HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-01-14 Work SessionMeridian City Council Work Session January 14, 2020.
A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, January
14, 2020, by Mayor Robert Simison.
Members Present: Robert Simison, Joe Borton, Luke Cavener, Treg Bernt, Brad Hoaglun
and Jessica Perreault.
Member Absent: Liz Strader.
Also present: Chris Johnson, Adrienne Weatherly, Bill Nary, Cameron Arial, Caleb Hood,
Brian McClure, Jamie Leslie, Joe Bongiorno and Dean Willis.
Item 1: Roll-call Attendance:
_____ Liz Strader __X__ Joe Borton
__X__ Brad Hoaglun __X__ Treg Bernt
__X__ Jessica Perreault __X__ Luke Cavener
__X__ Mayor Robert Simison
Simison: I'm going to call this meeting to order. For the record is Tuesday, January 14th,
at 4:31 p.m. and we will begin -- Madam Clerk, roll call.
Item 2: Adoption of Agenda
Simison: Next up is adoption of the agenda.
Bernt: Madam Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: I move that we adopt the agenda as presented.
Hoaglun: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second. All in favor signify by saying aye. All opposed
nay. The ayes have it.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Item 3: Consent Agenda [Action Item]
A. Razzberry Point Villas Subdivision Sanitary Sewer Easement
No. 2
Meridian City Council Work Session
January 14, 2020
Pages 2 of 23
B. Alicia Court Subdivision Sanitary Sewer and Water Main
Easement No. 2
C. 2nd Addendum to Development Agreement Caven Ridge
Estates West Modified Development Agreement H-2017-0156
with New Cavanaugh, LLC (Owner/Developer), Located on the
East Side of S. Meridian Rd./SH69, South of E. Victory Rd.
D. Agreement for Extension of Domestic Water Outside Meridian
City Limits at 5060 S. Locust Grove Rd.
E. Pathway Agreement Between the Nampa-Meridian Irrigation
District and the City of Meridian Regarding Castle Creek
Subdivision MI-H-2019-0130
F. Acceptance Agreement for Display of Artwork in Initial Point
Gallery
1. Jeremiah Sorrells: 07/26/2020 - 07/30/2020
G. Professional Services Agreement with Treasure Valley
Children’s Theater for an Amount Not to Exceed $5,000
H. Agreement with Meridian Symphony Orchestra for Use of
Meridian City Hall for Special Event
I. Resolution No. 20-2183: A Resolution of the Mayor and the City
Council of the City of Meridian, Establishing Appointments for
Board Members and Alternates to the Valley Regional
Transportation Authority; and Providing an Effective Date
J. Resolution No. 20-2184: A Resolution of the Mayor and the City
Council of the City of Meridian Approving City Council Members
to Serve as Department Liaisons, Committee Members,
Commission Ex-Officio Members, and Providing an Effective
Date
K. AP Invoices for Payment - 01/06/20 - $41,118. 00
L. AP Invoices for Payment - 01/15/20 - $2,865,436.58
Simison: Item 3, Consent Agenda.
Bernt: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
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January 14, 2020
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Bernt: I move we approve the Consent Agenda. For the Mayor to sign and the Clerk to
attest.
Hoaglun: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All those
opposed say nay. The ayes have it.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Item 4: Items Moved From the Consent Agenda
Simison: Item 4, there are no items moved from the Consent Agenda.
Item 5: Department / Commission Reports
A. Community Development: Priority Projects to Implement the
New Comprehensive Plan
Simison: So, we will move onto Item 5, Department/Commission Reports. Item 5-A is
Community Development Priority Projects to Implement the New Comprehensive Plan
and I will turn this over to Cameron.
Arial: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Pleasure to be with you all. Just to be brief. Thank you for
the support and process that led to the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan. Not to
belabor the point, but an incredible effort that now has, you know, newly minted public
input. That document now in place is a significant step in the progress of our community.
What we are now wanting to present to you and have a lively discussion with you all on
is the next steps of the implementation of that plan. Some of the major points that came
out of that process -- and really looking for your guidance and prioritization thereof. So,
I'm going to turn it over to Caleb and we will kind of do this as a team, but just appreciate
your ongoing effort and support to guide us and guide us in the future implementation of
the plan.
Hood: Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council, so just to dive right in. There is lots to do.
So, what -- what you have -- hopefully you had a chance to look at the memo that was
prepared for this afternoon's workshop. It was kind of two different lists, although a lot of
overlap with the one that's directly out of the Comprehensive Plan that lists the policies
and the things we are to work on. The one I think we want to dig a little bit more deeper
into and get some more feedback on is the first list in the memo and that's the itemized.
There is seven different consultant services priority projects that are listed there and need
to get some general direction from you all on which one of those you would like us to
proceed forward with sooner rather than later. We plan on doing all those projects unless
we hear otherwise, but it is really -- can we do two to three, maybe four of these this fiscal
year, maybe do some enhancements and FY-21 that we put in to do another project or
two or three or whatever that looks like . So, that's kind of a level of direction we are
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hoping for. We have been talking with finance staff. We would like to do this as part of
RFQs, instead of RFPs, if we can get -- get the scope of work and tasks kind of to align
with that model. So, we would develop a list of consultants that are qualified to perform
these services, rather than to have -- again go out on the street and ask for proposals,
we would just have prequalified firms that we could work with to complete some of these
tasks. Right now we don't have -- although part of our presentation today is to kind of
give you an idea of level of effort here from a consultant, some of the projects are larger
than others, but none of them are of the comp plan variety with Logan Simpson . These
are smaller projects, but we just simply don't have the bandwidth currently to take all of
them on in-house and that's largely what the second list is of the comp plan. We wanted
to just paint the picture for you. These seven projects aren't the only seven projects, there
is a lot of other projects going on. Brian, myself, with some help from other staff, we think
we can do a lot of them. These are the ones where we need some help doing , because
they are going to take a level of effort that we, again, just really can't dedicate to get it
done in a timely manner and probably to the level that -- that it should be completed to.
So, we have kind of painted at a high level these -- these seven projects. Again, we are
looking for some of that discussion or direction from you. The other thing -- and I put this
in the memo, I don't want to spend too much time on it, but we are also hopeful that we
will have more discussion on this. It will be supportive of a budget amendment coming
up in the near future for an addition -- additional position that would be on the long range
side of the team, largely dealing with transportation issues , but they -- that is also related
to a lot of these tasks and things that are in the memo , the seven projects, and even in
the Comprehensive Plan. So, the job description isn't fully developed yet, but don't be
surprised if you see a budget amendment for another position in Community Development
and Planning here in the coming months. But, again, largely transportation related, which
is a lot of what we heard a concern from the community while we develop ed the
Comprehensive Plan. The other thing I just want to highlight and, then, we will get into
these -- these projects more specifically -- are other code changes and process changes
that are also going to be coming up. So, this -- the memory we have is -- again, it's not
-- can't say this too many times, but this isn't an all inclusive of everything we are doing.
