HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-06-26Meridian City Council June 26, 2018.
A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, June
26, 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.
Item 1: Roll -call Attendance:
Roll call.
X Anne Little Roberts X Joe Borton
X Ty Palmer X Treg Bernt
X Genesis Milam _X Lucas Cavener
X Mayor Tammy de Weerd
Others Present: Bill Nary, C.Jay Coles, Warren Stewart, Cameron Ariel, Brian
Campbell, Mark Niemeyer, Pam Orr, Steve Siddoway, Colin Moss and Dean Willis.
De Weerd: I'd like to start this meeting first by welcoming all of you in attendance.
Thank you for joining us. It's nice to see friendly faces in the audience. For the record it
is Tuesday, June 26th. It's 6:00 p.m. We will start with roll call attendance.
Item 2: Pledge of Allegiance
De Weerd: Item No. 2 is the Pledge of Allegiance. If you will all rise and join us in the
pledge to our flag.
(Pledge of Allegiance recited.)
Item 3: Community Invocation by Darrell Taylor with Ten Mile Christian
Church
De Weerd: Okay. Item 3 is the community invocation. Is Darrell here? I don't see him.
Item 4: Adoption of Agenda
De Weerd: So, I will go ahead and move to Item 4, which is adoption of the agenda.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: There are no additions to the agenda, but I would -- I would ask to move Item
8-C to Item 8-A, field naming request and with that amendment I would approve -- or
move that we approve the amended agenda.
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June 26, 2018
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Cavener: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve the agenda as amended. All
those in favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
Item 5: Future Meeting Topics - Public Forum (Up to 30 Minutes Maximum)
Coles: Madam Mayor, for Item No. 5 we had several signups this evening, but all of
them indicate that they want to participate in what is now Item 8-A, which is the Kate
Marshall field naming request.
Item 6: Consent Agenda [Action Item]
Commercial
Fees
Department
A. Big D Office (Swindell Subdivision) Partial Release of Sanitary
Sewer and Water Easement
B. Interagency Professional Services Agreement between Idaho
Division of Building Safety and City of Meridian for Building
Inspection Services
C. Interagency Professional Services Agreement between Idaho
Division of Building Safety and City of Meridian for
and Residential Building Plan Examiner Services
D. Interagency Professional Services Agreement between Idaho
Division of Building Safety and City of Meridian for Electrical
Plan Review and Inspection Services
E. Resolution No. 18-2085: A Resolution Adopting Decreased
Of The Meridian City Clerk's Office; Authorizing The
To Collect Such Fees; And Providing An Effective Date.
F. Approval of Award of Bid and Agreement to AME ELECTRIC,
INC. for the PRVs 14 & 18 CONTROL SYSTEMS UPGRADE
project for a Not -To -Exceed amount of $58,400.00.
G. City Financial Report for May 2018
H. AP Invoices for Payment 6/27/18 - $4,572,458.96
Meridian City Council
June 26, 2018
Page 3 of 40
De Weerd: Okay. Very good. We will, then, go to -- Item 6 is our Consent Agenda.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: With no changes to the Consent Agenda, I would move that we approve it as
published and for the Mayor to sign and 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: ALLAYES.
Item 7: Items Moved From The Consent Agenda [Action Item]
De Weerd: There were no items moved from the Consent Agenda.
Item 8: Action Items
C. Kate Marshall Field Naming Request
De Weerd: So, we will move to Item 8 -- on the amended agenda, 8-A, which was the
previous 8-C, and consider the Kate Marshall field naming request by Colin.
Bernt: Madam Mayor, did you mean to say supervisor of the year Colin?
Palmer: Yes.
Moss: Thank you for that clarification, Treg.
De Weerd: Great to have royalty in our midst.
Moss: Good evening, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. I am here to simply
introduce this item. I won't spend too much time, but I will, you know, of course, answer
questions if you have them, so I will -- I will leave it to those behind me to kind of give a
description of who Kate was and what she meant to them, but our experience -- our
department's experience -- it started -- really started with a phone call with -- with the
desire to hold Kate's funeral services on Field 8 at Settlers Park, which we were
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June 26, 2018
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honored to oblige in that request and so that took place in the spring -- spring -summer
of last year and since then the -- the way that we have kind of described the -- the
creation of a -- an engraved rock and a sign -- a bit of, you know, well-intentioned folks
that got a little bit ahead of themselves in creating that rock and sign without coming to
the Meridian Parks and Recreation Department and consulting us before creating those
things and -- and for placing them at the field and so, basically, what happened is the --
those items came to the park and they were placed without the knowledge of the Parks
and Recreation Department and we worked with them to try and, you know, find a better
-- well, we worked with them to try to remove the rock from the park initially, so that we
could go through this process. It ended up staying at the park for quite a while. The
sign is actually still at the park now, it's on field number eight and the rock currently is at
Memorial Monuments. It was removed in September after the conclusion of the Kate
Marshall Memorial Tournament that took place at Settlers Park and so I think it's
important to note that Martie Marshall and Trent Marshall, Kate's parents, were not
really -- were not at all involved in that process and they have kind of taken over within
the last couple of months to take over this process to do it the right way and so with that
being said we took this item to the Meridian Parks and Recreation Commission earlier
this month, as per our field naming policy or our park naming policy and it was heard by
the commission. The commission was extremely supportive. They voted unanimously
to recommend to Council to place the rock, to leave the sign where it is and, in addition,
they voted to add something else at that field that would give a little context to those two
other items, so that those who saw those in the future would know a little bit of the
backstory of Kate. So, what we have before you tonight is this request to rename Field
No. 8 at Settlers Park after Kate Marshall and then -- and, then, with all these -- some of
these items that have already been talked about, it's a bit of a unique request, because
normally with a park naming request we would come to you and ask first to name a
facility after an individual and, then, after that go through the process of deciding what
we would do to memorialize that person at that location. This request -- the first
decision is going to be whether or not to the name the field and, then, second decision
will be to what to do to -- to honor her at that field and -- and the unique part is, of
course, that we have an existing rock, we have an existing sign and we also have a
recommendation from the -- the commission to do something a little bit extra to -- to
provide some context and so what we were hoping for in -- from tonight's meeting is, of
course, the first decision, but, then, also some direction from Council on what you would
like to do with the -- with the items that we already have created. So, with that I will
stand for questions before I introduce Beth Toal, who is going to be the -- the
representative for the family tonight to speak on their behalf.
De Weerd: Okay. Thank you, Colin. Council, any question?
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: Madam Mayor. Thank you, Colin. Welcome, everyone. There is a lot of people
here to support this application. We welcome you. Quick question. Can you give us
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June 26, 2018
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some details in regards to the bio? That's not normal protocol when it comes to our,
you know, naming facilities or naming fields. You know, can you give us some insight
on what that bio is going to -- what's it going to say, what's -- where is it going to be at?
Moss: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, Councilman Bernt, that's a good
question. I think -- you know, if we do something, you know, a bio, then, what we would
do is -- is really the normal process, we would decide here at this meeting that we want
to do something like that and, then, our department would work with the family to come
up with, you know, the location of where that would go and what it's going to say and so
I -- I couldn't say at all right now what -- what that would say, you know, what we would -
- what we want. If Council decides that they would like something like that, you know,
it's impossible for me to say right now how long that would be or what kind of details
would be included. So, yeah, we -- we would work with the family on that, though, if that
was what Council wishes.
De Weerd: So, Colin, can you tell us what the naming policy is?
Moss: Sure. So, the -- the procedure for naming a park facility -- we have a -- you
know, a couple page document and, essentially, what happens is the -- the applicant
submits to the Parks and Recreation Department a -- a bio of the individual that -- the
facility -- they would like to name the facility after and it just provides some -- some
context about who they were, what connection do they have to that specific facility and
to the community as a whole. We, then, take that application to the Parks and
Recreation Commission and the commission, you know, hears that request and hears
any public comments about that individual or why they, you know, support or don't
support that request and, then, the commission votes to make a recommendation to the
Council and, then, the Council, as we are here tonight, makes the final decision on
whether or not that facility will be named after that individual.
De Weerd: Okay. Thank you.
Moss: So, we are the last step.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Colin, is a photograph usually part of that bio?
Moss: Typically it would be, yeah.
Milam: Okay.
De Weerd: Okay. Any other questions?
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
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June 26, 2018
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De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Just a comment for you, Colin. Appreciate the memo. I can tell that a lot of
time and thought was put into kind of summarizing how we got here today and I think
special attention to the family and all those involved to make sure that everything was
reported accurately. I really appreciate that. It made it very easy to come tonight with
an easy decision to be made. Thank you.
De Weerd: Okay. Anything further from Council?
Moss: So, at this time, yeah, I would like to turn it over to Beth Toal, who is going to
speak on behalf of the family.
De Weerd: Okay. Thank you. Good evening, Beth. If you will, please, state your name
and address for the record.
Toal: Absolutely. My name is Beth Toal. I live at 1980 South Daisy Place in Boise.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Toal: Madam Mayor, Council Members, my name is Beth Toal and I am a friend of the
Marshall family and they have asked me to speak on their behalf this evening and I
really appreciate the opportunity to say a few words about Kate and this important
request. As I'm sure you noticed from the pre -work materials you read in preparing for
tonight's meeting, Kate Marshall was an exceptional young lady. She was a native of
Meridian and while her teams' travels for softball took her all over the state, she spent
countless hours at Settlers Park practicing and playing the game she loved. Field 8 was
Kate's home field, a place that gave her confidence, joy, and inspiration. So, it's very
appropriate for the field to hold the permanent memorial that we are requesting tonight.
