HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-09-24 Work Session Meridian City Council Work Session September 24, 2024.
A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 4:34 p.m. Tuesday,
September 24, 2024, by Council President Luke Cavener.
Members Present: Luke Cavener, Liz Strader, John Overton, Doug Taylor, Anne Little
Roberts and Brian Whitlock.
Members Absent: Robert Simison.
Other Present: Chris Johnson, Bill Nary, Bill Parsons, Dave Miles, Brian Caldwell, Kris
Blume and Dean Willis.
ROLL-CALL ATTENDANCE
X Liz Strader X Brian Whitlock
Anne Little Roberts _X_ John Overton
_X_ Doug Taylor _X_Luke Cavener
Mayor Robert E. Simison
Cavener: All right. Good afternoon, Council. It is Tuesday, September 24th at 4:34 p.m.
Apologies for the tech difficulties. We will begin our City Council Work Session with roll
call attendance.
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
Cavener: Next item is the adoption of the agenda. Council?
Strader: Mr. Council President, I move that we add a new Item 17, an Executive Session,
per Idaho Code 74-206(1)(d) and (f). With that I move that we adopt the amended
agenda.
Overton: Second.
Cavener: Moved and seconded. All in favor say aye -- or, Mr. Nary, do we need a roll call
for the consent. Mr. Clerk.
Roll Call- Cavener, yea; Strader, yea; Overton, yea; Little Roberts, yea; Taylor, yea;
Whitlock, yea.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item]
Meridian City Council Work Session
September 24,2024
Page 2 of 13
1. Final Plat for Vanguard Village No. 1 (FP-2024-0012) by Ball Ventures
Ahlquist, generally located a 1/4 mile west of S. Ten Mile Rd. on the
north side of 1-84
2. Final Order for Apex Northwest Subdivision No. 5 (FP-2024-0017) by
Brighton Corporation, located near the northwest corner of S. Locust
Grove Rd. and E. Lake Hazel Rd.
3. Final Order for Avani Subdivision No. 1 (FP-2024-0013) by Conger
Group, located southeast of Franklin Rd. and Black Cat Rd., North of
1-84
4. Final Order for McDermott Village No. 1 (FP-2024-0003) by Kimley
Horn, located at 3235 N. McDermott Rd.
5. Approval of Task Order 11281.H to Stantec Consulting Services, Inc.
for the Tertiary Filtration-Services During Construction project and
for the Procurement Manager to sign for the Not-to-Exceed amount
of $2,498,040.00
6. Approval of Task Order 11448 to Forsgren Associates for the
Ninemile Creek Flood Mitigation project for the Not-to-Exceed
amount of $505,000.00
7. Approval of Sole Source for the purchased equipment of a Solstice
SRT 11 Tilling Machine
8. Subscription Services Agreement for Accela SaaS Migration Services
and multi-year subscription for the Not-to-Exceed amount of
$734,905.00
9. Fiscal Year 2025 Market Labor Fee Contract Amendment
10. Fiscal Year 2025 Recycling Processing Fee Contract Amendment
11. Resolution 24-2475: A Resolution Adopting the Fiscal Year 2025 Rate
Schedule of Solid Waste Collection and Disposal Services;
Authorizing the Finance Department to Collect Such Fees; and
Providing an Effective Date
12. Resolution No. 24-2476: A Resolution of the City Council of the City
of Meridian Reappointing Robert E. Simison to Seat 5 of the Meridian
Development Corporation; and Providing an Effective Date
13. Resolution No. 24-2477: A Resolution of the City Council of the City
of Meridian Reappointing Stephanie Hansen to Seat 4, John Nesmith
Meridian City Council Work Session
September 24,2024
Page 3 of 13
to Seat 5, and Spencer Martin to Seat 6 of the Meridian Impact Fee
Advisory Committee; and Providing an Effective Date
14. Resolution No. 24-2478: A Resolution Establishing the
Reappointment of Mark Nelson to Seat 2 of the Meridian Solid Waste
Advisory Commission; and Providing an Effective Date
15. City of Meridian Financial Report -August 2024
Cavener: Great. Next is the Consent Agenda.
Strader: Mr. Council President?
Cavener: Vice-President Strader.
Strader: I move that we approve the Consent Agenda. For the Council President to sign
and Clerk to attest.
