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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-10-15 Work Session Meridian City Council Work Session October 15, 2024. A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 15, 2024, by Mayor Robert Simison. Members Present: Robert Simison, Luke Cavener, John Overton, Doug Taylor, Anne Little Roberts and Brian Whitlock. Members Absent: Liz Strader. Others Present: Chris Johnson, Bill Nary, Steve Siddoway, Berle Stokes and Dean Willis. ROLL-CALL ATTENDANCE Liz Strader X Brian Whitlock Anne Little Roberts _X_ John Overton _X_ Doug Taylor _X_Luke Cavener X Mayor Robert E. Simison Simison: Council, we will call the meeting to order. For the record it is Tuesday, October 15th, 2024, at 4:30 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. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: No changes to today's agenda, so I move we approve the agenda as presented. Overton: Second. Simison: Have a motion and a second to approve the agenda. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay? The ayes have it and the agenda is agreed to. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES . CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item] 1. Approve Minutes of the September 24, 2024 City Council Work Session Meridian City Council Work Session October 15,2024 Page 2 of 14 2. Approve Minutes of the September 24, 2024 City Council Regular Meeting 3. Approve Minutes of the October 1, 2024 City Council Regular Meeting 4. Watts Meridian Medical Partners Subdivision Sanitary Sewer Easement (ESMT2024-0134) 5. Watts Meridian Medical Partners Subdivision Water Main Easement (ESMT-2024-0135) 6. Watts Meridian Medical Partners Subdivision Water Main Easement No. 2 (ESMT2024-0136) 7. JA Welker Office Building Water Main Easement (ESMT-2024-0148) 8. Final Plat for Julia Subdivision (FP-2024-0009), by Ackerman-Estvold, located at 2435 N. Black Cat Rd. 9. Settlement Agreement between the City of Meridian and Tamra Riddle for Water and Sewer Connection at 5606 N. Ten Mile Rd. 10. FY25 Cooperative Agreement between Valley Regional Transit and the City of Meridian for Public Transportation Financial Contribution 11. Resolution No. 24-2480: A Resolution Reappointing Jo D. Greer to Seat 6, Mandi Roberts to Seat 7, and Brienne Sandow to Seat 8 of the Meridian Parks and Recreation Commission; and Providing an Effective Date 12. Resolution No. 24-2481: A Resolution Reappointing John Keller to Seat 6 of the Meridian Historic Preservation Commission; and Providing an Effective Date 13. Resolution No. 24-2482: A Resolution Reappointing Blaine Johnston to Seat 2 and Heather Giacomo to Seat 7 of the Meridian Historic Preservation Commission; and Providing an Effective Date 14. Resolution No. 24-2483: A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Meridian Reappointing Elliot (Elie) Hood to Seat 9 of the Parks and Recreation Commission; and Providing an Effective Date Simison: First up is the Consent Agenda. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Meridian City Council Work Session October 15,2024 Page 3 of 14 Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: I move that we approve the Consent Agenda, for the Mayor to sign and the Clerk to attest. Overton: Second. Simison: 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 were no items removed from the Consent Agenda. DEPARTMENT / COMMISSION REPORTS [Action Item] 15. Parks and Recreation Department: Presentation and Discussion of Future Park Development Simison: So we will move on to Item 15, which is Department/Commission Reports, which will be presented by Mr. Steve Siddoway, which will be on our Parks and Recreation Department presentation discussion of future park development. Siddoway: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I believe Chris is pulling the presentation up, but I'm excited to be in front of you today for this conversation about future parks and planning. I believe this topic was specifically request -- requested by Councilman Cavener this summer under future meeting topics and asked if we could -- if I could come back with the discussion of -- of future parks and our -- our -- our plan. There we go. Thank you. Can you all see the presentation on your screens? Okay. So, I have -- I have tried to dissect this multiple different ways. I want to get some kudos to -- to the GIS team for helping me out with a lot of the mapping that you are going to see, but I thought that might help our -- our discussion tonight. So, let's start with the current system before we talk about the future system. So, what do we have today? We have got three regional parks, six community parks, nine neighborhood parks. Let me pause there, because those are what we typically consider as what we -- most people would think of as a traditional park, you know, those are the places with playgrounds and grass and restrooms and a picnic shelter and some open play space and usually a loop pathway are -- are -- are kind of core functions of all of those. Then we have the -- the four special use parks and two sports parks, which are smaller and more specialized, things like Generations Plaza, City Hall Plaza out front. The sports parks are more -- they are specifically special partnerships that we have with the school district. So, both the Heritage Middle School ball fields and the Jabil soccer fields are locations that they technically own, but we actually manage and schedule those as if they were one of our Meridian City Council Work Session October 15,2024 Page 4 of 14 parks. So, in total we have about 370 acres out