HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-03-18 Richard Simkins
Chris Johnson
From:Robert Simison
Sent:Wednesday, March 18, 2020 7:32 PM
To:rsimkins@sbcglobal.net
Cc:Jessica Perreault; Treg Bernt; Joe Borton; Brad Hoaglun; Liz Strader; Luke Cavener;
Josha Iverson; David Miles; Chris Johnson
Subject:RE: New submission from Request for Mayor and Council
Richard,
Thank you for reaching out and expressing your concerns about this Thursday’s Planning and Zoning Commission. I
understand your frustrations and concerns with holding a public hearing in the current environment and need to share
some information.
Per Idaho law and Meridian City Code, once a land use matter has been noticed for a public hearing the
applicant/property owner has the right to have their application heard by the Commission or the City Council. They
have the right to present their application both visually and audibly. The public has the right to participate and
comment, but not to delay the hearing.
During a conference call with Governor Little this afternoon, the question was asked if he would be taking actions that
would allow cities to suspend these requirements. As of now that has not occurred.
Despite the challenges we are all facing, we currently have multiple means to testify, participate and comment, but
there is no requirement that attendees must be physically in the room where the hearing will occur. To protect the
public safety and follow the guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control, we will provide limited seating in the
meeting room itself, and others present will be able to see and hear the meeting from outside of the room as well.
This afternoon we put in place a way for the community to listen and participate in the hearing via the telephone. This
includes the ability to provide public testimony during the hearing in real time. Participants can dial into the meeting at
208-398-0642 to listen and if they wish to testify the can press * to be placed in the que. The meeting will also be
streamed online at www.meridiancity.org/live for those who would like to watch the meeting from another location.
I have copied our City Clerk on this email and it will be added to the record for consideration by the Planning and Zoning
Commission at Thursday’s public hearing. I do want to assure you that the Commission takes every letter, email, and
comment into consideration. I understand it seems being present is viewed as more important, but letters and emails
are also forms of public testimony, and hold the same weight. Prior to the meeting you can provide testimony via
voicemail message at 208-288-5607. You can also record a video on your mobile device and email it to
cityclerk@meridiancity.org. Commissioners will listen to all voice mail messages and view all videos, and they will be a
part of the public record.
As you may already know, for this item the Planning and Zoning Commission is a recommending body. This means that
they only make a recommendation to City Council, who will make the final decision based upon their action and the
applicant’s response. Should you be unable to attend, or feel your concerns were not addressed, you will have an
additional opportunity to provide comment to City Council in the future.
I completely understand and appreciate your concerns, and want to reassure you that your testimony, whether by
email, letter, video, voicemail, or in person is equally important to the City and to our volunteer commissioners. Should
we receive updated information from local, State or Federal officials or partner agencies regarding the virus and public
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hearings, the City will consider that and adjust accordingly. The most up to date information regarding closures and
cancellations can be found at https://meridiancity.org/coronavirus.
Again, thank you for contacting us regarding your concerns.
Mayor Robert Simison
City of Meridian
All e-mail messages sent to or received by City of Meridian e-mail accounts are subject to the Idaho law,
in regards to both release and retention, and may be released upon request, unless exempt from disclosure by law.
From: Formspree Team <submissions@formspree.io>
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2020 10:08 AM
To: Robert Simison <rsimison@meridiancity.org>
Cc: Jessica Perreault <jperreault@meridiancity.org>; Treg Bernt <tbernt@meridiancity.org>; Joe Borton
<jborton@meridiancity.org>; Brad Hoaglun <bhoaglun@meridiancity.org>; Liz Strader <lstrader@meridiancity.org>;
Luke Cavener <lcavener@meridiancity.org>; Josha Iverson <jiverson@meridiancity.org>; David Miles
<dmiles@meridiancity.org>
Subject: New submission from Request for Mayor and Council
External Sender - Please use caution with links or attachments.
NEW FORM SUBMISSION
Hey there,
Someone just submitted your form on meridiancity.org/council/request. Here's what they had to say:
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Request for Mayor and Council:
Name:
Richard Simkins
_replyto:
rsimkins@sbcglobal.net
Street Address:
4277 N Rogue River Way
City:
Meridian
State:
ID
Zip Code:
83646
Subject:
P&Z meeting on 3/19
Message:
I understand this meeting is still scheduled for 3/19. In light of all of the local government office closures and local
restaurant dining room closures due to the corona virus, it is hard for me to understand why the P&Z and the Meridian
City Council is not concerned and plans to hold this meeting as scheduled. Have the members not thought of the
ramifications? Please respond.
Submitted 04:08 PM - 18 March 2020. Mark as spam
You are receiving this because you confirmed this email address on Formspree. If you don't remember doing that, or no longer wish to
receive these emails, please remove the form on meridiancity.org/council/request or click here to unsubscribe from this endpoint.
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