Overton: Second.
Cavener: Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Any opposed?
All ayes and our Consent Agenda is adopted.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
ITEMS MOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item]
DEPARTMENT / COMMISSION REPORTS [Action Item]
16. City of Meridian 2024 Citizen Survey Results
Cavener: We will move to our Department/Commission Reports, No. 16. City of Meridian
2024 Citizen -- Citizen Survey Results. I assume we are turning this over to Mr. Miles.
Miles: Good afternoon, Council, Council President Cavener. We have got Jason Morado
with ETC who is the consultant who has done our citizen survey, resident survey for the
last -- I feel like it's four or five cycles. He will be up to present the results, have a
conversation with you all and, then, if there is additional questions that he can't answer
we can engage if that's your desire. So, we will turn it over to Jason.
Cavener: Good afternoon, Jason. Real nice to have you here. It's good to see you here
every couple years. Looking forward to hearing your presentation. We will turn it over to
you. The time is yours.
Morado: Yep. Absolutely. Thanks. It's great to be here again in the City of Meridian. My
name is Jason Morado. I'm the director of community research at ETC Institute and we
Meridian City Council Work Session
September 24,2024
Page 4 of 13
are a marketing research firm that specializes in conducting community surveys for local
governments and this past summer we just finished for the fifth time conducting a resident
survey for the City of Meridian. So, today I'm going to walk through the key findings from
the survey. So, just a little background about ETC Institute. We are based in the Kansas
City area, but we are a national leader in providing market research for local governments.
We have been doing this type of work for over 40 years and in the last ten years alone
we have conducted surveys in more than a thousand communities across the country.
So, this is really the type of work that we specialize in. This is just an overview of what
will go through today. I will go over the purpose and methodology of the survey, walk
through the key findings, kind of summarize our main takeaways from the survey and,
then, if there are any questions I will be happy to answer them. So, there are several
reasons to conduct a survey like this. One is to get an objective assessment of how
satisfied residents are with major city services and to determine what residents feel are
the top priorities for the city. We are also able to measure trends from your previous
surveys. Most of these questions are the same ones we have asked in previous years,
that way we can measure trends over time, but each time we do tweak a few questions
as well and, then, we are also able to compare your results with other communities across
the country. So, this survey I mentioned was the fifth survey that we have conducted for
the City of Meridian. The first one was back in 2014 and, then, the most recent one was
just two years ago in 2022. The survey was administered by a combination of mail and
online to randomly selected residents throughout the city and that mail-online combination
is our standard methodology for these types of surveys. We had a very good response
to this survey. We ended up with 616 completed surveys and our goal is to receive at
least 500. So, we are more than a hundred surveys above our goal and the results of
these 616 surveys at the 95 percent level of confidence has a margin of error plus or
minus 3.9 percent. Essentially that means that if we conducted the survey the same way
a hundred times, 95 times the results would be plus or minus 3.9 percent from what we
are reporting. So, even for a statistically valid survey the results are never perfect, but
the margin of error is small. So, here we have a map of the city. The red dots are
households that completed a survey, so we had a good distribution throughout the city
and as we were administering the survey we made sure that the demographics of survey
respondents reflect the actual population of the city. So, here is our main takeaways from
the survey. We found that residents have a very positive perception of the City of
Meridian. Eighty-eight percent of respondents gave positive ratings to Meridian as a
place to live and 87 percent gave very positive ratings to Meridian as a place to raise a
family. You will see in a little bit when we compare your results to other communities that
those results are much much higher than both the regionally and national average.
Overall the satisfaction ratings this year are similar to your last survey in 2022 and that's
a good thing for a couple of reasons. One is that the results in 2022 were very high. They
were some of the very highest anywhere in the country and, then, also most cities that
we have surveyed over the past couple of years have had an overall decrease in
satisfaction. So, the fact that your ratings are similar to last time is going against the trend
of what we have seen in a good way. We also found once again just like previous years
that satisfaction with city services is much higher in Meridian than other cities. You rated
above the U.S. average in 32 out of the 33 areas that we compared. We will look at this
in more detail in a little bit, but there were a couple of items I wanted to point out. One is
Meridian City Council Work Session
September 24,2024
Page 5 of 13
that satisfaction with the overall quality of city services is 26 percentage points above the
U.S. average and that's probably the most important question in the survey, because
there we were asking residents to take into account all services that you are providing
and, then, one area where you rated the farthest above the U.S. average is customer
service provided by city employees where you are 45 percentage points above the U.S.
average. And, then, the top overall priorities were roads, traffic and transportation, growth
and development, education and schools, and public safety. These were the same
priorities as last time, with the exception of public safety. We didn't ask that question --
didn't ask that question last time, so we added that this year and that was one of the top
four priorities, along with roads, growth and schools, which have for years been the top
priorities. So, we found that overall residents have a very positive perception of the city.
