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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-02-25 Work Session Meridian City Council Work Session February 25, 2025. A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 25, 2025, by Mayor Robert Simison. Members Present: Robert Simison, Luke Cavener, Liz Strader, John Overton, Doug Taylor, Anne Little Roberts and Brian Whitlock. Other Present: Chris Johnson, Bill Nary, Caleb Hood, Hether Hill, Steve Siddoway, Scott Colaianni and Dean Willis. ROLL-CALL ATTENDANCE X 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 this meeting to order. For the record it is February 25th, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. We will begin this afternoon's work session with roll call attendance. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Simison: Next item up is adoption of the agenda. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Move we adopt the agenda as presented. Strader: Second. Simison: Motion and second to adopt the agenda as presented. Is there any discussion? If not, all 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. Approval of Task Order 11551.a to Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. for WRRF Mechanical Building PLC (SMCB1) Programming Update for the Not-To-Exceed Amount of $209,247.00 Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 2 of 30 2. Approval of Construction Contract to The Ewing Co. for the Biosolids Dewatering Odor Control project for the Not-to-Exceed amount of $668,532.95 3. Approval of Construction Contract to Challenger Companies for the Primary Power Upgrade project for the Not-to-Exceed amount of $1,165,500.00 4. Approval of Construction Contract to Hobson Fabricating Corp. for Meridian Homecourt HVAC Replacements for the Not-To-Exceed Amount of $212,409.00 5. License Agreement Between City of Meridian and Meridian Senior Center for Shed in Julius M. Kleiner Memorial Park 6. City of Meridian Financial Report - January 2025 7. Resolution No. 25-2503: A Resolution Establishing the Reappointment of Bobby Gaytan to Seat 5 and Patrick O'Leary to Seat 6 of the Meridian Arts Commission; and Providing an Effective Date Simison: First up Consent Agenda. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Move we approve the Consent Agenda. For the Mayor to sign and the Clerk to attest. Strader: 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 -- 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 moved from the Consent Agenda. DEPARTMENT / COMMISSION REPORTS [Action Item] Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 3 of 30 8. 2025 Roadway, Intersection and Community Program Prioritization Simison: So, we will go on to Item 8, which is 2025 Roadway Intersection and Community Program Prioritization. Hether. Hill: Good afternoon, Mayor and Council Members. So, I'm here this afternoon to discuss the 2025 Roadway Intersection and Community Program Prioritization process for the fiscal year 2026 through 2030 five year plan. I hope you had adequate time to look through the list and memo that was sent out a couple weeks ago and as a reminder as we start this conversation for our priorities to be considered we must submit this list to ACHD no later than March 19th and this is currently the only time I'm scheduled before you. So, a couple of things before we get into the list that I wanted to call your attention to. There is a new format this year for submitting the lists. As you will see you have two lists, one is for roads and intersections and, then, the other is for community programs. These are ranged by priority and include both funded and unfunded projects, whereas last year that was a bit different. So, if you see some shifts part of that is because they are now all together. So, the Transportation Commission and the prioritization subcommittee met a few times over the last few months and the lists and rankings that you see are their recommendations for this year. They recognize that most of the projects are very similar to last year's as part of the effort to group them all together, so, really, they use that as a starting point for this year for the rankings. Historically the Transportation Commission has placed a kind of importance on safety and congestion using the level of service map that I believe was also included in your memo as an exhibit. Looking at ACHD's scoring, projects that are actively in construction and looking at strategic corridors to kind of inform how they rank the project. So, that's -- I just wanted to kind of give you an update overview of why I'm here. But, really, I can just stand for questions that you have on the list and we can go from there. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Thank you, Hether. I wanted to start by complimenting you, because this is the most comprehensive packet we have ever received about the five year work plan. It is super organized and the level of service map was really fantastic and helpful. My question was about Locust Grove. So, previously the Transportation Commission had kind of prioritized like a corridor approach and I saw that bullet point about how there is extra consideration given to like the Ustick corridor, but one thing that kind of stood out to me in some discussions we have talked about, there are a lot of bottlenecks kind of when you reach North Meridian if you are trying to get -- especially from like Ustick Road to Chinden and I was curious -- I didn't see a lot of prioritization of Locust Grove like north of, you know, McMillan, so I -- I kind of just wanted to understand is there something about that segment that just didn't work? Is it something that just hasn't been on the list? Kind of help me understand, because I see a lot of different Locust Grove projects, but I don't see it going all the way through. Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 4 of 30 Hill: Thank you, Mayor and Council Woman Strader. So, part of the conversation with the subcommittee was really -- let's look at like the top three, five, top ten, maybe 15 and just focus on those, since that's what we have been looking at year over year. Just knowing that, you know, last year there were several projects that were unprogrammed. So, where do we strategically want to have those projects and you are correct, like in the top ten you don't see a lot north and so they were focusing on what we have consistently had in the top ten and trying to group those projects together. For instance, the Amity Road and Locust Grove, that's why you see a jump for that one on Locust Grove particularly and that was the subcommittee's emphasis on trying to group corridor projects with intersection projects, but I can't speak to their rationale for further north on Locust Grove. I mean I think some of them are on the list, but, again, it's kind of limited, like which one do you pick first? So, they were just focusing on more of the top projects that would be foreseeable in the next five years. Taylor: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Taylor. Taylor: Hether, quick question kind of in the same vein as Councilman Strader. On that connectivity on Meridian Road north of McMillan -- well, actually, it's really from Settlers Park North it's two lanes. Can you give me some insight into some of the discussion for the -- the subcommittee's discussion on -- on that? Because the same thing there is -- we kind of have some limited north-south in north Meridian to Chinden and it would -- I just kind of want to know what the sentiment was with -- again she talked about Locust Grove. I'm interested in what the discussion on Meridian Road was and where the subcommittee came down and some of the discussions on that. Hill: Okay. Mayor and Councilman Taylor, are you speaking to Meridian Road, Ustick to McMillan? Is that the corridor that you are -- Taylor: It would be essentially Ustick to Chinden. Hill- Okay. So, the entire stretch. So, I -- to be completely honest, as far as specific corridors we didn't spend the time to go through every single one really because they felt confident with the level of service map in the priority rankings from last year. I mean understanding that, you know, they are looking at here and they can see that it's a level of service C or better, I know, you know, when you actually travel on Meridian Road it might not be the case, because it is a two lane road, but, really, that was their justification is trying to take small bites at the apple, like where do we start with the conversation and where do we advertise the rankings and so they felt comfortable with some of those where they were from last year. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 5 of 30 Strader: Maybe just to try to close out the loop on that conversation, you know, I'm actually pretty agnostic, like whether -- whether we choose to focus on -- if it's Meridian Road or Locust Grove. Linder kind of specific and different, but I think it would be very helpful to us to try to prioritize one of those corridors to -- to try to get all the way through to Chinden, because it does really bottleneck it pretty badly. Like the Meridian Road example I think is -- is a good one, because you have Heritage Middle School right there, you are down to two lanes. There are no sidewalks. Like it's -- it's really bottlenecking once you get past that school and Locust Grove I -- I think has issues as well but, again, I -- I think maybe just an idea, but it would be good to try to elevate one of the north-south corridors to actually get all the way through. It doesn't have to be like -- obviously we have a lot of priorities here, but since we are elevating so many that are kind of in that corridor that's what I was thinking was we needed something to try to get it on the map. So, we are starting to program it even if it's, you know, a ways down the line. But there is just a lot of bottlenecking in that area and if people could get through to Chinden easily to help bypass McMillan, because you can see from the level of service map what's going on here with McMillan is a disaster and the whole thing's red; right? This whole segment that borders my district is like a complete nightmare. Not to make it about that, but I do think like if -- if we have some way of people getting around that that will help. Like Ustick will definitely help a little bit with the east-west and that's programmed, but helping people kind of bypass this north-south seems important to me, even if it's just getting it on kind of the list for -- for future years. Overton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Overton. Overton: And kind of to back up what's being said, I mean I know we have got Locust Grove, Fairview to Ustick, heading north for the first mile segment as number two. But in the interest of trying to take that whole level F section up, number 12 is the next mile and they are always broke down into the mile segments. I would be willing to look at it as we get closer to a final number of moving that second mile of Locust Grove between Ustick and McMillan up higher into that list, so we could actually try to make that entire corridor of higher service level. Simison: And without the benefit of something like Dark Horse at our fingertips that put the fire station right there long term that might also help get it moving quicker along that corridor for that portion. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Hether, question for you about programs. How -- how -- who decides what a program is and it makes the list? Is that something the highway district identifies, that local jurisdictions identify, combination? Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 6 of 30 Hill: Councilman Cavener, are you speaking to whether they are programmed or not or whether they are a community program or a road and intersection project? Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: The -- the latter. Just -- I -- when I look at the -- I guess for all of these, for roadway priorities and the community programs who ultimately is the one that is proposing those on this list? Is it -- is it us? Is the highway district? Is it both? Hill: I would say it is us. These are our recommendations to ACHD of what our priorities are as a city. Cavener: Got it. Mr. Mayor, follow up. Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: If we wanted to create a new program for consideration are we able to do that as part of this list? Hill: Mayor and Councilman Cavener, as in -- when you say program, do you mean like a new project? If you wanted to add something on to this list entirely new? Cavener: Yeah. Mr. Mayor. Yes. And I -- I guess I was speaking specifically to the -- I guess starting on page seven, the community programs list because I think those are largely kind of pedestrian connectivity intersection stuff. It's not necessarily moving of vehicles per se, but other ancillary projects that have an impact in some degree on traffic and transportation. Strader: That's correct. Yeah. Community programs tend to be like sidewalk, pedestrian enhancement, sidewalks, PHBs, traffic calming initiatives and such. So, if we were to add something this would be the way that we would say, hey, ACHD, this is a priority to the city. They do have several that they receive from this community initiatives or efforts or surveys. So, I know that they have more than are even on this list that are in their future considerations to review and rank in future years. Cavener: Mr. Mayor, if I may. Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Council, I'm at least going to refer you to Item No. -- I guess Draft 2025 city priority number 18 on our roadways project. Roads and Intersections. That deals with Black Cat from Franklin to Cherry. If -- those of you that were here may remember last year I talked at -- at great length about this project, because speaking of bottlenecks and congestion, you have got a -- a stop sign there at the train tracks that has a huge Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 7 of 30 impact on the flow of traffic. I actually think that the road right now is designed to handle the amount of traffic it has, but it all bottlenecks at that stop sign. When you look into the industrial project that we have -- that we have approved over there, I think a handful of other projects that are going to be likely requested before us over the next year, I'm really -- I continue to be concerned about that stop sign. In my meetings with the highway district their response to us has been, well, then, make this a community program and, right, we are -- we are 29 -- we are 2029, 2030 before this project would ever be designed, but if we wanted to address the piece with the stop sign to maybe segment that out as a community program, so they could focus on the main issue, which is the bottleneck that's occurring at the stop sign and, then, improve the roadway intersection as we get closer. So, when we get to a point of deliberation that's something I -- I plan to suggest as maybe a meeting of the middle. It addresses the -- the overall larger challenge while still recognizing, you know, seven or eight years from now they will start to work on actually improving that -- that roadway. Hood: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Mr. Hood. Hood: If -- if I can, I like where you are going, Councilman Cavener. I do want to just call your attention -- we do have a couple of ACHD staff also available and if Council goes there I want to make sure that that's possible. I -- intersections may need to be on the roadways and intersections list. So, there is a -- kind of a gray area to me, what does this classify? Is this a road and intersection improvement at the railroad tracks or is this more a community program? So, may -- they are listening, so if they want to chime in and if we are headed in a direction where they say, nope, that's the wrong list for your project to be on -- so, anyway, just wanted to disclose that that they are available. Cavener: Mr. Mayor, if I may. Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Thank you for that, Caleb. And I certainly would invite that feedback. I will say, however, that was the director that told me -- of the highway district that told me to make that recommendation and so if he and I are both incorrect that's wonderful and we are -- we are happy to both be corrected. Hood: Mr. Mayor, now I can't wait for Kristy or Rebecca to contradict their boss. Simison: Kristy, Rebecca, do either one of you have some context to that comment? Inselman: So, it really kind of boils down to what exactly it is you are asking to be done there. So, I -- I could see it going either direction. If you are asking for like a full signalized intersection, for like full build out of that particular location I could see it going on the roads and intersections section, but if it's something where you want like an Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 8 of 30 interim treatment, I do think that that does make more sense to go on the community programs list. It kind of just boils down to what you are looking for. I -- I hope that helps answer the question and neither -- neither person is wrong. Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Mr. Mayor, thanks. That's -- that's a very nice job of threading the needle on that particular one. Council, I think what I would envision is at a minimum is it's removing the stop sign and replacing it with a -- with a flasher. I think that's enough to keep the traffic moving north and south, while calling to attention, hey, that there is a train that, you know, you got to be looking for the train if it's coming. Certainly I think that there is probably a larger better approach, but that certainly comes at an excess cost and I'm looking to try and solve that problem sooner rather than later. It's -- full disclosure, I have a son who goes to that elementary school that's over there, so I see it all the time, but I -- it is also an issue that I have received a handful of requests from people in District Six that have voiced that concern about. Taylor: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Taylor. Taylor: I want to bring up another project on here, Ustick and Venable, the intersection there. Can we speak to a little bit -- if we are moving ahead with the new community center at the intersection, I would want to make sure that the timing of -- of the work there and -- and traffic flow with that would be something that would work well for the city. It's -- if you have been there it's -- it's going to be a mess with -- with the expected flow in and out. I see it's -- it would seem to me it's a little low on our priority list given the timeliness of that aligning with what we would think would be our -- our target deadlines for that. So, again, it looks like it's in draft, a city priority of 31. 1 would think it would be -- need to be much higher than that. I'm sure -- if you wouldn't speak to that or if we can ask maybe Director Siddoway if he has some -- some thoughts, too, on -- on what we want to see there. Simison: And maybe, Mr. Hood, I think you were involved in how the warrants play into the conversation, if any. Hood: Sure. I can start. And, then, I think Mr. Siddoway may want to address you as well. And Hether and I have talked and we -- we actually brought it to the Transportation Commission's attention while they were going through their process that -- that they explained I think -- and if memory serves I believe Hether even mentioned that we have the new community center that's planned there and think about anyways potentially raising this up. They were pretty -- I'm paraphrasing that conversation and that whole process, but they are pretty focused on the level of service map and some of the previous criteria, not so much the other considerations of a neighborhood. So, they were -- they were pretty good, if you will, at that -- a point of not kind of playing in their -- their own personal beliefs or -- or other political things that could factor into these. So, Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 9 of 30 they left it kind of where it was, but they knew that they don't make the final decision and, essentially, that's what they said is if Council wants to move it up our feelings won't be hurt, but we don't feel comfortable moving it up as a body. And -- and warrants -- Mayor, I don't know if you want me to go into that, but this intersection is eligible for a treatment. There is enough volume now, both on the -- the northern Venable leg, as well as east-west obviously on Ustick. So, their traffic department at ACHD has said you are on our radar to some degree and we would allow an intersection improvement to go out -- to be here. I think they are leaning towards signal, although they haven't totally discounted the potential for there to be a roundabout at this location, but it's probably a signal. Simison: Mr. Siddoway. Siddoway: Mayor and Council, yes, we have also heard that the intersection meets warrants for signalization. As we have been meeting with the public as part of our public outreach for the community center project, we have heard clearly from the people in that area that they -- that -- that the -- the traffic and particularly that intersection is probably their number one concern and we have committed to them to try and be part of that solution. We are certainly willing to help participate in -- in a signal in that location. We have talked with the developer about the potential of doing a cooperative development agreement to get that built ahead of schedule, but part of the challenge in getting that approved through ACHD is that it hasn't been identified as a high enough priority yet by the city to move that along. So, I would make the request that it go up higher, so that -- and I don't -- it's not because I need to build it before the community center, but it is so that we can build it with the community center at the same timeline through a cooperative development agreement hopefully. That would be my goal anyway. Taylor: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Taylor. Taylor: Just a quick follow up on that. I think it would be a mistake for us to miss the opportunity to address that in conjunction with the development of the community center. I do think it will bring significant amount of traffic there and also when you look at the multi-family development there that's been sort of stop-start for a number of years, their only access to Ustick is to come out on Venable and -- and come north to Ustick and, then, out. Otherwise, they go back through the community and they have sort of started -- we restarted some construction on some -- some projects, but I think it's a 200 unit multi-family project there that when that's done their primary source to Ustick is Venable. So, that's sooner than later than the community center on the other side. I would think that we would want to -- it would be a mistake for us to not move that up the priority list as a city to ACHD so they understood where our priorities were with that. Overton: Mr. Mayor? Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 10 of 30 Simison: Councilman Overton. Overton: Just a possible clean up on the exact same one we are continuing to talk about. If I'm not mistaken, under agency project description it says install full signal, a roundabout, and if I'm not mistaken the option to build the roundabout is gone due to the development on the south side of Ustick eliminated that from being a possibility. So, we might just want to clean that up. ACHD can confirm or not, but I understood that they could no longer get the right of way to do a roundabout and it will only be a full signal when it's completed. Simison: The question I was going to ask is if Council wants to weigh in at this time or one way or the other. If you would prefer to have a roundabout or a full signal at this location just generally maybe it's too early, maybe you would rather think about it, but I think if you are going to move it up it would be good to give at least direction on what you think is the best way to move people through this area yourselves. I have got my opinion, but I'm not going to share it at this time, but we are -- and, if not, no -- not a big deal, but just if we are going to convey intentions. Taylor: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Taylor. Taylor: I'm under the same impression as Councilman Overton that the roundabout is not an option, because the -- ACHD didn't purchase the right of ways. So, that would have to be done. But I could stand to be corrected on that. But I don't disagree with what you are saying either in terms of how we would like to see that move forward if we had an opportunity to weigh in. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Hether, for the consideration, if we are making some -- if we are moving some priorities around, remember from past years really we should be thinking -- kind of to your earlier comments, we should be thinking top ten, top 15 are really the only ones that kind of rise to the level of I guess maybe seeing the highway district's kind of getting their attention in terms of our priorities. So, if we are going to move something that's I think ranked 31, we would probably need to move it to at least to place 15. Is that the direction we should be following? Hill: Mr. Mayor and Councilman Cavener, I would say so and as you may recall from our joint meeting with ACHD and directors had comments about really focus on the top three or five, because that seems to be what is most feasible to actually get done in, you know, maybe five years. So, I would say that's really up to your discretion on maybe like the top ten, 15 if you are really wanting to see something. It gets it on their Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 11 of 30 radar. They can rank the project. But, yeah, if -- if it was past the top 20 1 don't see -- you pick one or the other -- over the other. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: From a mechanical standpoint when we look at number one, Linder Road overpass; right? That's -- and -- and how it plays from -- from -- all the way down to Franklin, where that is designed -- a plan -- I assume they are in the -- I know they are in the process right now of the right of way acquisition and the construction kind of being planned, does it make sense for us to keep that as number one anymore? Do we need to keep it as number one? If we were to move it does it jeopardize the momentum of that project? Hill: Mr. Mayor and Councilman Cavener, in conversations with ACHD and when Ms. Inselman was at Transportation Commission there was discussion just about until something's really shovel ready keeping projects at the top, so that we -- ACHD still knows that it's a priority for us until it's actively in construction. So, that is why you will see some projects moved that are under construction to make room for other projects to move up the list. And I don't know if -- Caleb, if you have a further update to provide for Linder that you feel is relevant, but I feel like that mostly covers it. Hood: Mr. Mayor, I guess since I got called out and, Councilman Cavener and Council, yeah, I -- I -- that is the direction we received from ACHD is until it's in construction you should probably keep it on your list, so we are not sending mixed messages or that ACHD reads into it that this is no longer a priority. For that -- that project in particular, I don't see that happening. We have a good enough communication with them, they understand this is a good project, however, I don't know that it's worth that risk and we are following the rules. So, that's up to you. If you want to pull it pull it back that's your prerogative. But that is what we have been asked to do is, please, do have this reflect your priorities until projects are in construction. Regarding phase one -- so, near the Overland intersection, the southern leg of this, bid opening I believe is tomorrow, so notice to proceed is this spring. It's moving to construction, so that won't stop. There is potential, though, that phase two -- so, the actual bridge, overpass and up to Franklin, could be delayed if this fell too far below and ACHD says, hey, it's not a priority anymore, let's go over here. I don't really see that happening, but -- Simison: Yeah. My -- my request is that you leave it where it is. I don't think it's going to move anything up or down on the list based on what we do with that. You know, the only thing it may do is send a mixed signal to someone like ITD board who has to prioritize the next phase of funding. But I don't think we are going to get to sneak in another project because of this project being listed at two or three or four. Cavener: Mr. Mayor, maybe another quick question then. Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 12 of 30 Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Hether, Caleb, was there any conversation of the Transportation Commission about project number six with Linder Road? I just -- I recall this summer a highway district commissioner saying because the cost of this project, the emergency be prepared that no other projects are going to move forward and, you know, that -- that was telling to me about where the highway district was coming in on kind of their perception on this project and while I think it's important, I -- I don't know if it is more important than a lot of the other projects that are on the list and certainly in light of those comments it may warrant moving it lower on the list. But I don't know if the -- I'm always trying to really respect where our Transportation Commission comes from and the recommendations they make. I'm just curious if that topic was broached and if they provided any commentary about that. Hill: Thank you. Mr. Mayor and Councilman Cavener, the Transportation Commission did discuss Linder Road, Cherry to Ustick. Not in great depth, but more so just recognizing that they kind of just wanted to keep it where it was at last year based on the concept study that was adopted this past year and acknowledging that if we are focusing efforts on Linder as a corridor that at some point this project would most likely be a priority for ACHD and from when they came for the joint meeting discussing like their next steps. So, they just kind of wanted to keep it status quo as I recall. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Council, my -- my thought on this particular one is this was a project that was largely initiated by the highway district. I think maybe moving it out of our top six or seven at least sends a signal that we recognize it is an important project, but maybe not at the expense of other projects that are on our list. So, something I would encourage you all to at least consider. Simison: And if I could add to that, I think in paraphrasing my conversation with the director on this one is maybe it could be specifically called out in our letter of transmittal that, you know, there may be two different sides of this. We look at purchasing right of way -- because it's going to take a long time to purchase the right of way. You know, encourage them to continue to purchase right of way for the build, but when the time to actually prioritize that for construction maybe put that in a line where we think that makes sense for other projects. That -- that seemed to be, again, something I think that he indicated, you know, that way gives some certainty to even the people that are living there. But it may also mean we got to work with folks on that corridor if those homes become vacant or otherwise. Oh, I see Kristy is raising her hand. Yes, Kristy. Inselman: Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council Members. I just wanted to quickly reiterate that when we completed the concept study for that one, if you recall there were up to 35 homes that we would need to acquire. So, it's been our direction with this next Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 13 of 30 update to plan for early acquisitions of parcels and to budget for that. So, with the next update you are likely to see right of way dollars in every single year, because that's going to be a big lift to be purchasing that many. So, our current strategy is to do early acquisitions on ones we know we are going to take and plan the funding accordingly. So, I just wanted to let you guys know that that was a strategy we are going to adopt for that section of Linder. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Strader. Strader: Hey, Kristy, maybe a quick question. If you kind of proceeded to do that strategy how long would it take do you think, just -- it's a guess, but how long do you think it would take to eventually get the right of way if we kind of chipped away at it over time? Is that a ten year project? A 20 year project? I'm just curious kind of what your thoughts are, because I do recall it was a -- it was a pretty large project. Inselman: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Council Member Strader. So, it's going to depend on how much funding we have each year. I think the current strategy is to budget a million to two million a year, so that we can also keep moving other projects forward while we are still acquiring right of way for that, so -- I mean I think the early estimates for the right of way acquisition was around 20 million. So, it's going to take us some time to acquire that much -- or it would be a really big lift in one year. So, a ten year plan probably isn't out of the question to get that project going. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Yeah. And I actually think that -- that might be okay in a way, just because I -- I tend to agree with Council President Cavener that I think this is important in the long term vision, but it's not necessarily something that -- like I personally feel I -- I don't want to sacrifice a lot of other projects to like prioritize this. I think if it's something that we do take ten plus years to kind of do and we are just chipping away at it over time, like that seems to make sense. That's just feedback from one person. But I would hate to, you know, have that eat up all the dollars and, then, not get anything else done, because I just don't think that would be acceptable for Meridian. Simison: I concur with those comments as well, if that wasn't clear. Council, any additional questions, comments, thoughts, next steps? Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 14 of 30 Cavener: I think that's the right questions for next steps. Hether, the letter needs to be transmitted to the highway district by the 17th of March; is that what I remember hearing? Hill: The 19th. Cavener: The 19th. So, Council, do you want to do any deliberation tonight? Would you like to have a moment -- maybe a week to take into account the feedback from tonight and maybe we schedule this for a future workshop for maybe some modifications and an action? Does that seem doable? Seeing some nodding. Okay. Simison: Would you like staff to come back with a recommendation of changes based upon the feedback or do you want to provide direction to staff on where you would like to see the items that you have suggested? Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Maybe it would really be good to hear -- I know in years past that staff have kind of brought recommendations to the Transportation Commission. Is that the same format that we have followed this year? Hood: I will take -- I will take this one maybe. So, Mr. Mayor, Councilman Cavener, Members of the Council, you know, staff had -- and we largely used last year's list this year and the Transportation Commission largely did the same thing. At this point I wouldn't be super comfortable having another bite at the apple if you will. We heard your comments and I have got some notes. There are some conflicting notes, though, like number 15 is Meridian Road, so if you bump one up Meridian Road corridor that we started out talking about now it's 16 and out of the top 15. So, I would appreciate -- think staff would appreciate if you would give us a little bit more clarity and, then, you guys could digest the updated list and tweak it further in a week or two or whenever you want to bring it back. We have time. I would like some numbers. There is not too much here really. I mean four or five projects is kind of what I have down. So, if you wouldn't mind some general consensus and we can send that back out and, then, if we need to discuss it more if you are comfortable with that. Simison: And I think the question is for me for what I heard that I would think, you know, Meridian or Locust Grove in the north which corridor, if either, was to be focused on all the way from Cherry to Chinden would we suggest be that one. If we are going to follow the Ustick model and we want to prioritize one or the other and let's say we have to come up with that, but I think that would probably help answer some of these questions if we had a thing, knowing that, you know, one of the biggest challenges Meridian north of Ustick was not intended to be more than three, if I recall correctly. So, I don't know what the impacts of that one are from a right of way acquisition, that Linder has done that. Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 15 of 30 Hood: So, Mr. Mayor, it's a -- it's a great point. So, both of those corridors, Locust Grove and Meridian, currently at ACHD are really only planned to be three lanes wide. However, we sent them the letter after the last joint meeting said please -- please preserve at least a hundred foot right of way or five lanes on all arterial roads in Meridian and that's how -- if you read it it says preserve for three, four or five on both of those corridors. So, there is some constraints on both of those as you get closer to Chinden, because right now ACHD's only been buying the right of way for new development to accommodate a 78 foot road, so -- or a three lane. So, I think there is some -- and we could be more clear, almost like Ustick-Venable intersection if we don't -- if we really think it is needed. Signalized or not roundabout, we can clean that up. We could also be clear, though, if we are going to prioritize one or the other corridor as a five lane roadway, if that's what Council wants to do, we can remove the language about three, four or five and say, no, maybe at least a four slash five lane roadway. Can I throw a proposal out there, we just -- we are going to kind of bite this off. I think we have a little bit of time. So, just as a reference -- and we have the list there, but that intersection at Locust and Fairview and kind of the northern leg of that that starts Locust Grove is priority number two right now. Don't know if you want to move that or not, but, then, the next mile up, right, between Ustick and McMillan is 12 and, then, 49 is the next mile up to Chinden and that last -- that last segment. What I would propose -- you could choose either Locust Grove or Meridian. I'm -- I can see benefits to both; right? Meridian Road has an 1-84. Locust Grove serves as largely a detour route for Eagle Road and -- and other purposes, but you have 12 and 15 and you could move the one that's at either 33 or 49 and put -- you would have the two mile segments of either Locust Grove or Meridian at 12 and 15 and have that make a connection at least in the top 15. It pushes the other ones down -- at least as an interim you push the other corridor down pretty far without monkeying with the mid 30s as priorities. But, again, if you look at priorities 12, 15, 33 and 49 that's -- that's pretty -- pretty simple to move 12 and 15 together. Again, whether it's Locust Grove or Meridian, but that gets -- that gets you up to Chinden in the top 15 anyways. Taylor: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Taylor. Taylor: In the spirit of giving direct feedback today, my -- my preference would be to prioritize Meridian Road, given Eagle two miles -- you have Meridian two miles, you have Ten Mile, it seems -- and -- and given that Meridian is a much more trafficked road, we have some new developments we have approved north of McMillan on Meridian there on the west side. So, I -- because it seems like Meridian Road is -- I -- I don't know the -- the -- the -- the -- the counts on traffic necessarily, but it seems a bit more of a north-south because of that connectivity with 1-84 would seem like it would make more sense to prioritize that. That's Councilman Taylor's perspective. So, I would -- I would move those up if we were advocating for that and I'm curious if other Council Members agree. I also think that the intersection on Venable and Ustick we should put in the top ten somewhere, because I do think that we need to signal a strong priority to addressing that. Whether that's a roundabout or a signal, I don't know that I have a personal -- I Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 16 of 30 actually prefer roundabouts myself in a situation like that, but I don't know if that's the best thing and I don't even know if it's an option. But I think we ought to highlight that as in the top ten to make sure that they get our attention with the timing of when we think that the -- the community center is going to come online. Those are really the only two ones that I feel pretty strongly about. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: It might be good if -- I don't know if ACHD has any feedback, because I think maybe the feasibility would -- would be an important factor just in -- is one of these a bit easier to achieve than the other? I don't have very strong feelings, to be honest. Like I think either of them could really help the situation. So, I'm not super tied to either one, but is there one of them that, you know, maybe, Kristy, if you are like, listen, the ship has sailed on Meridian Road for whatever reason. It's just really really challenging. Or there are some maybe geographic -- like geological considerations -- like I have no idea, but just kind of wanted to ask that question between those two kind of final legs to hit Chinden is there one of them that is easier to accomplish than the other? Inselman: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Council Member Strader. I don't know that I have at this particular moment a great direction for you on either corridor. I think any of the corridors that we have in the master street map is a three, four or five. All of those I think we have already tagged knowing it's the desire of the city to go to five lanes on every arterial. All of them are going to require a concept study, because we are going to need to do a deeper dive on property impacts, other existing effects when it comes to like irrigation or any of those, you know, geographical -- or, sorry, geological issues. So, I think it's just whatever the preference is for -- for the city. I don't think we have designated one is more feasible over another. It's just we know that both we are going to need to be doing some type of a concept to really determine the ultimate treatment and what that's going to look like. I know it's not probably super helpful, but that's all I have. Overton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Overton. Overton: And not to get into Meridian Road versus Locust Grove conversation too much, but I do favor the Locust Grove simply based on -- when we look at the current levels of service and the fact that that two mile section of Locust Grove is level of service F compared to the C or better for Meridian Road, I know it may not appear that way, but I have got to put some faith and trust into the tools they are doing and providing for us. I think that we kind of owe it to residents to try to hit the reduced areas as hard as we can instead of avoiding that and going with one of the areas that's already got a good service level. That's my two cents. Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 17 of 30 Simison: Maybe this one we think about. Cavener: Yeah. Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: I think that maybe makes sense. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Let's -- we can work to schedule this for maybe two weeks, give Council an opportunity if they need to meet with staff directly to talk through concerns or questions, but have this back on the agenda -- I assume on March 11 th for deliberation and action. Simison: The only thing I will add to the conversation is one requires three miles of work, one requires one and three-quarters of a mile. Like I say, it's easier, cheaper, but it is less and we already know the reason why the Locust Grove hasn't moved is because of all the right of way acquisitions that are required -- at least been a big part of the -- the reason. So, we know that there is that impediment, but that's also where we have the fire engine and I think getting the fire department to have part of the conversation if they can help articulate any of the value benefits might be a good part of the conversation for Council to consider. Cavener: And Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: That point for -- for our friends from ACHD, recognize we kind of put you on the spot, but if there is some feedback I think Council Member Strader asked a very good question about viability. If over the next week and a half there is an opportunity for them to provide us some of that feedback I think that's an important consideration as well. Simison: Okay. Then with that we will go ahead and schedule this for two weeks if that works on your guys' calendar for further conversation and dialogue. Okay. Council, with the time is there a preference on which item you would like to do next? Cavener: Mr. Mayor, I will look to staff. We feel confident we can do CFP for parks and MIPS in the next 45 minutes. Are we in a spot that we have got to pick one or the other? Simison: I don't know that we need to pick, but I want to make sure we get through whatever one for certain you would like to hear tonight. Cavener: I guess, Mr. Mayor and Mr. Nary, could we move our Executive Session to after our -- our regular meeting? Nary: Yes. Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 18 of 30 Cavener: Okay. So, Mr. Mayor, I'm -- I'm comfortable with starting with Item No. 9 and we have got Hether here, we can move through MIPS and, then, we can make a determination about the CFP after that. 9. Meridian Intersection and Pedestrian Safety (MIPS) Project Update Simison: Okay. With that we will move on to Item 9, the Meridian Intersection Pedestrian Safety, MIPS, project updates. Overton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Is that Councilman Overton? Overton: Yes. If I can do a lead into this. Simison: You bet you. Overton: Before Hether starts talking. So, as most of you know we started this -- this was actually through the efforts of the Mayor when we first started this task force back in 2023. We had a -- a fairly narrow scope at that time based on several fatalities across our city and that narrow scope was to focus on those intersections and make sure they were safe and that we didn't have any patterns or things we needed to do better in those areas and quickly we discovered as we went through all of these intersections and where the locations were of things that happened that they couldn't have been more randomly spread out across our city. Caused our scope to get a little larger as we ended up studying almost every single intersection within the entire community and pathways to some of the schools that kids use all the time. It got to be a much larger project. But at the same time we had a collaboration of people that was initially ITD, ACHD, COMPASS, West Ada School District, multiple members from our Police Department, multiple members from Community Development and -- and, Miranda, when she worked for the -- the city was our lead on that on doing the work and, then, we suffered an issue when she left and we kind of -- it kind of dropped for a little bit and Hether has done a pretty amazing job of picking this up and bringing it to where it is today and I just want to do a shout out before I turn this over to her, because yesterday was our board meeting at COMPASS and they put out the 425 page Regional Safety Action Plan and in the executive summary for the section on Meridian first thing they call out is the interagency collaboration of our task force is one of the strong points that they really enjoyed. Now, we had COMPASS at the table, but they were very impressed that we brought that forward and worked with all our collaborative partners to look for who has funding to take care of what. What can we get done that's not on anybody's radar and, then, eventually, to get to the point we are at now, which is where are those items in our city that aren't covered by anybody else? Where are the holes and what can we do moving forward to enhance these levels of safety at these intersections. With that, Hether. Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 19 of 30 Hill: Thank you, Councilman Overton, for the introduction. He kind of stole some of what I was going to say, but that's okay. Overton: I'm sorry. Hill: He can speak to it better being part of it for years prior. So, I'm here to talk about the MIPS project and recommendations. As you may recall I was here in early January. We pivoted a bit and so I'm back. So, really, I'm here to just kind of give a brief reminder, projects for consideration and next steps. So, as part of the fiscal year '25 budget Council approved the funding request of 500,000 dollars to support the implementation of these projects and over the course of the past year, plus I have been working closely -- we have been working closely with ACHD staff to evaluate all of the projects in this report and to kind of just define which ones are already in progress, which ones would be good opportunities to partner with the city and move forward and so with that I will just kind of move into, for the sake of time, some of the project recommendations that we have come up with from the last meeting. So, these projects on the screen -- these are crosswalk paint projects. They are not significant in cost, but they are identified on the list of recommendations in that initial report. Many of these projects are in the vicinity of other enhanced crossings. There is several PHBs that these crosswalks are near, so, really, I believe the MIPS effort was to just bring pedestrian awareness that there is pedestrian activity in this area and it is an ACHD standard to mark these crosswalks on adjacent approaches, but after conversations with them they were willing to take on the additional maintenance effort at these locations after we do the initial placement, if Council so chooses, and that would be doing thermoplastic paint, which wears better in weather and lasts longer and so each of these -- there is 13 crosswalks on this -- on your screen that would be up for consideration to move forward with. The cost for these would be approximately 52,000 dollars and this includes the thermoplastic paint, construction, traffic control and flagging. So, that's the first group of projects. I can keep moving through them, because I have a few categories, but if you have questions, please, feel free to stop me. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Hether, how do we determine these crosswalks? Hill: How do we determine -- Cavener: Versus the other -- other crosswalks that are out in the community? Hill: Mr. Mayor and Councilman Cavener, I don't know how they picked one crosswalk over the other. I'm just looking at the report that the task force came up with and so this is -- these were ones that had recommendations. Cavener: Got you. Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 20 of 30 Hill: And so I don't know if Councilman Overton wants to speak to that as part of his efforts. Overton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Overton. Overton: So, when we were originally looking there were -- most of these that you see on this list were never originally picked out by ACHD to have crosswalks. They weren't ones that met their needs at the time. But when we started to look at now as everything's being developed and where pedestrian travel is and school children travel is, we -- we discovered that there were a lot of them that if we could go back in time probably should have been done. So, that's how this list was done. None of these are on the current list of ACHD for crosswalks. We identified them, but they are willing to -- if we put them in they are willing to maintain them from now into the future. Cavener: Thank you. Hill: All right. So, the next group is pedestrian ramp improvements and some sidewalk repair. So, there were a couple of projects on the list that ACHD felt would be a good project for us to do because it doesn't require any significant right of way acquisition and so the two on here are Linder and Turtle Creek. It's the photo on the right. It's at the PHB adjacent to Tully Park just improving some of the ped ramps there and placing some there and, then, Meridian and Autumn Park Lane, the sidewalk is in a state of disrepair. So, those were a couple of projects that they felt would be good, easy, concrete work to do if we were interested. The funds for that could be between -- up to maybe about 50,000 for both of them. Those are just rough costs; right? This is just kind of us just sketching and trying to come up with some projects. So, between the crosswalks and these two concrete projects that would be kind of an immediate benefit let's say for about 102,000 and as you know you approved 500,000. So, that still leaves around 400,000 dollars to apply towards other projects and so there -- there are several opportunities in the MIPS list and so this time I'm not coming