HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-03-27Meridian City Council March 27, 2018.
A meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday,
March 27, 2018, by Mayor Tammy de Weerd.
Members Present: Tammy De Weerd, Joe Borton, Genesis Milam, Luke Cavener, Ty
Palmer, Anne Little Roberts and Treg Bernt.
Others Present: Bill Nary, C.Jay Coles, Warren Stewart, Cameron Arial, Caleb Hood,
Berle Stokes, Kevin Fedrizzi, Dale Bolthouse, Todd Lavoie, Bruce Freckleton and Dean
Willis.
Item 1: Roll -call Attendance:
X Anne Little Roberts X Joe Borton
X Ty Palmer X Keith Bird
X Genesis Milam X Lucas Cavener
X Mayor Tammy de Weerd
De Weerd: Okay. I'm going to go ahead and start tonight's meeting. First I would like
to welcome you and certainly our Boy Scout. We love to see scouts in our audience.
So, welcome to our Meridian City Council meeting. For the record it is Tuesday, March
27th. It's 6:00 o'clock. We will start with roll call attendance, Mr. Clerk.
Item 2: Pledge of Allegiance
De Weerd: Item No. 2 is the Pledge of Allegiance. If you will arise and join us in the
pledge to our flag.
(Pledge of Allegiance recited.)
Item 3: Community Invocation by John Ibarra with Settler's Park LDS Stake
De Weerd: Item 3 is our community invocation. Is John Ibarra here?
Item 4: Adoption of Agenda
De Weerd: Okay. Four is adoption of the agenda.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
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Borton: We are going to add Item 13 to this agenda, an Executive Session pursuant to
Idaho State Code 74-206(1)(a) and with that addition I move we adopt the amended
agenda.
Cavener: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to adopt 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)
Coles: There were no sign-ups, Madam Mayor.
Item 6: Consent Agenda
A. Approve Minutes of March 13, 2018 City Council Workshop
Meeting
B. Fall Creek Meadows Sanitary Sewer Easement
C. Oxygen Sub No 1 Water Main Easement
D. Oxygen Sub Sanitary Sewer Easement #1 for Norco Building
E. Oxygen Sub Sanitary Sewer and Water Main Easement #2 for
Norco Building
F. Release of Utility Easement
G. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Hickory Apartments
(H-2017-0165) by Midway Investments, LLC Located at 1789
North Hickory Way
H. Development Agreement for Kobe/Cope (H-2017-0157) with
Kobe, LLC (Owner) and Cope Holdings, LLC (Developer)
located on the northeast corner of N. Locust Grove Road and E.
Franklin roads, in the SW 1/4 of Section 09, Township 3 North,
Range 1 East
I. Final Plat for Fall Creek Meadows No. 2 (H-2018-0015) by
Thomas Coleman, Toll IDI, LLC located south of W. Overland
Road on the east side of S. Linder Road
J. Acceptance Agreement for Heroes Park Public Art Project
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K. Acceptance Agreements for Display of Artwork in Initial Point
Gallery
1. Micah Gosney, April 2018
2. Rick Jenkins, April 2018
3. Deb Pence, July 2018
4. Kevin Hughes, August 2018
5. Zella Bardsley, September 2018
6. Betty Hayzlett, October and November 2018
7. Lisa Bower, December and January 2018
8. Flynn Day Pottery, December and January 2018
L. Professional Services Agreement with Meridian Symphony
Orchestra for an amount not to exceed $500
M. City Financial Report for February 2018
N. AP Invoices for Payment - $2,067,824.44
De Weerd: Okay. So, we will move -- Item 6 is our Consent Agenda.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: I move that we approve the Consent Agenda as published and for the Mayor to
sign and the Clerk to attest.
Cavener: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve the Consent Agenda. Mr. Clerk,
will you call roll.
Roll call: Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea;
Bernt, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 7: Items Moved From The Consent Agenda
De Weerd: Item 8 -- there were no items moved from six.
Item 8: Community Items/Presentations
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A. LimeBike Bike -Share Program Presentation
De Weerd: So, we will move to eight and under Community Presentations. Tonight we
will hear about the LimeBike bike share program. Good evening.
Colford: Good evening, Madam Mayor, Council Members, city staff, and all the
members of the community. Thank you so much for having me here tonight. It was
great to be able to demo the products before this and I hope that this presentation will
give you a little bit better sense of what LimeBike is, what we want to do and answer
some of the questions you might have.
De Weerd: Thank you. And if you will state your name.
Colford: Yes. My name is Megan Colford.
De Weerd: Megan. Thank you.
Colford: Yeah. And I grew up in Boise, so it's really exciting to be able to come back to
the Treasure Valley for this. So, to get started why are we building LimeBike. What is
LimeBike? We are a dockless mobility provider. Our goal is to revolutionize urban
mobility, leading the country in first and last mile transportation options. So, we want it
to be fun, affordable, offer a healthy way to get around. The way we started is -- you
may be familiar with really the heavy dock systems, like the one in this photo. They are
great. They really have laid a lot of groundwork for bike share in the country and
internationally and getting bikeshare to be part of public discourse. There are some
limitations. Number one is that they are expensive and these systems often charge
cities or communities to install their racks and operate there. They can be inconvenient
and really limit where and how people can get places and often inequitable and not
really serving the entire region. So, what we have done is to create what we call a
dockless model or dock free model. So, all of our products are GPS enabled. We don't
install any infrastructure, which limits the amount of cost. We ask for nothing from cities
and communities. We can serve a much wider range in the community and we can be
much more flexible, offering a more flexible solution for folks. We are in over 50
locations around the country, including 15 plus college campuses. You can see on this
map some of the -- the key places that we are and I think this is probably already
outdated. We move very quickly. So, we have probably launched quite a few since
then. And just a few things to highlight. In Seattle with our first 500 bikes we actually
exceeded the old programs best week ever in one single day. South Bend is one of our
other really awesome locations where we -- in our first week we saw really great
ridership numbers. You will also notice on this map that the types of communities that
we operate in really have a broad range. We have got big cities. We have got
suburban communities. We have got the Miami area and South Lake Tahoe, which are
sort of resorty type locations and we have got college campuses. So, what we have
been able to do, since we launched our first market in June, is adapt our program based
on the needs of the particular community on how big it is, how dense it is, its location
and the surrounding area and really have a diverse, you know, 50 locations. So, what
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sets LimeBike apart. The main thing is really that we operate free of charge to the city.
We came, we want to provide our products and our service to the community as a
benefit and as a partnership, but with no money taken from the city. Our pricing is
meant to be really affordable for the users. We are a very well funded company and we
have really proved ourselves since our inception January of 2017 with the success in
those markets that I showed you and we really consider ourselves the nation's leader in
a lot of ways. So, how does it work? All of the unlocking, locating, and payment
happens through the app. If you download the app, it's a free app, you sign up, you do
all of the onboarding just right there on your phone. When you want to ride a bike you
can open it and it will show you on the picture, you can see the nearest location. It will
also specify whether the bike that you're walking to is a regular bike, an electric bike, or
a scooter. Once you're there you unlock it using your phone, you ride it to wherever you
want to go, lock it back up and you're on your way. You'll get a recap of your ride on
your phone that you can share on social media, you can see how much carbon you
saved, how many calories you burned, all that sort of fun things. A little bit about our
bike. This is the regular pedal bike, which I didn't have for demo today, but all our
products we design and manufacture ourselves. We have taken really great care to
make it something that can serve a wide range of sizes and shapes and abilities. An
example of how quickly we move and how much we want this to work -- our first
iteration of bikes the seats didn't go up very high. I'm a tall women and they weren't tall
enough for me and we got a lot of feedback and within like a month we were able to
iterate on that and create a newer version that has a higher seat post. We also have
complete safety certifications on our bikes. We have front lights and rear lights and
reflective tires and the bikes and the scooters are meant to be maintenance free. They
are really also meant to be really easy to ride, again, playing into that accessibility for
folks. This is our line E, which we had outside. It's an electric assist bike. You can see
some of the specs down there. Max speed is about 14.8 miles per hour, well within the
range of still being considered a bike and really quite fun I think. Our operations team
swaps out the battery about every four to five days on this one. Our Line S is our
scooter -- our electric scooter. Again, the specs are there for you to see. This is our
newest product and already our most successful and most popular. You can see why.
It's quite fun. It's quite easy to get around and we like it. That's all I can say on that
one. So, what does the pricing look like? For the regular pedal bike it is one dollar for
every 30 minutes. No membership fee. No up -front fee. Just one dollar for 30 minutes.
We do have a membership option for our power users and that's 30 dollars for 100 rides
and that's monthly and, then, students in campus are 50 percent off, as well as our low
income equity program. Our electric products were on the sides. Those are a dollar to
unlock and 15 cents per minute. I think the slide actually says ten cents, but we -- we
are still figuring out exactly what that price point is, but knowing that it's charged by the
minute for that instead of by the half hour. The biggest question -- one of the biggest
questions we get is, okay, your dockless, you don't install anything, you don't have to
lock to anything, how do you control the parking? How do you make sure that it's a
clean operation. What we do is we hire a local staff in every city that we operate in and
their job is to go around moving bikes if needed, maintaining them if needed, and
responding to customer service questions, complaints, or concerns. We try to do a lot
of education up front anytime that we launched. The first couple weeks are usually
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when we hear the most feedback as people get used to this new different thing and,
then, after that our continued operations, our continued outreach and education, we find
that it really settles down and becomes a really wonderful part and resource for the
community. We cover all this maintenance that's included. We are not charging the city
for that as well. For our Line S we also have what we call our juicer program and that is
an outsourced kind of crowd source charging model, which is another way for local folks
to get involved and be part of it. We also have quite a few creative things that we have
done in terms of parking. Again, education is the biggest way that we are going to
make it a success. So, we educate in the app and we are also the only dockless
provider that has proactively -- we have put together some really fun videos online
around safety and parking, education, and that sort of thing. We do have the option,
you can see in the slide, to GEO fence a no parking zone and we can also identify key
parking zones. Down the road we are looking at -- we are experimenting right now with
some models for good parking behavior for some -- like crowd sourcing, helping with the
good parking. I think we will see as -- as we come up with creative ideas what works
the best, but as I mentioned, once we have been in a market for quite some time the
parking issues tend to die down and people end up -- we have really high compliance
rate. So, from a city perspective one of the really cool things about our program --
mentioned that all of our products are GPS enabled, so we have data about where
people are picking up and dropping off bikes and scooters and where they are riding
them, what time of day, how long, all that sort of thing. We share that data with our
partners, anonymized of course, but we can show you exactly in Meridian what are the
streets that people are riding down that might make sense to create a bike lane. What
are the streets where people make turns that is maybe a little bit dangerous or that, you
know, the drivers don't know what's happening and what time of day do we need to be
most catering to the biking community. As you're growing rapidly and as you're making
these kinds of transportation decisions, I think that this data sharing might be one of the
most compelling things about this program. I want to highlight one of the really cool
things that happened in Seattle when we first launched. Again, I mentioned that we are
very flexible, so we might have an idea going in of where people are going to use the
product and if that changes we are able to adapt. When we first launched in Seattle we
deployed our bikes close to the downtown area, anticipating that that would be where
we see most ridership and it is, but we very quickly saw that the bikes were drifting
down into the Columbia City area. If you're familiar with Seattle, that's a very
demographically diverse, lower income area that previously wasn't served with the
docked bike system. With our model we acknowledge that, we said, hey, this is a need
that we are filling, let's make sure we are deploying and continuing to serve at
community. So, now about 30 to 40 percent of our bikes are deployed in Colombia City
area. Or 20 to 30. I'm sorry. So, a community partnership -- my role now with the
company is community affairs and what that means is that we identify who are the -- the
local organizations that we want to partner with, the local press, the schools, the
associations, all of you. In order to make this a success there has to be the right buy -in
and education to the community. So, if were we to move forward we would work very
closely to communicate, hold events, demos like we did today, everything that will really
ramp up to make this a success and continue that long after the launch, so that we are
really empowering the local community to take ownership and make this part of their
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day-to-day life. A little bit about our company. We are based in San Mateo and in
Silicon Valley. We are backed by several tier one venture capital funds. To date we
have raised over a hundred million dollars and we are members of associations and we
routinely interact with city officials, government officials, around the country. We have a
really well -experienced team in that and, you know, we are here for the long haul. We
are really excited and looking forward to hopefully partnering. So, in the Treasure
Valley we initially were targeting an April 2018 launch. I think that we are probably
looking a little bit further in the spring, but our goal is to have a regional program with all
three of our products. Regional meaning all of the surrounding cities, that we can bring
here, that we can collaborate, put together a program that really serves your needs and
that is really going to be, you know, impactful and long -- long term sustaining. This is
my contact information here and my colleague Gabriel, who I work closely with. I'm
happy to answer any questions and thanks again for allowing me to be here.
