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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-05-04 Work Session Minutes Item#1. Meridian City Council Work Session May 4, 2021. A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 4, 2021, by Council President Treg Bernt. Members Present: Joe Borton, Luke Cavener, Treg Bernt, Brad Hoaglun and Liz Strader. Members Absent: Robert Simison and Jessica Perreault. Also present: Chris Johnson, Bill Nary, Brian McClure, Steve Siddoway, Audrey Belnap, Brian Caldwell, Joe Bongiorno and Dean Willis. ROLL-CALL ATTENDANCE Liz Strader _X_ Joe Borton _X_ Brad Hoaglun _X_Treg Bernt Jessica Perreault _X Luke Cavener Mayor Robert E. Simison Bernt: Thank you all for attending our -- our workshop this -- this -- this afternoon, this evening. For the record it's 4:30 on Tuesday, May 4th. We will start out with roll call attendance. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Bernt: Next on the agenda is adoption of the agenda. Hoaglun: Mr. President? Bernt: Mr. Hoaglun. Hoaglun: I move adoption of the agenda as published. Borton: Second. Simison: I have a motion to adopt the agenda as published and I have a second. All those in favor signify by saying yes -- aye. Perfect. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item] 1. Approve Minutes of the April 20, 2021 City Council Work Session 2. Approve Minutes of the April 20, 2021 City Council Regular Meeting Page 4 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page 2 of 20 3. Hill's Century Farm North No. 1 Full Release of Sanitary Sewer and Water Main Easement 4. Hill's Century Farm North No. 1 Full Release of Water Main Easement 5. Hill's Century Farm North No. 1 Water Main Easement No. 1 6. Northpoint Recovery Center Pedestrian Pathway Easement 7. Pine 43 Apartments Phase 1 Sanitary Sewer and Water Main Easement No. 1 8. Pine 43 Apartments Phase 1 Sanitary Sewer and Water Main Easement No. 2 9. Final Plat for Tetherow Crossing Subdivision (FP-2021-0017) by Hayden Homes Idaho, LLC, Located to the Northeast of N. Linder Rd. and W. Ustick Rd. 10. Final Plat for TM Crossing No. 5 (FP-2021-0027) by Brighton Development, Located at the Northeast Corner of S. Wayfinder Ave. and W. Cobalt Dr. 11. Final Plat for Whitecliffe Estates No. 3 (FP-2021-0014) by 943 W. McMillan Rd., LLC, Located at 943 W. McMillan Rd. 12. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Ambles Run Subdivision (H-2020-0124) by HomeFound Group, Located '/4 Mile East of N. Locust Grove Rd. and '/z Mile South of Chinden Blvd. 13. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Movado Mixed Use (H-2020- 0123) by FlexSpace, LLC, Located on the South Side of E. Overland Rd. Between S. Eagle Road and S. Cloverdale Rd. 14. Resolution No. 21-2269: A Resolution Authorizing the Fourteenth Continuance of a Local Disaster Emergency Declaration and its Terms for an Additional Thirty (30) Days; Authorizing the Continued Immediate Expenditure of Public Money to Safeguard Life, Health and Property; and Providing an Effective Date Bernt: Next onto the Consent Agenda. Hoaglun: Mr. President? Bernt: Mr. Hoaglun. Page 5 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page 3- 20 Hoaglun: I have not heard any changes to the Consent Agenda, so I move that we approve the Consent Agenda, with the Mayor to sign and Clerk to attest. Borton: Second. Bernt: I have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Perfect. Motion passes. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. ITEMS MOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item] Bernt: There are no items moved from the Consent Agenda. DEPARTMENT / COMMISSION REPORTS [Action Item] 15. City Clerk's Office: Annual Report Bernt: So, we will go to Department and Commission Reports, starting off with the City Clerk's annual report. I will turn the time over to Mr. Clerk. Where did he go? Oh, there he is. Johnson: Thank you, Mr. President. I'm just getting my screen ready -- Bernt: Take your time. Johnson: -- and, then, I will be up to the podium. Bernt: And while he's looking at his computer, I just wanted to say that the Mayor is a little under the weather. He got his second COVID shot yesterday and so, hence, the reason why you got me, so if Mr. Mayor is listening we wish you well. I hope you get better soon. Johnson: Mr. President, Members of Council, thank you. Chris Johnson, City Clerk. I'm going to make this very brief. I see you mostly all week -- every week I mean, so -- but did want to talk briefly about what the clerk's office has done this last year and, then, what we are looking for from Council. So, here it goes. First I want to introduce the clerk staff. I believe everybody is here. I have also put the start date. So, as you can see we have two staff members who have been here six or more years and the rest of us are really new to the office. So, we have certainly adapted a lot in this last year and made a lot of changes. But mostly, you know, we are still going forward with our mission, which is, essentially, connecting our citizens to their government. The next few slides are things we do in the office. This is all on our website and in the record, so I'm not going to go through these, but they are there for you to look at if you choose. I wanted to talk about what we did in 2020 and, really, the successes we have had. So, a lot of it was change oriented. In 2020 we moved away from our old agenda provider, NovusAgenda, to Page 6 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page 4- 20 Municode Meetings. This has made things a little easier for staff. Allowed us a little more flexibility, as we needed to suddenly put hybrid meeting options into the agendas to be able to quickly adapt with executive sessions and do other things. We were able to do that with Municode. Also gives us better transparency. We can actually push the updated agenda or the -- essentially the actions that were made out to the public right away. So, we would like to be able to do that and Municode served as well that way. It's also a reduction in cost from NovusAgenda. So, we made some savings and made it a lot more flexible and user friendly. The second thing we did his move our city code server, our city code host, away from Sterling Codifiers we used for many years. They were bought out by a national company and we found that they weren't really meeting the needs of us as far as how quickly we could adapt and get new code published. So, we moved to Municode as well for them. They have got a much more responsive customer service. We can be a lot more flexible in how quickly we can make things updated as well. One thing we are still working on is the digital reader board for posting agendas. Last March staff and I made trips into City Hall when we were close to publish, just to make sure we were meeting those requirements of when we are posting meeting agendas and other notices. So, we are in the process of moving to the television you see inside City Hall. We are still working with IT to get the system to work appropriately. Once that's implemented we will be able to -- from anywhere we are connected to city servers update those agendas and any other noticing we