HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-07-23 Work SessionMeridian City Council Work Session July 23, 2019.
A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, July
23, 2019, by Mayor Tammy de Weerd.
Members Present: Tammy de Weerd, Joe Borton, Luke Cavener, Genesis Milam, Ty
Palmer, Anne Little Roberts and Treg Bernt.
Also present: Chris Johnson, Bill Nary, Bill Parsons, Warren Stewart, Tracy Basterrechea,
Joe Bongiorno and Dean Willis.
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
De Weerd: Okay. I will call our meeting to order. Thank you for joining us. For the record
it is Tuesday, July 23rd. It's 4:30. We will start with roll call attendance, Mr. Clerk.
Item 2: Adoption of Agenda
De Weerd: Item No. 2 is adoption of the agenda.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Nothing we need to change on our work session agenda, so I move we adopt
the agenda as presented.
Little Roberts: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to adopt the agenda as presented. All those in
favor say aye. All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Item 3: Consent Agenda [Action Item]
A. Approve Minutes of July 8, 2019 City Council Budget
Workshop
B. Approve Minutes of July 16, 2019 City Council Work Session
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C. Approve Minutes of July 16, 2019 City Council Regular Meeting
D. Temporary Construction Easement with Shawna Lockhart of
2789 E. Apricot Dr.
E. Final Plat for Bainbridge Subdivision No. 10 ( H- 2019-0075) by
Brighton Investments, LLC, Located at the SW Corner of N.
Ten Mile Rd. and W. Chinden Blvd.
F. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Decision of Order
for Rackham Subdivision (H- 2018- 0126) By BVA
Development, Located at 1020 S. Eagle Road
G. First Amendment to the Interagency Joint Partnership
Agreement for Apparatus Maintenance & Repair Services
Agreement
H. Development Agreement for Wagner Farms ( H-2019-0035)
with Rod and Debra Wagner (Owners) and PD Larson & Co.
(Developer) located at 3240 W. Chinden Blvd.
I. Resolution 19-2156: A Resolution for the Adoption and
Approval to Submit the Community Development Block Grant
PY19 Action Plan
J. City Financial Report - June 2019
K. AP Invoices for Payment - 07124119 - $ 1, 487,953.03
L. AP Invoices for Payment - 07112119 - $ 704,046.89
De Weerd: Item 3 is our Consent Agenda.
Cavener: Madam Mayor, I move we approve the Consent Agenda as presented. For the
Mayor to sign and the Clerk to attest.
Little Roberts: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve the Consent Agenda. Mr. Clerk, will
you call roll.
Roll call: Borton, absent; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea;
Bernt, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
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MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Item 4: Action Items
A. Approval of Fiscal Year 2019 Amended Budget in the amount
of 120,267,651
De Weerd: Item 4-A under Action Items is the approval of the amount to publish for the
fiscal year 2019 amended budget.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: I move we approve the fiscal year 2019 amended budget in the amount of
120,267,651 dollars.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Mr. Clerk, will you call roll.
Roll call: Borton, absent; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea;
Bernt, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
B. Approval of Fiscal Year 2020 Tentative Budget in the amount of
120,525,396
De Weerd: Item 4-B is approval of the fiscal year 2020 tentative budget to publish . Do I
have a motion?
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: Before Mr. Cavener makes his motion, I would like to make it -- to say something
in the public record that I wasn't here during the second workshop , but I took some time
and reviewed the minutes online on YouTube and have reached out and asked questions
that I needed to ask and so I feel like I am able to make a vote on this motion.
De Weerd: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Bernt.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
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De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Move we approve the fiscal year 2020 tentative budget in the amount of
120,525,396 dollars.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 4-B that's in front of you for
publishing for the public hearing. Any discussion?
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: I know you touched on it and I know probably everybody here in the room
knows it, but I just think it's important just to reiterate this is the dollar amount that we are
publishing. Should the Council make any other action -- we can reduce this amount, but
we cannot increase this amount.
De Weerd: That's correct. Thank you. If there is no discussion, Mr. --
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Oh, Mr. Palmer. I'm sorry.
Palmer: Just to explain my vote. I think that we haven't done our jobs well enough yet to
be ready to submit it to the public, so that's why I'm voting no on this, because it's not
polished.
De Weerd: Okay. Mr. Clerk.
Roll call: Borton, absent; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, nay; Little Roberts, yea;
Bernt, yea.
De Weerd: The ayes have it. Thank you.
MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. ONE NAY. ONE ABSENT.
Item 5: Department/Commission Reports
A. Fire Department and Arts Commission Report:
Recommendation for Public Art at Meridian Fire Station No. 6
[Action Item]
De Weerd: Item 5-A is under Department Reports, so we have a report on our Fire
Department and the public art that went out.
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Johnson: Madam Mayor, I'm filling in for Hillary Blackstone, the -- and the Meridian Arts
Commission, who could not be here -- to share the recommendation for Fire Station No.
6 public art installation. MAC and the project scoring panel recommended Daniel Borup's
kneeling bronze firefighter be selected as the public artwork to be installed at Fire Station
No. 6. The recommended proposal is included in your meeting packet. The photos
included in your packet will be used by the artist to ensure that he can capture details
ranging from how the fire hose is held to details in the straps, clips and gear. We will also
ask the firefighter's pose to be angled forward to better reflect the attack motion that
firefighters assume when they engage with the fi re. Deputy Chief Butterfield served on
the scoring panel and was at the MAC meeting where the panel recommendation was
accepted. Stacy Redmond was also present I believe. Maybe not. To help answer any
questions.
De Weerd: Okay. Thank you, Chris. Anything further?
Johnson: No. Answer questions and we are happy to stand for questions.
De Weerd: Okay. Thank you. Council, any questions?
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: So, there was practically the same item -- or the same proposal proposed in the
previous version before Hillary come back and requested another 5,000 dollars to attempt
to attract new proposers to see if it could be gender neutral and so it was proposed it was
just in a standing form instead of kneeling. The new version mentions that if it's standing
it's going to be six and a half or -- feet tall. If it's kneeling it's four foot ten inches I think.
It didn't mention in the first version a -- a kneeling option, but that from my studying of the
two proposals it seemed like that wasn't a big deal, it was just kind of a pick one. But the
cost did go up by 5,000. And so I'm just -- I don't know who the question would go to, but
what's changed in two months to make it so that the labor is 5,000 more than it was
before?
Butterfield: Madam Mayor, Councilman Palmer, I will do my best to answer your question
as I have been involved in this process. We did send out -- or the commission did send
out the initial request with a budget of 30,000 dollars and with what we had received back
from that request, we didn't really -- as they were reviewed we wanted something better.