there. It's one thing to look at on a list, but let's look at it on a variety of -- of maps. So, here is an overall system map with the different types of parks in different colors and I'm going to -- to help you see the distribution I'm going to take each one individually here in just a minute. But one thing I like to look at is just that, you know, we are not ignoring any part of the city. We are doing a -- trying very hard to distribute our parks across the city and -- and -- and serve everyone as well as we can. So, on -- on here are all the various types of parks. So, let's go first to the regional parks -- I'm going to try and get something off my screen here so that I can see. I got about a third of my screen missing, so I was trying to see if I could get rid of -- there we go. Yeah. Don't want to stop the share. I don't know if that shows up on just my screen or if it's on everybody's, but I can see that -- if I can just put it to the bottom. I can see the title of the slide. There we go. That works. Okay. So, let's start with regional parks. Those are our big ones. The big three, Settlers Park, Kleiner Park and now Discovery Park. Those three we consider our largest, highest amenity regional parks and we do have more coming for -- in the future, but those are the three. I remember several years back feeling like when we were talking about south Meridian in particular, feeling underserved and we ran the level of service analysis and it was -- they had the same amount of acres per thousand, but they were missing the -- the -- the Settlers or Kleiner type park and, you know, since we have opened Discovery Park I haven't heard that comment. So, I think that they are being served now better with those types of -- of amenities. Let's see. Switch slides. Oh, I need to go back to community. Okay. Community parks. These -- these are the ones that are bigger than just a neighborhood park. They include neighborhood park style amenities, but they -- they also tend to have more sports-type field uses in them. You know, it's like the -- the ball fields at Tully Park or Storey Park or Bear Creek Park, Fuller Park, Heroes Park has soccer, Hillsdale in the -- the south. It's interesting here -- Hillsdale Park we kind of -- we categorize these both based on size and function. Hillsdale is more of the size of a neighborhood park, but it functions because of our partnerships with the YMCA and the school and -- and just what's there more like a community park. So, we have it listed with the community parks, even though size wise it's a little smaller than the others. Neighborhood parks. I won't read the list to you, but, you know, these are -- are scattered around and these tend to be seven plus acre parks with some basic amenities to -- to serve those neighborhoods. Now, one -- I think that my next slide -- is the special use and sports parks. So, these are the Five Mile Creek trail hub, the Generations Plaza, City Hall Plaza right outside in -- in front of here. I mean it's part of City Hall, but it's -- we -- we -- we -- we don't program it like a neighborhood park, but it is part of our park system as -- as -- as a plaza. Even Fire Station 4 in south Meridian has a small dedicated green space that is a -- a special use type park, but not a full on neighborhood park. It doesn't have a playground, things like that. And, then, you can see the two -- Heritage Middle School and Jabil soccer fields. Sports parks. Now, a really important, but often overlooked part of our park system is the -- is the HOA parks. We don't overlook them. I mean we -- we think about it a lot. Every time a development application comes before you I know that's an important topic of conversation and I encourage that to continue to be an important topic of conversation. Just some -- some of the numbers that I think about -- the overall city-owned park system is a little less than three acres per thousand residents. Now, when you look at, quote, unquote, Meridian City Council Work Session October 15,2024 Page 5 of 14 national standards for park space, I'm grateful that today the National Recreation Parks Association will say there is no standard. Every community is different and you need to figure out what works for a community. But I will say anecdotally a number that gets thrown around a lot is ten acres per thousand. There is a lot of -- of communities that that tout ten acres per thousand and when you -- when you say, you know, we are -- we are -- we are striving for three if -- it kind of feels like, what, that's kind of a little -- isn't that a little goal? And yet are -- we get kudos for what feels like a really robust park system. I don't think there is a sense that our community is underserved with parks and -- and recreation and that is due in large part by -- to what we do for the community open space at these HOA parks. Those -- those pink dots all over the city are the HOA owned parks and when we did an analysis a few years ago when you include everything, guess what, the -- what I call the effective level of service for our community is right about ten acres per thousand when you include all of that -- those -- those HOAs do and, then, the brown areas are the school properties, which also function as -- as parks when school is not in session. Kids are able to go and play on the playgrounds at the elementary schools, et cetera. Their fields function for sports practices and things like that, so -- so, when you put it all together, everything that the city owns, everything that the HOA parks are and the schools you get this -- a much more robust distribution of -- of park