need to do. Obviously, you know, we switched to a hybrid format last year. It was one of the Mayor's things he talked to me about before he was the Mayor is wanting the public to be able to join meetings from anywhere without having to worry about getting a sitter, coming to City Hall, finding parking, worrying about how long the meetings going to go. We just were forced to do it a lot sooner and a lot differently than we anticipated. So, thank you all for your flexibility as we did that. So, we were able to make that switch. We were able to train, you know, the staff, the volunteer commissioners. We worked on educating the public about how to join meetings and we worked -- you know, Adrienne especially has worked a lot with IT to make systems that would make this function well for the public. We had, of course, the Chamber's upgrades due to the Care -- thanks to the Cares Act funding and working with IT and the Mayor's office and we are able to make things function for the most part -- we are still working through some kinks, but to be able to use the cameras in the room, which I realized I don't have on, but that's okay -- to kind of connect everybody and make them feel like they are here. Another thing we did this last year is allow for online alcohol license renewals. So, this is the places that are serving or selling alcohol. They can now do that and pay online and send their documents electronically. Some still do that by check, but we can certainly -- we are happy now we can take those online and it came in very handy last spring as we were getting, you know, Fed Ex things and able to process those much more quickly. We also this last year changed the timeline of alcohol license renewals. So, instead of all three, the state, city, and county being due the same day, we have now staggered those. So, a business who -- you know, a small business doesn't have to pay for three licenses in the same month. So, the state is still July 1 -- no, I'm sorry. The state is May 1. The county's June 1. The city's July 1. So, somebody can still pay for them all at the same time or they can stagger them out. And, then, we also updated our online public records repository. Got the back of my head now, Adrienne. That's okay. Camera four is set appropriately if you want. So, we have updated those to make things a little easier Page 7 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page 5- 20 to find and try to get more information there for the public to get at their fingertips. And the photo there is just a photo I actually shared with the International Institute of Municipal Clerks when they asked what was --what was 2020 like and this was my desk during one of the many City Council meetings where we were all remote. I think Mr. Nary was in his office on the third floor and I was on the first floor with the nighttime cleaning crew. So, that was City Hall some days. But I like that -- that mission control picture, because besides the caffeine, I have got six different screens and we figured it out. Individual staff successes. I wanted to highlight what the staff were able to accomplish this last year and what they have been working on. You know, Nancy Radford, our assistant clerk, who does all of our permitting and licensing, you know, for special events, temporary use, mobile sales, those things, she was able to, of course, update the alcohol sales license timelines and she's also now started and we have just implemented doing alcohol catering permits completely online as well. So, if somebody, you know, owns a business and they are contracted to go out and do a special event in the park, they can apply for that alcohol catering permit online, pay online, and not have to make a trip to City Hall, you know, for a 20 to one hundred dollar fee. Charlene Way, another assistant clerk, she's worked, you know, especially this last year trying to make everything work without being present at City Hall. So, she has worked with -- with Municode. Now we are able to get away from a lot of paper. So, instead of a meeting ending with, you know, 40 sheets of paper that needs signed, we can sign those all electronically. We can get those off to Ada county for electronic recording much quicker that way and we have got, you know, reduction in timeline. Kayla George, another assistant clerk, is the primary passport acceptance agent in our office, with the exception of the 45 to 60 days, I have lost track, you know, that we were actually closed to the public, we have kept passport processing open and we have been able to meet the needs of our citizens. We have gotten the times -- there was a 60 day wait, you know, for a passport application, but, honestly, people really weren't going anywhere and if they needed to, you know, they probably needed to do something a little quicker than -- than what the State Department could allow. So, we have managed to keep that going throughout and that's due in large part to Kayla. Adrienne was really the driving force behind Municode and getting the agendas working. The other thing she's done is really worked with the Allumbaugh House, the joint powers entity with the cities and the county, the county commissioners, the State Department of Health and Welfare. She's really stepped up our support of Allumbaugh House and really helped them move to fully online meetings as well. I was able this last year to obtain my Idaho certified municipal clerk certification and also during the time when we were implementing this I worked with the National Association of Parliamentarians, of course, to be certified there as well. And, then, I'm pleased to introduce two new staff we have hired since I stood before you last year. Jaime Del Barrio came to us from Pepperdine University as our new administrative assistant. He was actually just recently a few months ago completed his passport acceptance training. It was a one year goal for him to be able to pass that certification and answer general questions and he's exceeded that and actually is processing passport applications at a level much higher than I'm ever going to be able to. So, we are very happy with that. And Jennifer Kitzberger came to us as a new position. We took our administrative assistant one position that was approved in 2019, once we realized we were able to do so much more online, we were able to repurpose that position as a records clerk and Jen is working with Adrienne very closely and processing public Page 8 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page 6- 20 records requests and managing our records retention planning. So, she came to us from the sheriff's department in Ada county and has just jumped right in and made the process even more efficient than we had gotten it before. So, pleased to welcome them to the team. Just some brief feedback. Some of this from Council, some of this from the public, from other city staff. We just -- I like to put this in the things that -- just the recognition. We try to keep these -- we don't do it for the recognition, but we would like to -- to know that we are meeting the needs, like I say, of our -- you know, our coworkers, our citizens and our elected officials. This next year our