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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-08-18 Work Session Item#1. Meridian City Council August 18, 2020. A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 4:37 p.m., Tuesday, August 18, 2020, by Mayor Robert Simison. Members Present: Robert Simison, Joe Borton, Luke Cavener, Treg Bernt, and Brad Hoaglun. Members Absent: Jessica Perreault and Liz Strader. Also present: Adrienne Weatherly, Bill Nary, Cameron Arial, Mike Barton, Scott Colaianni, Joe Bongiorno and Dean Willis. Roll-call Attendance: Liz Strader _X_ Joe Borton _X_ Brad Hoaglun _X_Treg Bernt 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 18th at 4:37 p.m. We will begin tonight's meeting with roll call attendance. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Simison: Next item on the agenda is the adoption of the agenda. Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: It looks like Item No. 19, code enforcement appeal of order to abate weeds at a lot in Kentucky Villa Subdivision has been resolved and so we can remove this item from the agenda this evening. Other than that -- it looks like that's it. So, I move that we adopt the agenda as amended. Cavener: Second. Simison: Okay. I have a motion and a second to adopt the agenda as amended. Mr. Nary, discussion on the motion. Item 9 under the consent, does that get removed at this point in time or is that its own separate removal off the consent for -- to do it then? Nary: Mr. Mayor, yeah, it would be that point to -- Simison: Okay. Page 5 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page 2 of 21 Nary: -- to, then, move it to a discussion item. Simison: Thank you. Any further discussion on the motion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Those opposed nay. The ayes have it. MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. TWO ABSENT. CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item] 1. Approve Minutes of August 4, 2020 City Council Work Session 2. Approve Minutes of August 4, 2020 City Council Regular Meeting 3. Blakeslee Commons No. 2 Sanitary Sewer Easement No. 1 and 2 4. Chamberlain Estates Pedestrian Pathway Easement 5. Victory Commons Pedestrian Pathway Easement A 6. Victory Commons Pedestrian Pathway Easement B 7. Volterra South Commercial Subdivision Pedestrian Pathway Easement 8. Bainbridge Subdivision No. 11 Sanitary Sewer and Water Main Easement No. 1 10. Development Agreement Between the City of Meridian and LH Development, LLC (Owner) and Westpark Company, Inc. (Developer) for Lavender Heights (H-2020-0009) 11. Pathway Agreement Between the Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District and the City of Meridian Regarding the Warrick Subdivision No. 3 Pathway 12. Professional Services Agreements Between City of Meridian and West Ada School District Student Awardees for Traffic Box Community Art Project A. Veronica Willard B. Kamden Prock C. Aeryn Waterman D. Riley Wiles E. Leanna Tackett Page 6 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page 3 of 21 13. Artwork License Agreement Between City of Meridian and Casey Gurr for Traffic Box Community Art Project 14. Artwork License Agreement Between City of Meridian and Brittany Bishop for Traffic Box Community Art Project 15. Resolution No. 20-2223: A Resolution of the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Meridian Reappointing Dave Winder to Seat 4 and Dan Basalone to Seat 9 of the Meridian Development Corporation; and Providing an Effective Date 16. AP Invoices for Payment - 08-19-20 - $2,675,834.95 Simison: With that we will move on to the Consent Agenda. Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: As you mentioned, Item 9 we will take this off Consent. The applicant filed a formal request to withdraw this application and it was received by the clerk's office on August 14th, 2020. With that said, I move that we approve the Consent Agenda and -- as amended and for the Mayor to sign and for the Clerk to attest. Cavener: Second. Simison: I have a motion and a second to remove Item 9 from the Consent Agenda and approve all other items. Is there any discussion on the motion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Those opposed nay. All ayes. The ayes have it and the items are agreed to. MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. TWO ABSENT. ITEMS MOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item] Simison: There were no items moved from the Consent Agenda. 9. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Villas at Twelve Oaks East (H-2020-0014) by Jim Jewett, Located at 115 S. Linder Rd. Simison: So, we will move on to Item 17 Under Department/Commission Reports. Nary: Mr. Mayor? Sorry. I'm sorry we didn't make a note on the agenda. So, that Item 9 that just removed needs to go -- needs to be moved to next week's agenda for you to take action. So, if you would do that, then, the Clerk will add it to the agenda for next week, so that you can take up the formal request for withdrawal, because we haven't Page 7 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page 4 of 21 noticed that. So, Mr. -- Mr. Jewett knows that it will be on next week's agenda for the Council to take formal action to accept his withdrawal. So, that will just move to Item 9 on next week's agenda. Simison: Have a motion to make that happen? Bernt: Do we have to do that right now? Is there a specific place on next week's agenda that you would like me to move -- Nary: It will be an action item for next week. Bernt: Hopefully I do this right. Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: As stated previously, I would like to make a motion to move Item 9, which was Mr. Jewett's application to formally request to withdraw, to put that on next week's agenda under one of the action items. Cavener: Second. Simison: I have a motion and a second to move Item No. 9 to the Council meeting agenda of August 25th under action items. Is there any discussion on the motion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it. The motion is agreed to. MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. TWO ABSENT. DEPARTMENT / COMMISSION REPORTS [Action Item] 17. Community Development: Annual Department Report Simison: Now we will move on under Department/Commission Reports and Item 17, the Community Development Annual Department Update and I will turn this over to Cameron Arial. Arial: Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council, it's a pleasure to be with you. I'm going to try to share my screen. Hopefully this works well and you can see -- everybody can see this online as well. Is that coming through okay? Okay. I'm going to -- I may limit my notes, but we will do our best hereto get through that. Got just a little bit of technical connectivity with the staff computer. But it's -- again it's a pleasure to be with you and I'm excited -- really excited to give this annual update regarding the Community Development Department. A lot has happened since our last update and I think it's timely to take -- take a little bit of a step back. It's been fun with the department to do that and to really kind of reflect on where we have been, where we are and, really, where we want to go and so I'm going to kind of race through this and really look forward to the discussion, if -- you know, feedback or anything that you guys have as we -- as we go forward. So, just real Page 8 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page 5 of 21 quick I want to talk about the team, particularly some of the innovations that have occurred there