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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-10-08 RegularMeridian City Council October 8, 2019. A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, October 8, 2019, by Mayor Tammy de Weerd. Members Present: Tammy de Weerd, Joe Borton, Genesis Milam, Ty Palmer and Anne Little Roberts. Members Absent: Luke Cavener and Treg Bernt. Also Present: Chris Johnson, Bill Nary, Caleb Hood, Brian McClure, Warren Stewart, Mark Ford, Joe Bongiorno and Dean Willis. Item 1: Roll-call Attendance: Roll call. X__ Anne Little Roberts X _ _Joe Borton X__ Ty Palmer ___ Treg Bernt __X___Genesis Milam ______Lucas Cavener __X__ Mayor Tammy de Weerd De Weerd: I will go ahead and start us on our next -- our regular City Council meeting. For the record it is October 8th at 6:00 o'clock and we will start with roll call attendance, Mr. Clerk. Item 2: Pledge of Allegiance De Weerd: Item No. 2 is the Pledge of Allegiance. If you will all rise and join us in the pledge to our flag. (Pledge of Allegiance recited.) Item 3: Community Invocation De Weerd: Mr. Clerk, I don't think we have someone for the -- Item No. 3. Johnson: Madam Mayor, you are correct. Item 4: Adoption of the Agenda De Weerd: Okay. So, I will move to Item 4, adoption at the agenda. Borton: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Borton. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 27 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 2 of 21 Borton: Move we adopt the agenda as published. Milam: Second. De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to adopt the agenda as published. All those in favor say aye. All ayes. MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. TWO ABSENT. Item 5: Announcements De Weerd: Council, I just have a few announcements. Under upcoming events I was mistaken, last week was not the last Main Street Market. It is actually this Saturday. If any of you have not attended the Main Street Market it's out in our City Hall Plaza. It runs on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and it's -- it's a community asset and we would love to see you support it. So, the AFSP Out Of The Darkness Treasure Valley Community Walk is Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Kleiner Park and there is a Chamber Mayoral Candidate Forum on Tuesday, October 15th, from noon to 1:30. That is through the chamber office and it's at West Ada Auditorium. So, you can get the tickets from the Chamber of Commerce. With that are there any other announcements? Item 6: Proclamation A. Crime Prevention Month De Weerd: Okay. I will go ahead and move to Item 6, which is our proclamation and I see that Stephany and Sarah are here. If you will join me at the podium. Well, it is Crime Prevention Month and, you know, it really does take our entire community to continue to remain a safe place for families and kids to live, work, and for our parents to raise their family. So, this is an important proclamation. Whereas the City of Meridian is committed to ensuring the health, safety, and quality of life of all those living and visiting our city, benefiting from the dependable delivery of public safety and that our citizens so greatly appreciate and whereas the Meridian Police Department's 109 sworn and 33 non-sworn employees are dedicated to keeping the fear of crime from the hearts of 115,000 Meridian residents -- and growing -- and whereas the Meridian residents are responsible -- or responsive to public education measures and able to take personal steps to increase their safety and whereas each year we are excited to celebrate Crime Prevention Month with fun and engaging public safety events, including the National School Day, Selfie With A Cop Day and Public Safety Day and whereas effective crime prevention programs succeed with partnerships between the Meridian Police Department, other government agencies, civic groups, schools, faith communities, local businesses -- really? Lieutenant. Local businesses and other citizens as they collaborate to nurture collective responsibilities and instill pride. Therefore, I, Mayor Tammy de Weerd, hereby proclaim the month of October 2019 as Crime Prevention Month in the City of Meridian and call upon the community to acquaint themselves with our Meridian Police Department and actively participate in preventing crime through education, prevention, and awareness. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 28 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 3 of 21 And it is with great pleasure I turn this over to Stephany and, Stephany and Sarah, do you have any comments you would like to make? Galbreaith: Thank you. De Weerd: Thank you. Galbreaith: I just wanted to extend our gratitude to City Council and Mayor Tammy for always supporting our education and prevention efforts. We put together over 80 events a year, reaching roughly 21,000 community members, and we couldn't do it without the continued support and so we -- we just really appreciate everything you guys have done for our -- our department and our division. Thank you. De Weerd: Thank you. And you have some activities coming up; right? Galbreaith: Yes. De Weerd: What are they? Galbreaith: Yeah. Sarah, do you want to speak to the upcoming events we have? Herrick: Yeah. So, on October 19th we have Public Safety Day and it's going to be at Meridian Fire Station No. 1 and we will have our SWAT, canine, our traffic team and also with Meridian Fire out there. And, then, on October 24th in the downtown area we will have trunk or treat with two police officers out there for you guys. Galbreaith: Yeah. Thank you. De Weerd: Thank you both for being here and Lieutenant Colaianni. Galbreaith: Our photographer. De Weerd: Both -- both meetings we have had their presence. Thank you for being here and thank you for all you guys do. Galbreaith: Thank you. De Weerd: I like the coordination of the photos during the reading of the proclamation. It's not distracting at all. Item 7: Future Meeting Topics - Public Forum (Up to 30 Minutes Maximum) De Weerd: Okay. Mr. Clerk, anything under Item 7? Johnson: Madam Mayor, there is nothing. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 29 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 4 of 21 Item 8: Action Items A. Planning Division Presentation and Discussion: ACHD Plans for Locust Grove Rd., Victory to Overland Cross-Section De Weerd: Okay. Item 8 under Action Items. 