De Weerd: Thank you, Megan. Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: Madam Mayor. Megan, you're my hero right now. We were out there and
was just trying to just enjoy the technology and the moment while trying to put off the
dread of what you were going to ask us for, thinking it was going to be money, because
why on earth wouldn't you, everybody that comes over here wants some money,
especially things like this. The second slide where it was all bold and said at no cost to
the city, like I had to like blink like, is that -- is that real? So, I'm pumped. How can we
help you?
Colford: Yeah. So, I think, you know, what I would ask of you is -- is your support in
moving forward with staff, if that -- in whatever capacity that you think makes sense.
We can operate with -- as simple as a business license, if that makes sense to you, or
we can put together a formal agreement. I know that Caleb and his colleagues have
been looking at an agreement that we have used in other locations, so, you know,
however I can answer questions to make you feel comfortable with that I'm happy to do
so.
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: Thank you. Have you spoke with any other municipalities here in the Treasure
Valley? Are we the first?
Colford: Yes. I am in contact with the cities of Eagle and Boise and Garden City and
Nampa and Boise State and ACHD.
Bernt: Nice. By the way, I should have started off -- thank you for the demo. Had a
great time. I -- it was a lot of fun. You have some nice stuff. I guess my -- first thing
that came to my mind is when would I use the bikes or the scooters. The first thing that
came to my mind is maybe like more of like an urban situation or maybe if I was on
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vacation, you know, somewhere cool I would want to -- you know, maybe the family --
have you had -- to tell me about your success with like more of a suburban area like
Meridian.
Colford: Yeah. Absolutely. So, one of the areas that we operate in is the bay area.
We are in seven -- nine -- nine cities in the bay area. Some are San Francisco and
Oakland and, then, we have quite a few more suburban areas, like Walnut Creek and
Alameda. I think one of the things that's great about it is it does fill the -- as you're
growing I think that having this resource is going to be a really exciting thing and
interesting thing to see how it fits in with the growth of the city. We have had a lot of
success with suburban areas that are connected to a larger regional program, which is
why we are talking to Boise and Eagle and neighboring places, so that we can, as a
whole, make it, you know, efficient for us on our operations and -- and also be able to
serve Meridian, as well as downtown Boise. Does that help?
Bernt: Thank you.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Megan, appreciate -- appreciate your diligence on -- on this project. You
mentioned in your presentation about it's your goal to have a dedicated person in each
city and I didn't want to make an assumption, so I guess I'm curious where you're talking
to so many municipalities in the Treasure Valley, is it your business model to have a
dedicated person in Meridian and a dedicated person for Eagle and Garden City and
Boise, et cetera, or are you looking more to have a small handful of staff manage the
region?
Colford: Yeah. Thanks for that question and I will clarify. We have -- our model is that
we will have one specific operations lead or operations manager likely for the region.
They will have a staff -- I mean if we were in the whole Treasure Valley their staff would
probably be, you know, ten or more that would be, you know, working all different areas
depending on the time of day and the need. So, it would be one point person that all of
the cities could go to as needed and, then, a full staff hired from each local city and,
really, one, you know, regional team.
Cavener: Madam Mayor. And I don't know if this -- again, appreciate Megan is here,
but I know that I have got some questions for staff. I don't know if it's okay for us to go
ahead and talk to them now or you feel comfortable with that. I want to make sure you
guys have time for other things. So, either a question for Mr. Nary or Caleb. In the
transportation commission a couple questions came up about the way our city code
looks at abandoned vehicles or vehicles that have sat in one spot for a predetermined
amount of time. Have we had a chance to look at how our city code would pertain to --
if a bike like this was left on the corner of Main and Broadway for an indeterminate
amount of time how we would respond?
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Nary: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, we haven't fully researched all of those
issues on use and where they could be used and if there is conflicts with our code and
pathways and other places and abandoned vehicles and things like that. So, I think that
would be part of our task in entering into an agreement is making sure we need to line
up any codes or adjust codes and things like that, that it would be in conjunction with
this agreement.
De Weerd: Caleb.
Hood: So, Madam Mayor, no, I have not looked into the codes for abandoned -- if this
would qualify as a vehicle or not. Like Mr. Nary said, we can look into that. The other
thing that was an outstanding question from -- to your -- or your question was electric
vehicles on our pathway system. So, I meant to follow back up with Kimberly before the
meeting and I just walked over before this -- or during this presentation. We don't have
an answer to that one yet either, but we would -- we would take that before -- to you and
say, hey, do we want to amend our code to allow electric assist bikes, scooters, on our
pathway networks. They are also working with ACHD, is my understanding -- I think
you mentioned that in your presentation -- and as the city doesn't control the right of
way, a lot of the riding would occur in ACHD -- on ACHD streets and sidewalks. I do,
Madam Mayor, if I can maybe just interject a little bit and provide a little bit of insight into
that -- mention the meeting that you mentioned by the transportation commission and
just give you a brief summary of that presentation, that discussion. So, Megan was
here on the 5th of March and presented to the transportation commission. They were
supportive as well. She mentioned to -- there is a -- a draft service agreement. I think
put it in the packet for tonight. So, they had some -- some comments on some of that.
One concern they had was -- and you don't see it in this revised MOU -- was there was
an exclusivity clause, so that's been removed. This current in draft form, the MOU
states a three year term. They were more comfortable with a one or two year pilot
program. They were -- they had some questions. They weren't overly concerned, but
just with some of the indemnification and insurance language in there and I think Legal
has looked at that just to make sure they are comfortable with that and, then, the
ordinance. Again, motorized vehicles and things like that. So, that is a very, very quick
summary. They are very supportive of this in general, but had those -- kind of concerns
that I just outlined. There if I can, Madam Mayor, just a little bit more on -- since that
meeting, then, some other feedback I have had -- a transportation commissioner, you
know, you guys are in the news, so some of these stories get sent to me. In other
communities some concern has been some clutter that these can -- with a couple
hundred bikes I don't know that that's a problem in a, you know, suburban type of a
community. I really don't know that that's going to be a big issue and with the model
that LimeBike is proposing with reallocating them to different places where they will get
used, I don't think they want to leave it on a street corner too long either, they want it to
be in use and so they could even probably solve that problem for the most part. Now, if
they weren't performing what would we do, that question still remains, but -- and, then,
the licensing thing, just kind of figuring out what that looks like. Is that an MOU? Is
there some other form that this should take. A little bit of concern with -- you know, it's a
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start up -- longevity of the company and, you know, the bikes themselves, the scooter
themselves, how quality are they. But, generally, I think, you know, everyone is, you
know, pretty supportive. As was mentioned there is not a lot of skin in the game from
the city's perspective. It seems like a lot of pros, but those are some of the concerns
that they came up to the transportation commission and, then, some commissioners
following up after that meeting. So, with that, Madam Mayor, I just wanted to give you
that -- that quick summary.
De Weerd: Thank you, Caleb.
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: One question. How many bikes would you propose -- I mean knowing or
geographics and who we are and since you're from the Treasure Valley, how many
bikes or, you know, scooters, I guess, would you think that we -- we would have in our
community roughly? Ish.
Colford: Ish? I would -- I would start with the number about like 200 and maybe 50
percent of those E products and a hundred -- that's about 50 percent. So, a hundred of
those regular bikes.
Bernt: But that's including the entire Treasure Valley?
Colford: No. I would -- I would say just that for Meridian, actually. Yeah. Yeah. It
seems like a lot. If you look at -- like a map of what we can do is we can identify here is
where we are going to initially deploy things and it -- it actually adds up quite quickly and
the beauty is if that ends up being too many, then, we will take them off, because to
Caleb's point we don't want a bike out there that's not being ridden. If it's too little we
can add more as needed. If people ride electric more than regular we can address the
ratio. But, typically, we see -- like in the one to two hundred range is a good starting
point for some -- for a city this size.
Nary: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Nary.
Nary: If I could just throw one more item, just -- just as food for thought as we work
through this is -- is in the Idaho Code and the city code, county code, the various city
codes around, there is a pretty good definition of what bikes are and what motorcycles
are. They are not greatly defined for other types of vehicles, such as the E bike and so
that's something where as you are all well aware -- I mean the code tends to sort of
catch up to the reality of what's occurring out in the world. So, educating people on how
to use them or where they can use them, it's got to be part of the dialogue here.
Whether that's something the city would partner in or how they would do that -- but
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that's certainly an issue that's going to be a concern on how people can use it, where
they can, understanding that there is a -- there is a great deal lack of knowledge of a lot
of people how to use bicycles and where they can ride bicycles. So, riding bikes with
motors on them will probably be another challenge. So, just another piece to think of.
It's not something that would prohibit them from doing it, it's just that that's a component
that will probably end up not just at LimeBike's website, but at the city's and so helping
educate our public on using these items will probably be part of getting through this
program.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Megan, is there something that you could, then, put in your app or maybe you
already have it, but I guess it would be more specific to our area, that when they first
download the app would be like a list of instructions or, you know, some kind of a pdf
that they can click on for the rules and laws?
Colford: Yeah. So, in our user agreement users agree to abide by whatever the local
laws are where they are operating and there is an onboarding flow with kind of basic
safety tips. We could certainly make it local to Treasure Valley of here is Idaho law, you
know, so when they open the app for the first time in Idaho it says some particular
message. That's certainly something we could do.
De Weerd: Do you prearrange with some local businesses that you can have the bike
share -- bikes out in front of their businesses and maybe even information on -- in print
on that? Not everyone is technology savvy, but that you go into partnership with local
businesses?
Colford: Yeah. Absolutely. We have what are called Lime Hubs, which are a
designated location specifically actually for scooters and so we can ask local
businesses if they would like to be part of that and be designated on the app.
Otherwise, if we find bikes are continually at a particular location we would, you know,
reach out to whoever is impacted by that and make sure they are aware, you know,
before launch we would get in touch with like -- places like The Village and make sure
that everyone is aware there we wouldn't want to deploy bikes there without business
owners, business operators knowing and we also have a hotel online travel program for
hotels. If hotels are interested in having this as a benefit for their employees or guests,
we do have a full program for that. So, we have a wide variety of ways to engage with
businesses.
De Weerd: That's great. And so have you worked with staff on maybe -- I saw your
map and identifying some of the similar metro areas that -- that we might be able to
contact and find out how the program worked in theirs, how the education went with
their citizens and those kind of things, would you provide contact information?
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Colford: Yeah. Happy to. We have plenty of references we can send.
De Weerd: Okay.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: Madam Mayor. Caleb, in your kind of explanation of the MOU idea, you had
mentioned one year. Were you talking about a one year -- and you were a -- a one year
exclusivity in it.
Hood: Madam Mayor, Councilman Palmer, so that is Section 12 of the MOU. I don't
know if you have it handy or not, but just talk -- and that's what the term is in the draft
MOU is their base template I think is three years and -- and the transportation
commission -- again, they were -- they were relatively supportive. They just thought
maybe two years instead of three. It's maybe not as big. But if you look at some of the
other clauses in there about canceling -- you know, if I can find that real quick. Like 60
days -- yeah. It's the next one. So, 13. Termination. Within 60 days notice we could
terminate for some -- you know, if it goes south for some reason. So, I don't know that
I have an issue necessarily with three years. That's just what the transportation
commission recommended to you all.
Palmer: Madam Mayor? Yeah. It wasn't the length of the MOU that I was worried
about.
Hood: Oh. Sorry.
Palmer: It was exclusivity that -- that wouldn't be included. No exclusivity.
Hood: So, Megan and her team have already updated this, so you don't even see that.
So, they heard that from the transportation commission -- have already updated this
draft agreement to reflect the transportation commission's recommendation. Sorry.
Palmer: Thanks.
De Weerd: Any other questions?
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: A question and, then, a comment. Megan, I didn't hear you touch on -- and
can remember this came up at the transportation commissioner or this is something that
popped into my head. How do you handle helmets, you know, where, obviously, a
community wants to be bike friendly and support bike safety --
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Colford: Yeah.
Cavener: Wearing a helmet is part of that. So, talk to us about how your organization
helps promote that safety, where people maybe aren't always packing a helmet with
them.
Colford: Yeah. So, great question. We get that question also a lot. For a variety of
reasons it doesn't make operational sense to attach helmets to bikes. We have looked
into what other companies have tried to do and have failed at. It really is -- it really is
challenging to have a helmet with the bike. What we do -- we don't ever want a lack of
access to helmets to prevent someone from riding a bike. So, what we have done is we
have partnered with local schools, local organizations to give out free helmets to those
who need it. One of the cities in the bay area has helmets for check out at the library
and another team has had helmets in the -- in their van, so that if they see someone
under the age of 18 without a helmet they will pull over and give them a helmet. So,
what we have done is we want to do outreach and education and give free helmets in
an effort to try to encourage that.