There are other code changes, like multi-family parking standards that we kind of put a
pin in last year, name changes to our residential zoning district , so we can make that a
little more seamless between the Comprehensive Plan or our zoning ordinance. Process
improvements like to our noticing requirements, our neighborhood meeting requirements,
and things like that are also in the works. But, again, that's not necessarily in the
Comprehensive Plan and we don't need a consultant, we just need some time and effort
to kind of figure out where -- where those code changes should go, but those are also on
our list of things to do. Staff report timelines and deadlines and putting some of those
things in the code and in our policies are also there. I don't want to get into all that, but,
again, just to kind of paint a level of -- there is more to marry the Comprehensive Plan
and to start to implement the Comprehensive Plan that was contained in your memo, just
some of the other projects we will be working on. So, with that kind of background being
said, the first one I'm going to kind of overview for you -- and this is open space and
amenities. This shouldn't be a surprise to anybody. We catch a lot of flack for the current
standards in our UDC, Unified Development Code, our current subdivision design
standards for open space and amenities. A lot of times we are looking to be premier and
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raise the bar on projects. A lot of times we will get ten, 11, 12 percent open space and
the reality is these past councils wanted a tot lot and 15 percent open space. So, if that's
going to be the standard, let's tell the development community and our community that's
the new standard, just to throw out round numbers. I don't know what that's going to turn
out to be. Just quite frankly, based on some of the back and forth we have heard over
the last year or two even and as we have tried to develop this previously as -- as city staff,
we think it's appropriate to have consultant help on this for a couple of reasons . One,
because there is a lot of differing opinions here and so somebody that can kind of hear
everybody out and a third party that is neutral, if you will, they don't have a vested interest
in the outcome of that. In this case city staff doesn't want to be perceived as favoring one
side or the other, so if we have a neutral third party again that really is just doing what's
in the best interest, even though we believe staff would still be doing things in the best
interest, but, again, a neutral third party that can kind o f facilitate that discussion and/or
referee it if need be, but also has some technical expertise on what an appropriate level
of open space and amenities are. We think that makes a lot of sense here , so they can
bring an informed, educated recommendation to our Planning and Zoning Commission
and you as a body to -- to adopt. I just wanted to put -- in that description I wanted to put
in the context all the code references that are there and I'm just going to read you the title
of those, we are not going to go into the details of what they are unless you want to, but
11 -3-B is our landscaping requirements, so this would be how the open space is actually
improved with sod or trees or -- or other landscape materials generally. 11 -3-G is common
open space and site amenities. That's where a lot of the modifications would probably
occur is in that section. 11-4-3-27 is our multi -- multi-family development standards. 11-
6-C3 is our subdivision design and improvement standards and 11-7-4 are our planned
unit development standards. So, bits and pieces of all those sections we envision
modifying or having modified, but -- with consultant help through this process. I do want
to also say -- and this isn't necessarily the case for these other ones, but that one I think
we have a separate -- so, for those of you that are new we have kind of a standing UDC
work group that is on call for when we need to vet UDC changes through these
professionals. They are made up of engineers, developers, architects, land surveyors,
planners. This one we think requires a separate standalone committee that would work
with a consultant to, again, co-draft these standards. So, we want to limit that. We don't
want 50 people on the steering committee , but -- but a handful of select folks that have
an interest in helping develop these standards and , then, again that gets facilitated by this
consultant, so --
Bernt: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: Caleb, thank for that. What -- what do you think those committees look like? What
-- in your opinion what does that committee look like?
Hood: So, Mr. Mayor, Council Member, that, again, to me is a single subcommittee --
Bernt: Right.
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Hood: -- that deals strictly with open space and amenities. That's a large lift. We will
have this other -- the regular standing committee UDC working group that -- that would
deal with everything else that's in the code. Again, those process improvement changes,
we would vet through them, even the multi-family parking standards. If you want to set
up more committees we could take that direction. But as a general rule or the model for
this, I think -- you heard some testimony about maybe having three different groups
established, a development community group, a citizen group, you know, and what the
third professional group was or other group was and , then, merging them at the end. To
me it just make sense. We are going to have three from each of those special interest
groups, if you will, sit down and start hashing things out and figure out where there is
middle ground and -- and where there is maybe disagreement on that. But that's maybe
a nine member subcommittee with a facilitator slash consultant that figures out what is
the right amount of open space and amenities. That would be my recommendation. So,
that's -- that's about a high level what that -- what that would be. Open space and
amenities would be code changes to the city code recommendation to -- we would
probably have a workshop on that before we got too far down the road to make sure we
are in the right ballpark. You know, if everyone's thinking it's 20 percent, boy, you better
come back with 20 percent open space and the consultant says 15, you know, let's -- so,
we will have touch points. So, that's -- that's one. Number two would be priority growth
areas. This one is pretty weighty.
Simison: Could you, in your best guesstimate, give a time frame for each one of these
and how long it will take to get through them?
Hood: Yeah. Mr. Mayor, I'm sorry, I mentioned that. So -- so, this one I think we would
-- I would like to hear some direction from you all on what you would -- when you would
like to see -- I know I would like to see it done yesterday. To actually have new standards
adopted -- again, this has to go through our Unified Development Code. So, there is a
legal process there. We have to give at least 30 days notice before the Planning and
Zoning Commission and, then, to you roughly 30 days later. So, you already -- you're at
two months at best and, then, you have got an effective date, so you are -- you know, if
we had something in six months I would think that's pretty good . That gives about two to
three months time to have three or four meetings of the steering committee potentially
and, then, have a draft that we could submit for application that goes through that process
I just mentioned.
Simison: Just to follow up. So -- and from the perspective -- you talk about RFQ and so
you need a budget amendment for the money to go out and do an RFQ. Then do the
process and then -- so you're at least six months, if not longer, is what I'm hearing, unless
you -- council directs -- so, want to get a -- have the process completed in a month from
having someone on to trying to get things moving forward.
Hood: Yeah. Mr. Mayor, that's -- that's good direction. I mean if you want that steering
committee to meet no more than twice or something like that, they kind of can get that
time frame shortened down. I think everyone understands there is an urgency, but we
want to do it right, too; right? So, I don't know exactly how that all plays out. Yes, that
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timeline -- we have to get some -- a consultant first, so I should say that, too. With all of
these we will bring back the agreement with our consultants , so you -- you ultimately
today -- well, you're telling us to move forward, but you aren't approving anything. We
will bring back an RFQ, because I need a budget amendment, I don't have money for any
of this stuff. So, I'm going to bring back as a budget amendment whoever the consultant
is with their contract scope of work and a timeline. So, you will see this all again. It helps
me, though, as I'm negotiating that initial contract with them to understand , yeah, we
expect this to get done in six months. That may limit what the consultants -- who we can
hire, if they don't even have the time or how much they charge us.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: Yeah. Caleb, it sounds like to me that process in finding someone, hiring them,
there is -- they have to get up to speed on things, which you will help them with, getting
the committee members in place -- I mean that -- realistically it seems like to me we are
looking at a fall time frame for anything to come back to us to start making some decisions.