This was the very first question on the survey and here we are asking residents to write
their perceptions of the city in a number of different ways. These questions were asked
on an 11 point scale. The dark blue are ratings of nine or ten, so those are the most
positive ratings. The light blue are ratings of seven or eight, so those are very positive as
well. The gray are ratings of four and six on the 11 point scale, so not bad ratings, but
kind of average, kind of in the middle. And, then, the pink are those who gave ratings of
three or below. So, overall the positive ratings far outweigh the negative. If you look at
the top of this chart almost all respondents gave very high ratings to Meridian as a place
to live and as a place to raise a family. So, here we asked about the quality of life in
Meridian in a number of different ways and you can see very very few residents gave
negative ratings for any of these four categories. So, they all had very very positive
ratings and this includes customer service provided by city employees, the overall quality
of life in the city, the overall quality of services that are provided by the city and, then, how
residents view Meridian as an ideal place to live. So, very very positive ratings in all of
those categories. So, here we asked residents to rate major categories of city services.
So, here we are asking residents to rate these areas really at more of the big picture
departmental level and, then, later on in the survey we asked about some more specific
areas within some of these categories. So, you can see once again the positive ratings
far outweigh the negative. The lowest rated area was planning and zoning services, but
even for that you had 40 percent of positive ratings compared to 33 percent negative. So,
still more positive than negative even for the lowest rated area. If you look at the top of
this chart you can see the highest rate areas are fire and rescue, parks, garbage and
trash pickup, the police department, sewer and water services. So, we also found that
satisfaction with the overall quality of city services is high in all areas of the city. So, here
again we have a map of the city and we broke the results out here by census block group.
So, these are very small areas and this tells us of residents in different parts of the city
rate services differently, there are different perceptions of the city. This map is for the
overall quality of city services. You can see the entire map is blue and there is one area
even that's dark blue, which is the highest possible rating. So, anytime a map is
completely blue like this it means you are doing an excellent job providing services equally
throughout all parts of the city. Sometimes what happens is even if the results are very
positive overall once you start breaking into these smaller areas you might see some
pockets where residents aren't satisfied or don't feel like they are getting as good of
services as people in other parts of the city. So, this is always a very positive sign when
the entire map is blue. This map is for the overall quality of customer service. Not only
Meridian City Council Work Session
September 24,2024
Page 6 of 13
is the entire map blue, but a lot of it is dark blue, which, again, is the highest possible
rating. So, this tells us that residents in all parts of the city feel like they are getting
excellent customer service from city employees. This shows how residents feel about
Meridian as a place to live and, again, the entire map is blue, which quite a bit being in
the dark blue, so residents throughout the city gave very high ratings to Meridian as a
place to live and, then, the same thing for how residents feel about Meridian as a place
to raise family. Once again entirely blue and most of this map is actually dark blue. So,
I mentioned earlier that satisfaction with city services is much higher in Meridian than
other communities. You are rated above the U.S. average in 32 out of the 33 areas that
were compared. The only area that rated lower was public transportation and of those
32 areas where you rate higher there are 29 areas where you rated significantly above
the U.S. average. So, in other words, five percent or more above the U.S. average. So,
as we go through these next few slides the dark blue are -- are positive ratings from
Meridian residents. The gray bar are the positive ratings for residents from all across the
country and, then, the light blue are the positive ratings for residents in the northwest
region, which includes the state of Ohio, as well as some surrounding states. And this
data is based on a national survey that ETC Institute conducts every one to two years
with about 10,000 randomly selected residents from all across the country. This first chart
is for perceptions of the city. You can see you rate far above the regional and national
average in all four of these areas. If you look at that top row 88 percent of respondents
gave positive ratings to Meridian as a place to live and you can see the regional and
national average are just under 50 percent. So, you are almost 40 percentage points
above the U.S. average as a place to live and, then, you rate 26 percentage points above
the U.S. average as a place to raise a family, even farther than that above the regional
average. So, here we asked about the quality of life in a couple of different ways. These
are two of the most important questions on the survey and you can see your ratings are
far above other communities in both of these. Eighty-four percent of respondents gave
positive ratings to customer service provided by city employees and you can see the
regional and national average are both below 40 percent. So, you are more than double
regional and national average. And, then, as I mentioned earlier, probably the most
important question on the survey is the overall quality of city services and you can see
that you are 26 percentage points above the U.S. average, more than 30 percentage
points above the regional average. Here are comparisons for major categories of city
services. You can see you are far above other communities in all seven of these areas.