Cavener: Madam Mayor, just a comment. And Megan's response I think just kind of
speaks to this company and Megan and I met I think in November or December and
threw rapid fire a lot of concerns that I had and to her credit and to LimeBike's credit
they have responded to every one of them and Caleb speaks about the transportation
commission's concern about exclusivity and they have responded in kind and so I'm, for
one, supportive of continuing down the MOU process to bring something back to
Council for us to have the opportunity to look at, support or not support. I think it would
also be helpful to get some better understanding as to where the other neighboring
municipalities are planning to go. Support from the highway district is, obviously, I think
key, because it's their -- their roadway. The other piece that I would be interested to
know about and we talked about this in the transportation commission is the feedback
from our school districts. They are, obviously, a very large partner with our community
and making sure that this isn't something that they feel they now have to figure how to
adjust and support -- to me would be really beneficial to know before I would want to
make a decision.
Colford: Absolutely.
De Weerd: And I guess, Megan, who are your typical users? I would imagine that they
are not school age kids, it's -- it's more around the universities that -- we have Idaho
State University and the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine that's coming to town.
High schools? Do you do it at high schools, too? Who are your typical target riders?
Colford: Yeah. We -- we do actually see quite a lot of riders in the high school age. Our
age requirements are if you're between 13 and 18 you ride acknowledging that you
have parental consent. Eighteen and over it's fine to ride. But we do actually see --
especially in suburban areas we see quite a lot of high school age riders. We see a lot
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of rides -- you're right -- at like campus type things. So, I could see at hospitals or -- not
the patients, but -- and universities and colleges, anywhere that has kind of that campus
type feel we see quite a bit of ridership. We also see a lot of recreational riding on the
weekends. Families who their kids have bikes, but the parents don't, it really ends up
being a wide variety and, of course, the commuters -- first and last mile, but -- so, we
can say that we are targeting something, but, really, it -- and, especially, with the three
different products we see a wide range of people who use the service.
De Weerd: Okay. Any other questions?
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: Just one question. This is the perfect example of how a program like this can
be implemented and successful with private business, as opposed to government. You
have profit motive and -- and a desire to make all of the right decisions to make this
thing successful. Where the bikes are located. How you partner with municipalities and
school districts and private businesses. It's in your best interest and your sustainability
depends upon it and it sounds like you have certainly got the research and data to make
sure it can be financially viable for you here in the community. The only -- and you have
got the stuff I like in MOUs with insurance coverage for the city, you have got 60 day
outs with termination. You have got a lot of great protections for the city, which I
appreciate. The only question -- not for today, but as this evolves down the road is
define -- define the clause use of city property and what use means and what city
property means. It's not defined in there and things like pathways and what does it
mean to use and what does it not mean. I guess that specific would be important for us
to understand in the next stage of this.
Colford: Yeah. And you do bring up it is an existing place, because it is operated by
ACHD, so I think that that clause specifically is something that we should look into and
figure out if there is more language needed.
Borton: Sure. Well -- and -- Madam Mayor? Just a definition is all I'm saying. You
know, for example, city property can be a park that you don't want to park it in the
middle of Settlers Park in a soccer field, for example, and there will be some nerdy
lawyer definitions that help everyone comply and make it even more valuable. So,
that's the only question for the next stage of this MOU. Awesome stuff.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Megan, I really appreciate the little test that we got -- test drive we got today.
think this is a fantastic program, so I'm really excited for you. What a great company
and I'm really -- I'm thankful that you're bringing this to our community. People need to
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be out riding bikes more often, so this is great for health, it fits in our strategic plan, in
my opinion, and -- where I was going? I was going somewhere with that. Oh. So, my -
- that -- I don't have a question for you. That was my comment. But she is hoping to
get this started in April, so I don't know how much more time we need and how many
more meetings we have to have in fixing words and stuff, but they really -- they are
ready to get this started and they want to get it going for spring and it's already the end
of March. So, I'm in full support of going forward with the MOU, fixing a few areas that
need to be adjusted, but we can't just drag our feet on this either.
De Weerd: What is your timeline with the other communities?
Colford: The timeline is we are on track to -- it's a little bit sort of like this, that we are
just meeting with the right people and -- and it could -- you know, you never know if
someone has some serious concern that it could add on several weeks or a month, but
it's looking like if everything goes smoothly we could still be on track for the spring
launch. With that being said, we are totally open, we want to make sure that it's the
right fit. We want to make sure that it is really going to be successful when we do
launch. So, if there is anything -- any concerns from any of the communities we would
be okay to delay that if needed to make sure that it, you know, all comes together in a
nice way.
De Weerd: I think there is a couple of questions that have been read by Council that
would -- what is a reasonable time frame, Mr. Nary, to get a draft agreement back and
maybe even have a little further information in terms of what other communities have
learned and necessary public outreach in -- in both the helmet aspect, where to park,
where not to park, where you're allowed to ride, and et cetera.
Nary: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, so we did start doing some research
and, then, one of the conflicts -- and I think we can work this out with LimeBike, but the
rules in each municipality, the county, and the state are all different and so the problem
in the education piece is you can ride it in one location in the city of Boise, but you can't
ride in the City of Meridian and ITD prohibits some of these from being on -- or ACHD
prohibits some of these being on sidewalks. So, that's -- that's a conflict I can't fix
quickly, but that's an education piece, so we have to figure out -- with LimeBike,
because I think we have a base to start with. I think that's good. I think the definitional
things I think are important. I don't foresee them being problematic, it's just making sure
we have identified to LimeBike -- because, again, this is a fairly unique jurisdiction
where you have the roadways under one authority and, then, a lot of the other locations
where these could be used under a different authority. So, I couldn't give you specifics
on timing, but I think we have got a good start and I think we have done some of the
research already to at least identify the issues that they probably need to be aware of,
whether or not you can operate in Meridian the same places Boise is probably more of a
LimeBike education piece than Meridian, but we wanted -- I thought we would need to
be good stewards to our public in at least advising them when we are partnering with
this group to allow these to be used out there, that we are not giving people the wrong
idea or the wrong impression of you can use these anywhere you want, when you really
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can't. So, I think with all that being said I think we can work pretty quickly. I think we
can work with Planning to get some of the research done on some of the cities. They
are all fairly easy to find information on, so that shouldn't be difficult for us to do some
reference checks and Ms. Colford to provide them as well. That would certainly make --
speed it up if we need to contact specific people. A few weeks. That's the best I could
tell you. I don't anticipate it being very long. I think, again, most of it's going to be a lot
of dialogue that I think we can get through, so --
De Weerd: So, perhaps we can bring this back on our workshop April 10th?
Nary: Okay.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: You don't have to have finals.
Nary: Oh. Okay.
De Weerd: Bring back what you have, a draft, progress report --
Nary: Yeah. No. We can definitely do that. I thought you mean final.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: At that point it's -- it's not our business; right? It's not ours. So, we don't need
to -- nor is it within our purview to add language on who should wear helmets and when
and where the bikes should go and for how long and -- that's all yours. I mean
everything's yours and you have got the business desire to make sure that's all done
properly. You could do this entire business without the city's permission anyway; right?
And so we appreciate being a partner, but I don't think we are going to try and recreate
conditions and put a whole bunch of hoops you have to jump through. We really define
the city of city property was really the only thing that certainly needed some definition,
but we don't want to impose a bunch of obligations on you that you have already
addressed. That's outside the scope of us I think.
Hood: Madam Mayor? If I can just piggy back on Councilman Borton's comments a
little bit. I guess, again, you have the draft MOU in your packet tonight. I would ask you
if you have any concerns with the terms there, but generally I think the 10th is definitely
doable and just a little bit to the thing that you asked, Madam Mayor, I have talked to the
city of Boise staff. They are aware of LimeBike. They are in a little bit different situation
than we are, though. They do have a university and they also have a current system in
place that they are a little bit concerned about. They made some significant investment
there and a lot of these other communities have multiple providers, but that is causing
them a little bit of concern about competition and wanting to encourage the investment
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that has already been made in their community and the expansion of that and what
does this look like for them. So, they didn't share with me -- and I don't know their time
frame, but I know that there is some concerns there. Just the other point that you
brought up. I have been doing some research and, again, some of it's been -- you
know, articles have been sent to me and some of it I have found from other -- not so
much similar sized communities, you know, suburban type communities, but have been
researching this and some of the other issues, maybe, that come up and some of the
success stories as well. So, I can do a little bit more of that, but I think we are -- we are
generally there. But, again, I put that -- my first comment on Council, if you have any
concerns to make it go -- I have been working with Mr. Baird in Legal, too, and he's
looked at this and the parks directors has looked at it, so it's probably largely going to
look like what you see here. So, yeah, I don't know what else it would add at this point.
Just to make sure it's -- it's some terms and definitions. Another one that I point out --
public way. What does that mean? A public way. So, there is some definitions to the
agreement, just so we are on the same page, but the 10th is definitely doable, in my
opinion.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: I'm in favor of this regardless of what surrounding towns do. So, I wouldn't want
them to -- they don't have to necessarily get the entire Treasure Valley started on the
same day and I understand why Boise would have some concerns, but we don't have a
current bike ride -- bike share system here and we really could use one. I think it would
be beneficial to our entire community. So, yes, it would be great if all of the other cities
participated, but I do -- I don't see it as a necessity and I'm pretty sure they could put up
a GEO fence when people are taking the bike and they will say you cannot park this
bike here. So, driving over and parking it in Boise or somewhere else, shouldn't really
be that much of a concern. But, again, it's not our problem, that's part of their problem
that they are going to have to figure out and deal with when they charge customers by
that or not. The only other thing that I would say, which we have already discussed,
would be -- and I don't know if this needs to be in the MOU or not, putting in some
language in the app regarding Idaho law for riding law -- bike riding law or E bike law,
so that people have an understanding of it, rather than ACHD's permission, the rest of
the Treasure Valley can -- they can come along with us or they can follow suit later.
De Weerd: Okay. I think you get a general sense of what Council thinks. So, we will
put it back on our agenda on April 10 and -- with either a final or -- or not. Thank you,
Megan, for joining us.
Item 9: Action Items
A. Public Input: Budget Amendment Not -to -Exceed $108,987.00
for SCADA System Administrator
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De Weerd: Okay. Item 9 under Action Items. First up is our Public Works director on
the SCADA staffing.
Bolthouse: Good evening, Madam Mayor, Members of Council. We met last week
before you on we believe to be a very critical budget amendment for the Public Works
Department in our operations effort to move forward and hire the adequate resources to
help us manage the SCADA system. I think we have pounded it pretty good. I would
be happy to stand for any questions if there is any outstanding ones.
De Weerd: Thank you. Council, any questions?
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: If there isn't any added public comment or any information else to be
received, I would like to thank Dale and his team for their patience and move that we
approve the budget amendment for a not to exceed amount of 108,987 dollars.
Palmer: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Mr. Clerk.
Roll call: Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea;
Bernt, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Bolthouse: Thank you.
B. Final Plat for Goddard Creek (H-2018-0014) by McMillan
Storage, LLC located at 2780 W. McMillan Road
De Weerd: Thank you, Dale. Thanks, Alex. Item 9-B is final plat for H-2018-0014.
Ariel: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, a pleasure to be with you. This
application is for a final plat. The property -- the site consists of a 12 and a half acres,
approximately, zoned C -C and R-4, located at 2780 West McMillan Road. The
applicant has applied for a final plat consisting of one commercial lot and one residential
lot. The applicant has agreed to all conditions in the final plat, with the exception of
Condition 5-C. The condition reads: The applicant shall provide a 25 foot landscape
buffer along the McMillan Road frontage of Block 2, Block 1 -- Lot 2, Block 1, in a
common lot. The applicant shall provide a note on the final plat indicating who is to
maintain the easement area and the common lot. The applicant has requested that the
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landscape buffer be placed in an easement, as opposed to the common lot. UDC
Section 11-3-D7 requires that a street landscape buffer in a residential subdivision be
placed in the common lot for the purposes of maintenance of that common lot. The lot
is undeveloped and is technically not in a residential subdivision. Staff is of the opinion
that the intent of the code would be met with an easement, instead of the common lot, if
the applicant can provide documentation of who is responsible for the maintenance of
the landscape buffer. With that, Madam Mayor, staff will stand for any questions.
De Weerd: I'd love to ask you some really complicated questions.
Ariel: I'm ready.
De Weerd: Council, any -- any questions? Okay. Does the applicant have anything to
add? Okay. Okay. Council? If there is no questions for staff or the applicant, I would
entertain a motion.
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: After considering all staff, applicant, and public testimony, I move to approve file
number H-2018-0014 as presented in the staff report.
Little Roberts: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second. Any discussion?
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: A guess a question for Cameron. Have they provided the necessary
documentation that we feel like that the common area is going to be maintained in
perpetuity?
