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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-02-11 Work Session Meridian City Council Work Session February 11, 2020. A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, February 11 , 2020, by Mayor Robert Simison. Members Present: Robert Simison, Joe Borton, Luke Cavener, Treg Bernt, Jessica Perreault, Brad Hoaglun and Liz Strader. Also present: Adrienne Weatherly, Bill Nary, Caleb Hood, Keith Watts, Warren Stewart, Laurelei McVey, Jeff Brown, 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 E. Simison Simison: I will call this meeting to order. Today is February 11th, 2020, at 4:30 p.m. Open this meeting with roll call attendance. Item 2: Adoption of Agenda Simison: Item No. w is adoption of the agenda. Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: I move that we adopt the agenda -- agenda as presented. Hoaglun: Second. Simison: I have a motion and a second to adopt the agenda as published. Is there any discussion on the motion? If not all those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. Item 3: Announcements Simison: Item No. 3 is announcements. I have no announcements. Does anybody else have any announcements that they would like to make at this time? Item 4: Consent Agenda [Action Item] Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 4 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 2 of 32 A. Oaks North Subdivision No. 2 Release of Sanitary Sewer and Water Main Easement B. Final Plat for Oaks North Subdivision No. 6 (H-2019-0145) by Toll Southwest, LLC, Located at 6060 W. McMillan Rd. C. Acceptance Agreement for Display of Artwork in Initial Point Gallery 1. Elizabeth Hilton: 7/31/2020 - 8/27/2020 D. Fire Department: Temporary License Agreement between City of Meridian and Jamco Investments for Meridian Fire Station No. 6 Staging and Ribbon Cutting E. AP Invoices for Payment 02/12/2020 - $354,650.71 Simison: Okay. Item No. 4, Consent Agenda. Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: I move that 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 to approve the Consent Agenda. Any discussion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. Item 5: Items Moved From the Consent Agenda [Action Item] Simison: There were no items moved from the Consent Agenda. Item 6: Community Items / Presentations A. Ada County Highway District: North Meridian Neighborhood Bike and Pedestrian Plan Simison: So, we will move right into Item No. 6-A, a community presentation from the Ada County Highway District regarding the North Meridian Neighborhood Bike and Pedestrian Plan and with that I will call up Edinson -- Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 5 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 3 of 32 Bautista: Edinson Bautista. Simison: Okay. Awesome. If you could just state your name and address for the record, please. Bautista: My name is Edinson Bautista at 3775 Adam Street, Ada County Highway District. Good afternoon, Mayor Simison and Council Members. My name is Edinson Bautista, ACHD senior transportation planner and project manager for the North Meridian Neighborhood Plan. In today's meeting I wanted to present the kickoff of the -- of the neighborhood bike and pedestrian plan project. The North Meridian Neighborhood Plan is the 13th of -- of a series. That graph displays ACHD level of completion for the neighborhood plans that have been adopted. The Eagle and BMP whitewater park neighborhood plans were adopted -- were the last to be adopted with -- adopted on October 23rd of 2019. This -- this graph reflects that once the neighborhood plans are adopted there is an ongoing process of working the projects identifying to a plan. As of now ACHD has completed 258 projects and 131 projects currently programed in the integrated five year work plan. The North Meridian Planning Area is highlighted in this slide. The light polygon designate the planning area. The plan -- the plan area is generally followed in the north by the Chinden Boulevard and Boise River, South by the Highway 1-84, east following in the city limits and West Can-Ada Road and McDermott Road. The neighborhood plans aim to achieve the following objectives: Identify in maps the biking and walking destinations as it pertains to the planning area. Throw out a robust public outreach process, identify the needs of connectivity, transit, biking and walking facilities to gather a general consensus for community recommendations. Develop a user friendly plan that communicates existing condition and needs, as well as convey proposals for projects to both the public and ACHD. Through analysis, technical review, and public outreach define, prioritize, and rank projects that address the needs identified. Additionally, we will identify existing gaps in sidewalk and the bicycle network. We will identify existing gaps in this -- throughout -- throughout this process we aim to brand the neighborhood plans to ensure recognition throughout the community of this planning effort and ACHD continue commitment to bikes and pedestrian improvements. Through standard neighbor plan procedures public outreach is conducted in three different stages. Through certain outreach we work with students in the planning area to identify any concerns or recommendation they have regarding the routes to and from schools. We also hold a public open house -- in this case will have two open houses to identify the general public needs and recommendations. Throughout the process we also hold public meetings to address any specific concerns of the public that comes out of the open houses. Our next steps include from March to June we will conduct public outreach and identify bike and pedestrian needs. On July present to ACHD commission and -- and the City of Meridian the draft project list that comes out of that public outreach process. On August a refinement of the plan report and on September present to the ACHD commission for adoption hearing. With this I conclude the presentation and I will stand for any questions. Simison: Thank you. Council, any questions? Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 6 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 4 of 32 Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Thank you for presenting. I was curious if part of your outreach will include looping in our Transportation Commission? Bautista: Mayor Simison, Council Member, yes, we have -- we have worked -- worked with Caleb to coordinate a presentation to the Meridian Transportation Committee. Strader: Thank you. Simison: Any other questions? All right. Thank you very much. Bautista: Thank you. Item 7: Department / Commission Reports A. Transportation Commission: Safety Busing Discussion Simison: So, Item 7-A under Department/Commission Reports, is Transportation Commission, safety busing discussion. And I think Caleb, there from the side. Hood: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council. I think a couple of pictures will help here. So, at the Meridian Transportation Commission meeting earlier this month, they made a recommendation to you all to recommend to the West Ada school board safety busing for kids on the west side of Eagle Road to get to Hillsdale Elementary. Here is a current walk zone for Hillsdale. So, the park -- I will show you an aerial here in a second. So, here is -- here is Hillsdale. This is Taconic Drive. This is a school speed zone. It's -- it's posted 45, but there are flashers. There is a crossing guard. Simison: Caleb, I think you -- you have got Tuscany up, not -- you go down one. Hood: That's Sienna, huh. Simison: Yeah. Hood: Sorry. They look so similar. Here we go. Right there. Okay. Good call. Nothing else changes though. So, everyone over here is in the walk zone technically, but on Taconic, the -- there has been construction going on with new subdivisions that are coming online. The city has a well site here and so the sidewalk is intermittently tore up or it's a construction zone, so the school district has been safety busing these kids kind of on and off the last couple of years while construction has been going on. There has been some concern not only from the administration of the elementary school, but also the YMCA about the safety of the traveling, biking, walking to those facilities from, again, neighborhoods on the -- on the west side of Eagle Road. So, they are recommending to Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 7 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 5 of 32 you -- and this one is a little bit of a weird recommendation in that it's to the school board, that they consider continuing to safety bus. It's my understanding that here even later this month they are going to discontinue that, because, again, the construction that was keeping children from walking to school. There is no gaps in the sidewalks and, again, it's -- it's signed and all the hardware are in place that would -- that is their request to you that you petition, if you will, the school board. I don't know what that means, if that's a letter, if that's -- I know you have a joint meeting with them Thursday, if that's a conversation. We didn't get into those details. But that is the recommendation from the Transportation Commission. Maybe just a little bit more background. The Transportation Commission actually met in January and heard from those folks and, then, we have a subcommittee of the Transportation Commission that met before the full transportation met two weeks ago. So, it's been something that's been discussed and it wasn't a unanimous vote by the Transportation Commission, but it was something that at the end of the day they -- they recommend you -- you petition. So, I don't know that I have much more to add, but I will stand for any questions you may have. Simison: Council, any questions? Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Not a -- not a question, maybe just a -- a comment and this was something that we discussed at the Transportation Commission a couple months ago for Council's benefit. Hillsdale Elementary School has the second highest amount of busing of any of the other elementary schools in the district and that--for me that was a surprising statistic to learn, because I remember when this project was first presented the -- the concept of that neighborhood and the school was to kind of be a -- a school that serves the neighbors around there, but because of the way that the district boundaries are designed you have as many kids that live in Century Farms neighborhood being bused to other schools as you have kids who live outside of Century Farms that are being bused in. For example, I think you guys all know I live on the corner of Victory and Meridian Road, right around there, and Hillsdale was -- is our home elementary school. So, it goes all the way to the Meridian Greens neighborhood. So, it's a -- it's a wide area. I -- as I recall -- and I haven't went back to look in the minutes, but I -- I was under the understanding that when this project was developed and even with the --the adjacent-- is that Reflection Ridge? Sorry, Caleb. That -- that neighborhood on Taconic? Sky Mesa. Thank you. Thank you very much. That when those came on there was discussion about safety busing being provided to serve those neighbors until the district boundary was reallocated. So, I'm one -- I'm not supportive -- I guess it's not our call to make, but I'm not supportive of the district abandoning the safety busing to have young elementary school kids having to cross at Eagle Road to be able to get to school. The issues related to the YMCA I think are also much larger and probably require more than just a letter from us. It's a collaborative solution between us, the YMCA, school board, and the highway district, because they have got a couple of access challenges both with Amity and Eagle. So, I'm supportive of us doing -- doing a letter. I know we are meeting with the school board on Thursday. I Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 8 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 6 of 32 would hope that this is -- we would have an opportunity to discuss this issue. It's rare that you get an HOA, a parent teacher group, and the administration all showing up at a Transportation Commission meeting at 4:00 o'clock in the afternoon saying we need help with this, but you had a bunch of stakeholders in lockstep on this asking for help -- not just with the safety busing, but some other issues, but this is the first one that's before us and so just some background knowledge for those of us that -- that are new and -- and my feelings about where we need to go on this issue. Simison: Caleb, a couple quick questions for you. So, Eagle Road at that areas is an ACHD road; correct? So, we at least have a willing partner to work with if there is other changes to that road, if we were to -- because there is no school zone on that road -- or is -- or is there? Does this go to 20 in the -- in the morning during crossing times? Hood: Correct. Yeah. That was this last year they added that -- Simison: Okay. Hood: -- the school zone flashers. And -- yeah. Simison: So, there is a --there is a Hawk signal along with school zone flashes at Taconic or no Hawk signal? Hood: No Hawk signal. There is a crossing guard at the intersection of Eagle and Taconic. I'm not exactly sure where -- where the signs and the flashers are on Eagle, but somewhere in this area. And, then, as Councilman Cavener mentioned, there is also a -- a school zone around the -- the elementary, but this intersection has been improved, but there is not a Hawk signal there currently. Now, that intersection will be rebuilt sometime in the near future. That developer, once they get to a certain threshold, is -- is charged with rebuilding this intersection. Right now it looks like it's going to be a roundabout and at that time they are going to put a crosswalk -- striped crosswalk probably on the south -- south leg I think is where it's going, so -- so, there are some more changes, some more improvements coming out there. There were some recently put in and that's why from the school district's perspective, at least from their administration's perspective, this is -- it checks all the boxes on being a safe route. All of the sidewalks are in place. They have got all the school zones. It's got all the bells and whistles that one would need. The thing that's a little bit different here is the -- the speed and the context of that. It's not typical. Well, maybe it's not atypical either, but 45 -- it was 50 or 55 just a year ago. So, it's -- people are used to going pretty fast on this roadway and, then, all of a sudden down to 20. I'm not aware of any incidents out there, but that's -- that's a concern. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 9 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 7 of 32 Cavener: I think Caleb hit the nail right on the head, is that you have got high -- people used to go to a high speed that have now been brought into a slow speed and I think the reason there hasn't been any incidents is because we have got a program in place that's getting these kids to school safely, that's quickly coming to an end and -- and I think it's all -- the timing is very fitting for us to be able to advocate -- and Caleb is correct, this checks all the boxes in terms of a form, but common sense would tell you we got to do something better than let first graders cross Eagle Road in the morning and after school and for somebody who lives out in that area, in my opinion the -- the place where those signals pop up is too short of a distance. You know, by the time you see it the time to react isn't enough. So, I think there is -- there is further improvement that we could advocate with the highway district, but at a minimum keeping the busing seems to make sense. Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: Caleb, since the school district is in supportive of this and recommending it, is that -- is there an assumption that they are willing to continue the service and the expenditure involved? Hood: So, Mr. Mayor, Council Woman Perreault, this is where it gets a little bit awkward. The administration of the elementary school would like to see the safety busing continue. The administration headquarters checks all the boxes. So, there is a principal at the elementary school and -- and I don't want to put words in his mouth, but their -- their -- their transportation coordinator is kind of on the fence. He is trying to kind of walk that line in between the administration of the school and the direction they have been given from the board and other staff there. So, I think the request is from -- as Councilman Cavener said, essentially, the principal of the school, the HOA, the PTO, to continue safety busing and I -- honestly, I don't -- I don't know that the decision has been made, but I have not heard that from the decisionmakers that this will remain safety busing. I think they are trying to get over that hump is what the -- Borton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Borton. Borton: A procedural question. So, if -- if using the -- the district using their matrix objectively, this could warrant removal of safe busing. Is it their policy that it would be removed unless petitions identifying unusual circumstances for it to remain for a period of time and are we, then, being asked by this collective group to be that petitioner to the district to collectively ask for that exception to the existing policy? Hood: Mr. Mayor, Councilman Borton, that's a good question and I didn't get into that too much with Ian Updike, who is my point of contact, basically, with the school district, about how that procedure really goes forward and I'm -- I'm -- so, I'm kind of under the Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 10 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 8 of 32 impression, though, that there isn't a formalized process for that. It is sort of a petition, but doesn't have to be written, it can be somewhat verbal type of a thing. So, I don't think there is any true outline of -- of how this gets made. It can -- it could be a letter or a request just made by the Council and that's enough to get them to change away from their policy. There may be a written policy on that. Well, I know there is a written policy on it. I don't know what a variance to that looks like or -- or-- or how to do that. But that's -- I assume we are following that, because, again, that's how it's been requested of us by administration of the elementary school, as well as their transportation coordinator. Simison: So, Council, if I -- if I may, just a couple things I think to look at in this area long term. You all know how I feel about roundabouts. I'm not going to get on my soapbox about even a small roundabout at this location, which provides a great walking access point over potentially to the Y, the park, et cetera, from that standpoint. But regardless of whether -- what the boundaries may or may not be long term, I think there is a safe assumption that with the residential growth around Hillsdale long term this is not going to be a walk zone from this location. Eventually I think that this area will probably be bused to some other school as the area further develops. But from that standpoint what do you think would be -- if we are going to not ask the school district to maintain what they are currently doing, what do you think would be adequate safety standards. Is the school zone enough from your perspective to say that that would be safe enough if you don't want to see that continue or is there something else in this area that you think would make sense. Would it be a Hawk? Would it be something else? Just food for thought. With both sides into your minds. Hood: So, Mr. Mayor, I know that the question is for Council or at least something for them, but I do want to mention it -- and, again, Councilman Cavener brought it up. We will be bringing you the Transportation Commission's recommendation for priority projects. So, I didn't get into it today, but there are some ancillary improvements that the Transportation Commission is going to -- is currently ranking and will bring to you. I don't know where that's going to play out in -- if this is going to be number one priority or not to improve some of the crosswalks and other things in this area, but just wanted to let you know that's coming this next -- first part of this next month. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: I agree. I attended a recent Transportation Commission meeting and they were certainly working on trying to fix the pedestrian routes to school in this area and -- and looking at the whole neighborhood I think for improvement. I just -- I feel like there is a compelling public safety element to this that leads me to think we should encourage them to continue the busing for safety reasons. Like the anecdotal, you know, information that I have heard is that it's just too unsafe to expect children to cross there. I don't know what kind of improvements would make me feel comfortable with them crossing and I haven't seen I guess enough evidence that there are other improvements that would get me there on it. My feeling is that long term we want to encourage, to your point, the school district Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 11 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 9 of 32 to look at their boundaries pretty hard and, hopefully, come up with a boundary that makes sense and a process for doing that. Maybe we could have that discussion with them. Start that discussion on Thursday. But I would be supportive of a letter from the city to support the safety busing. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: I guess, then, a procedural question for maybe Mr. Nary. I would like us to discuss this with the school district on Thursday. I know we have got an agenda item that's labeled growth and I don't know if this falls within that or if we need to, you know, modify our agenda to list this item as a -- Nary: Mr. Mayor, Members of Council, Council Member Cavener, since they -- they won't be aware you're going to bring it up, it probably would be wise to at least give them some advance notice that as part of your growth discussion you want to talk about this specific item, so that way the trustees at least are prepared, so that is not a surprise. Otherwise, you really won't have a robust discussion. Cavener: And Mr. Mayor. Maybe, then, in conjunction with that is Councilman Hoaglun and I were kind of talking about we wouldn't want our kids crossing Eagle Road to get to school. A thought came to mind, which has been a big issue at a lot of our elementary schools is if the safety busing goes away what you will see is the parents in this other neighborhood are just going to drive their kids over to the school and we see this in elementaries in every neighborhood in Meridian, this parent caravan of cars that park on the public streets to drop off and pick up and I know PD gets those lovely phone calls from neighbors and parents. So, perhaps maybe that's a -- that's another piece either for this meeting or for a future meeting, we have got to come up with a collaborative solution to -- address that particular issue, because that is impacting every corner of our community. Simison: And just so -- I am meeting with the superintendent tomorrow, that I can give them a heads up -- Cavener: Great. Simison: -- that this would be an item potentially for discussion. Okay. At this point in time I'm hearing not necessarily a letter is necessary then? We just have a conversation. Borton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Borton. I think so. I think the discussion might flush out what the letter could contain, the discussion on Thursday, and I think we all understand that they wouldn't eliminate safe busing upon a belief that there is not any safety concern, I'm sure it's budgetary and they are compressed in their bus funding in a million different areas Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 12 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 10 of 32 and so they create some policy that allows them to objectively eliminate it when certain criteria are met. So, I wouldn't want them thinking that we are under some assumption that the removal of safe busing is because they think that it's now safe and perfect. I'm sure they acknowledge that they are just trying to utilize limited resources in an efficient way. So, we can probably -- that will help frame the discussion on Thursday somewhat. Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: I -- I agree that a letter would be appropriate, but also with -- with Councilman Borton that we wait until we have that discussion before we -- before we really figure out what the content of that would be. B. Transportation Commission: Update on NW 8th St. Travel and Bike Lane Widths Simison: Okay. Seeing nothing else, Item 7-13, an update on Northwest 8th Street travel and bike lane with Mr. Hood. Hood: Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council, so ACHD is designing a maintenance project right now for construction in the summer of 2021 and it goes from Cherry Lane to Pine Avenue. So, roughly a half mile. It's really broken into two different sections, though. This is Camellia right here, kind of mid block, and the cross-section today north, so adjacent to Meridian Middle. Well, let me just show you -- I have got a picture that's -- so, that's what it looks like next to the middle school. So, you got roughly, give or take, right, three and a half foot wide bike lanes. You do have a little bit of a gutter, 11 to 11 and a half of traveling lanes and, then, about ten and a half to -- so, that's the existing condition in this half mile that we are going to mainly focus in on today. The southern half of that -- so, from Camellia to Pine -- to Pine I don't need to really talk, it's more of a standard cross-section. Instead of the center turn lane that you see here, there is on-street parking and, then, the bike lanes and, then, two travel lanes. So, the width is roughly the same between the curbs, it's just a different cross-section. This is substandard. As you could imagine about three, three and a half foot bike lane doesn't meet the ideal for a bike lane width and ACHD has designed -- their initial design is to go to a five foot bike lane, five foot, ten and a half foot and, then, a ten foot center turn lane. So, essentially, your curbs don't change after this project. They do want something in writing from the city if possible supporting that cross-section. I did take this topic to the Transportation Commission -- again the same meeting earlier this month. They were not supportive of the -- of the ten and a half foot lanes. They wanted to see a -- six inches, basically, taken off of each of the bike lanes to make those four and a half feet and increase the travel lanes to 11 foot lanes. So, that's their recommendation to you. Their -- their main reason was the plan that ACHD has calls out this section of 8th Street as a type one facility. Don't need to get into all that, but, basically, it's -- it's a shared facility, so you wouldn't even have bike lanes on it basically. It's you ride in traffic, basically, because it's such -- such low volumes and low speed. They have done -- and I included this in your memo. I didn't include all the Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 13 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 11 of 32 -- the data tables. I have them if you want to scroll through them with -- with the speed analysis and number of the bikes that were going on when they -- when they looked at that and cars parked. But, basically, the 85th percentile. So, the speed -- average speed that -- that folks are driving this and the volume actually classify this as a level two, which means a dedicated bike lane here. So, it's -- and Justin's probably going to cringe. I don't want to say it's inconsistent with the bikeways master plan, but -- but that data doesn't directly align with how they envision this -- the street to really work. So, that was the Transportation Commission's first thought was, well, there shouldn't be bike lanes on this. Your -- your plans don't call for bike lanes here. It shows it as a type one facility or level one facility. And then -- and I'm just going to quote them. They have a general disdain for lanes that narrow. So, they are more -- and this wasn't everybody chiming in at the Transportation Commission, but the consensus was that that's just too narrow of lanes and so they recommended, again, that -- that, essentially, six inches be taken off of each of the bike lanes and added to the travel lanes to make them 11 feet. They were okay with the ten foot center turn lane, but they wanted the travel lanes to be at least 11 feet. After that meeting I contacted the ACHD project manager and let him know, hey, they aren't real supportive at the Transportation Commission of your proposed cross-section. Shared some additional information with me that I didn't have. In fact, Council Woman Strader, as she mentioned, was there and asked a question about the school district. The school district actually sent a letter in support of ACHD's cross-section. The commission did not have that in front of them. So, I received that after the meeting and, then, also received that data I was referring to. So, about the -- the speed limits and volumes on the roadway and why they think it's appropriate now to actually stripe back bike lanes after this maintenance project gets complete. So, they didn't have that information that you do now. I talked to Mr. Lucas before the meeting. You know, again, the ACHD project manager would like a letter in support of the reduced travel lanes. Obviously, they get to decide. I think it's something that they factor in from the city, you know, with our preference. We don't necessarily get to decide though. So, you could do everything from, you know, stay silent on this to write a letter to -- you know, write a letter in support or against or whatever you would like to do. So, I'm -- it says update on Northwest 8th Street travel and bike lane width. So, there is an update for you. If you would like me to do something more than an update -- if you would like me to take an action and write a letter for the Mayor's signature stating one way or the other, I'm certainly willing to do that. Mr. Lucas I know is familiar with this, too. So, if you have any questions of him or myself, be happy to answer them. But that's, essentially, the question, if you will, before you. Simison: Thank you, Caleb. What -- what is the urgency of action for the next Transportation Commission meeting if they were to be presented with this same information? Hood: So, Mr. Mayor, it's my understanding that Dave Rader, the PM, is planning to go to the ACHD commission later this month. Could it be delayed? I don't -- I don't know. Maybe. I didn't ask him that question. But he -- that's why it's on this agenda, so he can take this information back to their commission in the near -- near future. So, he's -- he's ready to go and report, hey, this is what we would like to design and build with this project Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 14 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 12 of 32 and they want this piece of information. So, I don't want to put Justin on the spot, but it sounds like he's prepared for that question, so I know -- yeah. Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: If we could give Justin -- Perreault: Oh. Okay. Go ahead. Simison: -- get some feedback on -- if he knows the importance of today resolution versus three weeks from today. Lucas: Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council, my name is Justin Lucas. I represent the Ada County Highway District. Business address is 3775 Adams Street in Garden City, Idaho. This has been kind of a fluid conversation. We have had input from the Transportation Commission. We have had input from the school district. We got letter -- a letter recently from the Safe Routes to School coordinator for the Treasure Valley area. Based on all of this input what -- and this is -- I'm giving you information that Caleb did not have until I spoke with him today. We believe we have found a solution to this issue. We are going to -- there are bike lanes there now. We are going to keep the bike lanes there. They are going to be a little bit wider and we are not going to narrow the lanes quite as much as we originally anticipated. So, it's kind of a compromise solution. It does not need to go back before the ACHD commission, so they are not going to have to take an official action on this. Lane width, when you get within six inches, this is like a striping error. You know, this -- this is a truck that -- that, you know, stripes these lanes down and so we believe that we can make this work. The school district really wants those bike lanes there. We believe they are appropriate and we believe we can make them a little bit wider without compromising those --the traveling widths. So, I apologize for not having all this information to Caleb, but we -- as I say, some of these project issues, they -- they escalate, then, we get a bunch of information and, then, we kind of go, okay, what's the --what's the best way to approach this and we believe we found a really good compromise that I think matches the -- very closely to the Transportation Commission's recommendation