HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-08-11 Work Session Item#1.
Meridian City Council Work Session August 11, 2020.
A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 4:33 p.m., Tuesday, August
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: Chris Johnson, Adrienne Weatherly, Bill Nary, Mark Niemeyer, Scott
Colaianni, Joe Bongiorno and Dean Willis.
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: Council, I will call this meeting to order. For the record it is Tuesday, August
11th, 2020, at 4:33 p.m. We will begin tonight's meeting with roll call attendance.
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
Simison: And just for those who are following along at home, Council Woman Perreault
is in the room and we are working to get her computer updated so she can log into Zoom.
So, she will be physically or -- or pictorially join us in Zoom. Item -- the next item on the
agenda is the adoption of the agenda.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, I move that we adopt the agenda as presented.
Bernt: 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. Those opposed
nay. The ayes have it.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item]
1. Approve Minutes of July 28, 2020 Work Session
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2. Approve Minutes of July 28, 2020 City Council Regular Meeting
3. Final Order for Allmon Subdivision (H-2020-0071) by Dean Waite,
Todd Campbell Construction, Inc., Located at 5875 and 5885 N.
Locust Grove Rd.
4. Final Order for Hill's Century Farm North (H-2020-0077) by Kody
Daffer, Brighton Development, Inc., Generally Located on the East
Side of S. Eagle Rd. and South of E. Amity Rd.
5. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Gyro Subdivision (H-2020-
0061) by Tealey's Land Surveying, Located at 3030 E. Magic View Dr.
6. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Hill's Century Farm North
(H-2020-0080) by Kody Daffer, Brighton Development, Inc., Generally
Located South of E. Amity Rd. and East of S. Eagle Rd.
7. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Quartet Northeast (H-2020-
0017) by Brighton Development, Inc., Located at 4020 & 4340 N.
Black Cat Rd.
8. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Quartet Southeast (H-2020-
0018) by Brighton Development, Inc., Located at 4020 and 4340 N.
Black Cat Rd.
9. Agreement Between City of Meridian and Envision 360 Inc. to Accept
Payment in Lieu of Installing Streetlights at 1351 E. Fairview Ave. in
the Estimated Amount of $8465.00
10. Agreement Between the City of Meridian and Nampa Meridian
Irrigation District to Authorize the City to Discharge Water from Well
32 in to the Ridenbaugh Canal for a Designated Period
11. Resolution No. 20-2221: A Resolution Authorizing the Donation of
Surplus Computers and Equipment to the West Ada School District.
12. Resolution No. 20-2222: A Resolution Authorizing the Fifth
Continuance of a Local Disaster Emergency Declaration And Its
Terms for an Additional Thirty (30) Days; Authorizing the Continued
Immediate Expenditure of Public Money to Safeguard Life, Health
and Property; and Providing an Effective Date.
13. AP Invoices for Payment - 07-30-20 - $6,225.85
14. AP Invoices for Payment - 07-31-20 - $138,886.09
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15. AP Invoices for Payment - 08-12-20 - $546,760.96
Simison: Next item on the agenda is the Consent Agenda.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: On the Consent Agenda we have Item 5, we have a letter representing a
neighborhood -- some neighbors who would like that -- to have us take another look at
the language that we put into the Conclusion -- Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law,
so we would like to pull Item 5 for Delano Subdivision, H-2019-0027, and take that up as
a separate item and by doing so, Mr. Mayor, I would move that we approve the Consent
Agenda and the Mayor to sign and Clerk to attest.
Bernt: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second to remove Item 5 and to approve the remainder
of the Consent Agenda. Is there any discussion on this item? If not, all those in favor
signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
ITEMS MOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item]
16. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Delano Subdivision (H-
2019-0027) by Boll Cook Investments, LLC, Located at 14120 W.
Jasmine Ln. and 2800 E. Jasmine Ln.
Simison: As was mentioned, Item 5 was moved off of the Consent Agenda, so we will
now consider that an action item.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Mr. Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: We -- we had received a letter from an attorney representing some neighbors
from an action we took -- I believe it was last week and wanting to ensure that the
language that -- was accurately recorded. In reading through that it was my
understanding that that was what we had taken action on in that way -- may not have
been the exact words, but I don't know, Mr. Nary, legal counsel, did you see anything that
would give us an issue where it was not what -- that we are not on the same page
somehow regarding that?
Nary: Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council, in looking at it, again, I think what they are
requesting is slightly more specific. I don't really see a substantive difference between
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what they are asking for and what's already listed in the findings. Again, the Council's
direction was to direct that that become an emergency -- emergency access only. It be
constructed that way as part of phase one. That it will remain as an emergency access
only and, basically, the Council's desire is it remain that way. So, I don't really see a
substantive difference, but it's certainly the Council's call. If you would like amended
findings we would, essentially, ask -- get that direction. We, then, remove them, amend
the findings again, bring them back next week.
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: I guess maybe a point of clarification for Mr. Nary. What is the purpose of
amending the language to the 20 foot specification? I -- am I missing something? I just
wasn't tracking why that change was needed.
Nary: I'm having -- Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council, Council Member Strader, I'm
having a little computer problem pulling up that specific language. My assumption is is
that the narrower the width the least likely to convert that in the future. But the reality is
it's unlikely to be converted in the future, unless for some specific reason a future
neighbor, a future adjoining property owner, were to petition ACHD to change the roadway
configuration. That's really something that is impossible to anticipate at this point that
that could occur. Ultimately, as was previously discussed -- I mean ACHD has the ultimate
authority on the road. I think the assumption is is the more constrictive the property is
from a construction standpoint, the less likely that will change and it will become clearer
to people or less obvious to people that this is a roadway. But other than that I don't know,
really, other purpose. I think the intent of the Council is clear in what -- in your findings,
but certainly there is no objection if you want it to be more specific.
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Borton.
Borton: Mr. Nary, what do you recommend? It's a matter of a week -- what -- we are not
changing terms. We are clarifying the decision to make sure it's accurate. Is your
recommendation that it's good to go as is or an additional week would help you be sure
that it's exactly what the motion was.
Nary: Well, Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council, Council Member Borton, I -- I think the
-- I think the document is what your motion was. I -- I actually wrote those based on your
motion. So, I think they are accurate the way they are now. But, again, I have no objection
if you want more specificity that they are asking for, that's certainly your prerogative, but
I think it's clear enough in my opinion. But, again, I -- I have no objection if you think an
additional enhancement to that is better. That's perfectly fine. I still think it's consistent
with your motion. So, I don't have any objection either way.