I would like it to be quicker, but I just don't see it -- to do due diligence with the committees
and everything else that needs to be done -- and I'm okay with that. I mean we just have
to be thorough in it. So, if it does take a little bit longer, okay, so that's -- that's my two
cents.
Perreault: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Perreault.
Perreault: I would -- I agree with the -- with Councilman Hoaglun. My thought was that
we -- we are nine months or so on this, just to put that out. I know we will -- we will discuss
it after staff is done presenting, but I think we are probably at least --
Bernt: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: At the end of the day I think that -- I think that those who are engaged and those
who care, I think we just want to know that we are working on it, that we are not dropping
the ball. I think that people will -- you know, if they see that we are working on it or
engaged, we are coming to a conclusion that makes sense for all, then -- then our
community -- I don't think that you are going to get much pushback for that. I think that
we -- we would get pushback if we didn't start working on it until the fall. I think that would
be the issue. That's my opinion.
Simison: Yeah. And this -- what I'm just hoping to set the stage for is time frame for each
one of these bandwidths, so for what can run concurrently and, then, what has to run
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sequentially, so that people have a realistic expectation of this list from that standpoint.
All right. Thank you, Caleb.
Hood: Mr. Mayor, it's -- it's a good point and I'm guilty of -- for not following the mantra of,
you know, under promising and over delivering, I'm a little more -- I like to somewhat push
it a little bit, but I get that, you know, maybe we temper expectations of when we can
realistically get this done. So, I appreciate that. My point really is we are going to get it
done as soon as we really can and we want it done more in the fall and , then, six months,
so -- all right. That's number one. Priority growth area. So, this one -- this one is a lot.
This one directly corresponds with some strategic plan objectives. This essentially just
-- and, again, in a nutshell, basically, is us first as a city looking at our boundaries and
saying we are ready to grow here and here maybe , but -- but this is maybe further out
and a lot of this has to do with coordinating our services and infrastructure, so that it can
meet the demands and the level of service expectations of those that are already in
Meridian and coming to Meridian. So, we don't get pulled and say, hey, we need fire
station seven and eight at the same time, because we are just growing out there and we
weren't planning for it. It's one we would -- we are actually going to tackle in-house first,
so that is, again, making sure we are on the same page. Planning, Public Works, Fire,
Police, Parks and kind of saying where are you with your CIPs, where are you building
the next park and the next fire station. Where is the next sewer shed. Where -- you know,
where are those things and to kind of understanding that as we potentially -- and this one
is something that we have talked about throughout the Comprehensive Plan, but, again,
this is -- this is cutting edge, if you will, or progressive for Meridian, we have never had
this map, although there is some code and a couple of sections of code that talks about
priority growth areas. We could take maps and say in these areas we are going to
incentivize our growth. So, whatever that means. We still haven't developed what that
could mean. If you're on the other side of that boundary. We are going to discourage
growth out there, because we aren't ready to grow. We are not building schools out there,
we are not widening roads out there, we are not building firehouses out there -- or maybe
we are, but it's you as the developers are going to build those things, because we are not
ready to go there. So, those impacts are -- we are not ready to provide services out there.
You want to grow out there, okay, well, then, those services that go along with growth
needs to be provided out there. So, that's what this is, the first step again is bringing the
departments on board to understand, again, how CIPs are -- work and -- and maybe don't,
but should they align, could they align, I think just quite frankly a lot of this to me has to
do with sewer sheds and topography. Sewer is going to drive development. So, looking
at just sewer sheds and say which sewer sheds should we grow into, those don't follow
nice, you know, boundaries like roadways or even waterways a lot of time , so we might
have to do some fudging of those priority growth areas, but generally where -- where do
we want to grow, but maybe not for another X amount of years until we get most of this
in-filled in. So, again, that's at a high level what that is. Again, this one I wouldn't -- I think
we would -- we would engage and start to negotiate a contract, but we need to understand
a little bit more what the scope of work is for that consultant after we do that -- that analysis
in-house. I will also say this is really really similar and to the same point that the Ada
county commissioners are really looking at is the cost of growth, the fiscal impact analysis.
So, that's a lot of what -- we will even engage finance and to say, okay, we can grow out
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there, but if we have -- if we are pushing our services out there, now it's more fuel for that
patrol car to even get to their beat, if you will. So, there is a cost with growing further and
further out. So, this -- this -- there is some fiscal impact we want to look at as well, again,
in working with others. I think -- any feedback on that one?
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: Just to comment. To me this is kind of one of the major items to be working on.
We have got to -- as we have had our meetings with department heads -- you know,
coming on new and getting up to speed on what their projects are, what their needs are,
you know -- and you touched on it, you know the sewer sheds , you know, where our fire
station is going to go and, then, they have got plans for them. But is that where the priority
is. You know, police services. How do we extend city services in an orderly fashion,
because we can't do it all, and I think we want to give some direction and certainty to
developers out there to let them know that, hey, this is where our priorities are. If it's going
to be northwest Meridian because of Owyhee High School and all this, that -- that's where
the next fire station is going to go, then, we are going to look south or what -- what have
you and also working with as you identified our partners of the school district , ACHD,
Idaho Power, to make sure we are coordinated in that, because, you know, as -- as I have
been listening and learning and getting up to speed on these things , the demands out
there -- and we are going to continue to grow, but we can't do it all at once and we are
just going to have to figure out the path forward and I want to make sure people
understand that and that's important I think. So, that's just my two cents again on -- on
that particular one.
Perreault: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Women Perreault.
Perreault: I was going to wait until the end to give sort of my big picture thoughts on all
of these, but on this particular one I would like to say on the priority growth areas I see
two different things that -- that we are trying to tackle. One is the -- the -- what -- or the
-- and one is the -- the where. So, the what is determining the city's infrastructure needs,
coordinating with the districts, understanding what we are doing and what we could be
doing and -- and that coordination piece and, then, the second is where -- where are we
going to create the -- where we need to determine that the growth areas are based on
information we have on -- on sewer and -- and other infrastructure and so I feel like the
-- the -- the piece of the project -- it's just getting that information from the -- from ACHD,
from Idaho Power, from the school district, should come first and that we look at that and,
then, we start talking about the locations. Kind of take that maybe in two different phases
if possible. To me that makes a lot of sense that we first determine wha t do we have and,
then, we start talking about publications and I kind of saw those as two different things
and so I don't know if that -- if that helps as far as how to prioritize -- you said this is a big
one and it is, but how do we prioritize and maybe even break that down a little bit farther.
