HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-06-13Meridian City Council Workshop June 13, 2017.
A meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 3:02 p.m., Tuesday,
June 13, 2017, by Mayor Tammy de Weerd.
Members Present: Mayor Tammy de Weerd, Keith Bird, Joe Borton, Genesis
Milam, Luke Cavener and Anne Little Roberts.
Members Absent: Ty Palmer.
Others Present: Bill Nary, C.Jay Coles, Caleb Hood, Warren Stewart, Laurelie
McVey, Jamie Leslie, Kevin Fedrizzi, Terri Ricks, Dale Bolthouse and Dean
Willis.
Item 1: Roll-call Attendance:
Roll call.
X__ Anne Little Roberts X _ _Joe Borton
___ Ty Palmer X__ Keith Bird
__X__ Genesis Milam __X__ Lucas Cavener
__X Mayor Tammy de Weerd
De Weerd: Okay. I'd like to welcome you to our City Council meeting. Thank
you so much for joining us. For the record it is Tuesday, June 13th. It's a few
minutes after 3:00. We will start with roll call attendance, Mr. Clerk.
Item 2: Pledge of Allegiance
De Weerd: Thank you. Item No. 1 -- or 2 is the Pledge of Allegiance. If you will
all stand and join us in the pledge to our flag.
(Pledge of Allegiance recited.)
Item 3: Adoption of the Agenda
De Weerd: Item No. 3 is adoption of the agenda.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I think we just have one amendment to the agenda. In the Ordinances, 8-
A, the proposed ordinance is 17-1733. And, then, we need to amend Ordinance
No. 17-1732A to the agenda and with that I move that we approve the amended
agenda.
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June 13, 2017
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Borton: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to adopt the agenda as read. All those
in favor say aye. All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. TWO ABSENT.
Item 4: Consent Agenda
A. Development Agreement for Holy Apostles Church (H-
2017-0019) located at the southeast corner of N.
Meridian Road and E. Chinden Blvd. at 6300 N Meridian
Road, in the NW 1/4 of Section 30, Township 4 North,
Range 1 East (Parcel No.:S0530223200)
B. Development Agreement for Harmony Hills Assisted
Living (H-2016-0061) located on the north side of W.
Overland Road, west of S. Stoddard Road in the
southwest ¼ of Section 13, Township 3 North, Range 1
West
C. Approval of Task Order 10746 to Bowen Collins &
Associates, Inc. for the SCADA System Upgrades PRV’s
1,14,16,17,18, and 19 for the Not-To-Exceed amount of
$76,000.00
D. Approval of Award of Bid and Agreement to Irminger
Construction, Inc. for the “WRRF Boise River Outfall
Pump Station Upgrades” project for a NotTo-Exceed
amount of $802,527.00
E. Approval for Finance to Pay Vendor Payments of
$1,183,930.17
F. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, Decision and
Order for Hastings Subdivision No. 3 (H-2017-0032) by
Encore Development, LLC Located 2100 & 2160 W.
Everest Lane
De Weerd: Item 4 is the Consent Agenda.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
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June 13, 2017
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Bird: I move that we approve the Consent Agenda as printed and for the Mayor
to sign and the 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; Cavene r, absent; Milam, yea; Palmer, absent;
Little Roberts, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. TWO ABSENT.
Item 5: Items Moved From the Consent Agenda
De Weerd: Okay. There were no items moved from the Consent Agenda.
Item 6: Community Items/Presentations
A. Solid Waste Advisory Commission: Trash or Treasure
Follow Up Report
De Weerd: So, we will move right into Item 6-A. With us today is the chair of our
Solid Waste Advisory Committee in Steve Cory and we are going to get a follow-
up report on Trash or Treasure. That sounds so exciting.
Cory: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, thank you for allowing us to come
up here. As promised previously, we are here to go ahead and -- sorry.
De Weerd: I don't know. I kind of like that, so --
Cory: We are here to go ahead and present a report on the Trash to Treasure
project that we did earlier this year and I am going to turn this over to the chair of
that project -- of that subcommittee and -- the guy that made it happen, Brett
Baranco. So, with no further adieu, thank you.
De Weerd: Thank you. And thank you, Brett, for being here.
Baranco: Thank you, Madam Mayor and Council Members. I really appreciate
you guys allowing me to come back and present the upda te. Steve, thank you
very much for the introduction. Going into it. Trash or Treasure, once again, did
happen on April 29th and April 30th. It was a Saturday and Sunday. Weekend
event. To give you a recap of what happened, it was a creative and community
involved program that promotes repurposing items to divert from landfills , to
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June 13, 2017
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conjoin Trash or Treasure with spring clean up and, again, it was on April 29th
and 30th. And the HOAs that were involved were Burney Glenn, Copper Basin,
and Havasu Creek. And the cost for this event to the city was zero dollars,
thanks in large part to Republic Services. We did create a video. Last time we
were not able to play it. I just wanted to show that by the end of the event we did
have about 92 views on that video. Keep in mind maybe 20 or so were us
checking up on it to just see if -- what it was about and everything. But it was a
great -- it was a great way, the type of video it was, in my mind a success to give
people knowledge of what the program was about . We did have flyers, both
electronic and physical. Again, these were purchased by Republic Services. We
did have a pre-flyer that electronically was sent out by the HOA board members
via e-mail, Facebook, NextDoor and that was on Friday, March 31st, and that
was on -- that's the bottom little flyer right there. The one -- the flyer on the left
that electronically was sent out by the HOA board members to the e-mail,
Facebook and NextDoor on Saturday, April 15th, as well as the physical flyers
were inserted by a few of us throughout the neighborhood on April 15th as well .
We also had vertical flyers -- six of them that were purchased by Republic
Services. They were put up on Locust Grove and Star, Locust Grove and Red
Rock, Heritage Woods and Star. Tempest and Red Horse. Red Horse and
McMillan. Meridian and Halpin. We believe that these were a success. That if
you got lost you were able to find that, that you knew that you were in the vicinity
to be able to participate in Trash or Treasure. And those were erected on
Wednesday, April 26th. Show you a few people that we were able to capture.
Don't take this back to Lieutenant -- we were able to see them going through
finding a few things. The gentleman in the middle, I got to personally talk to him
and he was just sitting on the couch on that weekend and realized that that was
going on, so he got to go out and find a few trinkets himself . So, he was pretty
happy with what he was able to find. A lot of stuff is put out on the side of the
road from furniture, bikes. A lot of barbecues and exercise equipment and I --
yeah. I think I missed a memo. People are losing weight and I wouldn't be able
to get rid of my exercise equipment, that's for sure. A lot of other stuff, too, just --
just -- you wouldn't believe what you were able to find out there and some things
were taken. This was a house that I did come across multiple days I was able to
relocate -- or re-find and see what was the progress of the items that were out
there. Got to see that they had a baby stroller, exercise equipment, a table,
painting, and a kids' sandbox and later that night I saw that the sandbox and the
-- actually the exercise equipment was all that was left and the next day I even
saw the sandbox that was gone. So, it was fun getting to see the progression of
things being taken and even with my wife , when we were going through the
neighborhood, to see what was being taken and the activity, she actually yelled
at me to stop, pointed her finger and we were able to find the sandbox in its new
home. Multiple other items we were able to see get to be reduced throughout the
neighborhoods. You can see the filing cabinet and potting -- or the pots taken
away, as well as these tires. A lot of the toys, chairs, furniture, barbecue set. In
this one the toys were taken. The ottoman, as well as some chairs were taken,
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as well as a lot of boxes of clutter. These ones were also taken as well. I was --
I did not get an after picture, but I was not able to find them again.
De Weerd: There was a wheelbarrow? Oh, my gosh. I would have taken that.
Baranco: Funny story. I did leave that, but I regretted it to this day, because I
told my wife, you know what, that would be a great decoration to have in my yard
and was never able to find it again. This I did find. I just wanted to show
everyone. My wife found it. She wanted to keep it and we were going to make it
into a little Lego table. We were up -- we realized -- I have a 15 month old
daughter and by the time she could use Legos it might not be big enough. So,
we have just used it for a table for her to have in our backyard to have when we
have barbecues with us. There were a slight -- there were some issues, being a
pilot year, that we ran into. Some was that some of the small items were not
properly put into the waste receptacles. So, the garbage collectors did have to
go out and manually bring them in, which cost a little bit more of time, as well as
with spring cleanup, you are required to call in larger items and a lot of people did
not read that -- the fine print with the spring cleanup to follow those regulations .
So, Republic Services had to work extra time to try and get all that stuff taken
care of and take care of Meridian. I did make a survey to try and get a capture of
what people felt about the event. We did have 52 out 488 residents respond to it.
That was 10.7 percent response. Being over ten percent I do believe that was a
victory in this survey, as much as possibly that you can get. The first question
was did you participate in the event. Thirty-nine out of 52 people did say yes.
With those 39 people one-fourth did place items out to the curb side. One found
specifically just a treasure. Twelve placed items out at curbside and found
treasures. And two people were looking through the neighborhood trying to find
something for them. And this is a list of some of the things that they were able to
take. It's just a vast array of different things for different reasons. I do believe
that potting cart, Madam Mayor, is the lucky person who found that wheelbarrow.
The people who did not participate, some of the reasons were timing conflicts
they were out of town, and they did not know what the event was about , even
with the flyers, the banners, the video, everything we could, people still were not
able to find information on it. Out of the 39 people that we asked if they would do
it again, 37 said yes. One person said heck, yes, and one person did say that --
not if it costs them anymore money for the garbage pick up. But they did not
know that the garbage pick up for spring cleanup is already on the bill . So, that
would be 39 of 39 people would like to participate again . Out of the ones that did
not participate, we asked if they would participate in the future. Five said yes.
Two said no. Four said maybe. And the one stated that they would bring it up to
their -- bring it to tenant's attention. With that said, 85 percent of the people who
did the survey said that they would like to do it again . If we do include the
maybes that would be 92 percent. We did get some positive feedback. A lot of it
just saying that they love the idea, they loved participating, and they had a great
time they would like to see it again. They were a go. Just some general
feedback we did get. Again, that people would like to know more about it. They
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might have been out of town during the event . It did take place during some of
their yards sales events, so that kind of brought confusion, as well as possibly
brought more stuff for spring cleanup to pick up during that time . There was also
the confusion of people thinking that it was a waste , that it should go to charity,
but more and more the charity organizations have stricter guidelines that there
refusing a lot more stuff and they just need to be taught the purpose of this
program. That's not for the charitable items, it's for the stuff that is below that, to
try and give it a second chance . Which, again, with Stony Plain, it's taken them
ten years to get up and running. This was a pilot year. I do believe it was a
success. And I did present this to -- these results to the Solid Waste Advisory
Commission and they received it very well. They voted unanimously for me to
come to you and let you know that they wis hed to continue for another year with
this program and they will keep the sub committee going and will continue to
work -- and convene and work out the kinks from this pilot year and the City
Council will be advised of what we come across, what we decide. And with that I
would like to thank City Council, Madam Mayor, again, for allowing me to come
here and have this first event happen with successful results and I thank you very
much.
De Weerd: Thank you. You know, this was such a unique and innovative
program. So, where did the idea come from?