Ariel: Madam Mayor, Councilman Cavener, that is yet to be determined based on your
-- your vote. So, this is -- would be agreeable to the applicant. So, they are aware of it
and would get that in the agreement.
Nary: It would have to be submitted before final plat -- when they sign it.
De Weerd: Okay. Any further questions? So, that -- that detail will be provided before
it is put on final plat. Okay. Mr. Clerk.
Roll call: Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea,
Bernt, yea.
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De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
C. Final Plat Modification for Olivetree at Spurwing (H-2018-0021)
by Spurwing Limited Partnership located north of W. Chinden
Blvd., west of N. Spurwing Way
Request: Modification to the Final Plat Landscape Plan to
Remove the Pathway Connection to the Golf Course and the
Requirement for bollard Lighting Along the Pedestrian
Pathway, and Addition of an Archway/Entryway Feature and
Water Fountain
De Weerd: Item 9-C is a final plat modification request for H-2018-0021.
Ariel: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. This -- this site is located north of West
Chinden Boulevard, west of North Springwing Way. Just a little history. The final plat
was approved by Council in 2008, along with several time extensions since that time,
but has not yet been signed by the city engineer and recorded. Approval requests
approval to modify the landscape plan for this subdivision to remove the pathway
connection to the golf course planned between Lots 7 and 9, Block 1, and the
requirement for bollard lighting along the pedestrian pathway. Removal of the pathway
connection is due to a change in ownership of the golf course. The new owners feel it
would be a liability to allow a direct pedestrian access to the private golf course from the
residential neighborhood and disruption to golf. Removal of the bollard lighting
requirement is due to a change in city code that no longer requires pathway lighting to
be provided and the applicant feels street lights within the development provide
adequate illumination of the path. The applicant proposes to add an archway entryway
feature and water fountain as alternative amenities within the development and staff
recommends approval. Staff will stand for any questions.
De Weerd: So, the pathway connection and any of the open space that it represented
doesn't impede on their required open space?
Ariel: Madam Mayor, that is correct.
De Weerd: Council, any questions?
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Cameron, I know I'm going to put you on the spot, but I guess I'm -- I'm
looking at the access to the golf course maybe somewhat how we look at open space in
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other neighborhoods and we believe in pathway connectivity and I guess I'm trying to
recall a time that we have said we are not going to -- we are going to remove a pathway
requirement because the neighboring neighborhood doesn't want the public walking
through to their open space. So, can you give us a little bit about the discussion that
staff has had about this request and -- and -- I didn't see here if it was something you
guys support, but help get me educated.
Ariel: Madam Mayor, Councilman Cavener, great question. So, I think this -- this does
hinge a little bit around the -- the fact that it is, you know, the golf course itself. So, you
know, is it -- is there -- you know, is access needed to a private golf course, which is
kind of where we -- where it hinges. Staff, you know, has reviewed it and we -- we do
recommend approval, but, you know, there is -- you know, I understand Councilman
Cavener's concern, you know, of connectivity. That is a -- that is an issue.
Little Roberts: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Little Roberts.
Little Roberts: Picturing that section of the course, I'm guessing it's really not a safe
place for someone to be walking, but I am curious with a subdivision being built on a
golf course, assuming people would want to be members, how are they going to get
their carts out to the course if the pathway is gone? You have to go completely around
and over.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Does anyone want to answer that question?
Borton: I got a clarifying question to that.
De Weerd: You have a clarifying question to that? Yes.
Borton: Madam Mayor, the pathway at issue was only the pathway in that lower
southeast corner that would go to the course. It's not the pathway on the northern
portion of this project. That pathway remains, it's just that connectivity to the private
course --
De Weerd: Yeah.
Borton: -- where you're going to get hit in the head.
Ariel: Madam Mayor, Councilman Borton, that is correct. It's just this -- this portion
here.
De Weerd: So, what happens to that angled green space?
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March 27, 2018
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Ariel: Madam Mayor, I believe -- and I could be corrected here -- this is where there is a
proposal for the fountain and/or, you know, another amenity in that area. It looks to me
that that is an open space there.
De Weerd: It looks like it's on a road. Is the applicant here?
Little Roberts: Madam Mayor? Having been out there recently, the fountain is closer to
the entrance. It's -- I can't remember if it's right out the entrance or on the curb. I'm
wondering if they are going to just let the golf course take care of that as they care for
the course, because that is -- right. Yeah. Right kind of -- where you could get hit in the
head.
De Weerd: Shari, do you want to maybe answer that? We could make up our own
stories. I think it's going to be where a fountain of -- or a statue of maybe Mr. Bird. No.
Stiles: Shari Stiles. Engineering Solutions. Mayor de Weerd, Councilman Little
Roberts, it is landscaped. It is -- there is a tee box right next to it and they kind of
wanted it to buffer the residential homes against the tee box, so they didn't have --
think they may have it maybe surrounded with like some split rail fence or something,
but we tried to get out of the requirement back in 2007 and -- and -- I mean the golf
course is really -- it's like a natural barrier, because they absolutely do not want the
liability of random people coming out and just coming in the middle of the golf course,
so that was the reason for the request. We -- we thought it had been taken care of, but
we -- we do have the plat signed. It has been signed by the city engineer -- is waiting at
Ada county -- the Ada county. So, we are hoping to get it recorded. They have been
waiting a long time. We have all been waiting a long time.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: So, I'm not sure the -- so, the little corner of green there, what -- what's to
become of it? Just --
Stiles: Mayor de Weerd, Councilman Palmer, it will -- it will appear to be probably part
of the golf course. It is still a buffer from that tee box, but -- I didn't get any pictures of it,
but I do believe that they do have some split rail around it and that's more just meant as
an open area, so they don't have people just walking directly behind their homes.
De Weerd: Who will maintain it?
Stiles: Pardon?
De Weerd: Who will maintain it?
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Stiles: I -- I don't know that for sure, but I would imagine it probably might become part
of the golf course maintenance. They will probably also maintain the open spaces
within the subdivision.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: Maybe if I stopped mowing my lawn my neighbor will take care of it.
De Weerd: I doubt it.
Palmer: I might try it. This just seems goofy. I mean -- I'd love for those lots to be
bigger and just go to the corner to solve that problem, but I think if you're going to -- if --
if that's part of this subdivision's open space there ought to be a connection to it. I don't
know how the law works and be able to say, hey, if we don't want this can we give it to
Spurwing and they maintain it or if you have -- need your ten percent and that fulfills it
and without it it doesn't have it -- I don't know. This just seems goofy to me. Not having
a path to it, but even if there was a path to it it's puny and in the way of the golf course.
I totally understand the golf course's position not wanting a connection to it. I mean it
wouldn't be their open space, the golf course itself, they wouldn't be able to go out and
have a picnic on -- on the golf course, so I understand not wanting to have a connection
to it, but if there this little -- and I don't know what the size of that would be. I'm really
just rambling, because I don't understand what's going on. Or what to do with that,
because it --
Milam: Madam Mayor?
Palmer: I hope they mow it, but --
Milam: Maybe the neighbors will do it.
De Weerd: Do you need that open space for your open space percentage?
Stiles: No. We have over 20 percent.
De Weerd: Yeah. So, why wouldn't you just split it off and put it in those lots?
Stiles: They really don't want the lots to back up to that tee box. They have a -- they
will have a wrought iron fence along the lot line and --
De Weerd: Instead of a split rail.
Stiles: Well, I believe their landscape plan was -- required the wrought iron fence
adjacent to the golf course.
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Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: I'm -- yeah. I'm not in love with this -- this plan. I think that the pathway should
be put in and what if -- what if this guy right here lives -- goes to the golf course and he
wants to walk over there, he should be able to walk over to the golf course and -- or if
they don't, they could put up a sign that says this is private property. If you're a member
of the golf course you can come in. If not -- but I think it -- the whole thing -- this is part
of Spurwing Greens that's connected to Spurwing Golf Course and it should have
connections direct.
De Weerd: No. I think this is the Executive 9. Is this the Executive 9?
Stiles: I don't know what backs up on Chinden.
Borton: On Chinden. Yeah. Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Oh. Okay.
Borton: This abuts number one green and number two tee box.
De Weerd: Okay.
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: Would we feel more comfortable if we got confirmation on who is going to
maintain that little piece? I mean if we got confirmation that Spurwing was going to
maintain it, would that be an easier decision for us to make?
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: To field the question -- no. My answer -- the corner maintenance doesn't
change with or without this amendment of the final plat. That corner maintenance is an
obligation of the Olive Tree Subdivision. The wrinkle they are creating upon themselves
is how to get the mower or any maintenance vehicles without a pathway. The pathway
probably shouldn't have been in there in the first place. The clubhouse is a hundred
meters north just down the street and you're at the clubhouse. So, you really don't need
to do anything. We have a pathway like that to get anywhere other than to go get hit in
the head. It's a private course. Because the clubhouse is straight north up the street.
So, I would -- I would support a final plat amendment because the obligation to maintain
Meridian City Council
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the corner remains the same
amended.
Stiles: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Shari.
The pathway doesn't make any sense. It's better as
Stiles: Councilman Borton, the -- it is going to be owned by the Olive Tree at Spurwing
Subdivision as one of their common lots. Whether it will be turned over to the Spurwing
corporation to maintain as part of that, whether they have agreement with them to
maintain it as part of that -- they have got -- you know, it's all open all along the east
boundary there, totally a hundred open, and they have those golf court -- golf cart paths
that -- that go around it. This project is a hundred percent built. We have submitted our
surety. We have a warranty surety in place. It has been signed by the city engineer.
We have record drawings that have been submitted. They were hoping that they would
have lots to build on last fall, but this is just the last item. We believed it had been taken
care of by other parties that we had been led to believe that it had been and got to this
point and it's not approved. So, that's where we are at. Thank you.
De Weerd: Yeah. I do think the pathway connection makes any sense. It makes less
sense than the corner that is behind everything. I just don't want the -- the phone call to
say why did you set up a weed patch behind my lot.
Stiles: I can, basically, guarantee you that will not be a weed patch. I will mow it
myself.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: She has to trespass on the private course.
Borton: Right. In addition to the -- to Shari's guarantee, the association has to mow it;
right? They have got a provision to maintain that the same as all the rest of the
common area in perpetuity. That's where the obligation comes to maintain that little
corner lot.
De Weerd: Yeah.
Borton: And if this modified final plat never came to us today, that obligation would be
the exact same.
De Weerd: Any other questions for Ms. Stiles?
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Meridian City Council
March 27, 2018
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Palmer: Just a comment. If it was anywhere else this would be harder, but I mean the
size and the fact that it's there next to Spurwing, the odds of it not getting mowed are
slim to none. So, I just -- as weird as it is, it's not that concerning, it's just -- but this
connection in my -- that's going to bug me later, but I'm sure it will be fine.
De Weerd: Okay. Any further questions? Thank you, Shari.
Stiles: Thank you.
De Weerd: Even though it's not a public hearing, but, you bet, you raised your hand,
very polite, you -- if you will state your name for the record.
Brown: Kent Brown. 3161 East Springwood. And, again, I don't have a dog in this
fight, but I have done stuff next to Spurwing Golf Course and they are pretty particular
about the access. Up in the northeast corner of the portion that recently got built up
there we did the golf -- did a tennis court and that kind of stuff for them and their access
to their -- their fairways is critical and so they really do need that closed and I can say
that they probably have put that restriction to keep away from the tee box. I have hardly
golfed. I think three times. But I know that they get kind of touchy about how close you
can be to the tee box and so if that makes Councilman Palmer feel at home more easy,
you know, so when you throw your club you're not going to hit a house. How is that?
The golf course -- the golf course is really pretty restrictive of their access. So, just
personal experience from doing that. Thanks.
De Weerd: Okay. Council, any further information needed from the applicant's
representative or staff? If not, I would entertain a motion.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: I move that we approve Item 9-C, H-2018-0021, the modified final plat as
presented with the addition of the archway entryway and the water fountain features as
presented by the applicant and staff.
Bernt: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second. Did you want to -- to suggest that a note is
on the plat that we didn't do this? If there is no further discussion, Mr. Clerk.
Roll call: Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea;
Bernt, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Meridian City Council
March 27, 2018
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Item 10: Department Reports
A. Finance: Annual Fund Balance Transfer Proposal
De Weerd: Thank you. And thank you for this interesting modification. Okay. Item 10-
A is under our Finance Department.
