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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-03-25 Regular Meridian City Council March 25, 2025. A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 6:01 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, 2025, by Mayor Robert Simison. Members Present: Robert Simison, Luke Cavener, John Overton, Doug Taylor, Anne Little Roberts and Brian Whitlock. Members Absent: Liz Strader. Other Present: Chris Johnson, Bill Nary, Sonya Allen, Nick Napoli, Crystal Campbell, Garrett White, Jamie Leslie, Steven Taulbee and Dean Willis. ROLL-CALL ATTENDANCE Liz Strader X Brian Whitlock Anne Little Roberts X John Overton _X_ Doug Taylor _X_Luke Cavener X Mayor Robert E. Simison Simison: Council, we will call this meeting to order. For the record it is March 25th, Tuesday, at 6:01 p.m. We will begin tonight's regular Council City Council meeting with roll call attendance. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Simison: Next item is the Pledge of Allegiance. If you would all, please, rise and join us in the pledge. (Pledge of Allegiance recited.) COMMUNITY INVOCATION Simison: Nick, are you here for the community invocation? All right. Next up is community invocation, which will be delivered by Nick Armstrong, if you would all, please, join us in the community invocation or take this as a moment of silent and reflection. Armstrong: Father, you are mighty, creator the universe and you are in our midst and thank you for that. I thank you for the prosperity and the well-being of this community that you have given us and as you provide protection, at your voice the mountains quake and the seas calm and you -- you are among us and I thank you for that. Again as the City Council considers a variety of matters I pray for their wisdom. Pray for our departments who continue to provide good service to our community. Father, just that we would find in you life and peace and that's -- that's what I find in this community and I thank you for it, in Jesus' name, amen. Meridian City Council March 25,2025 Page 2 of 13 ADOPTION OF AGENDA Simison: Thank you, Nick. Appreciate you. With that we will move on to adoption of the agenda. Cavener: Sorry, Mr. Mayor. I'm struggling. Mr. Mayor, I move that we adopt the agenda as presented. Little Roberts: 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 agreed to. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. PROCLAMATIONS [Action Item] 1. Owyhee High School Boys Basketball State Champions Day Simison: First item up is a proclamation for Owyhee High School Boys Basketball State Championship Day. I will go ahead and go down. If the team would like to join me at the podium and, Dr. Bub, if you would like to join as well. Well, this never gets old for us here at the city to congratulate our high school athletic accomplishments here in the City of Meridian. But I think I have said it before and I will say it again, that you also make me feel really small in that context. But we will go ahead and do a proclamation and, then, I would love to invite the coach up to say a few words, followed by the players. We will do what we have done in the past, but we will add one change in this year. I would like for them to say how many years they have been on the state championship team, how many state championships do they have in that context. But with that whereas being an Owyhee High School boys basketball player is more than scoring points, making assists, grabbing rebounds, stealing the ball and achieving state titles. It is training to build leadership, character, confidence, teamwork and resilience, all traits needed to succeed on the court, in the classroom and in the real world and whereas Owyhee High School has captured the 6A boys basketball team championship and brought home the third state title in four years and whereas Owyhee finished the year 23 and four and The Storm is 79 and four versus Idaho teams since opening their doors four years ago and whereas the Owyhee High Storm took the title with a 31 point win that was the biggest blowout in this championship game of Idaho's largest classification since 1919 and whereas the leadership, training and discipline of their coaches helped all team members to focus their talents, passion and determination to become a winning team, with each player making a valuable contributions to their victory. Therefore, Mayor Robert E. Simison hereby proclaim March 25th, 2025, as Owyhee High School Boys Basketball State Champions Day in the City of Meridian and call upon the community join me in congratulating the Owyhee High Storm on their remarkable athletic achievement and for representing Meridian so proudly in the state tournament, Meridian City Council March 25,2025 Page 3 of 13 dated this 25th day of March 2025. So, on behalf of the City of Meridian, where the city school is