We were looking for something with more symbolic of the fire department -- with more
symbology; right? There is a lot of symbology with the fire department and so it was --
these were decisions not by me, but decisions that were made that if they increased --
from my understanding the decisions were if we increased the budget a little bit maybe
we will get more people -- more artists to submit some renderings for review and so those
decisions were made, there was an increase, and, actually, we didn't get very many more,
even with an increased amount of money. What we received back was that one particular
one he submitted with the higher price tag and , then, there were a few other ones that
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were submitted that still were not really to the level that we had hoped to get a greater
amount of projects to review, but after we did get the projects that were reviewed and as
somebody that sat on that and did review those, there were some questions to the one
individual that can he change that, can he maybe make it a little more like unto a firefighter
entering a burning house in a crouching position and that was -- he was amenable to
those requests and so that's kind of how we ended up where we ended up with that
particular situation and, ultimately, I think with what he has and his ability to work with us
and what we have asked, I think we are very excited for what he has -- has offered to
provide to us. That was very important and this was part of my comments to the MAC
council was that, you know, we really -- in the fire department diversity that really
demonstrated that and I think that this particular one in the crouching position coming in
with a CBA mask on the face, it really leaves it up to whoever the person is looking at art
and I think that's one of the great things about art is that it is up to the person observing
the art as to how they see it. So, with this particular model we don't know gender, we
don't know race, we don't know ethnicity. It is very neutral and I think that that is
something from the perspective of the fire department that we want going ahead for a
piece of art that's going to be there for the next 50 or 60 years. So, with -- with that being
said, I was pretty pleased with it. I expressed my -- my thoughts to the board and I hope
that answers your question.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Thank you, Charlie. Yes, Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: So, are you aware of any reasoning as to why this version might take another
5,000 dollars' worth of labor?
Butterfield: That I do not know. I don't have an answer for that -- as to why -- his same
rendering came back at a higher price.
Palmer: Thanks.
De Weerd: Other questions? Okay.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: If this is an action item I assume that they are looking for a motion to approve it.
De Weerd: Yes.
Palmer: Then I move that we approve the one that's been chosen, but with an amount
not to exceed 30,000 dollars as was proposed two months ago.
Cavener: I will second for discussion purposes.
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De Weerd: Okay. I have a motion and a second.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Again, perhaps it may be even beneficial to continue this a week, because I
don't -- I don't want to put Chris or Charlie, you know, on notice, but having a better
understanding as to the -- what necessitated the 5,000 increase to me makes me feel
better to support a motion to approve this. Not having that information it's very hard to be
able to be supportive. So, I approved the motion both to get the conversation going and
I would almost support maybe a substitute motion to continue. Council President Borton
is not here, so I feel like we have more leeway to do substitute promotions, but I -- I would
feel much better if we had an opportunity to hear from Hillary to get some better
understanding and if that question hadn't been asked by the committee to give them the
opportunity so that we can feel confident that if we are approving it at the requested
amount there is a justification for it.
De Weerd: Is that a motion?
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: I would be happy to make a substitute motion that we continue Item 5-A to
September -- I mean -- holy cow. To August 13th.
Little Roberts: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to continue this to the 13th of August . Any
discussion? Oh.
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: I actually was driving down Ustick Road and I passed I believe Fire Station 4 in
Boise and they had a piece of artwork out in front and I really liked how it looked. I thought
that it was great. I have always been a little bit skeptical of not necessarily having it be a
firefighter, but maybe it being in front of a brand new big f ire station that's already going
to be gorgeous, but after looking at that fire station on Ustick, Fire Station 4 in the city of
Boise, I changed my mind. It was -- it was good looking. I think it's appropriate. And so
I agree, I think we should listen maybe -- 5,000 dollars of public funds is quite a bit and
so I think that it would be prudent to listen to -- and have that question answered, but I'm
excited -- I'm excited about this project. I think it's going to look really nice.
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De Weerd: Okay. Thank you.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mrs. Milam.
Milam: I agree that it would be nice to have some answers and know that -- that it's not
just 5,000 dollars more because they can, because we put the money out there and they
raised their proposal, but I guess I would like to make sure from Charlie that this, a couple
weeks out, isn't going to -- on this art is to be detrimental to the health of the city or the
fire department project.
Butterfield: Madam Mayor, Mrs. Milam, yeah, it won't. It doesn't affect --
Milam: Okay.
Butterfield: -- any of the --
Milam: The timeline will be okay.
Butterfield: -- timelines or anything. And, really, I -- yeah. To the extent of the increase
of funds I think Hillary would definitely be a better person to answer your questions on
that for sure.
Milam: Okay. Thank you.
Butterfield: Uh-huh.
De Weerd: Thank you, Charlie. I have a motion and a second to continue this item to
the 13th. All those in favor say aye. Any opposed? Okay. Thank you.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
B. Police Department: All Things Crime Prevention Update
De Weerd: Item 5-B is under our Police Department. Today we get to hear from our
crime prevention team and I will turn this over to Lieutenant Colaianni to introduce them.
Colaianni: Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council Members. We appreciate the time this
afternoon to talk all things crime prevention. It's been almost a year. We like to get out
in front of you once a year just to kind of give you an update on where we are at in crime
prevention. You were gracious enough to grant us with a second position in crime
prevention to take on additional responsibilities. An apartment community program and
more business outreach. And I think we are headed in that right direction. But tonight is
just kind of a high level overview to give you what we have done in the last few years or
the last year and where we are at this year and what's -- what the future holds for us. It
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doesn't do me a lot of good to get up and talk to you -- in front of you. I would like you to
hear it from the people that are on the ground during the work -- doing the work and so
you can have some face time with them and ask them questions . It's good for them. Plus
they can get up and share what they have done in the community. We focus a lot on
prevention throughout the year. We talk about prevention and enforcement and
education. Tonight we want to highlight the prevention and education piece and so I'm
going to turn it over to Sarah and Stephany and let them talk all things crime prevention
and they will have questions for you I'm sure at the end or you can have questions for
them. Thank you.
Milam: Got a big list, too.
De Weerd: Thank you for joining us. And Sarah.
Herrick: Hi. So, thank you for having us. My name is Sarah Herrick and I'm part of the
crime prevention unit. Last year the police department requested a second position and
it was granted and after applying and interviewing I was selected in October of last year.
Prior to that I worked for the city in the records department as a data clerk for almost three
years.
Galbreaith: And my name is Stephany Galbreaith. I have been with the crime prevention
unit now going on five years. Thank you for having us and super excited to have Sarah
along with the work that we do for the city. It's nice to have a partner and continue to
develop our programming with the additional resources. So, thank you for that. Today's
presentation we are going to be focusing on the past year, what's going on now, what we
are working on and, then, also what's in store for the future of the crime preventi on unit.
The mission statement for crime prevention is to help develop , administer different
programs for the community to attend that can help reduce crime and prevent crime for
our community members. This can range from a lot of different specific acti vities,
everything from Neighborhood Watch groups, which we will be discussing. We have
community presentations. We do our public safety academy and our tours of the
department. We have National Night Out coming up, which is Tuesday, August 6th. We
hope that you guys are able to attend. And there is plenty more. Last year we did over
94 events reaching 21,600 community members and a big portion of that is our
neighborhood watch groups. So, in the past year we added five neighborhood watch
groups, bringing our total to 110. These different groups are liaisons throughout the
community that connects with Sarah and I on a lot of different levels, whether it's our
NextDoor app that we have or e-mail and in person at homeowners association meetings.