before you to discuss the PHB at Locust Grove and Woodbridge necessarily. There are several opportunities to look at site vision projects, such as Locust Grove and Pine or Locust Grove and Central. I will go into some additional projects that we have identified through coordination with the Mayor's office and ACHD staff that could -- they could be greater projects, but they would require further coordination with ACHD and ITD to really scope out and identify what those would be and so that's just kind of where we are at with those. I would like to just note that in conversations with ACHD I know that there is a lot of list projects on the list, but really it's anything requiring right of way acquisition really should be placed in the five year plan, just because that's a significant effort. So, I just wanted to just throw that out there for consideration. So, as I alluded to these -- these are several projects where I think could be opportunities to further coordinate, review and scope with our partner agencies. Many of these could be improved crossing or improved safety elements. Maybe there is some infrastructure studies and pedestrian and bicycle evaluations, pedestrian ramps and so the list -- the MIPS list has all the Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 21 of 30 recommendations for these projects, but I wanted to at least put these up here, but depending on how Council would like to proceed in your recommendation on whether we do the crosswalk and sidewalk repair or if we want to focus on some of these, just kind of putting everything on the table for you. So, I think that's really it. The feedback that I received today will inform how I proceed in conversations with ACHD and ITD and so with that I can stand for questions and we can have a discussion. Simison: And so -- so, Hether, if I could just add on. I -- I think really that at this point in time the recommendations -- do the projects that you have seen that have a general cost and move those forward this spring to the best variability while they continue to work on some of these other projects and potentially bring back future projects that may not get done in this budget year, but we can scope them and if they can we would -- would do that. At least to identify with the budget that's been allocated what that makes sense for. Obviously that list didn't have any direct -- what's on these other ones that you were showcased and I saw one that wasn't on there. I thought Victory and Meridian was going to be on that list, but -- so, there is still others if people still want to bring them in to look at. But that's their recommendation at this time, with the others to be worked on and reviewed in future. Council Woman Strader. Strader: Mr. Mayor, thank you. So, I thought it was a good memo. It sounds like what you are looking for. What made sense to me was you are pretty actionable on the crosswalks. They agreed to maintain them. The pedestrian ramp improvement sidewalk are pretty actionable. I think in terms of like value for what we could put into it -- like it feels like a good value to me in terms of the trade off with enhanced safety compared to what we are investing in. I -- I tend to support moving forward on those. I think we have a lot more exploring to do on the other prioritizations though and I would just maybe add to that list and not to like muddy the waters too much. I realize that maybe this is a community program. It would be great to flush out what's going on with the stop sign on Black Cat, Franklin to Cherry. I would just like us to try to flush that out and think of that as a possible project. It may not make sense, but I -- it just feels like it's a more urgent situation and I would just like to try to figure out is there something -- lower cost that we could do on our end? Like should that be in the -- kind of list of bigger projects I guess. But, yeah, I -- I'm supportive of like number one and number two in the memo seemed fine. I just think past that it's like we need to have another meeting once you kind of sort it all out. Simison: Yeah. Absolutely. We wouldn't -- we will figure out how much we can or can't do -- get into some of these projects pretty quick. Okay. I see general head nods. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: The only thing that I would -- I would suggest -- and I don't know if the MIPS team looked at this or not, but I know there has been some challenges with getting crosswalks painted along state highways. There is some disconnect that's occurring Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 22 of 30 between maybe the highway district and the state. I think right at the intersection of Overland and Meridian I continue to receive feedback from residents in Bear Creek and certainly with the proximity of -- of Wahooz and Roaring Springs there is a pedestrian access along there, like it doesn't seem that maybe the highway district and the state are able to connect on getting those repainted. Rather than maybe waiting for them to try and figure out a workflow process, if we could maybe intervene and offer to take care of that as well that would be a -- another recommendation. Simison: Don't say that out loud. We are going to do it. Cavener: No. We have been waiting. Simison: It's really just waiting for the weather before they will get out to that. The crews aren't out to do the painting. That's what we have been waiting on. At least that's what they have shared directly with us that that it's on the list to get first and foremost when they get the paint crews out. Cavener: And, Mr. Mayor, I guess my ask would be is maybe for our staff to touch base with the highway district and the state to make sure that that intersection before summer is painted. I appreciate that. Overton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Overton. Overton: Real quick. We identified at least a dozen of those intersections where the crosswalks were almost completely washed out and brought those to ACHD and ITD's attention and that, again, what they told us was it's all -- we will put in on our list. Thank you for bringing it to our attention, but we have got to wait until the weather changes. Simison: All right. Well, with that we look forward to seeing something before the spring and continue conversations and dialogue on the other projects and see what makes sense that we can move forward, either by ourselves or in partnership with our partner agencies. 10. Comprehensive Financial Plan Updates Simison: Okay. With that Item 10 is Comprehensive Financial Plan update. Mr. Siddoway. Yeah. You just sit back there, Todd. You look good. Siddoway: Thank you, Mayor, Members of Council. I know you heard from some of the admin departments and police last week. I'm here to continue the -- the conversation of the CFP. We have been working over the last couple of months on getting some changes and updates to the CFP. Met with Anne -- Council Woman Little Roberts back in -- can't remember -- end of November'ish and -- and Council Woman Strader and I met in December. I provided each of you with kind of a 11 by 17 overview of changes. Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 23 of 30 You can see my -- my notes in there are -- I wrote these out in January and it was kind of reflective of what we have moved and how they aligned with specific comments that we had received from Council Woman Strader and some proposed changes from Todd. I also think I provided it because I think it does a good job of kind of grouping things together and as I'm going through the slides it can be a little overwhelming to just look at all of them one after another and I thought some -- some grouping and some context were helpful. So, that's there just as a reference and I have grouped these in a few different groups. My first one -- it is kind of the main section here and that is because we -- as Council Woman Strader and -- and Council Woman Little Roberts and I met one of the big focuses was on -- really need to focus on when Parks operationalize. The design itself was maybe less important, but when do we start needing operating costs. When do we start needing staffing. When do we start -- and -- because that -- that's where the ongoing impacts happen. So, that was a big focus of our efforts. So, I'm going to jump right in. The first one and our top priority would be the community center. The construction is all impact fees and so that we are hoping to -- well, bring that forward here next year and -- or in the next fiscal year and you all know the site on the west side of Settlers Park. We are looking to do construction in '26 and '27. We are actively in the middle of the design process right now. If the -- if the proposed schedule moves forward as planned this would be opened in FY-28 and we are working hard, as you all know, to phase the staffing and to see -- to take it -- to take it a bite at a time and see what's truly needed as we get this open and you will -- you are going to see that this whole first section of separated enhancements kind of explodes all of that. So, they are all individual. So, I'm just going to move on. We -- we -- the Settlers Park expansion construction is separate, but, obviously, tied to the community center. This is all the -- the grounds that are -- are part of it is the park expansion. It's 11 acres of the site that's beyond the scope of just the community center. One of its main features is the additional parking that helps to serve the park and the MYB complex. It also has a dog park and open play areas. It's the area that needs the -- the new signalized intersection or roundabout. I hadn't heard that a roundabout was maybe possible. I have only heard signalization, but -- but the idea is to time this with the community center project also over the next couple of years. That would -- so, we have -- we usually bring the construction and the operations as one enhancement, but we have made the conscious decision to explode that here and -- and point out -- we don't need you to budget for the operations in 2026. We need to -- we need the operations when it opens in 2028. So, we have -- we have separated those. We have moved it out. We have shared with each of you the detailed operations pro forma that we have been -- been working on and we are looking at that in great detail and, then, the staffing is -- is also -- could be part of the same enhancement, but we have separated it just to make the point that how we have bitten this off in -- in individual pieces. So, we are looking at a phased staffing model. We propose to open the facility with two promotions of existing staff positions, one being the facility manager and one being the classes and camps coordinator and, then, we start into -- so, that would be in 2028 when