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So, I know as a Council Member I would -- I would like to hear the information that you
find out with coordinating with these other groups before we have a discussion or in
tandem, I suppose, having a discussion with -- with potential areas or locations, so --
share more thoughts on that at the end.
Cavener: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Cavener.
Cavener: The question was about -- I guess we are maybe taking these one -- each one.
I'm happy to share some thoughts. This one I think for me is the most -- can be a really
-- really long lasting implications and lots of changes or, Council Member Perreault's
comments, it could be a lot of just information that we are sharing. I personally always
struggle with incentivizing certain parts of our community or de-incentivizing certain parts
of our community, mostly because I don't think the growth in Meridian has ever been
predictable and so it's challenging to say we only want to grow in this part of our
community and so I think to Council Member Hoaglun's point, being able to communicate
to the development community, hey, five years out there is a high school here, seven
years out there is two elementary schools in this part of town , there is a new park
scheduled for ten years from now, that type of communication seems very appropriate . I
think building a -- an ideal world timeline, that's where we are headed. Taking that next
step and saying we all -- we are only going to -- we are going to encourage development
in this part of town and discourage development in this part of town , I just think that's a
really really slippery slope and one that I think would be -- need to see some real specific
details before that's a piece that I particularly want to support. Mr. Mayor, a question,
though, for Caleb. Caleb, at -- when you first started I thought you said this was going to
be led by staff and, then, towards the end of your comments you alluded to hiring a
consultant. So, is it in your opinion -- kind of like with number one where you would use
a stakeholder committee and a consultant, would this be staff led in conjunction with the
consultant? Is that your recommendation?
Hood: So, Mr. Mayor, Councilman Cavener, so -- yeah. One and two are different. One
really staff is not really involved. Maybe we -- we present to Planning and Zoning
Commission, maybe the Council, but it's really developed by that steering committee with
consultant. This one, again, is the -- the department directors, quite frankly, and their
assigns working to figure out what -- again, if -- if we go down this path of marking up a
map and saying here is a line, we don't want to grow passed it until we fill this in to 80
percent or whatever, that's in-house. So, that's staff. And, then, we take that information
and we hand it off to a consultant likely -- again, Ada county has a consultant that's doing
some of this work on a regional level now and it may correspond -- the timing may
correspond when we are done with that and working with the school district and ACHD if
we don't do that first -- I have some of that information, by the way, on where they plan to
build roads and stuff, but -- that's how this is envisioned is, again, a lot of that work is just
based on city, where we think -- or the departments think we should grow, hand that off
to a consultant and really look at that, for -- for some of the impacts if we draw those lines
and how we implement that. So, again, yeah, I get beat up sometimes when I say, well,
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why do you need to incentivize growth. You guys are growing like crazy and maybe that's
the wrong terminology, but the point is there where we are lockstep with the development
community to say, yes, that land is -- let's make that developable or whatever that is,
however we can assist you we are on board. If you want to move out to McDermott and
Black Cat and develop in Meridian, we are not on board with that, we are just not ready.
It's in our area of impact, but we are not ready to leapfrog all the way out there and so
how do you disincentivize that? How do you -- how are you clear and upfront with, yeah,
we are not so super excited about that development th ere, because it's not -- it's not --
the timing isn't right, so -- and, then, that's, again, where we need a consultant to help us,
well, how do we implement that. If we have this -- these areas we want to grow and not
grow, what are the tools that we have at our disposal to really do that.
McClure: I'm going to -- Mr. Mayor, Members of Council, I'm going to cover priorities
three, four and six. High level. These all have some similarities in that they deal with
specific and distinct area of the city. Most of these -- in fact, all of these were identified
as potential next steps as part of the Comprehensive Plan process. Number three is the
Jewel-Rolling Hill area. This is contemplated as more of a technical document, not so
much a specific area plan. Ideally, it's less -- unlikely with no map or text changes to the
Comprehensive Plan and we want to be looking at triggers for how redevelop --
redevelopment, not detailing what development is specifically or what it looks like. Want
to ensure that we are planning for adequate , efficient, and complete services, especially
in light of the Comprehensive Plan future land use map changes we approved there,
which are much more intense, and that would include a look at transportation. Regardless
of when we do this and assuming that this is, in fact, a priority for Council, we would hope
to turn this around fairly quickly, assuming all the -- the finance stuff and contracts are --
are settled, I would guess four to six months. This would be easy to run concurrently with
another project, such as number four, which is the Magic Bridge area. This is very similar
to the Jewel and Rolling Hill and more of a white paper or a technical document. Again,
we are not looking to get overly specific or detailed here. The big emphasis for this area
is that we really do not want to be perceived as accelerating redevelopment in this area
here or as part of the process. The rush is to have something that clearly articulates what
we need to have occur for development to occur, but not pushing any sort of timeline
beyond that. Another difference for this area is that some of the existing residential
pockets of it could remain -- most of it could remain it. Ideally you are capturing some of
the visibility of Overland and Eagle and I-84, but potentially some redevelopment would
allow and facilitate some of the existing residential to remain with closer proximity of
services. It doesn't have to happen, but it could. Staff would be looking for both of these
to do low key public involvement. Ideally the existing stakeholders have chosen to sell,
whether that's now or in 20 years, the effort would be focused on what occurs after that
and making sure the city is left whole. Number six is The Fields area. This is -- this
conceptually would be much different from the first two I just discussed . This would be
more of a specific area plan and with that a lot more effort. Likely our suggestion would
be to consider that sort of a part two with Logan Simpson and continue that contract. We
have shown this as priority number six. If we wanted to continue with Logan Simpson we
would probably need to start that sooner, but it doesn't necessa rily need to be done fast.
Work here would need to focus more on the core area, but it would also need to be broad
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in the sense that it touched the areas adjacent to it and you had some consistent themes
there. Part the need here is analysis and design with teeth to give staff and decision
makers good ground to hold true. The reason for this is you have a very narrow kind of
area of opportunity here and if you devalue that core by allowing it competing
development elsewhere, the sort of the fall floors out from underneath you. We wouldn't
-- we still wouldn't be determining where buildings go, we are not looking to get that
specific, but there would need to be more design standards, more -- more layout
considerations in order to create a product that is cohesive and encourages people to not
just stop by to speak with, but linger and say it needs to be a livable area and an energized
and active area. We would recommend a moderate amount of public involvement for this
project. Some of that is similar in the sense that most of stakeholders in this area wouldn't
be remaining, they would be selling, but we would also need more development partners
with this. We need to make sure that our plan isn't just a wish list of best practices and
things we hope to see, but implementable and that we have potentially partners on here,
likely a core requirement really for they occur, particularly as it relates to parks, open
space and pathways, is public-private partnership and putting those things in the right
location and not necessarily just the first opportunity we have . To be clear, a key tenant
of the work in this area as contemplated and as it relates particularly to multi -family
commercial, is that we would rather wait for the right project than entitle something just
because it's ready and okay. There is three kind of real quick, since we are running low
on time, we can talk about them separately or at the end or I can answer questions.
