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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-10-03Meridian City Council October 3, 2017. A meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, October 3, 2017, by Mayor Tammy de Weerd. Members Present: Mayor Tammy de Weerd, Keith Bird, Joe Borton, Ty Palmer, Luke Cavener, Genesis Milam and Anne Little Roberts. Others Present: Bill Nary, C.Jay Coles, Jaycee Holman, Caleb Hood, Sonya Allen, Kyle Radek, Casey Colaianni, David Jone, Andrea Pogue, Pam Orr and Dean Willis. Item 1: Roll-call Attendance: Roll call. X__ Anne Little Roberts X _ _Joe Borton X__ Ty Palmer X__ Keith Bird __X___Genesis Milam __X__ Lucas Cavener __X Mayor Tammy de Weerd De Weerd: I would like to go ahead and start tonight's meeting by welcoming all of you that are in attendance. I'm guessing the people in the back are here for credit; right? For your class? Well, good. Well, we hope we won't bore you too much. Okay. But we will. Item 1 is roll call attendance. Mr. Clerk, will you call roll. Item 2: Pledge of Allegiance De Weerd: Okay. Item No. 2 is the Pledge of Allegiance. Tonight we will be led by Troop 130 and I'm going to let them give you instructions on when to rise and all of that, so -- (Pledge of Allegiance recited.) De Weerd: Young men, if I could offer you a City of Meridian pin for leading us in tonight's pledge. Thank you. Item 3: Community Invocation by Darrell Taylor with Ten Mile Christian Church De Weerd: Okay. Item No. 3 is our community invocation. I see Dusty Taylor here with Ten Mile Christian Church. If you will all join us in the community vocation or take this as an opportunity for a moment of reflection. Thank you for joining us. Taylor: Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time set aside just to -- just to say thank you and, Father, also just to -- just to ask that you would be with those that were affected in that horrible shooting in Las Vegas and not only that, the shooting in Kansas, the fire and the victims here in Nampa and, Father, the list goes on. The victims of the hurricanes and earthquake down in Mexico. Father we ask that you would be with the first Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 2 of 36 responders, not only here, but where ever they may be. Father we ask for your watch care over them. Father, keep them safe as they perform their most dangerous duties and, Father, we just ask for their special blessing upon their families and notice when they go out the door that -- that can be a very upsetting time. Ask that you will bless this meeting today with your presence here, Lord, and your wisdom and your grace and we thank -- that you, Father, for all of the men and women that work so hard to make Meridian a great place to live and work. And, Father, throughout this day and throughout the days to come we pray that we may continue to trust in you completely and be a blessing to those that we come into contact with and we thank you in Jesus' name, amen. Item 4: Adoption of the Agenda De Weerd: Thank you for that blessing. Item 4 is adoption of the agenda. Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Bird: Under the Consent Agenda, B, the resolution number is 17-2038. C is 17-2039. Item P they put the wrong number in for the change order. It is 55,000 instead of 50,000. And with that I move we approve the amended agenda. Borton: Second. De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve the agenda as amended. All those in favor say aye. All ayes. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 5: Future Meeting Topics - Public Forum (Up to 30 Minutes Maximum) De Weerd: Item -- Coles: You had one sign up for Item 5, Madam Mayor. De Weerd: Okay. Item 5 is under our public forum. We do have one person that is signed up. Coles: It’s Mr. Merlin Slyter signed up. The description of the topic is the sewer use fee and city code 9-4-24. De Weerd: Okay. Mr. Nary, this is one of the items on our agenda. Nary: Madam Mayor, it's slightly different than the appeal item. I think he wants to talk specifically about the ordinance itself, not the result of the board of adjustment hearing. So, I think it's to raise an issue of concern regarding how the ordinance is currently Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 3 of 36 drafted. Thank you. Mr. Slyter. Sir, if I could, please, ask you to state your name and address for the record. Slyter: Merlin Slyter. 1502 West Balboa in Kuna. De Weerd: Thank you. Slyter: And I own property -- rental property here in Meridian. De Weerd: Thank you so much. Slyter: With regard to that rental property, the City of Meridian does not measure the volume of sewer use by residents directly, but bases their fees for sewer use on the gallons of water used. In the attempt to be fair and not to charge sewer use for water used outside of the home, the city calculates the water use winter average for each household and applies that volume as the maximum sewer volume during the other months. Again, in the attempt to be fair and to protect itself , the city wants to be able to assume higher sewer use in certain situations when sewer -- higher sewer use seems apparent. City code prescribes the use of the city average winter residential water use , which is an average the city has established where the city default CCA is 6,500 gallons as the maximum volume of sewer use when there is a change of occupancy during the winter months. Of course when that happens, when there is a change of occupancy in the winter, the winter average cannot be calculated, since the home -- the time period is interrupted. In a couple of other situations sewer use may well be higher in the summer months than the winter average and the city may want to be able to assume such higher use. If a change -- for instance, if a change of occupancy occurs during the winter months, during the summer, for instance, the city code doesn't prescribe the use of the city the full CCA in that situation. It may seem obvious that new or returning residents would use more sewer, but the city code does not address this. The other situation is a vacant house with no water use in the winter, which remains vacant, but has use -- with no inside water use in the summer, but, then, the lawn is being watered. So, it seems like there might be use. The city still wants to be able to assume there is inside water use and sewer use, but in this situation that is incorrect. However, a plain reading of the city code does protect the interest of the owner of the house, since the prescribed calculation of the winter average, which it was vacant when it was calculated, was zero and that's still the actual sewer use. So, what's the answer for these two situations? A plain reading of city code prescribes using zero as the winter average for sewer use for the months following a vacant winter house. Best interest of the city suggests applying the city default CCA. The city also wants to be respected and to have its laws and rules respected and honored and to be seen as administering its business fairly. In part those purposes are accomplished by being transparent, by allowing its actions to be viewed and reviewed and by having its policy published, accessible and understandable. For the city to take liberty beyond the scope of its own city code and routinely raise the utility fee above what is prescribed in the code is not being transparent. This is allowing a noncodified judgment to be applied by employees whose guidelines may change from time to time and are not available for review. Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 4 of 36 So, specify city fees and possible increases to fees in the city code, instead of allowing the fairness doctrine or unwritten guidelines to authorize such fees or increases. The city retains the right to reduce the fee in special circumstance, especially with fairness calls for it and, of course, since its actions are public, it would only do so when public review would support such a reduction. If the city wants to raise a fee unilaterally and without the authority of the city code, it really needs to be certain of the fairness of that action and have evidence to back itself up. If the evidence and facts prove the city wrong, the city could face worse embarrassment or liability. I also suggest that the average winter residential water use in the city be updated. Instead of 6,500 gallons, the current average is, in fact, 4,600 gallons as presented by the Department of Public Works of the City of Meridian in a public hearing recently. Thank you for attention and impartial review. De Weerd: Thank you, sir. Council, this has been brought to your attention. The desire to have a conversation on a future agenda regarding our process of sewer and water fees and usage. Would that be your interest to put this on a future agenda? Slyter: One additional comment? De Weerd: Yes, sir. Slyter: The language is, essentially, the same since 1985. Public records request by myself showed documents back in 2004, 1987, 1985. It hasn't been changed much since then. It's just been kind of passed on. It's kind of vague. De Weerd: Okay. We appreciate you bringing this up. We are -- we are not going to have a conversation about this, because it's not a posted item, but I guess the question in front of this Council is do they want to see it as a future discussion item on a future agenda. If that is the decision that is made, we will certainly let you know the date of that conversation. Slyter: Yes, ma'am. De Weerd: Because it looks like you have put a lot of time and research into it. So, we thank you for that. Slyter: Yes, ma'am. De Weerd: Okay. Borton: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Borton. Borton: That was a suggestion and it makes great sense. I would certainly want to have Legal and our Public Works Department have a chance to digest the proposed language, Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 5 of 36 discuss how it does or doesn't correct the issues that have been raised and see where that takes us. De Weerd: Okay. Mr. Nary, shall we put this on for the first meeting in November? Nary: Madam Mayor, Member of the Council, I know there is -- there is a process that's ongoing in Public Works currently that involves this particular section of our code . Not this specific one, but the general section of the code and I don't know if there is a timetable that we could have all of that as one discussion. I don't know if we have picked a specific time. We have talked about it a little bit this afternoon and I don't know that we are settled on that, but we can certainly make sure Mr. Slyter has notice when we are going to discuss it, so that way he can be privy to the conversation and what the Council's direction would be from that. But I don't know if it's at the next workshop or the one after that. But I would anticipate talking to Mr. Bolthouse and we would be coming back to Council soon with some recommendations in moving forward on that question. De Weerd: Well, I guess what I'd like to do is put this on our workshop for November -- Nary: Okay. De Weerd: -- for an update. If -- and, then, you can let us know where it is in the process. But I'd rather have it on a date certain. Nary: Great. Item 6: Proclamation for Fire Prevention Month De Weerd: Thank you. Okay. Item No. 6 is a