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Borton: Okay. Thanks.
Simison: Council, do I have a motion based upon that -- those comments from our Legal
Department?
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Borton.
Borton: If there is no additional discussion, I move we approve the Findings of Fact,
Conclusions of Law, for Delano Subdivision, H-2018-0027.
Hoaglun: Second.
Bernt: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 5. Is there any discussion on
the motion? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
ACTION ITEMS
17. License and Management Agreement Between Western Ada
Recreation District and the City of Meridian for Maintenance and
Operation of Lakeview Golf Course
Simison: And with that we will move on to Item No. 17 under Action Items. So, license
agreement between Western Ada Recreation District and the City of Meridian for
maintenance and operations of Lakeview Golf Course and I will -- we do have Mr. Wardle
on for any comments from the Council, if there is any further information. I know there
was a request last week by Councilman Cavener to take public testimony at this point in
time. I was not going to entertain public testimony. I think there will be plenty of steps in
the process for the future for engaging the public in other elements as we move forward
working cooperatively with the Board in elements and I think that that would be more
appropriate than on this specific agreement at this time. But I will open this up for any
comments from Council at this point in time and we have staff and Shaun to provide
feedback if necessary. Or, if not, I would be happy to entertain a motion.
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, I would move that we approve the license and management
agreement between Western Ada Recreation District and the City of Meridian for
maintenance and operation of Lakeview Golf Course.
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Perreault: Second.
Cavener: Second.
Simison: Okay. I have a motion and a couple seconds to approve the license
management agreement. 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: Okay. All ayes. Motion passes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
18. Assignment of Lease Between Western Ada Recreation District and
the City of Meridian for the Provision of Golf Course Operations at
City of Meridian's Lakeview Golf Course
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: I would move that the assignment of lease between Western Ada Recreation
District and the City of Meridian for the provision of golf course operations at City of
Meridian's Lakeview Golf Course be approved.
Perreault: Second.
Simison: Okay. I have a motion and a second to approve the assignment of lease
between WARD and the City of Meridian. 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 is agreed to.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
DEPARTMENT / COMMISSION REPORTS [Action Item]
19. Fire Department: Discussion of Potential Fire Stations 7 and 8
Simison: We are now moving on to Item 19 under Department/Commission Reports, the
Fire Department discussion of potential Fire Station 7 and 8. As I turn this over to Chief
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Niemeyer and his team, just a reminder, this was an item that was discussed during the
budget -- this was an item that was discussed during the budget hearings. Sorry. I'm
trying to find that right volume level for those away. But it's a continuation of that
conversation, so we can get an idea about whether or not this -- the design of two stations
would be included as part of the upcoming FY-21 budget process. So, with that I will turn
this over to Chief Niemeyer.
Niemeyer: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and good evening, Council. Some of you personally
and some of you virtually. Really appreciate the time tonight and I hope this will be the
first of many discussions we have with regards to the future of fire stations, specifically
Station 7 and Station 8. As the Mayor alluded to, we have had our staff working on this
for several months now. Certainly COVID took a turn for us as far as being able to present
this to you. We feel very comfortable in the information and data we are sharing and look
forward to a conversation following this presentation. So, with that, just a review of our
response time standards. That's been asked in the past. So, for Council in 2015 the Fire
Department conducted a master plan. We used GSI to -- to perform that master plan and
part of that was multiple stakeholders that were involved in the input with regards, really,
to response times and services that we provide to the community. The outcome of that
in 2016, December, was that the Council unanimously adopted the following standards
for the Fire Department. A 90 second chute time. Some people call that a turnout time
and for a definition that is the time from when the bells go off in our stations until the time
our apparatus rolls out of the stations and responds to the call. So, we are receiving that
call from dispatch and our goal is 90 seconds or less to get out the door and be responding
to that emergency. Our travel time for the city is five minutes. We heard everything in
our -- from our community stakeholder group from we want them there in 30 seconds to
whenever they get there. And so as a -- as a group and as a City Council, we selected
five minutes as the travel time standard that we have for the Fire Department to respond
to emergencies and, then, also to maintain 80 percent or greater response reliability.
Response reliability means how often our apparatus assigned to a station can respond to
a call within that jurisdiction. So, for example, Station 1 has a coverage area. How often
does the apparatus from Station 1 respond to Station 1's area. That's reliability. We also
as part of that plan engage with our partners and in addition to what we did specific to
Meridian, also worked to strengthen our mutual aid and our mutual aid agreements. The
Fire Department and the Fire Department response is a system of mutual aid. When our
crews are tied up on calls here in the city and other calls come in for service, we do have
to rely on mutual aid from other cities, whether it's Boise, Nampa, Eagle, Kuna or Star
and, likewise, they can rely on us at times when they are out of service. So, we did
strengthen that mutual aid partnership in 2015. So, our review of what we are doing
today, to give you an idea of our performance -- I didn't mention earlier the dispatch
processing time, but that's a piece and a component of the overall response time. This
applies for both Police and Fire. So, when folks call 911 there is a call taker in the Ada
County Dispatch Center. They take the initial information. They put that information over
to a dispatcher. That dispatcher goes through a process of identifying which units are
going to respond to that call for service. Right now the average time it takes to do that
entire process is a minute and 54 seconds. Our chute time average in the last six months
is 70 seconds. So, we are below our average and that's a testament to our crews. I have
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always said that's a response to the citizens. When they call for help how quickly do we
begin that response and getting out of the station. So, certainly, our firefighters are doing
their part and doing a great job and this is the one piece that we feel we can control the
most when it comes to an overall response time. Our travel time. Currently last six
months we are at five minutes and three seconds. So, we are maintaining really close to
that goal that we set back in 2016 of five minutes. This does fluctuate. There is so many
dependents as far as the travel time and how long it takes us to get Point -- to Point A to
Point B that includes travel. It includes weather. There are several factors that come into
a travel time. Certainly as we talk about roadway, roadway construction, hopefully,
roadway growth in the future and our ability to move throughout the city in a more timely
manner will be important conversations to have. And, then, our effective response force.
Again, this isn't a piece I mentioned in the earlier slide, but this is how long it takes us to
assemble all the units needed to respond to a structure fire. We want to try and keep this
under nine minutes if we can. You will see we are at eight minutes and 26 seconds.