Simison: Any questions on these three items right now?
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Borton.
Borton: Brian, does that recommendation necessitates holding the review and approval
of development applications that might be code compliant sufficient in the short term ? It
sounds as though the number three and four to be done prudently require some
commitment from all of us to take pause and allow it to run its course to avoid making the
mistake that you just referenced.
McClure: Mr. Mayor, Councilman Borton, I think all of those areas definitely have some
definition of thresholds and metrics that need to occur in order to achieve orderly growth
and development for different reasons. Overland, for example, we don't want to approve
a bunch of single access points -- single user access points along what will be a seven
lane roadway, on an already very dangerous and busy intersection. We need to -- we
need to hold true. For that, for example, to occur we need to make sure we are preserving
for opportunities with -- with cross-access or backage-frontage roads, whatever --
whatever that is and -- but, yes, we don't want to just approve something because it comes
through. We need to make sure that we are requiring some collaboration with
stakeholders and that they are working together and that we are preserving for those
things to occur and if we do allow something sooner than later -- The Fields area is similar.
It's more -- it's more difficult. We are not alone out there. This area is cut off. We have
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Nampa to the south and west and we have Star to the north and there is going to be, for
example, competing commercial and employment uses out there and if we want to have
a core that does what we want, we can't be approving requests for other commercial --
other areas that may be more easier and sooner, we have to -- we have to hold fast and
make sure we are not devaluing that center -- that center. So, absolutely, yes, we do
need to be careful. It doesn't mean buying land or saying no outright, it just might not be
the right time. You know, we need to wait a little bit longer.
Borton: Mr. Mayor. I'm not advocating necessarily one way or the other, I'm just trying to
understand the recommendation and if some of the concern is the process that's been
outlined, just has a natural lag to it, that there is two ways to get to the ultimate right
solution. One is to speed up the process, which we don't perhaps have a lot of ability to
do. Speed up the process to complete the new plan or code changes. The other is to
exercise a little discretion and discipline in the approval process, understanding we might
need to go slow in order to allow this process to be completed. I m ean going slow is only
problematic if it invites us to make not the best long-term decisions, if we go slow and
process a bunch of development that undermines the very purpose of what we are trying
to do.
McClure: Mr. Mayor, Councilman Borton, I completely agree. I think also what I'm saying,
though, is because we are proposing these be consultant driven, not that we are not part
of that, but because the consultants are doing a lot of the work, we can do these sooner
and we don't necessarily have to do them fast, but we can start them and do them and
take whatever time we need. I'm not suggesting we rush those at all , I just -- there may
be some advantages to do that -- doing them sooner or later, particularly because we just
might miss out completely if we wait. But we don't necessarily need to do them fast. We
are not pushing that we do them fast.
Hood: So, Mr. Mayor, if I can just build on that in this conversation a little bit -- and we
are not here to -- I will play that scenario forward I guess a little bit. I don't think we need
a moratorium or anything until we can get these plans done, but there are some
development pressures and what I put on the screen is probably the one that we are
probably at biggest risk. The -- the Jade-Jewel-Rolling Hill Subdivision, there is stuff
happening out there, but it can happen and I don't think we are -- we are behind the eight
ball if you will. So, they -- they are working on some triggers, but I think we will -- we will
look at it, even if more development is approved and there's a redevelopment occurring
in there, I think we have enough tools already in our toolbox where we can kind of control
that. You heard from some of the folks in Locust View Heights. I don't think that's
happening tomorrow. I think that's more of a longer term, if you will, redevelopment out
there, so I think we have some time there. The Fields district area has -- this four square
miles, though, there -- with the high school going out there, this is the one where if we
don't -- and, again, we have got it as number six here. Maybe it is higher. This one you
are going to start to see some more development pressures, again, because of the high
school. I wanted to -- I bring this up, because generally there is a sewer shed that -- that
breaks right here. The reason we really haven't seen any development come in on the
other side of that is how this sewers and the cost to put a lift station in that serves the
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region and the cost and the penciling, but someone's going to figure it out and this one --
again, if we start approving projects in here, yeah, then, we are wasting our time or we
are too late. So, this is one where, again, I'm not saying moratorium, but this one maybe
there is a little bit more urgency to complete the plan , so we have that in place and the
expectations for development. I just want to put -- as Brian was saying kind of that -- this
is probably the most important part, how this develops in here. Think Hyde Park kind of
development. There is real design considerations that happen here and some density.
You need to support that or else this is going to be just like the rest of Meridian, if you will,
or anywhere USA. But these concepts kind of at this intersection are really important.
We could probably allow some of this residential to happen, it's just more medium density
residential subdivisions, but if we are start up in here don't have those design
considerations done, then -- yeah, then, this is all for naught and it's not a special place,
if you will.
Cavener: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Cavener.
Cavener: Caleb, Brian, Cameron, I think to that point number seven -- I know we haven't
got there yet, but does number seven need to kind of occur or begin before we start talking
about these other three?
Arial: Mr. Mayor, Councilman Cavener, you know, I think this -- they are somewhat
related. That's definitely not the same point. What I think you are getting with number
five is -- it really is kind of a -- or, excuse me, number -- number six is -- it's really kind of
a clean slate. It's what do we really want to see happen out there . I think there is an --
there is an opportunity to really give that more definition from a city perspective. Now
what we are talking about with seven is a little bit more -- things that are -- neighborhoods
that maybe already exist or people that want to define that maybe on their own. We can
get into this a little bit more, but to your question I see that more of as an amalgam of
ideas that we need to vet more with those stakeholders, whereas, number -- number six
in The Fields area is more of a -- let's put some definition to this from the city's perspective
with consultant help to give that some -- a future view. All right. I'm going to dive into --
now skipping back to number five. This open space and agricultural preservation item.
This isn't to be confused with the open space and amenities initiative. I think that's really
important to differentiate those. This is a -- this is an item that came up over and over
again just in different forms throughout the comp plan discussions with -- with the citizenry.
