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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-09-22 Regular Minutes Item#2. Meridian City Council September 22, 2020. A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 6:03 p.m., Tuesday, September 22, 2020, by Mayor Robert Simison. Members Present: Robert Simison, Treg Bernt, Joe Borton Luke Cavener, Jessica Perreault, Brad Hoaglun and Liz Strader. Also present: Chris Johnson, Bill Nary, Todd Lavoie, Crystal Ritchie, Dave Miles, Tori Cleary, Shawn Harper and Joe Bongiorno. 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 -- I will go ahead and call this meeting to order. For the record, it is September 22nd, 2020, at 6:03 p.m. We will begin this meetings with roll call attendance. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Simison: Next item on the agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. So, please, join us in the pledge. (Pledge of Allegiance recited.) COMMUNITY INVOCATION Simison: The next item on our agenda is the community invocation, which will be given this evening by Tim Pusey with Valley Shepherd Church of the Nazarene. If you will, please, join us in the invocation or take this as a moment of reflection for yourself. Pusey: Thank you. Heavenly Father, we want to thank you tonight for the blessings that are ours. Thank you for the blessings of living in this wonderful community and for the way in which you have prospered us in so many ways. Thank you, Lord, for those who serve our community, our Council, our Mayor, the many many who work behind the scenes. Our first responders. And, Lord, tonight we just ask that you would give wisdom and discernment to our Council in all of the discussions and all the decisions that are made. Father, the people of this community I ask that you would give us eyes to see the needs of people around us and hearts to respond to those needs with compassion and kindness and -- and care and we would just take this opportunity to ask you, Lord, to help us through all of the challenges of the pandemic and bring an end to it soon, Lord, here and around the globe. Father, make yourself known, lead us and guide us throughout Page 30 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 2 of 22 this whole meeting this evening, we pray, amen. Simison: Thank you. Mr. Clerk, do we have anyone signed up under public forum? Johnson: Mr. Mayor, we did not. Simison: Okay. With that we will move into our action items this even. Our first item is ADOPTION OF AGENDA Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Oh. Bernt: We need to adopt the agenda. Simison: Thank you. Councilman Bernt. Bernt: Mr. Mayor, I'm going to make a quick little change to the agenda. I'm going to flip flop Items 5 and 6, so that -- with those changes to the agenda I move that we adopt the agenda as amended. Simison: I have a motion and a second to adopt the agenda as amended. Is there any discussion on the motion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it and the agenda is adopted. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. PUBLIC FORUM — Future Meeting Topics Simison: There was no one who signed up under public forum. ACTION ITEMS 1. Public Hearing for Proposed City of Meridian Citywide Fee Schedule Updates Simison: So, with that we will move on to Action Items. First item is a public hearing for proposed City of Meridian citywide fee schedule updates. I will turn this over to Ms. Fields, I believe. Or is it going to be Mr. Barton? Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Strader. Page 31 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 3 of 22 Strader: Just a heads up. Your mic is kind of fading out a lot. Simison: Okay. Jenny, is that you for -- are you opening up the public hearing? Fields: Yes. Mr. Mayor, Members of Council. This evening what we have in front of you are the closing of our public hearing for our citywide fee schedule update. In front of you is the list of fees that we are proposing and upon closer -- closing of this public hearing we will formally adopt this resolution in front of you. Simison: Council, do you have any questions for staff regarding the proposed fee schedule? This is a public hearing. Is there anybody in the audience who would like to provide testimony on this item or anybody online? Mr. Clerk, I don't know if you have anybody in our waiting room, if you would like to provide testimony if you would, please, use the raise your hand function at the bottom of the zoom application. Johnson: Mr. Mayor, we do have someone raising their hands. Heather, I'm unmuting you. And it's not allowing me to unmute you, so I'm going to make a change and try to bring you in. Simison: Heather, if you can unmute yourself and state your name and address for the record you will be recognized for -- Heather: Hi, there. Can you hear me? Simison: Yes. Heather: Sorry about that. I just actually signed in and I just wanted to make sure this is for the Firenze, the -- the development that's happening on Amity and Eagle. Simison: No. We are doing the proposed fee schedule for things right now. Heather: Oh. Okay. I apologize. Because I received a notice saying it was going to be today at 6.00 p.m., so -- Simison: Yeah. We will get to that item. We are just working our way down the agenda. Heather: Oh. Got you. Okay. Thank you. Simison: All right. I see no one else who would like to provide -- coming forward to provide testimony on this item. So, Council, do I have a motion? Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Cavener. Cavener: Move to close the public hearing on City of Meridian proposed fee schedule Page 32 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 4 of 22 update. Bernt: Mr. Mayor, I second it. Simison: I have a motion and a second to close public hearing. Is there discussion on the motion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Perreault: Mr. Mayor, Councilman Cavener couldn't be heard on the -- on the video at all. Simison: Okay. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Thank you, Council Member Perreault. Sorry, I realized probably my mic was muted and I didn't have Dean to let whap me upside the head, so appreciate that. My motion for those watching remotely was that we close the public hearing for the proposed City of Meridian citywide fee schedule. I think Councilman Bernt seconded the motion. Simison: That is true. Councilman Bernt seconded. Bernt: I will second it again. Simison: Seconded again. Clearly stated on the record. Is there any discussion on the motion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Oppose nay. The ayes have it. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. 2. Resolution 20-2230: A Resolution Adopting New, Increasing, and Decreasing Fees; Authorizing Deletion of Fees from Fee Schedule; Superseding All Previously Adopted Fees and Fee Schedules, with the Exception of Recreational Programming Fees; Authorizing City Departments to Collect Such Fees; and Providing an Effective Date Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: I move we approve Resolution 20-2230. Bernt: Mr. Mayor, second that. Simison: I have a motion and a second to approve Resolution 20-2230. Is there any discussion on the motion? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The eyes have it. The resolution is agreed to. Page 33 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 5 of 22 MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. 3. Public Hearing for Victory Apartments (H-2020-0065) by Wendy Shrief, J-U-B Engineers, Inc., Located at the Southwest Corner of S. Meridian Rd./SH-69 and W. Victory Rd. A. Request: Amendment to the Future Land Use Map contained in the Comprehensive Plan to change the designation on 18.45 acres of land from Medium Density Residential (MDR) to Medium High Density Residential (MHDR); and, B. Request: Annexation of 18.45 acres of land with an R-15 zoning district. Simison: Okay. Next item up is a public hearing for Victory Apartments, H-2020-0065. I'm going to -- Borton: Mr. Mayor, just a heads up, we can't hear. Simison: Okay. Perreault: Mr. Mayor, your mic worked perfectly during the work session and now it's not working, so I don't know if there was a setting that was changed or something in between. Simison: Yeah. We are going to --we are lowering the volume in the room. So, hopefully, that will allow it to work better. So, are you able to hear me now? Okay. Next item up is a public for Victory Apartments, H-2020-0065. This has been requested to be withdrawn. I don't know if we have any city staff who is going to -- Cameron, if you or members of your team are going to speak to this item or not or if there is a motion to withdraw. Nary: Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council, that's all you need to do is have a motion to withdraw and vote. Accept that. Simison: Okay. Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: I move that we withdraw application H-2020-0065. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Second the motion. Page 34 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 6 of 22 Simison: I have a motion and a second to withdraw the application. Is there any discussion on the motion? If not, Clerk will call the roll. Roll Call: Borton, aye; Cavener, aye; Perreault, aye; Strader, aye; Hoaglun, aye; Bernt, aye. Simison: All ayes. The application withdrawn. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. 4. Public Hearing for Firenze Plaza (TECC-2020-0002) by LC Development, Located at the northwest corner of S. Eagle Rd. and E. Amity Rd. A. Request: 18-month Time Extension on the commercial preliminary plat in order to obtain the City Engineer's signature on a final plat. Simison: Next item is a public hearing for Firenze Plaza, TECC-2020-0002 and I'm going to open this public hearing. Again, I don't know if we have any staff online to speak to this item. Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: The staff is -- is not online. I think what the applicant -- I think-- can you guys hear me okay? I hear you guys. Borton: You're good. Bernt: I think what the applicant is wanting to do is just continue this to the 29th, which is next Tuesday. I think we are going to have a special meeting next Tuesday in order to hear this. It will be quick. I think it's pretty straightforward. But I do believe there is some people that want to speak, obviously, they are online, so -- Simison: Yeah. This was -- this was postponed because they did not post the site -- Bernt: Correct. Simison: -- appropriately. So, Mr. Nary, we shouldn't even take any comments from the public. Nary: So, Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council, yeah, we did send the notices, so the person who spoke earlier said they received it. They did receive a mailed notice, but it wasn't posted properly, so it can't be heard tonight and we can't take testimony, so it does Page 35 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page , of 22 have to be moved to next week, which now it has been properly noticed. Simison: Okay. So, for those that are on the call, hopefully, you understood, that unfortunately, we cannot take any public comment on this item, but there will be a hearing next week at 6:00 p.m. where public testimony will be taken. So, with that do I have a motion? Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: I move that we continue item, TECC-2020-0002. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Second the motion. Bernt: And, Mr. Mayor, for the record, it's next Tuesday, the 29th at 6:00 p.m. Simison: Correct. I have a motion and a second to continue this item to next Tuesday. Is there any discussion on the motion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it and the motion is agreed to. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. DEPARTMENT / COMMISSION REPORTS [Action Item] 6. Police Department: Discussion of Proposed Updates to Ordinance Provisions Regarding Disqualifying Criminal Convictions for Mobile Sales Unit Licenses and Vehicle Immobilization Licenses Simison: Thank you for those who were here today and we will hopefully see you next week. Next item -- we swapped Item 5 and 6, so the next item up is a department report by our police department regarding a special proposed update to ordinance provisions regarding disqualifying criminal convictions for mobile sales units and vehicle immobilization licenses. I will turn this over to Lieutenant Harper. Harper: Good evening, Mayor, Members of Council, I'm here for a second reading, a review of the mobile sales license and vehicle immobilization disqualifiers. We took a lot of feedback from you all a couple of weeks back and really changed the format and I -- hopefully everybody's had a chance to review this in detail, but to really, I think, clean up the language and make it easier for our citizens and local businesses to be able to understand -- a couple of the -- some of the feedback we received was in regards to whether the -- should it be just off the conviction or post-incarceration. So, we did add Page 36 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 8 of 22 that language into the misdemeanor