Kate was a straight -A student at Rocky Mountain High who went out of her way to show
kindness to others. From a young age Kate was the one who, without hesitation, would
extend a hand to help another classmate. She was the one that would pick the child for
a team or a class project that maybe no other kids would pick. She saw someone in
need -- if she saw someone in need she would find a way to help them, a lesson
modeled for her by her amazing parents. Kate contributed a great deal of energy and
kindness to the softball community, too. She regularly helped young players, serving as
a role model and a mentor for girls just beginning the sport she loved. Kate represented
the essence of team. She was a fierce competitor with a work ethic that matched. Kate
was respectful to her coaches, eager to learn, and loyal to her teammates. You can see
from the amount of support from the softball community here tonight Kate was loved
and respected as both a player and a teammate. I honestly could go on and on about
Kate and I know that many in this room wished that we could. We love to talk about
Kate and remember her. But I understand, however, that we are here tonight focused
on one request and I also understand that as Council Members you have a number of
considerations when responding to a request like ours. What I would leave you with is
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June 26, 2018
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this: As we think about the community we are trying to build, the environment we are all
interested in raising our children in, we want to be mindful of the role models we hold up
and ways in which we recognize and highlight the values we hold dear. Kate Marshall
is a shining example of those values and an incredible example of what is right with the
youth in our community. She was so many things. A daughter. Sister. Friend.
Teammate. But most of all she was a good role model for all of us. Honoring her
memory with a permanent memorial at Settlers Park is an important and meaningful
way that we can honor her memory and inspire Kate's love of softball and her love of
community and others. On behalf of the Marshall family and the many people who
loved and were inspired by Kate, I respectfully ask for your approval of our request to
name Field No. 8 at Settlers Park and place the memorial items we have discussed in
honor of Kate Marshall. Thank you for your consideration.
De Weerd: Thank you so much, Beth. Council, do you have any questions for Beth?
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Beth, I'm sure I know the answer to this, but I'm going to ask you, I assume
you would be willing to work with park staff on a bio or some sort -- whatever if Council
decided they want to do something, you would be willing to work with staff to put that
together?
Toal: Absolutely.
Cavener: Great. Thank you.
De Weerd: Any further questions? So, Beth, how do you anticipate seeing this going?
assume you're the spokesperson for the entire room.
Toal: I don't know if I can say that, but I know I am for the family, so -- I'm sure there are
others who have some things that they would like to share, too, if there is time.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Toal: Thank you.
De Weerd: Council, this is not a public hearing, but would you like to hear a couple
more comments? Good evening. If you will, please, state your name and address for
the record.
Alandt: Emily Alandt. 4688 West Victory Road, Meridian, Idaho.
De Weerd: Thank you.
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June 26, 2018
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Alandt: Madam Mayor, Council, thank you for allowing me to speak today. My name is
Emily Alandt. I was born here in Meridian, but I'm a military dependent, so I started my
softball journey in North Carolina. I did not know Kate until we played on the Meridian
Youth All-Star Team together when we were ten. I did, however, know about Mo Brooks
and Roger Wolf due to how my father spoke about the influences these great men had
on his childhood. My dad speaks highly of both men, who now have Meridian fields
named after them. They were part of a great community and now have legacies left in
their names. Because we lost our Kate at such a young age, she was unable to have
as many years to make her mark with his community, but make a difference that she
did. I'm asking you today to let us name Settlers Park Field 8 after Kate Marshall and
place a plaque about her character, so that she may leave behind her legacy. Not
because this field was her home field, as it was for many of us, but because Kate is
deserving as a great community member to represent a legacy field. Kate is a shining
example of what hard work and heart you get in life. Kate was not recommended by her
coach to go to all star tryouts, but she went anyway and made our team. Kate did not
have a position she was dominant in, but she practiced daily on her own and made
herself into an excellent in fielder. Kate had fight and determination, but, above all, she
had heart. Kate sent my father to the hospital to get stitches in his chin after ripping a
line drive back at his face. After all, he deserved it for underestimating her hitting ability.
He knew it and she knew it, but she baked him cookies anyway. Kate always baked for
us when we were sick. She defended anyone who was ever picked on or bullied. She
had no tolerance for anyone who wasn't about teammate. She loved deeply and was
feisty enough to let you have it if you are out of line. I last saw Kate on Tuesday, the
week that she passed. Too weak to play in her district game with Rocky Mountain, she
was wrapped in a blanket cheering from the sidelines. I have seen Kate play with
broken bones and torn ligaments, so I knew that she was very ill that day as she was
sitting in her blanket in the stands. I could have never known that would have been the
last time any of us saw her. She was a people person, though. She always showed up
for her people. Kate was a year younger than most of us on the Boise Blast team, so
when we moved to high school ball, she was left behind for the spring season, but she
made us bows in all of our different colors for good luck at tryouts. She also came to
cheer on at our games. I'm truly lucky that my father was stationed back here, so she
could be a part of this -- so I can be a part of this community. I'm blessed to have
known and played with Kate. Help us honor her life by using her as an example for the
best of our youth. You have an opportunity today to not only give back to her family,
who is also greatly involved in youth sports in our valley, but to use Kate as an icon for
upcoming little girls to recognize that having a selfless heart and pure determination can
get you where you need to be. Thank you.
De Weerd: Thank you for that heartfelt testimony. Council, do you have any questions?
You can grab a Kleenex on your way back. Is there anyone else who would like to
comment? Other than all of you. Good evening.
Shiflet: Good evening. Clint Shiflet. 5064 North Mendelson Avenue in Meridian. I don't
know if you have enough Kleenexes here for the room, honestly. I had the honor and
privilege of coaching against Kate and I used her as an example to my teammates on
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June 26, 2018
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how to play the game. She was a teammate of my daughter's in high school and on her
travel team occasionally, but when I would coach against Kate when we played on
different teams, she was always the person you didn't want to see coming up in the
bottom of the last inning with tying runs on base, because you know she would pull
through. If you approve this resolution for Kate, you not only honor Kate, you honor her
memory, but you honor the way she played the game. You honor the game of softball
for Kate. She played the game the way it's supposed to be played. She respected the
game. She respected her coaches. She respected her teammates. And she respected
her opponents. And she even respected the umpires when they made the wrong
decision. But by doing this you set an example for all those girls that are coming up by
placing Kate's name there and having that biography you allow others to have that
same opportunity and I strongly urge you to approve this. Thank you.
De Weerd: Thank you. Good evening.
Schneidt: Kacey Schneidt. 4268 North Portage Avenue, Meridian. Madam Mayor,
Members of the Council, I have had multiple opportunities to work with female athletes
over the past 30 years, as a player, a teacher, and a coach. I have seen how sports
can have a huge impact on girls and their success in life, not just in sports. In fact,
research shows that female athletes are more likely to graduate from college and more
likely to be successful in their chosen career than non -athletes. The character values
that are learned through sports are the main reason for the success. Kate Marshall
represented these values both on and off the field. She was a strong leader with an
amazing work ethic. She was kind, encouraging, and supportive of her teammates.
She also encouraged and motivated younger athletes in their games, practices, and at
clinics. Kate was one of the most coachable athletes I have worked with and I would
encourage all young athletes to strive to be like Kate. After Kate's passing it was
evident that I was not the only one that recognized these strong core values that Kate
possessed. Due to stories that were shared about Kate around the valley, I learned that
there were countless number of softball players, coaches, and families that Kate made
an impact on. She was a role model whose work ethic and positive attitude will be
remembered forever. It is important for future female athletes to have strong role
models to look up to. By honoring her name at the softball field at Settlers Park, it
provides young ladies a very strong role model that any parent would want their child to
strive to be. I truly hope that you can see the value that this will bring to our community
for years to come. Thank you.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Taylor: Jake Taylor. 2011 West Russell Drive, Meridian, Idaho. My wife and I have
been in education for 25 years all in Meridian here. The Treasure Valley. My wife is an
administrator in the district. I'm a teacher and coach and I was fortunate enough to
coach Kate the last year of her passing and everything you have heard tonight is what I
was going to talk about, so the word that I described Kate most is -- is selfless. My
family and I are moving in the next couple of weeks and we are taking Kate with us and
sure hope when we come back we can see something in Settlers Park. Thank you.
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June 26, 2018
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De Weerd: Thank you, Jake. Good evening. Yes, you can pull that puppy down.
B.Schneidt: My name is Brooklyn Schneidt. 4268 North Portage Avenue, Meridian,
Idaho.
De Weerd: Thank you.
B.Schneidt: Madam Mayor and Members of the Council, I was lucky enough to spend
time with Kate at the softball field after I joined the Boise Blast. I admired Kate because
she was always working hard, even when her team wasn't playing. She would go
support other teams in the Blast, including mine. Though I never got to play with Kate
or go to school with her, I saw her how she was so hard working and dedicated to what
she did. The rock that was created isn't going to just be a rock at the field, it is going to
help girls see how important she was to the community. It is showing how she was kind,
strong, hardworking, and how she was a role model to everyone. Kate was a role
model to me and I hope that she can continue to be a role model for other girls through
the memories that we share at Kate's field. So, thank you and I hope you see what this
rock really means.
De Weerd: Thank you, Brooklyn. I think you all have written the text of what has been
asked to be put on the field. Good words. I think Council -- yes, sir.