This includes garbage and trash pickup, sewer and water services, recycling, code
enforcement, communications and traffic enforcement. Traffic enforcement doesn't rate
quite as far above the U.S. average as the other areas, but you are still ten percentage
points above both the regional and national average. So, still significantly higher. This
table focuses on public safety services. You can see you are significantly above the U.S.
and -- U.S. and regional average in most of these categories. This includes the overall
quality of the fire department. If you look at the fifth row down 92 percent of residents
overall feel safe in the city. You can see the national average is only 66 percent, regional
average only 60 percent. If you look at the road below that 91 percent of respondents
give positive ratings to the overall quality of local police protection, which you can see the
regional and national average are just barely above 50 percent. If you look at the bottom
row when it comes to visibility of police in neighborhoods, your ratings aren't quite as far
Meridian City Council Work Session
September 24,2024
Page 7 of 13
above -- ahead of other communities in that area, but you are still a little above both the
regional and national average. And, then, when it comes to communication, all three
areas rated significantly higher than both the regional and national average. So, now we
will look at the trends. Overall the satisfaction ratings this year were similar to 2022. This
chart is for major categories of city services. The gray bar are the positive ratings for the
last survey in 2022. The blue bar are the positive ratings for this survey. So, you can see
the ratings are very very similar. A few areas the satisfaction increased a little bit. A few
areas went down a little. But, really, there weren't any significant -- significant changes.
And this is a good sign, because these ratings are some of the highest in the country.
Now, for the entire survey here are the areas that had among the biggest increases and
decreases in satisfaction since 2022. The biggest increases were the quality of housing
and the variety of options that exist. How well the city is managing growth. The number
of special events and festivals and, then, how well the city is ensuring public safety. The
biggest decreases since your last survey were speeding on major roads. Speeding on
neighborhood roads also had a decrease in satisfaction. The quality of adult sports
programs and events, excessive motor vehicle sound and the quality of information about
city programs and services. So, now we will look at the top priorities. Here we asked
respondents from this list of items which three of these priorities should receive the most
emphasis from city leaders over the next three years. So, you can see the top priority is
roads, traffic and transportation. Seventy percent of respondents selected that as one of
their top three priorities. If you look at the blue bar that shows the percent of respondents
who picked it as their first choice as the number one priority. So, you can see that about
40 percent of respondents picked roads, traffic and transportation as their top priority.
Here the top priorities are growth and development, education and schools and public
safety. So, this table is something we call the important satisfaction rating. This analysis
is based on two different types of data. First we asked residents how satisfied they are
with services and as a follow-up question we asked which services are the most important
for the city to emphasize over the next couple of years. So, the idea behind this is that
those services that have a combination of low satisfaction ratings, but at the same time
are rated as the most important, should be the top overall priorities to focus on. So, the
top priority is planning and zoning services, second is traffic enforcement and third is the
police department and law enforcement. Now, we saw that satisfaction is very very high
with the police department, but it's still an area that residents feel is important to focus on.
This was a new question on this year's survey. We asked residents to rate their priority
for different updates to the strategic plan. You can see the top priority is responsible
growth, followed by transportation and infrastructure and, then, public health and safety.
