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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-06-28 Work Session Meridian City Council Work Session June 28, 2022. A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 4:50 p.m., Tuesday, June 28, 2022, by Mayor Robert Simison. Members Present: Robert Simison, Joe Borton, Luke Cavener, Treg Bernt, Jessica Perreault, Brad Hoaglun and Liz Strader. Also present: Chris Johnson, Bill Nary, Crystal Campbell, Brandon Frasier, Joe Bongiorno and Dean Willis. ROLL-CALL ATTENDANCE Liz Strader _X_ Joe Borton _X_ Brad Hoaglun _X_Treg Bernt X Jessica Perreault _X_ Luke Cavener X_ Mayor Robert E. Simison Simison: Council, we will call the meeting to order. For the record it is June 28, 2022, at 4:50 p.m. We will begin this afternoon's work session with roll call attendance. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Simison: First item up is adoption of the agenda. Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, there are no changes to the agenda, so I move adoption of the agenda as published. Borton: Second. Simison: Have a motion and a second to adopt the agenda as published. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay? The ayes have it and the agenda is adopted. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item] 1. Approve Minutes of the June 14, 2022 City Council Work Session 2. Approve Minutes of the June 14, 2022 City Council Regular Meeting 3. Final Plat for Vertex Subdivision No. 1 (FP-2022-0015) by Brighton Development, Inc., Located on Parcel #S1405120902, south of E. Lake Hazel Rd., between S. Locust Grove Rd. and S. Eagle Rd. Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 2 of 20 4. Final Plat for Vertex Subdivision No. 2 (FP-2022-0016) by Brighton Development, Located on Parcel #S1405120902, south of E. Lake Hazel Rd., between S. Locust Grove Rd. and S. Eagle Rd. 5. Lavender Heights Subdivision No. 3 Pedestrian Pathway Easement No. 1 6. Quartet Northeast Subdivision No. 1 Pedestrian Pathway Easement 7. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Ten Mile and McMillan (H- 2022-0011) by Anne Kunkel, Varin Thomas, LLC., Located at the Northeast Corner of N. Ten Mile Rd. and W. McMillan Rd., Encompassing Nine (9) Parcels 8. Approve Award of Contract for State Highway 16 Water Main Replacements to Titan Technologies, Inc. for the Not-To-Exceed amount of $912,426.00 9. Memorandum of Agreement between Idaho Pubic Television and the Meridian Fire Department Regarding 360 Virtual Reality Video 10. Task Order for Mural Installation by Key Detail at unBound Library 11. Resolution No. 22-2332: A Resolution Vacating a Utility Easement Over and Across a Portion of Lots 8 and 9 of Heppers Acre Subdivision, Located in the Southwest Quarter of the Southwest Quarter of Section 12, Township 3 North, Range 1 West of the Boise Meridian, Ada County, Idaho; and Providing an Effective Date 12. Resolution 22-2333: A Resolution of the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Meridian Accepting Student Artwork for Traffic Box Art Installation; and Providing an Effective Date 13. Resolution No. 22-2334: A Resolution of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Meridian to Amend the Future Land Use Map of the 2019 Comprehensive Plan; and Providing an Effective Date 14. City of Meridian Financial Report - May 2022 Simison: Next up is the Consent Agenda. Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Hoaglun. Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 3 of 20 Hoaglun: I move approval of the Consent Agenda and for the Mayor to sign and Clerk to attest. Borton: Second. Simison: I have a motion and a second to approve the Consent Agenda. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it and the Consent Agenda is agreed to. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. ITEMS MOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item] Simison: There are no items moved from the Consent Agenda. DEPARTMENT / COMMISSION REPORTS [Action Item] 15. Mayor's Youth Advisory Commission (MYAC) Program Updates Simison: So, we will go into our Department/Commission Reports. First item up is Item 15, which is the Mayor's Youth Advisory Commission program update and I will turn it over to Sahand for introductions. Rahbar: Mr. Mayor, City Council Members, thank you as always for having us here to talk to you a little bit about our Mayor's Youth Advisory Council. So, MYAC is currently on hiatus for the summer. Their last meeting was in the month of May and as such I thought it would be appropriate, since we have concluded the 2021 to 2022 school year, to offer a brief retrospective with some facts and figures about our MYAC cohort over the past school year and, then, I will welcome the two MYAC student leaders who are here to tell you a little bit more about what they have been up to over the past couple of months. Between September 2021 and May 2022 MYAC held 14 general council meetings. Each one of those was carefully planned and executed by the student leaders, who make up the MYAC executive council. Fifty-five students from 13 different schools in our area attended at least one of those meetings and the average attendance at any given meeting was about 23 students. During these months that they met the MYAC'ers in aggregate devoted about 944 hours to MYAC pursuits. That's not just meetings, that's service projects that they participate in, like the walk to end Alzheimer's, handing out voter registration information at trunk or treat. Also service projects that they themselves plan and operate, like the Meridian Senior Center prom that they will talk to about in just a moment. Just last week six of our MYAC executive council members attended the AIC youth conference at the Boise Center and they will share a little bit more about that experience in detail with you when they come up here. But I wanted to highlight as their chaperone and as their advisor during that event how much I was struck continually by how thoughtful, considerate, tactful and friendly each and every one of them was during each and every activity that occurred to each and every day of that conference, whether they were among their peers, among the AIC staff or among city leaders from all across Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 4 of 20 our state, the MYAC students did an excellent job serving as ambassadors for the City of Meridian and I'm personally very grateful to know that the future is in their hands. So, without taking up too much more of your time, I will welcome Hoyoon and Katelyn to introduce themselves and talk to you a little bit more about MYAC's recent activities. Simison: Thank you, Sahand. Holdeman: Hello. I am Katelyn Holdeman. I am going into 11th grade next year and I will be the vice-chair of MYAC next year and, yeah, your turn. Song: My name is Hoyoon Song. I'm also a rising junior going into Bishop Kelly High School and I am the vice-chair of Government Affairs. Holdeman: All right. And I will be going into Compass. Sorry to not mention that. Anyway, so we will be going over the months of May and June. First off is community service. We helped plan a senior prom that took place May 21 st. Here