goals, really, and nothing we need direct support from Council, so not asking you for any money, not asking you for any positions, but like I mentioned, we are taking alcohol catering permits fully online. You can still walk in and do it, but we want you to not have to come to City Hall and, then, we are working next to take the fireworks permits. So, somebody that wants to do fireworks at the speedway, instead of having to fill out a paper application, come in, pay a fee, we are working to take that online as well through our -- our enterprise system the city uses for other permits and licensing. We do have the 2021 General City Election coming this year, but we will have three council member seats open and, then, we are really hoping to take what we learned in 2020 and apply it to improve processes. We were really pushed ahead in a lot of ways. We wanted to take a lot of things and reduce traffic and make things more accessible for the public without, again, coming to City Hall. We just had to do it a lot faster than we expected. But we are going to take what we learned and keep moving on that. And with that I just want to thank you for your time. Thank you for allowing me to stand before you and share what we did and happy to answer any questions you have about our processes. I didn't have photos of Jen and Jaime in here when we had our cardboard staff meeting, or hybrid meeting, so I made sure they were represented there as well. And, then, lastly, it is Municipal Clerks Week. So, we have never had a proclamation before, so I want to thank Council President for doing that for us this evening. But this is a big deal across the US and the world as we have many clerks associations. We are part of the Idaho Certified Clerk or City Clerk Treasurer and Financial Officers Association here, but there is the International Institute, which I'm working on my certification there as well, as is Adrienne Weatherly. So, I'm done babbling. Thank you for your time. Bernt: Your are not babbling. But, thank you, Mr. Clerk, for your presentation. Any thoughts from Council? Questions? Hoaglun: Mr. President? Bernt: Mr. Hoaglun. Hoaglun: I just want to compliment Chris and the team for what they did in 2020. 1 mean that was tremendous. There were -- there were so many changes and, like you said, you were looking at -- at doing some of these things, but at the speed you had to do well now, under the circumstances you had to do them, was just phenomenal and you guys really deserve a lot of kudos for that and it was outstanding work and the customer service that you can deliver now -- we have always had great customer service. You guys have gone above and beyond to serve the citizens of our community and that's fantastic. So, thank Page 9 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page , of 20 you. Johnson: Thank you. I appreciate it. Cavener: Mr. President? Bernt: Mr. Cavener. Cavener: We have been talking for three or four years about leveling up our processes at City Hall and, boy, if there is a department that's had to do that this year it's the clerk's department and I appreciate the comments from Council Member Hoaglun. I was lucky enough -- or maybe Chris drew the short straw --was the liaison for the past couple years and I really appreciate --you know, Council Member Hoaglun talked about our customers, both our external customers in the public, but our internal customers within the city and really the whole department is just so customer focused and employee focused, citizen focused, you guys have done a great job of leveling up and appreciate all you do to help support us on the Council and our various commissions, so that if -- if something goes bad it's typically on us, it has very little to do with the clerk's department. You guys set us up for success. Bernt: I agree. Johnson: Thank you, Councilman Cavener. 16. Professional Municipal Clerks Week Proclamation Bernt: Proclamation time. Here I come. Cavener: State championship clerks. Do we have their name in the formal version that will be part of the record? Bernt: Absolutely. Each and every one of you are going to come and introduce yourselves for the record. Well, it's a pleasure -- it's always a pleasure to read proclamations. I don't get to do it that often, but when I do it's -- it definitely is a pleasure -- and here is Jaime. Hurry. Hurry. Hurry. Run. Run. Run. Whereas the office of the professional municipal clerk is the oldest among public servants and serves as an information center on functions of local government and community and whereas the office of the professional municipal clerk, a time honored and vital part of local government exists throughout the world and whereas the office of the professional municipal clerk provides the professional link between the citizens, the local governing bodies and agencies of government at other levels, and whereas Meridian has had 14 city clerks throughout its history, each of whom have pledged to be ever mindful of their neutrality, impartiality in rendering equal service to all and whereas professional municipal clerks continually strive to improve the administration of the affairs of the office of the professional municipal clerk through participation in education programs, seminars, parties, workshops -- I'm only kidding about the parties -- and annual meetings of their Page 10 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page 8- 20 state, provincial, and county and international professional organizations. Therefore, I, Council President Treg Bernt, on behalf of Mayor Robert E. Simison, do hereby proclaim May 2nd through the 8th, 2021, as Professional Municipal Clerks Week in the City of Meridian and urge all community members to extend a pre -- extend appreciation to a professional municipal clerk and to all professional municipal clerks for their vital services they perform and their exemplary dedication to the communities they represent. Thank you. Good job. Before we take a picture do you want to say a couple words and invite some of your folks to maybe say some words if would like, Mr. Clerk? Go for it. Johnson: If anyone would like you certainly are welcome, but their work really speaks for itself. I think they do a wonderful job and, as I said as they were coming in, that their job is much harder than mine. My job is just to help them be successful, but they do that really on their own. So, thank you, everyone. Bernt: That was great. It was great. Good job with the clerk's department. We certainly couldn't do what we do without the clerk, you know. I don't think he sits in his seat longer than ten minutes every meeting. So, I appreciate you, Mr. Clerk and your team. You guys do a phenomenal job and just echo what my fellow Council Member said. I mean through COVID you did an amazing job and your -- and your department did an amazing job. What you guys accomplished and helped out and made -- made the transition from in- person meetings to hybrid meetings so easy and no one could have done it better. So, thank you so much. Johnson: Thank you. I appreciate it. 17. Parks and Recreation Department: Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Amendment in the Amount of $10,000.00 