And, then, here we ask which of these transportation improvements residents feel should
receive the most emphasis from city leaders over the next couple of years. You can see
the top priority is roadway widening. We look at the blue bar, almost 60 percent of
respondents picked that as their top choice. And, then, the second highest priority is
intersections. Those are really by a pretty wide margin the top two. Here we ask
respondents if a levy were placed on the ballot requesting funding for additional public
safety services, for new police officers and firefighters, how much additional would you
be willing to pay each year for a property tax levy to fund one or all of these projects? So,
if you look at the darkest red piece of the pie, 18 percent of respondents said zero, they
are not willing to pay anything. But that means that 82 percent of respondents are willing
Meridian City Council Work Session
September 24,2024
Page 8 of 13
to pay at least some amount and, then, you can just see the pieces of the pie show the
distribution. For the light pink those are respondents who would be willing to pay an
additional ten to 25 dollars a year and if you look at the blue kind of hashed pie with the
ten percent, those are respondents who would be willing to pay a hundred to two hundred
dollars additional per year. Then everything else is somewhere in between. And here we
ask respondents if the city were to implement a citywide single family residential curbside
compost cart program what is the maximum additional cost you would be willing to pay
per month? So, if you look at that dark red piece 27 percent say not willing to pay
anything, which means over 70 percent of respondents are willing to pay some amount.
And, again, the pieces of the pie show that distribution of the amounts. So, just a quick
recap. We saw the residents once again have a very positive perception of the city. There
is a lot of examples of that in the report, but what really stood out were the high ratings
for Meridian as a place to live and as a place to raise a family. You saw those were some
of the highest ratings anywhere in the country. Overall the satisfaction ratings are similar
to 2022, which overall is a good sign. Once again satisfaction with city services is much
higher in Meridian than other cities. We saw there is a lot of examples of that, but a
couple of the areas that really stood out were the overall quality of city services and, then,
customer service provided by city employees and, then, the top overall priorities, roads
traffic and transportation, growth and development, education and schools and public
safety. That's everything that I had. Once again just like previous years really very very
positive results overall. So, with that if anyone has any questions I would be happy to
answer them.
Cavener: Great. Thank you. Council, any questions?
Taylor: Mr. President?
Cavener: Council Member Taylor.
Taylor: A couple of quick questions. I have three questions. If you don't mind I will just
ask them --
Cavener: Go take them in rapid order, sir.
Taylor: All right. Jason, thank you for the presentation. Really appreciate it. It was really
fascinating. I enjoyed going through it and I'm kind of going through the crosstabs just to
see if there is some more granular -- granular detail I can summon from it. But I have a
couple of questions. My first is can you walk me through why we would ask questions
about education considering we don't have any direct role -- our role in that is sort of
complementary to other entities that have a role in education, but why would we ask a
question about that when we don't have a direct role in that?
Morado: That's asked in a lot of surveys. Even though it's something you don't have a
direct role in, just to get general perceptions that residents have and, then, a lot of times
those results are shared with, you know, the appropriate people.
Meridian City Council Work Session
September 24,2024
Page 9 of 13
Miles: Councilman Taylor, additionally we have asked that traditionally for the last six
cycles back to 2014. So, I think it's always been a recognition that there are things the
city doesn't do that the city has an impact on and that we also have a partnership with
various agencies. So, that's the reason we have asked that question historically along
with the roads and the transportation and library services, et cetera.
Taylor: Okay. Next question I have is about trends. I was really curious on the trend that
you said was increasing in a favorable way, which was managing growth wisely. I wouldn't
have predicted that considering the comments we get. So, did you in -- in how you asked
the questions and maybe the more granular data and the crosstabs can inform us -- can
you identify maybe why that's increasing, because I would not have assumed that.
Morado: Yeah. Yeah. In the comments you are right, there are a lot of comments about
experience with growth. Now, the ratings still are not -- they are still fairly low overall.
This year 36 percent of respondents gave positive ratings to how well the city is managing
growth, 37 percent negative ratings. So, there is still definitely some concern. But two
years ago only 30 percent of respondents gave positive ratings to how well the city is
managing growth. So certainly still room for improvement, but it has improved compared
to a couple of years ago.
Taylor: Okay. And, then, my last question again on trends and I'm -- I'm looking at a slide
that you -- in the --what was sent to us that was not in your presentation here, but a trend
on the level of police presence in your neighborhoods whether it was sufficient. In 2020
63 percent said it was. In 2024 only 47 percent said that. So, that was a trend going in
the wrong direction from what we would like to see and I'm curious could you decipher
from the responses why they felt such -- you know, not a full 20 points, but where -- you
know, 16, 17 points, why was there a decrease and could you tell that from the survey
response?
