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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-03-18 Work Session Meridian City Council Work Session March 18, 2025. A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 4:32 p.m. Tuesday, March 18, 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, Todd Lavoie, Laurelei McVey, Keith Watts, Jamie Leslie 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 the meeting to order. For the record it is March 18th, 2025, at 4:32 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: Pretty brief agenda today, but I don't see anything that needs to be changed or moved. So, I would move that we adopt the agenda as presented. Strader: Second. Simison: Have a motion and a second to adopt the agenda. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay? The ayes have it and the agenda is adopted. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item] 1. Final Plat for Brundage Estates Subdivision No. 1 (FP-2024-0024) by L.C. Development, generally located east of S. Linder Rd. midway between W. Victory Rd. and W. Amity Rd. Meridian City Council Work Session May 18,2025 Page 2 of 17 2. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law Revised For the District at Ten Mile (H-2023-0071), by Ball Ventures Ahlquist, generally located at the northwest corner of S. Ten Mile Rd. and 1-84 3. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Meridian Foodbank (H- 2024-0065) by Meridian Food Bank, located at 133 W. Broadway Ave. 4. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Newkirk East (H-2024-0043) by Laren Bailey, Conger Group, located in the SE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 10, Township 3N, Range 1W, parcel: S1210346850 5. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Soldier Place Subdivision (SHP-2024-0002) by Kent Brown Planning Services, located at 1323 2 1/2 St. 6. Agreement Between the Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District and the City of Meridian for Pedestrian Pathway Crossing of the Creason Lateral at Creason Creek Subdivision 7. License Agreement between the Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District and the City of Meridian for the Lakeview Golf Course Restroom Building Site 4 Utilities 8. Mini Heavy Equipment Rodeo Agreement with Western States Equipment Company for Public Works Week Expo 2025 Simison: First up is the Consent Agenda. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Move that we approve the Consent Agenda as presented. 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 nay? The ayes have it and the Consent Agenda is agreed to. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. ITEMS MOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item] Simison: There are no items moved from the Consent Agenda. Meridian City Council Work Session May 18,2025 Page 3 of 17 DEPARTMENT / COMMISSION REPORTS [Action Item] 9. Procurement Month Proclamation Simison: So, we will go into Department/Commission Reports. First item up is Item 9, Procurement Month proclamation, which tonight we will have Council President Cavener present. Cavener: Keith, do you want to join me up here? All right. We will turn this thing around. We will do it traditional style. So, I -- I always know when we get this proclamation on our agenda it's a good sign that the legislature is getting ready to wrap up and so I'm not going to lie, I -- I look forward to this proclamation every year. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for giving me the chance to read it on your behalf. So, I will -- I will read this proclamation. Keith, we will give you an opportunity to make some comments and, then, we will do a picture or something like that if that's what our staff would like. So, whereas public procurement is an essential function of the City of Meridian providing for the purchase of goods and services for the safe and effective operations of the city and whereas the City of Meridian is supported by highly qualified procurement professionals who demonstrate professionalism on all levels and whom dedicate themselves to providing the best value for every tax dollar and whereas the public procurement is a -- an essential function of government and the City of Meridian procurement division plays a significant role, which requires specific knowledge and skills to maintain fair and ethical practices and successful negotiations for the mutual benefit of the city and supplier. Procurement adds value to the city by performing such functions and cultivating working relationships in and out of our organization and whereas the procurement division and the City of Meridian recognize and support the -- the practices -- the five -- five public procurement values and guiding principles of accountability, ethics, impartiality, professionalism, service and transparency, established by the National Institute for Public Procurement. The NIPP has proclaimed the month of March as Procurement Month to further the expanded awareness of procurement professionals' roles, to government officials, the general public, business and corporate leaders. Therefore, I, Council President Luke Cavener, on behalf of Mayor Robert E. Simison, hereby proclaim March 2025 as Procurement Month in the City of Meridian and urge all of our residents of our community to recognize the role that procurement professionals within the business and industry and government, dated this 18th day of March 2025 signed by our Mayor. Keith, I notice there is a -- lot of -- lot of the word procurement used in this, but, you know, this is your -- your work is something that our public benefits from, but don't always recognize and appreciate the work and efforts that you and your team put in to protecting our community and really being mindful of the taxpayers. So, thank you for what you do. Thank your team for what you do. And, Keith, if you want to say anything I will turn the mic over to you. Watts: Oh, yeah. I just want to thank the Mayor and Council for support that you always provide us. I know sometimes we have changes yearly with the legislature and I think this year is going to be no different. We will probably be back up in a month or so Meridian City Council Work Session May 18,2025 Page 4 of 17 with some new changes, which will be beneficial for us, but I just want to say thanks again for all the support you guys have always given me. So, thank you. Cavener: Great. Thank you, Keith. Here is your proclamation. Handshake. 