for the Meridian Development Corporation Sponsorship of Concerts on Broadway Bernt: All right. That takes us to Item No. 17, Parks and Recreation Department Budget Amendment and Audrey -- is Audrey online? There she is. Good. Belnap: Yes. Yes. Hello, Council Members. It's good to see you today. So, this budget amendment is for ten thousand dollars and it is the -- the sponsorship that the Meridian Development Corporation gives the Arts Commission for our Concerts On Broadway series each year. This concert series will be three Saturdays in -- between August and September. We will have three different performances and this ten thousand dollars will help us pay for those performances and -- and be able to give our citizens a couple of nights out and, hopefully, by August and September we will -- we will be able to have fun night where we can get together and enjoy each other's company again. We are really looking forward to it and I think we are going to be able to do it this year. Hoaglun: Mr. President? Bernt: Mr. Hoaglun. Page 11 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page 9- 20 Hoaglun: In the absence of Council Woman Perreault, I will make a motion here, but I, too, want to say, Audrey, I -- I look forward to the Concerts On Broadway. I really missed them last year. So, we hope that does come true, so -- so, Mr. President, I move that we approve the Parks and Recreation Department's fiscal year 2021 budget amendment in the amount of ten thousand dollars for the Meridian Development Corporation sponsorship of Concerts On Broadway. Borton: Second. Bernt: I have a motion and a second. Any discussion on the motion? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Any nay? Passes. Perfect. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. Bernt: Thank you, Audrey. Appreciate you. Belnap: Thank you. 18. Community Development Department: Fields Implementation Discussion Bernt: Thank you. Have a good evening. On to Item No. 18, Community Development Department Fields implementation discussion by Brian and the representatives from Logan Simpson. There he is. There we go. Take it away, Brian. McClure: Council President, City Council, thank you for having us here tonight. This is a follow-up conversation to the one we had two weeks ago regarding The Fields project. As a reminder, the purpose of this presentation and discussion tonight is about potential tools for funding public infrastructure, namely, parks and open space. Given the geographic constraints, timing, past approvals, continuing development, pressures and other budget priorities, the project team would like to put a few additional tools for consideration into this plan. None of these are commitments now, nor will they be final in a sub area plan, we just want you to feel comfortable considering these with future projects or to understand if there is any absolute nonstarters, even for discussion purposes. To wrap up questions from last meetings, we are going to review the land uses quickly, highlight some park metrics, and, then, get onto the feature topic of funding mechanisms. Our consultants with Logan Simpson are on the line and will be participating in this conversation. Here is a reminder of the project location. I know we are all familiar. Just for anyone else. The northwest corner of the city there is four square miles, largely undeveloped, but there are a number of entitlements and ongoing developments, such as Owyhee High School. The image here depicts the future land uses approved in the center of the -- of the blue dashed line, but also highlights the adjacent land uses of cities of Star to the north and Nampa to the west and south. Worth noting -- there are some boundary disputes between Star and Nampa in the northwest, so it can be different. Within Meridian is a few areas where employment can take place, most notably in the industrial mixed use, nonresidential mixed use regional and potentially Page 12 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page 10 of 20 the mixed use interchange designations. The other nonresidential designations are unlikely to provide employment due to the size, geographic constraints or other entitlements. As you can see here, 90 percent of the area around The Fields area is mixed use or commercial designations. The purple are mixed use and the reds and pinks are generally mixed use or commercial. There is a lot of opportunity for a lot of density in these areas and if typical development trends in the region hold, a lot of industry -- indistinct strip commercial development. This context, local and city wide, and including transportation considerations was considered with the comp plan. Not that we can't revisit these -- these future land designations now, but it's a little perilous to timing and momentum to pull on those strings and in most cases it wouldn't directly affect what we are trying to do with this plan right now, which is sense of place and quality of life sort of considerations. On the subject of park need, this is a map depicting facility planning. Some of this is a little old now, but the park locations are good. Of late our realized parks per acreage has been dropping and even with new program improvements, the continued and constant population growth will absorb much of that benefit from any new facility or expansion. Since the Park and Recreation master plan was done in 2015, Owyhee was approved and other services, such as police, fire, and utilities have been considered for expansion, parks remains a gap and the need in The Fields is there. We can throw some cost numbers out there if Council really wants that, but we are trying to avoid specifics at this point. There is so much work that goes into facility size, type, timing, and whether it's a partnership opportunity or not and all that makes back-of-the-napkin math a little disingenuous. Again, we have that, we can talk about it if you want, but I'm recommending we don't. I realize that this is something that people do want to talk about more. It's important, but we are missing a lot of the context and sideboards and I really would like to get through the funding topic first. Unless there is some critical questions now, I would like to turn this over to Bruce Meighen with Logan Simpson to first talk about some of the additional funding opportunities that would relate to implementation strategies. Meighen: Thank you, Brian. Yeah. Bruce Meighen with Logan Simpson. I'm joined by Megan Moore and Cameron Gloss, two people that can provide some augmentation to my answers. But at our last meeting the question was really investigating this early look at funding, so we can ensure The Fields area happens in the way that we want to see it. So, we thought it would be important to -- providing a white paper, which was supplied in your packet, but also highlight some of those planning tools that are out there and, again, it's not to -- as Brian said, not to find a solution yet, but, again, to start those discussions earlier before The Fields area starts developing, which it's already beginning to heat up out there. So, I don't know if you want to move forward, Brian. So, some of these tools are very--are not new to