Lavoie: Good evening, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. I wanted to say thank
you for allowing us to present to you the annual process to request fund transfers from
our previous fiscal year results. So, today we are going to present to you the fund
balance report, which should have been submitted to you within the documents
provided by the clerk for this agenda item. You also received a memo that has the
three proposals that I am presenting to you for consideration and, then, at the very end
just want to touch on some of the future considerations that we have kind of on the
quote, unquote, white board that the city is discussing for future expenditures. So, with
that I'm going to go into our first slide, which is our fund balance report. This, again,
was presented to you in your documents. This is the actual results from fiscal year
2017 for all the governmental funds. We have a little over 53.4 million dollars available
in our fund balance and we have the funds listed below for your consideration or for
your information. For tonight's discussion I'm going to ask that you kind of focus on the
far left bar, which is called the General Fund, a little bit over 32 million dollars available
in our fund balance. The impact fees we won't touch. Those are restricted and
mandated by other laws. We will also touch a little bit on public safety and capital
improvement. But for the time being if I can get you to focus on the General Fund, right
now we have a little over 32 million dollars. So, with that I'm going to show you what the
32 -- how the 32 million dollars is distributed. Again, for the General Fund, 01 fund, we
have two hundred -- a little over 202,000 dollars for unspendable. What that means is
we have to classify certain dollars within our fund balance that we can or cannot touch
or they have limitations based on rules or regulations. In this case you have money
deposited for a certain reason, so we cannot touch that money, because it's already
quote, unquote, spent. So, we have to classify that as nonspendable. We don't have
any restricted. We do not have any committed at this time for the General Fund and
you have a little over 1.7 million assigned of the 32 million. The assigned dollars
represent the carry forward amounts that we presented to you in fiscal year '18. Again,
we don't want to touch that. We have that allocated for contracts that have been signed
and we need to allow the General Fund to continue their operations, so we assigned
those dollars accordingly. So, that leaves us with a little over 30.5 million dollars in
quote, unquote, unassigned classification. So, you're probably asking so what do we
have 30 million dollars for in the unassigned category? Very valid question. And this is
how we had distributed the 30 million dollars in your General Fund. So, again, this is
just the unassigned portion. We are taking out the other two pieces, because we can't
touch those. So, of the 30.5 million dollars we have a little over 15.8 million dollars in
reserves. That's our best practice that we have had here at the city for four months of
operating expenses for the General Fund. We believe that's the best practice, that we
should keep employing and I'm representing that here tonight, I think we should
Meridian City Council
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continue that best practice today. Last week I submitted to you an e-mail regarding the
comprehensive financial plan with the details of the report and also the
recommendations of how we should allocate the balances within the e-mail stream and
if you recall there is a General Fund allocation and I had in there of 9.3 million dollars
that I believe we should allocate of the unassigned fund balance to future capital
projects and that's what the capital comprehensive financial plan does, it allows us to
see what we have in the future, it allows us to plan for the future and the
recommendation that I had on the e-mail and tonight is -- I believe we need to assign
9.3 million dollars of the unassigned for the future projects that I submitted to you last
week on the e-mail. So, you're probably doing some math and you're going this doesn't
quite equal 30 million, you would be correct. We still have 5.3 million dollars to equal
the 30 million. So, the question is what do we do with the 5.3 million dollars and that's
what the memo is and that's why I'm here for you today. The memo of that I presented
to you states information that we do this on an annual basis. We try to get here in
March every year. The treasurer of the city and the CFO of the city presents to you
their recommendation. So, I stand here tonight with three proposals for you to consider.
We wait until March, because we want to make sure you have the audited financials
from the prior fiscal year. Thirty days ago you had the auditor here, Kevin Smith from
Eide Bailly. He presented to you the results and I was here a week before that with the
actual results as well. So, with all the information complete I have proposed to you
three considerations for the fund balance transfer. The first one is to transfer 2.6 -- a
little over 2.6 million dollars from our General Fund unsigned to the Capital
Improvement Fund, Fund 55. This follows the city ordinance as noted. I also included
the ordinance on your memo for your reference purposes. So, again, this is something
we do every year for consideration and I am proposing that we have this proposal in
front of you with the transfer as well. Proposal number two is to transfer one million
from the General Fund unassigned to the Capital Improvement Fund. Or I apologize.
To the Public Safety Fund. My recommendation for this is based on what I have seen
on a comprehensive financial plan of the vehicle replacements that are coming down
the pipe for the public safety division. So, Police and Fire. I believe if we start setting
some money aside now, because we have the ability to, when the future council one or
two, three, four years has a proposal to you for consideration to replace some of the
vehicles, we have a revenue source we can tap into, aside from the General Funds for
that fiscal year and, then, the third proposal I have for you today is a commitment of 1.5
million dollars within the General Fund. So, the monies will stay in the General Fund, it
just gets moved to a different classification. So, instead of being unassigned or
unallocated, it will now be committed for the future use of a self -funding consideration.
This is to kind of close up the loop of what has been presented to you in the last two
years. Your HR director Crystal Ritchie and, then, your HR benefits manager --
Christena Barney. Thank you. They have presented to various -- she's going to get me
tomorrow. They have presented to you a handful of times the topic of self -funding, the
considerations, the benefit committee's discussions of that. This year kind of closes the
loop to set the money committed -- not spent, it's just sitting in the General Fund as a
committed option if the Council does consider going into self -funding. So, it's still there,
it's just committed. So, those are the three proposals that I have presented to you for
your consideration. So, this is the slide I showed you of where the 5.3 million sits as,
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March 27, 2018
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quote, unquote, unallocated. If you consider and approve the three proposals that
have submitted to you for tonight, this is how the slides -- the graph will look. So, we
had moved one million to the Fund 08, so that's our public safety, and, then, we would
move or, quote, unquote, commit 1.5 to your self -funding commitment and, then, the 2.6
million would be transferred to Fund 55. So, that would still, then, leave a little over
187,000 dollars, quote, unquote, unallocated. So, that would still make up your total
balance and 30.5 million dollars. So, again, I stand here to ask for your approval for the
three proposals. Again, the first one is to reduce the General Fund by 2.6 million dollars
to follow the ordinance and that would increase the Capital Improvement Fund by 2.6.
Bullet number two is to reduce the General Fund by one million and transfer those funds
at the Public Safety Fund for your future use and consideration. And the third proposal
have for you tonight is, again, a no change to the General Fund, it's just a commitment
of the 1.5 million dollars to kind of close the loop under discussions that the HR
Department has presented to you in the past. So, of your 53 million dollars, if we were
to approve the proposals as I have in front of you, this is how the 53 million dollars will
be distributed. Again, the General Fund would be reduced by a couple million. The
Capital Improvement Fund would be increased by 2.6. And the Public Safety would be
increased by 1.3 million dollars. So, again, the 53 still stays intact. We haven't lost any
of that. It's still 53 million. We just transfer the funds within different funds. So, with
that this is the General Fund. I now have a little bit of money and committed, that's that
1.5 million. The nonspendable did -- did not change. Your assigned did not change.
Your unassigned is now just 25 million, because we moved some money from that. So,
those are the three proposals I have for you. These are the considerations I also want
to bring to your attention. We have a lot on the plate of considerations. We have
unfunded CFP projects. I submitted to you the comprehensive financial plan last week.
If you saw some of the graphs, the second five years they don't look that great. That
means we don't have enough funding for the request that your departments have
submitted. So, we always have to think about that. We have impact free projects.
Every time we approve and construct some impact fee projects we have ongoing
operating we need to consider. We have SROs. I believe you are -- you have been
presented with some new schools in the city, so the new schools equals new SROs, so
we have new expenses there and some other considerations I think will be present --
presented to you. We had animal control here a couple -- I think it was last month.
They presented to you for some considerations. We have expansion to the south that
don't need to remind you on that one. We have Ada county discussions that we are
talking about every day and we have ACHD projects. We have some transportation
discussions. We have some road discussions. So, again, we have some future
considerations we always have to take in consideration here of what we do with our
fund balances and how we manage them. I believe the three proposals that I have in
front of you today keeps the city in sound condition. We get to do this every year. We
get to present to you considerations every year, but with that I stand for any questions
of the three considerations that I have presented to you tonight.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
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March 27, 2018
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Borton: Two clarification points on this. Your proposal -- correct me if I'm wrong -- does
not create any new spending authority and it does not create any binding allocation of
resources.
Lavoie: Madam Mayor, Councilman Borton, what we are doing tonight does not commit
any money to any spending authority. The binding part is loosely termed. We do have
a commitment. So, once you -- we take votes on this from you, you are committing
money to the self -funding possible project. But that doesn't mean you can't uncommit
that in a future time period. You're just saying let's just put it there for the time being,
let's not touch that. So, you're committing those funds at this time, but in a future
meeting we could always move it back to unassigned and apply that to a future capital
project.
Borton: It's not binding.
Lavoie: Councilman Borton, correct.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: Madam Mayor, I have a fourth proposal. So, this 2.64 million dollars comes
from permit fees. It comes from the development community. We are paying a
premium for a service that they are not receiving. They are receiving a service, but we
anticipated from this -- these funds we anticipated 170,000 dollars in excess revenues
from Community Development. We in reality got 2.64 million. Our anticipation for this
fiscal year was one million. We have reached that where now it's 2.8 million. So, if the
development community is paying a lot of money for a service and our Community
Development Department does the best they can with what they have got, but as we
made super clear during the interview process for Cameron, that this was a situation --
we want it solved. We wanted to figure out what resources they needed and provide
them to them, so that he can provide a successful service and make us the premier
Community Development Department at least in the valley. I mean it's embarrassing
that someone would rather develop in Boise, because the city of Boise has less policies
and procedures and everything to have to deal with and understanding that they may
need more staff, they may need new technologies, new processes, and so that's going
to come at a cost. But there is over two and a half million dollars of money that we
didn't anticipate that we would have and at least a portion of that should go toward
solving some of these issues. So, my proposal would be that we hold off and wait until
Cameron and his team have had a chance to fully vet and plan out exactly what they
would need and be able to sell us on what it would take to be able to reach the quality
level of service that we expect any of the other departments to provide for their
customers and, then, make those decisions and, then, when we have the full picture
before us of what community development is going to need to provide for their
customers who are paying this money, who provided us this money, and we will have
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that in our picture, we can, then, consider all the other options and divide up the money
however Council chooses. But right now we don't have specifics and maybe Cameron
can add some to the conversation on this.
Ariel: Madam Mayor, Councilman Palmer, I appreciate the discussion. We do look
forward to that opportunity to -- to outline what our needs are soon. So, we appreciate
-- we appreciate that consideration and that it is funded, so --
De Weerd: If there are questions, comments?
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Todd, the 2,641,404 dollars you said that was -- is that from ordinance and what
-- what is that number based on?
Lavoie: Sure. Madam Mayor and Councilman Milam, the ordinance on the memo -- if
you -- the second bullet point, so request number one is an annual proposal directed by
the ordinance and in the ordinance it says excess revenue from the development
services funds. So, those are the community development. So, it's the excess
revenues.
Milam: Thank you. And Madam Mayor. You had like 192,000 left in your scenario. A
hundred and ninety-seven thousand. Excuse me. So, what would that -- what would
you -- you have no proposal for that? Just making round even numbers everywhere
and --
Lavoie: Madam Mayor, Councilman Milam, I have no proposal for that, as this is a
moment in time, and next year the number will look different. One hundred and ninety-
seven thousand we can easily allocate to many future capital projects. As the
comprehensive financial plan shows you, the second five years is not fundable where
we stand. So, every year we will stand in front of you -- in front of you with a
consideration and I'm comfortable at this moment of leaving 197, quote, unquote,
unallocated. We do have budget amendments every year that come in front of you and
this is how we would tap into that resource if we needed to find funds to meet any
amendment purposes.
Little Roberts: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Little Roberts.