When we do have a fire we have three engines, one truck, and one battalion chief respond
to that call. We are able currently to meet an effective response force and that just means
the right number of people on scene to effectively do the job. Chris, I might need some
help. The computer over here is thinking. I apologize for the pause there. Apologies,
Council. It looks like Microsoft PowerPoint is trying to send the issue to Microsoft right
now. Four. It wasn't a black screen, but that's okay. If we can move through it I can make
it work. Council, I will take you back one screen. Unfortunately, it's black. We are having
some computer issues over here. So, I will have to e-mail you out the video that I have.
But in a nutshell this was a video produced by NIST. NIST is the National Institute for
Safety and Technology and they have done studies on how fire grows given an
environment and what you would have seen in this is over a four minute time frame the
fire growing exponentially to where we get what is known as flashover. So, as the fire
builds in a room, the superheated gases and smoke rise to the ceiling and slowly lower
to the floor and over time you are going to get what you may commonly see as backdraft
in the movie or flashover in our world. That is the concern we have. That is why we are
trying to get on scene as quickly as we can to eliminate that phenomenon to where that
fire is going to rapidly spread. There is -- there is a well known fact to the science
community that have studied this that a fire grows every -- it doubles in size for every
minute after a certain time frame and that time frame is anywhere from four to five
minutes. Also on the medical side when it comes to response time why five minutes is
important and why we set that as our standard. In a cardiac arrest or other trauma time
is in seconds, not hours, not minutes, not days, but seconds truly do matter and it's not
an over exaggeration. When we are in a cardiac arrest situation the sooner we can get
on scene, perform CPR or perform defibrillation and, then, perform AILS interventions to
try and turn that situation around the better. The longer it takes to get there, the harder it
is to make that issue better and so we have that both on the medical side, the trauma
side, and we have it on the fire side as well. So, I will have to send that video out to you
in a separate e-mail. To give you an idea --for some of Council you have seen this before,
as far as the NIST study and how fire grows and the behavior of fire. If we look at the
review of growth that we have had -- that we are facing in response for the Fire
Department, you can see these are -- these are approved growth areas. You can see in
the southeast and in the northwest we have had pretty significant growth. We have done
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some anecdotal studies, if you will, to say when we add a subdivision what kind of growth
do we see in our call volume. As we examined and evaluated the growth of the Oaks
Subdivision, as one example, and there are some variables here certainly -- that has
increased our call volume by about 40 runs per year. So, as you add more and more and
more subdivisions or more growth on the business and -- and commercial side, we know
that's going to increase our call volume. Next slide. So, here is an example of what we
are seeing in the northwest area of our city on -- the slide on the left is growth that's been
approved. You will recognize that as the Oaks Subdivision and, then, the slide on the
right is from Chief Bongiorno and this is some of the engagement and interactions he's
had with other developers who are interested in bringing projects to Meridian. We are
trying to track that as far as growth that's been approved and, then, growth that is in -- in
the projections and potential growth. Next slide. If you look in the south, same thing.
You will see the growth that's been approved, which is going to increase our call volume
and, then, projected growth based on early discussions with developers that are looking
to grow in the south side. There is a direct correlation between population growth and
call volume growth. So, on the left we have population growth from 2002 to 2019. You
will see a very similar correspondence to incidents per year as that population grows. I
will point out one little blip downward and that was in 2015, 2016 in our incidents. You
can see that we trended down. The reason for that is our EMS system got together and
determined who was going to respond to what calls, especially in the non-acute calls and
we made a change in our dispatch processing where Ada County Ambulance only
responded to a certain call type. That resulted in a reduction across the board for fire
responses decreasing slightly, but since that time you can see that our trend is back up
and you can see a fairly steep increase from 2018 to 2019. Our analysis shows that we
don't anticipate that trend to reverse. As our population continues to grow, so, too, will
our call volume and consistently between the two. So, adding stations -- what does
adding stations due to response times. We talked about the two areas, the northwest and
the south. On the left-hand side you can see what we can do today. The green is the
five minute travel time. This was produced by our GIS team. They do amazing work.
The yellow is a seven minute travel time and the nine is a -- is a nine minute travel time.
On the right-hand side, if you were to add a station in the northwest and a station in the
south, you can see that our southern coverage we can get to in five minutes and the
northwest coverage we can get to in five minutes and we can certainly create these maps
in any way you choose, adding one station, adding both. But you can see the difference
between the two slides and what we can do today and with the growth occurring in these
two areas by adding stations what we could do moving forward. Next slide.
Cavener: Mr. Mayor, if I could ask a question.
Simison: Councilman Cavener.
Cavener: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Chief, back to that -- slides going back that shows the
response times, back -- what's the time of day that this is? Is this on average? It's much
easier to get to one part of town at 5.00 a.m. than it is at 5.00 p.m. So, I'm curious what
-- the time of day that these models are based on.
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Niemeyer: Great question. Thanks, Councilman Cavener. What--what GIS did with this
-- they didn't pick a time of day to pick. What they picked is they use roadway speeds. I
don't believe they even used traffic counts. So, it's simply the roadway system and the
roadway speeds and how we can get to certain places in a certain amount of time. I think
the time of day question that's a really deep -- and I think our GIS folks will tell you this --
that is a really deep analysis -- analysis that even ESRI has had trouble predicting. When
you bring in time of day, you bring in traffic patterns, you bring in road construction, all
those other factors that I mentioned -- this doesn't bring in any of that. This is simply
roadways and station locations. They do bring in speed limits on the roadways. So, they
do bring in that estimation.
Cavener: Okay. Thank you.
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: I guess a general question. If we look at that map do we have existing
development that already falls outside of the five minute fire response time or -- or is it
primarily a question of expanding fire stations to open up areas for new development?
Or both?
Niemeyer: Council Woman Strader -- Council Woman Strader, great question. It's both
right now. Certainly in the south we do have some development that we are not able to
get to -- there we go. We are not able to get to in five minutes. There is a lot of
development in the southeast corner that we simply can't get to in five minutes. There is
some development certainly going on around the 77 acre regional park that we can't get
to in five minutes. In the northwest corner you can see this area and these areas
highlighted in yellow, those are unachievable within five minutes currently. The Owyhee
High School, as we all know, is going into this area in here that we won't be able to get to
in five minutes and the thing about schools -- anecdotally speaking I don't know what it is
about Cherry Lane and McDermott right now, but that seems to be where a lot of wrecks
are that I come across. In the last 12 months I have come across five pretty significant
T-bone accidents at that intersection. I think as we talked about schools going in,
especially a high school, we talked about increased traffic and I know that's something
that Chief Lavey and I talked about as we were discussing that Owyhee High School and
the plan for it and the roadway system around it and that concern of increased car
accidents, which we also respond to.