10. Resolution No. 25-2508: A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Meridian, Appointing Jessica Perreault to Seat 3 of the Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission; and Providing an Effective Date Simison: And thank you, Council President Cavener, for doing that and for the team for all the work they do and we will -- we will -- we will get to one of their biggest users of the system here in a few minutes. But with that we will move on to Item No. 10, which is Resolution No. 25-2508. So, Council, before you is a resolution appointing Jessica Perrault to the Planning and Zoning Commission. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure to work directly with Jessica, I think that you could turn to any of the people that have worked directly with her and seen her work, both the Planning and Zoning before and City Council, that she's got a true passion for land use. She asks the right questions and also understands that Planning and Zoning and Council do have different roles and functions in the Planning and Zoning world and we did talk about that, you know, taking a little step back in some regards of maybe don't have the same flexibility, but you have at the Council level and deciding applications but she -- she understands that and she is ready to get back engaged and get to work. So, it's my pleasure to bring this forward for your consideration. I will be happy to answer any questions. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: I don't have any questions, but I just have a comment just how thrilled I am to see Jessica join -- rejoin the Planning and Zoning Commission. I think she is going to be fantastic in that role and just really appreciate -- I know when we -- when we served on Council together one of the things I most appreciate about her is just her level of diligence and her level of care. She is the kind of person that's just very conscientious, who really cares about the city, so I think she will be great for this role. Cavener: Mr. Mayor, I'm certainly in support of this recommendation and, you know, when -- I was on the Council when Jessica joined and found her perspective being on the Planning and Zoning Commission that past history helped us -- provided some perspective of where maybe the Planning and Zoning Commission was thinking. Likewise, I think this will be an interesting shift where I think Jessica will be able to give the Planning and Zoning Commission some flavor about some of those decisions that the City Council weighs in. So, they are our partners, they are part of our team and think this is a good win for -- for both of us. So, I'm excited to vote in -- in approval of this resolution. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Meridian City Council Work Session May 18,2025 Page 5 of 17 Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: I'm happy to make a motion that we approve Resolution No. 25-2508, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Meridian appointing Jessica Perreault to Seat 3 of the Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission. Little Roberts: Second. Simison: Motion and second. Is there discussion on the resolution? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay? The ayes have it and the resolution is agreed to. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. Simison: And I know Jessica had a work commitment come up this evening so she couldn't be here, but I'm sure she will go back and watch it as she is very diligent in doing just those type of things. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: At that point I have no doubt that Jessica will watch tonight's hearing. She did send me some comments where she just wanted to express her thanks and appreciation to the Council for their support and encouragement and she really touched on a lot of what -- what Council Member Strader said. It's just that her desire and focus on land use planning and economic growth are -- are really really important to her and she just wants to continue to serve our community to keep it a great place to live, work and play. And so, again, I think she will do that exceptionally well in the Planning and Zoning Commission. So, thank you again, Mr. Mayor. 11. Comprehensive Financial Plan Updates Simison: Thank you for passing that along on our behalf. Okay. With that we will move on to Item 11, Comprehensive Financial Plan update for Public Works. Turn this over to Director McVey. McVey: All right. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Ten years of the Enterprise Fund. This is kind of a lot, but we will try to make it relatively painless. So, similar to other presentations that came forward. We have -- I kind of broke this down into the first five years and the second five years. You know, the first five years are definitely more clearly defined. We have more definitive needs. The second five years there are some placeholders and we will identify those. Most things in Public Works are driven by one of the three things and sometimes a combination of these, but it's usually growth. So, more flow or equipment or miles of pipe are added to the system. Regulations, we are really highly regulated on both the water side and the wastewater side and those regulations can change over time or the third thing is operational resiliency. So, we Meridian City Council Work Session May 18,2025 Page 6 of 17 operate critical infrastructure that cannot stop. It has to run 24/7, 365. So, some of the requests are related to improving the ability to do that or build on resiliency to recover from issues or emergencies. So, for each of the requests as we get into the water and wastewater sections I will kind of identify which of those items relate to those requests. So, this first section is related to our administrative functions. So, those are things that are split between water and wastewater. Most of these in this section are FTEs, because you will see the big capital projects are housed under water and wastewater. So, our first request in the administrative group is an FTE in 2027. This is a new position. Our -- so, as I mentioned our water