8-A is from our planning division. We will talk about ACHD plans for the Locust Grove Road, Victory to Overland cross-section. Ryan or Caleb. Hi. McClure: Madam Chair, both of us will talk about this. In addition to the Locust Grove, Victory to Overland cross-section, just also some general ACHD coordination -- dialogue I'm hoping -- in terms of what City Council would like to see. So, Locust Grove, Victory to Overland, is the city's number one ACHD roadway priority. It has an existing two lane cross-section with no center turn lane, no bike lane, no curb-gutter, no consistent sidewalks. Traffic volumes over -- over design capacity and projected 2040 volumes suggesting a need for two -- or four or five lanes. One other note as maybe a pen for later, but Locust Grove matches Meridian Road and, then, it goes all the way down to Kuna Road in the south. This is the 50 percent concept that the public reviewed at the recent public involvement meeting which ACHD held. It's five lanes with a center turn lane and includes bike lanes, detached sidewalks, and also two pedestrian crossings at Puffin and Time Zone. This cross-section has heavy landscape impacts with this design. Almost all the trees are in the way. Parkway is just turf where it exists currently or rock where it doesn't, without city partnership. The remaining area behind the back of curb in some areas is too narrow for turf. That condition varies a lot and there is also no shrubs or trees contemplated with the project. Right of way preservation has been inadequate in this area at least for the transportation network as it's planned today. So, what are the city's priorities for this project, the neighborhood -- at least in terms of the feedback that ACHD received seems split roughly 50-50 for whether they like it or dislike it, with varying degrees of whether they really dislike it or really like it. Staff has been hearing that a sense of and quality of place is important during the comp plan outreach. Sometimes question why not just a turn lane for this project. Most people, however, are unaware of the long-term traffic projections. Even if Meridian doesn't approve any additional housing, Kuna to the south will. They are using our north roads -- north-south roads and will continue to do so. If the traffic doubles the road will not function well, even with a center turn lane. That doesn't mean we can't advocate for what we view is in our best interest though. A parking lot may be safer -- perhaps a safe -- a sense of place is more important. More broadly, though, what is the city willing to do, if anything? ACHD does not do landscaping. There is no guarantee that any compensation for impacts will be used for landscaping by the HOA boards. And a lot of the landscaping, including a lot of the trees, currently are within ACHD right of way. They may not even receive reimbursement or impact for those losses. From staff's perspective, besides sitting on the sidelines, there is two options. We can support a cross-section that meets long-term traffic needs. That could take any number of forms. We could also support a cross-section that provides more opportunity for neighborhood identity, with less emphasis on a thoroughfare. The cost benefit may not be -- exist, though, in an interim or built-out right here. There is also a large network to consider. Eagle Road, for example, dead ends at Hubbard and Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 30 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 5 of 21 Meridian Road, by all appearances, seems to be turning into a North Eagle Road. In either option, even just a three lane -- three-lane cross-section the street will change dramatically. Maybe the trees will still go, regardless of what that cross-section is. Anything new will be turf or rock. Comparable landscapes will require a higher level of effort to achieve the same feeling and in a smaller area. Here is a few cross-sections for comparison. ACHD may be open to some of these or none of these. And note for all of these is at the end of the drawing on the left to right doesn't necessarily mean there is not some remaining area for landscaping, but it varies heavily depending on which section of the street you are looking at. The top is an existing example. This varies, again, a lot. Sometimes most of the landscaping is in existing right of way and will be impacted by any project. The second is the 50 percent ACHD public involvement proposed cross-section. The third is the same facility, but instead of detached sidewalks it has seven foot attached sidewalks. ACHD by default typically does seven foot attached sidewalks and by default city staff typically requests five foot detached sidewalks. Attached sidewalks in this case would consolidate remaining open space better. So, rather than having turf and a parkway and, then, some on the back of the sidewalk, you would have it all together. The benefit of attached sidewalks in this condition is the idea that there is a bike lane here which does provide some separation between the pedestrians and bicyclists and automotive traffic. The last example here is what's being done on Eagle Road, Victory to Amity. It has no bike lanes and instead a shared multi-use sidewalk is provided, which requires less overall right of way. Just one note. I know it's been discussed among the public and in other media, but I have not shown a three lane exhibit here, because I'm not able to have any confidence that that would work locally or regionally. That would require work by others to do that and I'm not willing to suggest that. Regardless of the cross- section, though, there is an attractive option. Time and money. And I will turn it over to Caleb. De Weerd: Good job, Brian. Thank you. Hood: So, maybe before we jump into kind of the second part of this, we are looking for some direction, if there is any to weigh in, as we -- as we work with ACHD on that project that Brian just walked you through. As he mentioned, I'm going to go back to this slide -- kind of our standard default that we ask ACHD to do is this five foot detached sidewalk. That generally creates a more friendly pedestrian environment when you are not walking next to a five lane roadway, even though there are bike lanes there, so cars -- typically that gives you five or six feet. It provides some landscaping and a little bit more just separation from that. But, as Brian mentioned, on this project that really pushes that sidewalk almost literally into people's backyards in some cases. So, being, as much as we can, to limit the impacts of the overall cross-section, the second two options kind of on this one seem to be a little bit more appropriate and this kind of goes into the second part of this. Again, we have gotten some general direction from the Council in the past that, yes, we prefer detached sidewalks and in that case ACHD requires us to request a cost share agreement and pay for improving the area here in between the curb and the sidewalk. As Brian mentioned, they typically don't do landscaping. They will patch back in some landscaping occasionally if there is sod there and -- and they rip it out, they will -- they will patch it back in, but they won't put in new landscaping. So, this is something Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 31 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 6 of 21 where we work with our