We work with them to give them crime statistics and, then, provide them with resources
to help them be able to be self advocates and help prevent crime for our community. So,
in partnership with IT and the crime analysis unit, we were able to sit down, brainstorm,
and develop this new enhanced Neighborhood Watch tool that is known as the Story Map
and it's going to be a great service to the community. If a citizen goes to
meridiancity.org/neighborhoodwatch, it will pull up a Story Map that I'm going to pull up
now. So, if they go to that page it pulls this up and this can be found on the city's website
under crime prevention on the main page with the interactive maps and they can pull it
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up through the link that I had mentioned. So, on the site there is the geographical map
of the City of Meridian and all the blue area and you can see that on the legend is the
Neighborhood Watch groups. So, if a citizen is curious if they have a Neighborhood
Watch in their area or if they want to start one, they can simply go to this search tool here
and type in their address and for the purposes of an example I put in the police department
and once they put that address, then, it zooms in and it shows them if it currently has a
Neighborhood Watch group or if it does not and if they didn't want to put in their address,
but they just wanted to take a look at the areas of Meridian, you can see, like for example,
Brookside Square in Woodbridge does have Neighborhood Watch groups and, then, on
the other side it shows you the goal of Neighborhood Watch. It gives you some different
ways to contact us, like our e-mail address, and, then, also if the citizen wants to click our
patch it will pull up the city's crime prevention page where they are able to see additional
resources and communication options to contact Sarah and I. A few things that they can
do is they can see the big events, such as Public Safety Academy National Night Out and
also they can click the community outreach and they are able to request us for different
events out in the community if they want us to have a booth or teach a specific topic or
work with a youth group, we are able to provide that resource and it just sends it to us via
e-mail and also on there is construction fact prevention material that we have recently
developed that Sarah will be discussing next.
Herrick: All right. So, in the fall of last year the Building Contractors Association reached
out to our unit due to the recent rise in construction site theft. So, after attending multiple
meetings with them and in partnership with our Community Development team, Stephany
and I created this two part flyer. This flyer will be rolled out at the beginning of the year
and it's a pretty text heavy document, so I'm going to go over a couple of them with you .
This flyer is being part of our building permit process. The idea is to get this to our
contractors as soon as possible, so they have those prevention tools right away. So, the
first one we have is deter and we have bullet points such as provide lighting after -- after
hours. This is a great tool. It's quick and it's easy for our contractors and it gets that light
up right away. Next we have defend. We have marking wood with bright paint. It's an
awesome tool when our officers are on a routine patrol and they see this bright pink
somewhere that doesn't look familiar on OSB boards or on tools, they know to contact
that homeowner or that construction worker. Next we have detect and we have
empowering the neighbors and -- or empowering the neighbors. I like this one. It gets
our contractors to know everybody around them , just because they might not live in that
neighborhood, they are getting to know the people around them bringing that sense of
community together.
De Weerd: You know, Sarah, on that one, we built our home and we also did the -- the
cleanup at night and we were in there later than usual with our flashlights cleaning up the
stuff and -- and the police officer showed up with the big spotlight on us as we were
climbing out our window, you know. So, the neighbors had called it in and it was -- I went
over and thanked them for doing that, because it was really reassuring to know that we
had people keeping an eye on that. So, I think that one is a really big deal, too. So, I
appreciated that you pointed that out.
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Herrick: Thank you. So, the next is our second part of our flyer and it's more of a quick
bullet flyer and it's intended to be posted at the job sites. The idea of this is so our
employees when they are leaving the site have these quick reminders to make them one
less victim out there. This flyer is being handed out by our patrol officers and our code
enforcement officers where they are on routine patrol and both flyers were also produced
in Spanish as well. Since we started this program in the beginning of the year we have
found an early analysis that there has been a reduction in reported theft at construction
sites. So, with the new position comes new trainings and the first training I attended was
crime prevention through environmental design. The content of this training is used to
discourage crime and promote building security through design . Examples that we have
looked -- or when we were at these buildings or residential areas are the three L's as we
like to say and it's lighting, locks, and landscaping. The next training I attended was crime
free multi-housing. This is a three part approach to crime prevention and it's designed
specifically for our rental community. All right. So, with the training I went to and the
knowledge that I gained, Stephany and I created this new program for the city. We are
calling the program Apartment Community Crime Prevention Program and, again, it's a
three phase program and I will go over the three phases with you all. The first phase is
our training phase and it's for our property managers and the intention at this phase is to
get out to our rental properties and get to know our property managers better and to teach
them some successful resources they have in our program. Some of the training material
we will be discussing is our current crime trends and what resources they have throughout
the city. We will also go over some best practices for them. An example of that is their
screening process for their application renters. The next phase is our inspection phase
and, as I mentioned before, we will go out and we will do crime prevention through
environment design training and we will get out there and we will suggest how they can
improve life and provide a safer environment for their renters. The third is our safety
social or the fun phase as I like to call it and it's when we get to get out to our community
and make those further connection with our renters and our property managers. We will
use this time to have them celebrate that the property managers have completed their
three phase program with us and we will give them their certificate that they get to post
at their apartment properties. We will use this time to align it with our National Night Out
and the idea of this is to help them build that same sense of pride with their home.
Gilbreaith: So, in addition to the Apartment Community Crime Prevention Program, we
will be focusing our efforts on building relationships with a lot of different sectors of
Meridian. A couple of examples will be we are going to be offering some employee safety
training for local businesses. This has been an ongoing request and we want to fulf ill
those from our community. We are also going to be providing Crime Prevention Through
Environmental Design evaluations for local banks. This gives them something tangible
that they can implement within their -- their business and have ownership in helping
prevent crime. And also we want to attend and continue to promote an organization called
Organized Retail Crime Association of Idaho, also known as ORCAID. This is a group
that is free and open for local businesses to come and attend. They talk about current
crime trends within their retail establishments. They talk about ways to help prevent those
and brainstorm how they can continue to lower their crime within the retail establishments.
We want to make sure that this resource is known throughout the City of Meridian and
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continue to attend those meetings, so that we can be a resource for them as well for the
City of Meridian. So, we know we have covered a lot of information and, again, we thank
you for having us and we stand for questions.
De Weerd: Thank you, Stephany and Sarah. Council, any questions?
Little Roberts: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Little Roberts.
Little Roberts: Madam Mayor. Thank you, ladies. Wonderful presentation. I think we
are all excited about the possibility of preventing crime, rather than having to deal with it
once it happens, but my question is on neighborhood watch -- I guess because I have
been in the same community over 20 years and have seen a pretty robust and now as far
as I can tell -- and I will be on your map to look and see if we still have one -- I haven't
heard anything about it for several years. What are you seeing overall? Is it kind of a
cyclical thing? Are you seeing it growing over the last few years?