located, even though I know you have all come from all over, including a good representation of Star and the good mayor always is there to do that, we say congratulations and thank you for all you do and I will turn this over to the coach. Harrington: I just want to say thank you to the City of Meridian, West Ada, Dr. Bub, Owyhee High School, our administration, our teachers. Rachel Edwards. Dane Roy, our athletic director, thank you to all of them for all the support that they have had for us for the last four years. Here at Owyhee it truly is a special place and we -- we do feel the support, especially from the City of Meridian, the city of Star, West Ada and the people that are in the -- in the school every day. I just want to give a special -- special shout out to our players. The wins are great, but these guys are phenomenal kids off the court. They -- just under a 3.5 team GPA this year. Have been donating a fair -- not -- not a million hours, but we have been, you know, working with the Meridian Food Bank and it's something we want to continue to do in our time here at Owyhee and these guys are just great characters of -- within our community. So, I want to say thank you to our players, too. They -- you know, they are the ones that make this go, so thank you again, Mayor. Simison: Okay. So, if you all wouldn't mind just coming through, state your name, year, position and how many state champion teams you been on. Knowles: Gavin Knowles. Forward. 2026. And I have been on two state championship teams. Allen: Jordan Allen. Class of 2026. Guard. I have been on two state championship teams. Smith: Ryder Smith. 2025. And one. Allen- Jayce Allen. 2025. Guard. I have been on two. Rogers: Kaden Rogers. Guard. 2027. And two years. Brown: Owen Brown. 2028. Guard. One. Vinberg: Donovan Vinberg. Guard. 2028. And I have won one. Greenwald: Brady Greenwald. Team Manager. 2025. 1 have won one. Downie: Cameron Downie. 2025. Guard. Three. Rogers: Jackson Rogers. 2025. Center. Three state championships Howell: Bodie Howell, I'm a senior and I have won two. Meridian City Council March 25,2025 Page 4 of 13 Haustveit: Logan Haustveit. I'm a guard. 2026. And I have won two. Harrington: Coach Andy Harrington. This is my third championship. Really quickly the guys that aren't here. Heath Sasser-Gunson. He is a senior. He has been on two state championship teams. Bryce Best. Senior. He has been on one state championship team. Jaxon Jamerson. Junior. One state -- two state championship teams. And -- oh, Parker Leaf. Sorry. Junior. Two state championship teams. Those guys couldn't make it here tonight. PUBLIC FORUM — Future Meeting Topics Simison: All right. Do we have anyone set up under Future Meeting Topics? Johnson: Mr. Mayor, we did not. ACTION ITEMS 2. Public Hearing for Community Input on Meridian's Community Development Block Grant Program Action Plan Simison: Okay. Then with that we will move on to our Action Items. First item up this evening is a public hearing for the community input on the Meridian Community Development Block Grant Program Action Plan and we will open this public hearing with staff comments from Crystal. Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council. As you said, I'm here for the action plan for the CDBG program. It's that time of year where we are going to get started with our planning process and I wanted to reach out to everyone tonight with this public hearing to make sure that we involve people early in the planning process, so that we can get as much feedback as possible. So, this is a HUD program. So, everything leads back to housing stability. Even our public services come back to how we can provide housing stability for our residents to be eligible projects. Then in addition to being part of the housing stability process, then, people need to be serving low income participants and they have to be Meridian residents that they are serving with these funds. So, as far as the low in -- low to moderate income, they have to be at or below 80 percent of the area median income. Here is a small part of the chart with this. So, a four person household could make up to 78,400 dollars and qualify for these programs. It is based on the sub recipients, the people that we work with, what their priorities are and how they define it. But for our programs they can make up to those amounts. We do have three different guiding documents. The first one is our five year consolidated plan and this is where we make a really targeted effort to go out into the community and try to identify what the needs are and this sets up our goals for the five years and, then, each year we have our action plan, which is what we are doing now and it defines the projects and says what we are going to do to try to meet those goals throughout the next year. And, then, we have our caper, which is the end of year report. Here is an