proclamation for Fire Prevention Month and I know we have a special guest here and so if Pam Orr and her special guest will join me at the podium. Well, Sparky, thank you for joining us. What a great surprise to have you with this tonight. This is Fire Prevention Month and so this proclamation will be in honor of that and, then, I'm going to turn this over to Pam Orr, our prevention specialist, to say a few words, to talk about some of the upcoming events, because there are plenty of ways to get involved in and knowing more about how you can prevent fires in your homes and places of work. So, thank you, again, Pam and Sparky, for joining us here. Whereas the City of Meridian is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all those living in and visiting our city and whereas fire is a serious public safety concern , both nationally and locally, and our homes are where we are at greatest risk from fire and whereas the Meridian's first responders are dedicated to reduce the occurrence of home fires and home fire injuries through prevention education measures, such as fire safety center and Project Safe and whereas our residents are responsive to public education measures -- measures such as Public Safety Day and smoke alarm checks where we learn to take personal steps to increase our safety from fire and whereas the 2017 Fire Prevention Month theme is Every Second Counts, Plan Two Ways Out, which effectively serves to remind us all of the simple actions we can take to stay safer from fire. Therefore, I, Mayor Tammy de Weerd, hereby proclaim the month of October 2017 to be Fire Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 6 of 36 Prevention Month in the City of Meridian and I call upon all the people of our community to heed the important safety message of replacing their smoke alarms every ten years and I'm going to turn this over to Pam Orr and, Pam, thank you so much for what you do in our community. I think you have a cadre of volunteers that go out and serve our citizens and spread the word of prevention and helping them in their homes where they can . So, thank you for everything you do. Orr: Well, thank you very much for that. Definitely. So, this month it is a very busy month for us. Sparky and I and a group of our volunteers will be going into the schools . All of the students in all of the schools in Ada West that's in Meridian city will be receiving the message that Every Second Counts, Plan two Ways Out. Homes today are more vulnerable because of the items that we put in those homes. Fires spread so quickly in these homes that having two ways out of every single room is such an important message and, then, planning to practice those two ways out with your families. So, when your children come home and they receive that message, please, please, just go over it with them again and actually plan for them. Smoke alarms are definitely very important. They are the number one defense in your home that you can have to save your life should you have a fire in your home late at night when you're sleeping and so we are doing many, many, many programs. Dominos in town, if you're going to purchase pizza next week, Dominos are selecting random homes to deliver pizzas to and we will be inspecting smoke alarms. If those smoke alarms work you get your pizza for free. If they don't work, we are going back into the homes and we are bringing the ir alarm systems back functional for them. So, it's a win-win all the way. And, then, lastly, this coming Saturday is Public Safety Day. We have joined efforts with the Meridian Police Department and we have an open house at Fire Station No. 1 from 10:00 to 2:00 and where all of these things that we talked about are going to be educated to families and scouts. We have a special thing for you if you come in uniform, we have a lot of activities that the scouts in Meridian can be signed off on different badges. So, thank you very much and, Mayor, thank you again. I appreciate that so much. Item 7: Consent Agenda A. Approve Minutes of September 26, 2017 City Council Regular Meeting B. Resolution No. 17-2038: A Resolution Establishing Appointments for Board Members and Alternates to the Valley Regional Transportation Authority. C. Resolution No. 17-2039: Resolution to Approve City Council President's Appointments of City Council Members to Serve as Department Liaisons, Committee Members, Commission Ex- Officio Members and City Area Contacts. D. The Oaks South Subdivision No. 5 Water Main Easement Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 7 of 36 E. The Oaks South Subdivision No. 5 Sanitary Sewer Easement F. Final Plat for Hill’s Century Farm Subdivision No. 8 (H-2017- 0127) by Brighton Investments, LLC located approximately ¼ mile south of E. Amity Road, and 1/2 mile east of S. Eagle Road G. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Trust Storage (H- 2017-0082) by John Day Located Northeast Corner of S. Locust Grove Road and E. Puffin Street H. Professional Services Agreement for Meridian Anti-Drug Coalition Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant I. Professional Services Agreement for Policy and Advocacy Consultant Services for MADC J. Memorandum of Understanding for MPD Canine Holding Facility with Blackfoot Police Department K. Second Amendment to Subrecipient Agreement Between City of Meridian and Ada County Housing Authority for PY 2016 Community Development Block Grant Funds L. Second Addendum To Purchase Agreement For Fabrication And Installation Of Vinyl Traffic Box Wraps M. Valley Regional Transit FY2018 Cooperative Agreement N. Authorize Purchasing Manager to sign Purchase Order 18- 0005 to Goode Motor for Not-to-Exceed amount of $87,862.74. O. Approval of Award of Bid and Agreement to SNF Polydyne, Inc. for the POLYMER CHEMICAL for a Not-To-Exceed amount of $200,000. P. Amended: Approval of Change Order No. 2 to Task Order 10601.G for WRRF Capacity Expansion Services During Construction to Brown & Caldwell. This is a cost neutral change order to move $55,000 from FY18 to FY17 while reducing the FY18 funding by the same $55,000.00. Q. AP 7. Consent Agenda Approved as amended De Weerd: Okay. That was fun. Item 7 is the Consent Agenda. Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 8 of 36 Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Bird: As stated earlier, Item 7-B the resolution number is 17-2038. Item 7-C resolution number 17-2039. And Item 7-P has been amended from 50,000 to 55,000. With that I move we approve the Consent Agenda as stated 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 as changed. Mr. Clerk, will you call roll. Roll call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea. De Weerd: All ayes. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 8: Items Moved From the Consent Agenda De Weerd: There were no items moved from the Consent Agenda. Item 9: Community Items/Presentations A. Mayor's Youth Advisory Council Update De Weerd: So, will move to Item 9-A under Community Presentations. Tonight we have our first of the year update from our Mayor's Youth Advisory Council Vice- President Collin and come on up. Thank you, Collin, for being here. Freese: Yeah. Of course. Hello, Mayor and City Council Members. I'm here to present to you today the activities of what we have been doing in MYAC over these past couple of months. So, first off, again, my name is Collin Freese and I'm the vice-chair at MYAC. So, I'm just here to discuss what we have been doing. So, first I just want to address like our lovely picture of just our exec council members as we have just got into the -- started out the year. We first started out the year actually with what was called game night at Home Court YMCA and what happened is is we did -- we had a bunch of MYAC members come in and just play games and we try to break the ice with everyone . So, that we can get everyone new, like freshman, sophomore, everyone new to MYAC just involved, knowing that they are important in MYAC and that they matter and it's welcome to every single student at every school. And, then, we had the town hall meeting, which we actually put on. Jodi, who helped set up the whole thing, and, then, us MYACers showed Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 9 of 36 up and helped plan the whole event for speakers who were speaking. We also grabbed questions, so that the questions could be addressed to the candidates who were running. So, that whole event was run by MYAC itself. And, then, we had the Treasure Valley Youth Safety Summit. This was actually a big event for us. There was I think 160 people who showed up from different schools around West Ada. Also from Eagle and so on. And it was crazy just to go there and there are so many students that are impacted by the kindness and just growing together, led by Meridian Police Department. So, what happened was is we were -- we were set into groups of each school and we were sent out and had different jobs and activities to do. Like one had to address bullying and that was a huge one that people were impacted by and the whole focus of it was, you know, to have fun and feel like a kid again, but, at the same time, address real life situations that we face today. And so we had an amazing speaker who spoke upon kindness and how we can bring that back to our schools and students were involved in just wanting to know more and more how they can help out in each school and at the end we had what was called a tool kit and so what we are doing in MYAC is that each school is performing -- say if I put on a suicide prevention run, then, we get points and each school is trying to help out in the community, to help out in the schools, and we are just trying to do it for each individual school and just help out in the community. If it's from a banner all the way to just serving in the community and that was a big take away from it and I thought it was just so amazing to see how many hearts were just impacted by coming to this huge event . And so these are pictures of just students just being impacted by what was going on. And then -- so, the feature events that we have coming up. Next week, Wednesday, is Farmstead Corn Maze. TAC is putting that on. And so we are going to have students - - we want to get more and more MYACers involved in coming together and just socializing and knowing that MYAC isn't just all seriousness, but we are all high school students, we are all here to -- at the same time be serious and take situations seriously. Also to have fun and remember that we are in high school and that we can impact and change the community. And the last thing, obviously, is trunker treat and you guys all know what that is. So -- yeah. So, these are activities that we have been doing and I just can't wait to come back and tell you guys about what we are going to be doing next month. De Weerd: Thank you, Collin. Any questions from Council? I do. How many students have shown up at the first couple of meetings? Freese: I think we had -- let's see. A hundred -- which one are you talking about? When we had the parents come as well or -- De Weerd: Oh, you can average it out. Freese: Okay. Well, the first official one we had two separate meetings and I would say -- I think we had 160 kids register. Is that right, Jodi? Yeah. And so we -- it was a huge add on to what it was from last year and -- and it's actually been staying very constant and so that's great just to see the kids coming back and more and more freshmen coming in, too. Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 10 of 36 De Weerd: Yeah. That has been exciting. So, we have a number of high school students in the audience. What does it take to be a MYAC member? Freese: An attitude just to serve the people around you and serve the community and wanting that ambition and passion to help out. That's pretty much it. Just show up to the meetings and be involved. De Weerd: Thank you. Okay. Council, anything further? Cavener: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Cavener. Cavener: Collin, you touched on something that interested me. This tool kit that you have provided to your colleagues. You indicated that there is a point system. Freese: Uh-huh. Cavener: Can you expand on that a little bit more. How do you earn points and is there a -- is there a competition to do good in our community amongst the schools and, if so, when does that conclude? Freese: Okay. So, the tool kit was presented to us and what it is is there is bronze, silver and gold and bronze is fifty points, silver as a hundred, and gold is 150. The tool kit comes with -- so 50 points -- I believe it's like if one week you put on a PSA throughout your school and you would get that for your team that we set up at the Treasure Valley Safety Summit. So, since I'm in -- from Meridian, I'm in the Meridian group, so that's my team and the more points you get -- whoever has the most points at the end of the year gets a prize, a trophy, and it's pretty much just to celebrate like the passion of helping out in the community that you're doing. De Weerd: So, a lot of that is the focus has been on driver safety, on substances, and on bullying behavior and one of the things that was added this year -- because our executive council thought it was really important that you not just listen and, then, learn through play, but you're able to, then, huddle with your peers afterwards and come up with some action plans that what is specific of concern in those schools and what they want to bring back as ideas to put into action in those schools. So, they will be reaching out to the student councils and other organized groups in those schools to -- to encourage that collaboration and making an impact -- a more focused impact in their schools. So, we are excited to see how that will play out. Each of the executive council members has ownership in the accountability piece in their schools. So do the school resource officers that participated in the discussion and were there as they put together their action plans. So, we are excited to -- to see what happens in our schools and we look forward to hearing a report back at the end of the school year to see how that worked out . Freese: Yeah. I can't wait. Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 11 of 36 De Weerd: Thank you, Collin, for being here. Freese: Yeah. Cavener: Madam Mayor, just a comment, too. I was able to attend the first MYAC meeting and I was really impressed, not just with the students, but the level of engagement from the advisers. I wasn't aware that we had two people from the Meridian Police Department serving as advisers and Megan Larsen from the library district as an adviser and Renee and, of course, Jodi and the Mayor and I just think it's really great to see this level of engagement with our youth and, honestly, I thought the candidate forum was -- was a great event. Well attended, well promoted, and you guys managed it well with the amount of candidates that were there. So, it was really great. You guys are doing a great job. B. Solid Waste Advisory Committee: Community Recycling Fund Application for Catalpa Leaf Shaped Bench for the 77 acre South Meridian Regional Park De Weerd: Thank you for your comments. Okay. Item 9-D is under our Solid Waste Advisory Committee and I see we have Steve, our chair. Thank you for joining us. Cory: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the City Council. I bring you greetings from the Solid Waste Advisory Commission. I am Steve Cory and I'm chairman of the Solid Waste Advisory Commission. I represent SWAC at this time. We are before you asking for approval to use some of the community recycling program funds for a project. SWAC's concept was to have a joint bench project with the Meridian Arts Commission and Meridian Parks Department and we very much appreciate their participation in this activity. This is the first CRFP project south of the interstate and SWAC felt it was time for south Meridian residential recyclers to receive a project. As background, currently the recycling fund stands just over 40,500 dollars and we are in a phase where we are asking for community applications to use those funds, which we will consider and I will be back in front of you if there is any we can recommend to you, but at this time we are requesting authorization -- authorization to use no more than 2,756 dollars for one of the Catalpa leaf-shaped benches for the south regional park and with that I would stand for questions on this request. De Weerd: Thank you, Steve. Council, any questions? Milam: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mrs. Milam. Milam: I move that we approve the spending authority not to exceed 2,756 dollars for the Catalpa leaf-shaped bench for the 77 acre south Meridian regional park. Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 12 of 36 Little Roberts: Second. 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, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea. De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. De Weerd: Thank you, Steve, for your service. Cory: Madam Mayor, if I may, I would like to bring some news from the Solid Waste Advisory Committee of the county. De Weerd: You bet. Cory: Okay. First some good news. Having pushed the county a little bit, they did sharpen their pencil and looked at their finances going forward to make sure that they can cover capping and expansion and various other things and they can see that the fees that they are receiving at this point will cover their projected capital projects , so they do not expect to be requesting an increase in fees at the landfill. The second one is quite intense for us. We have been made aware that there is significant pressure on recycled materials markets at this point. That is to say the cardboard, plastic, and so on and there will be a great deal of effort this month to come to grips with how significant it is. The nature of it is just that China has significantly increased their quality requirement for the materials that they will receive for use within China and the quality requirements are nearly unattainable. I guess if you have significant amounts of personnel that are willing to sort through things you might get there, but it's very difficult for automation to accomplish it and as such we are being told that there may need to be some drastic changes to the recycled materials program. I will keep you informed in a very timely manner as this develops, but I just felt that it was necessary for me to give you some warning that we may be here within a month with some significant issues and I would stand for questions about those two items. De Weerd: Thank you. Council, any questions? I guess only that we look forward to hearing follow-up discussion on the recycled program and -- and the comingling. It sounds like it might be at risk. Okay. Cory: Once again thank you. We really very much appreciate your support and we are always available if there is things we can research for you or you want us to consider. Item 10: Action Items Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 13 of 36 A. Request for Appeal to Board of Adjustment Decision (BOA 2017-04) by Merlin Slyter De Weerd: Thank you, Steve. Okay. Under Action Items, Action Item 10-A is a request for appeal to the board of adjustment decision 2017-04 that was brought by Mr. Merlin Slyter. This is a limited appeal, which means that the Council's role is to review the complete record related to Mr. Slyter's case before the board of adjustment, including the transcript from the BOA meeting and the board's decision to determine the following: One, whether or not the city's processing of Mr. Slyter's disputed 2017 sewer use charges was fair and, two, whether the board's decision was supported by the findings of facts based on substantial evidence and conclusions of law that were not clearly erroneous . The City Council may affirm, modify, or overturn the board -- a decision by the board. The Council's decision is final. No new evidence may be presented tonight, but each party will have five minutes to make a brief statement if they so choose. So, I guess, Mr. Slyter, do you wish to make an opening statement about this and , if so, please, join us at the podium. And if you will, please, again, state your name and address for the record. Slyter: Yes. Thank you. Merlin Slyter. 1502 West Balboa Street in Kuna. A rental house here in Meridian. De Weerd: Thank you. And I will just state that you do have five minutes to tell us about your appeal and include what your specific objections might be . Slyter: The board did accept the argument and make an adjustment. However, it was still presumed to be a courtesy and it wasn't a courtesy, it was stipulated by the city code, and I am not satisfied that the city is presuming that it can raise a rate when it doesn't have the authority in its code to do so. Typically, that allows adjustments to be made differently in different circumstances and maybe not fairly across different people , because it isn't specified more clearly how to do that . One statement was made in the -- in justification for setting my sewer use average at the city default CCA that -- well, there had been a history of higher use before, so we really need to protect ourselves against someone using 10,000 gallons. But that very statement goes against your own protocols, because you don't use a previous occupant's history to determine what the current occupants use. But, in fact, that's what was being referred to. So, that just shows that without better guidelines improper judgments can be made. Part two of the appeal is that it's not -- your average is not 6,500 gallons anymore and the code specifies in lower case letters that the city winter -- city winter residential water use is X. It's not a published -- it's not a published item. Standard. It is what the city residential winter resident water use is and as presented by Kyle Radek at the meeting, the -- by Public Works calculations over the last three years, the average is 4,600 gallons, not 6,500 gallons. So, the city is using the wrong standard across the board as a default CCA. Don't have the legal authority to do that I don't think. Item three. The house was vacant over the winter. Winter average calculates mathematically zero. Follow the code -- follow the language of the code, calculate it at zero. There was no change of occupancy. Winter -- the residential water use over the summer inside continue to be zero . My statement to that effect should be sufficient. The burden of proof lays with the city to prove otherwise, Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 14 of 36 because the city code