Baranco: So, the idea came almost a little more than a year ago . My brother-in-
law passed away and my wife, child, and I went to Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada,
and got to see what they went through with Trash or Treasure and with my sister-
in-law's loss and needing to move back to the states, it was a great opportunity
for her to get rid of a lot of her things and I got to see the entire community
involvement with it and it was just really neat to see you . I thought my city might
be interested in it as well.
De Weerd: Well, thank you for bringing back good ideas. I always love to rip off
good ideas. So, Council, any questions?
Bird: Just thank you very much.
De Weerd: Certainly in Genesis' neighborhood -- or Councilman Milam's
neighborhood you all participated. So, I think you added a little bit of feedback
last time, but --
Milam: Madam Mayor. I did participate in this event. I did fill out the survey. I
thought it was a great program. I walked around my neighborhood and there
were a lot of -- a lot of people in my neighborhood participating and I think they
did a really good job for -- you know, getting the information out and repetitively
sending the flyers out to -- through NextDoor and through our HOA, to our e-mail.
So, I think in our neighborhood a lot more people knew about it and participated.
I recognize a lot of that stuff in your pictures. I think it got -- after the stuff was
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already -- from my yard was already taken, but it was great and it was a great
team effort and a great project and I'm -- do we need a motion to allow this to
continue forward or --
Cory: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, I think we are going to go ahead
and work up some details and we will come back with those adjustments and
details and, then, we will ask for permission at that point.
Milam: Perfect.
De Weerd: Okay. So, we won't jump the gun then.
Milam: Thank you for all your hard work and it took a lot for -- for a pilot program
for the very first year, I think it was very successful, so --
Baranco: I could not have done it without the subcommittee members I had with
me. They are the -- they are the steam behind the engine that's for sure.
Milam: Great team over there.
Baranco: Yeah.
De Weerd: Small but mighty. Yeah. Thank you. This is -- this is fun and look
forward to next year. I'll go shopping.
Baranco: Thank you very much, everyone.
Bird: Thank you, guys.
Item 7: Department Reports
A. Community Development: Introduction of the Proposed
Draft of the Uniform Street Name and Address Number
Code
De Weerd: Okay. Under Department Reports, 7-A, we have our Community
Development Department. Hi, Terri.
Ricks: Pardon my inexperience here. Good afternoon, Madam Mayor, Members
of the Council. My name is Terri Ricks. I'm with Community Development and
I'm, basically, here to provide you with an overview or an introduction of a new
uniform street name and address number ordinance and right out of the gate I'd
like you to know that we are not here seeking your approval for this draft , but we
are seeking your input and direction, guidance from you regarding how to go
forward. As a means of a brief overview, I would like to discuss our -- our current
'97 -- or 1974 ordinance. Now, that is a whole long time ago, 43 years. There
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isn't much to discuss, but we will discuss that. 1974 versus 2017. Then and
now. What was life like in Meridian then and what -- in our country and what is it
like now. We will go over the continued growth and development in the city and
county, partnering with our -- with our neighbors in public safety, with neighboring
cities and the county, and what can we do to help. I would like to discuss
standard addressing guidelines and consistency between agencies, how
important that is. I would like to discuss the numerous agencies solicited for
input in this draft. The highlights of our ordinance draft -- and we won't go over
every part, just name -- name a few things. And, then, of course, at the end
would like to seek your counsel and direction. If we could go back to -- down
memory lane a little bit to 1974. Well, our ordinance -- I didn't even know what to
say about our current ordinance, other than it consists of eight pages. It was
originally codified in 1974 and had a minor -- very minor update in 1999. It's
extremely vague regarding variances and appeals . It's extremely vague in most
areas, but it was more than likely very sufficient for our small population at that
time. 1974 versus 2017. Now, I'm a wordy person and so I just got carried away
and I had to reduce my slide . But I was -- I was in high school in 1974. That's
how long ago this was. But in 1974 gas prices shot up to 55 cents per gallon due
to the 1973 oil crisis. The average price of a new car was around 3,500 dollars.
The population of Meridian was between three and five thousand people and
Councilman Bird was in here before we began and he knew that right off the bat ,
that in 1974 we had 3,000 people. He didn't have to look at anything. The
population of Boise was between 75,000 and a hundred thousand and maybe
Councilman Bird would know if that number -- but that's as close as I was able to
get. Now, fast forward to 2017. The average gas price is 2.36 a gallon and this
is in the country, not necessarily in Meridian. The average price of a new car or
truck is just under 34,000 dollars. The population of Meridian is nearing 100,000
and the population of Boise is over 205,000. Although the cities in Ada county
were once separated by many miles of fields and pasture and desert, they are no
longer separated. In some cases today a structure literally next door to us can
be occupied by a Boise business or a county resident . In the '90s we were the
fastest growing city in the state and today we are among the fastest growing
cities in the entire country. We are in population today where Boise was in the
late '70s. Partnering in public safety. What can we do to help? Ada County
Emergency Communication Center now provides 911 service to 12 different
public agencies within the county, spanning four separate addressing grids. 911
answers approximately 1,100 emergency and nonemergency -- nonemergency
calls per day and coordinates movement for all fire and police departments within
the county, in addition to Ada County Paramedics. I tend to harp on 911 and why
do we care about 911? We have our own police and fire department. But 911 is
the beginning of an emergency. That's where it all starts. And our police and fire
departments are totally dependent on the 911 system. To become partners in
public safety we need to more efficiently help 911 dispatch in their efforts to help
us. We can provide consistency in the methods we use in assigning add resses
and approving street names. Oftentimes I use the term standard addressing
guidelines and I generally use it when I'm trying to explain to a developer or
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contractor or someone why we do what we do , why we assign addresses the
way we do. Why they have to have street frontage. Why we can't just name a
street whatever we wish. Addressing guidelines do serve a purpose, but they
really lack the teeth to be applied consistently without a coordinating ordinance.
City -- although city retains final approval, other agencies are a vital, important
part of the review and recommendation process. They have been and they will
continue to be even more so. Consistently applying the same standards in
addressing and street naming with the county and those around us will result in
less confusion for dispatch, which means emergency responders will find less
confusion and the general public will be served better. Our ultimate goal in
drafting this new ordinance has been to seek consistency with our neighboring
communities and the agencies to facilitate emergency response efforts and in
previous public hearings where we have had requests for variances and appeals
regarding street names, you, the Council, have given us direction and we have
included that. We have also taken into consideration the standards and NENA is
the National Emergency Number Association, which we are compliant with. The
requested input -- we receive input and review from Meridian Police and Fire,
Planning, Legal, 911 dispatch, Ada County Assessor's land records division and
ACHD. We have also sought the input from the BCA developers council and are
awaiting their response. Basically, the highlights of our new ordinance -- are
staying as consistent as we possibly can to the Ada county guidelines. While we
-- our emphasis is on the City of Meridian, we don't live on an island and we are
tightly connected with those around us. While we are -- want to remain
consistent with their guidelines, we also know that there are unique instances
that will come up and they will qualify for a variance request to the P &Z
Commission and also provide for a limited right of appeal to Council. Along with
that we have parameters built in that are guidelines for P&Z and Council. So,
when we ask a question, when someone appeals, we are providing better
information for the applicant, as well as Council and the Commission. In those
cases, one thing we included are -- our cases we have had in the past you have
recommended to us that we set conditions, so that these things can be answered
in the future. Those things are included in our -- in our new ordinance. Again,
we are not -- you have the -- the ordinance before you. We won't go through all
the -- all the highlights -- or all the points of the ordinance, but we do hope the
highlights will interest you and we thank you for your time. Again, we will come
back when we have received input from the builders and contractors, developers,
and also if we have other information from you will come back at that time with a
final draft for approval. Do you have any questions?
De Weerd: Council, any equations?
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Bird: None at this time.
De Weerd: Can you give any examples of why -- what's broken?
Ricks: What's broken is that in 1974 we had -- well, we had very -- well, we had
very few streets. We had very few addresses. Since that time we have added
hundreds of new streets, hundreds of new subdivisions, thousands of addresses.
911 used to provide services I believe for the county, but the city of Boise had
their own dispatch system. Now, they include -- now they include the city of
Boise, all these different public agencies and with the growth and development
not only -- a lot of times I am always thinking of Meridian's growth, but Boise's
has had growth, obviously. They have gone to 205,000 people and Kuna has
grown. Eagle has grown. And Ada county dispatch is dispatching to all those
areas and we are expecting them , with our street name duplications and address
grids -- sometimes the address numbers will overlap. It can be very, very
confusing, even though we are in different cities. And so this is an attempt to
bring our guidelines into -- I won't say compliance with Ada county, because Ada
county had some -- took some things that we had -- that we have developed and
worked on and, then, incorporated them into their newest revision of their
ordinance last year. But, hopefully, it's a 2017 answer to a 2017 Meridian.
De Weerd: So, when dispatch is -- is dispatching emergency personnel, are they
not giving the city? We have duplicate addresses, so they don't know what city
there are being dispatched to?
Ricks: Oddly enough that does happen. I know it's -- it's hard to believe, but it is
-- it isn't uncommon that we have police and fire dispatched to the wrong city. It's
not uncommon that we have police dispatch ed to South Meridian Road, but it
might be in Eagle, not Meridian. We have -- we have all kinds and there are
some things that -- for example, Fairview and Cherry Lane, there is certain roads
we are not going to mess with. It will be -- it would be too cumbersome. It would
be too difficult for our existing residents, but what we can do is make a change,
so that we are not -- we are not repeating our errors and so what we want to do
is not have street names that are -- that are the same as somewhere else in the
same addressing grid. We don't -- we don't -- if a new street is being requested,
we don't want that to be a street name that exists now in Boise or Kuna or Eagle.
If it sounds like something -- not only just in Meridian, but in the county, we don't
-- we don't want to approve it. Basically what we are doing is everything we can
to help dispatch on their end and even though fire and police are very well
equipped to know where they need to go in our city, they are not the only ones
responding to our emergencies and it first has to get -- get out of dispatch. So,
what we are trying to do is kind of level the playing field and when a call goes in
we are limiting the amount -- the amount of errors a dispatcher can have.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
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De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: As much as it seems to make common sense in some ways, I'd like to
hear the -- the weigh in from the police and fire department, whether that's today
or next time when it comes back to us. I'd like to hear what they think. If you
have an opinion.
Leslie: Madam Mayor, Councilman Milam, yeah, obviously, we have an opinion.
There are instances -- I can think of just one off the top of my head at Cherry
Ave., for example, is one that exists in Boise city as well with the same
addressing grid. So, the caller may not recognize where they are at, depending
on what kind of crisis they are in, and to give a physical -- we have been
dispatched to situations before that were actually occurring in Boise on a few
occasions. Most of the software we have now in the curated dispatch system
does a pretty good job of being able to pinpoint those locations . GPS technology
now in most cell phone calls, landlines have kind of went away. So, there are
other avenues and other ways for us sometimes to pinpoint where the caller is
calling from, but there is confusion if there is a street with the same addressing
code, you know, 1000 block of Cherry Ave. here and in Boise as well can create
some confusion, so -- but for the most part I think it works fairly good currently
with the technology the way it is, but same names is complicated if it has the
same hundred block.
De Weerd: Does fire have anything to add?