Galbreaith: Madam Mayor, Council Member Roberts, so it definitely has shifted. Before
it was a lot about the block captains and the -- sort of the pyramid effect of who is going
to be working the neighborhood and now it's a lot social media based with having private
Facebook groups and also the NextDoor application is free. So, our groups will be able
to discuss issues or concerns on there and , then, we can also communicate through
there. So, it's a different platform and a different style than it used to be , but it still does
exist. Some neighborhoods prefer to have the face-to-face conversations, so we will
attend those homeowners association meetings or we have a couple of National Night
Out parties that specifically asked us to come and talk about Neighborhood Watch and
so we will come out and do that with them . But each neighborhood is definitely different
based on those who live in that area. So, great question.
Little Roberts: Thank you.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Stephany, you said you had 110 Neighborhood Watch units. What was --
what has been the growth? What was it the year before?
Galbreaith: Madam Mayor, we actually have added five since the last year.
De Weerd: Okay.
Galbreaith: This is the record number that we have ever had and our goal is to not only
sustain that, but we want to continue to grow it as well. We are going to definitely be
focusing on the apartment Neighborhood Watch groups, the crime prevention program
that we are implementing, to continue to raise that number.
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De Weerd: Now, they used to do an annual meeting bringing the valley Neighborhood
Watch organ -- or groups together. Are they still doing that?
Galbreaith: No. Madam Mayor, no. Currently we aren't doing that. We definitely --
almost every single one of our National Night Out groups -- that's kind of the event that
they do to help build their Neighborhood Watch groups, but that's a great idea and we
can definitely look at producing something like that.
De Weerd: Okay. Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Thank you for the awesome presentation and I loved the pictures. I was
previewing them at home, but great photos. But my question is about your Neighborhood
Watch app or site. Your tool. Which I think is amazing, but does it concern you at all that
it could also be a tool for criminals. So , I'm looking at it and there is like this big white
hole of no -- like that's where I -- if I was a criminal I -- that's where to target, so -- have
you thought about that at all or how it -- I don't know if there is an answer to how to prevent
people from using that or, hopefully they don't go to our website.
Galbreaith: Madam Mayor, Council Member Genesis Milam, it is something to be aware
of, but it's I think for us more important that we are transparent in what areas -- do you
have Neighborhood Watch groups and the goal for us is to interact with those areas that
are empty and start building those areas up. But it's important that we continue to
communicate to our -- our Meridian citizens and allow them to see that information.
Milam: And hopefully they will look at that map, too, and say, oh, we got to get started
over here. We definitely want our neighborhood protected. So, I really hope that it -- that
it helps in that manner as well. But it looks like a great tool.
Galbreaith: Thank you.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: A couple of questions sticking with the Neighborhood Watch theme. One, I
learned tonight that my neighborhood is a Neighborhood Watch. I wasn't aware of that.
So, maybe we have got some work to do in our neighborhood. Does it cost anything for
a neighborhood to set up a Neighborhood Watch and, if so, what does it cost?
Galbreaith: Madam Mayor, Council Member Luke Cavener, it does not cost anything to
start a Neighborhood Watch group. It's completely free. The requirement is that they are
in communication with us and that we meet with them at least once a year and if they
want signs, for example, that is a cost to the Neighborhood Watch group or the
homeowners association. That's not covered by the city. In the past we have worked on
getting grants for neighborhood watch signs that we are looking into currently to be able
to build those for the apartment program, but, really, there is no cost to anyone in the
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community to put this on, it's just time. They have to be willing to put in the effort and
work with us and communicate with us as we develop their program.
Cavener: Madam Mayor, follow up again. Do we see a Neighborhood Watch setting up
in brand new neighborhoods or are they neighborhoods that have been around for a
while, maybe have had a crime spree or a crime occurrence, so that's the response?
Where -- where are these five new ones coming from or where are you seeing most of
your Neighborhood Watches germinating from?
Galbreaith: Madam Mayor, Council Member Cavener, actually, all five of ours are new
developments. For example, Sky Mesa is one of them. We work with those who -- they
-- they are newer I should say and -- and a lot of them are moving from the builder owned
to having the HOA board and they want to get this established early on and so they can
continue to sustain that. We have had different areas reach out to us who may have seen
a spike in a specific crime, like a concern about graffiti and so they want to revamp an
existing Neighborhood Watch, which is also great. We appreciate that.
Cavener: Madam Mayor. And, Stephany, I think you -- you kind of arrived at a destination
that I have kind of been following as you have been giving this presentation, is that maybe
there is a -- maybe you're doing this as an opportunity to really work with builders and
establish Neighborhood Watches, even when they are -- when they are builder lead. The
great work that you guys are doing with the BCA has clearly demonstrated the value to
our citizens and our stakeholders. So, I think there is a -- again, applaud the work that
you're already doing -- and you may have already been headed down this pathway, but I
-- I love the idea that as the very first resident that moves into a brand new neighborhood ,
there is already a Neighborhood Watch been established. We have set that value, that
benchmark from the beginning, rather than waiting for the residents to take over the
homeowners association, then, say, okay, now we can do it, so --
De Weerd: Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: Madam Mayor. Stephany, Sarah, thank you for your presentation. No -- no
question, just congratulations. That's awesome. You're doing a good job, so keep up the
good work.
Galbreaith: Thank you.
Bernt: Like to see what's going to happen with the apartments. That's a little bit different
than HOAs, so --
De Weerd: Well -- and you actually have taken that -- we did a program a number of
years ago, but you have taken it like the third and fourth level and -- and that's really
exciting to see. Also at that time when we were doing that we did a frontline workers
training as well, where we brought in the utility companies and our own water and sewer
and -- and the trash collectors and talked about what signs to look for in neighborhood
streets as you're driving down it and who to call, because we didn't want them to -- to
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address it, but also they needed to know what to do with that information and so it would
be great to -- to see that. Also Stephany and Sarah cared for and really built on top of
that as well. This is really exciting and I will tell you that what I have heard from the BCA
and working with this and -- and really taking their comments serious in trying to be
solution oriented, it really is the Meridian Way. So, great compliments and comments in
response to how you really took this and developed something in collaboration with them
and that's -- that's all good. So, thank you for what you guys are doing with this program
and as Council Member Little Roberts pointed out, prevention and being proactive up
front does save us costs on the back end, because it's always more costly to respond and
react than to -- to be proactive. So, thank you for all you do.
Galbreaith: Thank you.
C. City Council: Discussion of City Code 11- 3C- 4: Parking
Standards For Single-Family Detached, Townhouses,
Secondary, Duplex And Single-Family Attached Dwellings
De Weerd: Okay. Item 5-C is a discussion that will be led by Council Member Cavener.
Cavener: Go down, if that's okay.
De Weerd: Sure.