does not specify that you have the right to assume something different. I would say that it's reasonable to assume something different . There is water use at the house now when I'm watering the lawn. You really need to have it in the code to allow you to assume something different. It's not stated that way. It's stated that it would be the winter average. Winter average was zero. It should stay as prescribed by the code. So, this is really just a focal point now for actually my contention that you need to update your code. But my request is that, in fact, my winter average should be applied as my CCA, not the winter average calculated by the city three years ago. And it -- if you, in fact, decide to leave it at the city default CCA, it shouldn't be at 6,500, it should be at 4,600, in specifics. Okay. De Weerd: Thank you, Mr. Slyter. Slyter: Stay here for questions or -- De Weerd: No. I think that now we will hear from the BOA and -- and see what they say and, then, I will open it up for council questions. Thank you so much. Okay. So, Ms. Pogue. You, too, will have five minutes. If you will, please, state your name and position. Pogue: Thank you. Andrea Pogue, deputy city attorney. Mayor, City Council, Mr. Slater asked the board to adjust his winter average to zero and his account to be credited $16.62 for sewer charges, because in his opinion they are not based on the winter averages prescribed by Meridian City Code 9-4-24. The board of adjustment had a hearing that lasted approximately one and a half hours. Upon its conclusion the board decided to credit his account as requested, to reset his winter average to the 6,500 gallon default per Section 9-4-24 and, three, the board waived future sewer usage charges while the property is vacant, provided Mr. Slyter provides -- presents supporting evidence of nonoccupancy to MUBS. Mr. Slyter just expressed the basis for his appeal. So, before us we -- you are asked tonight to review the board's decision. Did he receive a fair process and was the decision based on findings of facts supported by substantial evidence and lawful conclusions of law -- conclusions of law that aren't clearly erroneous. Regarding the process provided Mr. Slyter. The city complied with the notice, scheduling, and process requirements for resolving a dispute before the BOA, as required by Meridian Code Sections 9-4-21, Code Section 2-8-6 and 2-8-7. Regarding the decision, let's review the board's findings of facts -- or at least the majority of them. Mr. Slyter's property was rented in 2016 and had a winter average of 10,000 gallons. It has been vacant since September 29th of 2016 and there was no water usage through March 15 of 2017. In the absence of metered winter water consumption pursuant -- pursuant to Section 9-4-24, the computer is programmed to set the winter average to a default of 6,500 gallons per month as the cap for summer sewer charges. Mr. Slyter queried the utility staff about this average and based on the absence of winter consumption it was administratively reset to 1,000 gallons, which is the minimum a winter average can be set, because zero is not a recognized number for winter average by code , resolution, or historical billing practices. Mr. Slyter testified that but for a handful of times that the toilet may have been flushed while cleaning up the property, all delivered water this summer was applied outside of the home. City water is used to irrigate the property. The board found that the small amount Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 15 of 36 of delivered water supported his testimony. Learning this, staff testified that there is precedence in the case of vacant homes without pressurized irrigation to allow for a sewer adjustment. Staff testified that had Mr. Slyter requested a sewer adjustment on the basis of home vacancy versus his interpretation of code, it would have been granted administratively, provided that he had been able to present some proof of nonoccupancy, such as an Idaho Power bill or a gas bill. Mr. Slyter testified, instead, that his interpretation of the code dictates that a winter average of zero is required, because based on the lack of water usage during the applicable winter four month period and that home vacancy is not specifically listed to receive the default 6,500 gallons. He further reasons that a zero winter average would yield zero sewer use charges during the summer and he, therefore, deserves his write off of his sewer charges. To this staff responded that since the winter average is the max or cap that a person will be charged for summer se wer usage, his interpretation leads to an unacceptable result. That would be free sewer usage. His interpretation would also conflict with Code Section 9-4-1 that users of the sewer system are required to pay for their use and that it would impose an unf air burden on rate payers as a whole. Regarding this section of code staff testified that it allows for flexibility in that the fairest billing practice is to establish a realistic winter average based on the customer's historic usage. However, when no usage is available and the section lists some examples for when that might occur, this code section establishes a winter average of 6,500 gallons, which is the average winter residential water use, unless the current water meter reading is less than 6,500 gallons. In that case the sewer use charge is based on the actual metered water use. De Weerd: Ms. Pogue, your time is up. Pogue: Okay. May I just conclude? De Weerd: Please. Pogue: The board's decision to adjust off the 16.62 was based on the precedence for -- precedence for nonoccupied properties. The decision for the winter average to revert to the default 6,500 gallons was based on Section 9-4-24 and the board's concern that when occupied a winter average of 1,000 gallons would not pick up a change in occupancy in the property in question. The board's decision to allow Mr. Slyter to provide proof to MUBS of continuing nonoccupancy was also based on precedence and did not impute on him a burden that has not otherwise oc curred in similar situations. Therefore, based on this review and your own review of the findings of fact and conclusions of law, this Council may affirm the board's decision. Thank you. De Weerd: Thank you. So, Council, this is your opportunity to ask any questions required of Mr. Slyter or Ms. Pogue regarding, again, making sure that we focus on whether or not the city's processing of Mr. Slyter's disputed 2017 sewer use charges were fair or, two, whether the board's decision was supported by findings of facts based on substantial evidence and conclusions of law that were clearly -- were not clearly erroneous. So, with that I would ask if there are any questions. Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 16 of 36 Borton: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Borton. Borton: I do. I have got a couple for Ms. Pogue if I could. Make you come up here to -- one might just be to clarify. I had heard remarks made in his presentation about the CCA -- the average usage being 4,600 a month, not 65 -- Pogue: And, Councilman Borton, Mayor, Council, currently the code set 6,500 as the default. The basis of his hearing -- the request for his hearing wasn't for the board to decide what the reasonable residential average is in the city, that's not really within the purview of the board of adjustment to decide . That would be a question for the Council. So, that -- that testimony came up during the conversation during that hearing. It wasn't directed to the decision that the board faced regarding Mr. Slyter's sewer use charges. Borton: Okay. Madam Mayor? The reason I ask when I look at the -- the materials that are in the packet for us and you reference 9-4-24 and it speaks to the -- the winter average of 6,500, but if there is a meter rate less than, then, the lower rate is what is utilized. The actual -- Pogue: Correct. Sixty-five hundred is the cap. Borton: Right. Pogue: In other words, if -- if somebody is filling up their pool, it's not going down the sewer and that's recognized. So, whatever that individual's winter average is set at, it would be the cap for what it could be charged. In the case of the decision by the board, the fact that they have reset it to 6,500 gallons, because of the lack of consumption during the winter months, does impact Mr. Slyter, because of their following finding and decision, which was to waive future sewer use charges if he can show proof that the property is vacant and that was based on precedence. So, whether it was 6,500 or 4,600, the fact is as long as that property remains vacant and Mr. Slyter communicates with MUBS and MUBS would prefer that to be an annual adjustment discussion versus a monthly discussion, then, he would have his charges credited. Borton: Madam Mayor? De W eerd: Mr. Borton. Borton: Follow up to that. Help me reconcile the reference in -- and I think the record speaks to a resolution of a base no less than one or a thousand ? Pogue: Correct. Borton: As being the base and, then, the ability to actually go to zero if it's a vacancy. Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 17 of 36 Pogue: Okay. Councilman Borton. I'm going to try and answer that, but if I don't make sense I'm going to defer to Kyle to testify to that. Borton: And I will give you a little -- the scope of the question is not necessarily the -- more the legal what's set forth in the code, do you have the discretion or not to go below the 1,000? Pogue: Okay. Borton: The city. Pogue: So, the last resolution to set out serious charges sets it at one or one thousand, not at zero. So, what that means is that because people -- the city wants people to pay for their sewer use, zero to 999 gallons of delivered water for purposes of calculating the winter average for summer sewer charges, there is -- it doesn't show up. That -- that meter has to turn over to a thousand in order for there to be a registered amount to be charged for water and perhaps for sewer, depending on what the CCA is. Does that make sense? We -- our system is based on the thousand gallon, not on hundreds of gallons. So, we start at 1,000 gallons. Everybody gets zero to 999 for free, essentially, because the meter is going to roll when it hits a thousand and, then, it will just, you know, catch itself up. Borton: So, everybody's charged at least the 1,000 base? Pogue: That's correct. Is that correct? Radek: Madam Mayor, Councilman Borton, I'm not sure that what you just said is correct. Everybody gets charged a base fee and in the case of water the base fee is $5.49 a month and in the case of sewer it's $8.65 a month. What Andrea was just explaining is that since we meter it at thousand gallon intervals, if the user uses 999 gallons the first month of their -- of their count, they will get charged zero for water and zero for sewer. They use 999 the next month, their meter will now be at 1,098 and -- 1,998 and so now they will be charged for 1,000 gallons and, likewise, for the next month, so -- so, they don't have a minimum usage fee, they only have a base fee every month and it's possible if they don't use enough water or sewer they will be charged zero for usage . Does that answer your question? Borton: It does somewhat. And what got me confused is it -- and I apologize for -- for making a mess of it when. The records spoke of the resolution 14-1018 on fees -- Pogue: Correct. Borton: -- the city's minimum charge is one or a thousand, not zero, and I was trying to reconcile that what sounded like a base fee or base usage with the ability for the city to say zero if you can prove that it's vacant. They sounded like they were in conflict, but maybe I have got them sideways. Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 18 of 36 Pogue: When we talk about that the board was willing to waive his sewer use charges based on non-occupancy, that's really different than resetting his winter average at zero. They do not do that. Borton: So -- Madam Mayor. Sorry to belabor this. So, the -- the thousand dollar -- a thousand dollars -- a thousand base is the base and it's not eliminated, you're just saying the decision was to wave it under these unique circumstances . If there is a proof of vacancy. Pogue: Correct. Borton: Right? Pogue: In his situation. Borton: Okay. Pogue: Yes. Borton: Okay. And had that -- Madam Mayor? And had that been the basis of the appeal in the first place -- or the request for adjustment to start this whole thing, that would have been granted. Pogue: Can you clarify that statement? Borton: That's what I recall hearing, that had the request initially come forward with a -- Pogue: Correct. Borton: -- argument that it's vacant and the request for an adjustment is based upon vacancy, that would have been granted by the city, but -- Pogue: Correct. Borton: -- he -- Pogue: Provided he could show proof -- Borton: Sure. Pogue: -- of vacancy in the sense of a power bill that 's de minimis or in this case the board found the small amount of water that was delivered supported his testimony that he was applying the water outside, it wasn't going down the sewer this summer. So, it just seems as though the issue to Mr. Slyter isn't the monetary credit, it's the point that his interpretation of the code is that there can be or should be a winter average of zero Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 19 of 36 and that somehow the city's interpretation not to do that is extending courtesies to him or other people if adjustments occur, that we have been erroneous in -- in applying it the way it's been applied historically in the city and that is historical use 6,500 gallon default or, actually, it's -- that's the intent of MCD 9-4-24. It still gives some flexibility and then -- to how winter use is -- winter averages are established, because there -- there are so many situations that could yield nonconsumption not just during the four months, but throughout the year. Mr. Slyter is correct to observe that and he's correct that it's not all included in the code and that's because the code merely establishes the methodology for set -- in the absence of an actual sewer meter we have to try and establish some fair way of gauging sewer use and so we do that by looking at a winter period where it's charged one for one, for every gallon of water, a gallon for a sewer charge per gallon and, then, over those four months we take the average of water consumption to arrive at the winter average for application for summer sewer use charges. It's confusing and ask questions to understand this, because it -- it is difficult for lay people, as well as for staff. Could the code be written more clearly? That's the subject that will be coming up at the November workshop and I don't think anyone on the city's side would disagree with Mr. Slyter that it could be written better, but the fact that in that code section, while there are examples where nonconsumption may occur during the critical four month period , those are just some illustrative examples. There is not language in that code that limits those situations as being the only ones that get a default of 6,500 gallons set. So, it provides guidance and like most code what happens next is the city applies the code through policy and practice and procedures and that is what has been done and in speaking with the utility building manager, how she applies that code section when it's a period of time which is -- I believe it's April for setting winter averages -- snowbirds come back and there is discussion -- if there is four months of nonconsumption it's set at 6,500. If someone calls in and says oh, wait, I was a snowbird in Arizona, you know, and can give her some show of what their usage was within her administrative discretion she can reset that winter average. That's what Mr. Slyter did on his April bill. He got the -- saw the 6,500 gallon default, called in and queried it, said a little bit about the property being vacant, but I don't think he gave the full story that this was a nonoccupied property for an extensive period of time, because he -- he just went into his interpretation of the code and his interpretation is much more narrow and so he did receive a water -- an adjustment to his winter average as low as it could go, which is a thousand gallons. De Weerd: Okay. Any further questions for Ms. Pogue? Milam: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mrs. Milam. Milam: I'm not sure if this is for Andrea or not, but I think that this is getting really -- it's a pretty mucky case, because we are talking about code, we are talking in lawyer speak and code speak and I'd like to speak in people talk and layman's terms, because most of us aren't lawyers and we don't write code, but I think that by discussing the code which is what we have on a future agenda, is just making this I think more confusing. I understand what the code is, but what we need to understand today is what the appeal is . So, he -- Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 20 of 36 the house is vacant. You told him you would credit back the money that -- from when he wasn't there and that you would zero out the future sewer if he shows that the house was vacant. So, I'm having a hard time -- because you gave him all that -- understanding what the appeal is, other than changing the code, which is something we are going to talk about in November. Pogue: Council -- Mayor and Council. I would say he appeals that the request for him to give MUBS some supporting document that his property is vacant is burdensome and unfair to him that they -- they are asking him to do something they don't otherwise do and the board received testimony from staff that that is what is requested in similar situations in the past. So, that's one of his issues. His second appeal isn't specifically that the board reverted his winter average to 6,500 gallons, but a twist on that, that it should be 4,600 gallons. So, that's the subject matter that wasn't before the board at all, so it can't be a part of this appeal, because it's a limited appeal. This isn't a new hearing. Milam: So, it's a moot point. Pogue: It's a moot point. Exactly. Cavener: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Cavener. Cavener: Andrea, you -- in your presentation you indicated that MUBS has the ability to verify that there is low water usage; is that accurate? I recall you saying that the person who is here providing testimony for us today had said, hey, I haven't used any water on this property, the house has been vacant, and that we were able to look and say, yeah, that's right, there hasn't been a lot of water usage. Pogue: Councilman Cavener, Mayor, Council, I -- I believe what occurred at the hearing was that he stated his water was going on the lawn. He -- the board recognized that they had to decide whether they believed him or not . Because of the small amount of water that he was -- that had been delivered -- I mean his bills have been extremely low this summer -- they drew a finding of fact or -- that the -- that the metered water delivery supported his testimony. In other words, it didn't seem like that was enough water to be used inside and outside. It was for, you know, his lawn. So, they just found that. Now, you know, I think Karie Glenn or Kyle Radek could say they can -- they can tell if there is low water use or high water use, but that's not the city's job to monitor people's use. So, that wasn't what the discussion was about during the hearing. They may have that capability, but they don't do that in this case they. They were just looking at the billing records. De Weerd: Any other questions? Okay. Any questions for Mr. Slyter? Cavener: Madam Mayor? It looks like Mr. Slyter may have had a comment that he wanted to make and I wanted to give him the opportunity to be able to do that . Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 21 of 36 De Weerd: If you will wait until you get to the microphone before you speak. Slyter: I'm sorry. Councilman Borton, you made reference to -- apparently to a section of city code that specified a unit one as a minimum. Where is that? Borton: Madam Mayor. Excuse me. It 's referenced to the record in the findings. It -- it speaks to a resolution 14-1018 billing rates and fees. The city's minimum charge is one or one thousand, not zero. Can you give some context around the discussion about why it's not -- Slyter: Is that -- is that part of the ordinance where 9-4-24 was established? I'm not familiar with the -- Borton: I would probably -- I would have to defer to legal counsel on the source of that. It's just in the record, so I just -- Slyter: Say that again. The code section was ordinance -- Borton: It's a -- Madam Mayor? It's referenced as Resolution 14-1018. Slyter: Thank you, sir. De Weerd: Do you need further -- do you need clarification? No. Slyter: I -- just in comment, I would take issue with some of the -- the characterizations that the city -- that the Mayor made in trying to express my position in her words isn't quite the right way to do it, but protocol for the meeting required it. De Weerd: Council, any questions? Okay. Thank you. Milam: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Slyter. Milam: Sorry. De Weerd: We do have a question. Ms. Milam. Milam: Madam Mayor. It's the same question, but I would refer it to you, but maybe to clarify what the appeal is for, other than changing the code. You don't want -- so, is it correct that you just don't want to show a power bill to prove that the residence was vacant? Slyter: I think -- I would want the city to abide the language of its own code, which is that the calculation in the code as prescribed in 9-4-24 specifies the mathematical formula Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 22 of 36 and zero is just as valid a number as one and I don't know that -- I don't recognize -- I didn't see -- I don't have reference to the setting of one as a minimum versus zero. I don't -- it's not in the city code. Not in Section 9-4-24. So, actually, it should be set at zero unless your code is changed to allow you to presume something different . Yes, they made the adjustment. That is effectively what needs to be done. So, it's more a focal point for hoping that you address the wider concern. Milam: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mrs. Milam. Milam: And, sir, we are going to address the larger concern and I appreciate that you brought that to us. Slyter: This part isn't -- Milam: Okay. Because in my mind I'm thinking if they actually adjust it to a thousand, as opposed to what they did, you would be paying more. Slyter: It would have been easier on