Parks Department quite regularly to pay for and sometimes if it's in the county, maintain the area between the curb and the sidewalk and, again, in this case we even told ACHD staff, maybe we do an attached sidewalk in this case just to limit those neighborhood impacts down. So, again, if you have really any -- anymore direction on that for staff as we continue, particularly on just this mile segment right now. If you want to have a larger discussion about, hey, let's get away from detached sidewalks, we can have that conversation, too. But, really, on this one we wanted to kind of disclose that to you that we -- Brian sent an e-mail to them saying, hey, you know, in this case maybe we don't do detached sidewalks just to limit those impacts. So, are there any thoughts that way or -- you don't have to weigh on anything. We are really just sharing and it's an ACHD project. This is one where the city could -- could kind of just be on the sidelines, to use Brian's term there, and -- and watch, monitor, but maybe not actively participate in. De Weerd: Caleb, what is the width of the multi-use sidewalk? Hood: Is that a ten foot? Brian? So, he is working on the Eagle Road project, too. So, he's more familiar with that one. McClure: Madam Mayor, I could be wrong, but I believe that's ten foot, but that does not included three foot buffer there, which is also paved. Kind of the extra concrete. De Weerd: So, the buffer is concrete then? McClure: For Eagle Road it is, yes. De Weerd: Okay. I do understand -- so, what they have done on Ten Mile -- the sidewalk is not widened and I understand the concern of the residents in that area. What you have is you have created a corridor of a fence, the sidewalk, and, then, the roadway. You have no storage area for snow that is, then, plowed and it is plowed right onto the sidewalk up against the -- the fencing and I -- in reading the comments it looks like the concern is yes that sense of place to not get into the corridor fill and have some safety aspects of it. I think with your multi-use sidewalk, the buffer approach seems to get more of that. Could you also look at a four lane with a center turn lane where you have roads that intersect with it, so you have a widening where you have cars coming and entering and exiting off the road. Has that been discussed at all? McClure: Madam Mayor, I'm not sure how much thought ACHD has put into that. I can say that there are lots of subdivision entryways in this area, though, and there are also a lot of front-on housing taking direct access from the street. So, I think that's the reason for a lot of the congestion that occurs today. De Weerd: It seems like many cities across the country are -- are not widening roadways, they are looking at other ways to move traffic. I'm not saying keep it at two lanes by any means, but have other methods and intersection improvements and other ways to move traffic more efficiently along the roadways been considered. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 32 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 7 of 21 McClure: Madam Mayor, we have some new language in our -- in our new Comprehensive Plan to consider things like that. I do not believe ACHD has done a lot of work in that regard as part of their master street map or their capital improvement plan, though, so I'm inclined to say no, but that might be a good question for ACHD or Caleb. Hood: And, Madam Mayor, I know Mr. Lucas is here -- not to put him on the spot, but if you have questions that way. I will just -- kind of to Brian's point, I mean we do work with ACHD on a master street map in trying to keep some of those shorter local trips on collectors and the local roadway network, instead of having to have everybody get on a -- an arterial roadway. That's not necessarily anything new or innovative, but through design and making sure that these roads don't dead end, that you can actually get -- traverse between the section line roads internally I think can help to some degree. We are still moving motor vehicles, though, even in a lot of that approach. De Weerd: Good evening, Justin. Thank you for joining us. Lucas: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, for the record my name is Justin Lucas. I represent the Ada County Highway District. Business address is 3775 Adams Street in Garden City, Idaho. Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, so ACHD carefully considers how wide a street needs to be. We don't want to build roads that are too wide either. They are more expensive to build, they are more expensive to maintain. What we are finding as we build out an urban network in the county, specifically in the City of Meridian, is that there is a lot of growth planned in the future and so when we do a project like this one of the biggest considerations we take into account is we would prefer just to touch this roadway once and be done and not have to come back in five years or seven years or ten years even and then widen it again and that has been our strategy. That is the strategy that is supported by our commission. And in some cases five lane roadways, you know, based on the projections, based on the modeling, based on your Comprehensive Plan are the appropriate solution. You know, this -- this specific road, Locust Grove, if you look at it in context, it's one of the very few ways to get over the freeway. There is a freeway overpass that is five lanes in this area. It connects into Overland, which is a major east-west corridor and the freeway itself is not that far away and there is a lot of growth currently happening and planned to happen south of this corridor. So, that's why we -- we are pursuing a five lane cross-section on this specific -- on this specific project. Our CIP calls for it. All of the analysis we have done calls for it. And we believe it's the right approach for this specific cross-section. That being said, certainly there are right of way implications to that -- to that strategy and this subdivision -- I'm not sure the name of it -- that is on the west side of Locust Grove -- has been around a long time and when it went in it wasn't preserved for that space back. I don't know. It's been there quite a while. Maybe -- De Weerd: Is that Sportsman Point? Lucas: Yeah. Sportsman Point. Might have been the '80s. It's been -- it's been a long time. And so we have tried really hard -- as you think about Ustick and some of these other corridors we have built out, we haven't had these issues, because we have been Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 33 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 8 of 21 able to preserve for the right of way. In this specific instance it's one of those situations where the -- the full right of way has not been preserved and, therefore, we are going into some of those HOA lots that have been established years and years ago, which we have done many times