Cavener: So, Madam Mayor, Council Members. It's fun being down here before you all
this evening. A couple of years ago City Council kind of -- Madam Mayor, do you want
me to reduce myself?
De Weerd: No, I think you're -- you're known.
Cavener: Okay.
De Weerd: I kind of -- I kind of introduced you by saying you would be leading the
discussion.
Cavener: Just wanted to make sure. When we started this process of kind of having
Council Members be able to work on or noodle on or address community issues it's
something I think we should all be really proud of. I have loved this process. For you
Council Members who will be leaving us at the end of the year, I would encourage you to
go through this process at least once. I think it's really really important for our community
and for us as Council Members to be down here sometimes and remind ourselves what
our citizens experience when they are down here looking up at us and it gives us a great
opportunity to address an issue, which is what I have before you tonight talking of parking
in our driveways. As you all may recall, we have -- we have touched on this a number of
times over the past couple of years and appreciate having the opportunity to come before
you about this particular idea, which relates to what you can and cannot park on your
driveway on the property that you own. For instance, you can park -- you can park a car
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that appears to be movable, but actually isn't, as long as it has a license plate, but you
can't park a half million dollar RV on your driveway. You can park a -- again, a vehicle
that appears to be running, but isn't functional, as long as it has its license plate on your
driveway, but you can't park a Razor. You can park those vehicles in the streets for up to
three days, but you cannot park them in your driveway. So, to me -- and to really -- quite
frankly, the reason I'm here is not because I have any dog in this fight . I don't have an
RV. I don't have a boat. I don't have a Razor. The only thing that would qualify as a
recreational vehicle is a Mickey Mouse power wheel that is parked predominantly in our
garage that belongs to my three year old. But over the past couple of years I have heard
from some of our constituents who have experienced this issue. Again, unaware that they
couldn't park something that they owned on the property that they also own. This has
been touched on a little bit by -- by code enforcement and I know the City Council even
noodled on this a little over a decade ago and -- and personally I have always had this
belief that if a constituent comes to me with a concern about a law or an ordinance and I
can't explain it, then, I owe it to our citizens to at least bring it to the body, so we can at
least have a discussion about does this make sense or does it not. At the end of the day
if we are done with this discussion tonight, that's okay with me. If we think, oh, boy, this
doesn't make sense and maybe deserves to be addressed, that's okay with me, too, and
I'm happy to do the legwork, because it's important to a few of our citizens and I'm happy
to do the homework on it. So, what you have before you is a much more eloquent
synopsis of what I shared with you tonight, as well as a copy of the ordinance. What I'm
looking for tonight is some direction about is this an issue that we as a body want to
address. Do we think that there are modifications that are warranted or are we great with
the status quo and onto the next thing. I am trying to delay things a little bit, so that
Council Member Borton can get here for his presentation, so I will be happy to take any
questions as well, but that would be the action I would be looking for from the body tonight.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Little Roberts: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Little Roberts.
Little Roberts: Madam Mayor. Mr. Cavener, t hank you so much for this. It seems very
timely. I have had several people approached me lately and I think it's because it's boating
and RV season and I was out for a walk rather late one evening, not quite dark, and the
neighbor that knows I'm on the Council said could you clarify me a question -- or answer
a question. He was cleaning his boat and he would like to finish the next day, but he felt
-- he's right on a curve and he felt like it would be much safer if he pulled it into his
driveway, which he had plenty of space and he said do I understand correctly that I cannot
pull it into my driveway and be legal, but it's safer, but I can leave it on the street and go
ahead and finish it in the morning. Well, I said that is, unfortunately, absolutely correct.
You can leave it where it's not as safe on the corner and be legal or pull it in your driveway
and be safer and illegal and I will keep on my walk and leave you to your decision.
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Cavener: Madam Mayor, if I -- if I can. One, Mr. Nary can always chime in, because I --
I'm not the city attorney and don't want to speak out of turn , but I also think it's important
to know that these issues or instances that occur are largely complaint driven; right? So,
somebody else in the neighborhood sees that something is parked in the driveway and
they call -- and they call code enforcement and code enforcement comes out and they
cite. Sometimes they call -- you know, a phone call is made to code endorsement for one
neighbor and while they are there they see there is another type of violation from another
neighbor and, then, they get cited. I can speak to my years working in the Mayor's office
as the community liaison, you would often have instances of neighbors who are fighting
with each other using code enforcement as weapons to have their -- their neighbors --
neighbors lives in their kind of way made miserable. So, it's not that we have code
enforcement that's driving around looking for this, it's largely complaint driven. But I
believe the feedback you provided your -- your neighbor was correct.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Luke -- can I call you Luke?
Cavener: You sure can.
Milam: I think this is a great topic to discuss, so I'm definitely for bringing it back. It does
seem somewhat ridiculous that you can park something in the street where it could be in
the way of traffic causing a hazard, when it could safely be parked in a driveway. So, also
it will rehab code enforcement a little bit, because now it's going to be in the hands of the
HOAs. So, if -- if they have a -- if there is a rule in their HOA and their CC&Rs that they
can't park in there for more than three days or whatever, they are still going to have that
issue, but instead of taxpayer dollars and our Police Department paying for it, it's going
to be in the neighborhood's hands. So, I think it's a great -- great thing to talk about.
Thank you for bringing it to us.
Cavener: Madam Mayor. Thank you. Can I call you Genesis?
Milam: Not today.
Cavener: Council Member Milam. I appreciate those comments and -- and I will say
while I don't have a dog in this fight, I have been the person who has called code
enforcement in my neighborhood. I have a corner that is off of a long stretch of a roadway
where my neighbor parked a very large -- a very nice RV, which does create a concern,
especially in the morning or in the afternoon , that you can't see if there is anybody that's
coming. I agree philosophically that these types of issues, because there is -- where they
are placed in the driveway doesn't pose -- I have been able to identify a public safety
concern that it is better suited for homeowners associations if that 's, as a neighborhood,
what they want to do to address that, that they have the ability to do that. Exactly freeing
up our code enforcement officer's time.