overview of the most recently completed program year, which ended in Meridian City Council March 25,2025 Page 5 of 13 September 2024. We do have four different goals that we have. The first one is administering the program and with that -- you can't see the numbers here, it didn't translate over very well, but under admin we spent 21 ,198 dollars and I'm actually going to be back in about a month to talk more in detail about the projects that we did -- that we did fund last year. So, I will give you exact numbers on those, but under our public services we funded two projects. The first one was Jesse Tree's emergency rental assistance program and that was 32,354 dollars and we also funded the Boys and Girls Club youth scholarship program, which was 20,000 dollars and, then, under housing we worked with Neighbor Works Boise on both of these projects. The Home Buyer Assistance Program was 41,000 dollars and the homeowner repair was about 179 -- 179,000 dollars and, then, under our infrastructure projects we had streetlights for 215,000 dollars and we started on our first couple of walkability projects and we only got through design and a little bit of the construction. So, there was only 51 ,000 dollars spent on that one. But, again, I will -- I will give you more details, all the exciting stuff in another month or so. So, we are looking for potential projects for our upcoming action plan and we have two different ways that we are doing that. The first piece is our competitive applications. That application is going to be open to nonprofits the month of April. The first one is public services and we don't have the exact dollar amounts that we will be receiving, so this is estimates based on what we received this year. The public services are capped at 15 percent of the grant, so that would be right around 80,000 dollars and currently we are funding the Jessie Tree emergency rental assistance program and the Boys and Girls Club scholarships program and for housing we are guessing that there is going to be roughly 200,000 available for that and this year the only program that we are funding is homeowner repair. As far as internal projects, it's going to be roughly another 200,000 dollars and that will just be going down the list of the projects identified in our walkability study a couple years ago. So, the public hearing that we are having here tonight is just to provide a space for the public and for Council to give us feedback and make sure that we are on the right track. We want to make sure that the consolidated plan stays relevant and that we are meeting the needs of the community. We are also wanting to make sure that we are working with the right providers and that we are taking a targeted approach to see if there is any services that are needed, that are not provided and they meet the terms of the grant, that we are reaching out to those providers. It is a competitive application though. So, even if I reach out to a provider it doesn't mean that they are going to be receiving the funding. It's up to the scoring committee. So, this is a tentative action plan timeline. Our application is open the month of April. In May the scoring committee will recommend projects. The end of May I am planning to have the action plan available for public comment and, then, I will be back before you guys June 3rd for the first public hearing and, then, during the month of June I will be doing community outreach trying to make sure everybody has an opportunity to provide feedback and the final public hearing and closing the public comment will be on July 8th. So, even though this isn't a formal public comment period or anything, I'm always available to take comments and receive feedback, so that I can incorporate that throughout the year. This is my contact information. My name is Crystal Campbell and we also have our website listed. And with that I will stand for questions. Meridian City Council March 25,2025 Page 6 of 13 Simison: Thank you, Crystal. Council, any questions for staff? Taylor: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Taylor. Taylor: Crystal, thank you for the presentation. Quick question on the money we provided to Jessie Tree and the other one -- Boys and Girls Club. Did you say there is limitations in the amount that can be awarded to those compared to some of the other pots of money? Could you -- could you just give me 30 more seconds information on that? Campbell: No problem. So, we have two different caps. The first one is administrative, but we don't actually use all of our funds for administrative. That cap is 20 percent of the overall grant and, then, the other one is for public services and we can only provide up to 15 percent of the overall grant and, sorry, you were going to say something? Okay. Yeah. So, any -- anybody who is providing those type of services that's not specifically a housing