are a few photos. As you can see we helped plan, decorate for it and volunteered at the senior prom, which was red carpet themed and this gave our general council members an opportunity to gain event planning and leadership skills as we, you know, interacted with the seniors and made sure the event ran really smooth. And, then, we had the Meridian mindset event on May 23rd. We participated in chalk art and we hosted it alongside the Meridian SeniorAdvisory Board and we featured five speakers to talk about mental health and kind of how that works with the City of Meridian and City Hall was filled with booths of mental health oriented groups and after listening to the speakers we spearheaded an outdoor chalk event to write uplifting messages and, then, took a group photo and just really tried to promote the idea of mental health and care in the city. Song: So, after one of our general council meetings we had Audrey Draper, who was a music therapist, come over and really talk about mental health, as Katelyn mentioned before, and it was a very interactive and fun way to really highlight the things you could do for mental health in our community. Holdeman: As for other events, we had the MYAC end of year party. Song: Yeah. So, the MYAC end of the year party was in place for our last general council meeting and it was just a great way for us to take a look back at all of the significant things that we did and one of the highlights of that end of the year party was our MYAC superlatives where we decided to note some exemplary members of our council, not just on the executive council, but also in the general council as well. Categories included most likely to be the next mayor of Meridian. Most interactive with guest speakers. And most engaged in government affairs. Et cetera. Et cetera. Holdeman: And, then, going on to AIC, which Sahand mentioned before as he introduced us, it ran from the 21 st to the 24th of this month and as he said six of our executive council members stayed at the BSU dorms to attend the AIC conference at the Boise Center. So, while they were there they participated in leadership development seminars, interacted Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 5 of 20 with local government, and completed a community service project. Just really -- as we said, like we bonded as MYAC members ourselves and, you know, got to see how our efforts were similar and different and see how we could improve upon our own MYAC endeavors. Song: So, on our first day of--of AIC --the two days were actually separated into different -- I guess you could call highlight skills. So, for example, the first day was mainly focused on the revitalization of a fictional town of Yorktown and we were actually able to learn a lot about how much work goes into city planning and like city revitalization and five of our members actually won third place overall compared to all the groups. So, even though it was a challenge it was very well earned, well worth the award. On our second day we worked with the Boise Rescue Mission with many many opportunities. I, myself, was part of helping sort out and -- helping sort out and put items for the Ukrainian refugees for a shelter that the Boise Rescue Mission has and just really -- it was a terrific experience through AIC, followed by Mad City Money, which is kind of like a budget planning thing. Like I mentioned, if the first day was about city revitalization, the second day was about budgeting and it was -- those two events were just such an interactive and fun way for us to learn about some of these topics and at the end we were at the AIC gala event where we were able to hear about other city's achievements as well and the whole AIC experience was such a great way for us to learn about what other MYAC was doing, but also what we ourselves were pretty good at. So, it was just a tremendous experience to interact with different MYAC'ers and the state. Holdeman: Okay. So, as for -- as for upcoming events we have in July -- undetermined so far. But we have a get together with the executive council to discuss our roles, leadership, and what the upcoming year will look like. Usually we will put together a calendar of some sort, go over everyone's new roles for -- especially the new members. So, that will be held in July and, then, the 29th of August we will have our MYAC kickoff to bring everything back and start the new year and so we will have a prospective MYAC'ers, high school students and their parents invited to learn more about MYAC and get involved and, then, finally, in September for upcoming events we have the Treasure Valley Youth Safety Summit, which is an annual event that we put on where we as MYAC help plan events which aim to educate students on all things safety. In conclusion that's our upcoming events and everything we did in May and June. Thank you. Song: Thank you so much for your time. Simison: Thank you, Katelyn. Hoyoon. Is there any -- Council, any questions? Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: I don't have a question. I just want to say how thankful I am for your involvement--for all of the involvement of the students and what an awesome opportunity this is to pave your way for the future. I was involved in an organization called Close Up Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 6 of 20 when I was in high school, very similar to this, and it made a big difference for me in my college career, so -- and I'm super happy you guys got to go to AIC and be involved and meet other leaders from other cities and see kind of how things work. So, that's pretty cool. Holdeman: Thank you. Song: Thank you. Borton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Borton. Borton: Two things. One, we do a lot of work at the Senior Center and I cannot overstate how big of a deal that senior prom is. That is -- and you probably already got that sense. It is -- it's such a magical, wonderful thing you do. So, bless you for that and all the other work. It's fantastic. The question is which of the two of you got voted most likely to be mayor? Holdeman: It was neither of us. Borton: What? Holdeman: Unfortunately. I think it was one of our leading members who recently graduated -- Borton: Okay. Holdeman: -- and is going to college. Hoaglun: Great -- great presentation. Bernt: What about Council President? Simison: And -- Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: -- I wish you the best this summer to enjoy yourselves and -- and take some down time. Holdeman: Thank you. 16. Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program Year 2022- 2026 Consolidated Plan Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 7 of 20 Simison: Thank you. Next item up is Item 16, Community Development Block Grant CDBG program year 2022-2026 consolidated plan. Good evening, Crystal. Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council. I have a presentation that's coming up. I'm here to talk to you today about our consolidated plan. It's out for public comment, so we just wanted to give you guys an update on where we are at with it and we have resource consultants who we have contracted with. This is Heather and Elizabeth and they will be giving the bulk of the presentation as far as the con plan goes. So, we are going to go through the purpose of the con plan and, then, some assessments and analysis to -- that help them get to the decisions of what the priorities and five year goals were and, then, they are also going to be discussing some recommendations for our citizen participation plan and, then, I'm going to come back up to present our action plan for the upcoming year. So, with that I will turn it over to them. McNannay: Great. Thank you, Crystal. I am Elizabeth McNannay with Resource Consultants. And Heather Laird is here with me. I am actually doing this portion of our presentation and Heather will answer all of your questions, so -- so, the purpose -- the purpose of the consolidated plan -- and it's a required plan. It must be completed every three to five years by every entitlement city or county and the purpose of the plan is -- it's a planning document, built on a participatory process of stakeholders and public engagement. So, really about engaging the needs of the community from those with lived experience and those providing services to the most vulnerable in the City of Meridian. It's the submission for federal funds under HUD's formula grant program. So, it's a required submission in order to receive the funds that have been awarded to the City of Meridian. It outlines the strategy to be followed and carried out in the plan over the next five years and it's a management tool. It allows you to assess performance, measure success, and to set the course for future plans, because you learn from each plan along the way what works and what doesn't and parts of the consolidated plan are the housing needs assessment and housing market analysis. I don't think this will come as a surprise to any of you, but one of the biggest challenges in Meridian is housing affordability and especially for those at the low end of the wage scale. In 2016 to 2020 -- and I apologize we don't have better data, but this is how it works. In 2016 to 2020 6.5 percent of people in Meridian lived in poverty, 6.8 percent of the -- of the population under 18 lived in poverty, and 4.9 percent of the population over 65 lived in poverty. 3.7 percent of people had an annual -- household annual of 10,000 or less. 3.7. Nine percent had a household income above 200,000 dollars. This also will likely come as no surprise to any of you. In 2021 the housing market--the cost increased by 26 percent. This was preceded by 15 percent in 2020 and 13 percent in each of 2018 and 2019 years. So, a significant amount of cost pressure is in the housing market right now. Who does this affect primarily? It affects low and moderate income residents of Meridian. The good news, I guess, is that -- is that -- and the good news is that 25 percent of all new home construction between 2015 and 2021 in the Treasure Valley in the metropolitan housing market was built in Meridian. Thirty-three percent of apartment construction in that same time frame was in Meridian. More units does -- it does help those at the low end of the market and when we are talking about folks who are eligible for these programs, if we are looking at a family of four, the household income is 67,350 dollars. A single person qualifies for benefit under the HUD Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 8 of 20 programs with CDBG if they make about 47,150 dollars. So, we are really talking about our workforce. One of the other issues in Meridian that we know is that wages have not kept up with the increase in rent and who does that affect primarily? And that is the low and moderate income renters in the community and they are the most likely segment of the Meridian population to experience or be in danger of becoming homeless. If you make minimum wage -- and this is not in today's dollars, it's a couple of years ago, so it's probably a little bit worse. If you make minimum wage or just slightly above and you are a single person you have to work 85 hours a week to afford a modest one bedroom home. We have also completed an analysis of impediments to fair housing choice and what an analysis of impediments is is it looks at protected classes and that the protected classes are protected by way of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, which includes orientation and gender identity, familial status and disability. So, the analysis of impediments to fair housing choice looks at fair housing as it relates to those protected classes and it determines who lacks access to fair housing or fair housing knowledge and what to do to address that inequity. It promotes integrity -- or integration and reduction in segregation and it can help transform racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty into areas of opportunity and you are required to address these concerns in the annual action plan and report on progress every year. That's a HUD requirement. You have to talk about what you are doing for fair housing and report on it in your annual report to HUD and if we are looking at these impediments -- we will just start with impediment one. Lack of data on fair housing violations. So, you can't measure if you don't measure. It may be an annual look at the fair housing complaints with Intermountain Fair Housing Council, IHFA, and HUD and really looking at where those are coming from within this jurisdiction. Gathering data about the challenges that low and moderate income residents primarily, who are in those protected classes, what they face. Impediment two is lack of complaints out of sync with community feedback. So, it's people are saying they have experienced fair housing issues. So, when we are taking surveys and talking to community members, they are saying they have experienced fair housing issues and they don't know they have specific rights or where to go to get help. And also landlords, property managers, and owners aren't always aware of fair housing issues and fair housing requirements. Number three is that concern with rental market and fair housing violations and renters are the most impacted. Direct outreach to renters can help them understand their rights. Renters and protected classes are very impacted, so it really is about education and this also goes back to property managers, agents, rental agencies, property owners about education on that side also and so with these -- these will be some of the things that are able to be addressed. You wouldn't have an impediment that you can't do something about, because that's not helpful. So, these are things that the community and Crystal and other folks within the city can actually work on. One of the other items that we completed -- and I will just skim through this, because we covered this the last time I was here in front of you -- is the analysis of built environments and it's some recommendations about how health, stable housing, community amenities connect to make vibrant vital communities and already the city is undertaking a homeowner rehabilitation assistance program that is vital for low and moderate income residents to be able to stay in their homes and age in place. Sidewalks and urban trails. Connecting spaces for eligible block