and wastewater utilities are really highly regulated under multiple permits from the state and federal regulations and requirements. So, this position would help us track and monitor existing compliance, as well as staying ahead of future items. This position would ensure we maintain compliance and, then, would also participate in things like rulemaking and new regulations to ensure the city's interests are heard through those processes. Our next request on the admin side would be an FTE in 2028. This is for a Public Works inspector. This is an existing position. We currently have a team of six of these inspectors that look at all developer and capital projects across the city. We continue to see growth in this area and we need to make sure the -- the important thing that these guys do is they watch as developers put in water and sewer lines to make sure that we are getting the quality infrastructure that we are anticipating. This is our only non-FTE request in this section. So, this is for professional services that would complete an update to our cost of service study. So, it's recommended that you do this every five years and it looks specifically at the Enterprise Fund. We look at revenues, expenses, rates, fees. It evaluates our financial models and provides recommendations for rate and fee structures to ensure that we are collecting adequate revenue. So, this includes two updates, one in 2028 and one in 2033. The next request is for a Public Works GIS analyst in 2028. So, this position reports to IT, but it's funded from the Enterprise Fund. So, we currently have two people that are in this role. The workload has increased significantly. These staff help input and maintain all new infrastructure. So, pipes, new well projects, all of those assets getting put into the city's GIS system and we rely more and more on GIS to run our daily operations from our reader program, locates our collection system cleaning and maintenance. So, these positions are really important and is a function of growth in the system. And in 2029 we have a request for a SCADA system programmer. So, as we continue to add to our SCADA system with each new Public Works project. So, every single time we come up and ask for a well or a treatment site or a pump station we are adding SCADA to the system, so we can -- and we also continue to bring SCADA capabilities in house, which reduces the cost spent on outside consultants. So, again, SCADA helps us operate our plant and maintain permit compliance. So, this would be a second SCADA programmer to add to our team capability and also create important redundancy. In 2029 we have a second FTE request. This would be a new position. We use a data management system that's become critical for our operational and permit related data. It's called LIMS WIMS. It generates permit reports and also manages operational data from the system and it takes programming to make sure the multiple interfaces work correctly from SCADA to instruments to operator input to lab data. So, we currently rely on several Public Works staff members that just kind of happen to have some programming skills and if those Meridian City Council Work Session May 18,2025 Page 7 of 17 staff were to leave the city we would have to rely on outside consultants to do this. So, we feel like this would be an important skill to bring in house to the city as this continues to grow. So, the next set of FTEs are in years six through ten. Like I mentioned, they are less certain on the exact time frame, but wanted to keep these on our radar and most of these are bringing in an element of maybe a new level of service that we don't have today. So, the first request in FY-32 is for a workforce development manager. This would be a new position for us and our thought would be this would -- person would develop and implement department training programs. They would train and build the department's technical skills, supervisory and management skills. They could assist with onboarding training and SOP development, as well as succession planning. Just as a informational bit for the last several years we have hired between 17 and 27 FTEs in Public Works every single year. So, there is a significant need for new staff training and development. This request in FY-33 is for an additional administrative support role and, then, in FY-33 we also have a recruitment specialist placeholder. As mentioned we spend a considerable amount of time in Public Works on hiring new people. Our thought with this position is they would serve to standardize and expedite our hiring process and help remove some of our management and staff members from having to sit through multiple applications, interviews, onboarding, so that we could have those people spend time in their jobs, rather than on the hiring process. But I think on this one we would still need future workload analysis to make sure it makes sense to bring this on board. And, then, in FY-34 we have an additional staff two engineer. So, this would be an -- an additional engineer to our engineering team and, again, would be really dependent on future project loads when we get out to that 2034 time frame. So, those are administrative requests for the ten years. I don't know if there is any questions before we jump into the water side. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Maybe not a question, but just a comment and I know FY-33 is a bit out into the future, so -- but just generally I'm -- I'm just -- I'm noticing a lot of departments seem to have a desire to have a specialized recruitment person. I just kind of wanted to voice out loud. I'm not really sure how we should handle that; right? I mean I think there -- there is a lot of value to having the human resources department focus on recruitment and having that activity centralized, but at the same time it seems like you are looking for some specialized expertise. So, I just think it's a great dialogue for you to start having, you know, with the HR department and just -- because it's a ways out and maybe we can kind of plan around that and see how they could help support in the meantime. McVey: Okay. So, we will jump into water. So, again, broke this down into first five years, second five years. You guys kind of get the gist. On the water side projects are primarily either