service and emergency rental assistance, even though they are helping with housing, it's a little bit different and not actually considered a housing activity. So, it is limited on that one. Taylor: Mr. Mayor, if I -- follow up? Simison: Councilman Taylor. Taylor: So, what does Jesse Tree then -- if it's not quite administrative, what -- what would you -- what do we consider it in respect to this block grant? Campbell: It falls under public services, because they can only provide up to three months' worth of funding for the housing. We can't provide ongoing rental assistance. It has to be an emergency and very limited. Whitlock: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Whitlock. Whitlock: Crystal, thanks and appreciate that and I'm fairly new still, I can play that card, but the federal funds or the CDBG funds will come October 1 and be available concurrent with our fiscal year as well. So, your plan here lines up nicely with our budgeting process and, then, I'm assuming, again, you will start with October 1 funding; is that correct? Campbell: Yes. Whitlock: Any insights on what the federal government might do in terms of funding levels moving forward? Meridian City Council March 25,2025 Page 7 of 13 Campbell: I have been told that for this grant that the continuing resolution that was passed, it was passed at level funding, so there could be some changes in the -- the -- the way that they allocate it, but it's supposed to -- I'm guessing it's going to be right around the same, but they haven't told us yet how much it's going to be. So, unfortunately, I have no insight. Simison: Counsel, any additional questions? Thank you very much. Mr. Clerk, do we have anybody signed up to testify on this item? Johnson: Mr. Mayor, we did not. Simison: Okay. Is there anybody present or online who would like to provide testimony? If you are online you can use the raise your hand feature or if you are present you can come forward at this time. Seeing -- seeing no one raising their hands or coming forward, Crystal, what's the desire? Campbell: Just to close the public comment period -- or sorry. The public hearing tonight and, then, I will just continue moving forward with the planning. Simison: Okay. Whitlock: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Whitlock. Whitlock: I move that we close the public hearing on agenda Item No. 2. Overton: Second. Simison: Have a motion and a second to close the public hearing. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay? The ayes have it and the public hearing is closed. Thank you, Crystal. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. 3. Public Hearing for Proposed Summer 2025 Fee Schedule of the Meridian Parks and Recreation Department Simison: Okay. Next item up is Item 3, public hearing for proposed Summer 2025 Fee Schedule, the Meridian Parks and Recreation Department. We will open this public hearing with staff comments from someone who is definitely not Jenna. White: Mr. Mayor, Members of Council, thanks for having me tonight. In front of you are the fees for the next activity guide and our summer fees. In those fees also include the pool fees that we discussed about two weeks ago when I was here discussing that with you as well. You will see that there is some increases and decreases to the Meridian City Council March 25,2025 Page 8 of 13 classes and the programs that we are offering. Again, like every -- just every time I'm up here it's really based on number of classes that are offering that -- during that session, whether it be more or less, those sort of things, some small increases here and there just with just product and things that they are using, but, otherwise, they are about the same or up a little bit. But with that I will stand for questions if there is any and go from there. Simison: Thank you, Garrett. Council, any questions for staff? Okay. Thanks very much. Is there anybody present who would like to provide public testimony on this item or either in the room or online? Seeing no one, do I have a motion to close the public hearing? Whitlock: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Whitlock. Whitlock: I move that we close the public hearing on the proposed Summer 2025 Fee Schedule for Parks and Rec. Overton: Second. Simison: Have a motion and second to close the public hearing. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay? The ayes have it and the public hearing is closed. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. 