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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-03-11 Work Session Meridian City Council Work Session March 11, 2025. A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 11, 2025, by President Luke Cavener. Members Present: Luke Cavener, Liz Strader, John Overton, Anne Little Roberts and Brian Whitlock. Members Absent: Robert Simison and Doug Taylor. Other Present: Chris Johnson, Bill Nary, Steve Siddoway, Garrett White, Todd Lavoie, Hether Hill, Kris Blume, Steve Taulbee, Kyle Ludlow and Dean Willis. ROLL-CALL ATTENDANCE X Liz Strader X Brian Whitlock X Anne Little Roberts _X_ John Overton Doug Taylor _X_Luke Cavener Mayor Robert E. Simison Cavener: Council, we will come to order. It is Tuesday, March 11 at 4:30, the noticed time for today's City Council workshop. We will begin today's meeting with roll call attendance. Mr. Clerk. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Cavener: Next up is the adoption of the agenda for a motion. Strader: Mr. Council President? Cavener: Council Vice-President Strader. Strader: I move that we adopt the agenda as published. Overton: Second. Cavener: Motion and seconded. Any discussion? Roll Call. All in favor? All opposed? The Chair heard all ayes and the agenda is adopted. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item] 1. Approve Minutes of the February 25, 2025 City Council Work Session Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 2 of 26 2. Approve Minutes of the February 25, 2025 City Council Regular Meeting 3. Approve Minutes of the March 4, 2025 City Council Work Session 4. Approve Minutes of the March 4, 2025 City Council Regular Meeting 5. Meridian Commerce Park Building "J" Full Release of Water Main Easement (ESMT-2025-0019) 6. Final Order for Pura Vida Ranch Subdivision (TECC-2025-0001) by South Beck and Baird, located at 3727 E. Lake Hazel Rd. 7. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Chicken Bucket Subdivision (SHP-2025-0001) by Focus Engineering, located at 667 and 663 S. Main Street in a part of Government Lot 2. 8. Development Agreement (Treasure Valley Athletic Center H-2024- 0033) Between City of Meridian and Hartman Group LLC and TNT Holdings LLC for Property Located at 1250 & 1251 Piper Ct. 9. Development Agreement (Addison Circle Subdivision H-2024-0040) Between City of Meridian and Bear Hunter Holdings LLC for Property Located at 4535 N. Black Cat Rd. 10. Art Purchase Agreement Between Claire Remsberg and the City of Meridian 11. Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Audit Report Cavener: Next up is our Consent Agenda, Strader: Mr. Council President? Cavener: Council Vice-President Strader. Strader: Move that we approve the Consent Agenda. For the Council President to sign and Clerk to attest. Overton: Second. Cavener: Motion and seconded. Any discussion? Mr. Clerk, please call roll. Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 3 of 26 Roll Call: Cavener, yea; Strader, yea; Overton, yea; Little Roberts, yea; Taylor, absent; Whitlock, yea. Cavener: All ayes. Motion passes. Thank you. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. ITEMS MOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item] Cavener: Next up on our agenda -- there were no items moved from the Consent. DEPARTMENT / COMMISSION REPORTS [Action Item] 12. Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Amendment in the amount of $5,000 to Authorize CPR Software Purchase Utilizing Light My Fire Donation Cavener: So, we will move to Department/Commission Reports. First up is Item 12, a fiscal 2025 budget amendment in the amount of 5,000 dollars. Our chief is here to present. Good afternoon, Chief Blume. Blume: Good evening, Council President Cavener and Members of Council. Yes, as you will see and in the past -- the packet indicates the information that was provided to you, we are seeking the transfer of Light My Fire funds to be utilized by the community risk reduction division. That request was approved by Light My Fire as being consistent with an acceptable practice for the utilization of those funds and specifically the CRAIG 1300 is a software suite. It stands for Community Risk Assessment Insight Generator and 1300 harkens back to the NFPA Standard 1300, which is -- which is related to how can -- how organizations reduce community's risk and this insight generator allows us to see in realtime the efficacy of our risk reduction initiatives. Are they working? Are they not working? Do we have an underserved area? Do we have one that is receiving more service than another area? So, we can kind of see in a mapped out fashion what we are doing and how efficient it is. Are we -- are we -- are we doing the right thing for the right people at the right time and are we doing enough of it or not enough of it. So, that's really the software platform. This is not intended to be an ongoing cost. The intent is is that we are going to utilize the data hub that CRAIG 1300 offers and we have -- we have been working department -- with the IT Department and they have agreed to help us try and generate and create a data hub dashboard that will be fine-tuned for the City of Meridian. So, that's -- that's the intent. Cavener: Thank you, chief. Any questions? Chief, I do have one question, because now I'm slightly confused. Your -- your presentation indicated no ongoing additional costs, but in the budget amendment it shows that it's 5,000 dollars a year ongoing. So, guess it either is or is not ongoing. So, help me understand why it's notated for ongoing in the budget amendment, but you are saying that it's -- Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 4 of 26 Blume: Fair question. As I understand it -- and in talking with my team we were looking at just purchasing it for one year and, then, utilizing that platform for up to two to three years while we are setting up our internal process. So, we are not looking at creating an ongoing purchase requirement for this. This would just be a one time for a one year to get this hub. Cavener: Council, I'm just going to notate -- I hope Mr. Miles is watching. I think that's probably a good conversation for us to -- at least to flag how we notate one-time software purchases, as opposed to software purchases that are intended to have an ongoing revenue expectation. So, if we could figure that piece moving forward we just -- we are saying one time, we don't want to necessarily have next year, then, that's part of the ongoing software expenses the city takes on. So, when a motion's in order maybe denoting that as part of the motion would be beneficial. So, thank you. Blume: Yes, sir. Cavener: No other questions? Little Roberts: Mr. President? Cavener: Council Member Little Roberts. Little Roberts: Mr. President and Chief, I don't know if this will tie in with an update regarding the lithium batteries, but I will ask that question and let you go from there. Blume: Well, Council Woman Little Roberts, that's a great question. Certainly nationally we are seeing the lithium ion battery problem increase in -- in frequency and severity when it -- when it's come to -- when it comes to the thermal runaway of those battery cells. Currently, aside from utilizing our infers and which will transition to nearest, our federal government reporting software of our -- of our calls that we go on, we are going to -- this is a -- a supplement to that. This would actually -- actually supplement that and allow us to identify, again, the frequency and occurrences of -- of lithium ion batteries and identify if, in fact, that that is the cause of, you know, an increase in fires in residential homes or -- or in apartments. So, that is just -- that's an excellent example and that's just one -- one example of -- of what we will be able to utilize with this -- this data terminal data -- data platform. Strader: Great. Thank you. Blume: Yes, ma'am. Strader: Council President Cavener? Cavener: Yes, Council Vice-President Strader. Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 5 of 26 Strader: Would it be okay if we hear from our CFO Todd Lavoie to clarify the nature of this budget amendment? Cavener: As he is up here I was hoping he would be able to provide some clarity. Good afternoon, Mr. Lavoie. Happy to hear your insight. Lavoie: Good afternoon. Thank you. So, I did verify with Jenny Fields that -- and with IT that the software that is being acquired is an ongoing expense per the IT Department. So, you are correct, you are buying it one time, but according to IT this is an ongoing expense that there will be expenses every single year from this point forward. You are buying a software package. So, that is the information we have. Again, we can get Dave to double double-check tomorrow, but everything we are aware of is it is a ongoing expense, sir. Strader: Council President Cavener? Cavener: Yes, please. Strader: Yeah. I think I would like to make a motion that we approve this on a one year basis and have the Fire Department report back on how it goes, because it's a new program and I think we should assess its efficacy at the end of one year and, then, take it from there. That's my two cents. Cavener: So, Council, my -- here is my -- Council Vice-President Strader, I understand. I think the request is this is a one-time purchase for one year. The only piece that I'm somewhat a little reluctant on is that if they purchase it March 11th of 2025 it would be up for renewal March 11th of 2026 outside of our budget hearing process, which means it would either require them to come back before us again to renew with a budget amendment or we would not continue the service until it is included as part of the fiscal year 2027 budget. So, Council and -- and -- and, chief, I'm -- I'm reluctant now to support the budget amendment this evening until we have some greater clarity about the long-term needs. If -- chief, if we are hearing you say we need this for one year and one year only, great, then I think we can move forward, but that's not reflected as what's written in the budget amendment. If we think and anticipate that this is an ongoing need that the department is going to need, I think that we -- that's also okay. That's just -- we want to make sure that we are taking the totality of the request into consideration before decision is made this evening. Blume: Councilman Cavener, I appreciate that and in talking with staff and in the memo that was -- that was provided to you -- or as part of the packet of information it says, you know, we -- we are asking for the program's cost for the 4,950, but in talking with staff and working with IT, the intent is to get it for the one year and in that time develop the -- the platform or hub working with IT to move away from this software for future and ongoing. Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 6 of 26 Cavener: Okay. As long as the Council's aware of what it is they are going to be asked to be voting on this evening, should that be with the motion. Strader: Council President Cavener? Cavener: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Yeah. I just want to make sure. So, from your perspective -- so, if we approve this this evening it's going to be approved for one year of funding. If for some reason your internal team build out to meet this need does not occur you would have to come back to us and to Council President Cavener's point you would need another budget amendment. So, I just want to make sure you understand. Blume: Council Woman Strader, that is correct and that -- that would be an exact characterization of how I understand it as well. Strader: Okay. Council President Cavener? Cavener: Council Woman Strader. Strader: I -- I would move that we approve the fiscal year 2025 budget amendment in the amount of 5,000 to authorize the CPR software purchase utilizing Light My Fire donation funds, explaining that the Council is approving this ongoing cost for one year only. Little Roberts: Second. Cavener: It's been moved and seconded. Any discussion? All right. I will ask the clerk to call roll. Roll Call- Cavener, nay; Strader, yea; Overton, yea; Little Roberts, yea; Taylor, absent; Whitlock, yea. Cavener: Four ayes. One nay. And the budget amendment is approved. MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. ONE NAY. ONE ABSENT. Blume: Thank you. Cavener: Thank you, Chief. Thank you, Mr. Lavoie. 13. Fiscal Year 2024 Financial Audit Report Cavener: Next up is Item 13, fiscal year 2024 financial audit from our friends Eide Bailly. We will turn this over to a man who needs no introduction, our CFO Todd Lavoie. Back again. Nice to see you. I feel like it was just mere minutes ago that we were -- Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 7 of 26 Lavoie: Been a long time, sir. Long time no see. Again, Members of the Council, appreciate the opportunity to allow our financial independent auditors to present to you and also allow you guys to ask them any questions, how the last fiscal year '24 audit went. Tonight you do have Kevin Smith, he is our partner. We Kailey Holt, who is our audit manager. So, again, I will bring up Kevin. He will present to you a few slides, but, please, engage them with questions about the fiscal '24 audit and with that I will bring up Kevin Smith. Cavener: Thank you, Mr. Lavoie. Mr. Smith, it's nice to have you back here. It's been a couple of years. Smith: Thank you. Cavener: Looking forward to hearing from you, sir. The time is yours. Smith: Thank you. Appreciate the opportunity. And Kailey Holt is with me and she can go over, you know, a lot of the detail if you have questions. Okay. I don't know how to advance the slide, but -- Johnson: Use the arrow. Your right arrow. Smith: Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Let's go a little bit over the -- the audit process itself and if you have questions on that, you know, please -- please let us know and we are happy to -- to address those. You know, first and foremost the most important part of the audit is that we issue an opinion and that opinion is what we call a clean or an unmodified opinion. There are other types of opinions that can be rendered and so the goal for us as auditors and also for management and City Council Members is that, you know, we issue a clean opinion and we have rendered that and -- and we have in the past also. Also within the financial statements there are other reports and opinions that that are rendered and the one on internal controls over financial reporting and compliance and so compliance with government auditing standards and since you are a government entity you have to follow additional standards, which are prescribed by -- by the government standard board and in that, if there are any what we call material weaknesses or significant deficiencies or -- or lack of controls, then, we would, obviously, point those out to you in the report and if it was a serious nature we would bring it to your attention before the audit was -- was final and we did not have any material weaknesses or significant deficiencies and we do processes -- procedures related to your internal controls to make sure that they are adhered to as -- as they are written and we didn't have any comments related to those. And, then, we do issue an opinion and an unmodified opinion, again, another clean opinion on what we call the single audit or the -- the federal funds that you receive and anytime you receive over 750,000 dollars in federal funds you are required to have an audit of -- of those programs and there is different types of thresholds within the -- within that threshold that that -- that -- ones that we have to audit and they rotate, you know, from year to year and the larger dollar amounts of -- of federal funds would have to be -- would have to be audited and we issue unmodified or clean opinion, had no comment related to those Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 8 of 26 federal funds. We issue a letter also along with the financial statement, our communication to you, and because you are the ones that are charged with governance and so that governance letter goes -- goes to you and every audit that we perform before the audit starts we, as auditors, look at the -- and assess the significant risks areas and the risk areas in almost all audits that we do are -- are related to the internal controls that we talked about. We also, you know, in that letter it talks about the difficulties -- if we have any difficulties that we encountered during -- in performing the audit and the corrected or uncorrected misstatements or any adjustments that we would have and, then, in the end of the audit the management represents to us that they have provided all the information and so we will start with a significant risk and the two risks that we identified at the beginning of the audit was, you know, any opportunities to override the controls or override the -- the processes and procedures and, then, also improper revenue recognition and those two risks are identified in every audit that we do and -- and part of that as we just heard, you know, an amendment to the budget if there is opportunities to move revenue or to recognize in a different -- different period because of the budget and that would be kind of an override of that process and procedures. That's why the revenue recognition is important and a risk. Any difficulties encountered during the audit and we -- we -- we bring this up and if we had, you know, issues with staff or not getting information timely we -- we would want you to be aware of that and we would want to, you know, take the time right now to talk about, you know, Todd and Jenny and Carol and all those that are involved in the financial statement process, they pay attention to details and -- and the process and procedures and they take it very serious and the fact that we didn't have any adjustments and -- and no management comments is reflection on them, because of the -- of the way they perform their -- their duties on -- on a daily basis and the fact that we don't have any adjustments means that, you know, during the year that you can be confident in the decisions you are making. If we come in and