facilities across the city. So, let's talk about the future now. How many acres of land -- park land can we improve with our impact fees through 2032? That's the year that the current impact fee study goes through and the pages in the background that I don't really expect you to read is just to show that I did pull this out and, then, the bottom line is what I blew up here in the middle; right? So, the -- the -- the -- the important number is the 87. We can -- we can improve 87 acres of developed park land between now and 2032. Now, there is a related goal about buying future park land. So, how many acres of park land can we purchase through park impact fees through 2032? That answer is 120. We can purchase 120 acres with park impact fees in order to keep the established -- what was the current level of service a couple of years ago when the plan was adopted and try and maintain the same number of acres per thousand available to our residents. We can purchase 120 acres between now and 2032. So, what's the plan to do all that? I'm still looking for park land by the way, but put it -- the -- this is where the rubber meets the road. This is the -- the current plan for our future parks per the CFP and let me just acknowledge up front the -- that this plan will change over time, you know, based on budgets. This isn't set in -- in stone, but you can see the little note at the bottom, subject to change annually based on the CFP balancing, the budget process, et cetera. But best look at -- with everything we know today what can we do with the impact fees that are coming in. Guess what, this -- if you add up the -- the total acres here for development, it -- it equals -- let me just point that out -- the 87 that's right here. So, there is 87 acres eligible between now and 2032 and, guess what, this plan develops 87 acres between now and 2032. So, what's first on our list? Settlers Park expansion. This is where the community center is going. We bought the 11 acres next to Settlers Park on the west side for the community center, but it also has the ability to expand Settlers Park with some additional amenities and we have begun the design process in FY-25, just in the last couple of months, per the most recent budget process, I will be in front of you next week again with an update on that. So, our goal is to take the community center and the Settlers Park expansion out for Meridian City Council Work Session October 15,2024 Page 6 of 14 community public meeting on that specific topic in -- in November, but we want to bring it to you first and say is this ready for prime time. So, just a little preview that I will be back next week to talk specifically about that. The Graycliff sub area park is a neighborhood park size project in south Meridian and in the master plan update there was -- there was a square mile area that was identified as underserved compared to the rest of the city and this is where that sits and we have been working with the developer and they -- they have plans to donate land and, then, us to develop a public park in that area. The Fields District area park we are working on trying to get 40 acres up in the far northwest corner of our city and if we are successful in -- in that effort to acquire property we would, then, roll into design and construction of that and back to the south -- I will show all of this to you on a map in just a minute by the way. But I think it helps to see the years. But Discovery Park has a third phase attached to it and it's a smaller phase, it's about 11 acres, 12 acres and is on the far south end behind what's currently the baseball -- the softball fields and the bike park moving towards the south there and we would be expanding that and completing that part and, then, jumping up to the far north Margaret Aldape Park is the -- what we hope will be our first Boise River park. The whole thing could be about 70 acres. The size is a little unknown, because I don't own this land today and it's -- we have been talking with the Ewings for several years and they are still -- they still have intentions to donate land, develop the -- that park together, but a lot of it resides in the floodway and can't be developed actively. In fact, after Snowmageddon there was a river breach that came through part of that property and, then, Corps of Engineers did their thing, put it back in its channel and -- and -- but we know we need to keep structures and heavy development out of a lot of it. So, it's going to be -- a lot of it will be very natural, you know, the pathways and being along the river and -- but there will be a section of it that will be heavily designed and able to use for events and things like that, so -- and, then, West Meridian Regional Park is the 47 acres that we own near -- and we do own this property already -- near Cherry Lane and McDermott where the Lions Club Rodeo has had its home for years. We do intend to develop that as a park, but I have -- it's interesting to me -- it's always interesting to me that this is kind of the farthest out in -- on the plan, but that has everything to do with sewer ability. We have the -- the sewer trunk that serves West Meridian Park will get to The Fields District area first and, then, come down to serve that area. That's why it's not in reverse order, even though we have owned West Meridian Regional Park space longer, it's more of the capital facilities planning and the realities of when is sewer coming and when is it annexable and things like that that are driving it to be out further than -- than sooner. So, where are these parks? Well, there you go. You can see there