Perreault: Mr. Mayor?
Strader: Thank you.
Simison: Council Woman Perreault.
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Perreault: Chief, isn't that intersection a two way intersection? Stop -- stop signs on
McDermott, but not on Cherry?
Niemeyer: Correct.
Perreault: Yeah.
Niemeyer: Correct. Yes. So, looking at cost and I -- I would like to try and keep this
focused on two different aspects. The first is something the Mayor alluded to and that
was discussion during budget hearing regarding the design of fire stations. Certainly this
is within our impact fee schedule. This is something that we work -- work with our impact
fee committee on. We knew that this was going to be a development issue at some point
within that impact fee study. So, for the FY-21 budget request, the request was to design
two fire stations and the reason we brought that forward is that there is some cost savings
by doing both designing -- designs at the same time. We anticipate really very similar
stations. As far as the floor plan goes, we expect it to be the same station, because the
land is a little bit different site to site. We anticipate there is going to be some changes
with regards to elevations, landscaping, etcetera. So, we --we believe this is somewhat
an independent issue to the discussion around building the stations and staffing the
stations. Personally as the chief I like to have something that's shovel ready. I can tell
you we learned a lot through Station 6. 1 think Councilman Cavener and those that were
on Council at that time would understand that. We learned a lot about the timing, about
the process, about the phases you go through when you go through a project like this and
we believe we have a very good plan to meet those timelines, so we can stay exactly on
track to what we commit to and that first step is really getting this design work done. It's
a lot of the annexation work. It's a lot of the permitting work. And it's really going through
that process of designing the floor plan and the elevations. That was the request for FY-
21. In addition to purchasing the land in northwest Meridian. We have land assigned and
allocated in the south. The rural fire district purchase four acres that's tied in with a 77
acre regional park. I believe we have talked about that in the past. The land that we are
looking at in the northwest is just north of the proposed Owyhee High School --or Owyhee
High School that's being built. We do have a development agreement with -- with the
developer of that to have two acres donated and, then, to purchase two acres and I think
we covered that during the budget hearing as far as the cost of that. That's in the Gander
Creek Subdivision. So, this is the -- the request for FY-21 and I can certainly pause here
to discuss the idea of designing two at the same time, what that savings potentially looks
like, or I can continue on. Mr. Mayor, I will take your -- your cue on that.
Simison: Council, any questions at this point in time in the presentation? Councilman
Bernt.
Bernt: Mr. Mayor, I got -- I got numerous, but I'm still wanting to listen a little bit more.
Simison: Okay.
Niemeyer: With regards to --
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Cavener: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I'm not sure who this question is posed to. I hope
whoever is the most equipped to answer it can -- can help me. When I'm looking at this
information that's in front of us on the slide, I'm trying to understand how that aligns with
the direction that it came out of our -- of our budget hearing. Am I -- am I
misremembering? Was this included as part of the 2021 budget or not?
Simison: Councilman Cavener, yes, it was. Everything you see in here is -- this was a
conversation about whether or not to take something out.
Cavener: Got it. Thank you. Appreciate the clarification.
Niemeyer: Just to add to that, Councilman Cavener, really good question. The initial
budget request and what we had in our CFP was 1.2 million dollars for overall design. As
we have worked with the architect, this piece specifically that you see before you is for
the design -- schematic design of those two stations. The additional amount that would
equate to 1.2 million moves into the construction phase where the architect is involved in
the bidding, et cetera. So, this is the actual amount that would be expended in FY-21 . If
we choose to move to construction in FY-22, that full amount that we have requested
would, then, move into year two. It looks like that probably makes sense as I'm talking
there.
Cavener: Thank you.
Niemeyer: And, then, FY 22, if we move forward with construction, if we move into phase
two of these projects, we would be looking to purchase the two fire engines. It takes
about 12 months to get those fire engines built. They come from Pierce. That's the
manufacturer that we use for our fire engines. We would go to bid packages, pre-
construction estimating, budget preparation. That would be October through March and,
then, start construction of the first station sometime in April and the second station in June
if that's the direction that we move forward as a city. That total impact fund --fiscal impact
for that year, FY-22, would be 5.786 million dollars. We have been working very closely
with Todd Lavoie, our CFO, on what our impact fee balance looks like and we certainly
have projections to that and I think that -- that we would look forward to another
conversation with Council and bring in Todd to talk about how that funding piece would
be working through these projects. FY-23, if we continue to move forward, this would be
the year that we hire the staff. This is certainly the biggest lift in a project like this. This
is not impact fee eligible. We have looked into a FEMA grant. It's called a SAFER grant.
It's through the assistance to firefighters. There is an opportunity for us to apply for that.
We would do that. Chief, I'm going to look to you. I forgot to include this. What month
would we -- '22. So, we would make the application in '22 and we would know in
September prior to going into the FY-23 budget year. We are eligible for up to two million
dollars. That is a 25 percent cost share the first two years that the city would be
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responsible for and, then, a 65 percent cost share in year three. So, that is a three year
grant application. We also have engaged with our rural fire district. We understand that
the station out south, if and when that gets built, there is certainly some coverage areas
to the district as well. They have shown an interest in having the discussion with the city
about a potential cost share for that. Certainly we don't have numbers to present at this
time, but as a -- as a possibility or option there is that partnership that the district is willing
to entertain. That I think I just want to make the point here that -- that, again, lessons
learned from Station 6 and Chief Butterfield and Bongiorno have been heavily involved in
this. We have laid out a process and a mapping process to where we know exactly how
long different aspects of these projects would take. So, this is our way to stay on course,
stay on time, and deliver. So, we have -- again, this is more of a visual to at least look at
the detail in which we look at these projects to present them to you. As considerations
we have reached out to the architect, worked exclusively with them to talk about design
savings if we do both stations at once. There is another supplemental piece to this that
we are not bringing tonight, I think it's for further discussion, and that would be designing
in police substations or precincts as part of a fire station design in the future. We have
certainly worked with Chief Lavey and his staff on that -- that concept. There seems to
be agreement that the concept makes sense. We still have work to do there to determine
how exactly that would be done. But if we were to incorporate a precinct in one or both
of these stations in the future, there is certainly some more cost savings we can find in
designing all of it at the same time. We will continue to work with Chief Lavey on that.
And, then, on the construction side we did reach out to ESI. They were the general
contractors for Station 6. We engaged with them and said if we were to build two at the
same time is there any kind of savings whatsoever by doing so and what they anticipate
is a five to ten percent cost savings per station. That's anywhere 450,000 and 900,000
dollars per station potentially that could be saved by building two stations at the same
time. Mentioned the AFC grant a little bit. We are eligible for up to two million dollars.