Little Roberts: Mr. Palmer, I'm certainly sympathetic to the growth that we are
experiencing in our community development, but with this rapid growth that has left us
with these funds available, I really think that we need to focus on public safety, because
with this growth we are also stretching our public safety very thin and with replacements
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March 27, 2018
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-- I know we are short of staff. I think it's really critical that we make sure that that
funding is there for the future. We are doing another fire station. Last I knew that -- we
had limited years that we could pay for that without setting more funds aside. I know
that we are behind staffing in police and trying to play catch up there, but as our
population continues to grow we are going to continue to have needs to keep our
people safe and I think that is critical to maintain and increase the funding there for
future needs. I would like to see us proceed with this, at least with those and I also
know it's critical to continue looking at self -funding, which may or may not be our end
result, but if that's the most economical way to go, to set that money aside is also very
important to that process to have the ability to do it, if that is our decision. If we don't set
that money aside and we decide that that is the best way to go, we won't have that
option in place. So, I would like to see us proceed.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: To kind of dovetail on -- on Council Woman Little Roberts' comments, the
recommendation -- well, all three of them I support for several reasons. The one
regarding self -funding, one of the things we have tried to do when we have gotten big
expenditures is we save as we go and when there are big numbers you have to do that
incrementally and this is a big number and -- and my point earlier on about it not being
an irreversible allocation, if the decision -- there is a lot of vetting and discussion down
the road about self -funding, but if that decision were to occur down the road, we would
have had to have started to build up that reserve now. So, it seems to be appropriate to
do this now, in light of the fact that we can -- we can reverse the decision down the road
if we don't self fund. The policy of allocating the excess revenues to capital
improvement has been around for quite a while and there has been years where there
has been a deficit and there has been nothing available to transfer, but why I think that's
continually important to do that transfer for a capital improvement is so we don't get of
the mindset that these proceeds are available for recurring expenses. Labor costs are
different than capital expenditures. So, we are taking a revenue stream that is finite and
it's a single year revenue stream created by excess revenues, so it's being allocated to
spend money on one time purchases. That sort of has been the policy that we have
done for a number of years to avoid the ability to think that we have got 2.6 million
dollars that is available for -- for new employees, for example, because you don't have a
recurring revenue stream of 2.6 year over year, but you would be creating a recurring
expenditure. So, a decision to allocate to capital improvement -- it has been
appropriate, I think it continues to be appropriate and to Councilman Little Roberts'
comments, we have heard about a fire truck every year and these levels of services that
we have to maintain. That's our obligation when we -- when we approve these large
developments on our -- on our edges, among elsewhere, we are making a commitment
to provide those capital needs for our city to service those areas. So, I'm supportive of
all three of your recommendations for those reasons.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
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March 27, 2018
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De Weerd: And I would just add it has allowed us to be able to save before we spend
and continue on a cash basis. Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: Madam Mayor. Todd, are the -- what pays for the staff in community
development now? Is it the same revenue stream as produced these funds?
Lavoie: Madam Mayor, Councilman Palmer, at this moment the Community
Development Fund is generating enough revenue from the permit sales and the
planning services to pay for their salaries a hundred percent, but they can -- we can use
our property taxes to pay for them, because they all reside within the General Fund,
which is one pot of money. But right now they are generating enough to pay for their
own salaries at this time.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: So, with that information understood, that -- it's already these dollars that are --
are providing for the service in Community Development. In my mind the excess
revenues should have been less, because they should have had the tools necessary to
provide the level of service that we would expect them to. So, really, the question today
should be, well, whatever the dollar amount is less of the 2.64 million, not -- we are -- if
we were to spend some of this on additional staff or -- or whatever tools they may need,
that, you know, we are creating a continuous need for this money every year. Well,
that's true. So, is everybody that's over there right now. If -- if the economy were to go
down and in a couple of years in which we have had to use general funds to
supplement the Community Development Department, if that were to happen again,
then, the reality of the situation is this board should take the responsibility of letting
people go when they are not necessary, so -- I mean another thing I'd like to see some
of this money go towards is -- is establishing a fund to ensure that if things were to slow
down we would be able to maintain, you know, staff over a period of time to -- if things
were to reverse quickly it's cheaper to retain somebody than to have to fire and rehire
and go find and retrain and deal with all that. But that's, you know, a conversation for
down the road, but in the meantime these funds are here to provide for that service.
They don't have the people and the -- the technologies that they need to be able to fully
provide the service. So, a portion of this it only makes sense should be retained there
to provide that service and if things were to go down and we don't have multi-million
dollars of excess revenues every year or if we were to have none, then, that's another
conversation that -- a hard decision that elected officials sometimes have to make.
Lavoie: Madam Mayor, if I could. Councilman Palmer, I, again, appreciate the
comments. I just want to remind you that the 2.6 million dollars represents a one-time
amount. So, think of it as you put the 2.61 million in your pocket once, if you hired -- if
you allow Cameron to hire the resources that you speak of, you can only make that
payment once. It's not like it's going to be there in 2019. It's not going to be there in
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2020, because it's a one-time funding into your pocket. So, I can't guarantee you 2.6
million every single year, but I can guarantee this 2.6 million one time and that's why we
normally go to a one time expenditure model, so we use it for the capital investment.
So, if you ask Cameron to invest into resources, added additional personnel, submit
software for ongoing expenses, your 2.6 million could be used once and, then, in 2019
you're going to have to find those extra dollars to pay for that ongoing expenditure. So,
I want to clarify the 2.6 is a one time -- you put it in your pocket once, you use it once,
and that's why we normally go to the Capital Improvement Fund, parks, or capital
projects investment portfolio.
Palmer: Madam Mayor? And because it's the -- again, all the revenue that comes from
that department is already paying for itself. That's all one time money anyway. That
money can't -- is not guaranteed to always be there. I mean we -- we may get to a point
in the economy where no more development is happening, then, therefore, there is no
more permit fees and we having to subsidize it anyway or let people go. That's the
reality of that department no matter the situation and in this case we have a situation
where the -- the development community is asking for service in an enormous way and
so that -- just the reality of that department is it has to have in its consideration that it --
it may have to be fluid, depending on the economy and the development community.
mean if it were to stop today we could fund them for a period of time without having to
use General Fund money. That doesn't change the fact that it's -- every year it's always
one time money and it happens to pay for itself and, then, some. But right now we have
a level of service that's being demanded that we cannot provide, because we haven't
budgeted for it, that we had no idea -- we anticipated 170,000, we anticipated almost
exactly providing for what was going to be needed. We are severely underproviding for
what the economy is demanding. So, we need to raise that while the economy is
demanding it. Lower it when it's not.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: To that point, for the purpose today, again, it's -- it's an allocation at least for
the reasons that -- for me why I think it's appropriate, but to your point, Councilman
Palmer, I think we are going to have those types of discussions in June and -- I haven't
seen the budget proposal and enhancement request for Community Development.
Those principles that you have talked about might be reflected in there. There might be
a presentation to us that requests additional funding, whether it's personnel or capital in
Community Development to try and increase their service level, all of which at that point
in the summer we will review and consider in relationship to other requests and we may
say that makes great sense, let's -- we can reverse -- we can decide not to fund public
safety, for example, because -- or the self -funding allocation because we -- we find the
proposal for Community Development makes sense and it gets funded at that time. We
don't have to make that decision right now. This isn't a fork in the road, at least as I see
it. I just see us taking the consistent path to plan accordingly and -- and if what you're
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March 27, 2018
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saying is what we hear and it makes sense and Community Development articulates
that, Council might decide to do something else this summer.
De Weerd: And -- and if I can, this is from the audited report. So, your General Fund,
the 28 million -- 28.8 million, that is this year's budget and -- and so some of what they
may need to do this budget year -- there are excess monies that can be considered for
the needs that you will hear from Community Development in addressing a plan moving
forward. So, I think Mr. Borton stated it well, that this is -- this is -- with what we have in
the audit and what you're suggesting is what we have today.
Palmer: Madam Mayor? We heard from -- from Dale a budget amendment for a very
urgent need. We have a very urgent need in Community Development. I'm not asking
for -- for months. I'm anticipating a budget amendment to be able to spend some of this
money, rather than waiting for October, because the demand is there. I mean, then,
you're busting down the doors with the need for a service --
De Weerd: That's a different conversation than what is in front of you today.
Palmer: Madam Mayor, this is -- if I may. This is the exact conversation. The thing is if
we start making these other commitments, then, we have to go -- I mean we may
commit to, you know, the self -funding idea by allocating some money to it. If we are
going to commit to those ideas we need to move forward with those ideas, not come
back in June and July and say, hey, you know what, Cameron came before us and
convinced us that we did need to go ahead and do this, so we are going to reduce that
and change it and I'm just asking for a matter of weeks. I don't know how much time
Cameron needs to be able to put together a budget amendment with here is what our
needs are, here is what would give us this level of service --
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer, you will hear it sooner than you might expect. So, you will have
that information soon.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Uh-huh.
Palmer: So, you're asking me to make a decision on this now, so that it's -- sooner than
I expect I could make a decision to maybe change this later?
De Weerd: So -- Mr. Lavoie, maybe you can help in -- this is the audited numbers and
in your General Fund resides this year's budget and some of the -- the unanticipated
revenue that's been collected this year, as well as what might be expanded.
Lavoie: Madam Mayor. You are correct.
De Weerd: Okay.
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Lavoie: So, as Mr. Palmer stated a few minutes ago, there are excess -- we -- I think,
Mr. Palmer, we already have exceeded our expectations for the Community
Development revenue projections I believe, so this year we should have some, quote,
unquote, excess revenues if things still continue as you stated. So, you will have some
excess revenues this year that you could possibly tap into if Cameron wishes to present
to you some budget amendments to satisfy the needs for fiscal year '18. So, I think
you're correct.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Appreciate the conversation from Council tonight. I think a lot of us are taking
a look into our crystal ball and trying to get a grasp as to where we think things are
headed both in terms of -- of department growth and demands on our city for insurance
and emergency response. Appreciate the comments from all of Council and I guess --
and I know that Cameron and Bruce are kind of discussing among themselves right
now, but rather than just look into my crystal ball and guess if you have some budget
amendments that are coming, the Mayor alluded to that something is coming sooner
than we would expect. Can you help provide some clarity in our crystal ball about what
your current needs you anticipate and what we may be asked to approve in the future?
Ariel: Madam Mayor and Councilman Cavener, I would say imminent. We will -- we will
have information to you very soon and based on that information and the direction we
received from you we will -- will have a plan forward for you.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Just for clarification purposes question. So, Cameron is going to have a budget
amendment. We have got the money to cover that in our 2018 budget. This is 2017
dollars that we are talking about and that's why we are allocating into these funds.
Thank you. I'm good with this.
De Weerd: I couldn't have said it better myself.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: Then in light that this discussion is imminent, can we continue this to another
meeting? I rarely quote my predecessor, but are we in a hurry? Or why be a hurry?
How did he say it?
Meridian City Council
March 27, 2018
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De Weerd: But you're talking about 2018 funds and this is 2017 funds. It's apples and
oranges at this point.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: In light of an imminent budget amendment, which will get on the next agenda
that you're ready to present it, in light of the fact that this excess revenue is available
perhaps to fund a budget amendment should it be warranted and justified, which we will
very soon find out and everything else that was said, I move that we approve the annual
fund balance transfer proposals one, two and three as presented by our Finance
director.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: Have a motion and a second. Any discussion?
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Appreciate the motion from Counsel Member Borton. I guess I wrap my head
around the word imminent and that to me seems it's coming very quickly and I -- for the
sake of the Council and the questions that have been raised, I am struggling to see
what -- the imminent need for us to make a decision tonight, as opposed to -- again, it
sounds like that we could continue this for one week. I recognize we have a very
lengthy agenda next week, but if merely to have all the questions answered and this
body feel assured in their decision making process -- I would hate that we have a
Council Member or Council Members that don't feel they have the answers to all of their
questions to make them feel confident in supporting staff's recommendation. I haven't
heard a reason why we can't continue it for seven days.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: You want the answer --
Cavener: I would like --
Milam: But I have a question that maybe -- maybe can clarify this. Cameron, you
currently have an excess revenue of around a million dollars for fiscal 2018; is that
correct? That was the number that I heard tonight from Councilman Palmer. Is your
budget amendment going to be more than a million dollars for fiscal year 2018?
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Ariel: Madam Mayor and Councilman Milam, I hate to say it, but that will largely depend
on the direction you give us. If you choose to go a certain route it could be more or
less.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: And while it's a million right now, we are anticipating 2.8. But given that we
had guessed at 170,000 and ended up with 2.6, who knows what's really going to
happen. So, a one week or a two week -- if next week's agenda is -- if we don't get
drafted in this -- is not -- however you want to schedule it, but to just make the decision
tonight -- I mean, you know, what if -- what if we decide with whatever is to be proposed
that it makes sense to establish a -- I don't know, maybe it's part of this plan -- you
know, a rainy day fund to ensure that we can continue at a staff level if we don't have
the -- the necessary revenues in a given particular year. Just to make the decision right
now, understanding that we can undo it later, it seems like a very government thing to
do and kind of messy, when we could wait, have a better picture and make a decision in
a week or longer.
De Weerd: We are talking about different budget years. Mr. Lavoie.
Lavoie: Madam Mayor, I also just, again, appreciate the conversations. I mean it -- we
have some good stuff to talk about. I just want to remind you that this isn't the only
budget amendment that might be presented to you in the next imminent days. We may
have another budget amendment in non -imminent days, 35 days. So, if we continue
this, let's just delay -- possibly delay until we have all the budget amendments done,
then, I should be standing in front of you in August. But, I'm standing in front of you
today for fiscal '17's results. So, in theory I can put this on, you know, kind of forever if
we want to take on the consideration that's wait until all the budget amendments are
done. But, again, this is '17's results. I'm asking for "7's money to be allocated and
wish I could promise to you that that would be the last amendment for fiscal year '18,
but I can't promise you that. I don't know if there is a half a million dollar budget
amendment emergency that might come along. Well, that's going to change all of our
discussions here, then, you're going to say let's get back to that money from this and
put it over here, so we can continue to have this discussion. Many a time we are not
allocating money -- as I think Mr. Borton said, we are not bind -- bound by all these
decisions. We have the power to reallocate it if we need to, if we need to get these
funds. So, I just wanted to put my -- I guess my little ten cents in there that we are not
bound by all these decisions and this one decision that Cameron brings to you might not
be the last one. We have no idea what's around the corner in the next four months over
the fiscal year for budget amendments.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
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March 27, 2018
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Palmer: Madam Mayor. And to Todd's point, that makes sense and -- but because this
future budget amendment -- imminent budget amendment pertains to these dollars --
the reason these dollars exist, I think it makes sense to wait until we know what this
budget amendment, as opposed to any other budget amendment has. And so with that
I -- as a substitute I move that we continue this item to a future meeting at the Mayor's
discretion.