Fedrizzi: Madam Mayor, I agree with Lieutenant Leslie. We have found, too,
that sometimes the numbering sequence -- houses will go up by sixes and, then,
the next block will go up by 12s and then -- it's just very random and if that could
be a little more systematic it helps us find the houses quicker as we are going
down the street if we know that -- that they are going up by a certain numerical
value in the same neighborhood, so -- and I think that's one of the improvements
that will come with the new ordinances. So, yeah, that would be a welcome
change for the future, especially as we grow. I mean I came from a community
that was 300,000 and we started much like Meridian at 35,000 and having those
in place early in the system really helped us deliver our response in a quicker,
more systematic way. So, I do agree.
De Weerd: Thank you. So, just one last question. Is this from this day moving
forward or are you talking about readdressing?
Ricks: No. We are --
De Weerd: Oh, thank you.
Ricks: Madam Mayor -- I'm sorry. No. And I emphasize the no. We are not
talking about readdressing. We are talking about making a change going
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forward. We have had standard addressing guidelines that we have -- that we
have pretty much followed through the last -- I don't know how many years -- five
or six years, which can be pretty consistent, but, really, without the ordinance to
back us up, you know, when we come up against a hard place that we are left
dangling, because we -- you know, we have these standard addressing
guidelines, but nothing -- nothing in the ordinance and so our desire is not to
reinvent the wheel. We don't want to inconvenience the residents or tenants, the
business people. What we want to do is help police and fire. We want to help
dispatch help our police and fire and emergency response personnel. We want
to be a good neighbor to Boise, to the county, and in going forward we need to
not only -- I mean I looked at the growth from '74 to now and I think 43 -- 43
years from now where we will be. Hopefully we won't be looking at an ordinance
that was -- that was codified into 2017. Hopefully, we will be more up to date at
that time, too. But -- but our point is that we want to -- going forward make sure
that we are not providing things that would be inconsistent with county
addressing standards and dispatch. I also -- Madam Mayor. I would like to say
that we are -- in the past our ordinance for street and address numbering has
been in conflict with UDC and we would -- planning would be requesting
amendment to the UDC to bring it all in compliance with each other.
De Weerd: Well, I think this Council looks forward to having it come back and
hearing from the BCA and having them weigh in and see what their feedback is
and, then, looking at it for adoption.
Ricks: Okay. Thank you.
B. Community Development: Attachment of Sidewalk
Barriers Downtown
De Weerd: Thank you, Terri. Okay. Also under Community Development I
believe that -- Caleb is the next presenter. Item 7-B is regarding attachment of
sidewalk barriers in our downtown.
Hood: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. Madam Mayor, you
weren't here last week, but it was pretty successful in proposing a code
amendment to the Council and so we thought we would come back this week
with another proposed code amendment, so -- now, that's a joke. Sorry. No.
Bird: We knew it was.
Hood: So, this one, hopefully, is a little bit cleaner and more straightforward.
De Weerd: Currently we don't have as many people in the audience.
Hood: Yeah. This -- this one is actually in Title 8, not in Title 11. It's u nder the
public ways section of city code. Currently we -- we have three different zones,
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we call the use zone, the clear zone, and the street furnishing zone for, basically,
the sidewalk realm downtown. In the use zone, which is what it sounds like, it's
to allow the adjacent property owner or tenant the ability to put some things out
on the sidewalk area to use as kind of an extension of their store front or their
restaurant or whatever. We currently allow nonpermanent or movable things out
there. So, you can't place anything more permanently in the sidewalk itself. So,
this would allow amenities or barriers or fences in this case to be affixed to -- to
the buildings to other streetscape improvements to kind of secure them in the
ground. So, again, barriers is the -- the main amenity -- we classify that as an
amenity. It doesn't require that that be secured that way, but it allows it to be that
way. So, the proposed change would be to allow this -- a permanent installation
of barriers downtown with a use zone encroachment permit. What we would
require if a business owner or proprietor wants to install a barrier in the sidewalk
or affix it to other streetscape improvements or buildings is a plan and with that
plan the director may require a surety, may require as a condition of approval
that it be put back in the same manner that you found it before you installed the
barrier. So, if the sidewalk is damaged you got to fix the sidewalk as you -- you
know, cut the bolts off to remove this in the future , that you make it again flush or
whatever those requirements may be. So, a lot of mays in this. There is
discretion in this from the director to require a surety to make sure the
construction goes well. It's pretty straightforward and, again, there is just about
ten lines of change. I didn't even make any slides for this presentation today. I
did share the proposed changes with -- with MDC, Ashley, and, then, the MDBA.
Marty Schindler is here and Nick were both informed of these changes. I have
talked to Marty a little bit about it, but I don't think he has any necessarily
concerns, but he's here and, if you will, Madam Mayor and Council, I think he
does want to address you and would stand for anybody else in the audience that
has any comments on this. But, again, pretty straightforward. We are trying to --
trying to help here and allow, again, where a business wants to put in a barrier,
allow them a means to actually secure something in the -- in the public realm.
So, with that, Madam Mayor, I will stand for any questions you may have.
De Weerd: I guess my only question is I believe the fencing that had been out in
front of Busted Shovel was just a stand. They didn't drill it into the sidewalk.
Wouldn't it be less disruptive to have them attach it to their building instead of the
sidewalk, so that if -- if there is damage done they -- we don't have public
hazards or nuisance.
Hood: Yeah. Madam Mayor, I fully intend -- you know, if -- as these businesses
talk with us -- because they will have to fill out an application. Certainly want to
encourage them that direction to either figure out another way to affix it -- again,
maybe even to their building. That can keep it fairly secure if your -- if you put
the bolts into the side of the building. Maybe there is something else. You know,
just walking downtown Boise a couple of weeks ago a lot of those are loose , they
have got a plate that -- you know, that's on the sidewalk that keeps them from
tipping over and it keeps them fairly secure. But I mean if you push on it you
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could move it. But they do wrap -- at least some of them wrapped -- like the LED
lights -- rope lights kind of through them to kind of keep them all together in
panels. So, I guess to answer your question, Madam Mayor, I would encourage
folks to not use that as the first resort, to go drilling into the sidewalk, but if that's
something they are concerned about, they certainly -- again, there is -- it's an
option for them to do so, provided we are comfortable with the ways that they are
going to construct it and that we are set for when it goes away that we have got
some insurance it will be, again, put back the way they found it. So, that's kind of
how I envision this working. We will have a dialogue.
De Weerd: Okay. Council, any questions?
Bird: I have none.
De Weerd: Marty, do you have any comments? Okay. Thank you.
Nary: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Nary.
Nary: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, I only have one slight concern I
think from a risk standpoint, because we do occasionally get tort claims in
regards to activities on the sidewalk or injuries that occur on the sidewalks and
sometimes they are our responsibility, sometimes they are not. But the idea, as
you're mentioning, about attaching it to the building is probably safer from the
city's perspective, because I think everything in this ordinance that Caleb and
Legal have coordinated and put together works really well as long as the
business is still there. If the business vacates, they are probably not going to be
real concerned about taking this stuff down or removing it and so if the next
owner doesn't want it and they take these things out of the sidewalk, most of
them are attached by a bolt that is driven into the sidewalk and so we were
talking about it this morning and those sometimes aren't removed , they are
sometimes just cut down and sheared off and ground down to the same level as
the sidewalk. Well -- and someone has to do that, because, otherwise, you're
going to have bolts sticking up out of the sidewalk and that's my only concern is
that all of this is really geared towards assisting the businesses that are there,
but I'm just really a little bit concerned about what happens if they vacate and
don't remove any of this stuff . That will, then, fall on the city to have that done or
have it removed if the next property -- or tenant doesn't want to use that space.
So, that's one thing that maybe we need to talk about a little bit more internally,
but that's one thing that came to my mind today that we haven't really addressed
that yet, so -- attaching to the building doesn't cause that, so --
De Weerd: Okay. Feedback from Council?
Bird: Madam Mayor?
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De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: Bill brought up an awful good point on that. I know the ones over in Boise
-- a lot of them are secured and a lot of them aren't. You can secure them down
to the cement with a little deal that you just take the screw out and it's even there,
but you have to fill it up and when you start going -- working on concrete you, you
know, if you take it out, then, you got the moisture and stuff going in and -- so, I
don't know. I think -- I think we need to maybe look -- brought up a real good
point of when the existing owner leaves what does the new one do.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: I was sitting here thinking the same thing. However, this being a last
resort type of -- of way of putting the fences up, it seems that there is -- there has
got to be something that we can do, whether it's have them put a deposit down,
depending on the project they are doing, based on how many holes they are
drilling and figure out how much it's going to cost and, then, when they sell their
business or at some point in time they get that back. I don't know how else to
guarantee that they would cover the cost of removing that. Also have no idea
how much the cost is, so -- it might be such a small amount that it's not worth
even worrying about. It might be great, so those questions I think need to be
answered.
Little Roberts: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Little Roberts.
Little Roberts: I'm thinking that we definitely want to explore it further, because
as we are trying to work on downtown and revitalizing it , one of the ways that we
can help participate in that is give businesses opportunity to be outside and have ,
you know, that energy that's outside. When we have mentioned Boise several
times, when you're walking around and things are downtown and people are
outside dining and having beverages and things like that, it just encourages that
energy and I think that's one of the things we are really trying to do downtown is
encourage that energy and so I'd like to figure out -- really work on how we can
protect the city and still make this happen.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: I couldn't agree more. I wouldn't worry about the cost of getting it out. I
mean the intent should be to incentivize and make it as easy as possible for
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downtown businesses to provide this amenity for the public. So, we will continue
to review it and see what problems may occur, but whatever we can do to make
it as easy as possible for businesses to get these things up, I think that's where
we ought to be focused. So, the idea of a surety and posting deposits might be
unnecessary barriers to encourage that type of development of their business.
Hood: And Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Hood: If I may, we had those same conversations as we were -- we were
drafting this and we didn’t want to go too far with -- yes, we want to limit risk to
the city, but we also want to encourage this to happen and we didn't want to have
too many things where now it's cost prohibitive for a business -- we hope no
business goes out of business downtown. So, holding 500 bucks for 20 years or
30 years -- who is going to remember that they even deposited it. So, we had
those conversations. At the end of the day -- I appreciate Mr. Nary's comments,
but at the end of the day the other attorneys I worked with -- you know, we have
kind of balanced that and that's where we ended up was not requiring it.
Certainly if you want to we can, but that's sort of along Councilm an Borton's train
of thought was let's not make this too difficult to get it in. Although I will go back
to my comments that I had for the Mayor previously, we hope we don't ever have
to use this, because we are just talking about when someone wants to do it
permanently and we will try to encourage them to put it into their building or
somewhere else, instead of the sidewalk first. But I understand -- as a taxpayer I
don't really want to have to pay to fix that either, so there is a line there. But I jus t
want to let you know we had that conversation internally as well.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I think we need to get Caleb to get this with Legal drawn up with the ideas
that's here and, you know, we have really -- as Ann said, we really promoted this
for downtown let's don't make it a stumbling block for them, so they can get it
going. Let's give it a try. It's been very successful in Boise, Idaho.
De Weerd: Okay. We look forward to seeing how you draw it all up.
Hood: So, Madam Mayor, just a little more direction, then, if I can. We have --
we have a draft ordinance in front of you, so -- yeah, I don't know what else --
De Weerd: So, I guess, Council, any changes to it? I was wondering how you
were going to do that without --
Milam: Madam Mayor?