driven by growth, so adding capacity and flow to the system, or enhancing water quality, so putting in a treatment facility. On the water side regulations do occasionally change. They are not tied to a permit, but more so to federal Meridian City Council Work Session May 18,2025 Page 8 of 17 regulations. So, that could change the picture if some of those things come into play at some point in the future. So, our first -- as we get into these two -- especially the near term ones I will identify for you if the project is already underway and, then, also identify what the driver is for the project. So, this first one is FY-26. It is already ongoing. It is for treatment at Well 24. So, I know you guys all know what it is, but the treatment removes iron and manganese from our water. Those are naturally occurring elements in our aquifer and when you add chlorine to those it can cause brown water. So, these filters -- we have been working really -- really diligently installing them. We actually, just since the slide deck was made, the eighth one is online so -- and we eventually will have I believe 11 of these in place, but they have been very effective at reducing customer complaints related to brown water. In FY-26 -- so, this is an annual every year update request and this is for water main extensions and adjustments. So, these are the projects that we come before you every year in conjunction with ACHD and ITD. If they are already opening up the roadway to do work or move the road or create a new road, we take that time to extend and adjust our water and sewer mains. It saves us considerable cost in project sharing on that and also minimizes the amount of time roads have to be closed. So, see there is a little box, the number has changed. This shows you how much the CFB changes from when this was originally pulled to where we are at today and I'm sure we will change again. This one has -- we budget about 300,000 every year, but it really just changes depending on which projects ACHD generally brings forward. In FY-26 we do have a request for a water operator three. This is due to continued system growth, so every time we add pipes, valves, hydrants to the city with every new development we eventually need new staff to maintain that level of service. This position is specifically identified to be added to our meter section. So, this team installs all new meters that come in with development and they also replace our meters. So, meters have a 20 year Iifespan and so they have to replace a certain number of meters every year, so that we stay on schedule. Into FY-27 this is a planned upgrade to our existing booster station. So, what this does is it will add a larger pump in an existing facility. The great news about this is it was already planned when they originally built the facility. So, it makes it relatively easy to accommodate this expansion and by putting in the larger pump it allows us to get more flow out of that well. In 2027 we have the addition of SCADA to our last PRV. So, what a PRV is is it allows flow to move between pressure zones and it's important for us to add SCADA to that, so we operationally can tell what flow is moving where in the system and better forecast demands. In FY-27 we have a cross-connection control inspector. So, these are the team that we currently have two staff that manage over 12,000 back flows in the city. These are critical pieces of infrastructure that protect the city's water system. They protect from having water flow backwards into the -- the city's water system. Most new subdivisions that go in don't necessarily -- or residences don't necessarily have backflows. Some of Old Town still has backflows, but where we see the growth is every new sort of industrial commercial business has one. So, we put them in restaurants, we put them on things like soda machines, salons, things that have the potential to backflow contaminated water. So, we do see continued growth in the number of assemblies that we have to manage and maintain. All right. FY-28. This is another pump upgrade in an existing well, again, to increase capacity and just like the other one great news it was planned with the original design, so it's relatively easy to retrofit and Meridian City Council Work Session May 18,2025 Page 9 of 17 out in 2029 we have the final existing well that will have treatment added to it. So, going forward with all new wells what we are doing is we are determining if they need treatment when they drill the test well in year one of that first -- that first year and we have a new well that will come into the system in 2029. This is Well 33 and it will be built to accommodate system growth and water demands in Zone Two and in 2029 we will start the process to evaluate our new water administration and operations building. So, if you are familiar we have a site at the 8th Street Park. So, what we will do is we will start this process with a space planning evaluation followed by design and, then, construction and we are looking at potentially co-locating this facility out of the wastewater plant. There is still a lot of variables and timing on this request, but the facility is on our radar and, then, one kind of ancillary benefit is if we do move this facility over to the wastewater plant it does open up this facility for potential other city uses that could occur. Okay. So, jumping out to year six through ten on the water side. You guys are doing good. So, again, these requests -- our timing is maybe a little more flexible on these. So, what we do on the water side is we model where we think growth is going to happen, but, then, we have to actually see where it develops and, then adjust our requests based on that. So, 2030 we have a request for another FTE. This one, again, is -- would be based on system growth and workload needs and 2030 we have a pressure zone development. So, as the city grows we have to periodically make adjustments to our pressure zones to maintain pressure in different areas of town. This one specifically is going to help improve pressures in downtown, which will help with future development needs. And, then, in FY-31 we have a new booster pump station. So, this would deliver water to a new zone. So, Zone 6. This would be a new pressure zone to the city that's on the far southeast side of town