of not -- of not narrowing those lanes so much. There will not be a ten foot travel lane on this section. If anything, the lowest we would go is ten and a half feet and that may just be for a very short period -- a short space within the -- within the -- this -- this roadway cross-section, which isn't uncommon on a roadway like this. So, I hope that answers the questions and I'm glad to ask -- answer anymore questions you might have. Simison: Any questions for Justin? Thank you, Justin. Lucas: Thank you. C. Community Development: Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Amendment for the amount of $105,539.00 for a Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 15 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 13 of 32 Comprehensive Associate Coordination Planner Position [Action Item] Simison: Any further comments or questions for Caleb? All right. Great. Moving on. Item 7-C is under Community Development fiscal year 2020 budget amendment for the amount of 105,539 dollars for a comprehensive associate coordination planner position. Turn this over to Caleb. Hood: Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council, it's -- it's really probably not a coincidence the last couple of items really speak to this position that we are asking to fund this year. This -- this budget amendment is for a new FTE that would largely coordinate issues like we have just been talking about with the school district and with ACHD and other transportation related partners. I know you wouldn't be seeing me as much, because there is someone else sitting here that would be on the Transportation Commission and facilitating that group. That's -- that's a large piece of what this person would do. But it would be basically all things transportation and education. So, this is a need that we have in -- in the planning division of Community Development. It would be a -- an FTE, again, that's largely charged with being a liaison, a touch point to deal with some of the most pressing issues in our community. So, this is a new position and we don't have all the day-to-day stuff worked out -- work plan, but that's -- there is a lot to do and we would also envision them helping just kind of as needed, but someone with a transportation background and a planning background is who would be the ideal candidate. So, that is the request is for that new FTE and I would stand for any questions. Simison: Are there any questions for Caleb on the item? Borton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Borton. Borton: This is, if I'm correct, an acceleration of an existing plan for an existing position. A need for just trying to fast track. It's filling it? Hood: Mr. Mayor, Councilman Borton, yes, this is in our consolidated financial plan. I think it was 2022. Simison: Are there other conversation or discussion? Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: Caleb, would this -- would this planner have other responsibilities or would this planner be able to help with, you know, other associate planner needs that you are in need of right now in your department? Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 16 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 14 of 32 Hood: So, Mr. Mayor, Councilman Bernt, it depends on the candidate. I don't see them probably -- unless they walk on water, I don't see them being able to do plan review, help process development applications. But I do see them helping on some of the priority projects we discussed last month. So, helping on some of the comp plan implementation stuff. So, this -- this person would be in the long range side of the division, not on the current planning side, but if we got somebody with a background like that that could -- and they will help assist, so they will cover some of the transportation elements of what the current planners do, but they probably won't be writing staff reports and issuing permits and those types of things, unless it's just somebody that, again, has this great background and some expertise in that. We don't plan on training them up too much to do that. So, that's a different need. There is a need there as well, but that's not this position. Bernt: Mr. Mayor, follow up. Simison: Yes. Bernt: So, Caleb, to -- to help clarify, this is almost a position that would mirror like Brian McClure's position in a different way. Not same responsibilities, but same type of long range type planning expertise. Hood: Correct. Mr. Mayor, Councilman Bernt, that's -- it's on that side of the org chart, yes. So, Brian and this position are the two in long range. Different skill set than Mr. McClure, but, yes, very similar. They would be sharing duties covering for each other. Brian does transportation stuff. So, you know, he would probably see a little relief that way, but this person, again, could make maps and graphics and those types of things. So, yes, some overlap. That's -- anyone on staff that's probably your -- your closest similar position. Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: As the Planning Department liaison I have reviewed the job description of this at length and very impressed with how detailed they have made it and I see a lot of benefit as they have broken down the role. I see an enormous amount of benefit, especially to have -- I mean this meeting is an example of where that -- that liaison would have made a significant difference. I think we -- we may not have even had to discuss these things as counselors if there had been a liaison that had already been, you know, helping with this process between the Planning Department and the Transportation Commission and ACHD and so you and I had talked, Mr. Mayor, about the benefits that the different roles bring -- new roles bring and I think that it will -- it will help us as Council and other members of their department to, indeed, take things off of the plates of some of the other staff, as well as potentially -- that potentially are. So, as I have discussed this with them and what their-- what their intention is with this role, I am in support of it as the liaison. So, if there are no other questions, I would like to make a motion that we approve the position for Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 17 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 15 of 32 fiscal year to 2020, a budget amendment for the amount of 105,539 dollars for a comprehensive associate coordination planner position. Bernt: Second. Simison: I have a motion and a second to approve the budget amendment. Is there discussion on the motion? I will just add briefly-- I think the -- I know that there is a desire from Council to get more information from the school district to have a value add to our planning process. This is that -- designed to be that role and that function to provide that information, working with the school district to make sure we get that. That's important, so that not just in the long -- in the immediate, but also the long range, you know, in terms of those planning components and, then, I think that the community has stated the transportation and education are two of their biggest concerns through -- I think what those of us that were out knocking doors heavily this last year learned. So, I think this goes right into the priorities of our community at this point in time. Is there further discussion? Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: I just want to say I think that's spot on and that this reflects a critical need in our community and a critical need within the Planning Department and I'm supportive of it. Simison: If there is nothing further, ask the clerk to call the role. Roll call: Bernt, yea; Borton, yea; Cavener, yea; Hoaglun, yea; Strader, yea; Perreault, yea. Simison: All ayes. Motion carried. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. D. Finance: Procurement Policy and Budget Thresholds Discussion [Action Item] Simison: Okay. Item 7-D under Finance. Turn this over to Mr. Watts. Watts: And thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council Members. I'm here today to discuss the process of awarding procurement contracts and purchase orders. I have discussed this with my liaison previously and here just seeking some direction from you. The current process outlined out in the purchasing -- or the procurement policy requires a procurement manager to bring all contracts and purchase orders over 50,000 dollars back to Council for approval. This process -- process is basically a duplicate of the budget process and the enhancements taking place for the -- for the fiscal year budget. In an attempt to expedite the procurement process and to issue notices to proceed quicker and Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 18 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 16 of 32 get our contracts out to the -- to our contractors and vendors, take a look at the requirement of the purchasing policy, try to determine what value add we have of our current policy and also the legality of what's required. I have worked with the city's legal department, as well as several other agencies to discuss the legal requirements, as well as what the current process is with other folks. Found some key points. Council's responsibility is for setting the budget for the city staff to execute. I discussed with the Legal Department the legal requirements and they have researched and determined there is no legal requirement for us to bring any contractor POs back to Council for approval. The procurement manager is responsible for issuing all solicitations, writing contracts and purchase orders, verifying budgets are in place prior to issuing contracts and POs. Verifying that the contractors and vendors have the appropriate insurance, bonds, licenses to perform the work and provide goods and to verify that the contractors and consultants are registered with the state -- Secretary of State. So, the process that procurement goes through, essentially, is vendor selection. Once Council approves the budget we work with the departments to determine their project needs and we issue solicitations for their projects and determine the lowest cost vendors or highest rank in the instance of an RFP. At the conclusion of the solicitation process the procurement, then, issues a contract in a form that's been previously approved by the Legal Department. We have a boilerplate contract that we use, as well as purchase order forms, and issue the contracts, draft them, make sure all those documents are included, like said before, and everything is met and, then, we currently bring them to Council for approval. As I previously stated, I also met with several other agencies. I met with the procurement manager at -- both the state procurement manager and city of Boise and Ada county as well. The results I got from them is that the state procurement manager --the state has no further requirements to award contracts. They don't go back to another governing body once the budget is set. The city of Boise -- currently they take only contracts above 200,000 dollars to Council for approval. They moved to this dollar amount a couple of years ago when we moved the threshold for the formal bid solicitation