me. If it would have been I wouldn't have gone through all this stuff. That's right. Milam: But, then, we wouldn’t be reviewing the code. Slyter: Right. Milam: So thank you. Palmer: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Palmer. Palmer: Mr. Slyter, sorry. And I'm probably just going to restate her question in a way that maybe makes sense in my brain, so that I make sure I have got it understood as well. So, what you're looking for is to have the -- the winter average of zero applied to the summer months, whether or not the home was occupied, because that's your interpretation of our code. Slyter: No. No. The city saw use -- water use going through the meter. They asked -- they asked the question. They don't have the authority to make a change. They have a -- all the right to say, hey, this doesn't seem right. I say it's vacant. That's all the -- that's all the discussion should be. I don't think that's right from your perspective either, because that puts you in a bad situation. But that's the way your code reads. So, yes, it should be set to zero in my situation. That's what my appeal focuses on. My CCA should be set at zero, because that is what is prescribed by your code. Reasonably you shouldn't -- you should be able to assume use if there is you, even though the house had zero usage Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 23 of 36 over the winter. Reasonably. Your code doesn't allow that. I talked with two attorneys before coming here and one said, yeah, courts look pretty closely at the actual language and reasonably interpret. The second said, well, most judges will allow a city to do -- interpret its code however they want -- however they want, as long as it's reasonable, which obviates this entire appeal. If the city wants to just leave it the way it is, they can. A judge isn't going to overturn it. It's reasonable. You're trying to do reasonable things. But you're not being clear and transparent to the people that read the code . It doesn't make sense when you do what you do when they look at the code. Nary: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Nary. Nary: Yes. I didn't want to comment on the board's decision, because I was part of that, but I didn't know if Council Member Borton wanted an answer to the resolution and what that reference of one was in relation to, because I have the resolution in front of me. So, the resolution was approved by the City Council on September 16th of 2014 and this was in regards to billing rates for both sewer and water, both the base rate as Kyle stated earlier, as well as the consumption rate and it does presume a consumption of a minimum of one unit of water as what the rate would be and it 's identified in here. I think what Ms. Pogue was talking about is the unique circumstance where there was no consumption of water in relation to sewer usage. But this resolution does -- does contemplate a minimum of one. There was no zero in this calculation. It's a minimum of one and as was previously stated, the one through 999 gallons of water consumption is charged at the base rate only for that -- that level of consumption once it -- once it passes 1,000 gallons, then, a consumption charge is charged per thousand gallons at a time . So, I just wanted to answer that particular part of your question if that's what you needed. De Weerd: Mr. Slyter, thank you again for joining us. Council, any other questions for the appellant or the city? Borton: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Borton. Borton: I don't have a question, but a comment. I appreciate the thoroughness of the process that's gone on before today's hearing. It's not necessarily -- even though we might want to have it like a do over, a new trial so to speak, a new opportunity for a hearing, because we don't see this very often and it's -- you brought up some very interesting points that, obviously, have piqued the interest of the Mayor and the Council, but the scope of today's hearing is somewhat more narrow and it's not necessarily an opportunity to re-litigate and rehash the record of the facts , but in review of the record that we all have, I, myself, don't see anything that -- that is evidence of a process that is unfair or has been unfairly applied. It appears that the conclusions of the board of adjustment is supported by the record and evidence that's before us and it doesn't appear that it's clearly erroneous. It's not a clearly erroneous application of city code. I think Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 24 of 36 what's happened and what we are left with -- I'm not inclined to vote to alter the decision of the board of adjustment, but I think you've done a great service to the city in pointing out opportunities -- if nothing else to provide additional clarity within our code , so even though it's fairly applied and the application is supported by evidence , our residents and users are able to easily understand it and maneuver around it and to comprehend what the city is trying to do within its language and our Legal Department is probably already well aware of opportunities to clarify that, but that's, obviously, for another day as well. But I think that's a great value. So, in light of the narrow scope that the Mayor outlined for today's hearing, I'm inclined to affirm the decision of the board of adjustment on today's appeal and, then, work with -- have our legal staff work on opportunities this case has provided us to make things more clear in the future. Bird: Is that a motion? Borton: It's comment at this point, unless there is any other comment. De Weerd: Any other comment? I would entertain a motion then. Borton: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Borton. Borton: Based upon the record before us and in light of today's hearing, I would move that we affirm the decision of the board of adjustment with regards to Merlin Slyter's appeal. Bird: Second. 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, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea. De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. De Weerd: Mr. Slyter, thank you for your time tonight and for bringing -- highlighting a place that we can really add some greater clarity and -- we find those things every now and then. So, thank you for bringing this to our attention. And thank you to staff. We appreciate your time as well. B. Final Plat for Nursery Subdivision (H-2017-0128) by JLJ, Inc. located at 570 S. Linder Road De Weerd: Okay. Item 10-B is final plat for H-2017-0128. Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 25 of 36 Allen: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. The first application before you tonight is a request for a final plat. This site consists of 5.45 acres of land, zoned R- 8, located at 570 South Linder Road. The proposed plat depicts 29 building lots and two common other lots on 5.45 acres of land in an R-8 zoning district. Staff has reviewed the proposed final plat for consistency with a preliminary plat and the dimensional standards of the R-8 district and found it to be in compliance and in substantial conformance as required. No written testimony has been submitted on this application and staff is recommending approval per the conditions of Exhibit B. Staff will stand for any questions. De Weerd: Thank you, Sonya. Council, any questions? Bird: Not at this time. De Weerd: Okay. Does the applicant have any comment? Thank you. Council, this is a final plat. If there is no further information needed, do I have a motion? Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Bird: I move we approve H-2017-0129 with applicant and staff comments. Milam: 0128? De Weerd: 0128. Yes. Milam: Second. De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 10-B. If there is no discussion, Mr. Clerk, will you call role. Roll call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea. De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. C. Public Hearing for Brickyard Subdivision (H-2017-0107) by John Carpenter located at 3611 N. Centrepoint Way 1. Request: Development Agreement modification to accommodate the proposed development plan; Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 26 of 36 2. Request: Preliminary plat consisting of 61 building lots and 4 common lots on 14.27 acres of land in the C-G zoning district; and 3. Request: Conditional use permit for a multi-family development consisting of 215 dwelling units in the C-G zoning district, by John Carpenter. De Weerd: Item 10-C is a public hearing for H-2017-0107. I will open this public hearing with staff comments. Allen: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. It doesn't appear my map is coming through on the vicinity map for some reason . The next applications before you are a request for a development agreement modification, a preliminary plat, and a conditional use permit. This site consists of 14.27 acres of land. It's zoned C-G and located approximately a third of a mile north of East Ustick Road and west of North Eagle Road. This is just to the -- is the Kohl's shopping center and just to the north of that development area that's part of that commercial strip. This property was annexed in 2003 with a development agreement that has been subsequently amended a couple of times . The Comprehensive Plan future land you map designation for this site is mixed use regional. The applicant requests a modification to the existing development agreement to change the development plan for the northern portion of the Centrepoint development from a self-service storage facility, which is shown on the bottom site plan here, commercial and multi-family residential uses, which is shown on the east side of Centrepoint Drive. They are proposing to change it to mostly multi-family residential with some vertically integrated residential. A preliminary plat is proposed consisting of 61 building lots and four common lots on 14.27 acres of land in the C-G zoning district. This is a resubdivision of Lots 9 through 11, Block 1, and Lots 16 and 19 through 26, Block 2, Centrepoint Subdivision No. 2. The plat proposed to develop in four phases with the first two developing at the same time. Access is proposed to the residential uses via Centrepoint Way and that is the street running through the center of the property here. It is designated as a collector street. Two driveways are proposed on the west side of Centrepoint and three driveways are proposed on the east side. A driveway access for the parking lot at the community center and swimming pool is also proposed on the west side and that is right here. Because the UDC limits access points to collector streets, Council approval of the proposed accesses is required. There are also two accesses to the east-west driveway to Eagle Road at the south boundary of the site. And this is the -- if you can see where my pointer is here, the private drive that runs out to Eagle Road. A conditional use permit is requested for a multi-family residential development consisting of 215 dwelling units on 13.06 acres of land in the C-G zoning district. The units are proposed to be configured as four-plex townhomes, with each unit having an upstairs and a downstairs. Private usable open space, common area and parking is provided in accord with UDC standards. A six foot tall vinyl privacy fence is proposed