Cavener: Second.
De Weerd: Okay. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion?
Little Roberts: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Little Roberts.
Little Roberts: Madam Mayor, Todd, so am I understanding this correctly that the first
motion to approve what you had recommended kinds give us a clean stop for the audit
from 2017?
De Weerd: Uh-huh.
Lavoie: Madam Mayor, Councilman Little Roberts, that is accurate. It finishes out our
fiscal year '17 annual process with our financial management.
Little Roberts: And kind of a second half, if I may, Madam Mayor. So, then, we can still
take into consideration what -- our potential budget proposals for 2018, but that keeps
them cleaner and clearer potentially?
Lavoie: Madam Mayor and Councilman Little Roberts, you are correct. As Mr. Palmer
stated, right now we are projecting to have some excess revenues, so we can take that
in consideration of your current budget amendments to meet those amendment needs
with fiscal year '18's potential excess revenues. But as of right now '18 is looking good.
You're approving lots of permits, you're approving lots of development. They are
coming in. We are generating good revenue. So, you could in there use '18's excess
revenues to utilize the revenues to pay for Cameron's resource request at this time and,
then, keep it clean. '17 is done. '16 is done. '15 is done. '14 is done. All those fiscal
years were done. Now we can sit with '18 and manage '18 budget and excess
revenues, if there are any in this fiscal year.
Little Roberts: Great. Thank you.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
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March 27, 2018
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Palmer: Madam Mayor. Looking good in theory in air quotes are not as good as the
money's in the bank from last year and we don't know what the ask is. So, whether it
was last week that this came and we made a decision or whether it's this week or next
week, I don't think we are in any legal worry about whether the decision is made right
now or a week from now or whenever the Mayor puts it back on the agenda.
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: Yeah. Madam Mayor, I don't support the substitute motion. I support the
original one for the original reasons and we will see what the budget amendment is, but
if we could take action now to the things before us now, so --
Milam: Madam Mayor?
Borton: -- call the question.
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: I as well and regardless of this 2017 money is -- is going to have no bearing on
whether or not we approve a budget amendment for 2018, as far as I'm concerned, so --
De Weerd: Mr. Clerk.
Coles: Thank you, Madam Mayor. Council Member Milam?
Milam: The substitute motion?
De Weerd: Yes.
Roll call: Borton, nay; Milam, nay; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, nay;
Bernt, nay.
De Weerd: Okay. The motion fails.
MOTION FAILED: TWO AYES. FOUR NAYS.
De Weerd: We have the original motion. If there is no discussion, Mr. Clerk.
Roll call: Borton, yea; Milam, yea, Cavener, yea; Palmer, nay; Little Roberts, yea;
Bernt, yea.
De Weerd: Okay. The ayes have it.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE NAY.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Meridian City Council
March 27, 2018
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Lavoie: Thank you.
B. Public Works: Update on Meridian City Code 9-4-24 pertaining
to Wastewater User Charges and Updating the Wastewater Use
Cap (Average Number of Gallons per Month for Winter
Residential Water Use in the City)
Resolution No. 18-2066: A Resolution Updating the Average
Number of Gallons Per Month for Winter Residential Water
Use in the City.
2. Ordinance No. 18-1768: An Ordinance Amending Meridian
City Code, Title 9, Chapter 4, Section 2 Regarding
Definitions; and Repealing and Replacing Meridian City Code,
Title 9, Chapter 4, Section 24 Regarding Wastewater
User Charges; and Providing an Effective Date.
De Weerd: Okay. Item 10-13.
Freitag: Madam Mayor, Mr. President, Members of Council. I am before you tonight to
bring you an update on the wastewater user rates ordinance rewrite that we have
completed. Just to provide you with a little bit of context and background on this, you
may remember we had a customer complaint some time ago regarding the ordinance
as it related to interpreting the language regarding the winter average that we calculate
for the ordinance. At the conclusion of that we were directed to go back and look at that
ordinance, clean up the language that's in there, make sure it was understandable. We
have completed that effort and you may remember back a couple of months at this
point, but Kyle Radek brought that data back before you, kind of went through that
ordinance line by line. I'm going to try and spare you that pain tonight and not do that.
However, I would be happy to answer any questions that you might have on that section
of the ordinance. For reference it's Ordinance 9-4-2 and 9-4-24. You had this in your
packets tonight. The language is unchanged on that. So, we are asking for approval
regarding that language. In conjunction with that, we are also going to be putting
forward a resolution that speaks to the wastewater default use cap as we are referring
to it. This is the number of gallons that we would charge a customer in a situation
where their account defaults to that. We have a draft resolution in your packet. The
number that's in there is 4,600 gallons. I would ask perhaps for one more week to
actually firm that number up. We are working with Finance on that and there is a little
data that we continue to crunch on that. So, our hope would be to bring that resolution
with a final number close -- which we expect to be close to that 4,600 to you. So, the
two actions I would request tonight really are approval of the ordinance rewrite and
permission to bring that resolution back to you next week, with the updated cap, which
we suspect will be close to that 4,600 number, but it might wiggle a little bit as we
finalize that data analysis, so -- and with that I will -- I will stand for questions if there are
any.
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March 27, 2018
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Borton: Thank you, Alex. Council, any questions?
Cavener: Mr. President?
Borton: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Not seeing -- not -- don't see any questions, but I guess maybe a procedural
question to make sure my motion is -- is correct. If our goal is to continue the resolution
to next week and approve the ordinance, I'm -- I'm fine with that. I don't know if I need
to do that in two separate motions --
Nary: It would be cleaner.
Cavener: Okay. So, Madam Mayor, I move that we continue resolution number 18-
2066 to next Tuesday, the -- the 3rd. April the 3rd.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: Okay. I have a motion and a second to continue until next week. Any
discussion? All those in favor say aye. Any opposed?
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Cavener: I would move that we approve Ordinance No. 18-1768.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve 18 -- I'm sorry. 18-2 -- no. 1768.
Sorry.
Coles: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: You need to read this.
Coles: Correct. Proposed City of Meridian Ordinance No. 18-1768: An Ordinance
amending Meridian City Code, Title 9, Chapter 4, Section 2 regarding Definitions; and
repealing and replacing Meridian City Code, Title 9, Chapter 4, Section 24 regarding
Wastewater User Charges; and providing an effective date.
De Weerd: Okay. You have heard this read by title. Would you like to hear it read in its
entirety?
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March 27, 2018
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Palmer: Madam Mayor? I think Ralph is looking for it on the agenda. It's 10-B-2.
De Weerd: Okay. Mr. Clerk.
Roll call: Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea;
Bernt, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
C. Legal: Update on RFP for Main and Broadway Project
and Process for Sale of City Owned Property
De Weerd: Item 10-C is under Legal Department and I will turn this over to Mr. Nary.
Nary: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. Two items to discuss with
you tonight briefly is -- first the request was to discuss the use of the old city hall
property and potentially a partnership or agreement between the city and the Meridian
Development Corporation in putting out an RFP for a development on that site.
attended a meeting last week with the MDC property committee. In addition to myself
being present, Council Member Palmer was there, as well as Councilman Cavener and
Keith Watts our purchasing manager. A very good discussion with MDC. Lots of very
broad ideas on what to do. But a real good discussion on the RFP process and how the
city might accomplish this objective. We are pretty good at writing RFPs, as well as
MDC. We have done both and -- and I think the -- the best part of the conversation I
think was really identifying the different needs of the entities and what MDC is looking
for -- and we reviewed a recent RFP they did in regards to the properties on Main
Street, 703 and 715 Main and how those reminded what they were looking for in those
projects and we looked at the one we did a few years ago that the city crafted in relation
to the old city hall, as well as seeking a proposal regarding a hotel and an entertainment
facility. A performing arts center. Excuse me. And what we really ended up with was
really identifying where the differences are and what MDC looked for, again, is the
developments in downtown, the impact on the community, how that furthers their vision
on downtown development and bringing businesses and economic vitality through
downtown core and the city's RFP looked for all of those similar types of things, but had
more specificity of what we were wanting in that case and in this one I think the city and
MDC were both on the same page. So, we are really looking for broad minded
concepts and the one difference that was really telling between the two RFPs is the city
one that we used before also got down to some more specific financial details. It was
asking specifically for the proposer to show where they had done that type of work
before and how successful they had been at it and the -- their financial capability to
perform the work and the timetable on which to perform the work and those were real
pressure -- or telling points for the city to be at. And, I apologize, Madam Mayor was
also at the meeting. I forgot to mention that. So, we had a good balance of interests
Meridian City Council
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there on both sides. What we left the meeting was -- is we need to work with MDC on
crafting that type of RFP that meets the city's needs, ultimately that would be approved
by this Council before we would put that out. We would work together with them on
what would that look like. One of the things Mr. Watts really tended to the conversation
was the criteria you're really trying to do is determine what does your scoring matrix look
like, what are you trying to evaluate on and for, lack of a -- probably the least artful way
of saying it is you don't want the most boring thing in the world to get the most points.
So, you want to make sure you get the points assigned to the areas that have the
greatest interest to you as the Council. So, that way the proposers know what you're
really interested in and what you really would like to see and allow, again, creative
opportunities or solutions to be brought forward. The other piece that we need to
determine -- and we don't have to determine that tonight, but I do think we will have
some internal conversations, probably with some of you council members and the
Mayor, but what Mr. -- Mr. Watts brought out was you want to determine who is going to
make that recommendation to you. Who is the committee that's going to score those, to
evaluate those, to consider those proposals and, then, bring their recommendation back
to you. It's that -- the way it's currently done at MDC, since the city doesn't do a lot of
these, we build a lot treatment plants and wells and things, not -- not creative things -- is
-- is MDC -- their entire board does that for the -- their property committee and that's
think about eight or nine people and so we were thinking that that would be something --
and we would be seeking input on do you want it to be simply Meridian city and MDC
members or some community members. I know when we did the RFP for city hall we
had a steering committee that included members of the community. So, if that's the
desire of this Council, that's the info we are seeking, so that we could come back to you
in a fairly short time with a draft proposal. Mr. Watt's suggestion was if we picked the
committee first they could help work through those specifics of the scoring and would
that make sense to that group and, then, we could bring back to you the proposed RFP
with the scoring criteria and, then, if that gets approved, then, we can put that out on the
street. So, that's kind of where we are at with that. I think, again, the committee first,
then, craft the scoring criteria and in conjunction with that, sort of parallel with that, is
the RFP language and what we are seeking. Questions on that particular part of the
topic?
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: On that particular component -- not necessarily a question, but I have got
some thoughts about the committee makeup. I don't know if that is the appropriate time
to talk about that as well, but it would seem appropriate to have the scoring committee
comprised of maybe two or three members from this Council, two or three members
from MDC and, then, I think it would make sense to have a citizen involved and
potentially maybe someone from outside Meridian or downtown, potentially maybe
someone from ACHD, ACHD board member, Ada school district board member as well,
people who have been involved in these types of RFP process in the past, so that way
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March 27, 2018
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it's not overwhelming, but they could bring a lot of expertise to the scoring without
maybe a bias about what's all happening in downtown.
De Weerd: Okay. Any other comments? I know there was discussion at the committee
and from MDC and a couple of people specifically that they had hoped to have on there,
as well as that neutral party is a citizen, a business, and a downtown business owner
that would be a neutral -- Julia -- I can't remember her last name. But we can bring
some names and recommendations back to Council. Any additional comments? Mr.
Palmer?
Palmer: Madam Mayor. So, I had made that motion to keep the conversation going
and allow both options of going the RFP route and selling it to progress. After attending
that meeting I think, you know, if -- I wanted to contribute and really help if that -- if the
RFP process is what, you know, Council ends up supporting, wanted to be the best that
I can be and if that's the case I feel like it's moving in that direction, especially with
Councilman Cavener's comments with, you know, who would make up the scoring
committee and whatnot. I still feel like there -- there isn't a way to satisfy my concerns
for the disposal of that property given that situation in the RFP process. If Council
would rather go that route, so be it, I'm happy to make sure that -- or do my part to -- to
ensure that that process is the most effective possible, but I still feel like the auction
process would be the best for us. So, with that, Mr. Nary, do we -- and reading through
your memo it doesn't seem like there is a -- a codified way in which the auction has to
take place. Can it be a live auction? Can there be an opportunity for an open bidding
process at the least?