sections, as well as -- as the felony sections. We still kept the five and ten years spread based off of misdemeanors and felonies. We also -- Councilman Hoaglun -- I can -- we -- I reviewed the telephone harassment charge and verified that that is -- in fact, includes social media or any other electronic means. So, that's covered there as well. And, lastly, was in regards to misdemeanor injury to child. We did make an exception for first time offense on that under the misdemeanor section. The only -- only challenge with adding this much detail into this for me will be having to track down when incarceration days were completed. Legal did a really good job -- Emily did a great job of putting this together and I think it reads very clean. It's -- I think it will be clear to the public, but it will -- will cause us a little more work on the back end on verifying that, but I think it's worth it for the safety of our community and I will stand for any questions. Simison: Thank you, lieutenant. Council, any questions? Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: It's always an awkward conversation, you know, to have someone from the community who has been denied a request and to hear their story and justification, so I have been wanting to do this for a long time and so I want to thank Lieutenant Harper and Emily Kane from Legal for--for, you know, coming together and really figuring out a more effective and fair policy that will help folks do business in our city and sell certain offerings. So, thank you so much. Harper: Thanks. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Lieutenant Harper, appreciate your work on this. I guess a question for you about kind of the -- the applicant side. Did these changes in your opinion make the application easier for when -- when applicants are filling it out to understand, you know, that -- the information that we are asking of them? I know in the past sometimes we have had some confusion from some of the folks who came to appeal, because they didn't feel like they fully understood the application. I assume, as -- if this is passed that you will kind of revamp the application, work with the clerk's office and -- just want to make sure that when the public's filling it out that they have got a good understanding as to what we are looking at and how in -- I think it's four pages of a document translates to kind of a one page form. So, there just isn't any other confusion and puts in, you know, challenging positions for you and for the Council. Harper: Yes. I think -- I think it will. I think breaking it down into misdemeanor with subsections and felony, I think that we will clean things up and, then, we have the auto Page 37 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page g of 22 disqualifiers at the bottom. So, I think the flow is going to work. Emily and I kind of went back on some legal jargon, but with this -- the fact that this is an ordinance, we have to make sure that -- that the proper language is used and -- but I do think it will -- it will clean things up. The appeal side of things I still think on that language we may need to -- to clean it up a little bit on the application side, so they truly know that, look. these are strictly the only reasons you can appeal this. If you are coming just to plead your case, you know, it's not -- that's not going to meet the requirements for an appeal and I mean it -- we don't want to waste the public's time, nor your guys' time or my time on having to come for an appeal if it's not even really a justified appeal. So, I do think this will improve things. I also think it updates it to -- to be more current day, because we did have a great testimony of a gentleman a while back that I think really got this thing rolling and we have also had a couple of other denials recently that were hard for me to swallow, to be honest with you,just because of the way the ordinance read at the time. It was so outdated. And so now I think it's -- it's a -- much more current and it will be of benefit for all. Cavener: Great. Thank you. Thanks for your work on this and to Ms. Kane. Simison: Council, any further questions? Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: What's the action needed from Council on this? Simison: Mr. Nary. Nary: Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council, so next steps we will put it on to the next available agenda, which would be your -- right now it's your October 13th agenda. So, we will have it on that for approval. Cavener: Okay. Harper: Thank you. 5. Mayor's Office: CARES Act — Small Business Grant Program Update Simison: Thank you very much, lieutenant. Council, the next item on the agenda is from the Mayor's Office, discussion of the CARES Act Small Business Grant Program update and I'm going to turn this over to Mr. Miles and Victoria Cleary. Miles: Good evening, Council, Mayor. Thank you for the time. And as the Mayor said, we got Victoria Cleary with Economic Development with us as well to answer questions. Can you all hear us? I see one questionable. The rest thumbs up. So, let me know if you can't. I will -- I will speak up. So, kind of fortuitous timing being that it's National Small Business Week. I think that we are bringing this back in front of you with the Small Business Grant Program. So, as we talked a couple weeks ago, we did reach out to the Page 38 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 10 of 22 state, submitted this draft concept based on conversations that we had with you all. The state has provided feedback, general support and supportive of the document. In fact, gave us some good comments that they appreciated the layout and the structure of the document and the detail that was in it. What I plan to do is go over a few of the changes, because I know in the packet -- I had submitted a packet to you on Wednesday, I believe, and by Thursday afternoon we had heard back from the state some additional things. So, I wanted to walk through a few minor changes that are in the document and I will share my screen here. We will walk through those changes. I think you can all see the screen now. See head nods. So, that's good. We will walk through those changes briefly. So, real quick, too -- I know Councilman Borton and possibly some others, but I heard a question from Councilman Borton last week regarding who specifically within the city we will be working through this and managing the program to address sort of the risk element. Right here in section two -- and this kind of dovetails -- we originally proposed to have a consultant