Palmer: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Palmer. Palmer: Per the proposed strategic plan on 3-A it says elevate the engagement of the community with the local government. We do have massive opportunities to communicate with us, but being -- billing this as a plan means it's not enough. So, I think to elevate it that this is a good opportunity for a trial to do it for a month, see what happens. If we get developers complaining that I got 30 Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 17 of 20 minutes of people getting up yapping about whatever they want while I'm here, you know, paying my staff to be here about this project and all these neighbors getting grumpy because they have been sitting around an extra half an hour trying to get to my item, well, then, yeah, we figure something else out. But until we know that it's going to cause a problem I think it's worth it. Worth trying it from the beginning of the meeting. If we had one or two, then, it's not a problem. No developer is going to complain about three to six minutes delay in their thing, because somebody got up to say something. Cavener: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Cavener. Cavener: I appreciate your point, Madam Mayor, about predictability. I think that's important in having something show up nebulous on each agenda based on the meeting I don't think is maybe our best practice. So, I'd support a consistent time. If that means that we are doing it in the first, third and fourth, which are kind of our traditional City Council meetings at the beginning, I think that may be an appropriate decision. If it turns out that this is a much more popular edition to our Council agendas than we anticipated, perhaps, then, we have the discussion about adding it at the workshop. We have community presentations in our meetings, announcements, proclamations, recognizing state championship football, basketball teams, sometimes takes 30 to 40 minutes for us to go through that presentation. I don't think that giving our citizens three minutes to share what is ever on their heart is going to get in the way of some of the regular business practices of the city. Council Member Palmer's comment, which I also agree with, should the development community voice some concerns that it is impacting their bottom line, then, perhaps we have a further discussion about it. But this is a trial. I believe beginning it at the first part of each of our regular scheduled meetings seems to me to be the appropriate decision. It's one I would support. Borton: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Borton. Borton: We are arguing about the impact of something that has yet to occur. It's just kind of fascinating. There is no wrong answers when you do that. De Weerd: I don't know if anyone is -- I don't know if anyone is arguing. Borton: As far as the impact of a yet-to-have-occurred event -- De Weerd: I don't really even care. Borton: So, maybe everyone's in agreement. Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 18 of 20 De Weerd: It's interesting that every fifth Tuesday is turned into every single week, you know, and that's not enough. So, I don't care. This was just a proposal that Mr. Nary put together. You guys come to an agreement and that is what will do. So -- Palmer: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Palmer. Palmer: Every fifth Tuesday, everybody? No. I'm just kidding. Does anybody object to trying it -- for this? Bird: Make a motion. Make a motion. Palmer: We need a motion for that or just make it so? De Weerd: Yes, we need a motion. Nary: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, Council Member Palmer, to answer your question, it would be easier for us if you folks made a motion, so we knew when you want to start it. The guidelines -- if you could adopt the guidelines and, then, you tell us when you want to start it and, then, we will do it. Palmer: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Palmer. Palmer: I move we adopt this plan that Mr. Nary has written up for us and do it on the first, third and fourth Tuesday of each month, starting in May. And put it at the beginning -- put it -- unless someone has a better idea, after Consent Agenda. Cavener: If the maker of the motion is finished, I will second that. De Weerd: So, I have a motion and a second. If you could delay that, so we could at least let people know. I mean -- Palmer: Madam -- and I thought about that, but, then, if nobody shows up in May then -- then we move on. De Weerd: Okay. Borton: We have a motion and a second? De Weerd: Mr. Borton. Yes. Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 19 of 20 Borton: For discussion, I would propose if the motion maker is okay to do it in front of Consent Agenda -- if it gets to be a consistent item, we adopt the agenda, there may be a proclamation. It's kind of community time, but the Consent Agenda might have an item that gets pulled off of it and, then, discussed and it could be inconsistent timing, so before the consent. De Weerd: So, after adoption of the agenda. Borton: Yes. De Weerd: Okay. Any further discussion? Mr. Clerk. Roll Call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea. De Weerd: All ayes. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 9: Future Meeting Topics De Weerd: Future meeting topics. A couple of upcoming events. Town hall meeting is on Wednesday. We have gotten a couple of questions already in advance and it will be live-streamed. We will be taking tweets that -- that are questions and -- and integrating them into the Town Hall meeting as well. It starts at 6:30 at Cole Valley High School. Growing Together roundtable is Thursday from 9:00 to 11:30 at the Small Business Development Center in Nampa. Deputy Chief Palmer is having his goodbye party on Thursday, April 27th, from 1:00 to 2:00 and we have an Arbor Day celebration on Friday, April 28th, at Hunter Elementary at 1:30. And a number of walking clubs. Wednesday at Hillsdale from noon to 1:00. Chief Joseph on Thursday from 12:15 to 1 :00. Compass from 1:10 to 1:30 also on Thursday. And Willow Creek also on Thursday from 10:10 to 10:30. So, those are the upcoming events. Anything for future agendas? If not, I would entertain a motion to adjourn. Bird: So moved. Cavener: Second. De Weerd: All those in favor say aye. All ayes. Roll Call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea ; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea. De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried. Meridian City Council April 25, 2017 Page 20 of 20 MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 6:57 P.M. (AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS) —<Z,00700, 5 2- i X17 MAYOR TC4Y DE WEERD DATE APPROVED ATTEST: Go�PoRATEoq�cG C. JAY( COLEWCITY CLERK IP rk-o . a rnz S 10414o EAL /