just in our -- our structure. Certainly give a robust staffing update. Talk about economic development. A lot going on in that world. And talk about planning, our Development Services team, and, then, just end with some discussion. So, here is just a quick org chart for you and I just want to kind of direct you to this -- the -- the size and scope of this. So, we have currently 51 positions approved, 47 of them are filled, so we are -- we are really stabilizing. We are really filling out the department, you know, based on the evolution plan, some of the other positions that we have added. We will talk specifically about a few of them, but I just wanted to give you a good overview of the team. If you look to basically the right and bottom here, we have added a lot of folks, especially in the inspection field. That's, again, very much related to our evolution plan to -- and, then, also there the plan review team, entirely new to the -- to the city over the last two years and, then, again, just a number of important positions that we filled going forward. You will recall we also created the administrative division. So, that's right there in the middle headed up with Stephanie Archibald and her team. A great addition to the department as a -- you know, a really important cog in the wheel to help us be effective, efficient, streamlined and that there is a good coordination between all of the divisions. High level. Just really pleased with the -- the folks that we have -- we have hired. Some specifics. Spoke about Stephanie. Great addition with Bret Caulder. He is a past building official and is now our building plans examiner supervisor. Great addition to that team and helping Sam there as the new building official. As you know, Sam was elevated there. We are really pleased with -- with that promotion and how he's building out that -- that team and leading that team forward. Another great promotion -- and you will hear this a lot through these slides, just really pleased with how we are growing our team internally and seeing a lot of personal growth and leadership. Folks -- folks are really stepping up and it's been awesome to see that. Another example of that is Amanda McNutt there is our land development supervisor. So, leading the LD team under Bruce. She's done a great job in leading that. Mercedes is another permit tech. Apologize. See if I can -- Sarah again. Great addition in the permit tech team. She actually was with us as a temporary employee and, then, was hired on full time, so it was really neat to keep her and see her continue to progress. Codee, as you may know, she was elsewhere in the city and we pulled her over into our land development team. She came on to help us with the surety program and, then, she's now since been promoted to a reviewer -- civil plan reviewer. So, it's just great again to see the growth there in Codee. She's fantastic. Kelly Ready. He's a new addition. So, he filled Codee's position there in the surety program and a great -- great hire there. Just good quality folks. Riley, as you know, he -- he was hired originally as a structural building inspector and he was just recently hired over into the plan review team as a plans examiner one doing residential reviews. So, that's going to be a really cool evolution in our program, because now you have on the ground folks that have, you know, seen -- you know, know how the development is happening, but now they are working on the front end to make sure that -- to support those guys in the field. So, it's a -- it's a great crossover and Riley's going to be doing a good job there for us. Kegan, as you may know, she was promoted as well to fill our plans examiner two position, so this is primarily over commercial reviews. This is one that's been really hard for us to fill, but Kegan has stepped up from the residential side and is doing a great job doing pre-screens and really starting to develop out that commercial plan review program. Page 9 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page 6 of 21 As you know, we still outsource our commercial reviews, but Kegan is laying the groundwork for, again, even more capacity, more growth in our review program. Dan Cox comes to us from Montana. Great guy. Doing electrical inspection. As you know, those are hard to find. You got to find a journeyman, also, you know, on a path to certification. A great hire in Dan. Joe Dodson. I think you guys have met Joe a number of times now on -- on the planning side doing a lot of our current planning reviews. Just a great hire. Stepped into that role really well and has a good can do kind of attitude. So, we just really appreciate Joe and his addition. Alan I think you have met as well. He is a very experienced planner. Great support there in current planning. Great, again, hire. We hired him right during COVID, so we on boarded him remotely. Just a fantastic hire and has been rolling with the punches and is coming -- coming on learning our culture really quickly. Cam Scott. Great hire from Arizona. Just really filling in on the associate planner side. So, helping a lot -- a lot with our folks coming in. Phone calls and CZC, stuff like that. And you have had the pleasure of meeting Miranda a couple times. Just really pleased with how quickly she is assimilating, as well as turning around a lot of the education and transportation requests. So, you will hear more from her I believe next week on some of the preliminary stuff that she has for you guys to get feedback on some of the additions we want to do to the staff reports. So, again, just real quick a lot of growth in incredible ways and it's just neat to see the team stabilizing and I think that's kind of where the theme of this coming year will come as is to, you know, start to refine, calibrate, fine tune, really continue the innovation that we have already got going and just really support the incredible people that we have hired. So, just really pleased with -- with the department. Kind of go over this just quickly. This is just the process. High level. So, tip of the spear is economic development. We will start there. That, obviously, bleeds into planning and how planning, you know, moves the project through and, then, we have the reviews and the -- you know, the -- the actual construction through the development services. And, of course, we have admin that kind of is the -- is the new cog in the wheel that helps grease all that through the -- through the process. And, then, of course, it -- we are trying to retain what we have and enhance what we have as well in the Community Development Department. So, let's go to the ED side. Some quick accolades. Don't need to beat this over the head, but as you guys know we -- we -- speaking broadly there, there is a lot of legacy here, a lot of really good hard work that's been done to create just the incredible environment that we have economically for Meridian and we really are taking advantage of that going forward. Just incredible growth. Really good stuff. It's just -- it is the -- the opportunity we have to manage that well and responsibly and appropriately. So, just really pleased with this good problem, if you will. On some of the numbers. So, as you can see here just incredible job growth year over year. I will mention on this stat, this actually represents 40 percent of all the valley's growth. So, Meridian is a major contributor to the economic vibrancy of the state, let alone, you know, just our own community. So, major player there. I think in my mind this is a -- again, a culmination of a lot of really hard work