along the north and east boundaries of the site. A few building types in various color schemes are proposed for the four-plex structures within the development, consisting of two story units, three story units, and three story with two story units on each end. Lots along the west Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 27 of 36 boundary are proposed to be all two story four-plexes to preserve view corridors of the adjacent development and provide a transition to the three story structures. The architectural character of the structures are required to comply with the design standards listed in the City of Meridian architectural standards manual and this map shows the red dots. Those units are all going to be two stories. The Commission did recommend approval of these applications. Jonathan Seel and James Doolin, applicant's representatives, testified in favor of the application. No one testified in opposition. Irene Schrier commented. And written testimony was received from James Doolin, the applicant's representative. Key issues of discussion were the concern regarding traffic impact on Ustick and Eagle Roads. Desire for traffic calming for the driveway along the west boundary of the site. And the effective of the proposed development on property values. Key issues of discussion by the Commission was the phasing of the amenities within the development and the adequacy of parking for the commercial uses associated with the vertically integrated residential uses. Commission changes to the staff recommendation are as follows: At the request of the applicant the five foot tall metal view fence depicted on the landscape plan along the east boundary of the site is proposed to be changed to a six foot tall vinyl privacy fence and the splash pad plastic contour benches and a public art should be removed as proposed amenities, as they were not intended to be included as amenities in the final plans. And, secondly, include a condition that requires speed bumps to be constructed within the driveway along the west property boundary for traffic calming. And, lastly, modify condition number 1.2.4 in Exhibit B to allow the swimming pool, clubhouse, shelter and playground to be constructed with phases one and two prior to issuance of any certificate of occupancy within the development. The only outstanding issue for Council tonight is the applicant is requesting Council approval of a waiver to UDC 11-3A-3 where proposed access is via the collector street. That's North Centrepoint Way. Written testimony since the Commission hearing has been received from John Carpenter, the applicant's representative, in agreement with the Commission recommendation. The applicant did wish to go into detail with you regarding the site amenities, the open space, and the off-street parking. So, he will provide more details on that. Staff will stand for any questions. De Weerd: Council, any questions at this time? Bird: I have none. De Weerd: Okay. Would the applicant like to make comment. Good evening. If you will, please, state your name and address for the record. Seel: Yes. Good evening, Madam Mayor, Council Members. My name is Jonathan Seel. 2906 Haven, Eagle. Sonya, if you can go to the overview slide for me, please. Allen: I'm not sure -- this one? Okay. You're welcome to control it there, too, Jonathan. Seel: Well -- Allen: But if you would like me to switch I certainly can for you. Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 28 of 36 Seel: -- yeah, I was -- let's see. Bear with us here. There we go. First off I think Sonya did a very nice job of giving you the details on this, but what I'd like to do is just highlight some things that I think are important on this project. With respect to the design highlights, as I mentioned we have had to vertically integrate the buildings along the -- the south perimeter. In other words, just north of Hobby Lobby. When we met with staff a while ago they were very optimistic I think -- or very pleased about the vertically integrated buildings. They like the concept of it. I think it's gotten a lot of appeal with the commercial and the retail. It has highly planted landscape buffers. Again, we have incorporated a lot of that. There is very walkable connections in there between that and also Champion Park Subdivision. There is a good land use transition between Centrepoint's commercial use to the south and Champion Park Subdivision, which is a single family to the west. There is 4.25 acres of open space, whereas the city code only requires 1.73. Then the other thing is all exterior and landscaping are managed by an HOA association and I think this is a very important point. There is a document that's very specific about control. At the time that -- that these buildings are sold there is a fund paid in, a maintenance fee, and there is a monthly maintenance fee. This literally covers, for lack of a better word, all the maintenance for the exterior of this project. The only thing it doesn't address is the interior of these four-plexes. That is the paving, that's the driveways, that's the buildings, that's the landscaping, that's the street, the sidewalks, the common areas, the amenities. Why I think that's important is -- I know you probably have heard times where people will have rentals and there is an absentee landlord. This you absolutely are sure that -- whether it's six months after it's done, three years, four years -- as you're driving through you're not going to look and say, well, there is a guy he must live out of state, because he doesn't see the condition of his property. The condition that will be -- the condition or the standards for maintenance of this project will be equal or potentially superior to any of the other subdivisions within Meridian. I think that's an asset to the community. The next one is the amenity. So, I don't know if, Sonya, we are -- as far as the amenities go -- in other words, as far as the amenities, we have the clubhouse, we have the urban plaza, which is over in the southeast near the vertically integrated. Again, we have the pathways throughout this, without -- without the development. We have the walking trails. We have a swimming pool, which is 20 by 40. A children's play structure area. An open soccer area and open grass -- grass area. A dog park. And also two -- two shelters. So, again, I think there is a wide variety of amenities here that can encourage people to stay within this project , in other words, instead of traveling out of it. As far as parking goes, if you look at that, we have got 594 total parking spaces, which is 2.77 spaces per unit. The requirement is two. There is 164 extra parking spaces beyond what's required within code. There is 48 bike parking spaces, 26 are only required. Within the vertically integrated there is one parking space per unit and one space for 500 commercial. So, there is 47 parking spaces -- there is 48. I guess the thing that I'm trying to say in kind of going through the amenities and stuff is I think Mr. Doolin, the applicant, has not tried to meet city code or requirements, he's exceeded it, and I think that speaks to the quality of the development and the quality of the developer. So, I think those are -- those are important aspects. So, with closing I think this is an excellent project. I think one of the things that I think is important here is that this actually offers the city a third option for housing. If you think about it right now, pretty well within a few Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 29 of 36 exceptions you have got your single family home that you can rent or you can buy. You have got your apartment project that you can live in, which may be a two or three story, four story thing. So, those are your primary options. This offers, essentially, a -- almost what I would call a single family structure. If it wasn't -- if it wasn't attached it would be. The maintenance is taking care of it and you have the flexibility of still being able to rent it. So, I think it brings a third option to the city and I think it's an asset to it. So, with that I will stand for any questions that you might have. Milam: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mrs. Milam. Milam: Jonathan, I heard the word townhouse. So, that I understand this clearly, will each individual unit be sold and individually owned or as a four -plex? Seel: Mayor, Council W oman Milam, it will be as a four-plex. So, I think of it mentally and so maybe that's not as a townhouse, but it's four units, so it's a four-plex. But each one of those will be sold individually as a four-plex, so -- De Weerd: So, they will be sold as a four-plex instead of condominiumizing the -- the spaces in -- Seel: Madam Mayor, that is correct. Yes. De Weerd: Okay. Any other questions for the applicant? De Weerd: Okay. Thank you, Jonathan. Seel: Okay. Thank you very much. De Weerd: This is a public hearing. Coles: The only other sign-up, Madam Mayor, was James Doolin, the applicant. De Weerd: Okay. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone who wishes to provide testimony on this application? Radek: Madam Mayor, I know this is a little unusual, but I -- in my review of this, it kind of snuck up on me that I missed one thing on the review and I want to ask the applicant if they will -- can you go back to the map there . In the design standards the -- there is a requirement to make a second connection to the water system if it's reasonable and in my analysis of this I modeled it and I -- I just missed it. Right now the only water connection to this whole entire thing is coming from -- on that Centrepoint -- Centrepoint water main. So, my request -- the applicant would be -- would you -- it looks like there is a couple opportunities to make a water main connection to the existing water main in that Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 30 of 36 private drive on the south. It looks like you're talking about 80 feet or something like that. So, is that something the applicant will -- will consider to do? Okay. Thank you. De Weerd: I know the public record doesn't capture shaking of the head or -- you know better, Jonathan. Doolin: My name is James Doolin. My address 4685 South Highland Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah. Madam Mayor and Council Members, our answer is, yes, we will add the second -- we will add the secondary connection to the waterline. De Weerd: Thank you. We appreciate that. Is there anything else you would like to add? Doolin: No. I guess I will add one thing. We came with that project a few months ago, presented it in front of you. You guys asked us, hey, we like your project, just find a better location. At that time that project had some challenges. There was an existing development agreement capped the amount of multi-family units. At that meeting I wish I had this project in my back pocket, but we are here today, we think it would be a great addition to the city. We ask that you guys approve it. De Weerd: Thank you. We appreciate that. Okay. Is there any further testimony on this application? Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Bird: Seeing none, I move we close the public hearing on H-2017-0107. Borton: Second. De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to close the public hearing. All those in favor say aye. All ayes. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Bird: I move we approve H-2017-0107 and to include all staff and applicant comments. Borton: Second. De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 10 -C. Any discussion? Borton: Madam Mayor? Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 31 of 36 De Weerd: Mr. Borton. Borton: Does the motion include the access points to the collector? Bird: Yes. Borton: Okay. De Weerd: And the inclusion of the water -- Bird: Water main and all that. De Weerd: Okay. Are we missing something, Sonya? Allen: Did you already address the access -- the waiver for access to the collector street? Okay. Thank you. De Weerd: Okay. Anything further? Cavener: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Cavener. Cavener: Just a comment. I think that over the past few weeks and months I think the question about multi-family has come up a lot. I know it's come a lot with constituents reaching out to me and I just wanted to say to the applicant this is -- we need more of this in Meridian. This is well built, well designed, right location, multi-family. It's going to serve our community both large and small. Thanks for bringing the project to our community. De Weerd: I guess what I would add to it is -- is the consideration of condominiumizing as well. Certainly from our aging population I hear from residents that want to own, but they don't want to maintain a yard and they would like to have the kind of amenities that -- that this development is offering with that ownership opportunity, so -- and we don't see those. So, at some point we hope that that's something that the market can bring. I know it's one of those scary unknowns and it's a little bit more complicated, but we appreciate you coming back and finding a more -- an adequate site for this type of project. Anything further from Council? If not, Mr. Clerk, will you call roll. Roll call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea. De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 32 of 36 D. Final Plat for Brickyard Subdivision No. 1 (H-2017-0125) by John Carpenter Located approximately 1/3 mile north of E. Ustick Rd. on the east side of N. Centrepoint Way De Weerd: Item 10-D is a final plat for H-2017-0125. Allen: Madam Mayor, Councilmen, the next application is a request for a final plat for the first phase of Brickyard Subdivision, the preliminary plat you just approved. This site consists of 5.44 acres of land, zoned C-G, located at 30 -- excuse me -- 3611 North Centrepoint Way. The proposed final plat depicts 30 building lots and one common lot on 5.44 acres of land in a C-G zoning district. Development is required to comply with the dimensional standards of the C-G zoning district. Staff has reviewed the proposed final plat for consistency with a preliminary plat and dimensional standards of the C-G district and found it to be in compliance and in substantial confo rmance with the preliminary plat as required. Written testimony has been received from John Carpenter, the applicant's representative, in agreement with the staff report. Staff is recommending approval with the conditions in Exhibit B. Staff will stand for any questions. De Weerd: Thank you. Council, any questions? Bird: I have none. De Weerd: Okay. Does the applicant have anything to add? Please state your name and address for the record. Seel: Jonathan Seel. 2906 Haven, Eagle. We are agreement with the staff report and ask that you approve the final plat. De Weerd: Thank you. Council, hearing no further questions, do I have a motion? Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Bird: I move we approve the final plat on H-2017-0125 and to include staff and applicant comments. Borton: Second. De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 10-D. Mr. Clerk, will you call roll. Roll call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea. De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried. Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 33 of 36 MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. E. Final Plat for Brickyard Subdivision No. 2 (H-2017-0126) by John Carpenter Located approximately 1/3 mile north of E. Ustick Rd. on the east side of N. Centrepoint Way De Weerd: Item 10-E is final plat for H-2017-0126. Allen: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, the next final plat is the second phase of development of Brickyard Subdivision. This site consists of 1.88 acres of land, zoned C- G, located at 3611 North Centrepoint Way. The proposed final plat -- I guess I better get on the right one here. The proposed final plat depicts eight building lots and one common lot on 1.88 acres of land in a C-G zoning district. Staff has reviewed the proposed final plat for consistency with a preliminary plat and the dimensional standards of the C-G district and found it to be in compliance and in substantial conformance with the preliminary plat as required. Written testimony has been received from John Carpenter, the applicant's representative, in agreement with the staff report. Staff will stand for any questions. Staff is recommending approval. De Weerd: Thank you. Council, any questions for staff? Any comment from the applicant? You know, you don't have to comment. Seel: I'm sure you don't want me to shake my head again. I get yelled at. Bird: Yeah. Seel: Jonathan Seel. 2906 Haven. We are in agreement with the staff report and ask that you approve the final plat for Brickyard Sub No. 2. De Weerd: Thank you. Milam: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mrs. Milam. Milam: I move that we approve H-2017-0126 with all staff and applicant comments. Bird: Second. De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 10 -E. Mr. Clerk, will you call roll. Roll call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea. Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 34 of 36 De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 11: Department Reports A. Planning Division and Legal Department: Connection of county parcel at 1035 E. Fairview to City sewer system; anticipated future development issues De Weerd: Item 11-A is under our Planning Division and Legal Department. I guess I will ask Mr. Nary for an update. Nary: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. We have a very simple eight page agreement that only took two months to get back to you. We do have an agreement before you that's been signed by the property owner in relation to the property at 1035 East Fairview. All of you are familiar with that. We have worked out a lot of the details. The only addition I would add -- what we have done is try to create both the hookup agreement now, with the conditions that Council required for future annexation. We did draft a proposed preliminary draft, a development agreement, because that's part of the annexation process. We are all aware that the direction was that the existing billboard that's on the property would remain under the conditions in our code . There is one change from what's in your packet. There is an Exhibit B that's listed in your packet and the Exhibit B that you have says provisionally approved site plan. Cross-access to be required prior to occupancy. That was exhibit page -- an early iteration of this agreement. We have replaced that now. The current one just says provisionally approved site plan. The site plan is still the same. The issue of cross-access is not before you today. We have discussed that for our future discussion at the annexation stage on whether or not that would work or be practical and that will be part of that public hearing at that process, but it isn't part of today. We are ready to move forward. I don't know if planning has anything else. Mr. Clark is here representing his client if there is any questions about this agreement, but I think we have got it to where all parties are satisfied it meets the intent and desire of the Council's direction from July 25th. De Weerd: Any questions from Council? Okay. Palmer: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Palmer. Palmer: Madam Mayor, I move we approve the agreement on the property at 1035 East Fairview. B. Agreement for Extension of Domestic Sewer Service Outside Meridian City Limits: 1035 E. Fairview Avenue Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 35 of 36 De Weerd: Okay. Item 11-B is the agreement for the item that Mr. Nary just discussed. I have a motion. Do I have a second? Cavener: Second. Little Roberts: Second. De Weerd: I have all kinds of seconds. Any discussion? Seeings how everyone seconded it, probably not. Mr. Clerk, will you call roll. Roll call: Bird, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea. De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 12: Future Meeting Topics De Weerd: Council, any items under Item 12, as Future Meeting Topics? Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Bird: I think we have already discussed the -- coming back and looking at the ordinance on the water and sewer modeling and stuff that we need to get straight and which I know Public Works and legal can work on that. That's something we need to get taken care -- the sooner the better, but we want to make sure that we -- we got to remember that we when set these fees and stuff that we are not just looking at today, you have got to look at what's coming in the future and what these fees have got to cover. So, you know, it's -- it's something that is tough and for the 20 years I have been here we have -- these water and sewer fees have always been something and we have struggled with at times and other times we haven't. Sometimes we have done it right, sometimes we have done it wrong, but I think we definitely need to look at that ordinance and make sure that we get it so that as Council Woman Milam said, something us layman can read that we don't have to have a jurist doctorate to understand what's on it. De Weerd: Or an engineering degree. Between the two it's kind of scary; right? Point taken. We will make sure that an update, if not the full discussion, is on the workshop in November and that's November 14th. And I'm sure that next -- next week during the workshop we have the annual update from Public Works. They might even touch on it there. So, with that I do have a couple of upcoming events. Final -- the final Kleiner Park Live is Thursday night from 5:30 to 8:30, featuring B -- B Town Hitmen Retreads. We will have the Public Safety Day on Saturday, the 7th, as Pam Orr mentioned. That is from 7:00 -- or 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Fire Station No. 1. Coffee with the Mayor next Meridian City Council October 3, 2017 Page 36 of 36 Tuesday on the 10th from 8:00 to 9:30 at one of our newer restaurants, the Flame Broiler. And, finally, for those interested in football, we have got the local rivalry from Meridian versus Mountain View on Friday, the 6th at Mountain View. Kick off at 7:00 p.m. So, with that said, if there is nothing further, I would entertain a motion to adjourn. Milam: So moved. Bird: Second. De Weerd: All those in favor say aye. All ayes. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 7:47 P.M. (AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS) MAYOR TAMM DE WEERD DATE APPROVED ATTEST: C. JArf COLEA. UTY CLERK �QO�PSED AUGUST, 2 City of " IDIAN�- IDAHO �2� SEAL ��