and would allow us to deliver water into another zone ahead of adding additional wells, which will come with growth. And, then, we have another operator FTE in FY-31. Again, this is based on growth of the system and just maintaining a level of service and out in FY-32 we have a project to rebuild the Ustick booster station. So, this project would add pumping capacity from the site and it also gives us some great flexibility. Currently we can only pump into Zone 2 and this one would allow us to pump into Zone 2 or 3 and it also allows us to blend water sources within the reservoir, which could help us improve water quality and out in FY-33 we have a water quality specialist. So, this is a little bit different position than our general operator position. This one deals specifically with treatment sites and well sites and sampling and so it would be related to system growth, treatment site growth and, then, potentially new regulations that could add additional sampling requirements and, then, out in FY-33 we have another new well. This one's called the Grand Lake Well and this is related to growth and would provide additional capacity in Zone 1 in northwest Meridian. Okay. So, that's the water section. Any questions before we go to wastewater? Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: I do have just -- just generally give me a road map on when we are looking at regulatory changes or even if they are not regulatory yet, but they are just like an Meridian City Council Work Session May 18,2025 Page 10 of 17 emerging issue. Do we start to road map that in the CFP? And I'm thinking more of like, you know, I think there is a lot of focus now. Of course I have talked about uranium in the water for a long time. So, I'm curious about how we are looking at that and how that -- how we are road mapping that. It feels like we can manage that a lot better through just selecting what wells we pull from, but if you could talk about that, but also could you just touch on, you know, people are hearing a lot about forever chemicals, PFAS, all that stuff. How does that fit into your planning so far, just from a high level? McVey: Yeah. Great question. So, the first thing that we do is monitoring. So, you don't know what you don't have until you start monitoring for it. So, we do monitoring regularly at all of our well sites, both regulatory required and additional monitoring, and so we are tracking all of that. We are tracking data to see if these sites are having detections, maintaining certain levels. We have different ways that we can deal with different contaminants, so we look at those and do evaluations on, you know, what's the best way to treat for these things. Is it putting in a treatment facility? Is it blending? Do we have an issue? So, we are regularly looking at those. Currently we have started monitoring for PFAS. We have been monitoring for that for the last about ten years, but the regulations have changed to require more frequent monitoring and we are not seeing any issues of concern with that at this time, but it's something that is definitely monitored and we have done evaluations in our water master plan that tell us if we were to have issues with any of these in the future here is options that you could consider that also outlines, you know, potential cost, potential FTE requirements, potential ongoing chemical use, those kind of things and kind of evaluates here is what the top recommendation would be if you were to have a detection of concern. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Just a quick follow up just for all the crunchy moms out there, which I am probably one. Are we still producing the water quality report and where can they find that if they have concerns? McVey: Yeah. Great question. So, we do produce an annual water quality report and it is on our website under the water -- water section and it has the annual report, plus all of the historic reports as well. Strader: Thank you so much. Simison: And in this next month's utility billing news my newsletter topic focuses on water issues and has direct information on go here to get it, so -- McVey: All right. So, on the wastewater side I actually broke it down into items that are going to happen at the wastewater plant and, then, a separate section to talk about items that are going to happen in the collection system. So, first we will go through the wastewater plant, similar to the other ones on the drivers, either growth and flow, permit Meridian City Council Work Session May 18,2025 Page 11 of 17 compliance or operational resiliency are our drivers. So, our first and similar to the wastewater site -- or the water side, too, I will let you know if the project is already underway and kind of the reason we are doing it. So, the first one is in 2026 is to underground the power lines at the plant. This project is already underway and we have been working on it for several years to put all of our overhead lines underground to improve resiliency. Uninterrupted power is really really critical for us to maintain permit compliance and treat incoming flow and we have about 30 minutes if we were having a complete power outage before we would have raw sewer flowing into the streets. So, really important to do things that we can to help make our power system more resilient. This is another ongoing project. One of our pretty large projects is to remodel the old aeration basins at the plant and add two new aeration basins. This project is actually required to be completed by our permit by 2027. It will add additional volume and treatment capability to our plant. This is our other large project that we are currently working on at the plant. Again this one is also required by our 2027 permit. One thing to note is you will see some of this project won't take us until 2034 to complete, but we have additional funding in 2029 and 2034, which will allow us to add additional membrane skids to the building to accommodate additional growth. So, you will see kind of each one of those banks of membranes. We have designed the building so that those can be added when we meet flow triggers in the future. All right. Our next request in 2026 is for a third boiler at the plant. So, what the boilers do is they take our naturally produced digester gas and it converts that gas into hot