over a long period of time and now we are starting to see a lot of this and you will see this in the -- in the development numbers as well where we are starting to see more and more sophisticated development, more and more sophisticated employment and -- and a lot of that is occurring because we have a good quality community. Residents well educated and so on. A lot of business growth. A lot of-- a lot of folks coming in. A lot of even -- currently even before this -- this stuff was loaded in, Page 10 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page 1 of 21 we get a lot of calls, a lot of people wanting to come here for various reasons, leave other places. A lot of business growth. On the unemployment number, this is an important one. So, this spiked big you recall just even in the last couple months, but we are already back down to 5.6 percent unemployment. So, I think you got to -- you got to kind of take that one, you know, as a pretty good indicator of, you know, yes, COVID was impactful, but, man, we -- we are still moving. People are still working hard. Jobs and industries. This is an important one, too, and we will get to this more with some of the future steps. Tod is working right now with our consultants to put the final touches on our economic development analysis. As you guys know that we have been working hard on that for a while now. Are really looking forward to present the results of that to you all. But that's going to really give us good targets, good focus for our ED program, as well as a lot of our strategic planning and other things to assimilate that information into it. So, good -- good focuses here. Some more of the numbers as far as the market goes. Great wage -- or great household income. I know that this has kind of been sliced and diced. We do have a lot of double income homes, but as far as income goes, or we have got a good increase there, good -- a good median there. Meridian sale prices. You know, I know Jessica, you know, couldn't be here tonight, but, you know, these are things that, you know, she is very aware of. We just keep seeing our-- our median prices go -- go upward. I think somewhat -- I think she had mentioned to me that we have a week's worth of inventory on the single family side, but just interesting the -- the market going on. Median rent is high and I think that's one thing that, you know, we will -- we will talk more about, diversity of housing, ways to help all levels and strata of our community. And, then, vacancy rates. One thing I will note here -- man, you will see this in the development numbers, but as far as commercial office, industrial space goes, as hot as we have ever been. I mean you see that number in industrial, .9 percent vacancy, that's -- that's an issue and we will talk a little bit more about that. Certainly something that we are talking about as we do area specific plans, as we talk about some of the build out of -- of our current zones. These are areas that we -- we do need to kind of keep sacred. We need to preserve that for that employment opportunity, as well as potentially expand them. So, we will talk more about that. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Cameron, can you go back one? I just -- I don't understand the -- the numbers that are in parentheses by retail, industrial, and office, what that is designed to designate. Arial: That's telling you last year's numbers. Cavener: Last year's numbers. Okay. Arial: So, you know, I guess maybe one way to some -- you know, kind of digest that, Councilman Cavener, is what -- what impact has COVID had. I think our -- you know, our -- our commercial industrial zones are pretty hot. It's really hot. And you will see that played out more even in our -- in our value numbers. Page 11 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page 8 of 21 Cavener: Thank you. Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Hoaglun. Hoaglun: Yeah. He was breaking up during that explanation, so just-- I don't know if he's moving from the mic or what, but it was hard to hear. Arial: Sorry. Councilman Hoaglun, is that better? Hoaglun: That is perfect. Arial: Okay. I will try to -- I will try to eat this through my mask. All right. Here is just a quick snapshot of some of the -- of the businesses that have come and -- Simison: Cameron, I think -- I think they missed what you said to Councilman Cavener. If you can repeat that for us. Arial: Repeat that. Okay. You bet. So, Councilman Hoaglun, Councilman Cavener had asked what the numbers in parentheses here -- what they mean and I was explaining that these are last year's vacancy rates at the same time and so, you know, in spite of COVID, in spite of whatever, you know, our -- our commercial industrial uses can continue to be really hot. Again, just pleased with the caliber of businesses that are -- that are joining the Meridian community. You will see some later slides that show some of the expansion as well. Just incredible business activity. Talk really quickly about urban renewal districts. You guys are familiar with these. We have got the Old -- the Downtown District, the Ten Mile District, and the newly minted Downtown Union District. You will see here in a few slides just what the impact from the numbers side urban renewal has had. It's just been awesome to partner with MDC, other partners, to advance the mission of these districts and really to see the power of the tool. Obviously, there is a lot that goes into, you know, making these areas happen, not just urban renewal alone, but certainly an incredible tool to help our -- help our community grow. So, just specifically to downtown, here is just a few of the projects that are currently underway, either in construction or plan. Really pleased with -- with these. I know you guys get my weekly updates on these, but just couldn't tell you how -- how happy I am with the momentum we have generated in our downtown. It certainly isn't without its, you know -- you know, hurdles, like road closures and what have you, but, man, what an incredible vision and opportunity we have to -- to revitalize our downtown. The Ten Mile area. If you haven't been out there recently it's -- it's incredible. Our partners out there on the -- on the private -- in the private sector doing amazing things, attracting great -- great companies and businesses. It's just -- it's phenomenal and you will see that here in some of the numbers. But really pleased with that as well and, again, the partnership with --with the --with the development community. Here is some, you know, just expanding corporate footprints, so you are familiar with the AmeriCorps building and some of the stuff going on in Silverstone and El Dorado, just really really pleased with -- with the developments there. Opportunity zone. Here is just Page 12 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page o of 21 a few of the companies that are taking advantage of that. Again, this is something more passive on the city side. We are just using it to attract investment to folks that can take advantage of that and that's been -- certainly you are probably very familiar with the Union 93 project and others, but just a great opportunity there. Our CDBG program, live and well. I can't -- can't tell you how grateful I am with the hire of Crystal Campbell in Tori's team there. She's done a great job keeping us compliant and moving forward, tweaking things here and there. I know that there was a lot of-- a lot of work there with COVID and some of the -- some of the grants there and amendments to our plans, but just really