The grant funding, again, we would match 25 percent in year one and two and, then, 65
percent in year three. We have -- we have spoken with Finance about the possibility of a
grant. Talking to Todd he's all for it. He said it wouldn't be an issue. We have managed
grants in the past. So, this certainly is a possibility moving forward. Also did reach out to
the Idaho Survey and Rating Bureau. This is otherwise known as ISO ratings. ISO ratings
are in Idaho. The ISRB ratings do affect insurance premiums. Currently we are at a class
three. We just got re-rated not too long ago. We have been a class three for several
years now. In Idaho there are no class one departments. It's the best you can get. Two
class two departments currently and that's Boise and Idaho Falls. I did ask them if we
add Station 7 and 8, as well as a second battalion that's a part of this conversation, where
does that put us and that would put us in a class two rating. The kicker is I can't -- I can't
promise anything as far as insurance premiums. I reached out to the insurance agent.
It's the underwriters that develop those premiums. The message I got from the insurance
companies is there would be pretty small effect on homeowner premiums, but they do
anticipate there would be a positive effect on our business community and the business
premiums and that's pretty standard in the insurance companies that I reached out to and
talked to. Okay. The other question that got asked and discussed during the budget
hearing is which station comes first and I have maintained and I will continue to somewhat
maintain it's a flip of the coin. There is pros and cons for either area, the northwest or the
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south, but as we analyzed it within our Fire Department, we looked at four different factors
that we felt are very important relevant to this conversation. First one being how much
ground do we need to cover within each of these areas. If you look at the south currently
we have two fire stations that covers half of our response district south of 1-84. Those
two stations are Station 4 and Station 6. The concern I have with Station 4 is the reliability
right now is at 80 percent. Anytime we fall below 80 percent we get a little bit concerned.
So, right now today 20 percent of the time that station is out on another call or otherwise
tied up. So, that leaves one unit on the south side of 1-84 to cover an entire half of our
response district. We look at the area risk and what projects or buildings are in the area
and what risks does that bring to our response and what I mean by risk is what type of
calls are we going to be responding to and what's that risk factor. If you look at the south
we have a southeast residential growing rapidly. We have the YMCA. We have a school.
You have some high speed two lane roads. We have Meridian Road, which is another
corridor that we see quite a few wrecks on. In the north we have a high school. We have
large residential subdivisions. We have Highway 20-26. Some commercial development,
both currently approved and -- and possibly forthcoming with medical facilities. We have
high speed two lane roads again. I mentioned that in the Cherry Lane-McDermott
example. Then we have also Highway 16. Part of Highway 16 and what we cover, this
is part of the mutual aid process that we have. We cover everything northbound from
Highway 20-26 to Highway 44. Star covers everything southbound from Highway 44 to
Highway 20-26. The reason we do that is we have a large divider down the entire middle
of that and so it's impossible to get to if we just cover our piece of the district. So, we split
that -- that piece in two. I mentioned a little bit reliability, how reliable are the closest
stations to these areas. I mentioned Station 4. It's actually at 80 percent. I apologize for
the typo. We don't have enough data yet for Station 6, other than it's pretty dang reliable
right now and, then, as we look at our -- our mutual aid availability -- this is also the fourth
bullet point down below. In the south we really have one department that we can rely on
for any mutual aid and that's Kuna. They have one station. We also have Boise Fire
Station Number 14. That's over on Five Mile. If you look in the north we have a lot better
mutual aid possibilities if we are out on a call. So, in other words, if Engine 35 at Linder
Road is out on a call and a secondary call comes in somewhere on Highway 20-26 to the
west, we typically have either Star or even Nampa come in and provide mutual aid. So,
again, there is some areas where we can pretty clearly define one area over another as
far as a priority when it -- when it comes to risk and the subdivisions going in, the
commercial development, the school development -- again, I would argue we are still kind
of a flip of the coin. That's really where we are at as far as our -- our recommendations
or what we feel. With that, Council, I was hoping to leave some time for questions,
discussion -- I'm sure there are some. Happy to answer.
Simison: Thank you, Mark. And, Council, Mark was a little bit more forthright with me
earlier when he said the station in south Meridian is the one that he would recommend
moving forward if we only did one at this point in time and so I'm not going to let him off
the hook with -- with leaving it as an equal component. Just that -- I think that that does
bring some -- some conversations into it that people are going to want to know to that
element. So, with that any questions for Chief Niemeyer at this time?
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Bernt: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: So, I remember a while back -- I don't -- I don't remember when. It's fairly recently.
We saw some data where the data said that Owyhee High School -- the edge of Owyhee
High School was right at five minutes. Is there -- is there some different data that -- that
has transpired between then and now where Owyhee High School is now out of that five
minute boundary?
Niemeyer: Councilman Bernt, good question. I would have to go back to the presentation
you are alluding to. The -- the most recent data set that we got is directly from our GIS
team up in IT where they have -- they have run analysis based on roadway speeds and
they have calculations within their system that analyze how quickly we can get to a certain
point in time. Keep in mind there is variables in what you saw on the map. If we have
heavy traffic congestion it's going to take us longer. If it's 2:00 a.m. where we have no
road construction -- no road congestion, to Councilman Cavener's question -- or I think it
was -- either that or Council Woman Strader. I apologize. At 2:00 a.m. we can probably
get places a little bit quicker, because we don't have the roadway congestion. So, I think
the analysis you are seeing from IT is this is based on simply roadway speeds without
time of day consideration or traffic congestion consideration.
Bernt: Well, one question. Do you foresee -- if we were to go ahead with two fire stations
do you foresee that one would sit empty?
Niemeyer: That would certainly not be my recommendation, Councilman Bernt. I believe
if we are going to move forward with the fire stations --
Bernt: I know that it wouldn't be. I would be shocked if that was your recommendation.
So, setting aside what your recommendation would be, is there a chance that one of these
-- these fire stations would sit empty until -- until, you know, if we had some, you know,
personnel issues or staffing was a problem, do you -- do you -- is there a chance that one
of these fire stations would sit empty for a certain amount of time?
Niemeyer: From a staffing standpoint, no. If -- if Council approves building two stations
and staffing two stations, we will get two station staffed.