is a nice geographic distribution across the north and the south, the growing areas of the city. Margaret Aldapi on the park. I'm just going to go top to bottom. Fields District. You can see the Settlers Park expansion, which is our next project. West Meridian Regional Park as we were just talking about on the west side. Then to the south Graycliff Subdivision Park -- that's not going to be its name. Let me just point that out. Because we don't like to name parks after the subdivisions. We have learned our lesson on that. But the name's undetermined at this time. That's the name of the subdivision. And, then, Discovery Park phase three down in the far south. So, when you put that all together, you add those into the current plan, it kind of fills in in between and there is -- there is the plan for the current and future park system and, then, if you Meridian City Council Work Session October 15,2024 Page 7 of 14 add back in the HOA parks and the schools you get -- I took off the names of all of the current park system just because it was a little too cluttered. But now you can see how -- how it all kind of meshes together. So, the question for discussion that came up when we were in -- in here this summer was kind of this one. Does the Council want the parks department to focus on the community and regional, larger size parks and have the subdivision and HOA focus on the neighborhood or smaller parks or does the parks -- do you -- do you want the parks department to explore partnerships of all sizes regardless of whether they are big or small? And I could open there, but I'm just going to put out there -- I do come to you with a recommendation. I think that's -- from my perspective the right answer is a hybrid of -- of that dichotomy and it makes sense to focus primarily our efforts on the bigger parks, because we do have the HOAs doing such a great job of filling those smaller park needs and we don't need or want to own every small neighborhood size park across the city, but we should also consider limited additional neighborhood parks, like the -- the Graycliff Subdivision park as kind of the prime example for me to explore partnership -- sorry. To -- wherever it makes strategic sense to do so. In this particular case we have an identified gap where citizens are underserved by the current park system and we think it makes sense to -- to see if a partnership there for a neighborhood park could -- could work out. So, with that that kind of is the end of my presentation. I will go back to any slides you want to and I just would open it up to you for discussion and direction. Simison: Thank you, Steve. Council, questions, comments? Overton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Overton. Overton: Steve, excellent. You know, I guess I'm always striving for the right answers on some of these developments that we looked at. We constantly heard two weeks ago I believe it was that this development at this location was going to have a very negative impact on the closest park, even though that park was more ball fields, it didn't have all the amenities -- as many of the others and sitting here I could -- couldn't look into that crystal ball and remember what you were going to have developed or what was on the future. I would love to get something like this that we could keep as a -- as a reference so that we can answer some of those questions when they come in front of us. Siddoway: I would be happy to forward this whole presentation to you and you can use any of the graphics and illustrations that you would like to. Overton: Because we are going to have some of those same questions this evening and it's a matter of we don't have enough -- the claim is we don't have enough parks and if we do have parks that they are fully utilized with lines of people still trying to get teams on. Siddoway: They are busy. That is true. Meridian City Council Work Session October 15,2024 Page 8 of 14 Overton: That is a true statement. Siddoway: I don't think that that's incorrect. It is -- they are very busy and there is demand for more space for sports teams to play on. There is. Overton: Would it -- would it -- follow up, Mr. Mayor. Simison: Councilman Overton. Overton: Is it a correct statement to say that the way the park systems are being developed and built out is in a direct response to what the public is asking for? Siddoway: Yes. I mean that's why we do all of our public outreach through the master plan process. I mean a lot of these things are just continued outgrowth of all of the public involvement that we have done from our master plan update just two years ago. We did surveys. We did public meetings. We talked about needs. And, then, you know, it's also limited to what we can develop with impact fees, because we can't grow from three acres to ten acres per thousand of city owned without some kind of major influx of both capital and operational dollars that the city just don't -- doesn't have realistically. Overton: Perfect. Thanks, Steve. Taylor: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Taylor. Taylor: Steve, thanks for the presentation. I would make a quick comment. I had a friend who moved here from Pennsylvania a few years ago and he was blown away by the park system that we had here in Meridian. He is like I have never seen anything like it and he thought it was really great and I said have you been to Discovery Park? And he hadn't heard of it. So, he went there and he called me, he is like this is -- this is amazing. So, kudos to you and the -- the Mayor and City Councils that have come before to kind of set direction. I think it -- it makes a big difference. I would note I think in the valley we are a little bit unique where we don't have the river, we don't have a trail system as sort of natural park amenities. So, we have to create our own opportunities with -- with the park system. So, I think we have done a pretty good job. So, I just -- you know, just want to comment and -- on that and I'm proud to say I have been to every single park before I even became a member of City Council with my four kids. So, my -- my question -- I'm kind of curious as it comes to thinking about maybe where we would prioritize our investment as a city in the types of parks. Do you track any kind of usage matrix -- like regional parks versus a community park and kind of that engagement? Siddoway: There are no turnstiles in parks, so it's impossible for us to get visitor rates. Now, there are some technologies out there, like Placer.ai and -- and things that track, Meridian City Council Work Session October 15,2024 Page 9 of 14 you know, cell -- through cell phone usage, you know, how -- how many people are in different places at different times, but that's a subscription cost that we don't have. So, if we want to get more robust in data tracking for usage, it's going to take something like that in order to really be accurate, because we have no accurate way right now of -- of estimating park users without that type of technology. Taylor: Okay. Mr. Mayor, quick follow up. Simison: Councilman Taylor. Taylor: You know, anecdotally I would say like the regional parks are busy a lot; right? There is a lot going on. There is a lot of different amenities that take you there. I think of a park like Heroes Park, which Saturday Morning is wow -- Siddoway: It really is. Taylor: I spend most of my Saturdays there. Meridian PAL soccer, so -- but, then, during the week or maybe outside of the soccer season it's not nearly as busy. So, guess if I'm thinking what provides the most benefit, you know, I would be more interested to know if it's the -- those that have higher amenities that would bring people more often there or if they are a little bit more specific use and I would probably suggest, you know, Meridian PAL soccer, for example, is growing, it's busy, there is a lot going on, certainly need the space for something like that or other similar type of activities, but I'm just curious if the community would be more interested in a park that has higher amenities that take you there more often, because I go to Heroes Park just for soccer. I go to Settlers Park all the time and I drive -- I live right close to Settlers Park, but I drive to Discovery Park because of the amenities. So, kind of an interesting -- I hadn't really considered maybe where we want to put our priorities. Is it sort of something that's higher amenities that bring more people there throughout the year for different reasons or more of a special use that it's a nice green space, but it's kind of built for a specific purpose, so — Siddoway: You are articulating very well the reason behind my recommendation for this hybrid. I do think that the higher amenity parks are important for us to focus on, because they do serve a broader range of the public for more needs. The community parks heavily on the sports uses, like Heroes Park, but the Kleiner and the Settlers and the Discovery, because they are so amenity rich and people will drive to go to those to -- to participate in the other kinds of activities that they can do there that aren't just sports related. So, the neighborhood parks have a place, but the -- the HOA versions of the neighborhood parks do a lot to serve that need and I think we have a legitimate focus on those higher amenity functions in -- in general. But, like I said, not exclusively. I do think it makes sense to have some focus on the neighborhood parks, but in terms of priority I do think the higher amenity parks are a higher priority for me. Simison: Well, Councilman Taylor, if you would like us to get a 40 yard dash closer to your house to race your kids, I'm sure we can look for other opportunities. Meridian City Council Work Session October 15,2024 Page 10 of 14 Taylor: Only if you and I can race. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Thank you, sir. Steve, appreciate this update and I -- I think I tend to agree with your recommendation, maybe with a little bit of a caveat. Siddoway: Okay. Cavener: One of the things I think that you and your team and the city has done really well at different times is allow parks to come online through partnerships and to me I think the neighborhood parks is a place where we likely will continue to see partnerships emerge. Now, just because somebody offers doesn't mean it makes sense; right? We need to decide if -- if somebody offers us two acres and we need to buy five or six does that maybe make sense in terms of meeting the community's needs operational, et cetera. But I -- I appreciate your recommendation. I tend to agree with it. But I would -- I think it would -- probably more for me a situation when there is a strong partnership that benefits the city as a result. Siddoway: If we get brought a partnership that we think makes sense to bring forward, we will not hold it down because it's not a community or regional park. Cavener: Okay. Siddoway: Going back -- I can't remember if it was six or seven years ago, but roughly that time frame, you know, we worked on -- with a developer on a potential neighborhood park partnership and brought it to Council and that Council at that time said, nope, this one should be an HOA park. We don't want to take this on and