work through the application process. While we were talking with the state Victoria was also talking with a potential consultant, long and short of it is that the consultant's business model and what they were proposing wasn't fitting with exactly what we needed and we did talk with the state about allowable resources within the city, which we were -- knew we had to use anyway. So, Crystal Campbell and CDBG, we are proposing that she will do an initial review. If you recall, we proposed to send these grant applications through the Neighborly software system, which is a component that we will have built and I will let Victoria speak to that piece. But Crystal would review the applications and so what you see in 2.0 in the first paragraph, that's what now refers to potential staff salary, because the administrative expenses up to 50,000 dollars, can be utilized for those expenses that are directly related to staff time for COVID expenses, which reviewing these applications is a direct activity of that. To Mr. Borton's question, once Crystal reviews it, it's proposed to come in front of Victoria, myself, as well as the CFO and a member from the Chamber of Commerce. We haven't identified that person specifically, but there is a member from the chamber. It's likely going to be one or two or three different folks with an accounting background to review the recommendation that comes from Crystal and to, then, make a decision and, then, there is two more additional layers from a risk perspective and sort of a review perspective. Why don't we do still have the agreement between the city and the applicant that's proposed to be signed. That was worked through the Legal Department and, finally, once all of that process is conducted this list gets resubmitted to the state and the state does have a final review to be conducted to say, yes, they see what we are submitting and they see the rationale or justification and they also approve the list. So, that's sort of one change that I think addresses one question that had come up around the risk component. Second change is in Section 2.2. So, in your packet of information there were about nine bullet points in this section here that addressed what were really redundant things in some areas. There were also some things around business salaries, employee salaries and payroll expenses. In conversations with the state, which I shared a response from the state with you all, that the state does not recommend any payroll expenses be covered. Does not recommend any salaries from businesses be covered. And, ultimately, at the end of the day, at least in our reading of the guidance, part of that logic stems from the state is responsible to verify the proper use of these funds and in our mind their recommendation holds weight in that regard, because they have to determine at the end of the day was it Page 39 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 11 of 22 used for the right expense and if they are not supportive of payroll expenses we felt that that wasn't necessarily the right thing to ask for and so we are structuring 2.2 in terms of eligible use of funds to stick directly with what the state has recommended in their small business grant program. So, it's a reimbursable program for personal protective equipment, inventory equipment, rent and utilities and so that's the second change and, then, lastly, the third change, which is really administrative, we updated the attachment - - I believe it's B, which is the state's form that's required to be part of this program, which an applicant would also complete and submit, they made a few minor changes. The most significant change on their form is at the bottom of page two where they outline this -- I don't want to put a highlight, but this grant purpose and this really speaks to the reimbursement aspect of this program that the state wanted to see that it is reimbursable expenses for equipment, inventory, BPE, rent, utilities. So, they added that change to the form, so we simply updated the form as an attachment and those are the three major changes that you see, compared to your packet versus what's on the screen. So, I wanted to highlight those three. Maybe I will stop there, because I know there was a lot of conversation around this the last time we were here. Ultimately the proposal is to allocate up to a million dollars' worth of funding for small businesses who could apply for a 10,000 dollar grant reimbursements on their applications to the city. So, I will stop there. Tori, if you have any additional comments from a software component or a CDBG staffing review component, happy to let you chime in as well. And I will turn it over to -- Cleary: Not at this time. I think I will wait to see if the Council has any specific questions. Simison: Council, any questions? Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Dave, Tori, one, thanks for your -- your outreach over the past week to kind of help address some of my questions. I think you guys have -- both this document and in our conversations have helped address some of the concerns that I had. A couple of follow-ups. So, Dave, you mentioned in your presentation that there is a department within the state that is going to be verifying that these funds have been spent correctly. What--who is that within the state and, then, do we have like a timing of kind of like when we are all clear, that -- that any risk of the city being obligated to repay funds will have past? I mean do they have to review this within 12 months, 24 months, five years? Do we know anything about that? Miles: Yeah. Mr. Mayor and Councilman Cavener, those are good questions. So, first to your point about who at the state. The state controller's office reviews the submitted list from the state -- or, excuse me, from the city. So, they review the application as a -- sort of a packeted list. What we are proposing is we would review applications on a weekly basis, compile a list at the end of the week and submit that to the state as a package. So, the state controller's office is the reviewer. To your point about time of risk, I will defer to Mr. Nary a little bit, but this is where it gets into a little bit of federal funding and the risk Page 40 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 12 of 22 associated with it. In our interpretation of looking at the guidance and working with the Legal Department, there are provisions in the Treasury -- U.S. Treasury guidance that state the agency receiving the funds -- so, in this case the state -- is responsible to administer -- administer those funds properly and I will tell you that the state controller's office in the e-mail that I sent off to you all, they turned around and said that the city is ultimately responsible. So, I think that's probably a battle maybe for Councilman Borton and Mr. Nary, you know, in the world of the legal realm of arguments in that regard, but, again, we do feel that we have addressed the legal risk between the legal agreement that we are requiring between the city and the applicant, as well as the fact that we have got the state in partnership working with us, looking at the applications. Our guidance is following that state guidance as well. And, Councilman Cavener, real quick, I don't have an answer for you on timing how far away in the future could the state or the feds come back. We could certainly work to get that answer for you if you prefer. Don't have it at this time. Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: Thank you, Dave and Tori. I really appreciate the update on this. I feel like it was very well written. I was really happy with -- with how easy it is to understand for members of our public for sure and just curious if there has been any word on -- on whether there is going to be an extension for these applications past the end of the year. Miles: Mr. Mayor and Council Woman Perreault, at this point I haven't heard from the federal level. I know that the talks that addressed this time frame were part of the second round of the CARES Act funding, which have kind of stalled out, and, then, just now recently started to reengage. It's tough to talk about what we are hearing. We had originally heard that, yes, they were proposing to push that out, but the conversations have stalled and so I don't want to give false pretenses about what they may or may not do at the federal level. Right now we know it's through December 30. Tori, I don't know if you have additional information on that topic or not. Cleary: No. But that's what I heard. Yeah. Just December 30. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Just a couple questions. I was curious about the -- if the controller's office thinks is absolutely necessary to have the GUNS number as part of the application. That's a private service. I understand the purpose of it is to track, you know, the identity and credit history of your business, but at the same time there is a cost associated with getting those. Like I have intentionally not gotten them for some of my businesses. So, I just was curious if we have to require that. And I was also just curious in general if the CARES Act funding could be used to reimburse childcare expenses, which is another challenge that businesses in the community are facing. Page 41 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 13 of 22 Miles: Mr. Mayor, Council Woman Strader, maybe the second question first. Child care expenses under this program we have been told by the state not to reimburse businesses for those costs. So, that's one aspect. Tori, I know -- and I will let you jump in. You have talked with several daycares about what about daycare businesses as an expense who provide childcare, but I do know that this program is not promoted by the state to cover specific childcare costs and that was one of the questions that we asked as well of the state. Tori, do you have any information on the -- the childcare? Cleary: Yeah. Mr. Mayor, Council Woman Strader, we are exploring using our CDBG CARES Act allocation. We had asked if we can kind of funnel that money into the hands of the people who really need it to potential child care providers, who would, then, verify that a family would qualify under CDBG regulations. We were told that is not possible. So, we are reaching further out. We already do give scholarships to the Boys and Girls Club. We are reaching out to the YMCA and also the State Department of Health and Welfare as a childcare grant program and so we are looking to see if we can maybe enhance that program as well. Miles: Then, Mr. Mayor and Council Woman Strader, on the GUNS number, what we have been told by the state is, yes, it's required as part of the federal granting process. And I don't know, Tori, if you have had any updated information on that. I know there has been a lot of conversation with the chamber about that. Cleary: Yeah. I don't believe there is a cost through the link that is provided through the state forums. I don't believe there is a cost associated with that for this purpose. Strader: Okay. Thank you. I would just -- I -- it's unfortunate that the state is seeking this view on the childcare expenses especially I think. Just one of the biggest challenges that people are facing right now and it just seems so tone deaf not to include that. But thank you for exploring it. Miles: Mr. Mayor, Council Woman Strader, you're welcome and I -- I know we have -- we hear that, and we echo that and have worked with the state in, you know, if it's the hear that and we echo that and have worked with the state and, you know, if it's the direction of this body to continue to work with the state and I -- I think the more voices that the state hears on those needs the better. Simison: Council, any further questions? Borton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Borton. Borton: Dave, is the -- the application for our municipal grant program, does that mirror what other cities are doing for theirs or is ours unique for some reason and why? Miles: Mr. Mayor and Councilman Borton, the specific application process I would say Page 42 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 14 of 22 mirrors Boise, Nampa and Garden City closely. They are all slightly different. We propose to have an online component similar to Nampa, Boise, Garden City. I can tell you Garden City takes an approach of strictly utilizing the Idaho form, the IDA-20 that I showed you in the attachment, and that's all they require. Boise, similar to us, they are proposing an electronic website that has data collection, sign off of that form, and, then, moving forward. So, I don't know if that addresses your question. But, generally, we are all in alignment with the information being asked for. Borton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Borton. Borton: Just follow up examples. So, if--when ours asks for, you know, P&Ls and maybe some declaration of the impact, what does that matter to us necessarily? So, for example, if I'm a business and I'm applying and I say -- I mean if it's an eligible expense what does it matter what my P&L is? Why am I submitting profit or loss? Do I have to