Kloczko: Justin Kloczko. 3627 North Elsinore, Meridian, Idaho.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Kloczko: I wasn't going to talk and I am, because we are a rival of Kate's and she's
everything I want my kids to be and I'm not just talking about my players, I'm talking
about my personal kids. I coached college ball at several universities and she's the kid
that we recruit. She's the example of what we want at the college level and I think you
guys -- I think you guys have heard enough and I think it's pretty simple, but -- and I
think the last girl that talked just killed me, just -- that's hard. And same with all these
people that have talked about her. But you guys -- she exemplifies everything that you
want your kids to be, whether they are an athlete or not, and I think that's what we do
when we dedicate a field to somebody. It's not just about athletics. So, I just want you
guys to know that is from a rival, not just from their family or their friends and stuff like
that, and that's from our whole organization from Meridian, Idaho, to Washington. We
have teams up there and they think the same way. So, I just want you guys to know it's
not just here, it's another state, too.
De Weerd: Thank you. It's not that we have -- haven't heard enough, I think we heard
all the right things and even more. So, thank you to all those who provided testimony
and -- and words. I -- I think this Council certainly has a lot of good information to
make a decision on. Is there anyone that needs to get another word in? I think just all
of you being here says -- speaks volumes. Council, any questions? Okay. You have
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June 26, 2018
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an action item in front of you and a request and a recommendation from our Parks
Commission to name Field 8 the Kate Marshall Home Field.
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: Excuse me, Madam Mayor. Madam Mayor, I move that we approve -- I move
that we approve the field naming, the rock, the bio, everything presented to us on behalf
of Kate Marshall.
Little Roberts: Second.
Borton: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second and probably a third, a fourth, a fifth and a
sixth. Any discussion?
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: This is really special seeing everybody here sharing these stories. There is
comments coming to us about the city asking for the city to recognize and honor this --
this special member of our community, but it is very clear to us up here that that is being
done every day by each of you. The city will certainly take the right steps to honor her
memory and legacy with this request, but it's readily apparent each and every one of
you whose life she touched honor her legacy every day and from what we take in what
we have seen here and what we have read coming into today, that each of you also
have an opportunity after today to go forward and in honor of her legacy, the way I see
it, and compete harder and to act with integrity and compassion, the way she has and
the way it's been described. I think one of the greatest tributes to someone as special
as Kate, not only to name the field and hope people will ask who is Kate Marshall in
years down the road, so we all get a chance to tell a story of how she touched our lives
and what she meant. I think it's really neat to watch this group of individuals who all
coached her, coached against her, grew up with her, to have that lifelong opportunity to
honor her legacy every day in how you conduct yourself and the way she has been
described I think is a wonderful testament to a role model example for all of us up here
and for everyone down there. So, I think today is -- is certainly an appropriate special
recognition that's well deserved, but I think that legacy and those steps continue
tomorrow for all of us, too, and that's a gift Kate Marshall gave all of us and today is a
great example and a great reminder for us for that going forward, so very pleased to see
this being approved and very pleased to see all of us to take those steps to honor on
her legacy going forward and how she conducted herself, so she's a special kid.
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June 26, 2018
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De Weerd: Well -- and as Councilman Borton so articulated, it's up to all of us who
have heard Kate's story to have it live through all of us. So, hopefully, you're all
ambassadors that leave tonight to -- to continue to keep the meaning behind this field
naming alive, as do -- to really establish her legacy that you spoke of tonight. Very
compelling and it's something I think that we can all aspire to is living life the way you
have described that Kate has. So, it is a challenge to all of us. 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: ALLAYES.
De Weerd: Thank you so much for sharing just a little piece of Kate tonight and we look
forward to seeing you out there as -- as the sign and -- signs go up and the rock is
placed and -- and, hopefully, we will all live that legacy. Thanks for joining us.
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: One question. What was her number?
De Weerd: Thank you. Okay. Item -- you don't have to stay.
Milam: But you can.
De Weerd: But you certainly can.
A. Final Plat for Bainbridge Subdivision No. 8 (H-2018-0053) by
Brighton Investments, LLC, Located West of N. Ten Mile Rd.
and South of W. Lost Rapids Dr.
De Weerd: Okay. Council, I will go ahead and move to Item -- the original 8-A, which is
the final plat for H-2018-0053 and ask for staff comments. Oh, there is staff.
Ariel: Here we are. Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, pleasure to be with you.
This is a -- the applicant has applied for a final plat approval for 52 building lots and
eight common lots on approximately 15 acres of land in the R-8 zoning district. The
proposed plat is in substantial complete compliance with the approved preliminary plat
as required and it's my understanding that the applicant is in agreement -- written
agreement with the staff report.
De Weerd: Okay. Council, any questions?
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June 26, 2018
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Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: I move we approve H-2018-0053.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 8-A. 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: ALLAYES.
B. Final Plat for Seyam East (H-2018-0055) by Volante
Investments,
LLLP, Located on the North Side of E. Franklin Rd. Midway
Between N. Eagle Rd. and N. Cloverdale Rd.
De Weerd: Item 8-13 is final plat for H-2018-0055. I will ask for staff comments.
Arie: Thank you, Madam Mayor. This also is a final plat request, consisting of ten
building lots on approximately 23 acre of land, in an I -L zone. The proposed plat is in
substantial compliance with the approved preliminary plat as required. The applicant
has also submitted written agreement with the staff report.
De Weerd: Thank you. Council, any further information needed? If not, I would
entertain a motion.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: I move we approve H-2018-0055.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 8-13. Mr. Clerk, will you call
roll.
Meridian City Council
June 26, 2018
Page 14 of 40
Roll call: Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea; Bernt,
yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
D. Fire Department Budget Amendment for Stainless Steel
Decontamination Sinks at Fire Stations
De Weerd: Item 8-C has already been heard. Item 8-D under our Fire Department.
Niemeyer: Madam Mayor, Council, good evening. Before I get started with the budget
amendment I just want to say thank you and commend you for the Kate Marshall field
naming. My daughter, as some of you know, plays softball, played against Kate, went
to the state tournament that year and our girls all wore purple bows in their hair of all
things in softball, but good choice. Good choice. With that we do have a budget --
budget amendment this evening. I briefly mentioned this during the budget hearing
process a couple of weeks ago. This is for the decon sinks in our decon room. Decon
is short for decontamination. So, this is a room where our firefighters come back, they
have been on a call in which they have had equipment -- equipment, clothing, PPE
contaminated with a number of different body substances. I will just leave it at that.
Under our infection control plan, based upon an OSHA recommendation, also the state
requires us to have an infection control plan. The cleaning of that equipment is done in
a specified room in which they glove up and they use the sinks to decon their
equipment. When our current fire stations were built for some reason those were built
out of wood with Formica covering. That is not the best practice at all. Additionally,
they put drop-in sinks, instead of built-in sinks. So, imagine that you have some stuff
that you're washing off, you want that to drain properly, you want it to be a built-in sink
so that that all drains into the sink the proper way. So, the last budget year we came to
you with a budget amendment -- a G100 request. I apologize. We have gotten pricing
for this at the time for those sinks and I mentioned this during the budget hearing.
Those sinks were considerably less than what they are today a year and a half later.
So, basically, we have enough money to do one station. That leaves three left over. I
know, Councilman Cavener, you asked for pictures of those sinks. So, this picture here
with the red tape all over it is such a picture and it didn't turn out great, but you can see
that there is a lot of chipping going on and if you look at the Formica of those
countertops and the sinks you see the chipping at every station. In the background you
should have a one piece splash. You can see that's two pieces. You can see that the
sink is actually built on top of the counter, instead of sunk in, so when you go to drain
everything it drains properly. The second picture you have is what a proper sink should
look like. You can see a rolled front edge. It's a one piece back splash. The sinks are
down, so that when things drain off of the equipment that we are washing down they
drain into the sink the proper way. It keeps contamination contained to where it needs
to be and not soaking into exposed wood or into the back splash area or around the
sink edges. So, the request for the amendment is 27,900 dollars. The sinks -- it's a one
Meridian City Council
June 26, 2018
Page 15 of 40
piece sink. It needs to be plumbed in. Those are 9,300 dollars apiece. As I mentioned
we have enough to get that done at Fire Station 1. As you know, I don't like coming
before you with budget amendments, it's not the funnest thing to do. However, I think
this is important enough to bring before you as a budget amendment, so we can get this
done for the safety of our firefighters. And with that I would stand for any questions.
De Weerd: Thank you. Council, any questions?
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Mark, just a question in terms of the contribution from the rural. So, is it total
27,900 plus the dollars from the rural or is this amount -- technically is the total spent
going to be less when you factor in the amount from the rural?
Niemeyer: Yeah. The total is 27,900. So, excuse me, the rural won't get an invoice for
that. Their contribution right now is 11 percent, so we didn't incorporate that into the
request.
De Weerd: Okay. Any further questions? Okay. Thank you, chief. Okay. Council?
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: Do you have another?
Cavener: I guess -- thank you, Council Member Palmer, Madam Mayor. It's not another
question -- I guess maybe it is a question. Would this body prefer to have a clean
budget amendment that reflects the total request amount? Before us is 27,900 dollars,
but the department doesn't need 27,900 to purchase the item if you factor in the rural
contribution or if the chief wants to give us an explanation about how that works in terms
of invoicing the rural and -- or maybe Mr. Nary, who grabs the mic. Just somebody --
somebody who is more of an expert about how the --
Niemeyer: I will give you the operations side and, then, Mr. Nary can chime in.
Typically through Finance what we do is we supply the --
De Weerd: Get spending authority.
Niemeyer: Yeah.