Simison: Councilman Bernt, I think the underlying question is not knowing what will
happen this year with the legislature and not knowing if Council is committed to getting
the three percent for the next four years, which it would take to fund these stations
potentially -- I mean the -- the -- there is a lot of changes and the money that flows in and
out from various things it's really hard to predict, but I think what -- to the chief's point is
what we are talking about now is not making the decision to move forward with two
stations until we probably have many of those questions -- at least a couple of those
questions answered. This is about whether or not -- do you think that we need two fire
stations built in Meridian and, if so, having one shovel ready -- having -- doing both
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designs at the same time to save costs allows one to be shovel ready if they both don't
go at the same time. It's not a throwaway cost to our -- in our belief to do this project.
Bernt: Yeah. And that -- Mr. Mayor, follow up. That was -- that was my next comment
slash question was with the state legislature. I have talked to Todd, you know, a couple
times on and off the record about what that looks like in regard to financing both these
departments --or these fire stations without, you know, hamstringing, you know, the Parks
Department and the Police Department at the same time and it's sort of a -- sort of a big
deal and, you know, to do this according to the -- what I have heard would require at, you
know, three percent for the next unforeseeable future and, then, maybe even having to
go and get foregone and so I know that we are probably safe for one year, but beyond
that I agree with you, Mr. Mayor, I don't -- we just don't know what that looks like and we
don't know what the state legislature is going to do in regard to property taxes. It makes
it sort of uncertain and causes me for concern.
Simison: Well, again, that goes back to we are not asking you to approve personnel and
building of two fire stations, but the question is do you think that there is going to be two
fire stations needed in the future in our community and, if so, does doing the design of
both of them at this point in time, while we wait for those questions to be answered, is
appropriate.
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: I guess maybe two questions. Just to put a little more precision around it, is
Owyhee High School within the five minute response time or not is my first question. And
my second question is I really want to delineate between existing development that's been
approved that has not -- that is not within the five minute response time versus opening
up future development, because in my mind they are two different things. Is there a way
to quantify how much we have approved that's outside of the five minute response time
in the southeast area of Meridian?
Niemeyer: Mr. Mayor and Council Woman Strader, I can answer the first one explicitly.
The answer is no. The Owyhee High School is outside the five minute travel time. As far
as development goes, we can certainly bring back for discussion -- and, again, I think this
goes to the Mayor's point. We are not here asking for construction of two stations at this
point. This is about design of two stations. So, there is certainly more discussion to
come. I think Councilman Bernt brought up a great point. We have talked about this as
far as the future of funding we don't know what the legislature is going to do. We don't
know some of those factors. I think I could say the same thing for growth. I could present
to you today what growth is in these two areas and I could present you a year from now
and it will be different in some form or fashion, depending on how we grow. So, I can
certainly get that to you as Council -- a clear example of what development has been
approved that's going in that we cannot hit in the five minute travel time.
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Simison: And just to that point, that's the map that Dave Miles brought and shared from
that standpoint. It's -- it is dynamic, so that's really the appropriate place to look at that.
So, you can see what has been approved, that's constantly being updated with that
information. But, yes, there is the area approved and there is the area already in and well
outside the five minute response time. It will just be, you know, where they have a -- an
entitlement to currently develop. Whether or not they have a plat or final plat or anything
else, but, you know, that -- that's very true for a good portion of south Meridian.
Bernt: Mr. Mayor, I remember-- I remember where I saw that data in regard to five minute
response times. I believe it was in the presentation that -- that Chief of Staff Miles made
where there were just overlaps of different data that we were looking at. I believe one of
those -- one data set showed us response times with different fires -- you know, with
seven and eight there and not there and I -- and I believe -- and I believe without the north
-- the northwest fire station there the response time just right to Owyhee High School was
five minutes.
Simison: My recollection -- Councilman Bernt, my recollection is very close. The chief is
pulling the same GIS information that's on that map. It's not different, so -- but if I -- if my
recollection was very close, maybe on a portion of the property, maybe not on all of the
property. Maybe not --
Bernt: I will give you that.
Simison: Yeah. The school is -- the school is down a quarter mile or so off of the main
arterial and I think that is -- I think you get to the property at the arterial level, but maybe
not to the school in five minutes.
Bongiorno: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Yes, Deputy Chief.
Bongiorno: Just a quick comment. Council Member Bernt and Council Woman Strader,
the school is not -- it's outside. I have the map open right now that the Mayor has been
talking about and we have approved projects that touch that five minute boundary. We
don't have too many that are outside of that five minute boundary. In the chief's
presentation I made those slides that showed the approved projects and projects that
Development has seen, but has not been submitted to the city yet and many of those are
outside of that five minute response time and that's kind of what started this whole
discussion was we were just getting outside of that boundary and so we were trying to
find a solution to the -- to the problem.
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Borton.
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Borton: Chief, does Ada County Paramedics have any stations planned near or around
either region?
Niemeyer: Councilman Borton, great -- great question. And we have talked about this in
our Access -- as you know we are part of Access Joint Powers Agreement. They have
absolutely no plans to service south Meridian or northwest Meridian. Their closest station
to service that northwest corner comes from Star down closer to the -- to the city of Star
and out south they don't have anywhere close to that. The closest I believe they have is
coming from St. Luke's Meridian to service that area and no plans for -- I guess to make
sure there is a good understanding of how we grow versus how they grow, Ada County
Paramedics is primarily funded through fees for service. They have a very very small tax
base. Their primary revenue source is fees for service. So, they will not put in a station
into an area until there is enough call volume within that area to generate enough funds
to pay for that unit. It's a little bit different animal when it comes to funding and how they
fund.
Borton: Interesting.
Niemeyer: I can tell you south of 1-84 within ourjurisdiction Ada County Paramedics does
not have any ambulances stationed south of 1-84 within the Meridian area.
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Borton.
Borton: Just a few follow-up questions from what brought us to today, at least that I have
-- my notes recall the -- the proposed budget we last saw in July had the Station 7
and 8 each with 600,000 dollars. It was identified as design and it sounds like there is
some clarification now that it was perhaps more than just design, but that's what prompted
some of the initial concern. And the way you presented today, looks like, again, there is
a lot of work that's been done to get to this stage. If you have mapped out that much
detail, a lot of that that you showed looks like it is a plan to do two fire stations and for
what it's worth, it just kind of rolled out here a moment ago like here is how we can build
them within three or four months of each other and, then, staff them within six months and
so if the intent is to -- to merely design two, I guess I caught the presentation as though
there was a lot of inertia to build two within a year of each other. But that -- is that not
now the case?