did the audit and we had ten or 12 adjustments at the end of the year, that would probably mean that, you know, six months ago that you probably had those same adjustments and they weren't reflected and you are making decisions. So, that -- that's always significant. So, we did not have any corrected adjustments. We did not have any uncorrected -- we did have uncorrected adjustments -- what we call past adjustments and -- and these are ones that have been -- been carried forward from -- from year to year and, Kailey, do you want to talk about the -- the past adjustments, the uncorrected misstatements that we had? Holt: Yeah. So, there are a handful of uncorrected misstatements and so I just want to reiterate with these uncorrected misstatements they are not material to the financial statements. So, that's what allows them to be passed on. So, your financial statements are still materially correct, it's just a management decision to not post these entries into the financial statements. So, the first past adjustment that we had was related to the recognition of the National Opioid Settlement Funds and this was a new and emerging accounting issue and how the recognition and treatment of these funds was being accounted for and it was incredibly complex in trying to figure out the recognition of the funds that were being received. In addition to that checks were showing up and nobody really had any context for them and due to the timing of when those checks were received or were starting to be received was actually back in fiscal year '22 and so once Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 9 of 26 we got the recognition figured out for how the opioid monies were to be recognized for the city that just led to what we call a past prior period adjustment. So, last year these funds would have been recognized in fiscal year '23 and so in the current year those are being recognized in fiscal year '24 is what the premise of that past adjustment is. So, again, reiterating that it's not a material adjustment or past adjustment, but there is 172,000 dollars of General Fund revenue that's being recognized in fiscal year '24 that does relate to funds received back in fiscal year '23. Any questions on that one before move on to the next ones? Okay. So, the other two -- the next one is also going to be related to the National Opioid Settlement. So, when we report these past adjustments we have them broken out by your different basic financial statements. So, the first is going to be at that fund level, which are the financial statements that you are more used to seeing on a day-to-day basis. The second portion of these past adjustments is the governmental activities. So, this is the one time of year financial statement that you see that's on the full accrual basis of accounting. It's got all those GAP adjustments in there and so this is the adjustment that relates to the prior year and so the accounting treatment for the Opioid Settlements, the way that the City of Meridian was receiving those monies was that the city should have recognized 883,000 dollars all in the year that they -- the settlements were approved and so the triggering event of when those monies were to be recognized was when that was approved or when each of the settlements were approved. Excuse me. And so that would have been last year and, actually, in fiscal year '22 as well. So, just some timing differences on the approval of those various different settlements and so that's why we have that past adjustment there and the second one that you see on there is an entry to pass on the recognition of some of the assets and liabilities for those arrangements that did not meet the city's established threshold and the total of those amounts is 292,000 dollars. So, last year there was a brand new accounting standard for subscription based information technology arrangements, otherwise, known as IT subscriptions is the simple way to think about that and so the city internally and their finance department, which is very common in -- in all of the governments that we work with, set a threshold for CIBDA agreements that they were not going to track and report on and so they do kind of keep a separate list of those and it just is due to the administrative burden of -- caused by this standard and so the standard has no established thresholds. So, that would mean that the city is spending time to track and record CIBDA agreements whether they are 2,000 dollars or 200,000 dollars and so the city set a limit and said, hey, due to the administrative burden caused by the standard we are going to set a limit of the ones that we are going to track and record and, then, we will have the ones that we just expense on an annual basis and so when you aggregate all of the ones together that are expensed on an annual basis that number is 292,000 dollars. So, that is that second adjustment that we have on there. Any questions on any of those for us? Cavener: Quick question. Just your -- your comment about the -- the Opioid Settlements and essentially acknowledging those in the year -- or referencing the funds in the year that we accept the -- the agreement, but that often is different -- but we don't typically receive the funds at the same time that we approve the agreement. So, how -- how should cities function, because that -- that one kind of perked my interest, because normally we would reflect once we receive the dollars not when we approve the Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 10 of 26 agreement. So, help me understand why we should be -- why we should be -- I guess why -- I'm not that bright. Holt: I'm following you. Cavener: Okay. Save me from myself. Holt: No. You are good. Thank you, Council President. So, just to give you some context about the opioids, so there is different phases is the way that I like to think about them and so the first of the phases, the -- I will start over with saying so the City of Meridian in the context of the National Opioid Settlement is what's known as a litigating party or an active participant in the Opioid Settlement funds and so because the City of Meridian is a litigating party there is a revenue recognition criteria that is triggered and that is fully a requirement of GAP and so in order for those financial statements to be GAP compliant those are the rules we have to follow because the City of Meridian is known as what's called a litigating party and so under that, because the City of Meridian was participating as a litigating party, there is what's called -- we have got nonexchange and exchange revenue and so when you have an exchange, right, there is a give and a take. Nonexchange it's no give and take and so because the City of Meridian was an active participant in that and they said, hey, we want to participate in this class action lawsuit, if there are funds that are to be distributed at the end of it we would like to be the beneficiary of those so that we can put that money back out into our community for opioid mitigation and so because of that the exchange revenue recognition criteria require it on a full accrual basis of accounting. So, on those government wide financial statements to be recognized when you are legally -- when you are -- legally you can get that -- the money is legally yours when that settlement is signed is the way to think about it and so the moment that there is ink on paper you are legally entitled based on the class action lawsuit to receive those funds and so that is the piece that triggers the revenue recognition at that government wide level and so back to your point to the other piece of that is that fund level. So, when we are looking at that first adjustment at the General Fund the revenue recognition for that piece of it is when you receive the actual money. So, when I was working with the finance team on making sure we got this all figured out and everything recorded correctly, the closest thing I could liken it to, just provide a little bit more context, is the recognition of property taxes and so this is actually pretty similar to the way that property taxes are recognized, both at the fund level and at the government wide level as well. So, not to get too technical with you all, but with property taxes there is deferred inflows of resources for money that you know that you are going to get, it just hasn't come through the door quite yet and so you know it's out there, but there is no cash in hand and so that's very similar to the way that the opioid monies are operating is the settlement funds were approved, each of the different defendants in the class action lawsuit know how much money they have to admit, but it's over an extended period of time. Some of them go out to -- I believe 2036. So, there is a schedule of what different governments are entitled to receive over that extended period of time and so a lot like property taxes, you know what you are going to get and when you are going to get it, but you just don't have the cash in hand quite yet. So, that is the closest thing I could liken it to was the recognition of those property Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 11 of 26 taxes. So, hopefully that answers kind of your questions and gives you a little context about those ones. But it is a tricky -- it was tricky and I would say for the other government entities that we do around the Treasure Valley they were going through the same -- a lot of the same -- I would say figuring this out and making sure that everyone was getting it recorded correctly, just because we hadn't seen anything really like this before. Cavener: Thank you, Kailey. Appreciate it. Holt: Yeah. Of course. Cavener: Any other questions about this portion? Great. Smith: As I mentioned at the end of the audit management, you know, signs of representation letter -- a letter that's kind of -- it's a format letter, but, you know, basically telling us that they have represented -- they have provided us all the information that we have asked -- asked for and that it's accurate and that it can be relied on by us and with that we open it up for any additional questions that you may have regarding the audit process or -- or the financial statements themselves, we are happy to respond. Cavener: Any questions from Council? Strader: Council President? Cavener: Council Member Strader. Strader: Just a comment. Like getting a clean audit, you know, it's not like we get fireworks and anything too exciting. Boring is good in your world. So, we -- we appreciate your efforts. But thanks for bringing those to our attention, especially -- that is kind of tricky around how the subscript -- you know, how the Opioid Settlement revenues were recognized and -- and also the little details of the software. So, we appreciate it. Thank you. Cavener: Kevin, just one maybe question. You have started working with the city when we were much smaller population, much smaller amount of revenue, smaller finance department staff. As we have grown you have kind of grown with us. Are there things that we as elected officials that have that fiduciary responsibility to our citizens should be thinking about as cities continue to grow that needs to be maybe on our radar so that we are proactively engaging in that, as opposed to reacting at a later point in time? Smith: You have -- you have already done that and you have done it very well, as you can see in -- in reflection in your financial statements. Now, your -- your fund balance, your cash position is different than anyone else's and it's because you have made those decisions, you know, years ago and they have, you know, carried on to today and so that you can make, you know, good decisions going forward. So, as far as the financial part, you -- you have done that and you have done it well, so -- but I would, you know, Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 12 of 26 recommend that you continue, you know, to do that and be conservative and -- and just be prepared for what's to come. A couple things kind of outside the financial statements, you know, a couple areas, you know, as we go around to different, you know, entities, you know, cybersecurity is just -- is ongoing, you know, and what -- what we see, you know, the changes with -- with -- with Al and -- and, you know, other things technology wise just -- we can never relax in -- in that area and never think that we have enough and that we are set, because we continue to see with our clients that they think they are set, they think they have everything in place and they don't. Cavener: That's a good point. I appreciate that. Smith: And processes and procedures. Another area. And we have done some, you know, agreed upon procedures, some internal control procedures, you know, that -- that have been asked for by management and -- and we are always happy to pick specific areas and it's just a good ongoing practice to always look at different areas, different departments that -- you know, that we can come in and just do a deeper look into. Holt: No add to that as well. But I think from my experience in working with the city -- I think I'm on my fourth year at this point and I have worked with various different sizes of cities all within the state of Idaho and I think my biggest thing that I have seen is cities making decisions to invest in technology that helps your people do their job on a day-to- day basis. I think it's, you know, exciting and fun to invest in, you know, these brand new emerging technologies which are also important to make sure that you are staying with current times, but where I see the biggest bang for the buck in the cities that I work with is making sure that you are focusing and paying attention to those technologies that just help your people get through their work on a day-to-day basis and so I know that the city has made an investment in Workday, things like that and making sure that the ERP systems are helping support and not working against your people. In terms of issues that I have seen with smaller governments their systems are doing nothing for them. A lot of the processes are manual. It's taking a lot of time, effort and energy from the people that work for those governments and it makes their job really really hard and so when you have an integrated system like the city's invested in that just makes it one less thing for the people to worry about, so that they can focus on the more technical accounting things and making sure that they are getting their -- the recognition of different events and transactions correct throughout the year. So, I would just say in what I have seen in the different sizes of cities that I have worked with is just to make sure that you are thinking and continuing to invest in those technologies that help your people do their job on a day-to-day basis. Cavener: Sound advice. Thank you very much for being here. I know it's been a few years since we have had you before us and as I was talking with the Mayor we hadn't had one of these updates in a long time and I thought it was important for all of us to hear -- to hear from our auditors about the process they go through and, you know, council, some of you probably know this, but the team here recognized Jenny and Carol, certainly Todd and -- and that whole department, you know, while we continue to function and do our job, like audit season for the Finance Department is a really big deal Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 13 of 26 and they continue to operate and unless you know what's going on you don't know that it's going on due to their level of professionalism and -- and care. So, Todd's back there. I think I see him. Todd, again, please pass along to your team how much we appreciate their efforts and, then, thank you again for joining us this afternoon. Smith: Thank you. Appreciate it. Holt: Thanks for having us. 14. 2025 Meridian Community Pool Proposed Fees Cavener: Okay. Council, next on our agenda is Item 14, 2025 Meridian Community Pool proposed fees and we will turn it over to Garrett White. Good afternoon, Garrett. Welcome. White: Council President Cavener, thanks for having me. Council, Thanks for having me as well. Here tonight to kind of talk about pool fees and really what I'm looking for tonight is nothing -- no action really from you guys, it's more of just a head nod, thumbs up, those types of things based on my proposals. The timeline that I have here is, yeah, if you guys are not opposed to the -- the fees I'm presenting today, then, what I will do is I will post them and come back in two weeks for a public hearing for the fees. I would like to have the fees posted and done by April 1 st. It's not a deal killer either way. But April 1st is kind of our target to have them all approved. We are going to take swim lessons on the 3rd when that opens and those things -- they go really fast. So, I want to have all that stuff up and information out and post it as well. So, with that I will go through my presentation. First I want to just talk about the users of the pool. We do swim lessons for over 2,000 kids and last year was the first time we were able to use our Care Enough To Share funds with that. We really tried to promote that. We had 20 -- I think it was like 27, 28 kids that actually used the Care Enough To Share funds and we are hoping that grows again this year and for those who use it don't know I'm sure -- I think everybody knows, but the Care Enough To Share funds are basically scholarships for the kiddos to -- to go get -- it covers about 80 percent of the -- the cost of swim lessons and any other program they do. Other users were our camps -- our summer camps, outdoor adventure camp. Camp Mer-IDA-Moo, Boys and Girls Club, daycare facilities, some -- some swim teams use it last year. The Killer Whales, Streamliners, Meridian High School, Rocky High School, they had some different swim meets as well and really we had a couple private parties and a couple other things, but mainly it was swim lessons, public swim and swim teams that were used in the facility. Note that upstairs in the classroom area we do have classes held year round through our activity guide as well. Oh, I guess I can talk about the