the facility opens and then -- oh, sorry. Then the operating for the -- the park. This would probably be a little earlier, but we do need some O&M for the park expansion, fertilizer, restroom supplies, fuel and some seasonal labor. That -- I did find a correction on this, which we have already made in the CFP, but this slide was already built -- about 50 some thousand of that is Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 24 of 30 actually one-time cost for some of the equipment. So, that's not all ongoing costs and some of that would come off of the ongoing request. But, then, the community center -- this is now two years after opening. We are out to 2030 now. We would look at -- we have shown the need for three potential staff to be open seven days a week, as you know into the evening. So, the first one we would propose would be number one of three that would allow for additional evening coverage, Monday through Friday, if the use is higher demand than what can be done with just checking out keys. We are going to have the -- the access control and we will do as much as we can with access control and if that's where we want to leave it we can do that. But we have also shown that we may get a bigger bang for our buck with two-part time positions, rather than one full time, but finding evening and weekend part-time help that's year round has proven difficult at HomeCourt. We have recently changed some of those part -- we have combined part-time positions into full-time positions there and so I have -- I have got it built in as one full time, but if the market seems right for getting two-part timers we may try that. And so that's 2030. And, then, I will just do 2031 we have built in number two of three and, then, 2032 we have built in number three of three and so that's everything -- I will just pause there, because that's everything related to the community center and the park expansion. I think Council Woman Strader had asked early on when -- last fall, you know, can -- do we need all three of these staff at one year or can they be spread out? So, we have plan to -- you know, we are planning for them being spread out and they can move from there down the road as needed. The next one on the list is Discovery Park phase two. Sorry. Phase three. Phase two is built. But phase -- there is a third phase to be done. It is the area south of phase two, kind of behind the ball fields and the bike park and this one did not change in terms of its timing in the -- what was already in the -- the CFP. So, there is no changes to it. It -- we are showing it as designed in 2028. So, on the south end of the park primarily open play fields, possible have some parking and maybe some restrooms, but it's the -- the final phase of Discovery Park. The construction is currently plugged in for 2029 about four years from now and this would include the construction and the -- the operating and, again, like I said, no changes to the original timeline. One that did change -- and that's the -- kind of the second one on the -- the little handout, this Graycliff stub, because I realized -- just realized those were kind of flipped in the handout versus the slides, but it's the same two years, 2028 for design, 2029, but this one was in 2026. We were ramping up to bring this to you in the coming fiscal year, but we have spoken with the developer -- this one is a proposed -- like it would be a partnership with the developer where they would donate the land and the green app, some amenities and -- or we would do the amenities, sorry, and -- but we have reached out. Their -- their timing has slowed down. They are not ready for 2026. Best guess right now is 2028. If we find out a year from now that it's moved faster it might -- it could become 2027, but it's not 2026 and so we have bumped it out 2028 and -- for the design and 2029 for construction and that's where that one currently resides. The next -- oh, there is also a maintenance tech staff and it's -- it's tied to both Graycliff and Discovery. But with the opening of those two there -- there would be the need to bring on one additional staff to cover both parks. And we also -- that was originally programmed for 2027, but with the movement we also bumped that one out to 2029. Fields District Community Park is the next one. It's the new park in northwest Meridian and we originally had this one potentially programmed Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 25 of 30 in the -- the schedule I brought you last fall in 2027, just a couple years out, primarily based on when we know the sewers coming from Public Works and -- but we have -- I think that this one is coming out further. It is in the kind of the latter phases of how that area is going to develop as we understand it. So, we have gone ahead and both pushed it out a couple years and I will just say right now it could -- it might move out further, but we also divided into two phases. So, it was -- this has phase one design. It was -- we were thinking about it as a single project previously, but we split it into two phases and move phase one out from -- from 2027 to 2029 and, then, the construction from 2028 to 2030. So, basically, just bumping them both out a year -- two years each, but one year after the other. This one would come with a senior maintenance tech and we have also -- we have bumped that out from 2028 to 2031 , because we would need that when the park's getting finished, not when the park is beginning construction. West Meridian Regional Park is next and has not moved in the timeline. It's about the time we think utilities will get there. This one's always felt like, you know, it should be closer to developing than it has been, because we have owned it for a long time, but this is the one at Cherry Lane near McDermott and even though it's always been less than half a mile from existing city limits and it's an entirely different sewer shed, so we were waiting for the new Black Cat -- is it -- or McDermott, sorry, trunk to -- to come and -- and bring that -- bring utilities to that area. So, we still have this plugged in on the same timeline at -- at 2032 for design, 2033 for construction and, then, this one also comes with a senior maintenance tech and vehicle. We moved that position from 2033 to 2034 and this one had two positions, but we have split this also into two phases and we have moved the second position clear out to 2039. So, now we are 15 years out, because we would tie that -- that second position to the second phase and that's beyond the scope of the ten year plan we are talking about, but it's -- it is in the CFP, it's just further out than ten years. The next park is Margaret Aldape Park and this is one that we are very excited about, our first Boise River Park. Been talking with the Ewing family for years and we have moved this out from 2030 to 2033. I'm very sensitive to not wanting to send the message to the family that this is not a priority to us and I have had conversations with them directly and we are all in agreement that this still -- moving it out feels like the right thing to do and it kind of matches their current crystal ball of when they would think this would probably -- might be able to come online based on current development patterns and a lot can change over the next, you know, seven or eight years, but -- and if it did things would move faster, this could potentially move up, Fields District could move out. I mean we -- we -- the only constant about the CFP for us is that it changes. So, we -- every year we take another look at it and every year it changes. So, what I'm presenting to you I don't expect to be exactly what it is even five years from now. It's going to change next year and -- and that's okay. This is a tool for us to do our best planning and we -- we responded -- things change all the time and we respond to those changes and update the CFP annually. We similarly moved out the construction from 2031 to 2034 and, then, a senior maintenance tech from 2030 to 2035 and, then, with the addition of those three parks that I just covered last, Fields District, West Meridian and Aldape, we would have the need on our structure to add a crew chief, but we bumped that crew chief out from 2030 in the plan to 2035 to -- we could hold off until we get to Aldape Park. Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 26 of 30 Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Go ahead, Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Steve, I don't mean to interrupt you. Siddoway: Go ahead. Cavener: I'm going to ask maybe a favor of you. We have, obviously, got a main meeting that's going to start here in about 15 minutes -- Siddoway: Yes, sir. Cavener: And I would like to give Council a quick chance to use the restroom and get a quick bite to eat. So, what I would like, Council, if you are comfortable, is that let's recess, everyone can use the facilities, make any phone, call grab a quick bite. We will come back here and, then, Steve, if you can, then, we will have you conclude the rest of your presentation, then, we will just roll right into the 6:00 o'clock meeting, if that works for everyone. So, I appreciate your patience on that, Steve. I know you probably got other places to be. Just trying to find a balance of getting everything brought together. So, Mr. Mayor, if you are open I would -- I would move that we go ahead and just move into a recess for about 15 minutes. Simison: We stand in recess. Cavener: Okay. Thanks, Your Honor. (Recess: 5:45 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.) Simison: Mr. Siddoway, if you would like to continue. Siddoway: I would be glad to, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. This next slide is the last of the parks grouping and I mentioned that Fields District Community Park was split into two phases. We -- we were showing phase two out in 2035 and the construction doesn't even have a slide, because it's further out than -- than ten years, so -- the next grouping of CFP requests are those that are related not -- well, not related to operational izing new parks, but still have staffing implications. So, I thought that was an important group to -- to pull together and you see three of them at the bottom of the -- the sheet that I handed out, but there is more than that -- these are the three that move, so I'm just going to run through those. The first one is our volunteer program coordinator and this is currently -- but we had a volunteer program -- program coordinator already. As you know last year we morphed that into an events coordinator, got rid of the volunteer coordinator, but definitely see the need to bring it back. Our volunteer program is suffering. We have a way to do that with -- potentially with our existing admin staff and giving