you, but I will just highlight for the sake of being thorough, clearly within Idaho it's very common to see URD or rural renewal districts. You have them. Most communities use them. You can see them being used in McCall, for example, a community that's not you as an example, but they use that to fund their Greenway Park and they just renewed it to coverall their downtown. Essentially, URDs are -- usually deal with areas that are deteriorating, but they have been used in areas that are green fields that need help. How they work is simply they are freezing the tax value of the property and, then, you are collecting the increment as a property goes up in value, you are gathering that increment and reinvesting it back into that property. Sometimes you do Page 13 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page 11 of 20 bond against that to get early improvements and -- and those improvements are usually targeted towards public improvements around that area. But this is a tool that you are well aware of and there is a lot of various opinions on -- on the effectiveness of this tool. Moving forward. Another common tool -- again, another one used in adjacent cities that was a local improvement district. This is -- tends to be a more targeted way to pay for both roads or-- or infrastructure. It, essentially, can be used in combination with what we are talking about in terms of a CIV or a community improvement district, but it tends to be more oriented towards a series of infrastructure projects. It can be formed by simply -- either a vote of the property owners to say we need these improvements and we want to spread our cost over time. Or in some cases it can be done with a majority vote of Council towards where a target improvement is needed and where you can show that nexus it can be put in place. But, essentially, it's a way to pay for a large -- large improvements over time, so you don't burden any one group. And, then, the tool that we mentioned last time is a community infrastructure district. This is something that is -- is more common now, especially with the communities of Harris Ranch and Avimore. This is essentially -- usually initiated by the private side and it's, essentially, a district that allows you to get the incremental -- or basically take a levy off property taxes where as that property goes up you are, basically, pulling a fee off -- off the increment of that property tax as it goes up. In this case it has to be initiated by the landowners with a vote of -- two-thirds vote. But those properties don't have to be continuous, it's using those who are going to benefit and, then, as -- essentially as the property value goes up, because of those improvements, so does that -- that net income you are getting off that fee that, then, gets reinvested. Bonding in this case is usually done by that group or that agency, not by the city. So, reducing risk in that case. But I think what's interesting about it it does have some -- usually a group's on board that administrates a community infrastructure district, that board would generally include some elected officials to make sure that those funds are being directed in the right way and so this is typically what you see when you look at financial reports. So, this is right out of our financial consultant's papers, so more typical. Essentially compares them all. The only one that's added in here is development impact fees. Development impact fees generally are a good source, in this case, you know, whether it's parks or open space, roads, and so on. But generally don't always allow for payment of everything that when you are looking for an area that's slightly more amenitized. And, then, if we move forward and, then, we will get to our initial question to our time. Clearly I think we talked about these, but just, again, to be thorough, there are ways that things can be paid for just -- just straight out of federal funds, to making sure that they are part of your capital improvement programs as you look forward, especially when you are dealing with parks and roads. You can look at development reimbursement agreements, where a developer pays for their construction ahead of time and, then, if they oversize it or -- or provide for something beyond what is needed for their development, we, essentially, pay them back. And, then, lastly, clearly using the funds that we have already for improvements, just directing them in the right way. So, that just gives a little piece of, you know, the tools that we could look at if directed to do so in terms of continuing on with the next steps. But to maybe pick up where we left off at our last discussion, we were asking everyone to sort of think about implementations, knowing that development is going to happen quickly and we want to start getting ahead of the game, so we are proactive in planning for a future that we would like to see. So, we have talked Page 14 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page 12 of 20 about three options. It doesn't -- there could be six options. But it's really to get the discussion going. You know, with option one, simply following through and making sure that we maybe take the next steps of design guidelines for the primary center in The Fields, saying this is what we would like to see. So, the developer comes in, they know what to expect and know what to build and what the city is looking for. Especially since it's been planned around the center and, then, some very targeted funding, more -- or partnerships with the city on -- but to a limited capacity. Maybe the level you would normally do. Maybe notching it up a little bit that discussion of really continuing your work on the Five Mile Creek greenway and continuing that construction, maybe even enhancing it, so that he integrates within that center providing connectivity both to your local communities, your adjacent communities, but to the rest of the city and, then, considering looking at some of these other funding tools, providing some other opportunities to increase the level of facilities in that area. Lastly, we talked a little bit last time about the idea of -- since there were several parks planned for The Fields area, at least within the parks plan -- is focusing that park development close to that center, so that it's a way to provide sort of a focal point for place as -- for both the residential, but also the commercial town center itself and to be proactive about starting that city park process, whether that's simply acquiring the land early before it gets more expensive or starting to think a little bit about directing our energy in that fashion and, then, combining it with other funding sources, whether that's typically allocating or earmarking general funds over time or looking at these other tools that we talked about, including that community improvement district. On that note that's where we left off, so I will stop. Thank you very much. McClure: Council President, Members of Council, with that we would love to answer any questions before or after my comment or what Bruce just went through, but thank you for letting me get through that first. Bernt: Any questions? Borton: Mr. Mayor? Bernt: Mr. Borton. Borton: Brian and Bruce, is the city park the only municipal asset that is being considered when -- in this area discussing the tools that we might want to utilize or is there another public asset that -- Meighen: Yeah. Thank you. That is -- that is -- that is a great -- a great question. In this case the city park -- since we know we have to provide some -- some park -- level of park -- is really just a means to focus that -- that investment towards the center. But we did talk a little bit about these improvements in the Five Mile Creek, which is an investment in itself and, then, within the design itself it includes having Five Mile Creek cross over the ditches and, essentially, provide sort of a green space into that center. So, there could be some additional investment in terms of a civic green or some -- some level of public facility that encroaches into that town center as that sort of design unfolds over time and, Page 15 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page 13 of 20 of course, you know, the -- the community always invests -- they are dealing with both roads, streets, infrastructure that you already, you know, are doing that, including the new lift station as well. McClure: Council President Bernt, Councilman Borton, the lift station there would be an important sort of side note. There could be a lot of public improvements out here. The lift station is programmed in the city's -- or will be programmed in city's capital financial plan -- or comprehensive financial plan, the CFP, in the next couple of years. I think next year it starts design and a couple years after that for construction. But a developer could -- could request that be advanced tomorrow and they could say, hey, we want to do a CID with a bunch of developers out here to pay for that. So, the plan doesn't necessarily mean just those things, it could be other things. Those tools, rather, could be for other things, but the plan is really focused on the quality of life elements, such as parks, open space, and, then, the trail network. So, that's our focus, but the tool could be used for other things. Borton: Thank you. Strader: Mr. President? Bernt: Is that Ms. Strader? Strader: Just a couple questions. How close are we to a specific area plan or map similar to Ten Mile? So, I hope we can do that early, so as things come before us we can sort of get ahead of that. So, I wanted to just check on that status. And, then, my second comment slash question -- I saw -- I think it was the LID option had the latecomer capability. That would be really important, I think if we were to do that. I wouldn't want to penalize folks who live there already, who aren't improving their property, with some kind of an extra tax or assessment, but could we use a latecomer provision to sort of put the funds toward improvements in the district toward everyone who is coming in to develop new projects? Those are my -- my two, I guess, questions. McClure: Council President Bernt, Council Woman Strader, the first question regarding the -- sort of the status of the plan, The Fields sub area plan is similar to the Ten Mile plan, definitely. It doesn't have its own specific land uses, like the Ten Mile plan does, and it does a lot of things differently, the chief of which would be sort of the implementation -- implementation strategy we are seeking here. We are also seeking to identify earlier -- early on what, if any, public participation would be ideal. I think I mentioned it last time, but the Ten Mile area does not have a single park and it does not have a single school within the entire area. That wasn't forward thinking enough in some of those regards. And so we are trying to identify whether that's important now, but that is part of this plan what we are doing right now is funding implementation. The park could be general fund tomorrow if Council wanted it or it could be a developer says they want to do a CID, we don't really know what that is, but this -- this conversation will wrap into the sub area plan and sort of feed into some of the directions we can take that through implementation to achieve the overall vision. We are trying to get there. Hopefully, in the next couple of Page 16 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page 14 of 20 months you will see a draft plan and a public hearing process for that. Not quite there yet, though. And, Bruce, maybe you can address the second question. Meighen: Yeah. No, I -- that one I will -- I'm going to -- you know, we will have to do research on coming back and, then, talk to our economic consultant on whether you can opt in. Clearly the ideal thing is the larger properties opt in now and, then, as development occurs, you know, that burden is shared by -- it definitely seems a concern there, that you have a property that says that--you know, you get two-thirds of the vote and one property says, hey, wait a minute, I don't want to participate right now and, then, the other properties are paying in. So, we will have to come back with the specifics on how a property joins up with this -- with a CID and, then, also what leverage the nexus forces them to do so. My guess is there a mechanism, because if there was an improvement, for example, and a property develops afterwards, they would have to have some sort of payback agreement to take advantage of that improvement. So, we take an example of an enhanced boulevard or road or trail and that CID pay -- pays for that and, then, a property then develops later on, but is not part of the CID, but benefits from it, we would have to have some sort of payback mechanism in order to make use of that. So, my guess is there is a mechanism. However, I want to make sure I'm specific on that, so I'm going to consult our -- Leland, our economic consultant. McClure: Councilman Bernt, Councilman Strader, maybe just one other sort of note on that. This process can be a -- sort of a carrots process, not necessarily carrots and sticks -- but carrots. You know, if a developer -- developer or development corporation came through and said we want to do a project and it's going to benefit the city, then, maybe they don't have to provide open space in the same levels and if someone doesn't want to participate, then, maybe they still have to do X, Y and Z, like they normally would be. So, that -- I mean there is -- there is a lot of opportunities here and a lot of potential and it doesn't necessarily have to be a latecomer, it could be through other tools. Not that a latecomer is bad, but there is lots of ways to approach it. Strader: Quick question. Follow up. Sorry. This is my last one. Bernt: Ms. Strader. Strader: While I'm thinking about it, so can -- can we legally consider participation in the CID or LID as a criteria as part of a decision on a development application? Nary: So, Mr. President, Members of the Council, generally not, but that is sort of how -- you have to consider the Ten Mile area plan when -- if somebody wants to bring in something, again, if it's an annexation that's not entitled, that's certainly a consideration. But requiring maybe a part of it or something that -- that as a condition prior to annexation is a little more