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De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: So -- and, again, I -- I agree. I don't want to put up extra barriers to
businesses and chances are if somebody sells a business and it's a restaurant,
it's probably going to remain a restaurant. The new owners are going to want
that there anyway. And it would just be nice to know what is the cost of that
before we just toss our hats out. Do you have any idea? Is 500 dollars, is that
the cost that you mentioned or --
Hood: Madam Mayor, Council Woman Milam, it kind of depends and that's -- this
process it depends on how they are -- you know, how many bolts are going in,
how they are affixing it. Is it -- you know, are they saw cutting, are they drilling,
you know, is it an epoxy in the hole with the bolt and we could sheer it off or just
saw cut it off at grade, is it going to be a full removal of that section of concrete --
I mean there is a lot of -- a lot of variables that probably go into that. But at the
time of proposal we would get an estimate of what it would -- estimated costs and
hold the surety for at least that first year to make sure it doesn't fail . I'm thinking
-- you know, just to ballpark something, it's not going to be in the thousands of
dollars. I mean if we have to re-pour the concrete, yeah, now we are talking
bigger dollars. But it's going to be, you know, in the hundreds of dollars. We
probably would even have in-house staff -- again, if we are talking about just, you
know, saw cutting it off or grinding it down to grade, it could probably be done
with existing resources probably. But, again, it does -- it does depend on what's
being installed.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: That sounds doable to me and you guys are going to be the ones
approving the plans, so --
De Weerd: Marty, please, join us. Okay. Well, don't talk until you get to the
microphone. If you will, please, state your name.
Schindler: Martin Schindler. Property owner. 126 East Idaho Avenue.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Schindler: Let me back up and say -- Caleb, just to help plan it out here a bit, but
maybe a simple way to do it is to come up with a typical section for adherence to
the concrete, which I really truly believe the plate idea is a great one . Typically
on the length -- the run of that railing there would, then, be some security that
renews to answer those questions for risk management on your side of the
equation. There are calculations out there already and I would be glad to help
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Caleb with that, supply him some information to support that. But I would think
that the removal side of it would be held to the individual tenant , because as a
property owner I wouldn't want to sign for what they are doing, but I would make
sure that on the recourse of when their lease was up or if they terminated the
lease, that there is some money -- some funding to support taking it down and
putting it away or throwing it in the trash, whatever it may be. Hopefully it could
be recycled, but that's hard to say. But I think there is a set of typicals already in
place that we are headed down the road for the style, the design of it, so we don't
get an eclectic look throughout the city of different railings styles would be also
one of my desires. Personally I'm talking now. But it -- also we haven't talked
with city planners about that -- you know, how does that take place and I know
that we are all kind of stretched for time, but I see -- hopefully -- and I'm talking a
little ahead of myself here, but on behalf of the DBA that at some point as we
expand our -- our membership base and our supporting group , that we will be
able to take some of these responsibilities along with the city to help the -- to
oversee design, because I just don't see at typical levels that we have today, with
the amount of employees at hand, to take all these over-the-counter applications
and maybe later on we could help assist with that process, to oversee a design,
have an architectural committee that actually would take a look at -- a second
look at it for you and, then, make suggestions to the planner on our behalf of
what we recommend. So, those are the things out in the future, but to answer
the question at hand, I think a typical post standard is -- would be desired, so we
can come up with it. If it's 15 dollars or 20 dollars per post per section per linear
footage and some of those run as far as ten foot in between posts, we can come
up with a set of standards quickly to have a standard fee that's throughout the
city core. That would be my suggestion.
Hood: So, Mayor, just a couple of things that Mr. Schindler just brought up. So,
first of all, we do have already in the same section of code design . We do -- it
does need to be black wrought iron sectional fencing between 36 and 48 inches
in height. That's it. It's not going to be eclectic. It's -- the standard is already on
the books. And the other point about a typical cross-section, we discussed that,
too, with ACHD and there isn't one. They don't have a typical -- again, you can
put plates down, you can put bolts -- there are different ways to affix these that
they would allow and approve. I guess I'm not opposed to having one standard,
but we are going to get somebody in that doesn’t like that standard and wants to
do something else. So, I don't see the benefit of adding that to this code. It
doesn't address the question or the concern, unless we are really going to
encourage people to -- to put these in the ground and say you have to put them
in the ground. If we say you have to put them in the ground, I think we do have a
standard and it says use four bolts that are this long and go this deep in the
concrete and we explore that again . But ACHD didn't have one and, really,
again, we don't even really want to see th ese in the concrete. So, I'm not totally
opposed to it, I just don't see the value in it.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
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De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: The only -- the only -- Caleb, you come up with a good idea. You know,
you can use a 12 or 14 screw with a led plug and you -- you have only -- you
have only drilled a 3/16ths or a quarter inch hole. My main concern is just don't
let them shoot it down with the ram sets or something like that , because -- and
you are going to tear some concrete up if you ever take them down. As long as
they are put down that way I don't -- I don't see any bit of problem with it.
De Weerd: Do you have anything else you wanted to add, Marty?
Schindler: Not at this time, Madam Mayor.
De Weerd: Thank you. Thank you for being here. Any other comments from
anyone in our audience? Okay. Council?
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I don't know if under Section 2-D or 2-E -- Caleb, this is a question for you.
And asking for all that stuff, do you think it's going to scare anybody off?
Hood: So, Madam Mayor --
Bird: Like you said earlier, who is going to remember that there is a warranty
surety there?
Hood: Madam Mayor, Councilman Bird, I hope not and that's one of the reasons
I shared it with folks like Marty is to look at it and say, hey, do any of these look
too problematic. Again, saying, you know, that's not the only side of that
equation, but we would like to know from your side does this look too onerous.
The second part of your question about -- I would hope in one year we can
remember that. So, for one year we can track things. I get worried when it's 20
years later or even five or ten years later to remember that. But this use and
encroachment permit is an annual permit. It's free. It's right now one of the only
free applications that we offer in community development. But that's another,
again, a carrot. We are trying to encourage this type of stuff downtown. So, we
process it for free, but we also require you to come in and get it every year. So,
after that first year you have had it, you come in, we release your surety back, we
issue a new permit for the next year, assuming there hasn't been any problems.
So, that's why I'm not -- from my perspective I don't think this is too onerous, but
you just ask somebody that wears the other hat to sit down and he may have
other issues, but I really haven't heard those as I shared it with him and -- and,
you know, how much it was shared with other members of the MDBA, but we got
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it to Nick and said, hey, the city is proposing these, any concerns, and I haven't
heard any -- there is a question about smoking within them . I think that came up.
But that -- that's not -- that's not here, but other than that, no, I don't think -- my
personal opinion, no, I don't think this is too much to scare somebody away.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: With that, Caleb, I would say if you -- if you feel comfortable with it, these
permits are only for a year, I would say let's go for it. Let's get -- let's get it going.
Let's get some things out there.
Hood: Mr. Bird, I appreciate that. I'm pretty confident if we get burned I will be
right back before you. You know, let's give them a little rope here and say, you
know, do the right thing. You know, we are trying to help you out here. Help us
help you. But I will be back here saying, you know what, we have had to repair
three of these last year and it's a thousand bucks a pop. Let's change the way
we do this. I won't let it get to three, but -- let's try it and see if it works.
Bird: Do her.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: I had one question, Caleb. The -- the strike through language in 1-B
says except as otherwise specifically set forth in this chapt er, so -- but I don't see
any other strike through language. So, prior to this proposed revision how was it
otherwise set forth in the chapter that would have allowed permanent
streetscape.
Hood: So, Madam Mayor, Councilman Borton, it's not. So, there isn't -- there
wasn't any exceptions to the rule. You just couldn't permanently put anything in
the use zone.
Borton: Madam Mayor. But our code -- it had that phrase in it?
Hood: Except as otherwise specially --
Borton: As otherwise provided in the chapter? Is that right?
Hood: I have got the code up here.
Borton: The only reason I ask is it implied to me that we did it a different way
before and this is not new, it's just a change to how it was previously permitted.
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Hood: So, we do allow some things without a permit. I'm trying to see if any of
those are actually permanent fixtures, chairs, planters, cooling appliances,
bicycle racks -- it says movable bicycle racks.
Borton: And if it's nothing, that's fine, I just read as though there might have
been something else.
Hood: I can follow up with you, Councilman Borton, but I -- again generally
things shouldn't -- before or currently permanently placed in the use zone were
not allowed.
De Weerd: So, what I'm hearing, Caleb, is that there is general agreement to
bring it back and move forward.
Hood: As an ordinance or you want it as -- okay. Thank you.
C. Public Works: Budget Amendment for FY2017 in the
Amount of $1,050,000.00 for JC Constructors’ Contract
for the WRRF Capacity Expansion Construction Project
De Weerd: Okay. Item 7-C is under Public Works. A budget amendment.
These next three are. So, I will turn this over to Warren.
Stewart: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council.
De Weerd: You drew the short straw.
Stewart: Well, I'm going to address two of them, but Laurelei is going to do the
middle one. So, this first item, Item C, is a budget amendment -- just a little
budget amendment for about a million dollars for the capac ity projects out at the
wastewater treatment plant. As you know, we have started construction on that
project. It's been going on now for quite a few weeks and it's going quite well,
but in our relationship and coordination with the contractor , we have been
discussing some of the long lead item things that are in the project, as well as
rising costs associated with some of the different materials that are out there,
because construction is increasing, as well as our need to make sure that this
project is completed within the 30 months time frame that's allowed for this
project and in discussing those things with them -- and it's become apparent that
it would be advantageous for us to move some of the money in this project a little
forward in the timeline. So, it's a three year project. We had at the beginning of
the project estimated how much we would spend in year one and two and three
and it's now becoming apparent that it would be advantageous for us to move
some of that money forward. The overall cost of the project will not change.
That's not what we are here to discuss. It's still the overall cost remains the
same. But what we are talking about is moving some of the money up from later
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to earlier to make sure that we meet the timelines associated with the project and
take advantage of pricing and so forth that we need now. To accommodate this
we have gone through and combed our existing budget for 2017 and looked for
opportunities to reallocate funds from existing projects where we have saved
some money, either because the projects have come in under budget or they
have bid out significantly under budget. We also have a few where because of
some proposed development in the community we have been able to,
essentially, abandon projects that we had scheduled, because development will
allow us to do that. Developers are going to -- essentially, one of them was a lift
station that we were going to do some improvements to and now the
development community is going to come along within the next couple of years
and allow us to completely eliminate that lift station. So, the money we had
allocated for that we no longer will need. We are going to just postpone that
expenditure. So, we are going to reallocate some funds to allow us to take this,
essentially, one -- a little over a million dollars out of this year's budget with a no
net increase to the 2017 budget and, essentially, move some of that money up
into this year that would have been spent in 2019 for this capacity project and
that's, essentially, what we are asking for is your permission to do that. And I will
stand for any questions.
De Weerd: Thank you, Warren. Council, any questions?
Bird: I have none, Mayor.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: So, Warren, is it a -- does the -- the new expenditure accelerate the
schedule or does the new expenditure cover increased costs for the existing
schedule? The reason I ask is if 2009 monies are moved forward to keep it on
schedule and moving fast, is sort of how it reads, that seems to imply that it's not
necessarily capturing additional costs for the same work , but trying to get what
might have been done in future budget years done earlier .