It's also one of our strategic plan goals. So, you know, the specific language in there is,
you know, access and feasibility of areas within the area of city impact that could be
preserved for open space, historical significance , or cultural heritage and so as we as a
team heard this, you know, over and over and again, we came to realize that this means
a lot of different things to a lot of different people and so we as a team said, okay, we
need to really understand from the community's perspective what this means, what this
idea means, what they are really looking for and so knowing that this was going to be a
priority that came out of the Comprehensive Plan, the adoption, we have already prepared
a survey to go out to our citizenry and ask this question : What does open space mean to
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you? Is it, you know, green field with cows on it. Is it a nature preserve? Is it just open
space in developments? Is it having, you know, pathways? Is it just your traditional city
parks? Without that kind of understanding it makes it really difficult for us to say, then,
okay, well, are you willing to fund or pay or find a mechanism to actually do that
preservation? And so we feel like this is a multi-phased initiative. It would be, number
one, cutting loose this survey, finding out what -- what the thoughts of the community are
regarding this issue. Pulling that back, analyzing it, and, then, coming back to maybe you
guys and saying this is what we found , here is some -- maybe some recommendations
-- recommendations on next steps. But it really is that first step before we go too much
further with it. I would hate to think that -- I wouldn't be comfortable presuming that our
community thinks, yes, go hog wild on preserving a dairy, because I just don't know that
that's the case. So, without that information, without that analysis I think we would be
premature. So, really, what we are asking here is to -- your thoughts on cutting loose that
survey to get that feedback and, then, bring that back to you in a timely manner. Again,
the survey is already prepared. We vetted it with Parks and Rec, Planning and Zoning,
and the Historical Preservation Committee and it would be, you know, give that a
reasonable time frame to turn that, open it up to the community for a length of time, close
that, analyze it and, then, bring that information back to you. So, we could be talking, you
know, March time frame to further this conversation with you. And I do think it's important
to note that at this point in the process this would be staff lead, so we would do this in-
house after the fact, you know, if we start to think about funding mechanisms, how to
actually implement recommendations, that's maybe where we would seek consultant help
to further define that.
Bernt: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: Cameron, what does the rest of that open space survey look like?
Arial: Yes. So, we -- we have it up here for you. We can just quickly click through
hypothetically. So, obviously, we are -- we have some screening questions that kind of
help define, you know, who we are talking about and who this -- the respondent is. Then
we get into actually what does it mean to you and there is a -- kind of this ranking, if you
will. We have also provided some examples, so if people are like, well, what does multi-
purpose outdoor urban spaces mean, there is at least a link they could go to to look that
up and say, oh, yeah, I get that. Yeah. I think that's a valuable thing and, then, on down
the -- the list there and, then, based on that, you know, are you -- you know, would you
support purchasing property for that purpose and preserving it and, you know, if you don't
know what -- what other information could help. We do have kind of some back and forth,
so if you say no kind of upfront, then, that kicks you to other questions and what have you
and, then, of course, the -- you know, what is your preference in funding these things, if
that is your -- your preference. It's a -- it's a -- it's a sticky one as you all know. Yes, we
all want more open space, but how do you fund that is a critical piece of this. And , then,
you know, kind of at the end we have some demographics that kind of will help us with
cross-tabulations and maybe scientific portions of this and that's -- that's, in essence, the
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survey. It takes approximately five minutes to complete , so we think that it would be very
accessible for our community.
Bernt: Mr. Mayor, follow up.
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: I'm just really interested to see what the community's feedback is on this, because
it can go and -- you know, I have no idea. I really don't know. I'm really -- I'm really excited
to see what that looks like to our community, because it can be anything. One more
question. When you are planning on sending this out? Did you say that and I just didn't
hear?
Arial: If you guys give us the go I would imagine we could have this out maybe even last
week of January, early February. So, try to get an analysis and, then, a further discussion
in March with you all.
Cavener: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Cavener.
Cavener: Cameron, I think you know my love of surveys. I just think that they can be,
you know, really really beneficial, they can also lead us down a rabbit hole and so I see
Boise State up in the -- in the URL. I assume this is being managed by Greg Hill and his
team that have done a fantastic job of putting together scientifically validated surveys. My
concern always is you want to get a pulse check on our community, not just the opinions
of people who want more open space, because I think those are two very important
designations and so as long as you feel really comfortable and confident that we are --
we are surveying our citizens and not just people that are passionate about this issue ,
I'm really looking forward to seeing the results. I think they will be very very beneficial f or
us as we make some decisions.
Perreault: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Perreault.
Perreault: Have you established some -- a minimum amount of responses that you would
like to receive and, if so, what are they?
Arial: Mr. -- Mr. Mayor and Council Woman Perreault, so just to be clear, I -- I -- the
expectation with this is as much response as we can possibly get. Now, we could go
down the road -- to Councilman Cavener's point of making this a truly scientific research
piece. I don't know that that is particularly necessary. To your point, if we can get ten
people -- or ten thousand people to respond to this we will consider every single one of
those responses. It is designed in a way that I think we can rely upon those results and
-- and have it be representative of our community, so -- but to that point, if we get ten
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responses, is that truly representative of our community? I don't think so. And we would
have to present that to you with that knowledge in mind that, yes, this is a limited
response.
Simison: And if I could just add real quick on -- we did have a question in the last city
survey specifically related to this topic, which we got some feedback. We do have another
city survey that will be going out this summer. We don't have enough that we can ask all
these questions in that survey, but if there is one or two things that come from this that
we would want to do a more scientifically valid question, we could, again, pose that out
to the community this summer in that way. But, you know, whether it's BSU or the same
group that we use, if we are putting financial resources towards all these other things , if
this is something that we want to put resources towards for a specific scientifically valid
survey, that's an option.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, Cameron, I just wanted to make sure I saw in the survey -- you
talked about agriculture and kind of had a definition of that. I don't know -- might want to
have them look at parsing that a little bit more, because agriculture is a term that means
different things to different people. You know, when I hear the term agriculture I think
production agriculture. It's -- it's the livelihood of the family or business. It's -- it's
intensive. And a lot of people think agriculture. Hey, my neighbor has ten acres, they
have got some sheep -- it's a hobby farm, you know, and they like , you know, it's -- they
liked seeing the sheep or the goats or the -- what have you, but it's not production
agriculture. So, there is that difference and you noted, working dairy or farm operation.
You know, it's production agriculture, but sometimes people want to have -- well, I would
like -- I want that five acres, ten acres, because I want to see that and see the open space.
So, I don't know if we need to have something in there, but because of those differing --
how people see it differently, we might want to do a little more parsing on that.
Arial: Mr. Mayor, Councilman Hoaglun, yeah, that's -- that's a good point. I think we are
-- we are definitely specific to an operation of some kind. You know, the thought being is
that you would, you know, preserve those, you know, farming rights. You know, yes, this
could, you know, be a dairy and we will -- as a city and a community purchase those rights
and that would be what is maintained there, as opposed to redevelopment and otherwise.