pleased with -- with how that's going. Also pleased to announce, if you hadn't heard, we did get some of our CARES Act programming approved through the state just yesterday. So, really pleased with some of that and, you know, the partnership there we have with the Mayor's office, Dave Miles, as well as the Chamber of Commerce with Sean Evans and his team to -- to help our small businesses with COVID related programming. Yeah. Talked about that a little bit here as well. Here is some of those initiatives. One that I'm going to just kind of point out is the permit fee waiver one. In addition to that, you are going to hear -- I think it's in the tail end of the next meeting about the UZEP -- the legal requirement there for some of the out -- outward permitting. Just really happy with the partnership we have with legal, particularly Emily Kane to eliminate some of those kind of unnecessary steps to help our business community thrive during COVID and just, you know, Tori's work on that and a number of people's work to help our small businesses adapt and thrive. Here is some of those companies that are new or expanding. Again, just great ones. I think we just announced the JUB headquarters going out at Ten Mile. That's a big one. Obviously, Keller downtown. PillPack, as you know, is the Amazon arm of -- you know, their pharmaceutical arm that's coming out to the Silverstone area. Just a great -- great business growth. More to come. I -- there is a lot more to come and I'm just excited about the -- the quality, the partnerships, you know, the -- the types of businesses that are coming to our community. So, this is one that I just wanted to give a quick, you know, again, just a snapshot of some of these things that really just excite me. You have low unemployment. Jobs are good. Good wages. Vacancy rates are low -- really low. And so, again, how do we make sure we keep -- keep our employment zones there and/or expand them. You know, the commercial investment, the dollars that are coming in. As you can see it's just phenomenal. You can also see here this ten million dollar number, this is contributed capital. So, basically, private sector contributions for public investment. That's a -- that's a really cool sign that people are partnering with the city to put in infrastructure. And, then, I will just point you to this box down here. This just highlights the three urban renewal or, excuse me, the two active renewals and, then, the citywide commercial valuation that's just -- that Ten Mile one is -- is phenomenal. You know, you can see there that there -- there is certainly a good use of that tool occurring. And, then, of course, the -- the downtown we will -- year over year we will probably see that even improve even as we close that one out and -- and work with the new union district urban renewal. So, just really incredible growth in the -- in the commercial area. With that to transition over to planning, again, want to just highlight the team. This is the first time in a long time that the planning team has been fully staffed and we have the -- you know, the new addition of the position for Miranda Carlson. So, really-- really pleased with this team, how they work together, how they are getting assimilated, up to speed, learning our culture, you know, Meridian Way, CARE values, and just, you know, taking Page 13 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page 10—21 on the load. I'm really excited to see where -- you know, where these guys go. There is great experience there. There is a lot of depth and breadth from other jurisdictions that will continue to help us evolve. So, just really excited about the planning team there. know Caleb and Bill are as well. So, just kind of just some quick stats, kind of where we are hot. You got to love Brian and his visualizations. Just powerful -- you know, powerful stuff. So, you can see we are really hot in the north. South is hot. Along the freeways. But just a lot of year over year growth. So, inching up on 120,000 as we speak. Here is some -- some more of the stats. So, we continue to see a lot of -- a lot of hearing level applications. You guys know that, because you are working on them late into the night hearing a lot of that. We are trying to make sure that we continue to keep our pulse and finger on these and also that they are running through smoothly, but also the -- the quality of reviews are still really there and I'm just pleased with the team, the pre-ap meetings, the way they collaborate on questions or problems, you know, it's just -- it's neat to see that. And, then, our administrative level. That's --that's pretty phenomenal numbers there as well. Just TI's, you know, small, you know, CZCs and what have you that these guys review for compliance is -- is pretty amazing. So, a lot of-- a lot of wording here, but just, again, pleased with how we are meeting our expectations. One that I will point out is just the -- you know, the process should take 160 days or less 90 percent of the time. This is one that we have been working closely with a number of other departments on to try to hone in on that. How do we accomplish that. Especially as we, you know, see more and more applications coming in and more and more complex applications. So, how do we continue to hold that high standard of review. The -- you know. And I will say this, this is -- this is an important one. This staff training and longevity. You know, we do have, you know, things that we have got to kind of focus on and make sure that, you know, we are putting our experienced staff to good use and leveraging that as much as possible and, then, helping, you know, everybody grow and advance and I have been pleased with -- with that. Not too much more on the comp plan. As you guys know, we are working through a number of initiatives related to it, area specific plans, other UDC changes, for example, on there -- and I know a number of you guys have, you know, a lot of input into the comp plan, but just, again, an incredible accomplishment there. Some of the highlights. Yeah. So, you know, this is a lot of the -- you know, a lot of the transportation related stuff, but, again, a major focus of our department and, you know, look forward to enhancing that and go forward as well. Some of the major projects. So, just a quick highlight on those. I won't dwell on too many of them, although, you know, we do have focuses and other new ones that may be coming on as well. But just to highlight some of those major focus areas. And major milestones. Again, fully staffed in planning. Really, really happy about that. Really pleased with -- I mentioned this with Alan, but just how the team reacted to COVID. Going remote. Continued to supply a high level of customer service in spite of circumstances. And, really, that is the -- you know, the defining thing really for Planning, but also for the department is just thriving through -- through the circumstance. I just -- I can't -- I couldn't be more proud of the team. All right. Development Services. Real quick, the visual there, this is Bruce's team. A lot of movement here. This is a lot of new folks and just, again, hired really well and now it's a matter of calibrating and innovating as we -- as we keep moving forward. Just a couple few key updates. I mentioned some of these. As you guys know, Denny Cline retired. Just a staple in our -- in the city and we miss him, but so glad to fill that in -- Page 14 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page 11 of 21 Borton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Borton, are