De Weerd: You get spending authority. It has to be the entire amount. The revenue will
offset.
Meridian City Council
June 26, 2018
Page 16 of 40
Niemeyer: You said it better than I would.
Cavener: Works for me. Thank you.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: I move we approve the Fire Department budget amendment for the stainless
steel decontamination sinks for the fire stations.
Borton: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? 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: ALLAYES.
E. Fire Department Budget Amendment for Public Education
Supplies
De Weerd: Item 8-E is also under our Fire Department for a budget amendment for
public education supplies. Hello, Pam.
Orr: Hi, there. Good evening, Madam Mayor and Members of the Council. Thank you
so much for hearing this spending request. So, we are asking for an authorization to
spend in the amount of 15,821 dollars. These are monies that have already been
received via grants or donations that came in during FY -2018. These funds will be
spent on public education supplies and, then, also we have already taught a class for
our car seat technicians for our last recruit academies. We received a grant for those.
And so we are just requesting to bring that money back in. So, it's 15,821 dollars. So,
before you you will see a total amendment request as being zero, because that -- that
money has already been received.
De Weerd: That's awesome. And it's awesome to see these kind of community
partners. Thank you, Pam. Council, any questions?
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Meridian City Council
June 26, 2018
Page 17 of 40
Palmer: I move we approve the fire department budget amendment for public education
supplies.
Borton: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 8-D. 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: ALLAYES.
De Weerd: Thank you, Pam.
Orr: Thank you very much.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: I'm just going to brag about Pam for a second. Totally off topic. But one of the
many things you do, which is really fantastic, is provide the CPR and AED training to our
businesses throughout the community and we had you come out to our company and
train our employees and staff and things like that and might not get a whole lot of
notoriety and press, but it's fantastic. You can save lives and you're wonderful at it. So,
thank you.
De Weerd: Thank you. And I think that that would be her opportunity to extend an
invitation to all of you.
Orr: That's exactly what I was going to do. Exactly. So, we do have two hands -only
CPR classes coming up on July 11th and, then, we will have a CPR certification class
that's going to be in July as well. So, we always send that out to the city. We would
love to, you know, train and certify each one of you. I think it's very, very important.
And, then, I was going to say just recently we had the opportunity to go to Scentsy and
we trained 670 people over there on hands -only CPR and AED. So, that's pretty
amazing when you think about Heart Safe Meridian. So, yeah, just super, super proud
of that.
De Weerd: And one of the reasons that Heart Safe Meridian received a city
achievement award through the Association of Idaho Cities. So, thank you.
Orr: Appreciate it. Thank you.
Meridian City Council
June 26, 2018
Page 18 of 40
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: Personal invite, please.
Orr: I will do that.
Bernt: I'd like to do that on --
Orr: Thank you.
F. Old City Hall RFP Update and Proposed Addendum No. 2
De Weerd: 8-F is under our Community Development director.
Ariel: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, a pleasure to be with you on this topic as
well. Post the pre -proposal meeting with our potential participants in the old city hall
RFP, there were just a few -- actually one question that wasn't already addressed in the
previous addendum and/or in the RFP and so this is the second addendum to address
that question specifically. So, I will just go through this really quickly. It's fairly
straightforward. The question that was -- was asked was, essentially, what is the -- you
know, internet or the fiber capacity to the building and so we answered that with the
assistance of Rick Ritter that there is a -- currently there is a one gigabit of installed
capacity to the building, but -- or that's being used currently, but, then, also that there is
the potential of using ten gigabits if -- if -- if needed. So, that -- that question was -- was
addressed and, then, we -- we have been in preparation of a draft -- I guess let me back
up. Two -- two other items that we wanted to include in this addendum. The first was,
essentially, an attendance list of those that were in participation and, then, the third
item, which was a little bit more -- obviously more work was a draft development
agreement. Of course this is by no means the agreement that we would be entering
into, it's just to give them an idea of what our general template would be like with the
winning proposer. So, with that this is -- that -- that's the -- the content of the addendum
and look forward to answering any questions that you may have about the pre -proposal
meeting or the process going forward or whatever I can assist with.
De Weerd: Thank you, Cameron. Any questions?
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: I move we approve the old city hall RFP -- or amendment -- hang on. I'm on
the wrong item. The RFP proposed addendum number two.
Meridian City Council
June 26, 2018
Page 19 of 40
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 8-F. Any discussion from
Council? Seeing none, Mr. Clerk.
Roll call: Borton, abstain; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea;
Bernt, yea.
De Weerd: Okay. The ayes have it.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSTAIN.
Item 9: Department Reports
A. Western Ada Recreation District (WARD ) Park Asset
Acquisition Discussion
De Weerd: 9-A. Council, in front of you we wanted to introduce a topic that is not new
to the city. When Shaun and I talked it was really something that had been discussed
as early has when the Parks and Recreation Commission was first established. Again,
reconsidered in front of Council ten years ago when Mr. Siddoway started as our
director and the Council at that time had no interest in pursuing the -- the idea further. It
has been something that Councilman Rountree -- former Councilman Rountree and I
talked about a couple years ago as they were exploring any duplication of services as
Boise was considering challenging the -- the overlap of the services that WARD
provides and the services they provided their -- their citizens. As that was trans -- going
through the process Mr. Wardle became chair and we have been meeting several times
now to talk about the possibility of the city considering taking on Fuller Park, as probably
most of you know, a lot of our citizens don't know the difference between a city owned
park and Western Ada Recreation District. We feel we have had Todd Lavoie and Steve
Siddoway and a couple of his team members working to -- to look at what the public
benefit would be and working with Shaun and his team in furthering those discussions.
Wanted to have that discussion with you tonight and so I will ask Mr. Wardle if he would,
please, join us at the podium.
Wardle: Thank you. Shaun Wardle. 2239 East Greiner Street here in Meridian for all
your fan mail. Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, thank you for having me here
today to discuss this item. I am the chairman of the Western Ada Recreation District,
which owns Fuller Park, as well as the Meridian community pool. For the record I'm
going to note that we have one of our commissioners, Colin Moss, here in the audience.
Colin, as you know, was here for an earlier item and is staying. We also have our
secretary -treasurer Carol White and I noticed that we have a current commissioner
named Tyler Rountree, who is not here this evening, but former commissioner Rountree
may stop back in from -- from outside. So, thank you very much for having me today.
We are here to talk a little bit about duplication of services and this item came up after
the Western Ada Recreation District ran a series of pool bonds, which did not -- did not
pass. As part of that process we had some citizens that were in the Western Ada
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June 26, 2018
Page 20 of 40
Recreation District that were citizens of Boise and they approached the board and said
we feel like there is a duplication of services. We are paying Boise City tax -- Boise City
taxes, which support the -- the YMCA and the pool there. The board heard all those --
all those issues, got some good legal opinions and as part of that we decided to remove
those properties from our taxing district and I would like to thank Carol publicly for -- for
making that happen. That was, I can tell you, not the easiest process and we made it
by 48 hours or so. Yeah. So, we made it by four days. So, those properties have been
removed from the taxing district. The board felt like that was the proper thing to do for
for that -- for those entities. We also began the discussion about what other kinds of
of services are duplicated. We ask for an Attorney General's opinion from -- from that
organization. They gave us an opinion that everything that we are doing currently is
within the scope of our authority within the scope of -- of the state statute and -- and our
-- our founding documents. But we are here today to talk about what is the community
purpose. How can we -- how can we better serve this community and is there a
partnership opportunity. I will say just as a clarification -- so, we removed the -- the --
the properties from our taxing district. That was about 15 percent of our district. As part
of our budget discussion one of the things that we could have done as an entity is -- is
leave our budget the same. Obviously, the services were the same, everything that we
were doing remained the same, we just removed some of those properties. We felt like
the taxpayers needed to see a savings as those properties were removed, so we
reduced our -- our budget by the amount of those properties and so that's one of the
things that we are here to talk about is how could the taxpayers save money if there
were -- if there were partnerships, if there were some of those other items that we could
work out with the city. So, that was a -- sort of a long history of where we are at. Just to
give you a quick -- a quick snapshot of what the Western Ada Recreation District is
doing, we finished this May -- the finalization of our -- our three plus million dollar pool
project and we have completely renovated that pool, if you haven't been out -- been off
the high dive, please, come and join us. It's a great experience. One of the things that -
- that the Western Ada Recreation District did, certainly prior to my term, was save cash
and we did that entire project out of cash. We didn't put any debt on it and the project is
currently up and running. In addition to that, we have also taken on a new restroom
project at Fuller Park and so that is currently underway. We had a scheduled
completion date -- 15th of August. It's a 400,000 dollar plus project. I will let Steve talk
about how that meets the city standards, but we feel really good about where our
facilities are. Again, that -- completely out of cash within the district. Now, saying that,
the district has spent most of its cash for those particular facilities and we are rent it -- or
we are looking at what our budget looks like in the future. So, with that I would stand for
any questions that you might have.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Thank you, Shaun. Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: Madam Mayor, Shaun, I was thinking of a -- you say you spent 400,000 dollars
on a bathroom?
Meridian City Council
June 26, 2018
Page 21 of 40
Wardle: Correct.
De Weerd: And it's ADA compliant.
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
Wardle: Just to clarify, we went through -- let me back up and talk about that particular
restroom facility. We actually designed and bid it a year ago and the bids came in
significantly over a half a million dollars. We put the project on hold. Thought we had a
more favorable bid environment. Bid the project and we have encountered a number of
change orders, which has pushed us over the 400,000 dollars to date.