But to your point, maybe it's -- people view it as like, you know, a community garden or,
you know, something like that. But, again, to your point, this could go a whole -- you could
go down a whole lot of rabbit holes, but I'm not -- I'm not opposed to that. I think we could
broaden that and include that in there. You bet. Excellent. All right. And, then, finally to
item seven. Just briefly here, this -- this did pose itself in different forms. There were a
number of citizen groups, neighborhood groups, that saw development and the need to
kind of find a -- an identity and a unity within specific areas of our community and so this
is a little bit of an amalgam of comments, to be honest. What -- what are -- what -- you
know, what does that actually mean and how would that translate into something the city
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can assist these citizen groups with and stakeholders with and so I think, you know, as
-- as Caleb mentioned in the memo, it's -- how do we better understand, specifically what
they would like to see with, you know, a neighborhood or is it -- you know, is it a specific
overlay? Is it architectural design and implementation thereof? And just trying to get a
better sense for -- for what people are actually asking for with this would be a first -- a first
good step. We do see kind of a -- a means to empower our community and citizens in
specific areas to bring what that means and have a partnership with them to say -- then
say, okay, we hear what you are saying, what is workable within code, maybe what isn't,
what would need to be discussed more with you all to -- if that's reasonable to implement
and otherwise and so this is a little bit of a broader discussion point, but I think it's a way
for us to prioritize this in a way and really look at neighborhoods that would like to provide
specific -- maybe design standards or -- or other policy-related items and see if there is
ways that we can accommodate that going forward. So, looking for that direction. We do
see a logical nexus with the Mayor's office, getting folks together, stakeholders and
otherwise, but interested in your comments in this as well.
Simison: Council, any comments?
Perreault: Madam Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Perreault.
Perreault: So, as Boise developed their districts sort of came about more organically,
more naturally, and some of that has to do with geography and some of it has to do with
style of architecture and some of it has to do with maybe something that's unique -- you
know, historic uniqueness. I think for us -- so, it seems strange to me to sort of have to
-- to talk about actually, you know, for planning this, right, because for them I think it was
a much more natural process. But I think it would be a good idea to sort of look at them
and see what -- what created their neighborhoods, what -- why is it the Boise Bench and
the North End and West Boise and there is some sub neighborhoods that have kind of
come about and maybe just from the outside look at what identified those areas as
neighborhoods -- and I'm not saying that we are modeling after them by any m eans, but
-- but a lot -- a lot of their process came about very naturally and I would like to see it
happen that way and like you were saying to have the citizens really be the voice of that
and to be the ones that are identifying what their neighborhood looks like and what it
means to them to have their neighborhood identity, but maybe we can get an idea of how
that came about and, then, now, of course, there are a lot of neighborhood associations
around Boise that -- that proactively act and some of -- some of it has led to overlays that
were created by the city. I can think of a couple of different ones where they -- they protect
some half acre and acre properties right in the middle of Boise, because the citizens went
-- went about it in a way that that gave them that neighborhood identity, so -- so, maybe
we can just kind of look at them as -- as to, you know, when did people start identifying
their neighborhood and why and what led to that. A lot of it was projects that were
redevelopment projects for the bench -- specifically Boise Bench did a lot of
redevelopment. The city and -- and the real estate -- you know, the residential real estate
just kind of started to develop -- redevelop on its own as the area became more desirable.
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So, just -- just some thoughts on that about how I would like to see this piece being maybe
less -- the city have less of its fingerprints on it I guess, unless the intention is to use some
of the information in our priority growth areas and, then, of course, it will be important for
us to -- to know that, but --
Hood:, So, Mr. Mayor, if I can share a little bit of that. I think this goes with what Council
Woman Perreault just said. We do have a champion, if you will, that's going to be the first
one to organically create this district and I have talked to Susan Karnes. Basically they
have identified -- I didn't ask her how they came up with Amity-Meridian. Basically
everything south of Amity and east of Meridian they have kind of identified as this area
that they want to have those specific design standards , some of which Cameron
mentioned, but, you know, it could be even just landscaping design standards along the
arterial and how the roundabouts are improved in that area and those types of things that
are unique to them, that they just, again, aren't anywhere USA. So, if we wanted to pilot
this and, then, be open to anybody else that says, hey, there is something going on from
here to here, too, and we think this is a thing, okay, you guys go and do that and you tell
us what's important about your area and what's distinct that the city may, then, incorporate
into our codes, into our policies, into our whatever. So, I just want to put that out there
that she's willing -- and they have already done some, too -- a lot of that legwork. I haven't
actually seen a write up of what they hope to accomplish with this , but it is a distinct
identity, some preservation of their rural characteristics of that area. So, again, I don't
know exactly what all that means, but -- but they are -- they are willing to do some of this
kind of on their own, you know, with their own grassroots resources and, then, come to
the city with some -- could be a partnership, but a proposal, an ask to say help us be this
thing. So, anyways, I just wanted to put that out there. You have a potential. Then that
wouldn't require any consultant help, that's just some general openness to that occurring.
If I can, Mr. Mayor, just one more -- as Cameron mentioned, there is a lot of different
topics here. We -- it's come up and we are not advocating necessarily for this -- is not
that we break the city up into neighborhood associations. We have HOAs, which is vastly
different than the majority of Boise. We have kind of that organizational structure through
our HOAs, so it came up in the comp plan , but we don't necessarily -- aren't necessarily
advocating for it and I didn't hear this to the same degree as some of these other things
we have talked about, but the district idea is also in here. So, essentially, breaking the
city up into six slash seven districts and having you all be accountable, responsible back
to a geographical area also came up, so -- I'm not here to say that had a whole bunch of
momentum, but there was some and some people brought that up. So, there is a lot --
kind of again to Cameron's point, there is a lot of different things that are kind of lumped
under this one thought that are vastly different concepts and not all of those would require
consultant work, but it is -- all kind of at least outlined there.
Simison: So, if I could help us kind of move along to some directions -- we are at the end
of our workshop, I want to respect the time, but is there anybody who disagrees that one
or two -- number -- items one and two are not the top two priorities on this list that they --
that the planning should tackle at this point in time?
Perreault: Mr. Mayor?
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Simison: Are they -- are those the top two items that are listed or is there disagreement
on that? Council Woman Perreault.
Perreault: Would you mind before we -- are you -- are you intending to go number by
number and talk about what our thoughts are in the priorities at this time?
Simison: You know, what I would intend to do is right now just help them get priority and,
then, they can bring these back and have further in-depth conversations one on one or
-- to really get into the meat of each of these items, because I think that we could spend
the next four hours tonight dissecting all of these if we really wanted to or are talking
further. But I just want to give them direction on what are your priorities as a body, so that
they can start moving forward and bring things back and have further in -depth
conversations.