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Nary: So -- Madam Mayor? Madam Mayor, I can help give some context. I think Council
Member Cavener has covered it really well. We have had this discussion off and on for
a number of years and the original conversation with code enforcement many years ago
was similar in the sense that our code says you can park it in your side yard when it's
screened. There are hundreds, if not thousands that are parked that are unscreened and
so the problem is is that the screening and the side yard designation works in ce rtain
neighborhoods and in certain areas where they have enough room. Many of the current
building footprints don't leave enough side yard to park an RV in anyway. So, there is
that conflict. We had a meeting with code enforcement a number of months ago and my
request to them -- and, unfortunately, they couldn't be here tonight, so I think if you want
to have further discussion with the code enforcement folks with Mr. Everett it would be
helpful as well, but my request to them was, well, what would work -- what would work for
you. I mean not trying to mediate the entire world issues of what fits in one neighbor
versus another, but what would work from an enforcement standpoint for you folks to deal
with and I think Council Member Cavener hit it on the head, I mean the struggle they have
is they go out to neighborhoods and the logical place to put that RV or boat is in their
driveway. It's less dangerous, it's less of a hazard, yet it doesn't fit very well there and it
won't fit in the side yard as our code requires and so parking on the street is allowed and,
again, it creates a hazard and, then, the secondary effect is you have the neighbors
saying what about that guy and that guy and that guy and that guy and now all of a sudden
it's a bigger issue. They have done a fantastic job over the years of mediating those
issues. You haven't seen very many people in front of you complaining -- nor do we have
a tremendous amount of citations that are going to court. So, they have mediated this a
lot, but it is -- it is a struggle and -- and it has become many times that code enforcement
becomes the tool of the HOA, because the HOAs know that we prohibit parking in
driveways, so they don't have to enforce anything, they call our code enforcement and
use them and that's problematic as well. So, I think it's a great discussion we have
managed it for a number of years on a case -by-case basis, complaint driven. We have
areas where it makes sense and, again, there is a lot of areas where this is occurring and
it's not a problem to the neighbors, it's -- it happens in three days, they get it loaded,
unloaded, they bring it back, they put it away, at the end of the summer they go park it in
a storage facility and it goes away and most of the neighbors don't care . But it does keep
reoccurring periodically that we have this discussion and so having some clear direction
and some -- some input from code as to what would help them I think is a great
conversation. I think it's going to continue to occur and we will still have these conflicts.
It is primarily -- and I think Councilman Cavener, again, has captured it, it is primarily an
aesthetic reason why our code exists for them not to park it in the driveway, to park it on
a side yard or on the street. It is not a public safety concern about parking it on the
property, other than the aesthetics of having it screened.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: And I think that when we get into the nitty gritty of the discussion , then, we can
discuss, you know, is there a certain length of time that a vehicle -- still it can be -- there
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can be some boundaries set on it, not that you're going to just live with a motorhome
parked in your driveway, but, you know, those are things that we can talk about when we
get into the details I think.
Cavener: So, Madam Mayor, if I may, one of the things I guess that I'm proposing is rather
than just myself and somebody from the city attorney's office and code enforcement sit
down and come up with another crack at this, that maybe we pull some -- some minds
together. We have got a fantastic -- I think I -- another month goes by they don't speak
about our Transportation Commission and the great work we are doing. I think there is
some great, thoughtful minds that are there. Maybe source one or two of them.
Potentially somebody from a dealership that sells boats or RVs -- again, we have got
great businesses that do that in Meridian. I love task forces. I know other people on this
body sometimes don't share the same enthusiasm for task forces, but anytime we can
pull together a group of folks who want to work towards a solution I think that's beneficial.
I'm happy to lead that effort. I'm happy to defer those efforts to anyone else as well.
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: You took the words right out of my mouth, Mr. Cavener. I think it's a great idea
having a little committee get together, get some great minds brainstorming different ways
in which we can improve this. Maybe reach out to some different HOA, you know,
property management companies, maybe some HOA presidents as well and -- and that
might be a great start.
De Weerd: Perhaps maybe involve our community liaison as well.
Bernt: Yeah. Perfect.
Cavener: That's great.
Bernt: I'm in support.
De Weerd: And now that --
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: -- we can have storage units in a neighborhood, you can maybe solve it with
that. Yes, Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Chief Bongiorno is an HOA president and I would like to volun-tell him -- no.
Kidding. He volunteered.
Bongiorno: I'm in. I will help.
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Milam: There you go. Great minds.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: Just my only commentary is I hope we wouldn't further muddy the Razor or
whatever and make this more complicated by saying, okay, well, you can do it as long as
it's between the hours of this and that and between winter solstice -- whatever and
whatnot.
De Weerd: That's a great idea. Write that down.
Cavener: The Palmer summer solstice ordinance.
De Weerd: Uh-huh.
Cavener: Go write it.
Palmer: Hey -- and I don't want to give an opinion one way or the other, because even
on a day when I can make a motion to approve an art project and be rejected , I don't want
to push this one way or another by giving an opinion on it. I just hope we just don't make
it more complicated. But I'm definitely in favor of cleaning it up.
Cavener: Great. We will get to work on it. Probably bring it back in September, if that
works okay for the Mayor and Council President and clerk, so -- okay. Thanks.
D. City Council: Hands -Free Cell Phone Driving Ordinance
Discussion
De Weerd: And I would recommend that we move Item 5-D to the -- oh, were you here
for that discussion to -- okay. Sure.
Palmer: So, do you want to continue it?
De Weerd: Yes. I could -- I could also discuss it, too.
Lavey: Madam Mayor, Council, thank you for this opportunity. Councilman Borton was
supposed to present it and I gave him all my notes, but I pulled up a few. This is just
supposed to be a high level discussion. I wanted to get it in front of Council to maybe
reach out to your constituents and see what they think and --
De Weerd: Plus to see if there is interest from Council to have further discussions.
Lavey: Yeah. And so the proposal is to -- the potential discussion of having a hands-free
cell phone ordinance in the City of Meridian. There are several cities within the state that
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have cell phone ordinances and we would be like fifth or sixth. The legislature -- the
legislature has attempted to get a state bill passed for several years without success.
This past year they were probably the closest as they possibly could have been, but it still
didn't go forward and, really, the reason why I'm bringing this up is not because the Police
Department wants it, because we are hearing from the public. Not a day goes by that we
don't have road rage incidences, car crashes, distracted driving, impatience, frustration
with the amount of traffic on our roadways and, unfortunately, infrastructure is not going
to be able to catch up and is there anything that we can do as a local municipality to
ensure our assistance in public safety and I would challenge anybody here to just sit at
an intersection and watch the traffic go by and count how many people have cell phones
in their hands and just for an example that I wanted to bring to this Council is this afternoon
I sat at Eagle and Overland and as the -- out of the 15 cars that past left turn lane, 13 of
them were on their phones. We have had 88 texting while driving type crashes in Meridian
that have been admitted to. People don't want to admit to that. They would rather admit
to something else than admit to an infraction of texting while driving and we have had an
increase of over 300 crashes over '17 to '18. I don't have the '19 figures in front of me.
And I shared a lot of those stats with -- with Councilman Borton and my cell phone just
went out it's saying no messages, so I can't pull it from there. So, really, this was -- this
opportunity was just to have a very high level presentation to you to see what your
thoughts are, to see if you're willing to even consider that and possibly reach out to your
constituents and see what they think. I have gotten a lot of public that says we want this,
we want this, we want this, but we know a lot of people are -- are going to fight it, but they
are going to fight it just because it's change. It's something they would have to get used
to and, unfortunately, with the growth that we are facing in this city and in this valley, we
need to have one hundred percent concentration on what we are doing behind that wheel
and get the heck off our phones. There is going to be a lot of arguments that, well, you
could be putting on makeup, you could be shaving, you could be eating -- it does happen.