schedule. This is the -- the schedule we had last year. It's kind of the tentative schedule we are looking for this year as well. It's over here to your right. Sundays is to be determined. It depends how many guards we have, availabilities and stuff like that, but we would love to see the pool open seven days a week if at all possible with that. So, I always put that on there. Talking fees now and cost recovery and really trying to keep up with inflation is really the message I want to send here. Currently with -- in the pink there you will kind of see kind Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 14 of 26 of what we do for our private swim lessons, semi-private, which is basically two kids and, then, group lessons and kind of what it all boils down to and what our profit and losses are on those. Those we do make some money under swim lessons that help cover some of the cost of the facility, obviously, and the public swim and the blue just below that you will see that we do lose money when it comes to public swim and that's basically covering the guards on the deck and those types of things and the office and everywhere else. So, we do lose quite a -- quite a bit just on public swim itself. Our pool subsidies, down here at the bottom, in FY-23 and FY-24 those are actuals. You can kind of see our cost recovery and -- and these fees are really our ongoing cost and, I'm sorry, the subsidy -- the operational cost there are the ongoing costs and not the big projects -- the one-time projects we use with WARD's money and things like that. But you can kind of see our cost recovery. Budgeted for FY-25 is about 22 percent cost recovery, which we want to get better. Moving on to my fee proposals, like I said before, these are really -- I think the message I want to send is this really helps us keep up with the inflation portion of it and operational costs. From my research that I have done with WARD and past employees at the pool the fees have not been raised to my understanding and from 2017 or prior, that's kind of the -- the guess is when the last time the fees were raised at the pool. So, a few years back. So, really, what I'm trying to do is on the day passes is the proposed fees is really just to raise it a dollar per -- per kid, per adult, whatever, maybe just in the day passes and, then, the season passes where family and individuals reflect the increase, keeping the break-even point at about 15 visits per summer. The swim lessons I'm increasing, because I do want to help cover the cost of the facility itself. It does -- they do cover the cost of the guards and some of the equipment that we use for that, but we also want to cover the facility as well on some of the swim lessons. Private parties, increase it as well just to cover the cost of all regards, plus some of the stuff they use in the facility. Same with the swim team meets and the swim team practices with that. So, that's really kind of what it is and -- and these fees do put us in comparison with the market and surrounding cities. Not that we are really comparing with -- apples and oranges there, but the fees to get in are very comparable what others are offering. If we take on the proposed fees that I'm proposing and everybody's good with it and we have the public hearing and everybody's good with it, this is kind of the reflection there and, like I said before, down there at the bottom, the pool subsidy and the proposed fee increases, it does keep our cost recovery at about 25 percent; right? So, it doesn't necessarily give us a lot more, but it does keep our costs recovered by the same. So, it kind of keeps us up with inflation on that aspect. So -- and, again, FY-25 is budgeted, ongoing cost, not the one-time stuff, but it's -- it's -- -- it keeps us up with that. With that, like I said, I'm kind of looking for some feedback, some -- some yes, no, maybes and go from there. So, with that I will stand for questions. Cavener: Council, any questions for Mr. White? Little Roberts: Mr. President? Cavener: Council Member Little Roberts. Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 15 of 26 Little Roberts: Mr. President, Garrett, thank you very much. I think our prices are more than reasonable. Was just curious about what the Cares For Shares -- what all it will cover. If a child has no access do they get lessons? Open swim? What all will that cover for them? White: Council President Cavener, Council Woman Little Roberts, great question. So, what that does right now is that we don't have it eligible for the -- the day passes, but if some -- if a kid came and wanted to do something with an individual pass or a family pass or a family swim would make that work. Right now the program set up for the programs themselves of like swim lessons. But if -- if somebody came to me and -- and needed something like that we would try to make something work for them in that aspect, if that makes any sense. But the program right now primarily is for programs themselves. Little Roberts: Okay. Great. Thank you. White: Yeah. Yeah. Good question. Thank you. Overton: Council President? Cavener: Councilman Overton. Overton: Garrett, you know, I know if you guys didn't have to raise rates you wouldn't. -- I know that as a fact and nobody likes to see rates go up. White: Yeah. Overton: But every aspect of operating that pool has gone up from the wages you have to pay, to the cost of chemicals to keep your pool running -- I mean there isn't a portion of anything that you do that hasn't gone up and we would not be doing our job sitting up here if we weren't trying to keep you where you need to be for cost recovery to be both efficient for the community, but also for the city and I think that's a very fair budget you are lining out. I -- I -- I fully support it. I like what I see. It's not outrageous. I think it addresses the issues, the shortfalls and brings you back up to where you want to be. Strader: Council President? Cavener: Council Member Strader. Strader: Yeah. I -- I think considering -- it seems like it's been seven or eight years since there was an increase, which is a really long amount of time. My question is just what is the cadence going forward to evaluate future increases? That -- that's my question. White: Council President Cavener, Council Woman Strader, that's a great question and we would love the opportunity to work with our Council liaison or director and the people Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 16 of 26 at the pool and just try to figure that out and what -- and the Mayor, obviously, and -- and what -- what is acceptable when it comes to the cost recovery or what -- where should we want to be. Does that make sense? Moving forward we want to keep -- we don't want to go backwards; right? So, we want to continue to -- to maintain our -- is it 25 percent, is it 30 percent or is it more cost recovery or subsidy. That -- that -- that's a great question. Strader: Quick follow up? Cavener: Yeah. Council Member Strader. Strader: Yeah. I -- well -- and I have noticed -- and I -- I can appreciate you guys are trying to round to the nearest dollar, including tax and I actually think that makes some sense. Like, you know, maybe the fee structure is such that you look at it every year and you try to figure out if you are close enough that you need to like take that step. But, yeah, I guess feedback for me is I'm supportive of the increase, you know, it's sad to ever have to increase our fees, but it's just the nature of the economy that we are living in. So, we will continue to need to do this in order to provide a decent level of service to the community. So, I appreciate you bringing it forward and I'm very supportive of it. I would just -- I would love to see everybody maybe just evaluate this annually and -- and it could be that it's not material enough to make a change and that's okay. But I think if we look at it every year that might make sense. Whitlock: Mr. President? Cavener: Council Member Whitlock. Whitlock: Garrett, thank you and appreciate the presentation and 1, too, think this is a modest increase given the time that we have gone without an increase. It is time and I think something that we absolutely need to consider. We will hear from the public, but think they will look at this and also come to the same conclusion that what we are trying to do is offer an amenity in this community that is in high demand and we are trying to do it at as reasonable a cost to them as possible. So, appreciate the thought that went into all of this and certainly we will -- we will look deeper and we will listen to what the public has to say, but thanks for all of the effort. I guess one question is, you know, as you have the Sunday TBD, how -- how is recruitment going in terms of hiring enough people and staffing and being able to maximize the use of the pool? White: Councilor, Councilman Cavener, we -- right now we have -- I think we -- Willow and I have reviewed 46 applications just regards right now and we are still open. We take applications all the way through mid-April with that, so a lot of the