Nary: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, Council Member Palmer, you're correct,
I mean there is not a specific method of how the auction is done and many of you may
know -- I mean they are done in a variety of different ways. They are done in public
auctions. They are in other manners around the state. So, that decision on how the
auction occurs is a decision point for this Council. I mean, again, we have only done a
few and the one we did I can think of we didn't do a public auction, it was a -- it was a
written bid that was submitted based on a minimum price and it was a closed bid, so
you just bid on it and it was the highest one won. That one we had one winner,
because we only had -- or, excuse me, only one bidder. But we certainly can vet out
different processes that you would like, if that's the direction you want to go and if you
wouldn't minding just add for the record, since we didn't indicate we would talk about it -
- so, the process to sell property can be done either to an entity that we can sell it or
transfer it to that doesn't require the auction process and that would be another
governmental entity like MDC or we could do it through the auction process and there
the requirement is there is some noticing requirements, there is requirement to get a
minimum -- or determine a minimum price. That's usually done through an appraisal
process. We have done that before. And, then, there is a noticing process that's
required, a public hearing, and Mr. Baird does these for our staff and, basically,
indicated we are talking about three months if we are talking about an auction process
that it would take to go from initial noticing to the final auction itself. So, there is about a
three month window to do that if that's the desire of the Council.
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March 27, 2018
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Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: Madam Mayor, that's my desire. But I'd like to see it done in a way that it's an
open bidding, so that they can bid against each other, you know, should anybody want
to make sure that they get it, as opposed to putting in what they think may be the best
and, then, getting out bid and -- but that's my thoughts. I will stop talking and hear what
everyone else has to say so I can know whether this is even a viable option or if
everybody wants RFP style.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: For clarification to -- I think for the rest of the Council is -- while I continue to
be very resistant to this RFP process, I think it's important to support letting that process
play through. At the conclusion of it, if the Council isn't satisfied with the RFP proposal
that the scoring committee ranked the highest, we don't feel it's what's best for our
community, we aren't obligated to follow through. So, if -- if the RFP is for a big blue
building and Council Member Cavener wanted a big red building and we can -- we can
throw the whole process out -- or purple -- and, then, sell it on the auction block if that's
deemed the most appropriate response from -- from this committee. So, I think it is
important for our citizens that we include both downtown stakeholders and I think MDC
members are downtown people, I think our City Council are downtown stakeholders as
well, but finding some other people that maybe aren't associated so much with
downtown, just to bring a different perspective to the applications I think would continue
to be beneficial.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: And I'm totally comfortable with that process, because it gives us both options
and my consideration in ensuring both of them to be able to move forward was in -- you
know, the request that we move forward as the -- the most interested party, as we have
heard, is wanting to move forward as quickly as possible. So, I like the idea of being
able to have both options still at the end of the day, but it is a significantly longer
process should we choose to say no RFP. So, I guess what I'm getting to is I'd really
love to have everyone's input as to whether you're comfortable with the RFP process,
because if -- if there as much reservation as I have from everybody else, then, it would
be much more advantageous to the -- again, the interested party that -- that we have
heard from, to not waste the time of going the RFP route if -- if at the end of the day we
are all like, no, this won't work anyway.
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March 27, 2018
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Little Roberts: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Little Roberts.
Little Roberts: I'm definitely supportive of the RFP process. I think even at the end, like
we did the last time we did the RFP, we did not end up with anyone selected, because
we had no one put in for the RFP, but we ended up with a whole lot of knowledge about
what may or may not work downtown and opinions from developers all over. So, I think
that we definitely need to proceed with the RFP process and, then, there is other
options if either nothing happens or we don't like what happens, but I think we definitely
need to go along that route first and see where that takes us, because that's -- we may
be leaving options out there that could, you know, totally transform our downtown if we
don't go through this process first.
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: Amen, sister.
De Weerd: That's quotable. So, direction to legal to move forward and bring you back
a proposed RFP with language and for Council to weigh in and work with the MDC
council, Mr. Lakey as well.
Nary: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, I guess what I would like to do is work
with Madam Mayor, maybe Councilman Cavener, if another council member wants to
participate, in developing who specifically you would like to see on the committee and,
then, we could bring that back to you in a couple of weeks and, then, if that is
acceptable then -- I mean at the same time Mr. Lakey and Mr. Vallegas from their office
was going to be working on some draft language, but Mr. Watts' advice was you really
would like the committee to own that to make them feel that they had some ownership
in the criteria, so if we can establish the committee and, then, we work through the
criteria, I think the language will really be the easy part of the RFP. I think it's the
criteria that we think are the most critical needs or wants for this RFP and so if -- if the
Council's okay I'd like to come back in two weeks with some recommendations for the
committee members, so that we can keep this on track.
De Weerd: Okay. I think we probably could come back next week.
Nary: Okay. Yeah. Next week is fine.
De Weerd: Okay.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Cavener.
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March 27, 2018
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Cavener: I think to that point for -- for all of Council, if you have got either suggested
names or suggested agencies that we would maybe want to consider for representation
on this committee, to either send those to either myself or the Mayor or Bill or all of us,
just so we can make sure that they are at least considered before we would bring back
to the Council to ultimately approve.
D. Bower Street Facility Discussion
De Weerd: Okay. Very good. Okay. 10-D is the Bower Street facility discussion. This
was requested to put on. Again, we are looking at city -owned properties and whether
they are in use or not and if they -- as Mr. Nary said, they need to be determined that
there is no use. Since we have started that discussion we have pulled some
information together, but there has been a recent discussion in city employee parking
and fleet vehicles and so at this point I would like to spend a little bit more time further
vetting if there is a need for this property or not in light of some of the additional parking
demands that we are starting to feel in our city employee parking lots and, then, we can
bring this further back if that works with Council. I didn't want to not have this
discussion. We want to make sure that we can bring relevant information.
Little Roberts: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Little Roberts.
Little Roberts: Is the building itself being used for anything? Is it storage?
De Weerd: We were using it for some police storage and -- but the parking area itself is
available for -- for additional parking needs.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: That sounds great if we have a use for it I would love to use it. I just think it's
an eye sore and don't like it sitting there, I'd rather the private sector own it if we are just
kind of casually using it because there is some space there. So, I would love it if we
had a date that it was on a future agenda.
De Weerd: Okay.
Palmer: That's up to you.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
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March 27, 2018
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Borton: How about a month? Like the month of April. I will give you a month versus a
date.
De Weerd: I'd like to --
Borton: I just don't know what date would work.
De Weerd: I think that we could probably have it on our workshop on April 10th,
because I'm gone the two Tuesdays days after that. So, if we can't -- I will at least bring
an update back if I don't have all the information. But I should.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Just for clarification, because I don't want us to set unfair expectations to you
and staff. Is the conversation on the 10th going to be more about parking -- City Hall
parking as a whole and, then, at a later point in time we will talk about the Bower Street
building or is your plan to talk about them both together?
De Weerd: I don't know. For sure we will be prepared -- what -- I think what we need to
do is -- is give some solid numbers about parking spaces, number of employees,
number of fleet and see what all we can park at the Bower Street property and that will
determine whether we design something for the long term. If we design something for
the long term and Council supports that, I think the building probably goes away. But
we want to make sure that the police has other plans for the use that they have and so
can bring that back in -- I believe I can have all the information by the 10th and if I can't
will update you and, then, we will do it in May. Does that make sense?
Cavener: Madam Mayor, it does.
De Weerd: Okay.
Cavener: And I guess just one person's perspective is I'd like us to take a look at
parking as a whole versus how much parking we can fit at the Bower Street building.
think those are two separate conversations and both what our parking availability is
today versus where we project that will go and so that's where my question was, is this
a conversation about parking or a conversation about parking at Bower.
De Weerd: I think when we have the conversation we need to look long term. Anything
further?
Borton: Madam Mayor, nothing for --
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Meridian City Council
March 27, 2018
Page 50 of 52
Borton: -- than there was a very well versed memo on this topic. It was brief. It was on
point.
Bernt: It was very -- it was very wonderful.
Borton: I just was hoping somebody would cite it. Thought it was really good. But we
can move on.
De Weerd: You want me to read it into the record?
Borton: No, it's too late now. It's awkward.
E. Mayor's Office: Resolution No. 18-2067: A Resolution Of
The Mayor And Council Of The City Of Meridian, Idaho
Adopting Amendments To The City Of Meridian Strategic Plan
De Weerd: Okay. If there is nothing further, Council, Item 10-E is Resolution 18-2067.
You have both -- both the clean version in the resolution, as well as the red lined, so
you could see the changes as proposed.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: If there is no discussion I would move that we approved Resolution No. 18-
2067.
Bernt: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Mr. Clerk, will you call roll
on approving Resolution 18-2067.
Roll call: Borton, yea, Milam, yea, Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea, Little Roberts, yea;
Bernt, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 11: Ordinances
A. Ordinance No. 18-1767: Kobe/Cope H-2017-0157
An Ordinance of the City of Meridian granting the rezone of a
parcel of Land being a portion of the W 1/z of the SW 1/a of the
SW 1/4 of Section 8, Township 3 North, Range 1 East, Boise
Meridian, Ada County, Idaho, as described in the attached Exhibit
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March 27, 2018
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"A"; Establishing and Determining the Land Use Zoning
Classification of Said Lands from C -G (General Retail
and Service Commercial) to I -L (Light Industrial 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 for
An Effective Date.
De Weerd: Item 11-A is Ordinance 18-1767. Mr. Clerk, will you, please, read this by
title only.
Coles: Thank you, Madam Mayor. City of Meridian Ordinance No. 18-1767, an
ordinance File H-2017-0157, Kobe/Cope, for the rezone of a parcel of land being a
portion of the W 1/2 of the SW 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 8, Township 3 North, Range 1
East, Boise meridian, City of Meridian, Ada county, Idaho, establishing and determining
the land use zoning classification from C -G, General Retail and Service Commercial
Zoning District, to I -L, Light Industrial Zoning 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 for an effective date.
De Weerd: Okay. You have heard the reading of this ordinance. I don't see anyone
who would like to hear it read. Do I have a motion from Council?
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: I move that we approve Ordinance No. 18-1765 with suspension of rules.
Little Roberts: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 11-A. If there is no
discussion, Mr. Clerk.
Roll call: Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea;
Bernt, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 12: Future Meeting Topics
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March 27, 2018
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De Weerd: Item 12 under Future Meeting Topics. I -- anything under this item? I do
have a couple of events. You have Easter egg hunts on Saturday. One of the biggest
ones is at Kleiner Park from 10:00 to 3:00 and that's by Capital Church and Meridian
Optimist has their annual Easter egg hunt at Meridian Elementary. That begins at 11:00
and it lasts 15 minutes. If you have ever been to it you know why it goes so fast. Five
Mile Creek H-2 segment, the ribbon cutting is Wednesday, April 4th, at 4:00 o'clock.
Bring your bikes if you want to experience the ride. And Do The Right is Thursday, April
5th all day long. All day you have to be kind to the person to your right. Okay. I can do
it. And, you know, if you really want to you can turn around and do it on your other right,
too.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: If you don't want to do the right, do the left. Do -- just be kind. Mr. Borton.
Borton: Just Future Meeting Topics. A heads up on the -- the agenda for the next
couple of weeks. Next Tuesday is Costco Tuesday and, then, the workshop is getting
chock full of stuff. So, as a heads up the workshop we are going to have an MDC
annual report, the New Ventures Lab quarterly report, our Finance Department annual
report. IT annual report. Clerk's office annual report part two continued and added to
that will be the Bower Street discussion and findings and line back follow up. So, busy
workshop in a couple of weeks.
Item 13: Amend onto agenda: Executive Session per Idaho State Code
74-206(1)(a): To consider hiring a public officer, employee,
staff member or individual agent, wherein the respective
qualities of individuals are to be evaluated in order to fill a
particular vacancy or need.
De Weerd: Thank you. Okay. Item 13 is Executive Session. Do I have a motion?
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: Move that we go into Executive Session pursuant to Idaho State Code 74-
206(1)(a).
Cavener: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to adjourn into Executive Session. Mr. Clerk,
will you call roll.
Roll call: Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea,
Bernt, yea.
Meridian City Council
March 27, 2018
Page 53 of 52
De Weerd: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: (8:26 p.m. to 9:15 p.m.)
De Weerd: I would entertain a motion to come out of Executive Session.
Milam: So moved.
Cavener: Second.
De Weerd: All those in favor say aye. All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
De Weerd: Do I have a motion to adjourn?
Milam: So moved.
Little Roberts: Second.
De Weerd: All those in favor? All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 9:16 P.M.
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