4. Resolution No. 25-2507: A Resolution Adopting the Summer 2025 Fee Schedule of the Meridian Parks and Recreation Department; Authorizing the Meridian Parks and Recreation Department to Collect Such Fees; and Providing an Effective Date Simison: Next item up is Item 4, which is Resolution No. 25-2507 adopting the Summer 2025 Fee Schedule of the Meridian Parks and Recreation Department, authorizing the Meridian Parks and Recreation Department to collect such fees and providing an effective date. Whitlock: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Whitlock. Whitlock: I would move that we approve Resolution -- Resolution No. 25-2507, adopting the Summer 2025 Fee Schedule for Meridian Parks and Recreation. Overton: Second. Meridian City Council March 25,2025 Page 9 of 13 Simison: Have a motion and a second to approve Resolution No. 25-2507. Is there discussion? Whitlock: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Whitlock. Whitlock: I would just thank the department for the thought and effort that went into all of this and I know that you are looking outside the box and trying to do all that you can to keep the fees at a reasonable rate, while still being able to provide quality services to the residents of Meridian. So, I appreciate all the work that's gone into this. Simison: Thank you. If there is no further comments, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay? The ayes have it and the resolution is agreed to. Thank you, Garrett. Have a good night. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. 5. Public Hearing for Baldcypress Multi-Family (H-2025-0003) by Kimley-Horn and Associates, located at 3570 N. Eagle Rd. A. Request: Vacation of a portion of the existing City water easement generally located on the northern portion of the property adjacent to W. Baldcypress St. Simison: Up next is Item 5, which is a public hearing for Baldcypress Multi-family, H- 2025-0003. We will open this public hearing with staff comments. Allen: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council. The first application before you tonight is a request for an easement vacation. This site consists of 3.76 acres of land. It's zoned C-G and is located at 3570 North Eagle Road. The applicant requests approval to vacate a portion of the existing 20 foot wide city water easement generally located on the northern portion of the property adjacent to Wild -- excuse me -- West Baldcypress Street on Lot 1, Block 1, Schmitzker Subdivision North. The reason for the request is that the easement prevents the property from being developed in accord with the site plan approved with the conditional use permit and that is shown there on the right. The applicant has submitted a relinquishment letter from the City of Meridian Public Works Department consenting to the vacation of this easement as proposed. The easement was intended to provide for connection of water across two dead-ends from east to west. The applicant intends to provide a water connection further to the south as shown right here, which is acceptable to Public Works. Staff is recommending approval of the proposed vacation of the easement. No written testimony has been received. Staff will stand for any questions. Simison: Thank you, Sonya. Council, any questions for staff? Okay. Is the applicant here? Do you have any comments or anything that you would like to add? Thank you. Meridian City Council March 25,2025 Page 10 of 13 We didn't want Dean to yell at us, so if you can just state your name and address for the record, please. Newton: Anthony Newton. My address is 2071 East Wrightwood Drive, Meridian. I'm here on behalf of Kimley-Horn. I guess I would just like to say I will stand for any questions. Simison: Okay. Council, any questions? Thank you very much. Mr. Clerk, anyone signed up to provide testimony on this item? Johnson: Mr. Mayor, nobody signed up. Simison: Is there anybody that would like to provide testimony on this item? Not seeing anyone coming forward, the applicant waive final comments? Applicant waives final comments. Okay. Applicant waives final comments. Do I have any motions? Whitlock: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Whitlock. Whitlock: I would move that we close the public hearing on agenda Item No. 5. Overton: Second. Simison: Have a motion and a second to close the public hearing. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay? The ayes have it and the public hearing is closed. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. Whitlock: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Whitlock. Whitlock: After considering all staff, applicant and public testimony, I move that we approve File No. H-2025-0003 as presented in the staff report for this hearing date, March 25th, 2025. Overton: Second. Simison: Have a motion and a second to approve H-2025-0003. Is there discussion on the motion? If not, Clerk call the roll. Roll Call: Cavener, yea; Strader, absent; Overton, yea; Little Roberts, yea; Taylor, yea; Whitlock, yea. Meridian City Council March 25,2025 Page 11 of 13 Simison: All ayes. Motion carries and the item is agreed to. Thank you very much. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. 