Morado: There were some comments about in the -- in the open-ended comments. Some
of it seemed traffic related. Some of it did seem more about just seeing police around,
just having general presence. So, I would say a combination of those things. You know,
the -- those maps -- I showed a couple of examples of maps. We created ones like that
for every question on the survey, so that might show up. There were differences in
different parts of the city. But there -- yeah, there were some open-ended comments
about that.
Taylor: Okay. Thank you.
Cavener: Mr. Miles, you had a --
Miles: Council President, Councilman Taylor, I think to follow up on that general theme,
right, the -- the survey is a very good representation across the city. It's got good results.
We don't typically and historically have not just said, great, let's put it on a shelf and be
proud of ourselves and pat ourselves on the back. We look for those areas of opportunity
and I think that's -- the Mayor's already been talking with the chief about that result
specifically, along with the traffic enforcement and what more needs to be done. So,
Meridian City Council Work Session
September 24,2024
Page 10 of 13
think there is more analysis of looking into those specific items. Traffic enforcement, we
have got some ideas around the planning and zoning services as well. In looking at those
more closely and coming up with what is going to be our action plan to improve them.
Cavener: Thank you, Mr. Miles. Council, any other questions?
Strader: Council President?
Cavener: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: Just a comment. Just we -- I know-- I speak for all of us, but we really appreciate
all our city employees and, obviously, they are some of the best at what they do across
the whole country to get results like this. It's just phenomenal. We are so proud of all of
you and -- and appreciate your hard work.
Whitlock: Mr. President?
Cavener: Council Member Whitlock.
Whitlock: Kind of continuing the theme along trends, I think you opened your comments
about how most cities across the country are seeing a decrease in satisfaction. In
Meridian they are seeing an increase. In thinking long term, do we want that word out?
And that decrease nationally I mean is -- is that a steady decrease over time or is that just
something that you have seen in the last couple of years?
Morado: It's especially been the last two to three years. I don't -- I think there is a lot of
different reasons for it. I don't think there is any one thing. But it's been kind of across
the board over the last two to three years really, so --
Cavener- Council, any other questions? Jason, thanks for being here. I do have a couple
quick questions. You know, one of the things that I appreciate is, you know, we are looking
at this very granularly right from a very localized level. You have the opportunity to really
look at this from a 30,000 foot view as you compare with other cities. Two questions.
One, what are the questions other cities are asking that we are not that you think we
should be thinking about? And, two, as you review the totality of the respondents was
there any one area or topic that made -- stood out to you, good, bad or indifferent that
someone is an expert was maybe taken aback by?
Morado: I think your survey is very comprehensive. You cover most of the categories we
ask in other cities. You know, there is only so long the survey can be, so if you add
something new we would have to take something out. So, then, that would affect, you
know, the trends. But it's definitely a comprehensive survey. So, maybe little things here
or there that are asked in other cities but not here, but nothing significant. As far as
comparisons to other cities, the things that really stood out were a couple of things I
pointed out. The customer service from city employees. That's one of the areas where
you rated that farthest with the national average and, then, that overall quality of city
services, that's really important, because there we are really kind of asking residents to
Meridian City Council Work Session
September 24,2024
Page 11 of 13
give an overall perception of the city. Some of the lower rated areas like traffic like --
growth, traffic, that's common for fast growing cities. So, even though it rated lower here
it's not really a surprise compared to other cities that are growing fast as well.
Cavener: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Miles, I have got a couple of questions for you, if you
are -- if you are interested and willing.
Miles: Happy to.
Cavener: So, Council, I think for all of us before this survey was delivered there were
some things that we knew were going to be in there. To Council Member Strader's point,
we knew that our employees were going to be appreciated and loved and valued. They
are the best part of -- of Meridian. We also knew there would frustration, challenges with
the impacts related to growth and so, Dave, you had indicated, hey, this doesn't sit on the
shelf. We recognize that the Mayor's office often operationalizes this and I guess maybe
my ask would be is I think it would be important maybe quarterly for you or Vince, Jake,
to give us an update about how the Mayor's office -- how we are operational izing the
feedback of the results. Is it greater emphasis on traffic safety? Is it greater public
outreach coming from our planning and zoning services? Is it recommendations for we
as Council to be thinking about how we can better educate the public? We recognize it
doesn't sit on the shelf for you and your team, but it is not something that typically the
Council is kept informed about what activity is occurring in response to that. So, I think
that would be an ask. And, then, my question for you is -- similar question I asked for
Jason. You have been doing this for a long time. You have reviewed these surveys in
various roles within the city. Was there anything that stood out for you and the Mayor that
you have said, hey, we have got to really focus on this or let's also make sure we are
celebrating this as well?