them the additional volunteer coordinator responsibilities, but it would require reclassification and we will have that for your consideration in the FY-26 budget and if Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 27 of 30 that -- if that reclass to our existing position is approved, then, this position is actually going to get moved out of -- out of the CFP altogether. We have a pathway development maintenance staff as we -- you know, as our pathway network begins -- you know, continues to -- to both grow and age, we will at some point need someone that's more specifically devoted to that. We bumped this one out one extra year from 2028 to 2029 and, then, we have a park scheduling specialist built in that didn't move years in 2030, so it's out an additional year from where that one got moved to. They would manage the -- the scheduling of park facilities with our sports organizations, as well as internal special events. This function currently is combined with our sports coordinator, but we know with the ongoing growth at some point those two functions are going to have to -- to split based on growth. If we are not there yet in 2030 this could continue to move, but we are thinking -- I'm thinking that's feeling about right. So, 2030 is when that is currently proposed and, then, the forestry assistant and vehicle, we bump that out three additional years from 2028 to 2031. We do have a growing and aging tree network, but we do contract out the majority of our tree work. We can continue to do that and we will -- you know, we -- we got it plugged in for 2031 and we will bring it back as -- as it's warranted. Then the next grouping of CFP requests are not related to either operation, parks or staffing. A lot of these are one-time cost. This one is -- we have a CFP element for purchasing park land and they are -- they are all impact fee eligible and they are built over multiple years between 2026 and 2033 and there are -- there is just a guess when we are going to want to buy some land. I will tell you that there is -- we -- we built in originally a 2026 request that's going to become an FY -- or '25 amendment here in probably in the next couple months to purchase the Fields District property that we have been working on and -- and updating you about. But about April I think we will be standing before you with the proposal to -- to close on that property. The LOI was approved by Council back in January and we continue to do our due diligence on that. We are currently working on getting legal parcels to acquire that would be building permit eligible in the future, things like that. So, somewhere around April I -- I anticipate bringing a portion of those funds forward, but we still need future land and, you know, one of the locations -- I -- I -- I plugged in this image from the presentation I did to you back in October and, you know, looking far out, you know, that southwest Meridian area that's just white on this map stands out to me as something that -- that needs future park land. So, I will just put out there if anyone listening or if any of you ever come across an opportunity for us to acquire what would amount to a larger community or regional park size property, that's something that I would be interested in. Bill, I did have to fork in this picture one more time. But pathway connections, we have something built in annually, so this amount is not a one -- it's a one-time cost, but it's not a one-time request. There is -- every year there is -- there is a piece of it -- it's meant to fund new pathway segments and amenities. The master plan is being updated and I think next year we would just be looking at doing some design work for some of them, as opposed to constructing a new segment. But we will be talking about that more with the budget. There is a request in that Dave Tiede -- I don't think he is here tonight, but added to bring Wi-Fi to Kleiner Park, much like was done last year in Settlers Park, to match what we were already doing in Discovery Park. So, Settlers Park was done last year. This would do something similar in -- in Kleiner Park. Park identity theming and reinforcement. About every other year we bring a request to Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 28 of 30 you for that. Season's Park was one of the -- the recent ones. We are currently working on Chateau Park and just a heads up where the fabrication is about done on those pieces and we expect them to be installed this spring. So, sometime later this spring we will be announcing a ribbon cutting. Hopefully soon. But the next one would be Settlers Park, according to our schedule. While it has an identity, there is nothing in its signage or features that actually play off of the Settlers theme, so we may be coming to talk to you about doing a -- some Settlers themed signage like we did Seasons Park theme signage there. But Bear Creek, 8th Street are the ones that are future years. Ustick Road median islands. Mike Barton was in front of you -- I think it was in November talking about the -- the -- the -- the medians and the islands. So, there is -- there is kind of -- for ACHD purposes there is kind of two segments. There is Linder and Ten Mile and Ten Mile to Black Cat and the roadway project is under construction out there, if you go in and look I think, and so we are gearing up to do the landscaping and maintain those. I think that's part of that same presentation. We also talked about the Linder Road overpass median islands and those are scheduled for 2027 currently. So, center islands with some artwork and the landscape buffer strips there. We have them in our -- our plan. So, we remember that we are taking those on when they come. Shade structures. About every other year there is a -- has been a request. This used to be one of the top priorities for our Commission. As our park system ages and the trees grow I think it seems to, you know, in the -- in locations that it was important to do this before it's becoming less important. So, I don't know what the next project is. There is an amount -- we will talk about that if there is a need. But, again, these are one-time costs, not ongoing costs, but we will see if there is a need for a shade structure -- not in 2026, but in 2027. And, then, there is a couple of maintenance equipment purchases. One is called a verticutter, which would be for the golf course. It's a thatch remover that's needed out there. We already own the -- the piece of equipment. These are attachments that would go on to an existing piece of equipment and, then, the tree limb chipper shredder is part of our arborist work and we -- we do a lot of tree work and it would sure help if we had something that we could just chip and shred our own tree work, so -- Parks and Rec master plan, since we are looking out ten years, we did just finish an update just a couple of years ago. You can see my -- the photo there. We -- we adopted the most recent update in 2023. We plugged in the next update for 2029. We tend to update these about every five to seven years. So, I think that is usually impact fee eligible. Is that right, Todd? Can't remember. But we -- I believe it is. Nearing the end. Last -- I think I'm down to my last two. This one's just to get it on the radar. I was approached by Sean Evans a couple years ago, at the time they were looking to move to -- to have us acquire the building that exists in Storey Park, reimburse them for the amounts that they had into the building. I don't know if this will continue to be the amount. It's a placeholder. But when it comes time for them to -- when they build their new facility and they will likely be moving their offices and we would like to make sure that that building becomes a city asset and not something else and whatever that process is we are still several years away and we can figure that out, but just to put it on the radar. And, then, we have recently approved some one-time projects that -- that we would propose for this coming fiscal year. So, these are -- are potentially 2026 project requests. One, Councilman Whitlock and I had a conversation just about a month ago about Discovery Dog Park and request from the public that have Meridian City Council Work Session February 25,2025 Page 29 of 30 been coming in to expand it and there is room to expand it without taking over an existing use. So, we can talk more about exactly what it is, where it is, why it is later, but we are looking at potentially just expanding that dog park in what was phase one to meet growing demands and, then, there is a few Lakeview projects. We have identified an area where there is a lot of cut-through traffic from Black Cat. We would like to do some safety fencing to prevent that cut-through pedestrian traffic. There is an old -- there is a lagoon as part of the pond that just fills with cattails and is a maintenance nightmare that's no longer needed with the new design of the well and system there that we would like to get rid of and at the same time get some access to the -- the -- the -- the netting that protects the -- the houses that are behind, so that we can actually get back there and do some -- some maintenance work. There is some corners on the asphalt drive. You can see the -- the -- the community center -- sorry, not the community center, but the -- the -- the pro shop and -- and restaurant area, one, there has always been a long standing desire to get a sign out there. There is nothing to identify it as Lakeview golf course signage wise. So, we are -- we would like to do a new sign and there is some corners on that asphalt loop drive that are always mud all summer long, because they are too sharp and they get driven over, so we would just like to correct that. So, small projects, but we would like to get some of those things taken care of in this next year and that is my presentation and I will stand for discussion and questions. Simison: Thank you. Council, any questions for Steve? Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Just a compliment again, but phenomenal work on -- I think focusing on where you are operational izing your parks and getting really granular and breaking the costs apart of big projects, so that they are more within our control in terms of our operating costs. I thought you did a really good job working through that with us and I just wanted to compliment you again for that. Thank you. Simison: Council, anything else? All right. Thank you very much, Steve. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Move that Executive Session move to the conclusion of our main 6:00 o'clock meeting and so with that, Mr. Mayor, I move that we adjourn our work session. Strader: Second. Meridian City Council Work Session February 25, 2025 Page 30of 30 By Luke Cavener Council President -