returners trickle in, this and that, because they kind of know we don't end the hiring until April. But giving kudos to Willow, she will ping them quite a bit just through text messages, calls, e-mails, whatever. Hey, get your stuff and so we can get the ball rolling, paperwork and things like that. So, right now, you know, I always worry until we have enough guards, but right now we have like -- I think I said like 47, 48 guards that have applied. Doesn't mean we Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 17 of 26 are going to hire them all, but we still want guards and the more guards we have the more we can be open in theory; right? So, I'm not worried yet, but we have quite a few guards available right now. Thanks. Thanks for the question. Cavener: Garrett, a couple just questions for you and, Council, some of you know -- know Garrett knows this. The reason why I'm very passionate about Meridian pool is because I want many kids to learn how to swim in Meridian as possible and provide a very affordable option and, Garrett, I appreciate you have become so like presentation and data focused, which helps me kind of look at everything and I -- I focused a lot on the private swim lessons, because that has a high cost to an individual. It only impacts one or sometimes two students, but certainly from the revenue that the city generates it's the lowest and I wonder are we better to suit the needs of our community by having one less private and allowing one additional class given our space limitations that allows us to educate more kids, keeps prices low and actually the city brings in additional revenue and I don't know if you and your team have discussed that -- and, listen, one of my kids has benefited from a -- from a private lesson. So, I -- I found it to be very convenient and beneficial. But when I look at it from a community standpoint maybe there are other places that may be better suited for a private and more individualized lesson and us maybe focus on serving as many kids as possible. White: Yeah. Councilman Cavener, my response to that is I -- I -- I hear you and asked Willow the same questions, it's just like, well, can we -- we want to get kids to learn how to swim; right? So, I learned a lot just by listening to what Willow says and her expertise in teaching lessons and the group lessons we can only fit so many little ones, group ones, the minnows, whatever you want to call them, in the shallow end and so on. We have so much space there. So, when it comes to the logistics of the scheduling and how many more kids we can get in there, whether we, you know, focus more private or public or group lessons, those types of things, we -- we do what we can to bring in the most revenues and fill the pool, if that makes any sense. Logistically. Cavener: So, Garrett, I guess what I would suggest is if there is places that I would look at maybe an additional rate increase, it is on the -- on the private piece and using that additional revenue to help, again, to Council Member Whitlock's question, bingo pay, we can pay better more competitive wages, retain more -- more lifeguards, that would be a place that I would -- I would focus on and, then, something that I would maybe encourage you guys to go back and discuss is, you know, looking at the -- the cost of swim lessons, how -- recognize we need to do that, is there a value proposition we can provide our residents, which is maybe it's an increase, whether it's proposed or even slightly higher, but it includes a -- a free day pass, so that those that learn how to swim -- yes, you are going to spend a little bit more money, but you also are getting an increase in value. So, you guys know the operational impact on that better than 1, just want to make sure those are some things that you are considering so that as we are -- you know, we would love to be able to operate as many pools in Meridian at zero cost. We don't have that ability as we are trying to be good stewards of the taxpayer dollars and I would also encourage you -- I -- I know that you and your team and we know what subsidy is, those are taxpayer dollars and so I would -- I would really encourage you in Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 18 of 26 future reports, let's -- let's be pretty transparent about that. That's what the taxpayers are -- are subsidizing the pool in order to be able to operate. I have had some -- some feedback from some folks in our community that maybe take exception with some of the words and I get we all have different words that are important to us, but something I would just also encourage you to consider for future reports. White: Great. Thank you. Cavener: Thanks. So, with that if you will bring it back with the public hearing -- White: In a couple weeks. Cavener: -- we will get that scheduled as soon as possible for you guys. White: Thank you guys very much. 15. 2025 Ada County Highway District Five Year Plan Roadway, Intersection & Community Program Prioritization Cavener: Council, last on our agenda this afternoon is the 2025 Ada County Highway District five year plan roadway intersection and community program prioritization. This is a continuation of our conversation a couple weeks ago and we have got Hether here, so I will turn it over to you, Hether. Hill: Thank you, Council President Cavener and Council. I'm back before you to discuss the prioritization process for the 2025 ACHD five year plan. You know, last time we were here we kind of discussed it. We had a few different kind of parallel conversations happening. I outlined three of those in the memo and before I kind of touch base on those I want to recognize that I know that there was a discussion about the railroad crossing on Black Cat and it was just kind of unclear where we want to see that be moved and I did have a chance to kind of get an update from Council President Cavener before this work session. So, I did want to preface that. So, the -- the three other conversations one was the Ustick and Venable that you will see that in Exhibit A that has been elevated on your list to number ten on the draft list before you, just trying to kind of move that to somewhere where Parks is somewhat happy with that. We kind of chatted with them, so that was one. We also discussed the Linder Road, Cherry to Ustick, recognizing that we are supportive in ACHD being opportunistic in those early acquisitions of affected properties, but that we would deprioritize that to make room for other projects, recognizing that that project as a whole is going to take some time. So, those are the ones in Exhibit A. I can stop there and, then, we can kind of move on to conversation number three, the priority corridors. I will really kind of leave it up to Council how you would like to proceed with essentially coming up with a final recommendation, recognizing that this list needs to be turned into ACHD on by the 19th, so -- Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 19 of 26 Cavener: Council, any questions for Hether on -- Hether, are you looking for questions about just Exhibit A? Hill: Yeah. I think I would be asking is Council supportive of -- in agreeance with the recommendations for Ustick-Venable, understanding that that was a shift based on our conversation previously, as well as the placement of the Linder Road, Cherry Lane to Ustick, down to number 16. Whitlock: Mr. President? Cavener: Council Member Whitlock. Whitlock: I think what was -- the packet reflects our discussions. I think she did a good job of capturing that. There was one element that maybe we need further discussions on to get the ACHD, but -- Cavener: Okay. Seeing no questions about Exhibit A, let's continue on. Hill: Okay. Great. So, Exhibit B -- this was really just for conversation purposes. This was to the discussion about should we identify a priority corridor, would that be Meridian Road or Locust Grove. So, you will see in Exhibit B I just used Meridian Road as an example. So, you can see the coupling of numbers 12 and 13. That's Meridian, Ustick to McMillan, and Meridian, McMillan to Chinden. If you were to inverse the two and decide that Locust Grove Road be the priority, those numbers would just swap and I did provide custom details from Kristy. She's also here today. I included those in your packet just so you can see some of the high level kind of rationale or just input she had as part of that. As staff we were thinking if we were to proceed with one of those priority corridors we could always highlight that in our letter as well that we sent to ACHD if we want to take a further analysis of those corridors, understanding future right-of-way impacts, et cetera. So, those are B and C in your packet and happy to chat about those as well. Cavener: Council, questions? Strader: Council President? Cavener: Council Member Strader. Strader: My first question would be do we get feedback from the Fire Department about whether the focus should be more on Locust Grove from a -- and I recall the Mayor brought this up in our last meeting that there could be some response time and some other impacts. So, I