lose a certain percentage of money over year over year? And if that doesn't matter why are we asking for that kind of stuff? Miles: Yeah. Mr. Mayor, Councilman Borton. Tori, do you want to address that question? Cleary: Sure. Mr. Mayor, Councilman Borton, the eligible expenses have to be directly tied to COVID impacts. So, a profit and loss statement will help us see that, you know, these were their expenses say in the first quarter of the year, so that we can legally reimburse for those expenses that are a direct impact of COVID and regulations -- distance requirements, things like that. And that's likely one of the reasons that the state prefers to pull out payroll. You know, we specifically asked the question what if an employee is assigned to, you know, say do occupancy counts or, you know, enhance cleaning protocols and we were told no simply because it's difficult to quantify. Borton: So -- Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Borton. Borton: Like when you put up the list that -- that was up there a moment ago of eligible expenditures, but -- but it gets a new shorter list there, kind of cleaner, so if-- if somebody were to apply and they are -- It's just equipment, I guess, if equipment is it and I have -- they say that they had to buy X machine and it's due to COVID, where else -- is that the grant request details, I guess, that--where they are going to have to describe it and justify say in narrative format I bought this equipment, because I don't know, I spent money on COVID expenses, so I don't have any more money left, so now I can't afford the equipment. I don't know. I mean how do you flush that out? That was some of my concern for the -- when assessing the city's risks some of that mushy subjective stuff seemed to be challenging for us to be able to draw lines. Miles: So, Mr. Mayor, Councilman -- Councilman Borton, yes, we did align the eligible Page 43 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 15 of 22 use of funds Section 2.2 with the state. Because of that when we heard the concern around the mushiness-- I think to the questions around the risk, the reason the application requests the information, such as a profit and loss and such as, you know, justifying sort of a narrative of what they are using the expenses for, are -- are exactly to address that risk, so that the city is able to make a sound judgment of the use of the funds. To your -- to your point about utilizing funds because they spent them elsewhere, the way the federal grants are working around this is that these funds cannot be utilized for purchases that have already received funds. So, I will use an example of -- you brought up equipment. So, if they had purchased COVID-related equipment and now they are purchasing --or, excuse me, requesting dollars for COVID-related equipment, that's going to have more scrutiny and likely not be eligible, because it's an area of -- under the CARES Act funding that they have already received funding for. So, that's the understanding that we as the reviewing body as a city need to understand, so, then, we are not wrongly granting dollars to a business that already received money for equipment when they are asking for equipment. Borton: One last question, Mr. Mayor. Simison: Councilman Borton. Borton: I confused myself on the sequence of events. The -- there is reference -- I guess in the application it talks about a reimbursement request, which sounds like I have -- my business -- I have made the expenditure and now I want a grant to reimburse me for that COVID-related cost that I have incurred and, then, the Attachment B talks about how has COVID affected your business and your plan for the use of the funds, as though I'm going to request prior to having the expenditure. So, am I the business spending money and, then, I will apply to get reimbursed or do I apply prior to spending in hopes I get a grant to fund it? Miles: Mr. Mayor, Councilman Borton, another good question, which has been a change, since we talked to you last. The state's recommendation is to work only off of a reimbursement platform. In Attachment B -- this is the Idaho form. So, I think that their narrative is trying to address multiple perspectives, but their recommendation to us has been now funding reimbursements only. Borton: What's in your -- what you have on the screen is different than what's in the packet. That's maybe the cause of my -- Miles: It's listed as Attachment B, the -- Borton: No. The -- scroll down. Right there. Miles: Yeah. So, this -- this page you are -- this is still part of the Idaho State form and I don't know that they have kept up with their -- their recommendation to stick with a reimbursement only approach. Page 44 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 16 of 22 Borton: Okay. Miles: And we are required by their program to provide this form as completed as part of this program. Borton: Okay. But it's reimbursement only, not proactive? Miles: Correct. That's the proposal. Borton: Okay. Thanks. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Just a general comment or question and I'm not sure who to direct it to but -- maybe Mr. Miles, but because of the way the state has narrowly defined this program, we end up finding out that businesses really aren't just using it -- it's not practical to earn enough expenses eligible and we have alternatives to use CARES Act funding, you know, can we pivot into other programs? Is there a certain timing for this program when -- when it will end anyway or how are we thinking about that timing element? Miles: Yeah. Mr. Mayor, Council Woman Strader, as we have it right now following the state's guidelines, this would go through December 30th and in our mind from a program administration standpoint that would likely mean a few weeks into January to allow for accounting paperwork and things of that nature. My understanding is that as a body if we came back and made a recommendation to either cease or change or alter this program, we could do that as well as a body through you with recommendations and discussions and so we could make that pivot and that is a concern that we talked about as a group, coming back to you after talking with the state is it is very locked down in terms of these defined uses and reimbursements and -- and what activity are we going to get. I think the reality is is we just don't know what we are going to get. I can share with you last week early on I spoke with a local participating city -- I think was Garden City -- and they had had upwards of between 40 and 50 applications in their first two weeks. So, they are getting application flow. They certainly didn't approve all those, but they -- they were getting application flow. So, I think in answer to your question, yes, there is flexibility, we can adjust. It would really just take us coming back and we could monitor this use and this fund and this program and give you weekly reports or whatever frequency you so desire. Strader: Thank you. Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Page 45 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 17 of 22 Perreault: Dave, I think we touched on this a little bit in the last -- the last time you presented, but I wanted to go over it again, what the plan is for -- for getting the word out to the local businesses of this grant program. I mean, obviously, we will likely use social media. The city. The chamber will probably be involved. But can you go over what some specifics are of how we let it be known to our public that this is available to them and how active that's going to be? Miles: Yeah, Mr. Mayor and Council Woman Perreault. I will turn this over to Tori, who has put in great efforts to already make some strides in that realm, so -- but, yes, you are touching on all the right points. Cleary: Yeah. Mr. Mayor, Council Woman Perreault, yeah, we -- we are already working with Shandy in the communications office. Again, we will work with the chamber as well. We will get the word out through the Idaho Women's Business Center, the Small Business Development Center at BSU, Department of Commerce, Boise Metro Chamber and the Southwest Idaho Manufacturing Association and any other, you know, business associations. We also have a list of restaurants in Meridian that are licensed and so, you know, maybe we can work with the chamber to do a specified mailing to them. Yeah. So, we will -- we will do what we can to, you know, get the word out and I know Shandy is planning to do press releases and, then, ideally what we would really like to do as we encounter businesses who take advantage of this grant program and are successful, maybe highlight them through social media posts, things like that. Simison: Council, any further questions? Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Borton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Borton: Oh, go ahead. Bernt: What's -- what's the plan if we have -- or we have more applications than we can handle one given time? Simison: Is your question meaning if we find that there is two million dollars' worth of businesses out there that submit, are all eligible or that we just don't have the manpower to review the applications because there is so many right up front? Bernt: Second. Simison: Work late. Mr. Miles has committed to working 24 hours a day to review all the applications if we need to, so -- I mean that -- that aspect, we -- that's what we will do. I mean if we get more we will just invest the time. Page 46 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 18 of 22 Miles: Mr. Mayor and Councilman Bernt, I only chuckle because the conversations we have had with staff everybody has expressed -- and certainly the Council, even at the last meeting you guys -- you did talk about staff impact. People recognize that. I have also seen a great willingness to help the community out. So, I think to the Mayor's point we will put in tirelessly to get the -- get what needs to be done done. Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: I have no doubt that we have dedicated employees that will -- when asked upon will step up and do what they have been asked to the best of their abilities and we will do the best work possible. I don't think there is a member of this Council that doubts that for a second, to be honest with you. But what -- what concerns me is -- is, you know, taking responsibilities away from Tori, for example, and having her not spend as much time out doing what she does and I know that we are in a busy time right now and I know there is a lot of people pulling her in different directions and, then, we add this to our plate -- or I'm just using her as -- I know that there is many more that will be involved as well. So, I just hope that there is a -- there is a -- there is a plan in place other than we are going to work 24 hours a day until we -- until we figure this out. I know that you are not being serious, but it is -- it is -- it concerns me a little bit that -- that this is going to take up a lot of time. Simison: I won't tell you how much time it will take up, because we don't know, but at the same time I would rather invest Tori's time at saving the existing businesses than searching businesses that may or may not choose to come here if that's how she's got to reprioritize her time. She's -- just as an example, I can pre-update my -- I can manage the time. Crystal's is the one that I'm most concerned about,just because she has certain other obligations under CDBG, which are time sensitive, but until we see what the influx is I don't think we can truly -- I don't want to say we are not prepared, but it's really hard to project what that looks like and even how much time it will take. Miles: And Mr. Mayor and Councilman Bernt, there is -- there are administrative dollars set aside, so we can continue to have the conversation about if consulting help is needed what does that look like, who could it be and, now, again, there is the one we initially identified doesn't -- didn't work out, but are there others as well. So, again, I think we have the nimble ability to -- to continue to work to find that and to the Mayor's point we don't know what the impact is yet either. Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perrault: And I guess in that regard, as Tori has spoken with all these different organizations that -- that she will be presenting or sharing the -- the grant program with, have you had any feedback from them about how many members of their organization Page 47 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 19 of 22 would be interested in, you know, the business -- learning business -- Downtown Association -- have you heard anything from any of these groups that -- that they feel like that their members will be benefited by this? Are we getting -- getting any kind of initial sort of idea of level of interest? Cleary: Mr. Mayor, Council Woman Perreault, our chamber has indicated that, you know, they feel like there will be robust interest from the small business community members that they are in touch with. The Downtown Business Association as well. So, we will see. I talked to Nampa this week and they had about four dozen applications in their first two weeks. Now, again, all those, you know, didn't necessarily qualify, so -- and I feel like the program being reimbursement based, you know, does significantly not only mitigate the city's risk, but it also, you know, probably cuts down on the number of applications. You know, it's unfortunate that some needs won't be met, because the program is structured like this, but, you know, it's an important opportunity in our recovery for small business community and, you know, the staff will do whatever it takes to administer the program and get the money back out into the community and, you know, contribute to business stability and recovery. Simison: And I would go as far as to say that I -- I guarantee you there is seven elected officials that if -- if we can help roll up our sleeves and we have the skills and qualities to put in an hour or two helping -- I'm sure people would all do that if we have the skills and abilities and knowledge. So, if there is that need and we need to do all hands on deck, we will reach out and look for people that are willing to help keep our current businesses operating. Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: I just think this goes back to I think a lot of conversations that occurred with Council when this whole pandemic started, which is we really trust that you are making the operational decisions that meet the needs of our city. I agree with Council Member Bernt, probably all seven of us was worried about any of our city employees being overworked or overtaxed, but you know what's going on in this building better than any of us. You know the priorities of our city and to your point, if this helps to keep some businesses from having to close up shop in place of recruiting new businesses, I think that's good direction, something I would always support. I had some concerns about this early on, but I'm -- I have come around on it and I appreciate the direction and guidance and information from your staff. I don't see any reason why we need to slow this down. So, thanks for your work on it. Everyone. Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I was just going to say I -- I echo your sentiment. Page 48 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 20 of 22 mean I -- I work two jobs, but this is -- this is such a critical thing for our community in the long term and in the big picture. So, I'm happy to help out where possible. I had the opportunity to use the Neighborly software as part of the CDBG application committee and it's very easy to use and it's an awesome program. I'm glad that we are getting to expand it, just really a huge asset to actually approving the applications. It will -- it will help to move through them really quickly I think. So, I just wanted to give kudos to the staff that they are -- that they are trying to find a software system that will help move through things that is decision making quickly, because that -- it seems like to me that that will be a big benefit that will be helpful in -- in accommodating maybe some challenges with -- with enough staffing. Simison: Thank you. Council, anything further -- further? Okay. He shook his head no, so he's -- he's un -- he's unmuted, but he did not. Okay. Anything else? Okay. Councilman Borton? Borton: No. Simison: Okay. Well, Council, we will be moving forward with this program. No formal action is required from you at this time. This is -- this will just be part of a budget amendment at some point in time in the future for, you know, any of the CARES funding expenses that need a budget amendment to be covered. So, thank you and we will monitor the program and if we have got any more hands we will let you know and if we run out of money because of such interest we will come back and let you know what that is as well. So -- yeah. So, thank you very much, Dave and Tori, for all your work on this and let's move forward. Miles: Thank you. ORDINANCES [Action Item] 7. Ordinance No. 20-1896: An Ordinance Amending Meridian City Code as Codified at Title 11, Pertaining to Specific Use Standards in Chapter 4; Public Hearing Process in Chapter 5; and Subdivision Design and Improvement Standards in Chapter 6; and Providing for a Waiver of the Reading Rules; and Providing an Effective Date Simison: With that, Council, we have come to Item No. 7 on our agenda, which is Ordinance No. 20-1896. 1 will ask the Clerk to read this ordinance by title. Johnson: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is an ordinance amending Meridian City Code as codified at Title 11 pertaining to specific use standards in Chapter 4 public hearing process in Chapter 5 and subdivision design and improvement standards in Chapter 6 and providing for a waiver of the reading rules and providing an effective date. Simison: Council, you have heard this item read by title. Is there anyone who would like it read in its entirety? If not, do I have a motion? Page 49 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 21 of 22 Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: I move that we adopt Ordinance No. 20-1896, with suspension of rules. Strader: Second. Simison: I have a motion and a second to adopt Ordinance No. 20-1896 under suspension of the rules. Is there discussion on the motion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it. The ordinance is adopted. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. FUTURE MEETING TOPICS Simison: Are there any future meeting topics? Johnson: Mr. Mayor, not a future meeting topic, but a woman who spoke earlier, Heather, is still on the line. I know we had some audio issues, so I didn't know if you wanted to address what we did earlier with that application. Simison: Heather, do you -- let's go and wrap up the meeting, then, we can leave it open and speak to her afterwards. Johnson: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Simison: Is there a discussion -- anything else? If not, I will take a motion for adjournment. Bern: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: I move that we adjourn the meeting. Cavener: Second the motion. Simison: I have a motion and a second to adjourn the meeting. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it and we are adjourned. MOTION, CARRIED: ALLAYES. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 6:59 P.M. (AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS) Page 50 Meridian City Council Item#2. September 22,2020 Page 22 0122 10 / 13 / 2020 MAYOR ROBERT E. SIMISON DATE APPROVED ATTEST: CHRIS JOHNSON - CITY CLERK Page 51