before. De Weerd: Council, questions for Justin? Little Roberts: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mrs. Little Roberts. Little Roberts: Madam Mayor. Justin, thank you so much for being here. We always appreciate it. I am a 23 year resident of Sportsman Point, so I have been hearing a lot from my neighbors that back up to Locust Grove and they are really upset and they are really sad and I just say I can help relay and I don't know if there is anything else -- if there is any other -- I know there was one town hall open house, but I know they are looking for -- for more information and to be heard. Lucas: Madam Mayor, Council Woman Little Roberts, thank you. Yeah, we did hear from -- from the neighbors at the town hall. When we do these types of projects oftentimes we are having specific conversations with specific people, many of which live along that -- that road and back up against the Locust Grove Road and so there is ample opportunity for the -- this -- this type of dialogue. Certainly one of the outcomes of the public involvement meeting was you having this conversation and potential further conversations with ACHD commission about what type of pedestrian facility, detached, attached -- that's certainly up for consideration and something that can be looked at. I think if it's the three versus five lane question, that's really more of a policy question. I mean that -- that would be a significant shift from all of the planning and -- and thought that has gone into this network. It's really more a network question, because once you squeeze traffic in one location it spills over into other locations. There is no way in a mile grid system to have all those mile grid streets be three lanes when you have 115,000 people in your community. Certainly communities are searching for options on how to move traffic more efficiently, but if you go to areas similar to ours that have grown even larger, it's not uncommon to see five lane roadways, sometimes seven lane roadways within those communities trying to accommodate the -- the traffic that is -- that's going to and through the area. That may not be what the neighbors want to hear and that's certainly fair, especially if they have a piece of property backing up against Locust Grove. That being stated, I wish we would have -- back in the -- whatever it was -- the late '80s, early '90s I wish we would have known what this area was going to be back then and I don't know if anyone really thought about that. I don't know if we had the vision back then to know that it would grow this fast, to know that it would be this attractive of an area for people to come to. We do now and we certainly have changed our procedures when it comes to right of way preservation. But in this case, you know, we just -- we just didn't preserve it at the time. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 34 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 9 of 21 Little Roberts: Madam Mayor, follow up. Justin, another one of the issues that -- it's been several years ago, but one of our residents, a teenager was hit and so they are really concerned about the students trying to cross traffic and there has been rumors saying that the Hawk signal would be moved closer to the intersection of Overland and Locust Grove and I have not heard anyone that thinks that that is -- would enhance safety. Lucas: Madam Mayor, Council Woman, that's a great question. I'm not exactly sure of that project detail. I can find out about that. I'm not the project officer on this specific one, so I don't know the -- I know there are -- if it's not one, maybe multiple pedestrian crossings planned into this project, which is very typical for our projects. As to how it's located I don't know off the top of my head, but I can find that out. Little Roberts: Thank you. Palmer: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Palmer. Palmer: As a former 12 year resident of Sportsman and the rest practically, in observation and down Green Valley, I want to try to put a nail in the coffin of the three lane idea. As Council Member Little Roberts -- Mr. Nary, you spend plenty of time there on Locust Grove there as well -- the -- myself -- this is Citizen Palmer speaking -- I have very little -- I mean just here and there slow downs with people wanting to turn left, because it's -- in the morning everyone is headed north, in the evening everyone is headed south so left isn't really a problem. The problem exists nine months out of the year during school when there is a two mile backup where everybody is headed north to get to Mountain View High School and having a center turn lane and just two travel lanes would not do a single thing for that. So, the reality is there is absolutely no way that this road gets expanded and it not be five lanes and so whatever we as a Council, even though it's, obviously, out of our hands, whatever -- whatever we can do to help facilitate the discussions and -- and peacekeeping and -- and help with the landscaping, whatever might be necessary to try to preserve the sanity of the neighbors who have experienced decades of an exceptionally wide, beautiful, giant berm, winding sidewalk that will go away, whatever we can do to help ease the pain. Even though I only have three months left I'm talking for a future council, apparently. Happy to do, but there is just no way that this turns into a three lane road. I will literally move closer to Ten Mile to -- because there is -- that's -- I mean I talk a lot to my neighbors, because they are always like when -- when is the roundabout happening, when is Locust Grove getting widened and I try to keep them updated with -- with the dates and it's not just myself, I mean I can't tell you how many are like we are only sticking around because we know that that's going to be five lanes and that we are also looking forward to the next mile. But certainly with that to ease the high school issue nine months out the year is just -- it's bad. Hood: Well, Madam Mayor, if I can this kind of transitions and -- and might be appropriate for Justin to just stay there if you don't mind, but I do want to -- I want to touch on some things, because that is part -- part of mine and we can -- and we can double back if you Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 35 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 10 of 21 have more that we can do to mitigate some of those neighborhood impacts, whether it's, you know, requesting this multi-use cross-section -- I'm not saying we, you know, buy trees for those subdivisions or whatever -- or whatever that might be to -- to help kind of lessen the pain there, but I do want to talk about some of those future projects and you just mentioned the mile south and here is some of my concern. History is going to repeat, because all we are doing right now in the CIP is preserving for three lanes on that section of