water and that hot water is used to heat the digesters and our bio solids dryer. So, we will need a third one due to additional demand from our digesters. So, this request is in 2026, but it's kind of a placeholder. We might have potential to purchase additional ground around the plant. If we are able to do that it's really important investment that helps us maintain a strategic buffer and also allows for future facility expansion. In 2026 we also have a request for another wastewater plant operator. So, that last few slides you have seen a significant amount of new equipment that will be coming online in our plant and also 084 2027 permit will become effective. This will help us work towards having two people on staff at all times, which helps us cover vacancies and also improve safety at the facility. Currently we only have 13 operators that are spread out to cover 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This request is also in 2026 for an additional mechanic, similar to the reasons an operator to operate the new facility, we also need mechanics that are able to maintain and repair all of that new equipment. So, we currently have a team of eight mechanics that provide seven day a week coverage and this request is for additional expansion of the parking at the wastewater plant. So, we have outgrown our parking lots at the facility. We currently have 61 spaces and 56 employees. So, on days where we have everybody there, if there is vendors, contractors or trainings we run into parking issues. This photo is just from a couple weeks ago where we -- all the staff had to park up and down the drive aisles. So, this request would convert one of the grass areas that are out front of the plant into additional parking spaces to gain us another 39 spaces, which should serve our need for quite a while. Okay. We finally made it to 2027. This request will add our next phase of odor control upgrades at the plant. So, this specifically would cover the launderers. Those are the areas on the edge of the clarifier where the flow goes over the edge and it creates odor. We did an odor study several years ago and covering all four clarifiers would help reduce the occasional Meridian City Council Work Session May 18,2025 Page 12 of 17 odors that do come from the plant. Our next request is for an upgrade to our fermentation system. So, this system breaks down sludge and produces volatile fatty acids, which can be used to offset some of the chemicals that are needed to meet final limits. The timing on this is based off of a couple of things that we look at. The cost of outside chemicals and we have to kind of balance that against the operational costs and capital costs of doing this project. But there is significant reason for us to continue to look at this and evaluate it as our chemical expense at the plant is expected to be over 1.2 million dollars annually to meet the final limits in 2027. So, our next request is for -- sorry. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Would you mind going back one slide and just could you explain quickly, you know, hopefully easy way to understand -- how this offsets chemical usage? I wasn't following. McVey: Yeah. So, we -- for -- for one of the processes at the plant you need an additional carbon source. So, you can either purchase methanol or acetic acid, which can be that chemical -- or that carbon source or you can take the sludge at the plant and basically heat it up and it will break down and release volatile fatty acids, which are similar to the -- the acetic acid and the methanol. So, it just sort of creates a natural version of those chemicals. But it does take pretty significant equipment and staff time to do that. So, it's kind of a balance between what outside chemicals cost. Strader: Mr. Mayor, quick follow up. Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: And so do we do kind of an evaluation where we compare -- because it's going to take a lot of energy, right, to create the same effect. So, do we do like a cost comparison? Is that how you all approach that? McVey: We do. Yeah. So, we have a pretty extensive analysis that looks at energy, at staff time, additional capital equipment. We look at historically what we have been able to produce when we did have part of the system running. This would actually add upgrades to allow us to heat it further and break it down further to get better yields. So, all of that goes into the analysis to compare. Strader: Thank you. I would love to see it if that's possible at some point. Just more for my own curiosity. It's not necessarily relevant for your CFP discussion today, but thank you. McVey: All right. Our next request -- so, we are still in 2027. So, this is for one defined project and one future placeholder. So, we know we are going to need additional Meridian City Council Work Session May 18,2025 Page 13 of 17 aeration basins to treat a flow of 10.2 MGD at our final permit limits. So, the majority of this request is for additional aeration basins in 2027 and 2029. There is some funding out in FY-34 and '35 that's a placeholder, so we anticipate that we are going to get another permit at some point, maybe around 2027, that could have new limits and so we are operating under the philosophy of saving before we spend and so we know that these projects can be really expensive, so this is us starting to build some savings. However, we also try to balance that with not having specific definitive needs out there with not over collecting. So, we have the placeholder for the funding out there is relatively small. In 2028 we have money for permit compliance plan renewal. So, just like I spoke about, we know we will get a new permit at some point. Permits are typically reissued on an every five year cycle. Ours is currently administratively extended. It expired in 2022, but what that means is you just keep operating under your current requirements until you get a new one. So, this is a request for consulting dollars to help us when we get a new permit apply for it and also negotiate and -- with DEQ and do any required studies that would help us get a better permit outcome. So, there is two permit renewals in that request. We do have a request in 2028 for a laboratory retrofit. So, this would be -- this would remodel our existing wastewater