Stewart: Yeah. Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, Councilman Borton --
so, essentially, the contractor is concerned, as are we, that with the current
yearly annual expenditures that we had originally planned for , that it's going to
put a lot of strain on that last year to complete a significant amount of work in a
very short time period. Whereas if we can move that up into this -- into earlier in
the project we can order some material that's long lead item stuff that is going to
have an impact or could have an impact on the schedule . It will also allow us to
save some money in the project, particularly the contractor is save some money,
because pricing on certain items is going up and up and up, especially pipe costs
for HDPE pipe is really skyrocketing right now and it's just going to allow us as a
city to feel more confident and comfortable that we are going to be able to meet
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that 30 month timeline with the contractor and that's pretty important to us,
because, as you know, we are growing incredibly fast once again and so
although we have created this base where we think we have plenty of time to get
this project done before we need that capacity, it's not going to be very much
after we get this project done that that capacity is going to be necessary. So, this
is sort of providing some -- a little insurance or a little buffer for us to make sure
that we meet those timelines and that we are -- we have the project up, the
system is fully running and functional, before we actually need that capacity. I
don't know if that answered your question or not.
Borton: Madam Mayor. It did. It sounds like it is to a certain degree
compressing the schedule in a good way, trying to get a little bit more done a
little bit faster?
Stewart: Correct.
Borton: Okay. So, if all things being equal, the budget amendment, which I
know were rough -- relatively rough, but the fiscal year 2019 anticipated
expenditure of 6.3 million, should -- we should expect to see that be 5.1 million in
2019?
Stewart: Yes. So, I'm going to look at my numbers here. So, I guess the quick
and easy way to answer that is the increase in the money that we are putting in
this year will be a reduction in 2019. That's correct. So, the overall cost is still 35
million dollars and some change. It hasn't changed the overall cost of the project
at all. Just taking the 2019 money and moved it up.
Borton: Okay.
De Weerd: So, it didn't add to it, it just moves money forward.
Borton: That helps. And Madam Mayor. That -- okay.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: Anybody don't have any more questions, I think this is a good sign that JC
has a little -- accelerated their schedule a little bit and maybe we can get some
decent costs on some pipe and stuff. So, I would move that we approve the
budget amendment for JC Contractors to the tune of 1,050,000 dollars.
Milam: Second.
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De Weerd: I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Mr. Clerk, will you
call roll.
Roll Call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, absent; Palmer, absent;
Little Roberts, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. TWO ABSENT.
D. Public Works: Budget Amendment for FY 2017 in the
Amount of $60,316 for Repair of Sewer Infrastructure
De Weerd: Item 7-D is also public -- or a budget amendment for repairs to our
infrastructure. Laurelei.
McVey: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, thank you so much for your
time this afternoon. So, what I'm bringing before you today is a no net increase
budget amendment and this is to repair cracked sewer service T's in the Tuscany
Subdivision. So, what a sewer service T is where the homeowner's line comes in
and where it meets our main line and the city is responsible for that section of
pipe. So, when Tuscany was constructed -- that was back in 2005 to 2007, we
allowed a different type of sewer service T? Since the construction of Tuscany
and realizing that our sewer service T's put at those deep depths struggled with
the pressure of the soil, we have since changed our requirements to require a
more heavy duty T. However, now we are going back with our in-house program
we have been able to TV all of these sections and realize that these things are
happening and what a cracked sewer service T will do is -- the biggest problem is
that it allows groundwater infiltration and that's clean water that enters the sewer
system that travels to the treatment plant that takes up capacity, it takes up
resources to treat, and so we try really hard to keep those out . Additionally, if
those cracked sewer service T's get bigger, sewage can actually leach out and
cause potential contamination. So, our goal is to find those and fix them before
that happens. So, we were able to -- earlier this year fix five of these service T's
and we were able to look at our budget and we think we can prioritize some of
the spending for the rest of the fiscal year to fix the remaining 12 T's that are
cracked in that subdivision. So, what I am asking for is approval of a no net
increase budget amendment to, essentially, reallocate existing funds to cover this
repair project.
De Weerd: Council, any questions?
Bird: I have none. Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
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Bird: Seeing no questions, I move we approve the budget amendment for fiscal
year 2017 in the amount of 60,316 dollars for the repair of sewer infrastructure.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second. Do I have any discussion? Mr. Clerk,
will you call roll.
Roll Call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, absent; Palmer, absent;
Little Roberts, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
E. Public Works: Approval of Contract Completion Letter
with Travelers pertaining to the default of Performance
System, Incorporated on the City’s “UV Disinfection
Improvements” contract dated July 14, 2015 and
payment of retainage to Travelers in the amount of
$11,900.35
De Weerd: Okay. Item 7-E is under Public Works for approval of contract
completion letter and, Warren, is up.
Stewart: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, thank you. So, I'm kind of
helping tag team just a little bit with Keith. He's, obviously, out this week and so I
will try and explain this as best I can . The UV disinfection facility expansion
project is one that we just completed this past year. But you may recall that at
the very end of the project the contractor for that particular project actually went
bankrupt and left a small portion of the project unfinished . Essentially some
asphalt that needed to be put back in. So, we had to initiate the bonding
company, who backed to the contractor, bringing them into the project and work
out a resolution with them to complete the balance of the work and what has,
essentially, happened with that asphalt work is they have -- the bonding company
has obtained a quote for the asphalt work and has paid the city the value of that
quote and, then, the city has obtained another quote to complete that work from
the same contractor. Ironically, they gave us a better deal than they did the
bonding company. But in any case we are going to have that contractor come in
and complete that asphalt work within the -- the coming month. What this is
really all about is we held -- withhold a certain percentage of the invoices that the
contractor submits all the way through the project. We call it retainage. And,
essentially, now that there is a resolution to this issue -- issue, we would -- this is
about releasing that retainage money to the bonding company. It's, essentially,
letting that money that we have been holding on the project go back to the
bonding company. So, that's kind of what this is about and that's what we are
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here seeking your approval to do and that will allow us to close this project out,
get the asphalt finally taken care of, and, then, once that -- this particular effort
has been done, we will also be able to receive or close our agreement with the
engineering firm, who will remain nameless, but who had an error in this project.
They owe us about 300,000 dollars that they will also pay us after this is all done.
So, we will get that money back in addition. And with that I will stand for any
questions.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: Warren, my figures here -- are we -- are we using asphalt or gold? It says
11,935,000 dollars. That's -- that's -- that isn't the amount of the amendment.
Borton: Eleven thousand.
Milam: There is zeros on there.
De Weerd: Well, it's just 11,900 point three five point zero zero.
Stewart: There is some funky math there.
Coles: Madam Mayor, there are two extra zeros there. Scrivener's error there.
It's $11,900.35.
Bird: Madam Mayor. I would move that we approve the completion letter to
Travelers pertaining to the default of performance system for the amount of
$11,900.35.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: Do you want to include the 35 cents?
Milam: It's on there.
Borton: It's a set sum.
De Weerd: Any discussion? Mr. Clerk.
Roll Call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, absent; Palmer, absent;
Little Roberts, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. TWO ABSENT.
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Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: A future meeting topic, in case they might leave, Laurelei, thank you for
the information in the packet. It would be great to hear an update at a later date
with the camera and the two trucks in the cleaning and how the schedule has
accelerated and where we are at with that at a future time. That was helpful
here.
F. Clerk’s Office: Paws in the Park Follow Up Report
De Weerd: Item 7-F, we get an update -- Paws in the Park, a wildly successful
first annual event.
Coles: All right. Make my way to the podium. Thank you, Madam Mayor,
Members of the Council. We have both mics now and they are both seeming to
work, so that's good. I will use this one I think. As the Mayor said, the first Paws
in the Park event was extremely successful. It was unexpectedly successful.
We were surprised, astounded and amazed and happily surprised, actually, with
the turnout of the amount of people we had at the park. I just want to show some
pictures real quick before I get into the numbers of those that came and the
number of licenses that we issued. We had a doggy photo booth at the event
that dog owners could use and sit on this bench. That board behind them says I
love you or I heart you because -- then the dog owners could write something
about their pet if they wanted to. So, you can see I heart you because you give
good snuggles there on the right. I heart you because you love me with all those
dogs. Or excuse me. On the left. On the right because you love me. We had
both -- we had vendors both large and small at that event , so -- on the left in the
foreground is Percy's Bows. That individual he said that he sold more bows at
this three hour event than -- he was at another event that took place over an
entire weekend and he sold more bows for dogs at our event than he did over the
entire weekend at another event. And in the background I have another picture
of Costco you can see, but in the background Costco came to our event and,
then, we had some live music, some acoustic guitarists there on the right. There
is another photo of Costco. They brought samples of all of their dog food and
they did a big giveaway of that dog bed you see there in the corner. They gave
that away to some lucky winner -- some lucky winner of a drawing. The Meridian
Canine Rescue, which is recently started, but restarted under another name.
They brought some dogs there -- some adoptable dogs that individuals could
interact with. There was a food truck, the Rusty Dog, there in the background
and, then, here is licenses, so you can see our staff there on the left and, then,
on the right you can see the line of folks that were lined up to get licenses. So,
that kind of leads into the numbers game here. Total we issued 224 licenses in
that three hour time frame on that Saturday. I was -- I was thinking -- the number
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I had in my head was one hundred. I thought if we did a hundred licenses, man,
that would have been a great success. Others were -- you know, thought if we
had ten people show up that would have been a great success. But, no, 224 is
what we issued. So, that's 74 an hour. That's more than one a minute,
obviously. We had -- we had four stations, if you will, going nonstop. We had
two computers and, then, two that were handwriting licenses and, then, we had a
fifth once the line got really backed up , Jaycee Holman jumped in every now and
then when the line was just so long that we couldn't get to everyone that we had
a fifth line going every now and then . Of the 224, 32 had been in our system
before, so they were repeat customers, if you will. But 192 were first-time
licenses within our system that we issued that day.
De Weerd: Congratulations --
Coles: Yes. Thank you.
De Weerd: -- on that. That's awesome.
Coles: The feedback we have received has been mostly positive. We received
one negative e-mail before the event asking for a refund, because they didn't
know about the event and wanted a refund and wanted to attend the event for
free. And, then, we received some feedback from -- there is a daycare that is
right next to Storey Bark Park. The owner of that daycare he had posted --
posted signage saying no parking, individuals had parked on his property
anyway, so he was upset about that. There is a more deep-seated issue there.
He has reported to the Parks Department before that dog owners there, while
they at the dog park, they will scoop up their poop, instead of throwing it in the
trash, they will throw it over the fence into his property. So, we have contacted
him, we have spoken with him, and the Parks Department and they want to work
with him to mitigate what's happening there, obviously, with the dog owners
doing that while they are at the dog park. But also get his feedback if we
continue to do this event in the future how he would be willing to help , what his
ideas, suggestions are in terms of parking and accommodating that number of
people. We weren't expecting that number of people. So, anyway, we are in
contact with him. From the vendors we sent out -- and now asking for feedback
from the vendors that were there. Did they think it was worth their time? Did
they enjoy themselves? Did they do business like Percy Bows did? I want to
share one -- or part of an e-mail we got back. We had Aussie Mobile Grooming.