you having a hard time hearing him? Borton: Yeah. The audio broke up again. Simison: Eat the mic. Is that better -- is that better, Councilman Borton? Okay. So, just -- let's see. We talked about Amanda and Codee. Kelly Ready. Talked about him. So, one quick change. We used to call in the LD program --we used to call them development analysts. We found that to be a little confusing, particularly as we were hiring. So, we changed that title to civil engineering plans examiners. Felt that was a little bit more clear. So, just --just be aware of that and Amanda's team, that there was that change. So, this is a fun one. Bruce helped me put this together, but, you know, we -- we had some decisions to make a few years back and now we have the opportunity to kind of retrospect and, you know, we came to that fork in the road and we took it and I can tell you definitively I'm really proud that we did. It worked out well. You know, we -- at that time we were building the airplane while it was flying. Now it's -- we are not landing the thing, but we are still, you know, bolting stuff on, we are still tweaking things here and there. I mean we kind of lovingly joke that I'm driving there and, you know, Bruce is kind of supporting Sam and Sam's bolting something on the wing there. So, we are still kind of flying the plane, but, you know, we are getting our -- getting our footing. It's just really, really cool. Some just really -- some quick highlights. Some of these we have already mentioned, but just--this gives you some of the -- the context of size and scope of projects and these are massive projects that are very complex. You know, we are seeing clean rooms, we are seeing, you know, steel erection, you know, we are seeing all kinds of incredible development and that -- that equals valuation and taxation. Borton: Mr. Mayor? Arial: And it's -- it's -- that -- that equals valuation and levels of service and it's just a -- it's a great -- again, great to see all this development occurring. All right. On the residential side -- so, here is just kind of the -- the year over year numbers. We will talk a little bit more of this in context, but we -- you know, we are still hot. Last year was incredibly hot and we are -- we are right about the same level there on residential. It will be interesting to see kind of where we end up in the last, you know, few -- you know, few months of this year. I can tell you, you know, July was really hot. We had, you know, over 200 permits, which -- which was near record for the city. So -- let's see. On the commercial side -- so, the things that I -- I want to kind of point out here -- I mean other than the obvious, you know, you see that the number of buildings are down. Valuation a little bit down. Square footage is actually more. So, you are seeing larger, more complex projects. TI's, again, I will be interested to see how that goes. But a lot of square footage -- commercial square footage coming on. Borton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Yes, Mr. Borton. Page 15 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page 12 of 21 Borton: Yeah. It's the same problem just continuing. It crackles in and out and a six seconds of crackle and eight seconds of clarity and -- Simison: We will move him someplace else. Borton: Thank you. Simison: Are you sure it's not the quality of the Borton Lakey telecommunications equipment? If you need, I can come down and check your router later. Hoaglun: I was having the same difficulty, Mr. Mayor. Borton: All right. Thank you, Brad. Arial: All right. Mr. Mayor, is that better? Can you guys hear me okay? All right. Okay. Yeah. Now I don't have to wear the mask either. So, I'm looking at one screen and have this one over here. So, we will just -- we will just kind of keep cranking here. So, yeah, this -- this is a -- this is an important slide. You can see the year over year over year change in total valuation. That's -- that's a little mind blowing, because, of course, as you know, this -- this means, you know -- you know, we are able to provide additional services to our community. Elevate the quality of our community. Public safety. Parks. What have you. But just really -- really cool to see -- see this number and particularly on the commercial side. So, major milestones. A lot of hiring. Incredible that we hire the way we did and so it's a kudo to our HR partners, Crystal, Laura Lee, others,just really-- really incredible of the amount and the caliber of people that we have on board with us. A lot of internal promotion as we talked about. In my mind that's a direct indicator of the -- the health of our department. People want to be here. They have -- they have a career path and we are providing that for them. A lot of training and certifications. A lot of folks -- I just -- I love that, you know, people meeting their own career goals and objectives, but, then, also just -- we are getting people into a position to really help our -- our city be safe, be the best we can be and, you know, just filling out the purchasing and budgeting there. Some of the key performance indicators. Just really quickly through this. Just -- I think what --what I want to show here is that the numbers of in-house plan reviews in particular and out sources. Again, you guys know we still have a buffer. We have flexibility in some of our reviews, but still some we have completely outsourced, but, you know, just, again, a good healthy steady flow of reviews coming through the department. Pleased here with this target. You know, our core target of 90 percent -- 95 percent of the time turning plan reviews over in a timely fashion. Glad that we are able to, you know, report that, in spite of the lot of what's been going on. It's an incredible team and, again, there continues to be evolutionary there, but filling out and, you know, we will talk a little bit more about the electronic side of things, but I will say this, that just came -- particularly in the building section came at such an opportune time. It was just fortuitous that we had done that. We pulled the trigger. We worked really hard to get the remote and electronic portal and integration in place and, then, you know, COVID hit and we -- we were really fortunate that we went through that. So, thank -- thank the Council for supporting that vision and your continued support as we bring on Planning, Land Development, into that online Page 16 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page 13 of 21 format as well. Let's see. So, this is our inspection. So, again, you can kind of see the ebb and flow and, you know, what we are out sourcing. Basically, I will just say we are pretty much maxing out our outsource and so there is a kind of a fine line here where, you know, we want to make sure we are still providing quality, but, you know, something that we are watching very closely. So, this is the electrical, mechanical, and plumbing. Fire. So, as you guys know, we have electrical and mechanical in house and plumbing and fire outsourced. Really love our -- our partners there. They do really well for us and I'm pleased to report that our in-house teams are incredible. Just really turning it around and really proud of that. All right. The Land Development section. Just really quickly. So, this is Amanda's -- under Amanda's leadership now. So, just -- this is the number of reviews and I will say, you know, just to kind of caveat this one, so you -- kind of explains it. This is -- it's not the number of reviews, it's actually the number of subdivisions. So, you know, it may be that we