lab. It would allow us to bring potentially new tests that we are required under a new permit in house. This one, again, would be one that we would wait to see what that new permit looked like and if it made sense to bring those lab tests in house and if it made sense spend the money on the retrofit versus continuing to contract out those tests. So, out to 2029. This is a request that would build operational resiliency. So, this would install wiring that would allow us to hook a portable generator to the east mechanical building. This building operates significant infrastructure in the east plant, which would allow us to maintain minimal function, like keeping the flow moving through the plant in the event of a prolonged power outage if our main backup generators were also not running. This is a request to purchase spare head works grinders. So, there is 42,000 dollars in three separate funding years. This equipment is critical and receives high wear, as it has to grind through all of the things that come through our head works. This item is used periodically to add critical spare equipment when we identify the need for it. Historically we have used this to buy pumps, motors, VFDS for key processes at the plant and, then, this in 2029 is a placeholder for an additional laboratory analyst. Again, this would be pending the new permit and the new lab remodel if those things occur. And, then, out in 2030 we have a request for a third DAFT. So, a DAFT is a dissolved air flotation thickener and what DAFTs do is they thicken the sludge when it's removed from the aeration basins before it goes into a digester. The important thing is that helps with digester operation and gains you additional capacity. So, this is solely needed due to additional flow and growth projected at that time. All right. We made it through the first five years of wastewater. Second five years. So, 2031 is an upgrade to our older UV system. So, this technology is aging and we have been at the manufacturers has identified that eventually it will no longer be serviceable and they won't have parts for it. The other -- other benefit is it will be upgraded technology that will also gain us some system capacity. We will also eventually need another digester based on additional flow coming to the plant and, then, I have another placeholder for additional capacity projects out in 2031. Again, we don't necessarily have specific projects identified at this point, but we know that we are going to need more clarifiers and aeration basins as the Meridian City Council Work Session May 18,2025 Page 14 of 17 city continues to grow. These are really expensive items and require some time to save before you spend. So, every five years we complete a facility master plan at the wastewater plant that evaluates capacity and identifies specific projects that will be needed and when they will be needed and we are currently completing an update of the facility master plan that will be done in 2026. So, it will give us a good picture of kind of the next upcoming five years. Out in 2031 we eventually will need another centrifuge at some point to treat the additional flow and we have another mechanic placeholder out in 2031. Again as this gets closer we would evaluate what equipment has come online and evaluate workload needs and, then, out in 2032 we have another plant utility technician. Currently we only have two of these employees and they are responsible for maintaining all of the plant grounds and the buildings around the facility. So, currently we have a 40 acre site that two of those guys are maintaining. So, eventually as we add more things we will probably need another person in this area and we have a request for repairs -- a junction box repair. So, this is a concrete structure that receives about two-thirds of all of the flow coming into the treatment plant every day runs through this box. So, we are actually recoating it this year to help extend the lifespan, but eventually we will need to replace the concrete and build in some sort of bypassing redundancy as it's a critical point of failure for us and, then, out in 2033 we have a biosolids dryer expansion. So, we are currently working on the project that will install our biosolids dryer using our ARPA funds. Eventually we will need to add additional heat to dry the solids as we get more and more solids and the way -- one of the ways to do that is installing solar heat collectors to that system. So, this is a request that's kind of out there as a placeholder that would definitely be evaluated once we have operational experience and data with the system. And, then, out in 2034 we have money to begin the design on a harvester for our struvite project. So, this project would allow us to separate out the struvite product from the biosolids and potentially do something with that project, like use it as a fertilizer enhancement. So, we are currently this year working on a analysis to determine what the phosphorus pricing commodity would need to be to make this addition of the harvester a viable project -- project and that would help us know which year to -- or at least looking at that commodity trend to know when to either pull this forward or push it out depending on what the markets were doing. And out in 2035 we will eventually need to install a second pressure main that takes flow from our influent pump station to our head works building. So, this will just be based on growth and flow coming into the plant and if we move to the sewer collection system -- so, similar drivers to the other section. So, we are back to 2026. So, this is the annual funding similar to the one we talked about on the water side. When ACHD or ITD open up roadways it gives us the opportunity to go in and upsize, adjust, change water and sewer lines. We budget about 430,000 dollars annually to do this and, then, starting in 2027 we start a pretty significant project on the McDermott trunk and what this will do is it will add sewer main line down McDermott Road almost to Overland and will allow strategic growth and development in the sewer shed. So, the reason we are putting this one in is that it's a really deep large trunk line, which makes it infeasible for a single property development to move it forward. So, we -- it's a phased project where we design a mile and construct a mile every other year and so that will be a pretty significant project for us. Meridian City Council Work Session May 18,2025 Page 15 of 17 Taylor: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Taylor. Taylor: Question on the trunk line, Laurelei. The 22, 23 million, is that per mile or is that -- or is that capturing that multiple mile stretch? McVey: Good question. That 22 is the total cost. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Would we expect to get reimbursement from developers as they connect to the trunk. Is it -- normally they would be helping extend the trunk. So, how do we -- how do we kind of approach that? McVey: Good question. We don't on this. This asset would get put into our -- our assessment fees, though, and so we would collect it in that manner, but it wouldn't be a -- a reimbursement for this direct asset, simply because the -- the tracking of that would be probably way too significant for our -- our teams, just because it would have -- you would have to track every single project in that entire yellow area. Strader: Mayor, a couple of follow-ups on that. Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Is that consistent with how we have extended the other trunk lines? Did we use that same approach would be my first question. McVey: So, it is -- we are currently doing the Can-Ada extension and that also is going to be city funded and, then, that asset would come into our assessment fees. Strader: So, I think the -- the -- the piece of this that I would want to see -- and 2027 is a couple of years out. There is time. But I think like a concern I have or just something I want to see is that -- I just want to ensure that this piece of infrastructure is not on -- on a -- like I don't know what -- if it's a per capita basis or how we want to look at it, but just want to make sure that this piece of infrastructure is not so onerously expensive that it punishes all of the ratepayers, because the geographic constraints are so severe that we are incurring a significant project that specifically benefits this one area and that it's not out of step with what we have done citywide. So, I think there are a number of ways you could tackle that analysis, but that would be my concern that I would be thinking about with this project specifically. McVey: Okay. So, this one is in 2029 and this is a upgrade to The Oaks lift station. So, this lift station would take flow from both the Can-Ada service area and, then, also the Meridian City Council Work Session May 18,2025 Page 16 of 17 McDermott service area and, then, the master plan identifies that this eventually would become a large regional lift station and, then, out in 2030 we have another lift station that is out on the South McDermott trunk shed and then -- and what this lift station would allow us to open up the South McDermott trunk shed, which is the bottom portion of that map and, then, development would extend at least a portion of those lines and, then, out in your six through ten we just have two FTE -- or, sorry, three FTE requests. They are all for collection system technicians. So, we have talked about the major expansions that are going to occur with the collection system over this time frame and we need to maintain staff and vehicles to clean and CCT -- the CCTV the sewer lines to ensure proper operation and maintenance. We currently have ten FTEs to perform this, but by 2031 we anticipate that we will have added over additional -- a hundred additional miles of pipe to our system to maintain. So, we have one FTE in 2031 and we have two FTEs in 2033. So, by 2033 we hope to have four hydro cleaners and four CCTV vans in operation to maintain over 700 miles of pipe in the system by that time. frame. And with that you made it. Simison: Thank you, Laurelei. Council, any questions? Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Sorry. I -- just one more thing. I really appreciate you not losing sight of the struvite project, because I really just -- I love the philosophy of turning our trash into treasure and to the extent that -- again, if it's supported by the right commodity price environment I just feel like that is a phenomenal idea. I know scientifically there -- there is some ground to -- to cover, but I appreciate you not losing sight of that, because it just feels like if there is a great way to reuse our phosphorus that -- that's fantastic. So, thank you. Simison: All right. Thank you very much. Kyle, great job on backup. Appreciate it. With that -- EXECUTIVE SESSION [Action Item] per Idaho Code 74-206(1)(f): To communicate with legal counsel for the public agency to discuss the legal ramifications of and legal options for pending litigation, or controversies not yet being litigated but imminently likely to be litigated. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Real quick before a motion. I think that's -- number 11 concluded our CFP updates that we have been working on over the past few weeks. So, I just want to thank our Finance Department for their great work and so I just want to take a moment to commend Council Member Little Roberts, Council Vice-President Strader, who did a Meridian City Council Work Session May 18,2025 Page 17 of 17 lot of heavy lifting and a lot of homework to get everybody ready for this process and I appreciate your efforts and your work to get us -- will be using the term leveling up, leveling up as we get ready to go into this year's budget. So, I just want to thank you both for your great work and working with great collaboration with our staff. So, with that, Mr. Mayor, I move that we go into Executive Session pursuant to Idaho State Code 74-206(1)(f). Strader: Second. Simison: Have a motion and a second to go into Executive Session. Is there any discussion? If not, clerk will call the roll. Roll Call: Cavener, yea; Strader, yea; Overton, yea; Little Roberts, yea; Taylor, yea; Whitlock, yea. Simison: All ayes. Motion carries and we will go into Executive Session. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. EXECUTIVE SESSION: (4:39 p.m. to 6:05 p.m.) (Motion - Cavener - Strader) (Motion to adjourn - Cavener - Strader) MEETING ADJOURNED AT 6:05 P.M. (AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS) MAYOR ROBERT SIMISON DATE APPROVED ATTEST: CHRIS JOHNSON - CITY CLERK