They are doing nail trimming for dogs. They were astounded at the event as
well. So, I will read in part their e-mail to us. They said they were overwhelmed
with the success and turnout. Totally unexpected. We had two groomers who
worked constantly on nail trims. We averaged one trim every six minutes over
the three hours without a single break. They also were pleased with our pre-
event exposure over TV, radio, blogs and print. We didn't pay for any TV
advertising. We didn't pay for any radio advertising. We sent out a press
release, Kaycee Emery. We worked with her to notify the media of what was
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happening. It did get picked up by some news outlets. Also Shelly Houston, the
marketing coordinator in the Parks Department, helped us advertise, because the
event was in a park. So, with the help of those two, we got lots of people out to
the event. So, we were happy with that. So, with this, with all this information, it
is my recommendation -- the Council asked that I come with a recommendation
of what to do in the future. We had an after-action meeting with the group that
helped plan and execute this event. We do recommend that we continue this
event or some version of it moving forward. It may not be free licenses every
year, because, then, everyone is going to wait for the free licensing event and the
next year it's going to be a thousand people getting licenses -- 2,000 licenses
that we issue, but -- so, we are working on maybe how that looks in the future,
but, obviously, there is interest in dog licensing. For us it was an opportunity to
educate the community -- the 192 that weren't in our system prior to that event.
We felt like it was successful in bringing government and services to the people
where they congregate. Dog owners like to congregate with other dog owners
and they like to be at the dog park. So, we felt it was a great opportunity to bring
our service out of City Hall, bring it to the dog park where they are going to be
located, so we could offer the service of licensing there. So, we will continue to
work through some of the kinks that we did have , some of the details of an event
like this moving forward, so it's not just free licenses every year, but we do think
something like this, bringing the service out of City Hall at least once a year to
where dog owners are located to license their dogs is something worthwhile and
worth our time. So, with that I thank you for allowing us to do this event this year,
to explore this opportunity, and I will stand for any questions that you might have.
De Weerd: You know, I would first like to congratulate Shelly. I think this is the
master mind behind this event and that you saw an opportunity to really build our
license program. So, I still think we need signage at the dog park that licenses
are required. But next year I guess I would like to see it where you can offer the
licenses, that they would have to pay, but anyone who has a license prior to the
event may be the sponsors give some kind of a gift. You have some kind of
recognition of bag of dog bones or, you know, dog biscuits or something that is
covered by the sponsors. But you're recognizing good behavior, just like we do
with our dogs, they get a dog treat. But I think that that way you are recognizing
that they have licensed their dog, they are being a responsible owner, and we
want to celebrate that, but that you still should offer the licensing in case
someone forgot and -- but they don't get the dog biscuits or whatever. That's --
that would be my two cents.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: Part of your -- your exploration going forward -- we had talked a little bit
offline about the private nonprofit event that 's in Kleiner Park two weeks prior, the
Helping Hand Fund, which raises funds to the Canine Rescue and a few other
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entities that all support this and its a really big event, a whole bunch of activities,
and whether or not what's provided here could become part of a private event
that already exists versus the city having to run their own, at least explore the
pros and cons of that.
Coles: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, Council Member Borton, we did
discuss that very briefly at our after action with our group, that that would be
something that we would look at further if the event moved forward .
Borton: Okay. Awesome.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Did you -- I don't know if you covered it or not, C.Jay, but did you have an
estimate for the -- what you think would be the total number of attendees at this
event?
Coles: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, Council Member Milam --
De Weerd: Two legged or four legged?
Milam: Two legged.
Coles: Well, that was something that I wanted -- if I would have had an
opportunity to get up and walk around at all I was going to make some sort of
estimate there. I never left that table. None of us were able to because of the
amount of people that we were trying to get through with licenses. So, I can't
even give you a guess. It was a lot. There was definitely more than just the
people there getting licenses. I think what was nice about the event was there
were those that came specifically for that purpose, but, then, there were those
that came just to go to a dog park and they saw, oh, hey, I can -- I don't have a
license. I can get my dog license for free on this day and so they came up to our
table to do that. So, there certainly were more than just the 224 or their owners
that were there. It was -- it was a lot of people and dogs there for that three hour
period.
Milam: Madam Mayor? And so did the vendors pay a fee to participate?
Coles: They did not.
Milam: That might be another idea, if the vendors pay a small fee that would
help cover the cost of the licenses at least. That way you're still able to do either
a discounted license or the free license or discounted or bonus for reregistering.
But the whole idea -- because the concept is great and the whole idea is to get
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more dogs registered. It's not about the profits. But also there is a cost involved.
So, if you could get the vendors to cover the cost involved and people can get
their dogs register, which is the whole point in the first place, I think it's a win-win.
Just a thought.
Coles: Absolutely. This year we had no idea what we would expect, but that's
something for us to look at. Absolutely.
Milam: Congratulations.
Coles: Thank you.
De Weerd: So, how many dogs do we have licensed?
Coles: I'm guessing that -- the last look -- I looked at that spreadsheet a few
days ago. It was around 2,500, I believe.
De Weerd: We know there is more.
Bird: Great.
Coles: The estimation is somewhere between 17 and 20 thousand dogs --
De Weerd: I know.
Coles: -- in the city.
Little Roberts: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Little Roberts.
Little Roberts: Madam Mayor, C.Jay, probably a really strange question, but do
you know how many years the average dog is licensed?
Coles: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, Council Member Little Roberts, I
don't, but I can get that information and get that back to you if you would like.
Little Roberts: Thank you. Madam Mayor. Just curious, because if we do give
them a free license and, then, they continue licensing the dog, we are still way
ahead of the game. I think you can almost build a public education campaign,
too, that -- and this is -- I guess here is an argument in support of the free license
-- is because it saves considerable time finding the owner. At this point you have
personnel, when a dog is picked up, spend -- can spend up to ten hours trying to
locate the owner and, then, if they are unable to and it's not adopted out, of
course, there is additional cost to what do you do with the dog . So, there -- there
is definitely a cost that is minimized if you have the dog license and you can
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reunite it with the owner. So, there is -- there is an argument for that. Thank
you, C.Jay.
Coles: Thank you.
De Weerd: And thank you, Shelly. This is -- you know, we know that you have
taken a personal interest in -- it should be Shelly's Bark Park, not the Storey Bark
Park.
Bird: That's a good one.
De Weerd: But, anyway, I appreciate the heart you put into this. It's awesome,
so --
G. Mayor’s Office: MYAC Budget Amendment Not To
Exceed $6,660
De Weerd: Okay. Next is the Mayor's Office.
Simison: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. The first item I
have up before you today is a budget amendment from MYAC. This is our end of
the year budget amendment, which is from the funds that they have raised from
their events throughout the year. It is also -- they have recently secured verbal
funding for their Youth Safety Summit later this spring from Idaho Power. So,
while we have not yet received those 5 ,000 dollars, we are getting near the time
when we need to do our budget amendments and if for any reason that money
does not come in, we will not do the event like we normally do, but I have every
assurance that the money will come in, so --
De Weerd: We do expect it in September is what I understand.
Simison: Correct. Yes. With that there is an amendment in front of you for
6,660 dollars for additional spending authority for MYAC. I will stand for any
questions.
De Weerd: Any questions from Council?
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: Seeing none, I would move that we approve the budget amendment for
MYAC in the amount of 6,660 dollars.
Milam: Second.
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De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 7-G. Mr. Clerk, will
you call roll.
Roll Call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, absent; Palmer, absent;
Little Roberts, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. TWO ABSENT.
De Weerd: Thank you.
H. Mayor’s Office: 2017 City Survey
Simison: Thank you. The second item you have up before us today is -- as you
all are aware, we recently did a city survey. The results of that survey are back
and we have Jason Morado here with ETC Institute, who was the company that
did the survey on our behalf . He's going to run through a presentation for you on
the results of that survey. Once he's done and you guys have asked any
questions you have of him, I will go ahead and hand out a copy of the survey
results for you, so you can have time to review it and we will, then, hopefully, give
you an opportunity for the week and maybe come back next week for -- to accept
the results of the survey, to give you time for any technical or other questions that
may come up. Before he comes up I'm just going to point this out to you from my
very rough, poor math that I just did, 21,615. Anybody want to guess what that
number is?
Milam: Was that --
Bird: That's who --
Milam: How many participated?
Bird: -- participated.
Borton: The number of dogs --
Simison: Based upon just -- based upon my quick rough math and if we -- if I
assume we have 30,000 households in Meridian, which is close and based on
our utility billing and the numbers, that could be the number that could be used,
but we will double-check that. But just I will lead with --
Milam: In my neighborhood they all have three.
De Weerd: That was a great little brain twister there, Robert. Well, welcome,
Jason. Thank you for joining us and thank you for sitting through -- if I would
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have known that that was you in the back, I would have moved this up on our
agenda.
Morado: That's all right. I learned a lot of great information today about the city.
Anyway, my name is Jason Morado. I am a senior project manager at ETC
Institute and ETC is a marketing and research firm based in the Kansas City area
and the thing that we specialize in is doing citizen surveys for city and county
governments all across the country and it's great to be back in the City of
Meridian. I was here three years ago to present the results of the first citizen
satisfaction survey and today I'm going to go through the results of the most
recent survey and this was administered in April and, then, partially in May. So,
really, just got finished up. So, ETC is based in the Kansas City area, but we are
a national leader in providing market research for local governments. We have
done this type of work for over 30 years and since 2006 we have done surveys in
over 900 communities and 49 states. So, this is really the type of work that we
specialize in. I will go through the purpose and methodology of the survey. Then
I will go over what I call the bottom line up front, which is really our main
conclusions from the survey, and I will go through the major survey findings to
show how we came to those conclusions and I will be happy to answer any
questions if there are any. So, there is several reasons to do a survey like this.
One is to objectively assess what residents think about city services and also
their perceptions of the city and also what their priorities are for the city . Also
with the survey we are going to measure trends from the previous survey in
2014. There were a few new questions this year and also a few questions we
took out, but most of the questions are the same as they were three years ago.
And, then, also with this survey we can see how Meridian stacks up to residents
in other communities, both regionally and nationally. So, this survey was seven
pages long. I mentioned it includes most of the same questions that we asked
before. The survey was administered by a combination of mail, online and phone
to randomly selected households all throughout the city and that's really our
standard methodology for these types of surveys . Our goal is to get at least 500
completed surveys and we had a really, really good response this year. Actually
ended up with 743 completed surveys. Now, one thing we always do when we
administer these surveys is as we are collecting the data we check the
demographics of respondents to make sure it reflects the actual population of the
city and we especially pay close attention to key areas, which is age, gender,
geographic location. So, we had a really good distribution of all those areas and
the results of these 743 surveys, at the 95 percent level of confidence, has a
margin of error of plus to minus 3.6 percent. So, essentially, that means if we did
this survey the same way a hundred times, 95 times the results would be plus or
minus 3.6 percent from what we are reporting. So, the results aren't perfect, but,
really, it's a very small margin of error. So, here you can see we have a map of
the city. The red dots are households that completed the survey. So, we had a
really good distribution throughout the city and this looks very similar to what we
had three years ago when we did the survey. So, here is our major findings. We
found that residents overall have very, very positive perception of the city and
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there is a lot of examples of that in the survey. I have picked out a couple here
that really stand out. Ninety-three percent of residents rated Meridian as either a
great or a good place to raise a family and 92 percent rated the city is an
excellent or a good place to live. So, really, just about everybody who surveyed
felt that way. We also found that the city is moving in the right direction. Now,
the results were really good three years ago when we did the survey. They are
much higher than both regional and national averages in most areas, but this
year the results are even better. The positive ratings have increased from 64 out
of the 84 areas that we asked last year -- last time as well and we will look at
some of those in just a little bit. We also found that the satisfaction with city
services is much higher in Meridian than it is in other communities and that is no
surprise, because that was the case three years ago and, of course, this year the
results are even a little bit better and we will look at these examples in a little bit,
but the city rated above the US average and also the Mountain region average in
42 out of the 46 areas that we compared and you will see it in a little bit that in a
lot of cases it is much higher, ten, 15, even 20 percent or more. And, then, the
area that really stands out the most is that the satisfaction with the overall quality
of city services for the city rated at 30 percent above the US average, 25 percent
above the Mountain region average and when we do these surveys this is always
a key area we look at, because here we are asking your residents to take into
account everything that the city does. So, this is really an overall satisfaction
rating of city services and, then, the top priorities for residents were road, traffic,
and transportation. Education and schools. And growth development. So, the
first area we will look at is just some general perceptions of the city. Here we
asked residents to rate their perception of the city as you can see in a number of
different ways and this question is asked on a scale of zero to ten, with ten being
excellent, zero is poor. So, you can see here the dark blue are the nines and
tens ratings. The lighter blue are sevens and eights. So, really, the blue were
the positive ratings and every graph that has this 11 point scale has the same
format. A rating of four to six is the white, so that's kind of average. But, then, a
rating of three or less is poor, just the red. So, a couple things stand out here.