develop it and maintain it as a City Park and so I definitely have that in the back of my mind, but I'm also not -- I'm still very open to the idea of partnerships. Partnerships is how we do so much of what we do. Cavener: Mr. Mayor, if I may add on to that. Steve, I -- I remember that conversation vividly and -- and I think you bring up a really really important point, which is we are not -- we should -- we shouldn't be in the business of subsidizing or doing upkeep on HOA parks, which I think that request was very similar. However, though, from your perspective of the parks director if you feel like that exists in a part of Meridian that is underserved, is a larger disproportional distance to a park, I think continue to be over that, I look at this more as, okay, the HOA wants to give us seven acres and we want to do something grandiose and we want to put another ten acres then, something like that. So, those -- those are things where I kind of look at is that if there is an opportunity for us to partner and do something even bigger that's where I get really excited. Siddoway: Sure. Meridian City Council Work Session October 15,2024 Page 11 of 14 Cavener: Okay. Whitlock: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Whitlock. Whitlock: Mayor, Steve, thank you for the presentation and thanks for the good work. If I -- Mayor, Steve or Mayor Steve. No. Whitlock: Mayor. Steve. It's proper Robert's Rules of Order. But going through the chair. Siddoway: Yeah. Sorry. Whitlock: Okay. Mayor and Steve, if I reflect back on the citizen survey a couple things stand out to me. Public safety. People feel safe in Meridian. Our public employees. They are very grateful for the work that our public employees do and they love our parks. Those are my three biggest takeaways from that survey. Your employees are the ones that are out there cleaning the bathrooms, mowing the lawns, maintaining the amenities that -- that we do have. I'm just wondering as we move forward, whether it's the 87 acres I think or future, do you have an algorithm or a matrix that you look at and say if we add 40 acres, knowing that it will differ based on use, if it's just ball fields, flat grass, whatever, that's different than pickleball courts, tennis courts, baseball fields and things that you have to maintain. What is your -- how do you factor your operations versus what I tend to think that we have focused more on and that is how do we buy more dirt. Siddoway: Right. Whitlock: What's the -- what's the matrix to say if we buy so many acres of dirt here is what it's going to cost you to maintain -- knowing that there is going to be some differentials there. Siddoway: We do have a pro forma bill, with the help of Finance, in the CFP and when we -- when we bring on new -- new parks we -- we are able to plug in and it can kind of fill out — you need this much in everything from office supplies for the -- the two new staff that are going to come or -- or whatever. But -- but it's -- it's part art and part science, you know. We do sit down during the budget -- early in the budget process, you know, in the February, March, April range as we are getting ready for the base budget. Well, these would be enhancements in this case, not base budget, but still in that same time frame and — and we -- and we look at what is the -- the number of -- of acres. Can we absorb that? Are we reaching a trigger point -- and we actually have that built into the -- the CFP. We -- we show additional staffing coming online. If you look at the CFP today it's built in there with operational costs and staffing related to those future parks Meridian City Council Work Session October 15,2024 Page 12 of 14 Simison: And some of this I think, Steve -- you know, I think there is a five to six dollar per -- you -- you -- we just talked about this earlier today in the presentation for next week. But there is a base level cost for operational when you bring on like Settlers Park, those additional 11 acres we are talking about, yeah, that's not for free and, then, that's going to cost money to — to do that and he — he has got a dollar figure out what he expects that to cost. But to this point when you go over a threshold you know is it fair to put that cost on 11 acres for one staff member? Probably not. So, that's why it's averaged out. Siddoway: And the five to six dollars you are thinking of is for indoor facilities, like Homecourt or the community center. There is a different number and I can't come up with that off the top of my head, but -- but for outdoor space as well. Little Roberts: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Little Roberts. Little Roberts: Mr. Mayor and Steve, just thank you for all that you and your team do. As you know I'm a huge fan of the parks and rec department and your team and I think you are spot on with focusing on community and regional parks. I get comments all the time, especially about Discovery, and I think there may be, on a case-by-case basis an opportunity to work in a partnership with HOAs and -- but I think that those are probably a little bit more rare than what we need to focus on. So, I think you are right on target. Thank you. Siddoway: As those opportunities and partnerships come forward, you know, if they have merit I will continue to bring them forward. So, thank you. And I will just put a plug in, because I'm always thinking ten years or more out, that, you know, thinking beyond the current ones in pink here, this area in the southwest -- it won't be too many years before we start getting sewer ability and annexability and things like that and so if anybody