6. Public Hearing for Graycliff Estates No. 5 (Lot 12, Bilk 9) (H-2025- 0005) by KB Homes, located at 4445 S. Tandycroft Ave. A. Request: Vacation of a five (5) foot portion of the permanent easement for public utilities, pressure irrigation and lot drainage encumbering the subject lot (Lot 12, Block 9) of the Graycliff Estates Subdivision No. 5. Simison: Item No. 6 is a public hearing for Graycliff Estates No .5, Lot 12, Block 9, H- 2025-0005. We will open this public hearing with staff comments. Napoli: Good evening, Mr. Mayor and Members of the Council. Next item on the agenda is the easement vacation for Graycliff Estates No. 5. The site consists of .16 acres of land, zoned R-8, located at 4445 South Tandycroft Avenue. The applicant requests to vacate a five foot portion of the ten foot permanent easement for public utilities, pressurized irrigation and lot drainage, encumbering Lot 12, Block 9, of Graycliff Estates Subdivision No. 5. These easements were established as part of the approved final plat for Graycliff Subdivision No. 5. Currently the lot is vacant and does not have a building permit associated with the property. The applicant is requesting a reduction in the easement to allow for a larger home on the property. Relinquishment letters were received from Lumen, CenturyLink, Intermountain Gas, Nampa-Meridian Irrigation District and Idaho Power for a portion of the easement proposed to be vacated. Staff is recommending approval and has not received any written testimony and I will stand for questions. Simison: All right. Thank you very much. Council, any questions for staff? Would the applicant like to come forward? Durtschi: Mayor, Members of the Council, hello and good evening. For the record my name is Sabrina Durtschi. I'm here on behalf of KB Home and my business address -- we just moved -- is 2487 West Navigator Drive, Suite 120, Meridian, Idaho. 83642. And as Nick has explained we were needing a reduction on Lot 12, Block 9, for Graycliff Estates. As you can see it's a flag lot and the public utility easements kind of run along the side and not on the back, making it hard to make the building footprint work for the site. We do have the lot under contract. Future homeowners have picked out the floor plan and they are ready -- ready to start building their dream home. So, we just need an additional five feet and so there is no -- currently no utilities on the site and all the utility agencies granted us approval to reduce the easement to five feet. So, with that I will stand for any questions and thank you for the pleasure of your time this evening. Thank you. Meridian City Council March 25,2025 Page 12 of 13 Simison: Thank you, Sabrina. Council, any questions for the applicant? All right. Appreciate it. Durtschi: Yes. Thank you. Simison: Do we have anyone signed up on this item tonight? Johnson: Mr. Mayor, we did not. Simison: Okay. Is there anybody present in the room or online that would like to provide testimony on this item? Seeing no one coming forward or raising their hand, does the applicant waive? Applicant waives final comments. Council, your direction and pleasure. Overton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Overton, was that you? Overton: Yes. Simison: Okay. Overton: Mr. Mayor, this seems pretty straightforward. I move we close the public hearing. Whitlock: Second. Simison: Have a motion and a second to close the public hearing. Is there any discussion? If not all in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay? They have it and the public hearing is closed. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. Overton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Overton. Overton: I would like to move that considering all staff, applicant, and public testimony move we approve File No. H-2025-0005 as presented in staff report for the hearing date of March 25th, 2025. Little Roberts: Second. Simison: Have a motion and a second to approve Item H-2025-0005. Is there discussion on the motion? If not clerk call the roll. Meridian City Council March 25,2025 Page 13 of 13 Roll Call: Cavener, yea; Strader, absent; Overton, yea; Little Roberts, yea; Taylor, yea; Whitlock, yea. Simison: All ayes. Motion carries and the item is agreed to. Have a good evening. Thank you very much. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. FUTURE MEETING TOPICS Simison: Council, anything under Future Meeting Topics or do I have a motion to adjourn? Little Roberts: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Little Roberts. Little Roberts: Mr. Mayor, I move we adjourn. Taylor: Second. Simison: Motion and second to adjourn. All in favor signify by saying aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it. We are adjourned. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 6.31 P.M. (AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS) MAYOR ROBERT E. SIMISON 4-8-2025 ATTEST: CHRIS JOHNSON - CITY CLERK 4-8-2025