One is that the positive ratings far outweigh the negative really in just about every
single area. The only exception is providing mobility options in driving. For
everything else more than 60 percent of residents gave positive ratings, 12
percent or less negative, and the items that really stand out are those two at the
very top. You can see just about everybody who answered the survey feel good
about the city as a place to raise a family and also as a place to live. So, here is
some quality of life questions. Here a ten means of these items greatly exceed
expectations. Zero means doesn't exceed -- doesn't meet expectations at all.
So, again, positive rating far outweigh the negative. The couple that stand out
here the most are those bottom two ones. Eighty percent of residents feel that
customer service from city employees exceeds expectations. Only five percent
feel like it doesn't. And in that bottom row 79 percent of residents feel like the
overall quality of city services exceeds expectations and that's compared to only
three percent who don't feel that way. And those numbers are much, much
higher than we typically see in other communities where we do these surveys.
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Here is some more comparisons for quality of life and perceptions of the city.
Here are a ten means residents strongly agree with these statements. Zero
means they strongly disagree. Again, the positive ratings far outweigh the
negative. The lowest rated item on this list is the city managing growth wisely,
but even for that you have 55 percent positive rating as compared to only 18
percent negative, so more than a three to one ratio of positive to negative. You
can see the highest rated item is the quality of shopping and entertainment being
accessible. Then the other item that really stands out here to me is that fifth one
down. You can see that 69 percent of residents feel like the city is headed in the
right direction, compared to only ten percent who don't. So, about a seven to one
of those who feel the city is headed in the right direction versus those who don't
and that's also a much better ration than we normally see. Normally about two or
three to one is considered about average. And, then, here we asked residents to
rate major categories of city services. You can see here that ten is excellent,
zero is poor. Again, the positive outweighs the negative in all these areas. The
lowest rated item was planning and zoning services, but even for that you have
56 percent positive ratings, compared to only 17 percent negative. And the items
that are rated the highest just start at the top of the list, fire and rescue services,
city parks, garbage trash and pick up services, and police department and law
enforcement. And, then, here we asked residents about the value received for
city tax dollars and fees. Ten means that residents definitely feel like they are
getting their money's worth. Zero means they are definitely not. So, they can
see here that 72 percent of residents feel like they are getting their money's
worth for their city tax dollars and fees, compared to only six percent who don't
feel that way. So, a twelve to one ratio of residents who feel like they are getting
their money's worth versus those who don't and that's also much, much higher
than what we normally see. And, then, here we have a map of the city and what
we did here is broke the results down into four different regions. The northeast,
the northwest, the central and, then, south Meridian. And we took the average
rating for residents in each one of these four areas and, then, shaded that area
the appropriate color. So, this map is for the overall quality of city services and
you can see the entire map is the same color, that light blue. So, that means the
overall quality of city services exceeds expectations in all parts of the city and it
also means the city is really doing a good job providing services equally in all four
areas. Now, we did a map like this for every question that had that 11 point
scale. So, it's over a hundred maps overall and it's really a great way to look at
the data and more detail geographically. So, we also found that the city is
moving in the right direction. So, here what we have -- the blue line are residents
for the 2017 survey rate each item as a seven or better. So, the positive ratings.
The yellow are the positive ratings from three years ago and I put a blue arrow by
the items for the ratings that have increased by at least four percent since the
last survey. Red arrow down means the ratings have decreased by four percent
or more and this -- this graph here is for perceptions of the city. You can see
there is seven areas that have had significant increase in positive ratings since
the last survey. How well the city is ensuring public safety. The city as a place to
work is up eight percent. Building a strong sense of community. Developing
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strong a local economy. The city is a place to do business. Communication with
the community is up nine percent. Then developing a strong local workforce. So
a lot of increases related to the economy and business . The one area that did
have a decrease of four percent was planning for future growth and
development. Here are the comparisons for quality of life. No significant
changes since the last survey, but for all four areas there has been either a two
or a three percent increase. Here are more quality of life and perception areas.
You can see here there is four areas that have had a significant increase. The
quality of shopping -- shopping and entertainment being accessible. Meridian as
a sense of community. The city using tax dollars wisely is up five percent. And,
then, the variety of employment opportunities is up nine percent. And we did see
a nine percent decrease, though, in the quality of housing in the variety of
options. And these comparisons are from major categories of city services .
Most of these areas saw a small increase, but there were three areas that had a
significant increase. Recreation programs. Programs for youth.
Communications. And, then, there was a four percent decrease in recycling
services. Now, this table is specifically for public safety and there is 12 different
items here. For one item the ratings are the same. For the other 11 the ratings
have increased. So, no decreases at all in any of these areas, which really is
amazing. And there is five areas especially that had a big increase. Fire
response time to emergencies. The location of fire stations. Safety in city parks.
And, then, both fire and police safety education programs. And, then, this chart
here is specifically for parks and recreation. You can see no significant
decreases, but five big increases. The number, quality, and variety of special
events and festivals. The quality and variety of recreation programs and classes.
The availability of community center and gyms is up 13 percent and, then, the
number of pathways for walking and biking is up six percent. And for code
enforcement all of these are pretty similar to the last survey. No significant
increases or decreases. And, then, here is the area that had the most significant
increases overall since the last survey. Items related to communication. All five
of these had an increase of at least seven percent since the last survey.
Usefulness of online services and the website is up 14 percent. Quality of the
city website. Information about city programs and services up 13 percent.
Effectiveness of communication with the public is up 18 percent. That's the area
that had the biggest increase since the last survey. And, then, public
involvement in local decision making. So, we also did some benchmarking
comparisons and see how the city stacks up to residents in other communities.
So, the blue line are the positive ratings for Meridian residents. The red are the
ratings for residents in the Mountain region, which includes the state of Idaho, as
well as several surrounding states. Wyoming. Montana. Utah. And Colorado
was in there. And, then, the yellow are the ratings from residents from across the
US and you can see -- you will see as you go through these in just about every
area Meridian is significantly above both the regional and the national average.
This chart here especially has some really, really positive results. If you start
with that second row down customer service from city employees, 80 percent
positive rating for the city, which is 28 percent above the regional average, more
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than 30 percent above the national average and just going down the list, overall
quality of city services. So, again, taking into account everything that the city
does. Twenty-five percent above the regional average, 30 percent above the
national. Overall value received for city taxes and fees. You can see that
number is almost double the average for the -- for the US average. More than 30
percent above the regional average. And, then, the city moving in the right
direction, 16 percent above both the regional and the national average. Then
here are comparisons for perceptions of the city. You can see much, much
higher than the benchmarking averages for the city as a place to live and also to
raise a family. Again, the item that stands out here is that bottom row, planning
for future growth and development. Now, that had a four percent decrease from
the last survey, but you can see it's still nine percent above both the regional and
the national average. So, it's down a little bit, but it's still a really good number
compared to other communities. And for major categories of city services, all of
these are significant, but the benchmarking averages -- a couple I wanted to
point out here. Recreation programs and code enforcement are especially far
above the benchmarking averages and, then, that third from the bottom,
recycling services, that also went down a little bit from the last survey, but as you
can see it also is still significantly above both the regional and the national
average. And for public safety, again, just about all of these are significantly
above the benchmarking averages. The ones that especially are far above the
averages, if you look at that fourth one down, overall feeling of safety in the city,
91 percent positive rating from Meridian, more than 20 percent above the
benchmarking averages. Then just going down the list a little bit, how quickly
police respond to emergencies, that's also more than 20 percent above both the
regional and national average. For parks and recreation you can see there is
four areas that are significantly above. One area is significantly below is the
number of pathways for walking and biking, but that did see a six percent
increase in satisfaction from 2014. So, it's still below, but that forty-seven
percent is six percent higher than it was three years ago. So, it's headed in the
right direction. And for code enforcement, all three of these areas significantly
above the benchmarking averages. And, then, the same for communication.
Significantly above all three of these areas. So, the next area we will take a look
at is top priorities for the city. So, here we asked residents which of these
community priorities should receive the most emphasis from city leaders over the
next three years and I think you're picking up the three items. So, you can see
what stands out is by far the highest priority, roads, traffic and transportation, 70
percent of residents pick that as one of their top three most important. Second
highest priority is education, schools, growth and development. And, then, the
fourth, jobs and economic development. So, here what we have is the important
satisfaction rating and this is a tool that was created by ETC Institute a number of
years ago and this is really a great way to help set priorities . So, this analysis is
based on two questions on the survey. First we asked residents how satisfied
they are with different services and this is a question on major categories of city
services. And, then, the follow-up question is which of these are the most
important for the city to emphasize. So, the idea here is that those items that
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have a combination of a low satisfaction rating, but also ones that people think
are important, should be the highest overall priorities. So, based on that, by far
the top priorities is planning and zoning services. Residents rate that as the most
important item and it ranked last of these 16 items of satisfaction. The second or
third highest priorities are traffic flow and police department . But there is a
significant gap between those two and planning and zoning services. Then here
we asked residents a question about transportation improvements that are the
most important and you can see by far the top priority was roadway widening.
Seventy-four percent of residents picked that as one of the top three most
important. Second most important is intersection improvements, followed by
shared bike and pedestrian facilities. And, then, just some other various survey
findings. Here we asked residents which of these bond measure options they
would be most willing to support and this question they could pick up to two that
they would support, but people also had the option of picking none if they didn't
support any of these. So, what's interesting here is only nine percent of residents
didn't pick anything. So, most people support something on this list. But you can
see it's a pretty good mix of things. The most -- highest priority was constructing
Linder Road overpass, followed by adding more bike lanes and pathways. But
those are just at 36 and 29 percent of residency who picked those. So, here we
ask the residents how they feel about prohibiting smoking in all indoor public
places in the city. So, you can see 70 percent of residents are in favor, only 24
percent opposed. The other six percent not sure. Here we asked the residents
how they feel about making it illegal to deny goods, services, housing or
employment to someone because they are either gay, bisexual, or transgender.