De Weerd: Thank you. Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: I think that maybe some of those unforeseen funds came because you didn't
know that there was a septic -- it was a septic situation; right?
Wardle: And we recently two weeks ago had a little surprise and had designed the
building to connect to city sewer, which was not in existence. We had a septic tank
which was installed whenever the park was built -- that had apparently served this
community well.
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: Like I heard that the backhoe sort of fell into it accidentally.
De Weerd: You hear too much.
Wardle: It -- it was not the most sanitary situation during construction. But, again, it did
-- it did last a long time.
De Weerd: Any other questions at this point? Mr. Siddoway has some additional
information.
Siddoway: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, I'm here primarily to express from
the Parks Department's perspective a willingness to look at taking on particularly the
Fuller Park asset. We did conduct a site visit exactly three weeks ago today with
myself, Shaun Wardle, Mike Barton and Roger Norberg from my staff. We did walk
around and look at the different amenities. The playground has been recently updated.
The restroom, as you just heard, is currently being updated. There are some older
facilities in like the fencing around the ball fields. The dugouts need some work.
Knowing what we know now about ADA, I do believe there are some ADA challenges
out there regarding access to picnic shelters, things like that, that we -- I don't know for
sure that they are there. What we need to do is go out and conduct an actual audit and,
Meridian City Council
June 26, 2018
Page 22 of 40
then, make a transition plan to address those over time in the future if we did take this
on, but I do want -- I primarily want to express my support for this concept of eliminating
the overlap and having separate but complimentary rolls where Western Ada Rec
District can continue to focus on their public aquatics, which is what they were originally
formed to do. We will take on the -- the park asset and add that to our inventory. We
maintain parks well. Something I think -- I think we do and have the -- would like to add
that to our list of facilities. We get a lot of calls already about the facility, even though
we don't own it, like was already mentioned. A lot of people don't know there is a
difference between -- between Western Ada Rec's facilities and our own and, then, just
to -- maybe just a word about what we are asking for tonight. We don't -- we are not
asking for any formal Council action, but we are asking for direction. If this is a non-
starter, would like to know now before we spend some time working on this. But if there
is interest on the Council, then, we would like to know that, so that we can continue
investigating this and come up with a plan for its potential transfer.
De Weerd: Okay. Council?
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Either Madam Mayor or Steve or Shaun. Somebody. You will have to I
guess excuse me. Despite this being something of significant interest of mine, it sounds
like there has been lots of discussion that have happened over the past few weeks and
months. This is the first that I'm hearing that the Parks Department is supportive of only
taking over one of the parks. Am I hearing you right? There is resistance or opposition
to the pool facility as well? Can somebody get me caught up to date as to the
conversations that have occurred -- it sounds like have occurred --
Siddoway: Yeah. There hasn't been opposition as -- sorry. Not opposition, just the idea
that the -- we would take care of the overlap with the parks, but let them continue to fill
their role with the pool, which they do well, and if this -- if the Council wants us to look at
taking over the pool also, that's something we can also look into and come back to the
Council with pros and cons.
Cavener: Okay.
De Weerd: I think it's important to note that Western Ada Recreation District has been
working with some partners about different ideas for the aquatic piece and I would say
we do parks well and -- and they have shown they have a successful model with their
aquatics that why tinker with it. Mr. Wardle.
Wardle: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Councilman Cavener. I skipped a step in -- in my
presentation. I apologize. One of the questions that the Western Ada Recreation
District has asked our legal counsel and -- and has sought from the state statute is
could the recreation district dissolve? Is -- is there a way to dissolve? Is there a way to
Meridian City Council
June 26, 2018
Page 23 of 40
transfer assets? So, we have -- we have information that the Western Ada Recreation
District could transfer assets. To dissolve the district we would -- not we. The citizens
would need to gather signatures and a proportionate number of those of the electorate,
submit those to the Secretary of State. It, then, becomes a ballot issue and has to be a
positive ballot issue. So, we had originally thought that there was -- there was
something that would -- in the code that would allow us to do that. There are other
districts that have that. The recreation district statute does not. So, the -- so, it's a more
laborious process for us to go through and we are -- again, we have not made any
formal decisions. We are here for a discussion. We can put everything on the table. I
thought I better clarify that.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: Madam Mayor. Shaun -- and forgive me if you mentioned it, but in this
scenario would the recreation district, then, anticipate lowering their taxes, because they
would have -- or would it be to, then, use funds that they are not spending on the park
on additional pools?
Wardle: So, that's a good question. We have -- we have not -- we have not discussed
that. If you look at the history of what the district has done and one of the things that
would be -- I will give you my personal preference. My personal preference would be to
see -- to see that reduced. Right? If we have less assets we would need -- we would
need less taxable revenue. Again, that's my personal opinion. I can give it to you here.
We don't know what that looks like. There has been a request -- I will tell you right now
that the Meridian School District has authorized swimming as a varsity sport. As many
of you may know, the Meridian School District currently has zero of those facilities
available for practice and/or meets. So, that's one of the things that -- that we anticipate
being a partner in. We currently have -- we have the -- the meets at the -- at the pool,
but we don't have an indoor facility and so we are limited by weather and how late we
can go into the fall.
De Weerd: I think it is important to note that as we have had this discussion it is with
the understanding that the -- the mill rate would be adjusted accordingly. We do have
some rough estimates of what that potential operational re -- or savings would be -- that
should be reflected in -- in a mill levy reduction.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: The -- I think the only way -- I mean I can always be sold on other scenarios,
but the only way I'm interested is if there is some level of finality to WARD, whether --
understanding the -- the complications with dissolving it, but to me I would like to see us
only pursue, you know, transfer of all the assets and, then, a reduction of the taxes to
Meridian City Council
June 26, 2018
Page 24 of 40
zero and then -- I don't want the -- the appearance of WARD becoming kind of a -- park
fundraiser slush fund for the city, so that we -- you know, we can only increase our own
taxes three percent. Well, then, there is a whole other organization that is building
parks and transferring assets to the city. So, perception is reality and so to avoid the
perception and the reality of it, I would only be interested if it actually went to zero and
we took over all the assets.
Wardle: Madam Mayor? If I might make a comment. So, again, I'm an elected official.
All the commissioners are elected. That's certainly, in terms of -- would be -- I would
like to see something like that happen. Is there a phased approach? That's really what
we are here to talk about is -- is -- is the city open to -- to that happening? Is there a
phased approach in which that happens? Is the park the first step. That seems like a
natural step to me, but we are open to seeing that happen and, again, as elected
officials -- there are two up there or three of us on the board -- I can tell you that it -- a
reduction in assets would -- would in my mind and my vote mean a reduction in the --
the budget, the revenue that we would -- that we would ask the community for.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Shaun, the Mayor mentioned about partnerships related to the pool. Is that --
when you talk about West Ada School District, is that a partnership? Are there other
partnerships that are being explored? Can you give us some better understanding
about that particular element?
Wardle: Yes. Thank you. So, a couple different partnerships are being discussed. We
have got, as I mentioned, a couple of the high school swim teams compete at the pool.
There are a couple private organizations, Streamliners, the Killer Whales, that are
private swim race teams that are bringing forth proposals to -- you know, one of the
questions is can we add a bubble to the facility. Cascade recently built a facility with a
bubble and it's had great success in an environment which I think we can all agree is
probably more harsh in the wintertime than ours. There is some challenges with that,
but we are looking at, you know, what are those public-private partnerships. Today
there hasn't been any capital private partners, but we are considering some of those
and certainly open to those as well.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: I think it's a great idea. I don't think it's terribly complicated to -- to go forward
and the way the city is now and -- with its developed parks, it seems to be the natural
progression to at least take that first step. There is a lot of assumptions. It's -- you
know, assuming it's a transfer for, you know, negligible, if any, you know, real price, but
transfer the assets, budget decreases, taxpayer saves overall to a certain degree. We
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June 26, 2018
Page 25 of 40
have got a more efficient maintenance of the park facilities in the city and you focus a
little more on your core purpose of aquatics. The second stage, if and when that
happens, of the city acquiring the pool and -- and you're budgeting down to zero,
effectively eliminating WARD, can be a second stage, seeing how the first stage goes
literally. So, I don't know if we have to wait and eat the elephant all in one bite, but the
first part seems to make great sense.
Wardle: One of the private partnerships is -- that I neglected to mention is at Fuller Park
the -- the Meridian Little League has had a long-standing relationship there -- currently
is our partner and -- and has been -- as far as I can remember -- in fact, in 1989 there
was a league championship where a great catching performance was -- was able to win
that particular game that I remember vividly, so -- but it's been a great organization and
-- and we would certainly not -- it's a group that you're familiar with and -- and could be
very comfortable and it has been a great partner for us.