Perreault: Because I -- well, I just was going to -- we have -- we have had a lot of
conversation about staff time versus which of these items that -- that can be outsourced
or we can use a consulting firm and I would be really interested to see -- if we are doing
multiple of these at a time how many are you comfortable doing at a time and -- and can
we -- can we sort of set them up so that staff 's working on one, but the consulting firm is
working on another and -- and -- and kind of how you would have those going at different
times if we were to say -- you know, I know they each have their own unique time frames
but -- but, you know, do you want to have three going at a time , four going at a time, two
with a consulting firm, two with staff -- you know, I know that plays into what we are going
to approve from a budget standpoint, but any of that guidance would also help me to help
-- help you prioritize those, but, no, I do not disagree that one and two are top priorities.
Simison: And just from -- from a logistical standpoint, I think that if you would identify the
priorities, some of it's going to happen naturally and some of it 's going to -- you know,
they are going to be able to fill that out as they get going and if -- just because something
made -- it's like anything, even in our current strategic plan, you can have a low priority
action item that has -- you can get done quicker, that gets done before even a priority
one, because priority one will take six months with a consultant and three months with
staff, so -- I think that's going to be an evolving conversation that they -- I think even some
of it's going to depend upon the position that they may want to bring on when they can
get a hire, when that person can get up to speed, I mean some -- it depends upon -- there
is a lot of moving pieces, so that's why I'm like -- if we can just get with some simple
prioritizations from a Council perspective, they can get -- get moving and we can bring
back more if we need to, either specifically or directly when you start seeing here is what
we are going to move forward and -- and what time frame and how much bandwidth they
think they have.
Perreault: Mr. Mayor, to that point I think one and two it's pretty clear are definite priorities,
but my challenges in some of these specific areas it seems like that, you know, three and
-- three and -- what is it? Four. That they want to potentially link those, but -- but I think
that area -- the Magic Bridge area isn't good. The Rolling Hill area is going to likely get a
lot more development activity and a lot more interest, much more quickly than Locust
Meridian City Council Work Session
January 14, 2020
Pages 21 of 23
Grove. So, if we link those two together as a priority, if -- I find that very challenging to --
to really get feedback on it. And the same thing with -- I think there was -- there was
another couple of them that -- that staff had mentioned they thought go hand-in-hand, but
their -- their time frames are very different, so --
Simison: And I heard that as well and I think that they are just going to have to help figure
that out within their priorities. So, if items one and two are the top two items, is there -- I
would just like to get those cleaned off the plate and, then, we can focus on the next five,
if that's the case. That way they can at least develop from that standpoint. Okay. Then
looking at the next five, we have the three specific area plans and, then, the two other off
the top, but in terms of the open space, ag preservation, district neighborhood identity, is
there any viewpoint -- does anybody on Council want to say -- just lumping them in those
three groups, the specific area plans or district identity and open space, if we just lump
those three separate groups, is there one of those three groupings that Council thinks is
more important? Is it the area plan? The district neighborhood identity? Or the open
space conversation?
Cavener: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Cavener.
Cavener: First maybe a question either for you or for staff and, then, I'm happy to provide
some insight. Is the order that's presented here -- is this a recommendation from staff in
terms of priority?
Hood: So, Mr. Mayor, I need to own that, I guess. So, it's a -- it's -- and I probably should
have explained that better. I know we are running low on time. So, it's a priority order
list, but there are -- again, there is reasons you could justify moving -- because of -- in the
sake of time moving priority six to do that sooner, kind of to the Mayor's point. Maybe a
lower priority, but we need to get it done sooner, if that makes sense. So, the priority here
is what -- based -- mainly based on what we heard from the public -- as a priority from the
public or the volume of times that we heard it from the public, if that makes sense. Not
-- what we think the priority for the public is. Maybe that's a better way to say it.
Cavener: Mr. Mayor, for me to -- it's a two way street. You know, I'm one that I think one,
two, five, seven, you block those together, you do those first and, then, you look at the
neighborhood pieces, three, four, and six, but really respecting what staff is trying to kind
of capsulate feedback from the public and I'm almost just more supportive of supporting
this list in the order that came from staff. If that's what they think is most important and
they feel like they have got the resources to do it in that order, get -- things maybe move
up, move down a little bit, actually, I'm more supportive of the list presented in that order.
If I had my choice I might do it differently, but I think the staff did a great job of kind of
surmising that.
Perreault: Mr. Mayor?
Meridian City Council Work Session
January 14, 2020
Pages 22 of 23
Simison: Council Woman Perreault.
Perreault: I have a question for staff. Are there any of these that -- that you feel like you
can just hand off to a consulting firm and that -- and staff doesn't really have to be really
involved in it and that's something -- is that something that can be simultaneously going
with other priorities that staff are working on?
Hood: Mr. Mayor, Council Woman, so, number one, again, we are going to try to be not
really involved with that one very much at all and let that process just kind of happen. The
other ones we would probably be involved with to some degree. Again, number seven, if
we did this pilot project with the Southern Rim, we probably aren't that involved, although
I would want to have regular touch points with them , but I don't see that being a huge
level of effort for staff. At least to begin. As Brian mentioned, three and four, that's pretty
much getting a consultant up to speed and letting them do their analysis and write up
some things. But we wouldn't be that -- that's not a whole -- that's not a heavy lift for staff.
That's mainly a consultant doing that for three and four. And the other ones are kind of a
hybrid or 50-50, if you will, consultant and staff.
Perreault: Thank you.
Simison: Are there any other comments? Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: Mr. Mayor. I think I'm in agreement with Mr. Cavener in the sense that I think your
list is great, I would just move up six. I don't think that Magic Bridge is going to happen
anytime soon. I don' t know if we should be paying attention to it very much. I just think
that -- other than that I think they are all good. Dean, did you get that?
Simison: Are there any other comments? All right. Thank you. Hopefully you got what
you need and if -- we can always come back for further conversations if needed, but,
hopefully, that will get you going in the right direction.
Simison: Okay. Item 6, Executive Session. Do I have a motion?
Bernt: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: I move that we go into Executive Session per Idaho State Code 74-206(1)(a),
(1)(d) -- and (1)(d). Yes.
Hoaglun: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? If not -- is this a roll
call? Roll call vote, Madam Clerk.
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January 14, 2020
Pages 23 of 23
Roll call: Borton, yea; Cavener, yea; Bernt, yea; Perreault, yea; Hoaglun, yea; Strader,
absent.
Simison: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
EXECUTIVE SESSIONS: (5:41 p.m. to 6:01 p.m.)
Bernt: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: I move that we come out of Executive Session.
Borton: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. All
opposed nay. The ayes have it.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Simison: Do I have another motion?
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Borton.
Borton: Move we adjourn the regular meeting -- or the work session. Excuse me.
Bernt: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed
nay. The ayes have it. We are adjourned.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 6:01 P.M.
(AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
_______________________________ ______/______/______
MAYOR ROBERT SIMISON DATE APPROVED
ATTEST:
_____________________________________
CHRIS JOHNSON - CITY CLERK