troubling. I don't know how a court would consider that mandate. But, again, if it doesn't fit the plan, so, therefore, it's not in the best interest of the city, they can choose to not join it and we wouldn't annex them, so -- Strader: Thanks. Page 17 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page ——20 Cavener: Mr. President? Bernt: Mr. Cavener. Cavener: Brian, approximately how many property owners are out there now? And it's -- I'm assuming that we haven't probably done any preliminary -- initial conversations to kind of gauge any interest or thought from the folks that live out there. McClure: Councilman Bernt, Councilman Cavener, there is approximately one hundred unique property owners out there right now. There is more properties, but a bunch of them are owned under the same -- same ownership. I have mentioned some of this topic to several groups, including one more substantial owner out there -- or rather representative for a group of owners. I don't know if they have any interest in that yet, that they are -- in that yet or not. They are going to talk about that and, then, maybe follow up with us. But it would be entirely dependent on whether they wanted to do that or not. Most of it -- most of the -- sort of the tools that -- that Bruce just went through that the city sort of -- city staff and the project team are leaning towards would be more of a -- hey, 1, the developer, want to do this. City, would you be interested in supporting us, not the other way around. Cavener: Mr. President? Bernt: Mr. Cavener. Cavener: I see that Steve's on the line and I'm just -- one of the maps we saw with the parks showed the current parks, but I know we have got a feature park out that way and I don't know, Brian, what the conversation has been with the Parks Department or if Steve had any comments he wanted to share. Not to put him on the spot. McClure: Councilman Bernt, Councilman Cavener, Steve said he would be happy to discuss if there is a question he could help with, so you are not throwing him under the bus. I will say I did bring up that map again, so you can see those parks. The larger parks sort of in the works out there still would be the -- the Borup Bottles properties. I'm not sure what the current name of that is, but that's on Cherry near -- near McDermott. Siddoway: Yeah. So, the names have changed. Oh, Mr. President, Council. Borup Bottles -- Bottles' property in our CFP is called West Meridian Regional Park. Seasons Park exists. And, then, the one up top in Bainbridge Subdivision, that was called William Watson six years ago when the plan was developed. It is now Keith Bird Legacy Park. The feature Aldape Park is planned north of this map along the river and I know that they are still looking forward to that. I received a message from Sherrie Ewing just a couple weeks ago saying they are looking forward to building a park together. But still don't have a real notion of -- of timing yet. Personally, I'm grateful that the Planning Department is bringing us this opportunity. We need -- we -- while we don't have a large park in this area in our CFP, meaning the comprehensive financial plan for the next ten years, we certainly know that there are needs and the Comprehensive Plan does identify some park Page 18 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page ——20 stars that you are familiar with that would allow us to have conversations with future development to acquire land for--for future parks. I would say that given the rapid growth of the city, we know that we will need more park land, but our -- my biggest challenge right now coming at it kind of cold, if you will, is that -- is the funding piece. You know, how do we -- we already know the CFP is fairly maxed out if we are to add in a large park like this where does the funding come from? Certainly a new park like this is impact fee eligible, but we have the forecasted impact fees slated to cover the previous parks mentioned. Now, if we grow beyond the population projections in that last impact fee study, some of those can be used here. But we know we are going to need more than we have. We also know we are currently losing ground, as Brian alluded to at the beginning of his comments. Our goal has been, as was stated, to get to four acres per thousand. We have historically been around three, given the rapid growth in the last couple years we have recently lost ground from three down to about 2.6 currently, which is why I don't want to update impact fees until we get back up to our -- at least our previously existing level of service. Long answer to your short question is -- I will summarize by saying we do need more park land. I'm very happy to engage in the conversation and hopeful that this might lead us to a solution to be able to fund additional park space out here. Cavener: Thanks, Steve. Siddoway: Thank you. Cavener: And, Mr. President, sorry. Steve, one more. If I -- with the images that are in front of us right now, am I correct that that top of green dot -- that's -- that's the proposed Margaret Aldape Park? Siddoway: Yes. That -- the green star at the very top of the map is where Margaret Aldape Park is. That larger green -- dark green area is larger than probably Aldape Park itself will be, but it's just drawn to -- I believe it was drawn to follow the floodway at the time that was there saying, it couldn't be developed as anything else, it would have to remain open space. But, yes, about -- now, we have been talking in the neighborhood of 70 acres with them. The -- the actual size still TBD when it gets closer to time to dedicate or develop something. Cavener: Thank you. Bernt: Any other questions for Brian or Bruce? My thoughts just real quickly. I think that this area of our -- of our city is -- is extremely important. I think doing something cool out there that has to do with our identity and who we are as a community and what we have been as a community in the past is extremely important. I'm sure that includes a park and green space, gathering spaces. I think that's really important. I think it's also important that we are somewhat specific on what we want to do out in that area, just so that we can have future developers and future development know what to expect when they -- you know, when they purchase property or whatever the case may be. So, if that is a -- you know, this is what we expect, we are here, maybe as a public-private Page 19 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page 11 of 20 partnership or do something with that. I don't know what that looks like. But I think that what was discussed earlier makes sense, whether that's a CID, LID -- I don't -- I think that getting Todd involved, the Mayor involved, you know, and your department involved in discussing what that looks like is most important I think. But that's just my thought. I don't know if that's the direction you are looking for. It's sort of vague, but I think you already knew that. Cavener: Mr. President? Bernt: Mr. Cavener. Cavener: Brian, I think you started as part of this presentation by making sure you at least want to get from Council if there any no way Jose type of thing, you know, we are not moving