You can see kind of a mix of responses. Forty-eight percent oppose making it
illegal. Thirty-nine percent in favor of it. And the other 13 percent not sure. Here
we asked the residents if they would be willing to support a levy to purchase
farmland in order to preserve it for agricultural purposes . Exactly half, 50
percent, said yes. Just over a fourth, 27 percent, said no and the other 23
percent not sure. And, then, here we asked residents how they feel about giving
the residents the ability to vote on a temporary sales tax increase to prove -- that
would provide funding for identifying structural infrastructure improvements. You
can see here we also have a mixed response. Forty-two percent in favor, 37
percent opposed. A good chunk here, 21 percent that's not sure. And, then, we
had just a couple more slides about downtown. Here we asked residents how
satisfied they are with visits to downtown over the past year and you can see 68
percent are either very or somewhat satisfied and that's a nine percent increase
from three years ago when 59 percent were either very or somewhat satisfied.
And, then, 13 percent are either very or somewhat dissatisfied. And, then, we
also asked residents which night life entertainment options they prefer bringing
downtown. By far the top choice was restaurants, 55 percent picked that as one
of their top two. And, then, the other ones rated the highest were live music
venues and performance arts. So, just a quick summary. We saw that residents
have a very, very positive perception of the city. There is a lot of examples of
that. The ones that especially stand out is most residents feel like the city is an
excellent or good place to live and raise a family. Definitely the city is moving in
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the right direction. The ratings have increased in most areas since the last
survey, which is impressive, because the results were really, really good last
time. Also Meridian rates higher than other communities in most of the areas
that we looked at. The one that especially stands out is the overall quality of city
services. So, again, taking everything into account at the city does. And, then,
the top overall priorities are roads, traffic, and transportation, education and
schools, and growth and development. And that’s not a surprise. Most fast
growing cities -- items related to transportation or growth are always some of the
highest priorities. So, overall, really, really great results. They were really good
last time and even a little better this time. So, really the city is doing a great job.
That's all I have. So, does anyone have any questions or comments?
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: I do have a question. Thank you for the very thorough report. We all like
living here. Probably why we are here. But so my question, though, is on your --
first slide I think was the same was your last slide.
Morano: Right.
Milam: There were -- like we had improvements in -- we had like 84 areas, but
you compared 46 of them. Are they specific areas that you generally compare,
as opposed to comparing all of the areas? Are they standard areas or did you
just compare our best areas?
Morano: So, I think you're talking about two types of data. One -- one is trends
compared to the previous survey and there are 84 items that we asked both in
2014 and this year. The 46 you're talking about are comparisons to our
benchmarking database and those are questions that we ask in other cities and
counties all across the country. So, those items that we asked often enough to
have a benchmarking database.
Milam: So, it's standard -- so the standard was that you generally compare all
the time for all cities. They weren't selected based on results?
Morano: That's right. Yeah. Yeah. We benchmark as much data as we
possibly can anytime we do the surveying, so in this case there are 46 items that
we asked here in Meridian that also are included in our benchmarking database.
Milam: Thank you.
De Weerd: Any other questions? I think this Council will look forward to getting
the full document and having a chance to kind of dive into it and see what -- what
the data numbers look like. We appreciate you being with us and, you know, this
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-- this was a great report card, but now we have to gather a little bit more detail to
further understand it. But I will give the kudos to all of our staff. This was -- this
was very impressive. I think that our citizens have come to expect a level of
service. Certainly you set the standard and now there is an expectation. No
pressure. But I know that that satisfaction has shown up in a number of different
recognitions for the city and this -- this is a validator. So, thank you for your
presentation.
Morano: Great. Thank you.
Simison: And, Madam Mayor, if I could, as I hand this out -- as I mentioned the
one -- Jason put up a slide that showed you a color coded one of the entire city.
That's an appendix. I did not print out the appendix, which has 110 of those
maps in it that show the -- the breakdown by region. The reason why I did, there
really wasn't a lot of variation in those maps. Previously when we looked at it I
think that they have been touched on that in the survey, they highlight how south
Meridian was significantly different. This survey really didn't show that. So, in
the essence of saving trees, I didn't printout hard copies of it for you, but, of
course, once we get it that stuff will be made available electronically and
otherwise from that standpoint. So, I will hand this out to you and, hopefully, next
week we will come back with the resolution for approval, but if you have any
comments or edits, you can get those to me and we will get it to ETC for updates,
so we have the final version that we can post to the website and put out to
everybody else.
De Weerd: I guess, Robert, I think it would be helpful to just put it on -- I know
they are not thumb drives, flash -- some flash drives. To -- to get it to each of the
council members, so they can see the appendix. Thank you.
De Weerd: Okay. Item 8-A is Ordinance 17 -- oh. And for the record Mr.
Cavener did join us at some point. I didn't even see him slip in. At some point
during that last item.
Coles: I did catch the time.
Item 8: Ordinances
A. Ordinance No. 17-1733: An Ordinance (Holy Apostles
Catholic Church H-2017-0019) For Annexation of a
Parcel of Land Situated in a Portion of Government Lot 1
of Section 30, Township 4 North, Range 1 East, Boise
Meridian, Ada County, Idaho as Described in Attachment
"A" and Annexing Certain Lands and Territory, Situated
in Ada County, Idaho and Adjacent and Contiguous to
the Corporate Limits of the city of Meridian as
Requested by the City of Meridian; Establishing and
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Determining the Land Use Zoning Classification of Said
Lands from RUT to C-C (Community Business District)
in the Meridian City Code; Providing that Copies of this
Ordinance Shall be Filed with the Ada County Assessor,
the Ada County Recorder, and the Idaho State Tax
Commission; and Providing for a Summary of the
Ordinance; and providing for a waiver of the reading
rules; and Providing an Effective Date.
De Weerd: Okay. Item 8-A is Ordinance 17-1733. Mr. Clerk, will you, please,
read this by title.
Coles: Thank you, Madam Mayor. City of Meridian Ordinance No. 17-1733: An
Ordinance, Holy Apostles Catholic Church, file number H-2017-0019, for
annexation of a parcel of land situated in a portion of Government Lot 1 of
Section 30, Township 4 North, Range 1 East, Boise meridian, Ada County,
Idaho, as described in Attachment "A" and annexing certain lands and territory,
situated in Ada county, Idaho and adjacent and contiguous to the corporate limits
of the City of Meridian as requested by the City of Meridian; establishing and
determining the land use zoning classification of said lands from RUT to C-C
(Community
Business District) in the Meridian City Code; providing that copies of this
ordinance shall be filed with the Ada County Assessor, the Ada County Recorder,
and the Idaho State Tax Commission; and providing for a summary of the
ordinance; and providing for a waiver of the reading rules; and providing an
effective date.
De Weerd: Council, do I have a motion?
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I move we approve Ordinance No. 17-1733 with suspension of rules.
Little Roberts: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 8-A. Mr. Clerk, will
you call roll.
Roll Call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, absent;
Little Roberts, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
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B. Amended onto agenda: Ordinance No. 17-1732A AN
ORDINANCE (H-2016-0027 MAVERIK) FOR
ANNEXATION FOR PART OF THE NORTHEAST
QUARTER OF SECTION 7, TOWNSHIP 3 NORTH, RANGE
1 EAST, BOISE MERIDIAN, ADA COUNTY, IDAHO, AS
DESCRIBED IN ATTACHMENT “A” AND ANNEXING
CERTAIN LANDS AND TERRITORY, SITUATED IN ADA
COUNTY, IDAHO, AND ADJACENT AND CONTIGUOUS
TO THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF
MERIDIAN AS REQUESTED BY THE CITY OF MERIDIAN;
ESTABLISHING AND DETERMINING THE LAND USE
ZONING CLASSIFICATION OF SAID LANDS FROM C-2
TO C-G (GENERAL RETAIL AND SERVICE
COMMERCIAL DISTRICT) IN THE MERIDIAN CITY
CODE; PROVIDING THAT COPIES OF THIS ORDINANCE
SHALL BE FILED WITH THE ADA COUNTY ASSESSOR,
THE ADA COUNTY RECORDER, AND THE IDAHO
STATE TAX COMMISSION, AS REQUIRED BY LAW; AND
PROVIDING FOR A SUMMARY OF THE ORDINANCE;
AND PROVIDING FOR A WAIVER OF THE READING
RULES; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
De Weerd: Item 8-B was amended onto the agenda. Ordinance 17-17732A.
Mr. Clerk, will you, please, read this by title.
Coles: Thank you, Madam Mayor. City of Meridian Ordinance No. 17-1732A, an
Ordinance, file number H-2016-0027, Maverik, for annexation for part of the
Northeast Quarter of Section 7, Township 3 North, Range 1 East, Boise
meridian, Ada county, Idaho, as described in Attachment “A” and annexing
certain lands and territory, situated in Ada county, Idaho, and adjacent and
contiguous to
corporate limits of the City of Meridian, as requested by the City of Meridian;
establishing and determining the land use zoning classification of said lands from
C-2 to C-G (General Retail and Service Commercial District) in the Meridian City
Code; providing that copies of this ordinance shall be filed with the Ada County
Assessor, the Ada County Recorder, and the Idaho State Tax Commission, as
required by law; and providing for a summary of the ordinance; and providing for
a waiver of the reading rules; and providing an effective date.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: I move that we approve Ordinance No. 17 -1732A with suspension of
rules.
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Bird: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 8-B. Mr. Clerk, will
you call roll.
Roll Call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, absent;
Little Roberts, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Item 9: Future Meeting Topics
De Weerd: Council, under Item 9, any topics for future agendas? I do have
some upcoming events. The Meridian Fire Promotion Ceremony and Employee
Awards Ceremony is tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. at the Public Safety Training
Center. Our city picnic is on Thursday at 5:30 at Kleiner Park. Dairy Days next
week. Exciting. All kinds of things with carnival, pancake feed, pool bash, rodeo,
music and fireworks and -- and what is really exciting is the Farmers Market has
almost 30 vendors that will be there the first event. They have gotten great
response this year and just really excited to see what you can -- you can see the
best of the best for our youth here in this area. And Art in the Park will be
another pleaser for sure. So, I did pass out a calendar of events for that. We
hope to see you out and about and if you haven't let staff know that you 're
attending the parade, please, do so.
De Weerd: With that I have nothing further.
Item 10: Executive session per Idaho Code sections 74-206(1)(b) to
Consider the Evaluation, Dismissal or Disciplining of, or to
Hear Complaints or Charges Brought Against, a Public Officer,
Employee, Staff Member or Individual Agent and 74-206(1)(f),
to Communicate with Legal Counsel for the Public Agency to
Discuss the Legal Ramifications of and Legal Options for
Pending Litigation
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Oh, Mr. Bird.
Bird: I move that we go into Executive Session as per Idaho State Code 74-
206(1)(b), 74-206(1)(f).
Milam: Second.
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Page 45 of 45
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to adjourn into Executive Session. Mr.
Clerk, will you call roll.
Roll Call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, absent;
Little Roberts, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: (5:11 p.m. to 9:35 p.m.)
De Weerd: I would entertain a motion to come out of Executive Session.
Bird: So moved.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: All in favor say aye?
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
De Weerd: I would entertain a motion to adjourn.
Bird: So moved.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: All in favor. All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 9:35 P.M.
(AUDIO
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