But count how many times you see someone doing that compared to how many times
you see somebody on their phones. So, just pay attention to that and see if your -- if your
thought processes change and see if there is interest. So, that's -- that's really all there
is to it. Councilman Borton just wanted to see if there was any appetite to this group to
even consider it and if there is we will bring it back at some later date. I forwarded him
some examples of ordinances that the city of Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Hailey, Ketchum -- I
think those were the ones I forwarded to him -- that have ordinances in place. Our thought
process is -- it's kind of like what we have had with a lot of other ordinances we have done
on a -- on a citywide level is if enough cities get together and do what's right , perhaps the
state legislature will do the same and do what's right.
De Weerd: Chief, I think when Sergeant Gonzales was working with the youth council on
the seatbelt issue, as they were out with their clipboards and such looking at who is
wearing seatbelts and who wasn't, their biggest observation was look at all the people on
their phones and they weren't all kids. So, the adults were worse offenders than the teens
were. Mr. Bernt.
Bernt: Thank you, chief. I appreciate your presentation and your words and your
direction. I have kiddos who have -- who are driving and kiddos who are starting to drive
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and -- and I was a really bad offender of this and over the years I have gotten better. Not
perfect. I would be a hypocrite to say that I never, you know -- you know, check an e-mail
or something while stopped at a four way stop, but even, then, it just -- it creates
congestion when you're holding up traffic when traffic needs to be going and so anytime
we can have a discussion about public safety in ways we can do better I 'm for it, so I think
we should -- I think we -- I'm absolutely for having this discussion.
Lavey: Madam Mayor, Councilman Bernt, glad you mentioned that, because just
yesterday we had a couple that were at a stoplight and the light turned green and they
paused because they were looking down. I don't know what they were looking down at,
but they were looking down. The gentleman behind them laid on his horn longer than
what normally would be to indicate he was upset. It happened right out here in front of
City Hall. Meridian and Main. And they pulled over in one lane. He passed them, got
right up alongside of them, and pulled a gun out and pointed it at them with his four year
old kid in the car. That's how frustrated he was because they were paused for those
couple of seconds. That's just one example of what we got going on here daily. But that
happened yesterday. So, he is on the jail roster for today. Many other charges besides
that. I mean alcohol and he wasn't making smart decisions, but that is -- your officers are
facing road rage incidences weekly because of people on their phones and the
impatience out there.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: That one got me, because I'm sitting here thinking -- being able to use my phone
when I'm stopped -- because I have tried really hard not to use it when I'm driving. Keep
-- prevents road rage for me and when I'm frustrated with traffic and trying to get
somewhere and like, okay, I got a couple minutes, the light is red, I have got to -- I have
got to text -- to get this text out or something, because I don't have a half hour until I get
to my -- my destination to wait. So, for me it helps me prevent getting angry with the
whole traffic situation. I never thought of it that way, you know. I also try to be very aware
of the lights and -- and I see how it could cause a problem. I'm still -- I am for having this
conversation. I couldn't -- my concern really is people coming from -- if they are in Nampa
and they are going to Boise and they are driving through Meridian and they don't know
that the law has changed while they are driving through Meridian, what happens then? I
mean if people are just unaware -- I really think this is a state issue and we have had
these conversations about other things, but --
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: And those are things that we can also address --
Milam: Yeah.
De Weerd: -- if we bring this back to --
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Milam: Yes.
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Madam Mayor, I think you hit the nail on the head that these are bigger things
that we can talk about in a much larger presentation. To me a logical ordinance, easily
enforced, supported by the public, be crazy not to do it.
Milam: Yeah.
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener, were you done?
Cavener: I am.
De Weerd: Okay. Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: Even though it seems like the last couple comments were no more questions,
I'm going to ask one anyway. Do the ordinances as existing in our city as you mentioned
or the one you perceive potentially here, make it so that you can't accept and/or initiate
calls by looking at them or is it one hundred percent hands free. If you can't do it by
speaking you can't participate in a call?
Lavey: Madam Mayor, Councilman Palmer, the -- the nice thing about the local ordinance
is it can say whatever you want it to say, but what I have read in the drafts is that they
give emergency clauses in there, so if you have an emergency you can be on it. It does
talk about using hands free devices. The goal is to have the cell phone out of your hands
and so you're concentrating on driving down the road. I will tell you that there are studies
out there that if you are talking hands free to someone on the phone you're not one
hundred percent concentrated when you're driving behind the wheel. But that's a really
big ask to say that you're not going to have any sort of communications whatsoever. So,
there is exceptions to the law. It's really just trying to force people to do the right thing
and, unfortunately, we have hoped that people would do the right thing for many many
years and they don't and that's just put your phones down and -- and drive. It's addicting.
You know, if I have my phone in my pocket and it rings, I feel like I have to answer it and
there is nothing that says you have to answer it right there. Twenty years ago we didn't
and there is something in our brains to say we have to now and --
De Weerd: That's because we are an instant information society.
Lavey: Absolutely. And so it's going to take some change in behavior and we found that
simply doing the right thing is not the change in behavior or the catalyst for that. It's going
to have to put something with teeth in it.
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De Weerd: Thank you. And for the record let it be shown that Council Member Borton
has joined us.
Lavey: And he owes me.
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: Madam Mayor. Chief, so in the other cities in Idaho that have done it, are you
allowed to look at your phone to accept a call or to initiate one or to end one?
Lavey: Madam Mayor, Councilman Palmer, I don't want to speak out of turn and -- and
cite the law, because I don't -- I don't recall what those exceptions are, so I would not
want to provide you with false information. I will tell you that I have provided those
samples to Councilman Borton, he could probably provide those to you and I can also get
them to you at a later time. I just don't feel comfortable answering that specifically right
now.
De Weerd: Councilman Borton.
Borton: Thank you, Madam Mayor. I apologize. Chief, thanks for covering.
Lavey: We are good.
Borton: Came from a feisty trial downtown. So, you shared with me some great data and
a couple of ordinances that answered these questions . You hit the nail on the head that
there is great flexibility in how a city handles it. I think Pocatello and Ketchum were the
two that I reviewed more thoroughly and they really do address -- and this is a
conversation maybe for the next step, but they address exceptions that would apply for
police and fire and their utilization of devices in the performance of their duties , as well
as exceptions for individuals to report crimes or immediate danger, immediate harm. I
believe those two -- other than those exceptions would exclude utilizing the device to
even, you know, answer the phone or decline a call hands free --- hands free. I thought
when you brought it up -- made the comment initially it was really worth looking into, kind
of do the cost benefit of regulating this kind of conduct. I think you shared or Officer Ford
shared -- I think there were 80 -- over 80 instances of admitted crashes here in our
community.
Lavey: And I shared that with everybody.
Borton: Okay. So, the cost is great. So, I think it's -- it's well worth bringing it forward
and at least exploring further. I think the liberty that you have when you drive your vehicle
is tempered somewhat by the fact that you do it on a public street next to the public
sidewalks with our kids and families walking on it. I think there is some room for some
safe middle ground to regulate the conduct and if our community wants it we should look
into it further.
Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda August 6, 2019 – Page 28 of 400
Meridian City Council
July 23, 2019
Page 25 of 28
Palmer: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Palmer.
Palmer: I agree with Council Woman Milam that it is a state issue. Ignorance of the law
does not remove one's responsibility to obey it, so if you're driving through Meridian and
the law is different you have to adhere to it, just as if you're driving from Oregon to some
other state that allows marijuana through Idaho, you can't have it here, but it becomes
very complicated, because, then, where do we stop? If you're not allowed to look at your
device to -- to accept a call, what if it's on your dash. Well, if you're allowed to hit a button
through the car's phone system to be able to accept it, just -- you should be allowed to
do, that just as you're allowed to -- I imagine we wouldn't be taking away people's ability
to adjust radio stations. But what's the difference. It's a -- not a driving related focused
task. You're not looking at your speedometer, you're looking and messing with a radio.
You're looking and messing with a phone that's on your dash. You're looking at and
messing with other buttons on your dash that's in your car for calls it -- it gets too
complicated to have different cities -- even if their ordinances are all identical to -- to have
a reasonable expectation that the people, yes, driving through it adhere to it, understand
it and know what it is, know what the intricacies of that particular city's law is. It does
need to be done at the state. So, I'm not interested in -- in pursuing it for the city to answer
your question.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: Just to respond to that. I'm never moved by an argument that it's a state issue,
because in order to say it's a state issue is to accept the premise of that statement, which
is it's an issue in the first place and now it's an argument over who is to solve the problem
that we all admit exists. So, if we are going to say it's a state issue, then, we are admitting
that there is a problem, we are just disagreeing on who is to fix it. So, if we have got the
ability to fix it and address it in our community, all being in agreement that there is a
problem to fix, then, let's fix it and there is no reason why our community can't do it and if
difficult decisions and lines need to be drawn on how far in the specific structure of such
an ordinance, why not do it.
De Weerd: And if I may just frame this conversation, we would like to get direction from
Council if the majority would like to see a move forward with a proposed ordinance to
come back for discussion. That discussion didn't need to happen today.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: So, I guess that sounds almost backwards. I think we should have a discussion
and, then, create an ordinance based on the discussion that we have. So, if we create
Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda August 6, 2019 – Page 29 of 400
Meridian City Council
July 23, 2019
Page 26 of 28
an ordinance and, then, we -- I mean I know we have done this before, it just always
seems like we are just making extra work by creating an ordinance and, then, making a
whole bunch of changes and, then, changing the ordinance and, then, making more
changes and it seems like if we had the conversation that these are the things that we
want to see in the ordinance, then, create one -- I don't know.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: Maybe a suggestion to -- to kind of close the loop on this was -- it was gauging
interest. If -- if the majority of Council is that's pretty interesting, all the mechanics of how
such an ordinance might work and where lines are drawn and language, how other cities
have used it, go bring that back and we can do that. Scott, we don't have to reinvent the
wheel, there is some great structure at least from the few communities that we can crib
from that try to help us draft that one -- or create that line and, then, focus a discussion
from there.
Lavey: Madam Mayor, Councilman Borton, really what -- what I wanted was for you to
just go out and ask the citizens what they want, because this isn't something we are
bringing forward on behalf of the Police Department, this is something that we are bringing
forward on behalf of the citizens and it really doesn't matter what we as a Police
Department think. It probably really doesn't matter what you think, other than you have
the authority to do the law. Do our citizens want it and if they do, then, we have the ability
to bring it forward for them. If they don't want it I -- I don't want to push that on them, but
all the citizens that are approaching me says that we would like to see something done.
So, really, that's all it is. It's just to go back and do your research and see what the comfort
level is and if you give the go ahead, we have the resources in place to provide you some
-- some draft ordinances and, then, we can start that argument and discussion from there.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Let me recommend either somebody from the PD or Shandy put out a survey on
NextDoor, so we can -- other than us talking to our constituents, get some more
generalized feedback from those that maybe we don't get to see in person.
De Weerd: I think Shandy, since she was rear-ended by someone who was on their
phone yesterday, would love to do that. She's not at work today, because she was rear-
ended by someone that was on their phone going 40 miles an hour, so -- and she was
stopped in a stop sign. I guess perhaps we can get some information out to Council
Members via e-mail. The drafts. If it triggers some questions we would love to collect
those and, then, we can help kind of identify the items that would like further discussion
as you work to create a template to bring back to Council.
Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda August 6, 2019 – Page 30 of 400
Meridian City Council
July 23, 2019
Page 27 of 28
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: When is the next citizen survey going to be conducted? In the spring?
Lavey: I think it's farther out than that.
De Weerd: Yeah.
Cavener: I thought we do them every couple years -- two, three years.
De Weerd: No. We do it every three years and it's usually in the fall. So, I don't -- I don't
believe it's this fall -- following fall. I can find out.
Cavener: I would be -- Madam Mayor? I would be more supportive -- I mean if we are
-- if our intent is to really read our citizens, I support scientifically validated polling and our
citizen survey has given us good feedback on the thoughts and views on all things from
our community. I would hold that data in much higher regard than a NextDoor survey or,
you know, an e-mail communication, so --
De Weerd: I guess we can ask them, too, where they want to park their boats. I think
that you are the decision makers. Well, we will -- we will get some information out and
put this back on an agenda. Okay. Thank you.
Item 6: Executive Session per Idaho State Code 74- 206( 1)( c): To acquire an
interest in real property not owned by a public agency, (1)( d) To
consider records that are exempt from disclosure as provided in
chapter 1, title 74, Idaho Code. and ( 1)( f) To communicate with legal
counsel for the public agency to discuss the legal ramifications of
and legal options for pending litigation, or controversies not yet
being litigated but imminently likely to be litigated
De Weerd: Okay. Item No. 6 is Executive Session. Do I have a motion?
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: I move we go into Executive Session pursuant to Idaho State Code 74-
206(1)(c),(d) and (f).
Cavener: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to adjourn into Executive Session. Mr. Clerk,
will you call roll.
Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda August 6, 2019 – Page 31 of 400
Meridian City Council " (L�or1c$e5st ort
July 23, 2019
Page 28 of 28
Roll call: Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea; Bernt,
yea.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: (5:38 p.m. to 6:19 p.m.)
De Weerd: I will go ahead and call this meeting back to order and entertain a motion.
Borton: Madam Mayor, move we come out of Executive Session.
Cavener: Second.
De Weerd: All those in favor say aye. All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
De Weerd: Do I have a motion to adjourn?
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: I move we adjourn the workshop meeting.
Cavener: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to adjourn our workshop meeting. All those in
favor say aye. All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 6:19 P.M.
(AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
MAYOR TAMMY DE WEERD
ATTEST: l
CHRIS JOHi S
8 / (0 / 19
AUGUST,' DATE APPROVED
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