Simison: I will -- Councilman Borton, from my perspective we are still moving forward
under that hope. But the funding is the reality. So, you know, we are preparing these and
the chief would bring forward potential construction in FY-22 for both these if the funding
is there at that point in time and if Council agrees. So, on one hand this is about, you
know, designing and getting both of them ready and what will -- what will the legislature
do and will the funding mechanisms be there. Will we have the leverage to do both? We
don't know that.
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Borton: So, Mr. Mayor, I guess that's the concern that -- that I had was is the design is
somewhat the camel's nose under the tent and though it's not a technical commitment to
do two, if we see in next year's budget, for example, you know, one or two stations, those
would go into a proposed budget in lieu of something else and there is -- those are big
conversations. The adjustment in the CFP to allow that to occur in a compressed fashion,
while approving just the design, is maybe not a commitment, it sure does push it down
the road towards that and that's what, frankly, gave me some concern, because that's a
huge pivot financially to do the construction and the staffing of two stations in a
compressed time frame. You know, one of the design questions that -- from today's
presentation that kind of jumps out is why not use the design of Station 6 for Station 7.
Niemeyer: Council Member Borton, I can -- I'm happy to answer that one. That is the
design that we are using as the template. There is certainly some things we learned from
the build of Station 6, some minor modifications. We anticipate a slightly smaller footprint
in square footage. That's just redesigning some walls and moving some walls. But that
is the template that we are using to start that project.
Borton: So, just a couple of follow-ups if I could. Just trying to get my head around how
-- I guess I don't get the savings. I don't understand how engineers and architects work,
how they--they actually save it and if, for example, you didn't use Station 6 as a template,
if a single station as presented today designed is roughly 425,000 dollars to do a single
station, I assume that's the cost using the Station 6 template. If we didn't use the template
do we know what the figure is designing a single station from scratch and if we learned
things from Station 6 that we want to do different in seven, might we also benefit from
doing -- designing seven and learning more and improving it again for eight? I mean
there is -- those are some of the unknowns that I think gave a little pause and do it quick.
Niemeyer: Yeah. I think there is -- there is a lot of questions there certainly. What's the
cost of doing a standalone station without a template? I have no idea. I'm not an architect
and I would have to engage that architect firm or any firm to get a better understanding
of that. I think there is -- as I have learned there is a bunch of different pieces when you
talk about architectural design and the cost of it; right? So, there is schematic design and
there is further design and there is construction docs and all of that that I'm sure Public
Works and Parks are very used to. We are not. So, I don't know the answer to your
question on that as far as template versus non-template and cost differentiation. As far
as learning things, I will give you the best example I can. We started developing a spec
for fire engines a number of years ago. I think when you were on Council before and
certainly Councilman Hoaglun was there. We started building that spec and we got to a
point where we were super happy with that spec and so now when we order a fire engine
there is no more sit down and draw out what we think we need, we just call Pierce and
we say rinse and repeat what we have done, because we are very happy with it. I think
overall we are incredibly happy with Station 6. We know that the footprint is going to be
a little bit smaller in these next two stations. We don't need that much room because we
don't anticipate multiple units potentially in the future out of that. So, there are some --
some tweaks that need to be made and certainly there is costs associated with those
tweaks. As far as continuing to hone in the perfection of a fire station, I'm -- I'm pretty
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happy with what we have. We did a really good job designing Station 6 and the layout,
the safety features of Station 6, so I don't see a whole lot of changing and tweaking with
regards to the next few stations. I think the --the school district has been a good example
of finding a design they like and, then, being able to replicate that at other sites and they
save money by doing so.
Borton: Okay.
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: So, in my mind I'm sort of going through each step. So, acquiring the land for
fire stations that -- that seems like an easy decision. That's not getting any cheaper;
right? So, we need to get the land. I think it's for one of these fire stations. That makes
sense to me. So, we need to make that move sooner. It sounds like the need is higher
in south Meridian to me for the risk analysis, but I'm a little bit questioning the cost savings
of co-designing them. I think I have some similar concerns that Councilman Borton has.
I think if I felt there was a true significant cost savings I would be all for it. I just -- it's not
making a ton of sense to me yet, but I'm open to hearing more. It seems to make sense
to get more dialed in. I would like to get a little more dialed in maybe in a separate
conversation with Dave Miles,just about how much development have we approved that's
outside of the five minutes. If it's a significant amount it feels like we are going to need
one in south Meridian sooner rather than later. But I do think Council can control how we
grow and that we have to hold ourselves to those priority areas, so we don't get stuck
building a ton of things at one time and stretching ourselves too far.
Cavener: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: Mayor. Yeah. Just giving this some -- some thought and listening to Council
Members speak and weigh in on this, it's definitely something that we know in the future
we are going to need two -- two locations, one in the north, one in the south for fire
stations. I think going through purchasing the land, getting everything prepped, going
through the design phase, puts us in a position and to a point where, then, we can make
future decisions based on the information that we have and we will be well positioned to
decide do we go forward with both, do we go forward with one, which one is that, and
that's information that we don't have now, but going through these three steps that the
chief outlined on that one slide I think puts us -- there is some cost savings and to Council
Woman Strader's point, you know, how much is that exactly. I don't know what her
significant is versus my significant amount of savings and that sort of thing, but it would
get us to the point where we are ready to go. It strikes me a little bit like some of the land
purchases we do for parks. We try to look ahead. We try to make those purchases in
advance. It's cheaper in the long run and we are well positioned, then, to decide, hey,
let's start that phase one or whatever phase we want to proceed with in a park and you
try to do it far enough in advance and I see that in the same light. We are doing this far
enough in advance, we have got the land at Discovery Park, we have got an agreement
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with a developer who is giving us a very good deal for land and, then, if we do the design
we are ready to go and we will see what happens with the legislature, with tax revenue,
where the growth might occur more quickly in one area over the other and, then, we can
decide one or two and move forward with that. So, to me it makes sense to go to that
point and, then, okay, what's next. And we can make that decision when the time comes.
Simison: And just as a reminder, Council, we are talking one hundred percent impact
fees. So, this is what these funds are there for. They are not in competition with
something else that we can or can't do from that standpoint.
Perreault: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Perreault.
Perreault: I agree with Councilman Hoaglun. I see the advantage of designing these at
the same time and continuing with what we have already committed for FY-21. If -- if we
don't design them at the same time -- I mean I -- this is one of those elements of -- this
isn't just about the cost of-- of design and staffing needs, but it's also how we are planning
to grow and just like we are having these conversations about the school district, if we
have a development come before us and we know that a new station is slated to come
on in 2023, then, that helps us in our planning decisions for -- you know, for residential
developments. If we don't design both and we just design one and say it's in south
Meridian, then, what happens in north Meridian is still sort of out there in an undetermined
time frame and I think we will have some difficulty with our planning decisions in the future
come two, three years from now.