was just curious if we followed up on that. Hill: Thank you, Council Woman Strader. We hadn't had an opportunity to really do a deep dive with Fire. I did make note that that was the Mayor's request that we do and I think it would be important for staff if we are going to do that and take Fire's concerns Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 20 of 26 into consideration, understand that Locust Grove is a choke point at some points for them to have access. I think we should take everything into consideration. And with that we can, you know, revisit it this year, work with ACHD and do some more analysis on that. So, I -- for now we have not coordinated with Fire. That's not to say that we cannot follow up. Strader: Follow up? Cavener: Council Member Strader. Strader: So, is it staff's recommendation to leave Meridian Road as the -- I guess placeholder priority with this request to ACHD to do the cost analysis of the two alternatives and, then, do a deeper dive over the next year to look internally and with our partners to figure out what the right -- is that the recommendation or -- like I'm a little nervous about giving the green light on, you know, Meridian Road to be the priority if that's not where we are going to go, but if it's understood that this is here as a placeholder, because we need this analysis to be done and it's just not feasible to do the analysis before we transmit the -- the work plan recommendations, does that kind of summarize your recommendation? Hill: Yes. Council Woman Strader and Council, I think our recommendation is -- I mean I could go either way. I could just leave it as is and we could spend the year focusing on which priority corridor to do or we could prioritize Meridian Road, understanding that there is the interchange. I think in looking I would have to kind of re-familiarize myself with some of Kristy's comments, but that the Meridian corridor and ACHD's portion is fully built out. There is only two miles remaining in the corridor. So, we could look at it at just that level and be like that's the one to prioritize, but I believe there is other -- you know, it depends on how much data you want to have to make an informed decision. So, I mean I would be comfortable either way, knowing that even if we elevate these two projects this year we still have an opportunity next year, because they are not going to start -- most likely start design on either of those right away. Strader: Okay. Yeah, I -- I guess -- I understand that perspective. Again, I -- I think the right of way could make a huge difference in the viability of one or the other project. So, I think the cost analysis -- the cost benefit analysis is really important to pursue. I don't think we want to use a top recommendation spot for something that is not economically viable. So, I feel like our letter should strongly highlight the importance of doing this analysis that we would like to complete one of these corridors to the north all the way to Chinden and we would like an analysis I think of -- of the two alternatives. I -- prioritizing Meridian Road, I guess if it does a placeholder I'm okay with it, but I feel like with a fire station on that segment of Locust Grove that does feel like a compelling thing that I want us to look at. So, I guess either way, but I just -- I think we need to strongly -- strongly encourage this analysis to be completed. I don't know what else to say, but -- Cavener: Council, I think -- maybe my hope would be is that we could put in that request as part of the letter and not knowing how that would be received by our highway Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 21 of 26 district friends, if that's something they would be supportive of. If that helps. They likely are doing some of this -- they are not waiting necessarily on all projects are doing cost analysis. So, some of this work may already be in progress and we are just not in the loop on it. So, perhaps maybe keeping them as is with a desire to study in collaboration with the highway district over the next year, but maybe -- maybe an appropriate request in the letter unless we are wanting to make some larger shifts in terms of prioritization. What I would caution is us moving stuff this year, then, moving them back or moving something else in years to come. We have benefited I think by being fairly consistent in kind of outlining those corridors and working through those projects. Not opposed to making a shift now, but I -- I agree with Council Member Strader to move something up just to maybe begin a cost analysis at the expense of highlighting another potential project may not be the right use of our small amount of spots. Hether, does -- does that seem doable? That's not something that we have necessarily included in our letter and I -- I don't want to get out of the scope of what they are expecting, but just trying to figure out the right way to capture -- I think maybe the desire of the Council long term, but wanting to make sure that we have measured twice and cut once before we would move forward. Hill: Councilman -- Council -- Council President Cavener and Council, I mean I don't -- I can't speak to if that would be totally out of scope for the letter. I know last year our letter was a little different anyways, but I can certainly include that and share that and we can -- from what I'm hearing is just move forward with the Exhibit A priority list and emphasize that we would like to have that coordination for next year's five year plan process. Cavener: Excellent. And, Hether, if we can -- I don't want to put Kristy on the spot. If you would like to speak to that -- you are so kind to join us in person, I don't want to volun-tell you to get up and talk to us, but I think your insight and perspective would help us maybe framing our next steps. Inselman: No. Absolutely. Good evening, President Cavener, Council Members. For the record Kristy Inselman, planning supervisor with ACHD. As soon as you started talking about cost that is certainly something that we would be happy to provide and we can do a cost analysis, very high level, of today's dollars of what each corridor would cost if we are doing a three versus a five right-of-way expectation. So, we do that anyway, especially with our CIP updates, we do cost analysis on all of these corridors anyway, but with the difference of a three versus five. We can give you both. Strader: Okay. Inselman: I don't think we can get you those cost analysis before the due date, but we can definitely get those to you in the next month or so, if that would work for Council. Cavener: Great. Thanks, Kristy. Inselman: Absolutely. Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 22 of 26 Cavener: Council, any questions for Kristy? So, Hether, maybe in terms of, then, of thinking next steps for next year, that I think should be a question maybe before the Council is here is the -- here is the priorities that have come from the Transportation Commission., Are there any that Council would like some cost estimates based on -- way -- in that kind of period between this first when we come back, that gives staff and our friends at the highway district a little bit more time to give us some of that data. So, I will forget, Hether, and I might not be here and so a flagging for you to maybe remind us and give us some good hygiene next year when we are back here discussing this. Okay. Council, other questions for Hether? Okay. Want to continue on then. Hill: Yeah. So, I just want to confirm. Do we want to continue talking about roads and intersections or switch gears to community programs? Because I want to make sure that I know which exhibit that we are going -- I will be including with the letter and I believe that would be the Exhibit A with Ustick and, then, the change with Linder, leaving the rest as is. Cavener: Hether, I think Council -- because you are probably going to need a motion from us at some point, but I think you are getting -- Hill: Okay. Cavener: -- the nods on Exhibit A right now. Hill: That's fine. I just wanted to make sure before we move on. So, next moving on to community programs, I believe the one up for discussion is Black Cat crossing continuing that conversation. The community programs list is the same that was included with your packet on February 25th. So, that's where you will see the community programs. So, happy to discuss what Council would like to see and if there is any modifications to our list there. Cavener: Council, if you would indulge me, I maybe would like to ask Kristy to come back up to give us some guidance. Sorry, Kristy, I don't mean to put you on the spot. I have got a -- maybe a question you can help me for some guidance. I -- if it's okay, I will -- I will ask, because I haven't even asked it yet, so ask you to come up first. Thank you for coming back up. So, I see Council has discussed -- and this will come as no surprise -- the best solution to the choke point at Black Cat and the railway. In my conversations with the director he encouraged that this should become a community program item if