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: Mr. Wardle, I like how you tell jokes with a straight face. It's like it's very like
natural for you to just -- and let it go. I like that. So, the joking aside, I think that a
partnership with parks is a pretty natural fit in my opinion. I mean we are in the
business of parks. We have thousands of acres of parks and I think that that -- that
makes sense. I'm open to the idea of listening and learning more about the pools. I
don't know if the City of Meridian is in the business -- is in the pool business, nor do we
want to get into the pool business, but I certainly would be open to, you know, at least
talking about it. But I agree with what Council Member Borton mentioned and said
about, you know, the phases in which we would do that, so --
De Weerd: Okay. So, Council, I think the direction that both WARD and the Parks
Department, probably the Finance Department is looking for is -- is there an interest to
move forward and start dedicating more time and -- and bring back a detailed plan and
certainly WARD -- WARD needs to discuss it as well.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: I think along those -- if it is going to require a citizen effort to eventually
dissolve WARD, I think that we as a body need to also be thinking if that's something
that we are also going to support. I tend to agree with Council Member Palmer on this
particular piece, that I am more favorable of a -- of an all -or -none model. We have been
in the park land business for a significant amount of time, but we have been in the
community recreation district if not longer. We weren't in the indoor gymnasium
business until just a year and a half ago and -- and now we are in the midst of that. I'm
supportive of the pool and supportive of the parks, but I'm supportive of doing it all
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together, as opposed to piecemealing it over a number of years. I think that if we are
going to reduce the liability of the taxpayers, let's do it collectively, let's do it arm in arm
with WARD, let's do it with the members of our community who I think would also
support that as well.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: I'm somewhere in the middle on this one, but the support of the -- of the Parks
Department -- I don't have a problem taking on the park, but one of the things I
remember discussing -- I was just a newbie at this job with how we do not want to be in
the swimming pool business and that that was a money pit that we didn't want to get
involved in. That's the conversations I remember having, so I am not like fully
supportive of dissolving WARD and taking on a swimming pool. That being said, I'm not
saying it's totally out of the question, but right now I think we should discuss the park
and I'm -- I'm in favor of taking on the park and I don't know about the pool.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
Milam: More information.
De Weerd: Can we hear from the other Council Members and, then, I will get back to
Mr. Palmer. Mrs. Little Roberts.
Little Roberts: Madam Mayor, I tend to agree that I would rather see it as a park. We
already have the expertise in the parks and I would definitely like to pursue that
opportunity to discuss that with more knowledge, assuming that the -- it fits well within
our inventory, especially -- we have -- seem to have such a shortage of fields. It seems
like adding fields would make sense for what we need for our citizens. They do such a
great job with the pool. I think we have got a -- we can move forward more quickly and
efficient regarding the park, but I think there is a big, deep dive, no pun intended, before
we look at being in the pool business. So, I would like to proceed with the information
regarding taking over Fuller Park, but slowly consider if that's what we want to do in the
long run very hesitantly regarding the pool.
De Weerd: Well, certainly, you would have to have WARD willing to even consider the
pool as well, which at this point we are talking the park.
Wardle: Just a quick clarification. And we are certainly open, again, to furthering a
discussion having anything -- one of the things I just wanted to clarify real quickly in
terms of the pool. Operationally our last year's budget -- we had some staffing up with
the new facility and we had a net negative of about 12,000 dollars. So, it's not -- in
terms of the pool facility -- we teach more swim lessons at that facility for a reasonable
rate and have low fees that -- that you don't allow anyone in there and in just -- our staff
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currently is doing a great job. I'm thinking that's negative 4,000 dollars on an annual
basis is -- is a great job. So, it's not a huge gap to make that difference.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: My hesitation in -- in the city getting into the pool business would be with
building new pools. I think the taxpayers of Meridian are already in the pool business
and the idea behind this conversation is to save the taxpayers money and the reality is if
we only take the park and don't take the pool, you know whatever mathematical
equation comes out to a reduction in the taxes, the reality is it's not going to generate a
net savings to the taxpayers, where it is -- it's a mathematical logical scenario where or
if we take over all the assets and reduce their taxes to zero, there will, in fact, be a
savings to taxpayers, but if we just take the -- the park, then, there is going to be, you
know, an attempt to make sure that there is going to be sufficient still to cover
expenses, plus some, and it's -- it's not going to be -- it won't be a net savings, which I
think is the whole point.
De Weerd: Well, I think if the -- the transfer were to happen that would be something
that both the WARD elected officials and -- and this body would ensure that -- that there
-- there is that tax offset. So, certainly, I think that the city as well could do it more
efficiently with the economies of scale on -- but we need to dive deeper in the numbers
to really get that. So, we can -- those are things that we can bring back and certainly
after WARD has a chance to talk about it -- because they will have to talk about what
their mill rate they want to set to a budget as well. So, that would show what the
savings would be.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: I think to that point I think to kind of dovetailing Council Member Milam's
comments, I, too, remember when I was first elected we were told, well, we don't want
to be in the pool business. Can't be in the pool business. The pool business spends
too much money. I guess I would like a presentation as to why the City of Meridian
being in the pool business is a bad idea. I'd like to know why there is opposition to it
when the municipalities to the east and west do that and cities across the country
operate pool business. I know it's expensive. We have just been through our budget
hearing where there is a significant amount of funding request to the Parks Department,
because parks are expensive. Indoor court space is expensive. Aquatics is going to be
expensive. I'm prepared for that for the benefit that it brings to our community, but I
would like to get a better understanding as to the subject matter experts, those that
have been serving this -- the community in such a long time why they have the
opposition to it, so that I can better understand that.
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De Weerd: And who -- who do you want to invite in to talk?
Cavener: Madam Mayor, I guess I would yield to -- to you or to our parks director or to
whoever has the opposition to aquatics to lead that conversation. I guess, Madam
Mayor, for clarification, it's you who I heard we don't want to be in the pool business
from, so I guess I would look to yield to your expertise as to why.
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: I feel the same way. I mean I have done -- I'm not totally excited about it, but I'm
more than happy to have the dialogue. I don't know if we necessarily need to hear a
presentation of why we shouldn't do it, but maybe have a conversation -- just facts and
just say, you know, this is it, boom, boom, boom, boom, this is how much it costs, this is
the budget, there is a cost, this is what we project. That type of discussion that we
would be hearing. I don't know if I necessarily need to hear discussion about why we
shouldn't do it.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: That seems sufficient to me. When the rhetoric is we shouldn't, I -- I just
wanted to get a better understanding as to why we shouldn't. I think I know the reasons
why we should, but I'm open to hear from those -- rather than just saying we shouldn't
be in the pool business, I want to know why.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
Borton: I may be able to answer some of those questions right now. So, Mr. Wardle or
Mr. Moss, either -- probably can come forward and answer them, but the start of the
question is WARD sets a budget of, what, 800,000 dollars, okay, give or take, so they
spend 800,000 dollars a year to do pool and park. So, if the city were to -- right. Super
simple. But pool and park. So, they spend that much. The city acquires pool and park,
WARD budget is down to next to zero. Taxpayer saves 800,000 a year. City absorbs
new General Fund net loss expenditures annually of 800,000 a year, so it's -- it's that
type of expense. It's probably one of -- other than the logistics of knowing how to run a
pool that you have and we don't, but that's the financial super simple math that might
give some hesitancy to absorbing all of it without the offsetting revenue stream in light of
the -- you know, the tight budget that -- that we have. It's trying to find another
800,000 dollars if we are truly going to create that savings and I think these are the
simple numbers. Shaun might be able to come up and correct any of that math that
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says here is real generally how we spend our money, so if you guys were to take over a
pool and a park here is what you would have to be in store to pay for.
De Weerd: We will have the expert --
White: Hi, there. I'm Carol White, I'm the secretary -treasurer for the district and so our
budget last year was I think 864,000 dollars and over the last several years we actually
have been through the fact that we do so well at running the pool. We use our excess --
we don't use that all full 800,000, which I know which -- if that went away we would have
no opportunity to even look at the possibility of building new pools. We have been
putting away between 300 and 400 thousand dollars in savings each year out of our tax
levy with -- with the thought that we would continue to build more pools and more
structures. That's how we were able to build our 3.1 million dollar facility. Our -- the
plan right now is that an estimating either covering the existing pool with a bubble, with
an estimated cost of somewhere between 100,000 and probably a half a million dollars,
which we don't have the budget for, which would require more saving, or a future plan
was to add more lap lanes to the tune of -- by the time we save up the money to do it it
will probably be another million dollars. But that's where our excess surplus goes. We
save that money. We paid cash when we expanded and put the new pool and building
in. So, any questions specific to the budget I would be more than happy to answer for
you.
De Weerd: I think your approach sounds similar to the city's, so --
Borton: And Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: It sounds like in -- that makes great sense, so assuming everything stayed the
same and the city operated it, hopefully, as well as you do and had the foresight to
maintain reserves for those long-term capital improvements, we still would spend
operations plus savings 800 a year --
White: Yeah.
Borton: Yeah. Okay.
White: That's the -- the pool -- the budget shows that as being roughly half for the park
and the other half for the pool, with the surplus from the pool operations going to
savings for future building opportunities. We do not have any future plans at this time to
build another pool, other than another lap pool on our current piece of property.
Borton: Okay.
De Weerd: Thank you, Carol.
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White: Okay.
De Weerd: And I think the Councils of the past has not been interested in aquatics
because there was a recreation district that had that charter. As well we had a
recreation district that wasn't interested in merging. So, this is a different time and a
different WARD board and Council and so that's why we are having these discussions
now.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: I think it's an important factor that if somebody is going to bring us back a
presentation and show us the numbers and, you know, how it plays out, I think a staffing
study of some sort is -- is also an important part of that, because what you guys are
paying and the number of employees you have does not mean that's exactly the same
that we would do and so we need to look at it from our staffing perspective, so that we
really can understand the true cost, so whenever that happens for that discussion that
be great.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: Maybe a place to leave it is, again, several people have brought it up, really,
that might start really with the WARD board. The park is one thing, but if the aquatic
center is in the conversation, that next step would be your board coming back to us
saying we have discussed it and we are open to discussing a transfer of both, because
if your decision is we -- because it's our main charge we want to keep the aquatic
center, well, then, it's academic to discuss beyond that. So, it really lies in your court to
come to us knowing that we are open to some or all of it.