Bernt: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: I think my thought process is more on the lines of Mr. Borton. I -- I understand --
and I don't think there is anyone that's going to say that we don't need two fire stations.
think it's pretty evident that we need ultimately new -- two fire stations. But the problem
is funding both at the same time and I'm just going to be real frank and I'm going to just
say it. I mean Station 6 was an absolute cluster and -- and -- and I'm not going to point
any fingers and I'm not -- I'm not going to, you know, get into a -- you know, a discussion
of why that was the case, but knowing that that's the case, I just -- with the -- with the lack
of funding or the lack of direction from the state legislature and what that looks like, makes
me pause knowing that I have some big questions in regard to how we are going to staff
and how we are going to be able to afford both stations makes me pause and there is just
too many question marks in my opinion and if we -- if we do a rinse and repeat type
situation where we -- we design one fire station and do the exact same fire station in
another area, I don't see the real imminent need to design two at the same time, knowing
that both are going to be smaller and -- but, you know, fairly similar in design. So, I feel
like if we approve two designs and -- if we approve the design for two fire stations, I feel
like that's where we are headed. I feel like there is going to be momentum going that
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direction that will be difficult to stop and -- and if I -- and personally if -- if -- if those
questions aren't answered for me, then -- then I would rather take pause, do one, and,
then, reevaluate next year after we know what the state legislature has decided. So, with
that said I'm in favor of one. I think the data shows it's to the south and that's -- that's --
those are my thoughts.
Simison: Council, we are not making a decision tonight. This is part -- in your budget
discussion where you would be making any modifications to the budget at that point in
time.
Strader: Mr. Mayor, two quick questions.
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: I was just curious if we designed one, what the architect or design team feedback
would be on the turnaround time to, then, go and design a second one. How long does
it take? Does that set us back a long time or is that something that -- because we are
using an existing design we could be pretty flexible and nimble on that. Then I guess my
other question would just be is there -- in your experience if a certain amount of time goes
by before a station is built, does it become like outdated? I guess that's kind of a question
to ask, I mean how close to the construction ideally should you design it?
Niemeyer: Council Woman Strader, great questions. I will answer both and the first --
the first question I will make no commitment whatsoever on the nimbleness and quickness
of design. I'm not going to do that. I can tell you the process is about a six to nine to 12
month process, take your pick. So, if we are truly talking about designing one and, then,
waiting to design another, no promises. I think as far as the outdatedness of a design,
certainly over time there are code changes that would change the requirements of
whatever and I think the Public Works folks and the Planning folks could speak much
better to some of those code changes that could occur that might change the size of a
two by six or a two by four or two by eight or the headers or whatever those changes
could be. I think from the standpoint of a layout, once we have the design it could be one
year, two years, three years. I think once we are happy with a design and a layout and a
floor plan, we are good on our side. It's just a matter of code changes. So, from a design
perspective that timeline I'm not even going to take a guess at how long it would take to
complete that first step, that first station, and move into a second one. I just want to throw
out -- and certainly for discussion in the budget hearing. From my standpoint as the chief
that manages our impact fee fund, along with Todd Lavoie, I have a real challenge trying
to step over a potential savings of 135,000 dollars and if that means we need to bring
more documentation and data before you to do that, I'm okay with that. But as I look at
how do we fund our needs moving forward, that's -- that to me and I think Councilman
Hoaglun alluded to it, what's -- what's big to each of us, that's -- that's certainly a
perspective. For me trying to manage our impact fee fund, 135,000 dollars is no small
change and if we can save that potentially through a joint design, I think that's the right
move and that's what I will certainly bring back to the budget hearing and more data along
with that.
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Meridian City Council Work Session
Item#1. August 11,2020
Page 23 of—
Simison: And, chief,just as a refresher, I think we get really confused on maybe -- maybe
not -- on the word design. This -- this is a development process that -- that this goes
through in a lot of different aspects. So, it's not -- it's not the -- drawing the picture as the
sole purpose through this process, because, otherwise, you are right, we already have a
design. We can just be done. But that's not the way these things are funded or paid for
and they generally work off the overall cost of the project. You know, unfortunately, you
don't get -- you don't get a lot of cost savings by just pulling up -- up the last plan and
putting it onto a piece of -- on the property. So, just keep that in mind. It's not about
drawing the building.
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: Just -- because that is -- I need some help with that, to be honest. So, I think
what would be helpful for me to understand is -- is the savings associated with an architect
and other professionals managing a process of construction that's happening at the same
time or where that savings really comes from, because if we are not going to build them
at the same time -- if we may not build them at the same time, the probability of whether
or not we do that is a big driver of whether those cost savings are realized. So, I think if
I just had more information that -- for our budget hearing about where the savings comes
from, that would help -- that might help me, because, yeah, I don't know exactly what's
included in that, you know, quote, unquote design.
Niemeyer: Council Woman Strader, Members of Council, we can certainly provide that
in a packet to you by tomorrow. We have the data that shows where those savings are
in the -- in the various aspects. To the Mayor's point, design consists of multiple factors
and so that -- we asked the architect to break that out into several different factors that
incorporate design and so we can certainly send that packet off and have that further
discussion.
Simison: Council, any further questions on this item?
Borton: Thank you, chief.
Simison: Thanks, chief.
Niemeyer: Thank you.
Bernt: Thanks, buddy.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
20. Per Idaho Code 74-206A(1)(a) To deliberate on a labor contract offer
or to formulate a counteroffer.
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Meridian City Council Work Session
Item#1. August 11,2020
Page———
Simison: Mr. Nary, are we going to go into Item 20 at this point in time?
Nary: Mr. Mayor, it's not necessary this week. We could skip the Executive Session. The
short time frame and the longer regular meeting, I think we are good for a week and we
will reschedule for next week.
Simison: Okay. Then, Council, do I have a motion to adjourn?
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Member Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: I move that we adjourn our work session.
Perreault: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second to adjourn the work session. All those in favor
signify by saying aye. Those opposed nay. The ayes have it and we are adjourned.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 5:45 P.M.
(AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
8 / 25 / 2020
MAYOR ROBERT E. SIMISON DATE APPROVED
ATTEST:
CHRIS JOHNSON - CITY CLERK
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