Locust Grove south. Guess what, no one is going to be surprised when the model shows a need for five lanes. You like those subdivision entrances and landscape buffers on Tuscany, that wasn't done in the '80s, that was done this last decade. The planning -- it's nonexistent and that's the concern. Just in 2016 even that's when this section we are just talking about here went to five lanes. Up until then we were preserving for that to be a three lane roadway. So, it's frustrating as staff that these landscape buffers aren't landscape buffers, but holding zones for ACHD to, then, come in and buy them for the right -- the right of way and improve the roads, which are needed, I'm not saying they aren't. I'm not advocating for a three lane roadway, I'm just saying there is -- the planning -- and they are constrained by state code. They can only plan for a 20 year horizon. But, again, don't be -- and I may not be in this, you probably won't be there in five years, but this exact same conversation is going to happen, because the same thing is going to happen the mile south. We all see the need for five lanes there, but no one is planning for it, no one is preserving for it. That is part of this conversation. How do we stop this from happening. Meridian Road I get it, those subdivisions are older. Some of these you can kind of say, yeah, it's been there since the '80s or whatever, but we are seeing a lot of these projects that are newer subdivisions and brand new and we are still not preserving for what we kind of anecdotally know we will need, a five lane roadway on most all arterials and McMillan we kind of give that one -- you know, there is some constraints there with power poles and a big irrigation facility, but for the most part that future model is going to show a need for five and we -- we just don't plan to preserve for the ultimate need and that's what's frustrating I guess is -- but that's -- and, again, it's not -- ACHD is constrained that way that they have to -- they have to show how they can pay for these improvements and not just plan for these really wide roadways all over the place. But, again, the land -- subdivision landscape buffers are the ones that end up paying the price or the cost to accommodate that future roadway, so -- and that's part of the conversation that we want to talk about future projects and how do we -- Locust Grove to the south is -- is currently planned for three lanes and I don't have that up, but most of that is annexed and developed in the city already. So, there is really not even a lot we can do about that one, it pretty much is where it is, but ACHD is only planning for that to be three lanes. What are we supposed to do as staff? You know, it's tough. Milam: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mrs. Milam. Milam: To ask Caleb, I think we definitely -- you know, just seeing the explosion that's happened over the last, you know, ten, 15 years, I think that it's really important to maybe change the way that we do things and look into the planning better for this and to Council Woman Little Roberts, this is the first time I have ever heard anybody complain about Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 36 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 11 of 21 wanting a smaller road. Traffic problems have been the main number one complaint of every citizen I have talked to in Meridian for the last -- for as long as I have talked to citizens, so -- because I started campaigning over six years ago that -- that's the main complaint and it -- it's getting worse and worse and worse every year. So, I'm not saying make roads too big, but they -- definitely make them big enough. I live on Meridian Road, you know, it's like counting -- how many people go through that road during rush hour. It's painful. It's a painful drive. I'm excited for next year. But I have never heard anybody say, no, please, make my road smaller. I just really struggle with that. De Weerd: Well, I have. Once -- once your three lanes -- your two lanes with the center turn lane turns to five and they see now how fast traffic travels and how hard it is to get across two fast lanes of traffic going one direction to turn left, people get a little bit different opinions and especially when they have lost their sense of place, because you now have a corridor of pavement, a narrow sidewalk, and a fence. So, it's -- it's the width of the sidewalks, it's the separation between those fast cars now that -- that have concern and people almost want to go back to their three lane roads, because it -- it feels safer. Milam: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mrs. Milam. Milam: Then we put walls up around the city, because there is -- De Weerd: Oh, what a unique idea. Milam: We can't have it both ways. You either get your sense of place or you can move traffic. I mean we can't do -- sure, wouldn't we all love a cobblestone road and a view, but if you can't drive down it what good does it do you, unless we just give up cars. Sorry. You can't have it both ways. De Weerd: Well, you did say you hadn't heard and I was offering -- Milam: Okay. De Weerd: -- I have, so -- Milam: All right. Thank you. De Weerd: What a cop out. Borton: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Borton. Borton: To the question before us, for -- for me the -- when you show the cross-sections, it's the bottom one that seems to balance the consideration the best in the stretch. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 37 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 12 of 21 Relatively smaller footprint, removing the bump in the bike lane, allowing that to be multi- purpose sidewalk is the -- I think the fairest consideration under difficult challenges. So, there is the answer. And, then, the question for maybe a later discussion, but -- but soon is what are the options and opportunities for how we could help mitigate some of this impact. We don't need to vet may be right now on the dais, but put a pin in that, knowing that we want to try and assist if we could in some reasonable manner. The ship has sailed and the need is there. That one seems to be the one that balances the consideration the best in my -- in my view. And, Madam Mayor, I think a future meeting topic would be what we can do within our control, whether it's south -- and there will be other areas that we need to highlight and, you know, take maybe a more proactive approach than we have, understanding ACHD's constraints, nothing constrains us from imposing our own land use conditions for right of way preservation if necessary. Again, that's a different conversation for a different day, but -- so we don't -- De Weerd: Caleb, is there another cross-section choice that is not on here? Hood: Madam Mayor, I mean I think these are -- these are some that Brian just came up with as reasonable alternatives as you mentioned and it doesn't