Miles: Well, yeah, thanks, Councilman Cavener. I think to the point, right, we have
already talked about planning and zoning services, traffic enforcement. We have got
some thoughts around those. I know the chief's talked with the Mayor. They will have
further conversations. We will come up with what does that mean action oriented. You
know the oddities that stand out. I will say planning and zoning services, I think that
question as a whole needs to really be looked at, because two years ago we -- same
results. We had some town hall meetings, we had some open workshop discussions and
it really came down to -- is it the planning and zoning service? No, it's not the permitting,
it's not the planners in the office, it's people don't like growth and so, therefore, they feel
like planning and zoning is bad and so, honestly, that stands out to me as a continued
conundrum and how do we address that, both in servicing and ensuring that we are
delivering great service, which I believe our staff are, but also is the question still relevant
and how do we filter through that to make sure we are getting to the right crux of the
question and not leaving an unknown sort of out to hang -- hang dry. So, that one stood
out to me. Again, the employees appreciate your words, Council Woman Strader. They
do a great job. I have never been in an organization that -- around a bunch of people that
care so much. I think Meridian is very fortunate for that.
Meridian City Council Work Session
September 24,2024
Page 12 of 13
Cavener: Great. Council, any other questions? So, I think maybe some next steps. If I
remember, Mr. Miles, you are trying to work to kind of give us some breakdowns via
district. I think that's beneficial. I don't know if we have the ability to do this. You know,
one of the things that I'm always interested in is finding out what people -- based on how
long they have lived here and I don't know if we have the ability to break down here is
scoring based on folks who lived here five years, ten years, 20 years and kind of breaking
that down, just an extra step deeper. Again, right, circumstantially I feel folks that have
lived in Meridian for ten years or longer really love our community and value what it is.
Certainly frustration with growth. All of us have lived here for a long time. We share those
frustrations, but what we often see -- at least I hear a different feedback from people who
have lived here five years or less or ten years or less. So, being able to as -- we are
being asked potentially make policy decisions in response to some of this feedback,
getting a good understanding as to how those perspectives are formed by the amount of
time they have lived here would also be helpful to me.
Miles: We are happy to do that and I know you guys have provided that in the past and
if it's not already provided we can get that for you.
Cavener: Anything else? All right. Jason, David, thank you. Appreciate it.
EXECUTIVE SESSION [ACTION ITEM] per Idaho Code section 74-206(1)(d): To
consider records that are exempt from disclosure as provided in chapter 1, title 74,
Idaho Code; and 74-206(1)(f): To communicate with legal counsel for the public
agency to discuss the legal ramifications of and legal options for pending litigation,
or controversies not yet being litigated but imminently likely to be litigated.
Cavener: Let's move on to Item 17. Do I have a motion?
Strader: Council President Cavener, move that we go into executive session per Idaho
Code 74-2061(1)(d) and (f).
Overton: Second.
Cavener: Moved and seconded. Any discussion? If not, Mr. Clerk, please, call the roll.
Roll Call: Cavener, yea; Little Roberts, yea; Taylor, yea; Overton, yea; Strader, yea;
Whitlock, yea.
Cavener: All ayes. Motion passes. We are now in Executive Session.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: (5:06 p.m. to 5:55 p.m.)
Cavener: Council, do you have a motion to come out of Executive Session?
Meridian City Council Work Session
September 24,2024
Page 13 of 13
Strader: I move that we come out of Executive Session.
Overton: Second.
Cavener: All in favor say aye. We are out of Executive Session.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
Strader: I move that we adjourn the meeting.
Cavener: Moved to adjourn the meeting. Any discussion? All in favor? And we are
adjourned.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: (5:06 p.m. to 5:55 p.m.)
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 5:55 P.M.
(AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
MAYOR ROBERT SIMISON DATE APPROVED
ATTEST:
CHRIS JOHNSON - CITY CLERK