award. They moved to that dollar limit when we did that. So, they did that a couple of years ago. They are considering going unlimited or approaching their council with that and Ada county is currently looking at moving to the 200,000 dollar limit, which matches the formal bid threshold as well. One of the key reasons -- or some of the key reasons I have looked at trying to make a modification is to provide a quicker time frame from bid opening to award of contract. On average this will save somewhere between six and 19 days minimum if everything lines up perfectly. That's the minimum time it takes to get something through Council. It will help projects to actually get completed during the fiscal year. When we get down towards the end of the fiscal year, a couple of weeks -- two, three, four weeks on the front end of our project can be the difference of completing it during the fiscal year and moving it into the -- the next fiscal year. That has been frustrating for project managers in the past and it creates additional workload on the project managers, because they have to carry those funds forward. It's additional work on their budget folks, as well as Finance Department budget folks, because we are now carrying funds further that we wouldn't have to if we could complete those quicker and also eliminate some overhead on our contractors and vendors. When we award a contract we open a bid, folks are there, our contractors and vendors, they are there to see the bid opening. Once they see the low bid they do begin to gather equipment, Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 19 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 17 of 32 personnel, and start assigning folks to those projects. If we take four or five, six weeks to award a contract, those guys are sitting idle, because they are not going to put them on another job and, then, pull them back off. So, we are trying to keep their overhead down for a reason. If we can do that when we can -- when we go out for our bids, they will not need to include standby time, because the agency takes a longer time to award contracts than could be. So, we are -- that's one of the benefits I'm hoping to -- to gain from that is to address this with our contractors and vendors, let them know that we will be doing this in an expeditious manner and they won't have folks sitting around waiting for us to approve contracts and in the end it will allow the procurement division to provide better customer service with quicker turnaround times. With that I'm just looking for direction on where you might -- excuse me -- where you might want to take this. Simison: Thank you, Keith. Council, any questions? Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Thank you. Mr. Watts, I do have several questions. To me this is -- we have a high level of control and oversight right now and I don't totally disagree that we could talk about what level of oversight is appropriate. Can you walk me through the other checks and balances that exist to make sure of that and -- I totally trust you, but if there is a new person running procurement and that person has poor intentions or something goes wrong, what are the checks and balances the Council would have to make sure that we don't have something go wrong and that we have a high level of oversight, especially on material contracts of a large dollar amount. Watts: Internally in the procurement division we have two folks, Sandra Ramirez and myself. We double check each other's work and we -- so, we have within our own guide -- you know, our own guidelines we double check each other's work, make sure that there is nothing out of character or we have missed anything. As far as if -- if I were to leave office and, you know, urgently or unexpectedly, I would imagine that Council would want to put a stay on that process and implement a temporary process until either I returned or you were comfortable with the person that was in the procurement manager's position. Strader: Mr. Mayor, follow up. Simison: Yes. Strader: One of the things I was struggling with a little bit -- I think you did a great job outlining the procurement process, but as someone that's coming in that's new, what I struggled with is very lengthy and I felt like I really wanted like an Excel spreadsheet literally that had here is the process we have now, here are the exact changes I'm asking for, here is a rationale, you know, in -- in like Excel or -- or even a red line to the existing procurement policies, so I could identify really quickly the exact changes that you were requesting. I guess I -- I'm a little uncomfortable where some cities are moving to with an Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 20 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 18 of 32 unlimited lack of Council oversight over material procurement contracts, I view that oversight as an important check that we have in our municipal government and I think I personally, just speaking for myself, I would be open to a smaller dollar amount perhaps, because of timing considerations and so forth that could be approved without Council, but I do think there is a certain level where it is appropriate for Council to review, because the circumstances when we set the budget may change during the year and they could change dramatically and I -- it just seems like something that is prudent management to sort of have oversight on that, just speaking for myself. Thanks. Watts: Mayor, Council -- Council Woman Strader, one of our main objectives during this process is we verify budget amounts before we even issue a solicitation. So, we wouldn't -- we wouldn't even issue a solicitation if there was not budget already approved at that time to go forward. So, that is a -- that is a big part of this process. As far as dollar amounts proposed, what I am proposing is just moving to the 200,000 dollars. That's what we have in there currently for our proposal. I was just providing the unlimited just for a range to show you what other folks have done and are looking into. I'm not saying we are looking into doing that immediately. There are a few other options, you know, could be included or incorporated into the process as well. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Maybe if you could elaborate on -- let's say hypothetically we were to go with this 200,000 threshold, would there be a process with at least the Council liaison to continue to have some oversight over smaller contracts or some other, you know, type of mechanism where Council could review these -- the information would be available for Council to continue to review and monitor? Watts: Mr. Mayor, Council Woman Strader, I do have a suggestion. I will pass out a document here if you don't mind. Stewart: Mr. Mayor? That was me. Warren. Simison: Yes, Warren. Stewart: I just wanted to take a moment maybe in --as one of the customers of the Keith's purchasing department and say, you know, it's not often that we have an opportunity to sort of reduce the bureaucracy and streamline a process that can have an impact on us and I know that there is a lot of contracts and one thing and another that are outside of Public Works, but we are -- we are probably one of the most significant customers and I can tell you that we have a construction season during the summertime that our budget process doesn't necessarily align with, because we close at the end of September and we are still in the heat of construction and so every week counts when it comes to our ability to execute contracts, get these contractors in the field and get them working during the short limited time frame that we have to do the work in the summer. So, this type of Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 21 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 19 of 32 an approach where we have already -- you know, we have already come to the City Council, we have asked for a specific project to be approved, a budget to be approved, you guys have had the oversight to determine whether or not that -- that request makes sense and, then, when we get to the point where it's like, okay, we are ready to hire the consultants and the contractors, as long as those are within those budgetary constraints that you guys have set it makes it much more efficient and timely for us to be able to move forward with these projects and take advantage of that short window of construction that we really have and so just wanted to share that with you from the Public Works perspective. This -- these things actually do matter. The week or two -- I mean one week on a big project out at the wastewater treatment plant can --we can spend a million dollars and that's a million dollars that's either in the correct budget year or has to be carried forward into the next one. So, it matters. So, something to think about. Simison: Councilman Bernt? Bernt: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Appreciate that -- that wise wisdom. I do have a question and maybe just to refresh my memory and to help those who are new on this dais, explain the process in which -- like let's just say that you do have a budget that's been approved by Council for X project in the amount of 450,000 dollars, especially in -- in -- in the current economic condition that we are in where it's tough to find contractors that -- prices are always going up. I mean what is 450,000 dollars today may be 475 in three months and so explain to us what would happen if you receive bids back and it was over budget. Watts: Mr. Mayor, Councilman Treg, anytime we have a request for a contract or appeal that is over budget, we put that on hold until the department can -- can either come to Council and request a -- an overspend or a -- I mean a budget amendment or if they have savings in another area we will -- we will ask the department director if they have savings in another area where they could still award that contract and maybe they are going to forego another project. So, a lot of the -- a lot of the wastewater and water line projects -- it's a big pool and it's up to the engineering manager and the director to determine which projects we are going to approach that year. Anytime it's actually over a budget it's on hold. We -- we cannot -- legally I cannot award a contract or a PO over the budget amount. Bernt: A dollar. Watts: Huh? Bernt: If it's a dollar. Watts: Correct. It doesn't -- it doesn't mater if it's ten cents. If it's over the budget amount it's -- I cannot do that. Bernt: Mr. Mayor, follow up? Simison: Yes. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 22 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 20 of 32 Bernt: Keith, thank you for that. So, let's just hypothetically say that -- that Warren has this project that's going on that he is in charge of and he has some extra money in a -- in a -- in their account that can be used toward maybe -- maybe a different project that can be -- like when you just explained and let's just say that that's 15,000 dollars. Would you at that point come back to Council and speak to us in regard to that or since Warren has extra money in a budget or can steal from Peter to pay Paul to get his project done, can -- do you still need our direction? Watts: We don't come back to Council for that direction, but only the department directors can authorize that and that's ran through the Finance Department, through the finance director and the budget office as well. So, everything has to align in order for that to happen. Stewart: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Warren. Stewart: Thank you. So, if -- if those projects are in the same account code that can occur and -- and that's kind of -- maybe to clarify here. So, when we do mainline extensions or mainline replacements we may have a half a dozen projects -- all those projects end up under one account code under one budget. We don't know at the beginning of the year exactly -- Bernt: Right. Stewart: -- we have estimates on what those are going to cost, but they -- some of them will bid a little high, some of them will bid a little low. We still can't go over the total that we ask you guys to approve for the budget process. We cannot go over that total without coming to you for a budget amendment. Now, if we have one project -- which we don't even request them from you this way, but if we had one project that bid a little higher than our estimate and one project that bid a little lower, we can -- we can make those adjustments in the same account code. But the reality of it is that if they are not in a similar account code we can't -- even Dale has limited authority to do anything about that without coming to you. So, really, when it comes to exceeding the overall budget, there is -- there is very little that we can do without getting some level of -- of Council approval for that. Bernt: Mr. Mayor, one more follow up and, then, I think Brad has some useful information he would like to share. Simison: Okay. Bernt: Mr. Mayor, you know, I think -- I think this is a true testament to how this -- this process has worked in the past. Honestly, Keith, you do a fantastic job, not only in our city, but throughout the state. I mean those who are new, you need to understand that Mr. Watts is at the forefront of almost every single procurement policy that is driven at the Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 23 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 21 of 32 state level as well. So, I think -- so, with that said I think it's just a true testament we don't have to worry about it for the most part, because you do such a phenomenal job and your team does such a phenomenal job and -- and the staff here at City Hall does a fantastic job as a whole. I do understand the concern that Council Woman Strader mentioned, you know, Keith Watts has a life -- you know, you're not going to be here for -- you're not immortal. You know, you are going to -- there is going to be a time when you are going to retire and you are going to be gone and -- and so I -- you know, maybe that causes us pause to a certain degree, but just as long as -- in my own personal opinion I think I'm in favor of this procurement policy change with the 200,000 dollar limit and if it goes above that and if there is a budget or -- or project that goes over budget, just -- just as long as we are made aware, I think that you are not going to -- in my opinion I think I'm okay with that personally. Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor? Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Hoaglun. Hoaglun: Yes, Mr. Mayor and Keith. I think Councilman Bernt just touched on what I wanted to talk about and that is the transparency component to it. I'm satisfied with our internal controls. I think Council Woman Strader, you know, brought up some good questions and -- and we have -- have a process in place to protect it. We want to move it quickly. We don't need to do some of the things that we are doing now, but I'm trying to think of a way and asking you for suggestions, how do we create transparency in the process that we can see something or citizens can see something that things have been approved and -- not that there is going to be any questions, but just so there is a way to have that open and available to the public. Watts: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Councilman Hoaglun. Currently our bids are advertised in the newspaper. They are posted on our website. We hold public pre-bid meetings, public bid openings, and post the awards on our website as well. So, there is that transparency currently and as you know-- and -- and as you know we are currently moving to our online bid process -- you know, our bid system, the electronic software that we had purchased last year and everything will be realtime available to any citizen that wants to sign up and go onto our website and take a look at it. So, that -- that information will be realtime. Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Hoaglun. Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, Keith, thank you for that. Yeah. So, once -- once the bid is awarded people can go in there -- it sounds like that will be up and running and they can see what's been awarded. We can go in there, see -- there is not any -- if there are questions they can come to Council or send us a note if someone's concerned about something, but we Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 24 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 22 of 32 -- it sounds like we will have that transparency available to us. So, that's -- that's what I wanted to get at and make sure that it was available to everybody. Thank you. Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: Yes. I wanted to ask Councilman Strader if she would clarify her thoughts on -- you -- you had suggested that -- that a Council Member be involved -- the Council liaison be involved in that process. Can you -- can you expound on that I guess? Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Go ahead. Strader: Thanks. Well, I should start by saying it in no way reflects my level of trust for you. I have the utmost trust in you. I have the utmost trust in your department. I started my career at an investment bank that was robbed of several billion dollars by a rogue trader, so I -- you know, I -- I come from a highly regulated industry where even small dollar amounts have -- on a regular basis could -- could cause a problem and so I'm just trying -- I'm trying to put myself in the mindset of how do we give you the ability to act quickly. Clearly there is a need, because of construction timelines and the weather and the timing of the year, but satisfy ourselves that we have sufficient oversight over this process, because I view that as part of our job. So, my thought was, you know, if there was complete transparency of information as in I, Liz Strader, could go online at any time and see all bids that were awarded, if they were changed, how much they were changed for us, and ask questions about it and if the Council liaison was committed, you know, possibly to looking at these changes regularly and reviewing them with you to bring discrepancies to our attention, you know, then, maybe I could get comfortable with some discretionary authority up to a certain dollar amount and I realize that's a change from what you have proposed, so I apologize, but I am new and I am still learning the process, but I do feel uncomfortable without having those assurances. Watts: Council Woman Strader, Mr. Mayor, currently we are as transparent as we can be in public procurement. By law no bids can ever be changed. You submit a bid at the due date and time those bids are opened, they are locked, they are sealed, you -- no contractor or vendor has the opportunity to change a bid. They are opened in public, they are recorded in public, and they are posted publicly on our website. It's very transparent. Nothing is behind closed doors. I'm not sure how much more transparent we can get with that process. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 25 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 23 of 32 Cavener: A couple of suggestions or some thoughts as I have sat here listening to just banter back and forth by -- by this body. Keith, if I understand correctly, we as this body will set a budget for a department based on enhancements that are presented by the -- by each director that authorizes the dollars to be spent, which gives you as staff the ability to go out and handle the bid process and award the bids. With this new bid process -- new bid software that I understand you guys are procuring, would allow a public facing portal, so that Council or the public can see that process. Perhaps a further step forward could be, you know, on a -- on a monthly basis on our agenda -- on the Consent Agenda is a summary of dollars that have been allocated -- expenses paid. I don't know if that would satisfy Council Members Strader's concerns, which is valid and appropriate -- a further step forward to the public to say not only do we talk about this during the budget process, not only is the bid process public and here is a spot where you can see it, but in addition to, that would be on each Council agenda on a monthly basis, that this Council would have the ability to review and approve and -- and speak directly to the public this is where we are headed. Is -- is everything in the last -- with the exception of that last piece that I proposed, we are already set up and able to do; correct? So, Mr. Mayor, just a thought, that I just -- I'm supportive of what's being proposed with kind of the addendum of my soapbox in the last 45 seconds. Watts: Councilman, Mayor--or I mean Mr. Mayor, Councilman Cavener, one clarification. On a monthly basis that report you would get, that wouldn't be for approval, because, then, I would be holding -- it would be a report of the expenditures that we authorized during that month. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Keith, correct. If I misspoke. To me it would be -- it's a summary. This is what you have done and should a Council Member say, well, hum -- or a member of the public -- and I think the other part that we haven't acknowledged is that-- like this is a competitive bidding community and if -- if one agent goes rouge and something's awarded, we are going to hear about that from the development community or from the bidding community about where they think something went awry. So, that's another set of checks and balances from the public keeping an eye on the decision making process. Simison: And, you know, I would ask Keith or Council, how often has one of these ever been pulled off and discussed in recent memory from an agenda? Watts: Mr. Mayor, in -- in my 14 years I -- I can't remember one, to be honest. I -- in the policy I will always have the authority and I will use that authority to require something to come before Council for whatever reason. Sometimes there might have been --there are times when we go with the second low bid -- low bid, because the apparent low bid at bit opening does not have the correct license or documentation. So, it would be illegal for us to award to him. Even when I do that -- so, he's -- he's no longer the apparent low bidder, the second low bidder is really the apparent low bidder in that situation. Even Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 26 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 24 of 32 when that's the case I typically bring that before Council anyway, just because it wasn't perfectly smooth. Simison: So, the second question for you -- in -- in what process do we currently have that someone would know that if you put something on the agenda that was a different amount that they would know that? Watts: When we bring something to the Council we include the bid results. Simison: I understand that. Just looking for the -- if someone was trying to be shady about this, I mean would they have to fudge the bid number in the process that they are currently looking at and that-- even if-- even if someone was being shady this --whatever changes you are talking about wouldn't satisfy that, because it would still look on paper to be the same, you know. So, I think that's where we get into our audits and our other financial controls from that standpoint where -- where you can truly see if there is a bad actor and I think that that's -- that that's key is from that standpoint, but the other part of this is just, you know, the reality of the speed of doing business for a city or for anybody else, but whatever -- you know, if you -- short of Councilman Cavener's amendment -- if we raise it by 20,000 dollars, does that give people comfort? I mean everything has a dollar threshold before where -- where we currently are operating where we are not being required to do these amendment controls. Yeah, I don't -- I'm not going to speak for the departments on -- because I don't know which way they would prefer. I mean does it create more work to create that or create more work to wait a week to come before Council to get approval from that standpoint. So, it's just wherever your threshold level is, if you say you need it down 25,000 from where Keith is suggesting, to not do that, what would that be? Or does that not exist because of transparency in some other fashion that you don't think is being met. We do have open.gov, which also will have all the spending aspects to this for the general public to get to, but I'm just trying to be realistic in terms of how do we move things forward. What is a realistic expectation for people to go and review contracts, review bids, follow the bouncing balls -- as Council Members is that what you really want to do as your liaison assignment to the Finance or the other departments. If that's the case, yes, but let's not put in controls that you are not thinking is viable for you and that you are not willing to follow from a -- because, then, it just has more work for the staff to do. And with that I will get off my soapbox. Watts: Mr. Mayor, I would add that I asked those very questions of these other agencies. What's the difference between a hundred and two hundred. What's the difference between two hundred and four hundred. They are -- those procurements, they are all handled exactly the same way. Nobody had an answer for what the difference is, because there really truly is no difference. Our process is the same for all of those procurements. and I did want to make one more clarification with Mr. Cavener when -- when the budget is set purchasing doesn't get that -- that budget to utilize. The directors have the authority to manage their budgets. We don't manage their budgets, so that's why we do as the director and their team request. We are a customer service division. We execute the budgets that the directors and their departments request of us. I just wanted to clarify that. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 27 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 25 of 32 Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: I am comfortable that, you know, in any kind of enterprise -- at some point you have a certain level of authority. I like Council Member Cavener's thought process on receiving some type of report at the end of the month -- a summary report, if you will, that has the pertinent information that we would need to review, so that if we had a question we could follow up. You know, trust is given and, then, trust can be taken away if we feel like some expectation is not being met and I -- and I certainly -- you know, again, I -- I very much trust your department, I'm just trying to think about what is a check and balance here, so that in the future if you are not the person in that seat and that person is a different person and the level of trust is different, you know, we are looking at that as we should. So, I would be comfortable with -- with that change. Perhaps you want to discuss the amount as well. Two hundred thousand for Boise -- Boise is a city of a different size and we are -- although we are growing quite fast, I hope -- I would like to hear my other Council Members' opinion on what a material threshold is. Borton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Borton. Borton: This may be a summary of everything that -- that I have heard. I think the -- the level of detail and focus that Council Woman Strader is emphasizing is what every one of us should always have and everyone that follows us should have in the desire to make sure that every T is crossed and -- and everything is done appropriately and that's always a good question to ask, even if it grinds, let's grind, because that's our primary responsibility. I think Councilman Hoaglun's comment about transparency is spot on and we have talked about it back with open.gov as functional transparency, you know, that -- it's all public record, but can we do it in a way that makes it functional and easy for not only us, but anybody who attends our Council meetings and I think Councilman Cavener's suggestion about maybe a monthly standing agenda item that simply lists the vendor and the contract amount. That may spark a question from the public when they see it or one of us and maybe not and that's fine, but at least it's an additional simple level of making everybody aware. I'm comfortable with the adjusted threshold amount. I think it fits the explanation that you have provided. You got to draw a line somewhere and I -- I think that explanation you have provided and other communities have used makes sense as well. I think of a takeaway if we approve the adjusted policy limits today, I think it would also be helpful for Finance and the liaison to work with what does that report look like. What do we do? Is it, you know, a monthly vendor and contract amount? What type of functional transparency can be provided all of us and, then, bring that back with here is what we have come up with. It might fit what all of Council has described being a -- a concern of making it easy to be aware of -- of how these contracts are going. So, I'm supportive of it and I think the explanation that everyone has provided is going to make this process better. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 28 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 26 of 32 Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: As I was going back and forth up here on the dais I was trying to think back in our conversation, Keith, about the failsafe that we were talking about, because you and I were discussing in between talking about the car that your dad was going to buy, but we were talking about-- like I was struggling with it,just like everyone else and all the other Council Members that you spoke with, but at the very end the failsafe was the dollar amount that would be added to a list maybe on the Consent Agenda of all of the things that you spent that was above -- I think the mark was like 50,000 dollars or something like that, that we could -- that we could -- and whether that's on consent or whether that's an e-mail, that is what made it comfortable for me and so thank you, Luke. That's exactly -- I was -- I was trying to remember with Brad and what's -- it's like I heard it from somewhere. So, it's perfect. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Where do we go from here? What -- what -- what -- Simison: I have no idea. Cavener: Keith, what are you looking for? Simison: If you need to come back with some -- with revisions to what you are proposing, because it is listed as an action item. Watts: Mr. Mayor, Councilman Cavener, I'm good with the change to the 200,000 dollars. I can work with my liaison to determine the look of the report and the content of that report, unless you want that report somehow to be listed in -- in the policy. I wouldn't think so. I think that's just a process that we will go through. But I'm good with moving it to the 200,000 dollars and, then, work with my liaison to provide the report that you guys will all discuss and agree upon. Nary: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Mr. Nary. Nary: Mr. Mayor, Members of Council. Keith, would -- it sounds to me -- so, we have a -- we have a report each week before payments are made that are listed on the -- on the Consent Agenda that lists every single request for payment, from ones as low as nine dollars up to 5,800 dollars and variances of that. So, it sounds to me from Council that's basically what you are asking for for these types of procurements at a certain dollar level. The difference would be is they would be after the fact. It's really just a report, rather than Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 29 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 27 of 32 an approval; is that right? So, the format that you have here may be a good starting point for what you are talking about. Watts: Mr. Mayor or-- Mr. Mayor and Mr. Nary, what I envisioned actually with that report -- we open bids all week long. I would think a weekly, basis rather than a monthly basis, and anything that we open prior to the deadline to submitting for the Council agenda, I would put those items on that list to most likely more -- more likely than not you will get to see those amounts before those contracts are actually awarded, but you will have the information as soon as we can. I don't want to -- that -- that would not delay my process any further. So, I think we are going to be gathering that information anyway, so I would think that would be a weekly report, just like -- it would mimic the finance report and there is a statute requirement on the AP side. There is no statute requirement, this is just a -- to satisfy your desire to have additional knowledge. But I would think we would do that as we open bids on a weekly basis and provide that information to Council on a weekly basis. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: With that I think I'm comfortable and I will make a motion that we approve the revised procurement policy, recognizing that staff will work -- I guess with me, with the liaison, to come up with a bid summary that would be provided to Council on the Consent Agenda on a -- as -- on a regular basis. Thank you, Council Member Hoaglun. Simison: Do I have a second? Hoaglun: Second. Simison: I have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion on the motion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it. Watts: Thank you. Cavener: Great work, Keith. Appreciate it. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. E. Public Works: Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Amendment in the amount of$58,008 for Water Operator I (Utility Locates) [Action Item] Simison: Item 7-E is Public Works for a budget amendment of 58,008 dollars for a Water Operator 1. 1 will turn this over to Ms. McVey. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 30 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 28 of 32 McVey: Thank you. All right. Thank you. Mayor and Members of the Council, thanks for giving me just a couple minutes of your evening to discuss our budget amendment. This is for a utility locating position, which is called a Water Operator I. So, in this presentation I will give you a quick overview of how and why we do utility locating, how many locates we do and why this amendment is in front of you tonight. So, it's a state requirement for utility companies to locate their underground utilities anytime someone calls Digline. So, these calls can come from anyone who plans to do underground work in a street or right of way, so a citizen or a contractor. Digline, then, dispatches a locate ticket to all underground utility owners and we are required by law to respond and mark out our utilities. This is a really important activity from a liability standpoint, because it can cause significant issues if our lines are hit and, then, additionally if the locate is either not done or done incorrectly, that liability and cost falls back onto the city. So, the city has historically been locating its water, sewer and reclaimed water lines and we get about 800 locate calls each month. This locating activity is currently done by two water division employees. So, what's changed. In 2018 the city became aware that it would also need to locate the electrical utilities that are attached to city on streetlights. So, this was previously not occurring and represented a potential liability to the city. So, knowing that the city didn't immediately have resources to do these extra locating, we began contracting out this work with the promise to reevaluate this strategy once we had additional information. So, we currently have about 7,900 city-owned streetlights and this number is projected to grow to nearly 30,000 at full city built out. So, this is a program that's only going to continue to increase. For FY-20 we budgeted almost 100,000 dollars to cover the cost of this contracted electrical utility locating, which is made up of two main primary components that you see. So, the Digline dispatch ticket costs and, then, also the contracted locating labor. So, when we took a look at these contracted costs and compared them to the cost of bringing in another in-house utility locator, we realized the cost savings to the city would occur if we brought this work in-house and, then, as the city continues to grow and as these locate tickets continue to grow that cost savings just continues to grow as well to the city. So, the big cost savings comes from the fact that we would just receive one Digline ticket, rather than the two that are required today under this contract operating scenario, as well as the savings on the labor of not having to hire a contract locator to go out and locate the streetlights. So, this budget amendment total cost also includes the necessary equipment and training for the two existing locators to get them up to speed to be able to locate the electrical utilities as well. So, in summary, it's the Department's recommendation and request that you approve the budget amendment for the locating FTE, which would allow the city to bring streetlight locating entirely in-house. This amendment has a less than one year payback for the city and results in a net -- almost nearly net neutral budget amendment due to the cost savings from the Digline tickets and, then, the contracted labor that we won't be spending this year. So, with that I will stand for any questions. Simison: Thank you. Are there any questions? Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Cavener: Councilman Cavener. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 31 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 29 of 32 Cavener: Laurelie, thanks for coming before us and I love that when a question pops in my head you kind of immediately start to almost answer -- McVey: Okay. Cavener: -- it, but my question is about the -- the savings analysis that you provided to us in the memo and it's very appealing, but it also looks kind of deceptively low and so I'm curious does the -- the total annual expenses include the need for either office space or a vehicle for the employee? I see the op --annual operation expenses of 10,000 dollars at the start. Typically when we see a new vehicle it's much higher. So, I'm just -- I'm just trying to figure out where those things are coming from and if that's something that's included for this position. McVey: Councilman Cavener, great questions. So, this position does not include a vehicle. We were able to actually relocate and shift some vehicles around and do some vehicle sharing in positions that utilize vehicles less frequently. This position, obviously, needs a vehicle full time, so we reallocated one of those vehicles to this position and so we are not requesting a new vehicle with this budget amendment. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: But there will come a time where that vehicle will need to be replaced, I assume in a year or two years, three years, four years. McVey: So, Mr. Mayor, Councilman Cavener, another good question. So, not that we foresee at this point. So, we were able to look at positions that don't necessarily utilize vehicles full time. So, some of our administration -- administrative positions, our instrument tech positions that can share vehicles, because they are not driving around full-time all day. So, we don't anticipate the need to come back at a later time and ask you for another vehicle. Simison: I guess I would add -- eventually the vehicle you have would be replaced one way or the other from whatever use, wouldn't it, in any capacity. This may expedite that in some fashion. Cavener: And, Mr. Mayor, the reason why I asked is, you know, I -- I take that total annual expense pretty seriously and I know that you do, too, and I think the six years that I have been here I have had enough budget enhancements come before us where there is a vehicle replacement that was utilized from another department and now that department has another vehicle that is set for replacement and when I'm looking at the total annual expense, factoring that cost into, too, to me at least at a gut level, based on your presentation here tonight and in the memo you provided us, there isn't as much cost savings as -- as initially presented and it does make me take pause about -- I think where you are wanting to go is appropriate, I guess I'm just -- I'm curious if now is actually the Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 32 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 30 of 32 right time. I trust you as staff say it is, but I just think it's important that we look at this and seeing what the real cost is to the city, to our ratepayers, before we make that decision. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: I just want to point out I -- I believe that that vehicle expense could be quantified in a fairly straightforward manner and if you amortize even the full expense of a new vehicle over an average life of -- you tell me, what, five years, for like a 50,000 dollar vehicle, maybe adds another 10,000 expense and, then, maybe some fuel for the full year, I -- I think just making a comparison -- and maybe you could elaborate on what that vehicle cost might be, it still looks like a net savings to the city from just a back-of-the- envelope perspective and I'm hoping you could just elaborate. I feel comfortable that from a common sense perspective it looks like we would save money. McVey: Mr. Mayor, Council Woman Strader, your points are absolutely correct. So, even --we did run this analysis with a vehicle loaded in and there is still cost savings. We were just able to offset that at this point with -- I guess shifting some of those vehicles around from positions that don't necessarily utilize a full-time vehicle. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Laurelie, is this a mission critical that you get this person hired right now? If we were to continue this two weeks to give me that extra analysis -- again, maybe I'm the only -- and if I'm the only one that has those concerns, let's -- let's move forward. I don't want to slow the train down, but when you will see an annual net benefit of 70,000 dollars over ten years and I think in that ten year period we might buy two -- McVey: Oh. Cavener: -- trucks that are -- Borton: Per year. Cavener: Per year? McVey: Yes. Cavener: Much different. My inability to read the report the correct way. Simison: Are there any further -- any further questions? Strader: Mr. Mayor? Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 33 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 31 of 32 Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: With all due respect, because I think it's good to do the analysis on the vehicle, but it feels like from looking at this the annual net benefit is very significant. I move that we approve Item 7-E, Fiscal Year 2020 budget amendment in the amount of 58,008 dollars for Water Operator I. Cavener: Second. Simison: I have a motion and a second to approve the budget amendment. Is there any discussion on the motion? If not, clerk will call the roll. Roll call: Bernt, yea; Borton, yea; Cavener, yea; Hoaglun, yea; Strader, yea; Perreault, yea. Simison: All ayes. Motion carries. Thank you. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 8: Executive Session per Idaho State Code 74-206 (1)(c) to acquire an Interest in real property not owned by a public agency. Simison: Item 8. Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: I move we move into Executive Session per Idaho State Code 74-206(1)(c). Hoaglun: Second. Simison: I have a motion and a second to move into Executive Session. Is there a discussion on the motion? If not, the clerk will call the roll. Roll call: Bernt, yea; Borton, yea; Cavener, yea; Hoaglun, yea; Strader, yea; Perreault, yea. Simison: All ayes. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. EXECUTIVE SESSION: (5:58 p.m. to 7:11 p.m.) Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 34 of 342 Meridian City Council Work Session February 11,2020 Page 32 of 32 Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: I move we come out of Executive Session. Hoaglun: Second. Simison: All those in favor say aye. Motion carried. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: I move we adjourn. Hoaglun: Second. Simison: A motion and a section to adjourn. All those in favor? The ayes have it. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 7:11 P.M. (AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS) 02 / 25 2020 Mayor Robert E. Simison DATE APPROVED ATTEST- CHRIS JOHNSON - CITY CLERK Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 25,2020— Page 35 of 342