knows of any park land -- future park land available I'm in the market, but it's time to start thinking about those things. Not that this is necessarily the year to buy it, but over the next five years we should definitely be thinking about, you know, what do we get for the future in that southwest area as well, so -- Simison: Okay? Whitlock: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Whitlock. Whitlock: I think Mayor and Steve, I think you were looking for some feedback. So, as -- as the liaison to parks I -- I think you are on the right track. I like your recommendation. I like the hybrid approach. It's measured. It's -- it checks all the boxes I think. So, as far as feedback I think you are on the right — you are on the right. track. Meridian City Council Work Session October 15,2024 Page 13 of 14 Siddoway: Thank you. Taylor: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Taylor. Taylor: I will just make this kind of comment. I said it before, but I think it's worth restating. I thought about this quite a bit. You know, you take Meridian, which was a largely agricultural dairy entity, flat, not a lot of geographic characteristics that make it anything special. In light of -- or especially when you consider Boise with the river, foothills, some of those things. So, I think we have to work a little extra hard to make our outdoor, you know, amenities more attractive and appealing, because we don't have those natural things that others might have and I do think it -- a park system sort of community engagement makes a city a place where people want to be, not just nice housing or shopping, but you want a place where people want to go and spend time. So, I think -- I agree with your recommendation, too. I -- I -- I tend to think that, you know, a little bit more focus on the higher amenities, larger parks, is -- would serve a broader, more diverse set of -- of constituents. We are not just talking about young families with kids, we obviously want to find amenities that people of all kinds can go and enjoy. So, I -- for feedback I think sort of philosophically I think that's a smart direction. I -- I appreciate the point brought up, though, too. Like what's the cost of mowing grass versus maintaining other amenities? Obviously, I know you are working on that and factoring in it, but in terms of sort of a -- sort of a strategic vision and approach I think that makes a lot of sense to -- to focus on those -- sort of that higher end and then -- because I think we do a pretty good job and our development community seems to be good partners in helping us with some of those HOA parks and smaller parks that provide kind of nice open space that people can enjoy. But I think where the city puts its resources, those higher amenities, I think does make a difference, so -- Siddoway: Thank you. Whitlock: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Whitlock. Whitlock: Can I just ask one more question? Before I joined the Council and before you were Mayor I think there was a heavy emphasis on tot lots and I know that most applications that came in everybody was looking to see where is the tot lot in -- in this development. Siddoway: Even in the HOA parks. Whitlock: Even in the -- the over 55 developments they were putting tot lots in from what I understand anecdotally, because that -- that was something that developers Meridian City Council Work Session October 15,2024 Page 14 of 14 knew would be asked or was a priority. Is -- is there anything that we should be considering -- not requiring, but desiring from developers as they come before us? Siddoway: Pickleball and dog parks. I'm only half joking, but the — tot lots I think are still really important for the majority of -- of subdivisions. I mean those are really important amenities for the families with children, you know, open space where, you know, the -- the local PAL soccer team -- or flag football team can come out and -- and -- and practice. Those — those spaces are very valuable. But certain amenities, you know, like pickleball, like -- you know, I don't know if dog park really makes sense in an HOA park, but it could. We are looking at the possibility of a dog park in the expansion of Settlers Park, by the way, just as a quick aside. Near the community center. But, I don't know, in terms of amenities, you know, we could look at the -- the survey that was done as part of the park master plan with input from the community and as — and you are my liaison, so we can -- I know we are meeting this week. So, we could even pull that out and look at it. But just anecdotally off the top of my head I think that -- that the playgrounds tend to be very important, less important if it's a 55 older community, but it was interesting, when we asked seniors in our master planning process what was important to them, they still said playgrounds for kids, because they said -- I moved here for my grandkids. A lot of them -- you know, maybe not everyone, but many of them did. What brought you here? You know, I came to be with my kids and grandkids. So, they still like those child-oriented amenities, even -- even a lot of the senior population. But they also like their pickleball. Simison: Council, anything else? All right. Thank you very much, Steve. Appreciate it. Council, we have reached the end of our agenda. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Move we adjourn the work session. Simison: 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 5.10 P.M. (AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS) MAYOR ROBERT E. SIMISON 11-6-2024 ATTEST: CHRIS JOHNSON - CITY CLERK 11-6-2024