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Home My WebLink About2021 07-19 Gary Dudicek From:Liz Strader Sent:Monday,July 19,2021 11:07 AM To:Gary&Judith Dudlicek Subject:Re:Power and Water and other resources Gary, Thank you very much for reaching out to me. It's good to hear that we share some of the same concerns. It is a very tough balance to strike to build sufficient housing in this environment when our resources are being stretched. It's very important that we continue to build housing,but I am also looking for orderly development. For me,the key is ensuring that our services including our city infrastructure,impact fees,sewer sheds,city water all keep up with the growth. That particular subdivision was in a priority growth area,but I had concerns about the topography up on the rim and the drainage. When I have unanswered questions,I typically vote no. I think it's important that we get things correct the first time,we will not get a"do-over"and will be living with these for the future. I've had some follow up since with that developer and hope to see more details on that particular drainage plan. It may reassure you to some extent,we do charge impact fees on all new development. In addition,our public works folks are telling me that geologically from a drinking water perspective Meridian is in a good position. That is not the case,however,for the surface irrigation water supplies that are more constrained. One thing that we are doing differently,is now we are instituting"priority growth areas"and that means there are areas that are not a high priority as well where we should not build all at the same time. The power concerns are a new topic I haven't thought about much yet,but I am glad you mentioned it,I will do some research on that issue. You are correct,the city services are critical,and that is why I will be supporting two new fire stations in this years upcoming budget. Unfortunately we have to build two at once,the previous land use decisions from the location of a new high school and councils before have forced our hand. I intend be very strict on these priority growth areas on all development going forward. Thank you,tough topics to balance,I appreciate hearing your thoughts! Liz Liz Strader I City Councilwoman City of Meridian I City Council Office 33 E.Broadway Ave.,Meridian,Idaho 83642 Phone:1 208-546-9501 Online Meeting Scheduler: Click Here Built for Business,Designed for Living From:Gary&Judith Dudlicek<tradewindsna sbcglobal.net> Sent:Thursday,July 1S,2021 12:30:20 PM To:Liz Strader Subject:Power and Water and other resources External Sender-Please use caution with links or attachments. July 15,2021 Councilwoman Liz Strader, I read where you did not agree with the rest of the city council on the new community in south east Meridian.You stated "We have a rim out there and need to have good drainage and uphold the landscape.You mentioned that you wish we could pause development in this entire area to study it and get recommendations on how to best treat it. I agree with you. Idaho has a problem with uncontrolled growth that impacts the resources required,and how about the green areas that should still be available to the current residents? The physical resources of water and power like everyone knows is being pushed to the limit now. I know there are plans in place with Idaho power for MH which hopefully will be operational by the end of 2026. It seems Gateway West has a long way to go but I have not found the project schedule for that. I hope the water company has something in the works because we have a water shortage now without adding any additional houses. I know that every house pays taxes but what does it cost the city in resources like water, power,sewer,fire department, police, hospitals and schools.The developer should pay impact fees or donate land or both. Does the city do a review and make decisions based on the numbers and then decide if it something feasible that they want to proceed with? Maybe ask the developer for changes or just pass on the project.We should not build everything that is being presented or at least just slow down,take a break and make sure we can provide services for the projects before we allow any more building. I took a ride to review the proposed Skybreak subdivision that is planned to have 353 single family homes. I read where the city approved 2,097 new residential building permits from June 2020 to May 2021 and now with 353 more single family homes in the Skybreak subdivision, it brings the total to 2097+353=2450 homes. And I'm sure there are many more developments being planned that we are not aware of yet. Idaho Power will need to provide an average of 25KWH per day per house-25x30x2450-1,837,500 KWH of energy per month just for these new houses. Water supplier will need to provide an average of 65-70 gallons per day per house 65x30x2450-which is 4,777,500 gallons of water per month just for these new houses.We have already been asked to reduce our water consumption and reduce our power consumption by increasing the temperatures in our homes!!Why would we add more stress to the area at this time? Amid the drought,a special deal was arranged by the Idaho Department of Water Resources between the groundwater users and the surface water users. Also allocated is another 2,500 total acre-feet of water from the Ririe Reservoir, Henry's Lake Reservoir and the Twin Falls Canal Company. If this deal had not happened we would have a serious problem with the farmers growing the crops. As if the explosion in home building is not enough,the extreme heat and fires brings an additional demand on the water supply as well as the fire fighters and other EMT's and we are still trying to handle the Covid variants. Added to all of this, let's not ignore the heavy traffic that will evolve in the future. We are already dealing with that and it will only get much worse. And there are other problems we already have with Power and Water.So far there are more potential building permits to be issued in the near future for Briar Ridge Subdivision with 227 residential building lots and the Centerville Subdivision with 124 single-family residential lots,35 town home lots,2 multi-family lots.This will put an even greater demand on all the other resources that will need to be provided. We moved here to be near our daughter and her family March of 2020.She has been here for twenty five years and during the times we have visited with her we have noticed big changes in everything.The tremendous growth that Idaho has recently experienced has strained the services and resources we all normally expect.The increase in homes prices and monthly rents are already having an impact on the normal long term residents that earn a wage of$11-$15/hr and will soon be losing their homes. If we had not moved here when we did we could not have afforded the house we now live in.Just because there are a lot of people that want to move to Idaho does not mean you build on every open piece of property.The cities still need to think about the people that have lived here their whole lives and keep open some green areas before the Meridian and Boise area especially look like the big cities of Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. Crowded areas do not lend themselves to happy populations. It just brings more crime and danger. I believe with the cost of everything and the eviction moratorium ending July 31,2021 the city needs to prepare for a flood of cases from mortgages and rents unpaid which could lead to a lot of homeless people.This will put a lot of pressure on the police department to handle domestic problems with home owners and renters. Unless everyone else knows something that the rest of us do not there is no immediate cure for more power and water because if there was we would not have not been told to conserve these resources. It makes no sense to hope or pretend that everything will be OK.What is needed is a project plan with milestones and planned completion dates and solutions for all the above question I have outlined. I want to thank you for being concerned about this growth situation and wanted you to know that I am a concerned resident also. Gary Dudlicek 4333 E Vacheron St Meridian, Idaho 83642