groups and areas in the city that don't have that at this point. Streetlighting. Safety. Green spaces. Parks. Pocket parks even. Things like that in Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 9 of 20 eligible areas. You have a beautiful Senior Center. We were there today and it is absolutely stunning. And community centers are --they really help a community maintain its vitality and vibrancy and future considerations could be community gardens and additional food access opportunities. In the strategic plan portion of the consolidated plan there are five -- or three priorities. Sorry. Not five. That's too many. There are three priorities that are outlined. One is provide decent housing and these follow along with HUD's priorities and decent housing is preserve affordable housing stock. Increase available affordable and permanent supportive housing. Reduce discrimination and assist with the transition of those who are homeless in the community into stable housing. Priority two. Create a suitable living environment might include -- it really includes safe, livable neighborhoods. Primarily as it relates to your LMI residents and more integration. Priority three. Expand opportunities for low moderate income persons and that's homeownership opportunities, empowerment through investment in the community directed towards those community members and promoting long term community vitality. And, again, for a four person household we are looking at, you know, to be eligible for services under these programs it's 67,350 dollars. And a one person household is 47,000. Just over. The five year goals are outlined here and I won't dive into them too much, but they are housing and that includes those homeowner repairs, home buyer assistance and other eligible activities related to construction of rental units. Public services. Like childcare scholarships. Very important right now. Emergency rent and utility assistance or emergency rental assistance and behavioral health services. Funding for the streetlights, sidewalks,ADA upgrades. ADA upgrades have a significant impact on people who are very impacted when they don't have that access. And neighborhood facilities. And, then, of course, administering the program, which Crystal does an amazing job at and that includes fair housing activities. The citizen participation plan, which I think you also have, there have been some changes to allow for easier availability to access for any waivers that HUD offers if there are opportunities for those, if there is an emergency like COVID and also allow the flexibilities within the constraints of what HUD allows and make sure that there is some targeted -- very specific targeted outreach to the communities who are most impacted by these plans. It outlines that kind of planning process. And with that I will turn it back over to Crystal. Campbell: Okay. So, you guys are all pretty familiar with our action plan. It's our annual application basically to HUD for the funding and it also details all the projects that we plan to fund. So, we go through our application process and so we have gone through all of that and we have the recommendations for you here. HUD did let us know that they are anticipating that we will receive 517,466 dollars for this upcoming year. When you break down the project funding based on the goals, then, about nine percent goes to program income, 15 percent, which is the cap, goes to public services and, then, the remaining two goals would get equal amounts of 38 percent. So, the first goal of housing projects. NeighborWorks Boise applied for two different programs. The first one is the homeowner repair program and this provides weatherization, emergency repair and accessibility for eligible applicants. And, then, they also applied for the home buyers assistance program, which provides funding for things like down payment assistance, closing costs and principal buydown and they have their other funding that they can layer with this to make homes affordable. Well, try to make homes affordable. Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 10 of 20 Strader: Mr. Mayor? Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: I hope -- I don't know how you wanted to do it. If it's okay if we ask questions along the way? I sat on the committee that helped allocate part of the CDBG funding, but it -- it didn't touch this piece and this is a piece that I'm a little bit concerned about. So, I read the report, 213 pages. Wow. Homeowner repair. So, this seems really important, but it's estimated to serve seven LMI households. That's 22,000 dollars per household. Home buyer assistance 40,000. That's estimated to serve one household and I think what -- what I'm struggling with a little bit is -- we know that housing affordability is our number one issue and, you know, if we were to allocate a hundred thousand dollars toward, for example, the project off of Ustick, the Woodrose Apartments, that would -- that would create 52 new affordable housing units in Meridian and I'm a little bit struggling with -- I know we can't lend money, we have all these program issues we are working through, but it just occurs to me that like it's a huge amount of the funding that we are using per year that helps just a very small number of families and I'm -- I'm really struggling with that. I -- there is nothing for you to answer there, but that -- that to me is a real concern. How do we allocate -- or how does NeighborWorks allocate the homeowner repair funds? Is it 22,000 because they typically have to replace somebody's roof? How -- you know, how -- how do we come up with that estimate that -- this is, you know, a lot of money. It's only helping seven LMI families. Campbell: Right. And they do -- the maximum they will help with is 25,000. So, over the last year and a half it has averaged out closer to the 22,000 when you take their administration into account. But it is a lot of roofs and a lot of major repairs. The majority of what we are seeing for the homeowner repair program is elderly women who their -- their homes need a lot of work and so some of them are a little bit less than that, but when they get in there and start looking at what it needs to make it so that they can remain in their home and age in place, then, it -- it does take a substantial amount. And, honestly, the housing piece -- that's kind of why we did the analysis of built environment, because it really ties back to that health aspect and it's -- it's hard to quantify how much each household -- how much we should pay for each household, because it has this ripple effect that affects so many other things and has the potential to cost our community even more if we don't address the housing stability piece. Strader: Yeah. Maybe one more question. Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: So, as we are looking at that and how we structure that program, has there been any discussion about changing the program, so that when someone's house is sold, you know, part of those funds come back. I know that we don't lend as a city, it's against our CFO's policy, but, you know, we have other discussions at a legislative level that have similar concepts where, you know, for example, there was a discussion with the legislature with circuit breaker programs where there was a potential for people to help Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 11 of 20 repay funds that have been -- I guess I'm just trying to be creative, but is there a way to make these funds go further? It's just a concern tome that a huge amount of money goes into -- this piece of the program helps seven families or seven, you know, people in need. Is there a way to leverage those funds to make them go further? Campbell: So, NeighborWorks -- they actually do put a lien on the house and so if they sell it within five years, then, they do have to repay. I believe they have it set so that it's a prorated portion. So, there -- there are some of those things in place so that somebody can't come in and just like flip a home or something and use our funds for that. Strader: Yeah. That's right. I'm sorry, Mr. Mayor. Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: I do recall reading that. Yeah. I guess I -- I -- I would be interested in discussing it further. Yeah. I -- I -- I think taking a step back. It's interesting; right? Like you are administering this really important program. I -- I wish we had a way as a city to come at it really holistically with your leadership and sort of say, okay, what are the biggest, you know, needs in Meridian and CDBG feels like one component of a bunch of really important needs that we are starting to kind of coalesce around. Campbell: And these issues are expensive and CDBG -- Strader: Yeah. Campbell: -- it's not a huge grant. So, that's -- that's another thing that we run into is we try to be as effective as possible with the limited amount of funding and HUD is very specific about what we can use it for. So, we can't use it for actual construction. Strader: Right. Campbell: Use it for things around it. But it is pretty limited. Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: I had reached out to NeighborWorks in regard to my questions regarding the overall housing conversation, but they did clarify for me on the CDBG funds that in Meridian they could really use funding for up to 15 families. That's about what they are -- they need for this next year. So, that's going to meet about half of that and that their rehab -- their rehab asset manager had said that valleywide they are seeing the rehabilitation projects come in about 25,000 on average. So, that 22,000 estimate is pretty consistent with what they are seeing across the board and I think there is limitations to it. It can only be for certain kind of safety related or significant damage related things to the home. So, like if they are -- you know, if the -- if there is plumbing leaks and Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 12 of 20 electrical problems that are safety related I think they do kind of clarify that the uses have to be for very specific things, so it's not -- I think it's a pretty narrow limitation on it. But I have no doubt that there are -- there is more than 15 families in Meridian, it's just those are the ones that know to call NeighborWorks and ask, so -- Campbell: And you are right, they are specific for these three items that are on here. They have to qualify with either weatherization, accessibility, or an emergency repair. So, good point. Thank you. Okay. So, our next section is public services and we had three applicants for this one. Jesse Tree Emergency Rental Assistance and, then, the Meridian Senior Center. This is the first time that they have applied with us, but they -- for -- for this anyway. They applied for transportation to help seniors get to and from their lunches and different activities. Medical appointments. The pharmacy. Shopping. Things like that. And, then, the Boys and Girls Club youth scholarships program, which provides access to extended care in summer programs. For public facility and infrastructure improvements we have two streetlight projects. One is Franklin Road and 5th Street. This one will add streetlighting where there isn't any currently and The Landing Subdivision streetlights will provide new and modernized streetlights to fix some inadequate streetlighting. We did have an application for Meridian Food Bank that you guys probably remember seeing for the roof repair and they ended up withdrawing that one. They don't feel like they need the roof done at this time. Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: Thank you. Crystal, in our conversation through the budget process and as the Public Works liaison it's my understanding that -- that while the funding may be there, the ability to implement the streetlights and streetlight conversions is -- has been really slow, because of labor market issues. So, was that conversation had with Public-- I mean assume -- I'm assuming since Public Works applied for it that they know that it's possible for it to be done. But can you just give us some clarification on that? Campbell: Yeah. We have actually been consistently doing streetlight projects in the LMI areas and they have been really successful. We have been trying to plan ahead and know that we have to get into a contract by a certain time, so that they can get the streetlights ordered, so it can be done to meet our timeliness standards. But they have been successful for the past several years in getting these projects done on time and with those projects they can also -- it can extend over into the next year. It's not like public services where it absolutely has to end at the end of the program year. So, if it goes a little bit longer it's not an issue, as long as we spend the -- we have to spend a certain amount by August in order to meet our timeliness requirements, so -- so, for program administration -- this is our fourth goal. We have general admin with this, then, we would put it toward program planning, public information, general management, oversight and coordination and we could actually use these funds to work out some sort of a strategy as far as if you guys give -- give us some direction on what direction you want to go with housing, then, we could do some research on this and come up with some potential Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 13 of 20 solutions. So, that's one area that we can use the funds for. And, then, we also set some aside for fair housing. We do an annual campaign with the other entitlements in the Treasure Valley and, then, coordinating an outreach. So, those are all the projects that we have identified. Some important dates. Our con plan opened on June 24th for public comment and there is actually a typo. The public comment period goes through the next meeting on July 26th, which is when we will ask you guys to close it. So, then, we will have that -- that public hearing at the Council meeting on the 26th and, then, we will take all of the changes into consideration, update the plan as necessary and, then, I will have that on your Consent Agenda on August 2nd for you to approve. So, as I mentioned, our con plan and all of those other documents they are out for public comment. They are all listed on our website and we put together a survey, so that it would be really easy for people to provide feedback. So if anybody wants to scan this QR code they can access it really easy or they can call me, e-mail me, view anything on our website, but I'm definitely accessible to take any comments there are. And with that we will stand for questions. Simison: Thank you, Crystal. Council, questions? Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: So, in regard to the funding amounts and the applicants, I know -- I know this -- there is two things we are talking about. It's this year's funding and, then, we are talking about our consolidated plan. In regard to this year's funding, if Council wanted to make some changes, ask some questions, make some recommendations, get some more information, how long do we have and, then, what's the process? So, let -- let's say that, you know, Council Woman Strader, just for example, wanted to look into the Boise Homeowner Repair program and get some more information and then -- and, then, what comes out of that as a change to -- can Council make a recommendation to change what the applicant has requested and what does that look like as far as republishing and public hearings and timing and all that? Campbell: As long as it was an application that we already received we could definitely work with the applicant. If Council was recommending something different -- and, obviously, we would talk to you about our recommendations as well. So, yeah, it's -- it's definitely possible. So, if you guys do have thoughts around that we should absolutely have that discussion. Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: For me specifically in my conversations with NeighborWorks and other organizations that specifically work on down payment assistance, I asked NeighborWorks to run a scenario for me on different amounts that would be contributed to a family that Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 14 of 20 was trying to purchase the average priced home and they ran those scenarios for me and from what I'm understanding it -- it's taking approximately 100,000 dollars to actually get someone into a home that's a family of four under HUD income limits. So, the 40,000 dollars I -- I don't -- I'm not convinced that that's even going to be usable right now. mean I don't know how housing prices are going to potentially adjust in the next year and a half, but I -- I would like to have a -- a further conversation around that number and whether that's -- if they can really make any difference with even one family with that amount, because I'm hearing different, or if they would want to potentially just contribute that towards their repair program or whatnot. So, that's one piece I definitely want to have some more conversation about. Campbell: And I completely agree with you. We -- in the past we have funded that activity consistently and, then, over the last couple of years, then, we just had several providers that were not able to find housing that people could afford and so, then, we ended up having to reallocate those funds. So, last year we used it as an alternate project, because we just didn't know if we would be able to do that and make it work. So, it never really came up. So, we are giving it a shot again now. If -- if it turns out that they are not able to spend the funds, we do have the option of extending it past the program year and using it a little bit later or if they think that it would be more effective they could potentially reallocate those funds to their other project, too. So, if it's over a certain amount then -- and it's actually covered in this citizen participation plan, but if it's over a certain amount, then, we would have to do a substantial amendment and come back to you guys and do the public hearing and everything to make sure that the public is aware of it. But that is a possibility. 17. Mayor's Office: Biannual Strategic Plan Update Simison: Council, any additional questions? Okay. Thank you very much. So, Council we are going to skip over Item 17. 18. Mayor's Office: Neighborhood Grants Program Update Simison: I think Item 18 has a little bit more timeliness to it for a lot of different reasons. So, I will invite Mr. Miles up and this may be our last item of the evening and we will either reschedule the strategic plan presentation or love Vincent to do a video presentation and mail that around, because I know he likes to practice in front of his computer. Miles: Good evening, Council. So, neighborhood grants. I'm seeing six people aligned ready to make decisions. Yes, let's go. This is kind of one of those fun challenges to solve I think is the way I will -- I will say it. We have had some delays due to staffing challenges, so I apologize for that, but I think we are in a good spot. A few highlights I think. First, with this program as you recall Council allocated 50,000 dollars for project applicants. In the memo I provided you see we have 12 applicants. So, I think we had good application flow, which was a great sign. If you look in the memo roughly nearly 300,000 dollars in project submittals. So, there is -- there is a demand for these types of projects. I think it's -- I want to say thank you to Council for reviewing the packets and Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 15 of 20 reviewing the applications. You were the scoring committee. The applications range from a variety of applicants, whether independent people, youth, whether HOA's, whether nonprofits and the types of projects also ranged as well from beautification, to amenities, to new products and parks. So, a good wide range of applications. If you recall one of the things that we did talk about with the program rollout was originally to award up to two projects up to 25,000 dollars each. Again, as I described in the memo those were the starting guidelines really for us when considering project management and managing funding, managing projects once they are awarded, along with just not knowing what we don't know with a new project -- new program. So, I did give you the -- the final scoring that was accumulated from Council Members in the scoring of the applications. You can see the top three projects that came out on the top scoring were from Meridian Coop Gardeners for the pollinator garden plants in Heroes Park. You had a project submitted by an Anita Burgess for installation of a universal play system in Bear Creek Park and, then, you had a project categorized as a cleanup from the American Legion for installing Flag collection boxes and, then, being able to take those collection boxes and properly disposing of flags. So, those were the top three. As it pertains to the Bear Creek Park universal play system, there was -- has been price differences, as everything else in the world has gone up. So, the Parks Department actually talked to the applicants. They actually talked to the suppliers as well. You will see in the memo the updated project costs are roughly 47,000 dollars 147 -- 47,100 dollars. So, a couple of decision points I think for Council and some direction to staff. Originally before there was a cost update to the second project, the Bear Creek project, the top three projects fit really nicely. They came in