De Weerd: Okay. So -- and you meet the second Wednesday of the month, is that --
third Thursday. Okay.
Borton: Madam Mayor, one last thing on it. The timing is -- it does matter, because this
really is a spring -summer decision one way or the other. You're going to set a budget,
so if there were to be a transfer, even of the parks, you would want to do so in a way
that allows you to adjust your upcoming budget, to reduce it somewhat.
White: Sorry. When you start talking budget, you know, my brain goes -- yeah. That
would be not an easy thing. If you're talking about the disillusion of WARD completely --
Borton: No.
White: -- it would not happen this year.
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.O1SO 01563
White: That process requires two percent of the electorate on a petition. Has to be
done by next May to go to November. So, we are talking about a process that has a lot
of time for discussion, but our budget meeting is August. So, we have to I think move
forward with our budget with the assumption that we are going to be needing funding for
operating the pool next year at the very minimum. So, I think that, yeah, we have to
look at what our budget would look like both ways, but I'm just looking at the timeline for
the process itself, we have to make the assumption that we are going to be operating
the pool for at least another year.
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: So, I guess when you're looking at your budget -- and we are trying to figure out
a savings for taxpayers --
White: Uh-huh.
Milam: -- are you going to reduce your budget by the 400 -- if you're actually thinking
about dissolving you will have -- hopefully know that by then -- or have some kind of a
decision, so that you will reduce your budget by the 400,000, even saving every year?
Because you won't need a savings for the following -- you won't need an extra 400,000
for savings --
White: Right. If we made some kind of decision to move forward with that and we did
that immediately, then, we would -- we would have to adjust our budget accordingly.
The transfer of assets is -- it's an interesting process that involves not just the city and
WARD, but the county as well. So, if we do nothing with our assets and dissolve, the
county gets them to do with what they will. So, I think the general consensus is that if
we could come to some kind of agreement with the city that would be preferable than
handing them over to Ada county to -- to parcel out the way they want to. Okay?
De Weerd: Okay. Thank you. Okay. Any further questions, comments?
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: So, I guess I'm still -- I don't know if it's just me a little bit unsure of what -- if we
came to any kind of consensus about the park.
De Weerd: I think the ball is in WARD's court in terms of -- if they were interested in just
the park or the park and the pool, how it would be phased in, what it would look like and
-- and that certainly -- first, their purview and -- and what their approach would be and
they would come back and make an additional request to Council.
Meridian City Council
June 26, 2018
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Milam: Madam Mayor. But they don't -- they don't have to be done at the same time
while we are waiting for them to let us know, because it seems to me they were coming
to us asking us to take the park -- no?
Siddoway: Madam Mayor, Council Woman Milam, I would just say we are not looking
for a final decision on whether or not to take the park tonight. I haven't heard anybody
say don't look into it at all. I have heard park, maybe or maybe not the pool, or all or
nothing. I think what we need to do is take that feedback and come -- go back to the
drawing board as it were and do some research and analysis and look at Finance and
work with -- with WARD, let them meet, decide their path forward and we will work
together on a plan and -- and be back for that discussion.
Milam: Thank you.
De Weerd: So you know what the cost would be --
Siddoway: So, we can put together costs and things like that. It sounds like there is
interest in going that next step, so -- thank you.
Wardle: So, we will add an agenda item to our next regular meeting. It will be a
discussion of -- transfer of assets for the Western Ada Recreation District and so the
public is welcome to attend. Those are all the meetings. We will invite park staff, if
that's okay, and watch our website for that -- that next meeting and, then, we will report
to you after that.
De Weerd: Thank you, Shaun.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Thanks for joining us. Yes, Mr. Borton.
Borton: As part of that two of the asks will be for our city, what if any additional costs
might we incur to take on the park or would we be able to absorb it with existing
personnel and equipment and -- and what might you be able to reduce your budget by
were you to transfer out the park, so we can at least see what that net tax savings could
be to the citizens.
B. Budget Workshop Follow-up and Discussion
De Weerd: Okay. Thank you. Okay. Item 9-13 is budget workshop follow up and
discussion. Mr. Borton.
Borton: Madam Mayor. This -- the brief note in the agenda showed we kind of got fired
up and talked too long and lost the opportunity to -- to speak as a group, kind of the
good of the order after the two day budget presentations to see if there was any
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thoughts, additional questions, concerns. July 12th is the next full day potentially --
maybe less -- it's okay to be less -- budget hearing and we have got finance in the back
corner eagerly awaiting, so it's sort of -- just sort of the open format, if there was
something that anybody wanted to throw out, great. A thought or a concern or a
question. If not that's fine, too. And we would close that process and, then, between
now and the 12th if there is something with meat on it -- meat on the bone we can
discuss with finance and the director and the Mayor and, if not, that's fine, too. So,
particular --
De Weerd: Okay.
Borton: I -- and I don't have anything in particular, I just wanted to make sure we had
that opportunity.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: I have a couple comments. Too much paper. When someone's got a 30 page
-- or a 30 slide presentation that's going to be on these very expensive fancy screens
that are pointed at us, I don't want to look at it on paper. I mean I understand somebody
might, but we went through a lot of paper and I didn't open a single one of those. A lot
of ink. A lot of freaking ink. And, then, the only thing -- and, I don't know, I may be the
only one that feels this way, but I -- I feel like, you know, we get our annual report and,
then, we get another annual report at the -- the budget hearing. A lot of the beginning of
it is fluffy, feel good, look what -- look how cool we are. Look who we are. I felt like that
was -- I mean I would rather talk numbers and money. I'm more down for the -- you
know, I want to know, you know, how many people were hired, not necessarily who was
hired. Talk to me about that during an annual meeting. I want to talk numbers and facts
and Homer Simpson.
De Weerd: Any other comments? Questions?
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Maybe a question. I don't know who to. So, I -- I -- I was surprised that we
had a budget presented to us that took the three percent and is spending a half a million
dollars from the reserves. So part of what I think is my fiduciary responsibility to our
taxpayers is to find places where we can cut and I guess my question is how was
Finance -- or, Madam Mayor, how would you like to see that data? I can bring it is my
thoughts to the meeting on the 12th and that's my plan, but, again, I don't know if I'm the
only one that felt that way that was surprised at the amount of -- both the increase and
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June 26, 2018
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the reserve spend and maybe some of you also have thoughts, boy, maybe we don't
need to fund X this year. Maybe we don't need to go to training Y this year. I don't
know. My hope is that maybe we could have a little of that discussion and if I'm the only
one, then, it can be a short discussion and we can move on. But that's some -- some
feedback or follow up from either staff or from you, Madam Mayor, would be helpful in
terms of efficiency for our meeting on the 12th.
De Weerd: And how to give your feedback?
Cavener: Madam Mayor, I guess not so much in how to give the feedback. I think
Council is pretty good in giving feedback. I have got a list of items that I think don't
necessarily need to be included as enhancements for this year or should -- well --
De Weerd: Okay. Do we want to talk to each other -- sorry. Because Dean can't hear
you and you have his attention.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Sorry, Dean. I apologize for that. I was just telling him to -- it's kind of what -- I
think what -- this is what we are talking about right now is to -- to do is to kind of give
your list if you have one or discussion that we can, then, absorb and think about and
review and -- in hopes that it would be something that we have more time before the
day that we are supposed to make a decision on.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: I think -- Mr. Borton.
Borton: Yeah. That's just it. So, the example is if -- if someone were to have something
that they thought shouldn't be in the budget, that -- in whatever department, they would
go speak to that director or meet with you and say I think Item X should be cut, educate
me on why it's included, I missed it, perhaps I'm missing something, a why and the
director can explain it, maybe -- whichever of us wants to eliminate that item might say,
oh, I get it now and now I'm okay with it or might feel more resolved that it shouldn't be
in the budget. So, I think that's the onus on us to visit with the director and the Mayor to
say here is my list, before the 12th, of items, if there is any, and get any explanation.
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: And we would love to provide any additional feedback and rationale as to
why the budget was presented like it was. We would entertain any questions. Mr.
Bernt.
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Bernt: So, just to confirm -- this is my first budget. So, you would rather have me not
come to the July 12th hearing or meeting with -- with concerns, you would want me to
come -- you would want me to take care of those concerns with the -- with the -- with the
respective directors before that, so that those questions are answered before July 12th?
Borton: Madam Mayor. One of the -- one of the challenges -- the July 12th hearing
date is an important one, it sets that tentative budget that gets published. Once it's set it
can't go -- and it's published, it can't go any higher. So, for example, if -- if -- if you have
the conversation on the 12th and Item X gets cut and it's 200,000 dollars and there is
discussion that should follow and it's late July and we say, oh, my gosh, that actually
makes sense now. I met with the director and I want it back in --
Bernt: Can't do it.
Borton: -- can't bring it back in.
Bernt: Okay.