are just not seeing as many subdivisions come through, but, you know, the reviews are still -- you know, still pretty hot there. A lot of words here, but I will just say we have -- we have done a number innovations, particular to our mylar signature, streamlining that, and keeping that -- the timelines and -- and, then, also this has been a really cool collaborative with Public Works and Fire in particular to do our -- to do GIS review prior. Again, this is just a great way to communicate. It helps everybody be on the same page and we can -- we can turn around those land development reviews much quicker with -- with our other partners. A few other things here. So, land development we are now up -- data is now available through Accella, so we are excited about that. So, we can start to, you know, monitor the turnaround times of our reviews, you know, do a whole lot of things there that will be helpful. Our two LPEs, that's something that, you know, we outsource, qualified licensed professional engineer review. So, it's basically a third party. Our goal there is to make sure that our reviews are error free. So, that the key LPEs come back-- comes back clean. But if it doesn't that's always good, too, because that means they are helping us there. But that's the -- you know, the state requirement that a third party review that. So, just a quick -- a quick one on that. And, then, I would say we are working on process. Kelly and Codee, but -- you know, and Bruce there -- and Amanda to improve our surety timelines, our street naming review timelines with Terri and Ryan and our addressing as well. So, just really pleased with some of those innovations. So, now I'm just going to kind of wrap up. I know that was kind of fast and furious, but just a couple things to kind of point to going forward. Talk about the ED analysis, really look forward to bringing that to you guys here short term. Tod will be presenting that to you, getting your feedback, and how we can best use that report. I have seen a draft of it, it's really -- it's going to be some good stuff. You are going to like that. Preserve and potentially expand commercial industrial land use. Kind of talked about that. There is -- I think there is opportunity and we need to, you know, make sure we do all we can to use those zones and maximize those zones. Our regional planning efforts. I know you guys are familiar with our area specific plans. Caleb and Brian are doing good work on the -- The Fields area plan right as we speak. Obviously, with Miranda onboard and some of the work that Caleb and Brian are doing, they are excited to report some of that to you next week. Brian has been heading up the fiscal impact tool as well. That's going to be a pretty cool tool. I think one -- one that I didn't mention is being led by Dave Miles and the -- you know, the service impact tool. We will be looking to, you know, certainly partner with that as well. It's a valuable tool. And, then, Page 17 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page —of 21 you know, as a department just to continue to stabilize and increase our efficiency, improve, you know, always open to that, you know, any comments on ways that we can do that. I'm just really excited about the technology. Mentioned that. We will likely be coming back to you in partnership with Dave -- Dave Tiede and potentially Chris in the Clerk's office to talk about further integration with Iaserfiche, which is our records retention module that can potentially streamline things even further. So, just plant that seed with you. Current career development opportunities. We have been working with this internally and with our HR partners. Excited about that, what that means for our department. And, again, just --just proud -- really proud of the -- of the team and where we are and, again, just appreciate all the support from the Mayor and you all in making these things happen. So, Mr. Mayor, with that I will gladly stand for questions or discussion. Simison: Thank you. Council, any questions? Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: I -- Cameron, this is pretty exciting stuff, especially with the commercial for what we are doing. I think residential has somewhat become the norm in Meridian. I think people expect, you know, residential growth in Meridian. It doesn't show any signs of stopping anytime soon. But the commercial part of it is what excites me the most. I like that. On top of that, one of your KPIs had mentioned about levels of service and keeping that level of service at an acceptable level. I think that's so important that people can continue to expect to get a level of service when they do business with the City of Meridian. The team's done a great job and just hope that that level of service continues to be where it's at today. Unemployment. I'm shocked at that number. I mean given what's going on in our economy, I mean, you know, locally and worldwide and our state, I don't think there is very many communities that can say they -- they have an unemployment number of 5.6 percent. So, true testament to the businesses in Meridian and the citizens in Meridian that are patrons of those businesses and I hope that continues to be the case as well. Looking through my notes here. The org chart that -- your org chart looks a lot different than -- today as it did last year when you gave this presentation. So, it's amazing what you guys have gone through from, you know, basically creating a new division within your department and kudos to Bruce and -- and his team and your team for executing that to the best of your abilities. I don't --just quite amazing what that looks like now compared to what it used to. But at the end of the day, Cameron, you are doing a great job. I -- Meridian continues to grow and hopefully we can continue to grow in a smart way. So, thank you for your presentation and this -- those were the notes that I had written down. Arial: Thank you, Councilman Bernt. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Page 18 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page ——21 Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Cameron, appreciate the -- the presentation and really I just wanted to commend the Community Development Department employees. Holy cow, what a -- more than a year. It's been a -- this has been a building process and I think that you guys have done a great job of making sure that you are hiring the right people, maintaining strong culture within the department. Cameron, I appreciate those weekly updates that you send us on Friday. It gives me as a Council Member some insight about the progress that you are undertaking. It really gave me good comfort about week in, week out the things that you and your staff were doing to accomplish some -- some big hairy audacious goals and you continue to do that and I'm really looking forward to the future. Simison: Councilman Cavener, because they are so busy you got to just call it the bee hog for them, so we -- they don't have time to say all those big words. Cavener: Fair enough. Bernt: Man, it's funnies today. Arial: Thank you, Councilman Cavener. That's much appreciated. Simison: Council, any further questions for Mr. Arial at this time? Okay. Cameron, thank you very much to you and your team for all -- all they do -- Arial: Thanks so much. 18. Parks and Recreation Department: Management and Operation of Lakeview Golf Course Discussion Simison: And, more importantly, all they are going to be doing over the next several years. With that we will move on to Item 18. See if Mr. -- it does look