right about 49,000 dollars in funding or thereabouts and fit underneath the budget. We have gotten the project update costs, as I said, from Bear Creek Park. We also have the Parks Department, they reached back out to all three of these projects and just talked about logistics, talked about partnerships and how things actually had to work and so I appreciate the Parks Department taking that extra effort. With that, though, the top three projects do you exceed the 50,000 dollar budget amount. So, a couple of suggestions or -- or things to talk about with you all is, one, do you want to just award the top two projects at a total approximate cost of 34,800 dollars? Do you want to consider awarding other projects, which don't hit that 50,000 dollar cap threshold? Or do you want to consider awarding the top three projects with the consideration for a budget amendment to cover the additional approximately 10,500 dollars in cost because of the added cost to Bear Creek Park? A couple things to go along with that. In particular to the Bear Creek Park project, the applicant is willing and able to, according to them, provide additional funding, so they will work with their partnerships to try and find the additional funding. That funding and the increase not only came from the cost of the -- the actual installation, but things like flat work and work for the gravel and the play area around of the product and they said, well, we have got friends and partners that are greater, so we can help in that cost recovery. So, they are willing to find that solution. So, maybe I will stop there just in the interest of time. I know it's been a busy afternoon. If you have any questions about the memo, if you have any questions about the program, happy to take those on. Also looking for a little bit of direction from you in trying to award some projects, so that these folks can get notified and we can actually move the process forward. Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 16 of 20 Simison: Thank you, Dave. Council, questions, comments or direction? Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Dave, first, kudos to you. I think we have -- you kind of had a little bit -- I think we have been through a couple of staff members since this project was first originated and you have done a good job of kind of keeping us moving forward and that's really appreciated. My question is either for maybe you or I see Mike's there in the room -- about project number ten. If my memory serves correctly, we are doing some equipment replacement already at Bear Creek right now. How would this particular project coincide with some of the replacement work that we are already doing? Miles: Thanks, Mr. -- Cavener: If we were to fund it. Miles: And -- and Council Member Cavener, I will -- I will defer to Mike on how that pertains to what -- what they are actively working on as well and let him provide that insight. Barton: Thanks, Dave. Mr. Mayor and Council Members, so we -- we do have an active project at Bear Creek Park to replace the playground. The applicant got the pricing for their grant application from the same contractor supplier, so it -- it fits with -- we -- we didn't -- we didn't want an overlap where one contractor had to demobilize and another one came in and did a small portion and, then, that other one came back. It would just get really complicated and definitely more expensive. So, what -- what their -- their approach to getting the --the --from --from the same manufacturer and the same supplier would put it in is correct. So, we are -- we support that. Cavener: Then, Mr. Mayor, follow up for my -- if I can. Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Mike, you and your department's level of comfort with a volunteer vendor or a volunteer group doing some of the site work out there -- it seems to be a little bit of a deviation for how we have done it in the past. So, just I'm curious kind of -- if you have any concern about that particular element? Barton: Yeah. I have concerns. Cavener: Okay. Okay. Fair enough. Thanks, Mike. Miles: And Mr. -- Mr. Mayor and Councilman Cavener, if I can add on to that. I think part of the discussion tonight is at least trying to decide who to award projects to in a Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 17 of 20 conditional basis, so that we can at least start those conversations, knowing that there would have to be agreements with these folks, knowing that there has to be some paperwork involved. I think that's an additional piece of that conversation is if people can find additional funds versus finding additional contributions in kind and how that looks and what -- what the Parks Department's comfortable with, what our legal staff is comfortable with. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Yeah. So, if-- if we stick to our 50,000, which is what we outlined, then, it looks like the -- with the three projects and what they total, we could stay within 50,000 if we increased the Bear Park, number ten, we give them a little bit more, 36,697 dollars, would take us to our full 50, if I'm doing the math right. What I really liked about that project is the involvement and willingness of the people behind the project to raise additional funds and I thought that they had a lot of, you know, skin in the game trying to come up with -- with that and so I would hope we could meet them part way. I would be an advocate for funding the three projects that are in green, but putting a little bit more toward the Bear Creek Park up to our 50,000 dollar amount and, then, hopefully, that will give them a challenge to raise the rest. I felt like they were very willing to do so based on their application. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Council Member Strader is headed in the exact same direction where I was -- is if they can find a way to make this work let's -- let's do it. I like the idea of funding three and still coming in -- coming in under our total cap. I would maybe just make a recommendation. If I remember correctly we are going to do this potentially again next year, so if it doesn't work for any of the three applicants this year, maybe they resubmit next year with more data. I guess my recommendation would be is that maybe we also pick project number three as a backup and should the project not come to fruition with either seven, ten or four and we are able to do project number three still under that 50,000 dollar budget, that we kind of use that as a backup. We have done that before with CDBG when projects haven't been able to come to light, we have kind of had another project, you know, on the warmer that we could activate and still kind of wrap this project up by the end of the year. Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: So, I want to back up a second and make sure I was understanding. First of all, I think this program is awesome. Great applications. So excited that we are getting Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 18 of 20 the chance to do this. I was under the impression -- and, again, I didn't read any of the like out -- outlined -- I don't know what was shared with the applicants as far as what qualifies, what doesn't qualify and that kind thing. I think it was kind of broad. But I looked at these as we were doing the scoring and weighed a little bit more on the ones that were actual neighborhoods, because I thought that was what -- kind of what our intention was. As -- as -- I think they are all excellent and very valid projects. I'm excited at -- at the great information that we received and the detail that we received, but wondering the conversations you might have had with the applicants about what to expect. So, I look at like the Legion, for example, and even though I think they are -- that flag project is fantastic, is that really a neighborhood specific -- like was that the intention of what we were trying to do? So, I feel like kind of about half of these met what I thought the intention was -- of the program was and the other half maybe didn't. So, can you shed some light on that for me? Miles: Sure. Mr. Mayor, Council Woman Perreault, I think I -- I go back to the goals and, again, Molly was having most of these discussions with folks before -- Perreault: Okay. Miles: -- she left. So, I don't know all the details of what she talked about. But I look back at the goals of the program and they were -- to your point they were broad on purpose, because we just didn't know where and how far this project would go and if we were too narrow how many applicants will we get. But, you know, really creating the long- term civic engagement by community members, working with multiple partners, whether that's HOA's or nonprofits or anybody else, and projects that leave a long lasting impact. That's sort of what I look at and I agree there is projects all over the scope of this, whether it's, you know, partner with the city and do something good for a community park versus a very specific HOA and a very specific need in their community. I do think that's a future state improvement where we can -- we will look back as we go into next year and come back and give you a report out of where we stand today and say these are the things that we have learned, because that's one of the comments I had. It was how do we want to drill down for next time in the future years to make this program better? Do we need to clarify things? And also what type of community input can we get? Do we want -- how can we drive more community input, not just put out a call for applications. So, those are some things I think are worthwhile to consider in the future. Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Hoaglun. Hoaglun: Yeah. I -- I like the top three projects and the Bear Creek one is -- is something that would be great to -- to have out there and I think if we go down that path, though, and say, yes, we want to do this, you are going to fundraise or you are going to find another way to help -- help out and, of course, working with parks and making all that meet the standards and -- and if they bring in a contractor who has done this type of work before that might work, but I share Mike's concern that who knows what you are going to get, so Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 19 of 20 -- and -- and to start down that path and, then, they say, oh, no, I guess it's not going to work, go back to the drawing board, I -- I -- I think that does them a disservice and I think our program a disservice. I'm -- I'm more inclined to say raise the funds and, then, if there is any shortfall we make up that difference. So, maybe we budget the 60,000 whatever to fully fund and, then, back off to -- for whatever they raise to meet that total amount, so -- of -- they originally thought 30 -- 33 and it's going to be more. So, anyway, that's just my thought is to -- to raise the -- let them raise funds, let them find ways to do it and, then, whatever -- whatever that shortfall is we still get a great installation in the park, so -- Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Are you done with your comments? Hoaglun: What's that? Simison: Are you done with your comments? Hoaglun: For now, yes. Simison: Okay. Just wanted to make sure. Council Woman Strader. Strader: Yeah. I think that's a good point. I like the idea -- I love it when people have skin in the game, so I think it would be great to, you know, award them what we can, which would be 36,697 dollars. That takes us to the amount we had anticipated for this process and, then, let them raise the funds and I thought if they -- if they do a good job, but they fall short or they get halfway there -- you know, I don't know, we could do a budget amendment or something at that point. I think consider it. But I want them to feel, you know, that was a part of their application that they were going to raise private funds and I want to see them do it and I think that they are capable of it. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: I think, too, it's important, particularly this being our first go with this, that we try and be as true to the intention and the budgeted amount that we initially set out and, you know, if we -- if we change the budget from 50 to 60, well, then, next year there is a project that's at 68,000, are we going to adjust it again? I just -- I worry a little bit about the precedent with this being our very first go and trying to adhere to that 50,000 budget that we initially identified. Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt, Meridian City Council Work Session June 28,2022 Page 20 of 20 Bernt: I -- I support the three projects at the 36,000 mark. I'm hoping that the folks at Bear Creek are able to raise funds to meet the mark. If they don't, I -- I -- I am in line with what Councilman Cavener was talking about and having a backup plan and sticking within the budget. I think it's important. Simison: Did -- Mr. Miles, do you have clear -- Miles: I think I have got a clear direction to move forward with the three under conditional terms to make sure that they can execute all their paperwork up to the 50,000 dollar funding threshold and if something occurs differently with project number ten, the Bear Creek Park, we will come back to you guys and talk about it. Or sorry. We will go to number three. Sorry. Bernt: Mr. Mayor, also I -- I -- I get -- you know -- you know, friends of friends get involved with these projects and I share Mike's concern about having volunteers work on these projects when we are -- you know, we are -- we are providing most of all of the funds and so I -- I would hope that Mr. Barton would be heavily involved with that and making sure that, you know, we are dotting our I's and crossing our T's that this project is -- goes forward the way it should. Miles: I know legal is good at doing that, too. Simison: Okay. Miles: Thank you, Council. Simison: Thank you. With that -- Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Hoaglun. Strader: I move that we adjourn our work session. Simison: I have a motion to adjourn. All in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay? The ayes have it. We are adjourned. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 5:50 P.M. (AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS) MAYOR ROBERT E. SIMISON Approved 7-12-2022 ATTEST: CHRIS JOHNSON - CITY CLERK