forward. I think the concept that was presented a couple of weeks ago was -- that to Council President Bernt's perspective, very intriguing. Whether it's CID, LID, something else, I -- personally I'm open to those conversations. There is not a -- I'm not interested -- the part that is important is the part that you touched on that I really appreciated, which is the -- it's landowner lead or landowner-- you know, staff supported. I don't like the other way of maybe the city comes saying you have got to do this. That's -- that's where I'm coming from today. I would want to hear from some of those owners, what their perspective is. That to me seems more intriguing than the inverse. Hoaglun: Mr. President, just my thoughts. Agree with Councilman Cavener's comments there of not -- not opposed, it's just a matter of how are we going to do this, with the priorities, financing, the whole thing you presented. I was just as I listened to the presentation, thinking back on the other parks that have been developed in our community and -- and Discovery Park -- I was on Council when that occurred and -- and, of course, we were in a different time of a recession and a developer is looking for cash and makes us a great offer and we find a way to scrape up the money, literally finding whatever we can to -- to pay for that, because we knew some day -- and I thought at the time 20 years down the road that's going to be fantastic out there. Little did I know we are talking about phase two so quick. But, you know, development is occurring now. It's a different time. So, how do we get ahead of that? I don't know if we do now, because, you know, before it was -- we find the money, we save for it, we purchase the land, and, then, growth comes out there and so I feel like we are playing catch up a little bit. So, I don't know if the -- the old way of doing it of, hey, let's just set aside some money and start building that fund and purchasing land. So, I'm --thank you for the financing options. It gives us a lot to think about and there are partners out there already that we should probably consult with to see what we --what the vision is in terms of how they are thinking about things and what our vision is to -- to make that look like. So, we definitely need to move forward. I think you are on the right track in your discussions with folks and the different players out there, property owners, and we just need to continue figuring out, okay, what is this going to look like? What can we afford? How do we afford it? And -- and, then, get it done. But I can't tell you exactly how and when, so -- Borton: Mr. President? Page 20 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page 18 of 20 Bernt: Mr. Borton. Borton: Just to add to the discussion and maybe takeaways -- I agree with everybody who believes that large public open space is a big key part of this plan. I think Council Woman Strader's comments about providing as much certainty and structure to this is going to be helpful to everybody in the long run. My sense is that comes with an ask from you to us to -- to have some discipline and not encourage development in this area until this plan is completed, presented, and adopted. And as far as funding mechanisms, I don't -- I don't think urban renewal fits out there. I think the other ones do. Amongst the tools in the toolbox that's the least viable I think, but you probably don't need it in light of the other ones, so -- if we hold true, provide direction to you and, then, encourage the development community to hold, participate as Councilman Cavener described, don't go submit applications to the city and expect action, because we want to see this plan be completed first. Strader: Mr. President? Bernt: Ms. Strader. Strader: I think it's -- I open minded agree with everybody else. The only points for me with the LID and CID were -- I want to make sure we are not adding a tax on existing landowners that aren't improving their property, to be blunt. So, people can opt into this if they want to do something with their property and develop it. I think that's important. And, then, I'm totally spot on with Councilman Borton. Get a plan together quickly is important and that we sort of try to guide development and stick to this plan. I would hate to just like approve a bunch of things next week that deviate from our vision and just undermines the whole point. So, I don't think there is anything wrong with you guys in planning with the Mayor and everybody moving forward on a specific area plan similar to Ten Mile, but souped up with, you know, open spaces and -- I think that would be great. McClure: Council President, that was extremely helpful. I appreciate all the feedback. Thank you. Bernt: Thanks, guys. I appreciate the discussion. Thank you for -- Brian, for your presentation and, Bruce, good to see you again my man. All right. Borton: Mr. President? Bernt: Mr. Borton. Borton: Real quick. Bruce, question for you. You have been around the area doing projects for a while. Did Kuna do their wastewater plant with an LID? Meighen: Don't -- don't know the answer to that and my guess is probably not. Borton: Okay. Page 21 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page 19 of 20 Meighen: It probably -- my guess is -- what I have seen at least I can -- I can -- but I can speak more to working in Star right now and they are doing a lot of their improvements in -- straight out of the federal funds, but, eventually, it will all catch up to them where they do have to put in other financing mechanisms in order for that growth. So, a lot of the communities are in the same boat. But as far as that one specific -- Kuna's actions, I don't know. Borton: Okay. EXECUTIVE SESSION 19. Per Idaho Code 74-206(1)(c) to acquire an interest in real property not owned by a public agency Bernt: All right. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. Moving on to the next item is 19, which is Executive Session. Hoaglun: Mr. President? Bernt: Mr. Hoaglun. Hoaglun: I move that we go into Executive Session per Idaho Code 74-206(1)(c). Borton: Second. Bernt: I have a motion to go into Executive Session and a second. Clerk call the roll. Roll call: Borton, yea; Cavener, yea; Bernt, yea; Perreault, absent; Hoaglun, yea; Strader, yea. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. EXECUTIVE SESSION: (5:28 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.) Hoaglun: Mr. President? Bernt: Mr. Hoaglun. Hoaglun: I move that we come out of Executive Session. Borton: Second. Bernt: I have a motion and a second to come out of Executive Session. All those in favor say aye. Any nays? MOTION CARRIED: FIVE ONES. ONE ABSENT. Page 22 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#1. May 4,2021 Page 20—20 Bernt: Do I have another motion? Hoaglun: Mr. President? Bernt: Mr. Hoaglun. Hoaglun: I move we adjourn. Borton: Second. Bernt: All right. All those in -- we have a motion to adjourn. All those in favor say aye. We are adjourned. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 6:00 P.M. (AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS) 5 / 18 /2021 Robert E. Simison, Mayor DATE APPROVED ATTEST: CHRIS JOHNSON - CITY CLERK Page 23