sound like three lanes is all that popular, but there are -- there are several hybrids of these and even within the travel lanes those can vary in width, too. So, you can pick up a foot here or make it, you know, a foot wider, kind of give or take on some of that. So, yeah, there is -- I don't want to say limitless, but there is certainly other cross-sections that potentially could be out there. You know, ACHD's already invested in the 50 percent design concept, the second one. It is a concept at this -- at this point and they are seeking publicly -- De Weerd: See -- and we are saving you -- we are saving you eight foot there. So, maybe we can save a couple trees and not have you replace them somewhere else. Can we do that? So, I guess, Caleb, by your statement, if they have planned for the 99 foot right of way and you say that maybe you have a couple of -- a foot here and there, can you make the buffer a little bit wider? Lucas: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, just to throw a few thoughts in here. The ultimate difference between 99 feet and 92 feet is -- you know -- De Weerd: It's seven. Lucas: -- seven feet. If you split that on either side you are talking about three and a half feet on either side and so I just don't want there to be an impression that we are going to be able to save a bunch of trees by mitigating this three and a half feet on either side. De Weerd: Just making a suggestion. Lucas: Yeah. There may be a way to -- that may have that outcome, but oftentimes once you get close to a tree, even within the root line, the tree is -- is a loss, because either -- either we remove it or it dies a year later, because it -- because we damaged the roots. So, I just -- if -- this widening project is going to have impacts on the landscaping. That Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 38 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 13 of 21 is a -- that is a fact and I just -- I don't want you to believe that by modifying the cross- section some way -- and that may be your recommendation, which is totally up to you and there may be other reasons to modify it, but if it's solely to preserve landscaping, that -- that -- or trees specifically, that is an unlikely outcome. Borton: Madam -- De Weerd: Mr. Borton. Borton: The reason for my comment on that is it seems to -- it captures all of the purposes of the 99 feet, so it meets those needs, yet provides, you know, all things being equal, a net less impact. Milam: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mrs. Milam. Milam: Well, I guess to add to that, if there -- you already have 99 feet of right of way. They could put in -- they could do the bottom one with the extended buffer, plus a bike lane. No? Lucas: Madam Mayor. Just to clarify, we haven't purchased the right of way yet. So, we are in the design phase. Once we design a project and determine the ultimate cross- section, we, then, go and purchase the necessary right of way. So, if, indeed, the cross- section has shrunk down a little bit, we would have to likely buy less, because we wouldn't need as much to -- to build -- build the project. So, there is just -- those are some of the balancing factors there. De Weerd: And I think that we have identified those multi-use sidewalks would be both bike and pedestrian. Lucas: And Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, further information on those. Many people like the multi-use pathway idea. Many cyclists do not like them. I'm just -- just for full -- we hear on both sides all the time. This isn't a new issue for us. And so we have some knowledge on this specific issue. Many of the cyclists who commute or ride want to ride faster -- don't like the concept of being up and out of the street on a pathway, because they can't go as fast, there is potential conflicts with pedestrians, et cetera. So, there is some tradeoffs. There is always tradeoffs to these decisions and that's my only point with -- with that comment. De Weerd: And there will be a tradeoff. But I think if we ever want to move from auto dependency you have to provide a safe environment for your kids to bike and no parent would put their kid out on a bike lane on the road. So, if we want to change that, that we have more bike friendly -- they have figured it out in other countries of how bikes and people can share a lane and it can actually move along. But we need to start somewhere. Any -- any other questions for -- for Justin? Or for Brian or -- or Caleb? Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 39 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 14 of 21 Hood: We will come back at a future date, then, and talk some more and I would like to talk to Justin offline and see if there is maybe some way that we can come up with an ultimate preservation and I will just throw this out there now and we will have the conversation maybe later. We did a similar thing for Chinden before ITD had need to purchase that, but we knew that the cross-section was going to be wider. We had -- as development came in we had them, basically, plat two common lots along -- paralleling the state facility, one that would be the future buffer and one that was reserved that -- when ITD had the money they would go buy it from the developer. So, your building setbacks were at its ultimate location, but the transportation agency had -- didn't have the funds yet to do that. So, we worked with them -- that puts the city in the middle of some of that, but I would rather have that discussion, if you will, with the development community, rather than having it with existing neighborhoods later on and buying those landscape buffers. But that -- that could be one solution, but we still need ACHD's help in that to come up with the ultimate cross-sections for some of these roadways and this -- just one final -- this ties into some of the conversation we will have next year, too, with the Comprehensive Plan and implementing that and -- and where we grow -- are we going to do that on all arterials everywhere all the time or are we going to say we are going to target growth in certain areas and work with ACHD to say we are preserving the right of way, because these roads are the ones we need to widen to five lanes or whatever. And, yeah, Black Cat, we are going to -- we are not, because we are not approving development out there or whatever. So, I just wanted to kind of tie that in. That -- to me that is part of this conversation is -- for Meridian, anyways, we need to strategically grow and we need our community partners to be part of that and be on the same page with them, too. Anyway -- De Weerd: And I think the comment that South Eagle Road dead ends into Hubbard Road, you know that the impact at some point is finite. These other ones that have good connectivity, they probably should be locked at, but when you say that Locust Grove is now going to look like Meridian Road, that's frightening and -- but it's what it will look like. Maybe not at the same speeds hopefully. Yeah. That's concerning, because it is in the middle of your -- your community and -- and -- but in that area you have to get some sidewalks out there for these high school students to walk to school on. That's paramount. Okay. So, we will come back to this at some point. And just some -- the master mobility map on the Comprehensive Plan contemplates a lot of this. Hood: Again, that's kind of -- yeah, that last part of the discussion working with ACHD on -- realize you're fiscally constrained to 20 years, but let's think 50 and 75 years out and -- De Weerd: Yeah. Well -- and we appreciate your involvement, Justin, with that, because we do have to look like David Zaremba said, longer term and further down the road. Lucas: Thank you. De Weerd: Thank you. If there is nothing further -- Brian or Caleb, anything further on this? Okay. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 40 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 15 of 21 B. Public Hearing for City of Meridian Business Hours De Weerd: Okay. Item 8-B is public comment on the plans for City of Meridian business hours, contemplating a pilot project that would last two months on what would be office or City Hall hours that would be most convenient for our citizens. We did go out and poll on NextDoor what would be the most convenient for you to apply for permits, pay your utility bill, meet with staff and ask questions at City Hall. We asked to provide the vote on -- by yesterday and we had 117 votes vote between Monday through Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The other option was Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. We did not reduce the amount of hours of open office time to our citizens. We did have some citizens say they did like the idea that they could do business with the city on their way home from work. We have 58 percent choose the Monday to Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Friday 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Forty-one percent chose to maintain the office hours that we have now. So, Mr. Clerk, do we have anyone signed up to provide testimony? Johnson: Madam Mayor, nobody signed up. De Weerd: Okay. This is a public hearing. Is there anyone who wishes to weigh in on our office -- our hours of operation for City Hall and city facilities? Okay. Council, we can put this on for next week, so we have a full Council. What would you like to do? Borton: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Uh-huh. Borton: That makes great sense to do that. Have it available for potential action next week. C. Public Hearing for Hands Free Driving Ordinance De Weerd: Okay. Very good. Well, then, we will move to Item 8-C, which is a public hearing for hands free driving ordinance. This we also put on NextDoor to ask our citizens to weigh in. The question was should drivers be allowed to hold handheld devices while driving in Meridian. We did note that their input would be provided to City Council for their consideration on determining a hands free city ordinance, if it's right for the City of Meridian or not. We had 553 votes. Seventy-four percent said it should be illegal and 25 percent said it should be allowed. So, Council, at this point I will ask our clerk to see if there is any -- anyone signed up. Johnson: Madam Mayor, nobody signed into this topic. De Weerd: Okay. This is a public hearing. We are seeking comments from our citizens on what your thoughts are on this particular ordinance. Is there anyone who wishes to provide comment? I think you should get an extra patch if you make comment. Come on up. Oh, part of it is you have to come to the podium, state your name and address and -- and we would love to hear -- especially what a youth perspective is. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 41 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 16 of 21 McCormick: All right. So, I'm Michael McCormick and my address is 2250 West Piazza Street. And so I would like to say that I don't think handheld devices should be allowed to be in someone's hand or possession while driving, because I don't think it's safe for other people. De Weerd: Thank you. McCormick: Yeah. De Weerd: We appreciate you getting up and good luck with that. Okay. Is there anyone -- yes, I -- yes. Please. Now, see, I think you're going to have to grab that mic and pull it down. M.McCormick: Probably. My name is Miles McCormick. I live on 2250 West Piazza Street. Same as him. I do not think handheld devices should be allowable when someone is driving, because it could be dangerous for other drivers, along with yourself, because say you're like having a call and you're thinking about something else, well, you might not be looking in front of you, so -- oh, no, poor big Johnny, I'm just going to say, just ran down -- just gets -- hits you as you run a red light. De Weerd: I think it's happened before, so that's a very likely scenario. Thank you for your testimony. Torrence: My name is Lynn Torrence and I live at 740 -- no. 7042 North Agrarian Avenue. I think. Or -- I'm -- I'm not sure. De Weerd: In Meridian; right? Torrence: Yes. Same thing for -- like Miles said, because if you -- so, you know how like the road moves, so like all the fences, so say you accidentally like -- they could accidentally like rip through somebody else's house and just end up like chaos in the neighborhood. De Weerd: That's -- that's true. Torrence: Yes. De Weerd: Thank you for your testimony. Is there anyone else who would like to provide testimony on this item? Okay. Again, Council, we can continue this to next week when we have a full Council. Okay. Well -- and thank you. We appreciate you joining us at our City Council meeting and weighing in. We always love to hear the voice from our youth. Item 9: Ordinances A. First Reading of Ordinance 19-1852: An Ordinance Adding Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 42 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 17 of 21 Meridian City Code Section 7-1-14, Prohibiting The Use Of Handheld Electronic Mobile Devices While Operating A Vehicle; Adopting A Savings Clause; And Providing An Effective Date De Weerd: Item 9-A is the first reading of Ordinance 19-1852. We can read it for the first reading. We still will have two others. Mr. Nary. Nary: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, so you have two ordinances actually listed and so I would suggest if you want to give us direction what you would like to see -- De Weerd: Which one? Nary: -- you could put that on for a first reading next week. De Weerd: Okay. Nary: Or you can do it for all three. Whatever your preference is. First reading or all three. But next week I would pick one and give us that direction. Borton: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Borton. Borton: In light of the -- all of the information we have received, it seemed to make the most sense to go forward with the single fine version and -- but change that amount to 90 dollars, rather than 25. De Weerd: Okay. Milam: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mrs. Milam. Milam: I think that in -- in all of our outreach that we are going to do that needs to be -- I think it needs to be well known that that 90 dollars is 150 dollars, not 90 dollars, once you add the court fee in. So, I think that will help. I think 90 is a little steep once you add in the court costs myself, so -- maybe go -- I would go for something that maybe ends up being a hundred, but I understand the chief wants it to be 90 and that's the standard for a lot of other things. But the state distracted driving is 25 plus for court costs, which is 90. So, it's either we market it as 90 or we charge the 90 plus court costs and let people know that it's really 150, because court costs are quite substantial and so it's not a surprise to people. We are already hitting him with something -- and, you know, if they are breaking the law they should be, but -- Borton: Madam Mayor? I think it's totally -- Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 43 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 18 of 21 De Weerd: Mr. Borton. Borton: Mr. Nary, isn't -- inclusion of court costs is not required, isn't it? Aren't there other infractions that are just a fine and -- period? Nary: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council? No, sir. All -- all of them have court costs attached. So, they are all a fine and, then, there are required court costs that the court must collect on infractions. De Weerd: Versus the -- the example that the chief gave if we did enhance other fines, like the off leash, this -- that -- that doesn't have court costs then? Nary: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, court costs are attached on every single infraction. They are required by code. De Weerd: Okay. Nary: So, the county clerk is required to collect it. De Weerd: Okay. So, whether you have a handheld device or a dog off leash, it would -- you still have court costs? Nary: Yes, ma'am. De Weerd: Okay. Borton: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Borton. Borton: So, for an infraction are their court costs included? Nary: Are they included in the 90 dollars? Borton: We are asking the same question, but -- Nary: Yes. Court costs are always attached. Borton: Same answer. Nary: Yes. Milam: They are not included, though. De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Borton. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 44 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 19 of 21 Borton: And if we publish with the 90 dollars plus court costs that might invite some public hearing next week, so maybe we will get some new comments. De Weerd: Yes. Chief Bongiorno, did you have your hand up? Bongiorno: Madam Mayor, I did not. De Weerd: Okay. Okay. Anything further on this? Okay. We will bring this back next week for the first reading. B. Ordinance 19-1853: An Ordinance Amending Title 10, Chapter 4, Meridian City Code, Adopting Local Amendments to Section 307 of the 2015 International Fire Code, Regarding Open Burning; and Providing an Effective Date De Weerd: Okay. Item 9-B is Ordinance 19-1853. Mr. Clerk, will you, please, read this item by title only. Johnson: Thank you, Madam Mayor. It is an ordinance amending Title 10, Chapter 4, Meridian City Code, adopting local amendments to Section 307 of the 2015 International Fire Code, Regarding Open Burning; and providing an effective date. De Weerd: Okay. You have heard this ordinance read by title. Is there anyone who would like to hear it read in its entirety? Okay. Thank you for that. Milam: Madam Mayor? Little Roberts: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mrs. Little Roberts. Little Roberts: Madam Mayor, I move that we approve Ordinance 19-1853 with suspension of rules. Milam: Second. De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 9-B, Ordinance 19-1853. Mr. Clerk, will you call roll. Roll call: Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, absent; Palmer, nay; Little Roberts, yea; Bernt, absent. De Weerd: All ayes. MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES. ONE NAY. TWO ABSENT. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 45 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 20 of 21 C. Ordinance No. 19-1854: An Ordinance Amending Meridian City Code Section 2-1-1C Allowing for Appointments for Partial Terms for Commissioners; Adopting a Savings Clause; and Providing an Effective Date De Weerd: Item 9-C is Ordinance 19-1854. Mr. Clerk, will you, please, read this by title. Johnson: This is an ordinance amending Meridian City Code Section 2-1-1C, allowing for appointments for partial terms for Commissioners; adopting a savings clause; and providing an effective date. De Weerd: You have heard this ordinance read by title. Is there anyone who wishes to hear it read in its entirety? Milam: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mrs. Milam. Milam: I move that we approve Ordinance No. 19-1854 with suspension of rules. Little Roberts: Second. De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 9-C, Ordinance 19-1854. Any comments? Mr. Clerk, will you call roll. Roll call: Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, absent; Palmer, yea; Little Roberts, yea; Bernt, absent. De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried. MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. TWO ABSENT. Item 10: Future Meeting Topics De Weerd: We did add one thing under Item 10, Future Meeting Topics, is to have further discussion on the roadway designs and right of way needs for future roads. Anything else? Item 11: Executive Session per Idaho State Code 74-206(1)(f): To communicate with legal counsel for the public agency to discuss the legal ramifications of and legal options for pending litigation, or controversies not yet being litigated but imminently likely to be litigated De Weerd: Okay. Council, we took care of our business in our work session for the Executive Session and so if there is nothing further I would entertain a motion to adjourn. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda October 15, 2019 – Page 46 of 294 Meridian City Council October 8, 2019 Page 21 of 21 Borton: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Borton. Borton: Move we adjourn. Little Roberts: Second. De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to adjourn. All those in favor say aye. All ayes. MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. TWO ABSENT. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 6:58 P.M. (AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS) MAYOR TAMMY DE WEERD�ORATEoq��Gs DATE APPROVED Go�Q ATTEST (ifY Of IDIgN " CHI J 0N_- CITY CL K SE ° i �fhe TzenSU�F•