we aren't satisfied in waiting until Black Cat from Cherry to Franklin is built out. I am at least going to propose here in a few minutes that Council adds a new community program item designed to address that very issue. Would you mind giving me or the Council some flavor of how we should propose that community program to meet the intentions of the Council in a way that is conveyed most properly to the highway district? Inselman: Okay. President Cavener, Council Members, so it -- it depends, obviously, wherever you land it on the list will speak loudly to us as to what the priorities are of the Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 23 of 26 city. So, if that leapfrogs other projects that's going to tell us that that is a higher priority for the city. I would just be clear in the description and we work very closely with Hether. If we are unsure of a description we work very closely. I come to these meetings, so that I can get clarity on what you are looking for. So, just -- just high level what it is that you are hoping to achieve is generally the best way to give us a description of your project. Are you looking for -- not for this one, but are you looking for bike ped, filling gaps, addressing maybe a signalization, something at the railroad, whatever it is that you are hoping to achieve with the project is what I would put as your description. Cavener: Great. So, I may ask if as we are discussing that here in a minute if you have got a concern or a question or clarification feel free to -- to wave your hands and we would be happy to make sure that there is good clarity should this be something the Council wants to engage in. Inselman: Absolutely. Cavener: Thank you. Inselman: Thank you. Cavener: Any other questions, programs for Kristy while we have got her up here? I know she is getting her steps with us tonight. Thank you. So, Council, I sent you guys all an e-mail last night. I would like to establish a new community program around addressing the choke point at the stop sign at the Black Cat railroad. Perhaps if staff is comfortable leaving it to them to wordsmith in the most appropriate manner, but it would be my intention that we would yield somewhat to the highway district about the most efficient way to do that. There is -- there is lots of different ways to satisfy this from crossing arms to just removing the stop sign and replacing it with a -- with a flashing beacon or a non-flashing beacon. I wouldn't want to be so prescriptive in adding this that it would limit whatever the highway district thinks is best. I just want to be able to move vehicles in the most efficient manner across the railway on Black Cat. I would -- if -- if I were to make a motion I would ask the Council to at least be open minded to having that community program land at the top -- top three or top five, just to that point, because I think it is a bigger issue and to Kristy's points I want it -- like us to make a statement, hey, this is a bigger priority that we would like to have the highway district pay some attention to. So, I don't know if I summarized that well in my e-mail to you all last night. I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have about that or if there is any other items that are here as community programs that we also feel should be highlighted. I don't want my enthusiasm about this project to over shadow any other priorities that any of you may have had or heard from people in your community. Strader: Council President? Cavener: Council Member Strader. Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 24 of 26 Strader: Isn't it the -- I think the -- the concern at least that I have heard articulated around this area wasn't just an issue with vehicles necessarily, it was really -- I thought a pedestrian issue primarily and it has been a consistent problem for us that we have all talked about. So, I am supportive of it being in the top five. You know, top three. I think it's -- there is an argument for it, but that's kind of where I'm at. Just from a high level. It just feels like it's an unsafe enough set of conditions that we need something to happen here faster than the highway district is currently planning. So, I -- I think if we could signal that to them I think that would be a good thing. Like to me this is a priority. I think it's important that we find a resolution on it. Overton: Mr. Council President? Cavener: Council Member Overton. Overton: It seems like we had this conversation a year ago when we were trying to determine between three agencies who would take the lead on having this happen and if we waited for it to be part of the entire road project or not. The road project is so many years down the road and the extreme need for the stop sign go away and the signal to go in to try to move that traffic every day because of the location of the school, I am fully supportive of bringing it into the top five. Cavener: Excellent. Then are there any other movements or questions on -- I know we didn't discuss a lot of community programs a few weeks ago. Any other comments or questions about any other community programs that are listed in the memo from Hether? Overton: Mr. Council President? Cavener: Council Member Overton. Overton: The one I don't want to see displaced, because it's been displaced so many times before, is the one that currently sits as number two. Cavener: Yeah. Overton: I -- I consistently hear from folks that live in that area that are elderly that cannot walk on sidewalks that go to nowhere and it's finally up at this position, the roadway, again, will not be done for several years, so I guess besides just saying in the top five, maybe if it could come in number three behind that one that would be a good placement for me. Cavener: Council Member Overton, you are certainly anticipating where I had planned to, if I were to make a motion where I would place this. I think number three is the most appropriate. One and certainly two I think have been kind of evergreen issues that we are booked to address, so I'm happy to -- I guess I'm the chair, so I'm not going to make any motions, but if someone were to make a motion to have -- you know, adding the Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 25 of 26 choke point mitigation at the Black Cat railroad as community program number three that would be in line with where I guess my recommendation would be. Whitlock: Mr. President? Cavener: Council Member Whitlock. Whitlock: I'm happy to make that motion to make the choke point correction at Black Cat and the railway a top three priority coming in at number three. Cavener: Okay. And I haven't got a second yet, but I -- are you planning to also make your motion to include that we include Exhibit A for the roadway priorities and to send a letter to the highway district communicating that, as well as our desire for more information on cost related to transportation projects? Whitlock: Mr. President, you read my mind. I was going to include all of that. Cavener: Okay. Strader: Second. Cavener: There is a moved and seconded. Discussion for the Council? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. The chair is aye. Any nays? All right. Motion passes. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. Cavener: Hether, does that makes sense for you? And if you need clarification we are happy to chat. Hill: Thank you so much. EXECUTIVE SESSION [Action Item] Per Idaho Code 74-206(1)(b): To consider the evaluation, dismissal or disciplining of, or to hear complaints or charges brought against, a public officer, employee, staff member or individual agent, or public school student. Cavener: Thank you, Kristy, for being here. Thank you, Hether, for that presentation. Council, that concludes our work session. We do have on our agenda an Executive Session. Strader: Council President Cavener. Cavener: Council Member Strader. Strader: I move that we go into Executive Session for Idaho Code 74-206(1)(b). Meridian City Council Work Session March 11,2025 Page 26 of 26 Overton: Second. Cavener: Moved and seconded. Any discussion? Mr. Clerk, please call roll. Roll Call: Cavener, yea; Strader, yea; Overton, yea; Little Roberts, yea; Taylor, absent; Whitlock, yea. Cavener: All right. We are in Executive Session. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. EXECUTIVE SESSION: (5:39 p.m. to 5:59 p.m.) Cavener: Okay. Council. Motion to come out of Executive Session. Strader: Second. Oh. I move that we come out of Executive Session. Little Roberts: Second. Cavener: Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. We are out of Executive Session. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. Strader: Council President Cavener. Cavener: Council Member Strader. Strader: I move that we adjourn the meeting. Little Roberts: Second. Cavener: Moved and seconded. All in favor? Chair is aye we well. We have adjourned our work session. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 6.00 P.M. (AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS) MAYOR ROBERT E. SIMISON 3-25-2025 ATTEST: CHRIS JOHNSON - CITY CLERK 3-25-2025