Borton: And I mean in general super simple numbers. Head nod the other way if I'm
saying it wrong. So, the idea, hopefully, is, right, if we have something -- I want to cut X
and meet with the director and I'm like I still want to cut it. I have met with the director,
met with the Mayor, I get it. Might have a difference of opinion, but it hasn't changed
mine. It hasn't been through a lack of research and due diligence. So, then, on the
12th when we say I want to change something, it's -- the due diligence has been
completed, so if a decision were to happen on the 12th, at least it's with the eyes wide
open. You can't go back. That was the only thought. There is no magic to it, but --
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: But definitely if we are at the meeting and you have a question ask it, because,
you know, if a director can't figure out what something is, probably shouldn't be in there,
but -- the last couple years I -- I guess it wasn't really a tradition yet, but, you know, we
had asked for and then -- and you had prepared a budget based on no tax increase,
which I think is kind of our responsibility to the taxpayers and that, you know, their -- the
taxpayers themselves are generally not in a position to, you know, plan out their year
and, then, be like, you know what, I don't have enough for the stuff I want to do, so I'm
just going to increase my budget by three percent and I got it covered and so I think it's
our responsibility to approach July 12th with that -- that, okay, we are going to do
everything we can to meet our responsibilities, what's been expected of us as a city, as
elected officials, and if -- if there is just no way to do that -- and in my opinion we have
life safety issues that need to be taken care of -- then the three percent needs to have
that discussion to take place then, not we are just going to assume we are going to take
this three percent and, by the way, we have got a savings account. We are just going to
go to town and it needs to be -- we are not going to touch any savings and we are not
Meridian City Council
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going to increase any taxes until we have completely vetted all other possibilities of
moving dollars around.
De Weerd: I just will say that this Council set the policy to save .5 percent to the public
safety fund and one percent to the capital improvement fund, which is in that budget
and the savings is saved for capital improvement items, which they are being expended
to. So, we are not tapping into our savings for anything other than what we saved them
for and one and a half percent of the three percent in the budget is for -- to meet the
policy as established by this Council. So, there is an explanation for some of the
comments that you made. But I would be more than happy -- and I know certainly all of
our Council would -- to talk about any of the enhancements or other items in -- in the
budget book and look forward to those questions.
Little Roberts: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Little Roberts.
Little Roberts: One of the questions that I had people bring up to me and I know that we
have the annual meeting that's potentially scheduled for November in the budget that
rolled over, but I have had several questions asked regarding details of the event, if
anybody will need to try to modify the budget before the 12th for potential overtime and
expenses the departments could realize. But I sent you an e-mail today trying to get
some clarification on that.
De Weerd: Okay. I will answer those, but there is no overtime. So --
Borton: Madam Mayor, if there is -- if there is items or topics you wanted to throw out
now is the time. I guess you can let Council know if there is stuff like that that following
today will be dug into. Okay. If there is something --
De Weerd: Okay.
Cavener: I guess -- and maybe this -- again, Mayor and Todd can kind of catch us up. I
know that when we get together in February or March and start looking at each
department, we all just kind of make the assumption, okay, we are going to look at the
base budget, but when we get to these budget hearings we don't talk about the base,
because we have already talked about that in February or March. What we don't know
in February or March is that we are automatically taking the three percent and spending
a half a million dollars from our savings account. So, to me that level of spending for
me -- it should open up the door for discussion about base budget items and are -- are
we -- you know, does that training to, you know, organization X in Pittsburgh, that may
make sense in February, but it doesn't make as much sense in July and, quite frankly,
Council Member Palmer said something in our last meeting that has really stuck with
me is that am I willing to raise taxes to fund X. I think that's a really great perspective to
have. When we look at a lot of the enhancements that are before us, when we look at a
significant amount of travel, you know, I have shared -- and many of us have talked
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about my concern about the coffee fund that doesn't fund coffee. Is that an appropriate
amount? Can we reduce that amount and use it for a miscellaneous fund, which it's
being used for anyways? But have it better reflect what the intention of that fund is.
Those are all concerns of mine and they, to me, are magnified when the budget is
presented to us that automatically takes three percent and automatically spends a half a
million dollars out of our savings. I think at times that we have growth we should be
taking advantage of those growth dollars, use them more effectively, and if we can't
because there is a demand on our public safety element, which is very, very important,
then, we should -- just as quickly as the decision to raise taxes we should be making
just as quick of a decision to maybe find areas where we can reduce our costs and
that's what I will be presenting.
De Weerd: Okay. Well, I look forward to your questions and I am sure so do each of
the expert -- subject experts in each of the departments through our department
directors. Okay? I'm sorry, Mr. Cavener?
Cavener: Oh. The question -- Council Member Borton was inquiring if -- if we were
going to talk about that now and I -- I said that I wasn't prepared, that I thought today's
conversation was more designed to be kind of a summary that we normally do at the
end of our first budget meeting and so that's what I was more prepared to say and I
think that there is an opportunity here where we can find areas to cut cost, but I'm not
supportive at taking the three percent this year. I think that we need to find areas to
reduce our costs before we automatically jump to increasing taxes.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: And you three and everyone else over there are just amazing, by the way.
Just -- in my rant and complain about the couple of little minor irrelevant things at the
beginning, I just can't tell you how much I appreciate all the work that you guys put into
it and how quickly you respond to things and how precisely and -- you're awesome.
Okay. That was all.
De Weerd: Okay. Mr. Borton.
Borton: No.
De Weerd: Okay. Okay. Anything you want from the Finance Department? Any
direction?
Lavoie: Good evening, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. Thanks for the good
words there, Ty. Again, as Jenny and the Mayor have communicated, we have put this
budget presentation schedule to allow you guys to communicate with us and get us the
information. We have developed a budget process starting in February, so we can
discuss key items throughout the six month process. So, we extend, again, to you to
Meridian City Council
June 26, 2018
Page 38 of 40
reach out to us. Let us know if you have items of concern, so we can start the
discussion now and, then, you know, we can start that dialogue, instead of probably
waiting until July 12th. If you have some items that you want to put on the white board,
send them out via an e-mail, this is what I want to talk about, guys. We can start putting
some dialogue together and discussion, so on July 12th, if we haven't discovered or
solved that discussion item, we can have a contextual or a good informed discussion,
like Mr. Cavener, you say you're -- you like to be prepared, if you get us the information
we can prepare. And, Genesis, if you give us an item now, we can start preparing
ourselves for a good discussion on July 12th, so that both you and the directors and
departments are informed and ready to respond to any inquiries that you have. So, I
would just echo what the Mayor and Jenny have promoted to you guys, communicate
with us, let us know what you need and we will be prepared to have a great discussion
and, hopefully, have a balanced budget by the end of July 12th. That's -- that's what we
need from a Finance Department, we will be prepared to answer any questions about
three percent, any questions about why we need to do this or that. Again, we will be
prepared to answer that now, on any e-mails that you send us, I will be happy to get that
dialogue going now or on July 12th. So, again, just reach out to us, please, start the
communication dialog now, rather than July 12th, I think that will be the best -- most
beneficial for the production of that day. Thank you.
Item 10: Future Meeting Topics
De Weerd: Thanks, Todd. Okay. Moving on. Item 10. Future Meeting Topics.
Anything under this?
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: I'm really disappointed, I was hoping it would be on this week's agenda, is I
think it's extremely urgent that we have a conversation about projects that are in the
pipeline and whether we want to put them on notice we are not going to be approving
them or -- or what -- what -- what news we can get out to the development community
about whether we are open for business or not, considering what happened last week.
De Weerd: I think that Councilman Borton addressed that in his comments, that one --
one approval denied doesn't mean all approvals denied. We are going to have a
conversation in the July workshop, led by the Community Development Department, on
development, what is in the pipeline and what's been approved for preliminary plats,
final plats, and give a better snapshot of growth in Meridian. But I think one denial
doesn't mean every -- the business of new applications are closed.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Meridian City Council
June 26, 2018
Page 39 of 40
Palmer: I think that as a policy that doesn't really kind of get us anywhere, you know,
we can't act like a barbershop that has got that pair of scissors that only cuts every
other hair, you know, to kind of thin it out. We need to have kind of an established
reasoning as to what kind of projects we are interested in or what we are not, rather
than telling people, you know what, it depends on how Council feels that night as to
whether your project might be too big, might be too small, might not have -- might have
everything that you have asked for, but, you know, maybe -- I mean there was no rhyme
or reason really as to -- to what happened last week. The guy literally brought
everything anybody on this board has ever asked for and it was denied. So, the
reasoning --
De Weerd: All I can say is that we will have a discussion next month and the rationale
from the individual council members and how they voted. I think you're -- you're
minimizing their votes. But we can have that discussion on July -- the July workshop,
which is the 10th and get some feedback from Council Members as to our development
applications and -- and expectations. What is premier. And we had a discussion about
that earlier. Okay. Just -- but upcoming events. Cableone Movie Night is the movie
Ruby. On Saturday Main Street Market kicked off at Dairy Days. Every Saturday until
Memorial Day. There is no City Council next week. And Independence Day family
celebration in Storey Park. That starts at 3:00 to 10:30 p.m. And there is a lot going on
with bands, fireworks, and all the way down to a three-legged race. So, hopefully, you
will -- you will join if you're in town. Parks would love to -- to have you there and see
your support. I know there is a movie night or something that night, too. Somewhere.
Item 11: Executive Session per Idaho State Code 74-206(1)0): To consider
labor contract matters authorized under section 67-2345A [74-
206A](1)
a) and (b), Idaho Code
De Weerd: Okay. I would entertain a motion to adjourn into Executive Session.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: I move we go into Executive Session pursuant to Idaho State Code 74-
206(1)(a), (b) and (j).
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
June 26, 2018
Page 40 of 40
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: (7:53 p.m. to 9:05 a.m.)
De Weerd: I would entertain a motion to come out of Executive Session.
Bernt: So moved.
Palmer: Second.
De Weerd: All those in favor say aye. All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
De Weerd: Do I have a motion to adjourn?
Borton: So moved.
De Weerd: Do I have a second?
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to adjourn. All those in favor? Any opposed?
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 9:06 P.M.
(AUDIO RECOEDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
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