like we have -- is Garrett going to be the one on this item for -- oh, there he is. Perfect. Okay. Parks and Recreation Department management operation of Lakeview Golf Course discussion. I will turn this over to Mr. Barton. Barton: Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. Pleasure to be with you this afternoon. I'm going to share my screen here. I have got a couple of slides that I want to go through. Last week, like -- everybody's aware that Council approved the management agreement for the city to take over operations of Lakeview Golf Course on October 9th, so we want to have a discussion this afternoon with, you know, a little bit about the golf course and kind of what it is for people that don't know, but also how we intend to go forward really for the next six months, because part of that management agreement between Western Ada Recreation District and the city also included some funding opportunities from WARD to develop a master plan and also an irrigation audit. Those two things will -- can identify the process for the longer term, maybe for the next five years. But in the meantime, because we are in a short window where we want to operate this, we want to take over Page 19 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page 16 of 21 full operations on October 9th, we have got to -- we have got to plan for that for the short term and the long term. So, Lakeview Golf Course, if you have seen it, it's kind of buried in the middle of that square mile between Cherry Lane, Ustick, Black Cat and Ten Mile Road. You know, extremely nice, really a gem of the community. So, for people that haven't been out there that may or may not know, they offer competitive rates. Last year they averaged right around 32,000 rounds that were played. So, it's really busy. Eighteen hole, par 72, they offer a full slate of programs, junior programs, golf lessons. They have a men's and women's association, tournaments, full driving range, food and beverage service and, then, they also started offering an outdoor space for weddings and special event. So, some of the concerns that we have for a smooth transition, of course, are the operations, reservations, the technology, the merchandising, logistics. Of course the -- just the agronomy and the golf course maintenance. Food and beverage sales and marketing. Keep that good momentum that they have going. Human resources is a big deal for us. It's our intention to retain the existing staff. There is a huge amount of institutional knowledge there. You can tell if you have visited recently that there is a lot of ownership in what they do and, then, also we have the accounting and the finance part of it. So, these are our concerns for a smooth transition. You know, if you -- if you kind of drill down into a little bit more granular level you can see that we have put together a list of -- kind of a to do list that is the transition from the lease operator over to the city and I'm not going to go over the entire list, obviously, but you can see that there is -- it's pretty extensive and some of these may be easy, some of these are maybe items that may take several months to develop and to really dig into, but these are some of the things that we will be working on going forward. So, how do we -- how do we get there. So, the third transition plan -- Bernt- Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: I don't mean -- I don't mean to interrupt. Hey, Mike, are you -- are you thinking that you are sharing your screen? Are we supposed to be looking at something? Barton: I am sharing my screen. Bernt: I don't -- we don't see your screen. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? It might be easy -- I have been kind of tracking along with the attachment on the agenda. If he is not able to share we can at least follow along that way. Barton: Let me see if I can -- are we on? Can you see the screen now? Simison: Yes. Barton: Perfect. So, apologize for that. Thanks for stopping me. So, we will back up real quick. So, Lakeview Golf Course. Here is a nice aerial view of it. The SAQs that we Page 20 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page 17—21 went over some of the concerns that we have and, then, really that -- that more extensive list of items to work on and I will just pause -- pause there. You know, quite a few -- quite a few things. So, it's really our goal at least for the next six months -- six to nine months to transition the operation over to the city without any disruption of service. We want to maintain the service level. We want to keep the golf course open. We want to retain the existing staff. We want to develop a master plan that will be a guiding document that has extensive public input and input from Council on what everybody sees is the best course of action for operation for--for the next five years and that's --that's what we -- in addition to these items that's what -- that's what we will be working on going forward. So, how do we -- how do we get there. So, our preferred transition plan is to hire a management company that specializes in golf course operations. This company is named Kemper Sports and they manage golf courses all over the country and in Oregon and Washington. So, they have the operations, the technical expertise. The other thing that they can do is they will facilitate the payroll. They will do all the financial accounting for the city for this interim period and it's our goal to finalize a management contract of course with this -- pending the outcome of this discussion and if Council sees this as a way to move forward for the next six months, we will bring back a management contract between the city and Kemper Sports right around September 1st with the goal of having them on board September 15th. Give them about a two week head start. So, day one when -- when it's turned over, which would be October 9th, they have already been on board and it's just kind of a seamless thing where operations transition over to the city -- really Kemper Sports. There is no disruption in service and life's good at Lakeview Golf Course. So, next steps. I kind of went over some of that. So, it's the transition plan, the management agreement. Some of this would come with a -- with a budget amendment for operations in fiscal year 2021. Of course, it's our goal to offset that budget amendment or any expenses with revenue. Last year the golf course was profitable. So, we are -- it's our goal to remain so and keep that -- keep that good momentum going and make improvements. So, just some of the -- some of the partners that we have -- Lakeview, of course, has been easy to work with. A perfect partner. The National Golf Foundation is who we would contract with to do the master plan. Kemper Sports. Of course Western Ada Recreation District. SPS Water would be doing some cleanup on some water rights and, then, we have Bear Design Group is -- would be performing a full irrigation audit. So, with that I will stand for any questions you might have. Simison: Thank you, Mike. Council, any questions? Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Mike, a question about the -- the contract with Kemper. And maybe this is a question for Mr. Nary or Finance. I'm just curious. Do we have to go out for an RFP on anything like that because of the potential cost to the contract or because it's a monthly amount is that not something that we are required to do? Page 21 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page 18—21 Nary: So, Mr. Mayor, Members of Council, because it's a professional service we are hiring them to do we weren't required to go out to bid that contract. We did work with Mr. Watts, obviously, to get that secured. But, yeah, we didn't have to do that. Cavener: Okay. Mr. Mayor, follow up. Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Mike, is it the department's plan, then, that kind of over that six months you guys will evaluate if we are going to take over course management internally or -- or look to find a more permanent contractor solution? Barton: Yeah. That's -- great question. So, one of the -- one of our goals in creating this master plan is to develop the appropriate operations plan for the next five years. Some of the scenarios that could be -- come in play is everything from another lease operator to a full management to having everybody be city employees to a hybrid of some city employees. There is a concessionaire for food and beverage. There could be city employees in the top -- the supervisors there and, then, the next tier down maybe it -- are employees of a staffing agency. So, there is -- there is a variety of options and it's our goal to identify what the options are, the pros and cons of each one and how they affect the revenue over the course and its ultimate profitability. Simison: Mr. Hoaglun, did you have questions? Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Hoaglun. Hoaglun: Yeah. Mike, yeah, this is the right step to go with the management company and get this ball rolling and I do have a question, though, with -- with the takeover occurring here in the fall, it's hard to predict what the revenues will be, but will we have sufficient revenues to cover the costs of that contract for those six months? If -- what -- do you have confidence that that can happen, knowing -- you know, you can't predict the future, but how confident are you that we will --we will cover those costs with the revenue? Barton: Yeah. That's a --that's a great-- a great question and so, obviously, from October through the end of March is not the high volume time of year on a golf course. We could have another Snowmageddon and the course is covered in snow and nobody can play. We are -- it's our goal to offset everything with revenue and we will do everything feasibly possible to try to accomplish that goal. Hoaglun: So, Mr. Mayor, just to follow up. Simison: Councilman Hoaglun. Page 22 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page 19 of 21 Hoaglun: So, Mike -- Mike, looking at the -- at the revenues that have been brought in -- in a normal year without a Snowmageddon, we should be okay to cover the costs; is that an accurate statement? Barton: I believe that's an accurate statement and so with the -- so, obviously, that -- that fall, winter, early spring time is not a high volume time of year, but you are -- also at the same time your expenses are lower. So, over the course of 12 months it has been profitable. One thing to keep in mind is that there is, you know, some of the capital improvements or capital investment has been deferred, so -- but the day-to-day operations have been profitable. Hoaglun: And, Mr. Mayor, just to comment on that. Simison: Mr. Hoaglun. Hoaglun: Yeah. I think you are absolutely right, Mike, you know, if we can make sure we cover the cost of the management and hopefully, you know, have some revenue or at least definitely as we go into the spring and summer, the busier season, certainly improve upon that. Yeah. There is -- there is going to be some capital expenditures we are going to have to make. We know that WARD is helping pay for some studies being done and we will find out what's needed. We don't think we have to do everything at once if there are some things needed, but certainly we go in with our eyes open that there might be some improvements that are necessary, but I -- we appreciate you and Steve and everyone else in the Parks Department working on this being handed this issue and saying, here, solve it and you guys have done a great job and I think we have got a good path going forward. So, thank you. Barton: Thank you. Appreciate it. Borton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Borton. Borton: To kind of dovetail on some of those comments, this whole process is such a long term play that I would expect it, quite frankly, not to cash flow and not to -- not to make money. There was a lot of -- from the income and expense of -- of avoiding those deferred capital improvements and reserves and -- and we just got into this with our eyes wide open that we are trying to turn a corner slowly on this and we are going to spend some money to make it happen I think everyone in the community -- the community is going to benefit on the back end as we turn the corner with this, but realistically we very well may be spending more than we are bringing in for a period of time as we get this ship righted. I think we are going to learn a lot. It's a great consultant to help us understand what we don't know. Then we can make some policy decisions on how this thing is managed long term, how it's priced, what we offer. But I would expect us not to be cash positive for a while when thing gets started. Page 23 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page 20—21 Simison: Thank you, Councilman Borton. I think that that's not the intention, but our eyes are open. Borton: Good work. Simison: Council, any further questions or comments at this time? Okay. Well, Mike, we look forward to bringing that back to us and it looks like there is no concerns over the direction you are headed from a management standpoint, so we will look forward to seeing that back in the time frame and continue these ongoing conversations to invest in this community asset. Barton: Okay. Thank you for your time. 19. Code Enforcement: Appeal of Order to Abate Weeds at Lot 01, Block 01, Kentucky Villas Subdivision, Parcel R4882890010, by Bruce B. Hessing EXECUTIVE SESSION 20. Per Idaho Code 74-206A(1)(a) To deliberate on a labor contract offer or to formulate a counteroffer; and (f) To communicate with legal counsel for the public agency to discuss the legal ramifications of and legal options for pending litigation, or controversies not yet being litigated but imminently likely to be litigated. Simison: All right. Council, Item 19 was vacated and I think that we will not do Item 20 at this point in time. So, do we need to have a motion to vacate that? Nary: Yes. What we will do, Mr. Mayor, Members of Council, is we need to add 74- 206(1)(f) to the regular agenda, along with the one that's already listed. Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: Mr. Mayor, I move that we vacate Item 20 off the agenda, knowing that -- that our 6:00 o'clock agenda we do have Item 10 and at that time I will add 74-206(a)(f) to that agenda to make it whole with that. I think that's it. Cavener: Second. Simison: I have a motion and a second to vacate Item 20 off the agenda. 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: FOUR AYES. TWO ABSENT. Bernt: Mr. Chairman, I move that we adjourn the meeting. Page 24 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. August 18,2020 Page 21 —21 Cavener: Second. Simison: I have a motion and a second to adjourn the meeting. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Those opposed say nay. The ayes have it. We are adjourned. MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. TWO ABSENT. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 5:47 P.M. (AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS) 9 / 1 / 2020 MAYOR ROBERT E. SIMISON DATE APPROVED ATTEST: CHRIS JOHNSON - CITY CLERK Page 25