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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007 05-15 Meridian City Council Meetina Mav 15. 2007 The regular meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 7:10 P.M., Tuesday, May 15, 2007, by Mayor Tammy de Weerd. Members Present: Mayor Tammy de Weerd, David Zaremba, Keith Bird, Charlie Rountree and Joe Borton. Others Present: Bill Nary, Will Berg, Anna Canning, Brad Watson, Len Grady, Bill Musser, Mark Niemeyer, and Dean Willis. Item 1: Roll-call Attendance: Roll call. X David Zaremba X Charlie Rountree X X Joe Borton X Keith Bird Mayor Tammy de Weerd De Weerd: I will go ahead and start tonight's meeting. Thank you all for -- thank you for JOining us. It is Tuesday, May 15th. Its ten minutes after 7:00. We will start tonight's meeting with roll call attendance. Mr. Berg. Item 2: Pledge of Allegiance: De Weerd: Item 2 is our Pledge of Allegiance and I don't know if I have father-daughter, but I know I at least will have father leading us in the pledge. If you will all rise. (Pledge of Allegiance recited.) Item 3: Community Invocation by Joe Anderson with Cole Community Church: De Weerd: Item No.3 is our Community Invocation. Tonight we will be led by Joe Anderson and he's with Cole Community Church. If you will all join us in the community invocation or take this as an opportunity for a moment of reflection. Joe, thank you for joining us. Anderson: Let's bow our heads. Heavenly Father, thank you for this great day. Your presence in life creates blessings all around us. Psalm 100:1 through two says: Shout for joy to the Lord all the earth. Worship him with gladness. Come before him with joyful songs. We see the spring season and the coming of summer, new life is all around us to teach us the value of the spiritual life that is found in you. In this great city of Meridian there are ups and downs in the relationships we build. New babies are born. New friends move in. Old friends pass on and others not so old. You are with us through it all. Psalm 33: 18 through 20 says: But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in unfailing love to deliver them from death and to give Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 2 of 33 them life in famine. We will wait in the hope -- and hope for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. Lord, may your Spirit be with us to encourage and be with our military to encourage and protect them. Ride along side our police and firefighters and keep them safe and watch over our city of Meridian and its loyal employees. May it continue to grow in a safe and successful -- may it continue to grow into a safe and successful place for us to live, work and play and raise our children. Bless our Mayor Tammy de Weerd and our Council members as they deliberate over the future and current needs we have in this city. Give them wisdom and sound judgment and as we leave this place later help us to see the ways we can bless those you put in our path and may you also expand our path to extend to those who are in need of blessings. Amen. Item 4: Adoption of the Agenda: De Weerd: Thank you so much. Item 4 is adoption of the agenda. Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Bird: On the regular agenda we have -- it has been requested to take Item FP 07-012, which is Item 10; Item 11, which is CPA 07-004, and Item 12, which is RZ 07-005, to continue them to June 5th, 2007. Item 17 is Ordinance 07-1315; 18 is Ordinance 07- 1316; 19 is 07-1317 ordinance, and 20 is 07-1318 ordinance number. And on No. 21, the Executive Session, along with (1) (c) and (1) (f) we need to add (1) (a) also as a sub title. With that I move that we approve the agenda as noted. Rountree: Second. De Weerd: Okay. I have a motion and a second to approve the agenda as stated. All those in favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carries. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 5: Consent Agenda: A. Approve Minutes of April 17, 2007 Pre-Council Meeting: B. Approve Minutes of April 17, 2007 City Council Regular Meeting: C. Approve Minutes of April 24, 2007 Pre-Council Meeting: D. SHP 07-003 Request for Short Plat Approval for 3 condominium units in 1 building for Sparrowhawk Condominiums by Kestrel Grove Property, LLC - 2176 East Franklin Road: Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 3 of 33 E. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law for Approval: PP 07- 004 Request for Preliminary Plat approval of 16 residential lots (proposed to contain 64 multi-family units) and 3 common lots on 5.7 acres in an L-O zone for Doubletree Subdivision by Ron Babneau - 1105 West Pine Street: F. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law for Approval: CUP 07 -002 Request for a Conditional Use Permit approval to construct a multi-family development consisting of 64 multi-family dwelling units (4 plexes) on 16 lots in an L-O zone for Doubletree Subdivision by Ron Babneau - 1105 West Pine Street: G. Development Agreement: AZ 06-052 Request for Annexation and Zoning of 5.17 acres from RUT to an R-8 zone for Portico Place Subdivision by Portico, LLC - 1780 East McMillan Road: H. Development Agreement: RZ 06-012 Request for a Rezone of 1.69 acres from an R-4 to a C-C zone for Cherry Linder Rezone by Darren Blaser - 1440, 1516 and 1528 West Cherry Lane: I. Approve New Beer & Wine license (2007-08) for Kovit L TD dba Siam Thai Restaurant at 2951 E. Overland Rd Ste 125: J. Approve Public Utilities, Irriaation. and Lot Drainaae Easement with Strada Bellissima. LLC for the Strada Bellissima Out- Parcel: K. Approve Task Order No. 4 with CH2MHiII for continuation of Qualified Professional Engineer review services in lieu of plans submittal to IDEQ for review: L. Public Works Chanae Order NO.3 for the Black Cat Lift Station with JC Constructors, Inc. for $5,775.00: M. Approve Aareement for Independent Contractor Services with Blue Rock Group. Inc. for Irrigation Construction at the Old Creamery Site for $24,000.00: N. Approve Aareement for Professional Services with Brown Environmental. Inc. for On-Site Operator Chlorine Training for $1,500.00: O. Amendment to Professional Service Agreement with Sage Community Resources for Louisiana Pacific Community Development Block Grant: Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 4 of 33 De Weerd: Item 5 is the Consent Agenda. Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Bird. Bird: I move we approve the Consent Agenda as published, with the Mayor to sign and the Clerk to attest on all papers. Rountree: Second. De Weerd: Okay. I have a motion and a second to approve the Consent Agenda. If there is no discussion, Mr. Berg, will you call roll. Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 6: Department Reports: A. Public Works Department: 1. Discussion of Renee Bentlev's ReQuest for Waiver of Citv Services Hook Up Requirements for 2730 East Franklin Road: De Weerd: Okay. Item 6 under Department Reports, we will start off with our Public Works Department, Brad. Watson: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Council members. I believe you have in your packet a letter from a Rene Bentley regarding a property located at 2730 East Franklin Road. The property owner is seeking a rezone through Ada County Development Services and when that application hit Ada County, they referenced Resolution 03-401 that was adopted by the city in 2003 that requires connection to the City of Meridian services if it's within the impact area. Water and sewer services were installed in Franklin Road when that two mile stretch of road was rebuilt several years ago. Water and sewer services were stubbed into each of those properties along there. I haven't directly, but several of my staff have talked with the -- Ms. Bentley and the Public Works Department does not have the authority to waive that requirement, so I wrote her a letter and suggested that she come to Council to request that she not be required to connect to city services. One point of clarification. There are a multitude of properties along that particular stretch of Franklin Road that are not connected to city services. They either were existing prior to '03 or for one reason or another they haven't been referenced to the City of Meridian for connection. I don't know particularly the answer to that. That's about all I have. I believe the applicant is here -- yes, Ms. Bentley is here and, hopefully, she can clarify anything that I stated. Thank you. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 5 of 33 De Weerd: Thank you. Would you like to come up? Bentley: My property is -- De Weerd: If you will, please, start with stating your name and your address. Bentley: My name is Rene Bentley and my physical address is 2155 North Glenfield Way in Meridian. De Weerd: Thank you. Bentley: Okay. The property next to me, 2770 East Franklin Road, when they put in the Franklin Road -- when they widened Franklin Road it was also -- she had the opportunity to hook up to city sewer and water and speaking with her -- she's also commercial. And speaking with her she stated that the City of Meridian did allow her to stay on her septic and well. And so I guess my question is, you know, I would like to be able to stay on my sewer and -- my septic and water. Excuse me. In getting the property zoned to a C-2, it's a little different zoning than she has. She has an M-1, but now they don't offer that anymore in that location. So, I -- when I went to meet with the City of Meridian, because I have several properties in Meridian, this one was addressed as well and I asked them about this and they said that they didn't really have anything to do with the property on Franklin, because it was rural, so -- except that needed to go to Central District Health and get them to look at my septic and make sure it was, you know, going to handle up to 12 people, which this is a copy of the letter that I sent in. I totally rehab'd that, because -- I was told by Central District Health that that would suffice. I have already done the rehab on the location and I followed a lot of the city guidelines based on what my next door neighbor had given me that she had prior to -- that you had requested of her as far as landscaping and that type of thing and if you have driven by you probably can see that we have tried to follow all of the guidelines. The problem that I have at this point in time, if I have to hook up, I'm going to have to tear up blacktop and everything, because my understanding was Central District Health gave me the okay to stay on my septic. So, I'm asking for right now that I can stay on my well and septic and there won't be more than 12 people in there, which is what Central District Health told me that that would handle. I also went in and redid the septic line from the house. We dug it up and it was -- it was in pretty bad shape, so we went ahead and replaced it. I was looking up then the price on that, it wasn't what I thought and I put down in the letter it was around 5,000 dollars. If I had known that I could not hook up to my city to use my well and septic, I would have not put that money into that well. So, I got a little bit of misguidance there, but it did cost me quite a bit of money to do that. But the amount of people that will be in that property -- I think that, you know, that it will handle that. I don't know. Do you have any questions? De Weerd: Council, any questions? Bird: I have none. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 6 of 33 Zaremba: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Zaremba. Zaremba: Just a question in general, I guess. With the recent work that you have done, what would you expect the current life span of your septic system to be? They all fail at some point. How long do you figure it with last the way it is now? Bentley: I would say it's probably going to last -- because we went in and redid a lot of work. I would say -- and I put the new baffling in and all of that type of thing, so if we have it drained on a -- you know, and keep it, you know, drained, I guess they call it, you know, it should they figure maybe ten years, if they are not -- it's low usage, you know, that type of thing. I'm very nervous. De Weerd: That's all right. None of us have our crystal ball to know how long it will last, but it's not a brand new system, though? Bentley: No. No. Just the -- I redid the line and everything and had it pumped and checked the -- I had it all checked out by Roto Rooter and so they seemed to think that the system is, you know, good to go. De Weerd: Okay. Council, any other questions? Bird: I have none. Bentley: Here is some of the paperwork that they had down at Ada County Development Services on the property next door to me, where they did -- I just copied some of this. I didn't know if you would need it. De Weerd: Okay. We will see -- Council, would you like to see that? Rountree: Certainly. De Weerd: If you will hand it to the City Clerk. Bentley: I'm sorry? De Weerd: If you will hand that paperwork to the City Clerk. Bentley: Oh, the paperwork for that. De Weerd: Yes. Zaremba: Madam Mayor? Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 7 of 33 De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Zaremba. Zaremba: For the sake of discussion -- and I'm not sure how to put it, but would it be appropriate to offer to waive the requirement for either a specific period of time, like ten years, or for a general statement, like until their current system fails, or, one, are we able to do that and, two, is there a way to phrase it? De Weerd: Brad, have we done this in the past? Watson: Madam Mayor, Council members, when you tie a timeline to something like this, especially something that's beyond 12 months, it becomes incredibly difficult to track. We try to avoid that when we can. Maybe a better condition would be if it changes zones -- zoning again or annexes or -- maybe there is a better mechanism that the city attorney could help us on. The one thing I neglected to mention or point out is this property is not annexable, as it were, at this point in time. De Weerd: I think we have used that at anyone given time. Mr. Rountree. Rountree: Madam Mayor, I have a question for Brad as it relates to the process. Do we have an ordinance that establishes a requirement here or is this the requirement of the Central District Health since there is availability of sewer and water? Watson: Madam Mayor, Council Members, Councilman Charlie -- or -- Rountree: I answer to about anything. Nary: He hasn't been here for awhile. Watson: I'm out of practice. I'm trying to remember the question now. There is a two fold answer. If Central District Health was going to issue a permit for a new septic system, they would contact us and ask for a letter of non-serviceability. In other words, we can't serve it by existing facilities. That -- if facilities exist, they would not issue a permit for a new septic system. It sounds like the existing system was sufficient with a minor amount of rehab. We don't have an ordinance that requires a county property to connect. However, this resolution that was approved by Council and folded into our section of the Comp Plan by the county does require that county properties that develop or rezone connect to city services. Now, the intent of that resolution at that time was geared more towards the large scale developments that at that time in north Meridian were telling us that they were going to develop and use onsite systems and their own system. That's really where that resolution got rolling. I don't know that -- and I'm speaking out of turn here. I'm not sure that the intent of that resolution was to gather up these small county parcels as they rezoned. That's my opinion. Rountree: Thank you. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 8 of 33 De Weerd: Okay. Council, any other questions for staff or Ms. Bentley? Thank you so much. Okay. Council, I guess staff is looking for direction on this request. Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Bird: I would move that we allow the waiver of city services for Rene Bentley's property at 2730 East Franklin Road. Borton: Second. De Weerd: Okay. I have a motion and a second to approve the request that's in front of you. Any discussion? Mr. Zaremba? Zaremba: Discussion. I'm happy with that direction. I guess my question would be do we want -- is there some way to trigger a sunset to that or are we saying forever? Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Bird. Bird: My answer, Councilman Zaremba, would be that I don't know how we can put a sunset on it and, then, track it. It's -- I'm sure what sunset we put on will probably -- would probably be longer than this system is going to last. Zaremba: Well-- and perhaps-- Bird: I don't know how you put a time limit on something like this, nor would I attempt to myself. My motion did not include a time limit. Zaremba: Let me ask a question. If this system failed, they would have to go back to Central District Health to apply for a new one, at which time they'd say hook up. Okay. Bird: That would be right. Zaremba: All right. Then, I'm comfortable with the motion as it stands. De Weerd: Okay. Any other discussion? Rountree: I have none. De Weerd: Okay. Thank you. Mr. Berg, will you, please, call roll. Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 9 of 33 MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. B. Legal Department: 1. Discussion of Citizens Committee Review of Mayor and City Council Compensation: De Weerd: Okay. Thank you. Okay. Item 6-B our legal department. Mr. Nary? Nary: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. You mayor may not recall, but a couple of years ago we did an analysis and engaged a voluntary citizens committee to recommend to you some changes to both the salaries for the Council Members, as well as the salary for the Mayor. In the wisdom of that decision we decided to have an ordinance that requires we do this every mayoral election year and so I have gathered some volunteers who would like to -- are willing to participate in this exercise. Our ordinance requires there be at least seven members from the community and the ordinance says various citizens, civic leaders, and former elected officials of the city. I looked what we did a couple of years ago in trying to get a cross-section of different -- different people with different size of businesses and different types of businesses and so I have provided you with a memorandum of who has agreed to participate and if it looks satisfactory to you, I'd like your permission to, then, go forward and get this group together, so that they can make some recommendations back to you prior to the budget process. We have asked -- former Councilmember Donnell has agreed to participate. Dr. Tom Hammond is a member of our city Historic Preservation Commission. Meg Glasgow is the chair of the City Arts Commission. Bob Shappee is the current Chamber of Commerce president. Chris Kline is one of the Edwards Jones Investment counselors here in the city. He had served on the committee prior in 2005 and I felt the continuity of having one member continue would be -- would be helpful. Also he has a small business, so we wanted to get people from both small and medium and large size businesses. Clint Shiflet, Vice-President -- one of the Vice-Presidents from Farmers and Merchants Bank has agreed and he's also a chamber member. And, then, Rex Warwick, director of sales from Blue Cross of Idaho, obviously, one of our larger employers in the city, has agreed. He's served on some other city committees previously as well. If this group isn't acceptable or if you would like more members, the ordinance just says a minimum of seven. If you would like me to search out a few more volunteers, if you would prefer, if you'd like me to change some folks, whatever your preference is. De Weerd: Council, any comments? Questions? Rountree: Madam Mayor, my comment is that it seems to me like a pretty diverse and well rounded group of folks and I don't have any suggestions for any further members. De Weerd: Okay. Anything else, Council? Meridian City Council May 15. 2007 Page 10 of 33 Zaremba: Madam Mayor, I would add to the consensus of support for this as presented. De Weerd: Okay. Mr. Nary, do you need it approved by Council vote? Nary: Voice vote would probably be fine. De Weerd: Okay. Do I have a motion to approve? Zaremba: Madam Mayor, I move we provide a consensus in approval of the formation of this committee according to the memorandum dated May 15th, 2007. Borton: Second. De Weerd: Okay. I have a motion and a second to approve the item before you and the recommendation by our city attorney. All those in favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carries. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 7: Items Moved from Consent Agenda: De Weerd: Okay. There are no items moved from the Consent Agenda. Item 8: Tabled from May 1, 2007: FP 07-011 Request for approval for 14 commercial building lots in a C-G zone for CentrePointe Subdivision No. ~ by Winston H. Moore - Northwest Corner of Ustick Road and Eagle Road: De Weerd: Item 8 we do have a letter from the applicant that they agree with the staff comments. Council? Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Bird: I move we approve FP 07-011, approval of 14 commercial building lots in a C-G for CentrePointe Subdivision NO.2. Rountree: Second. De Weerd: Okay. I have a motion and a second to approve Item 8. If there is no discussion, Mr. Berg, will you call roll. Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 11 of 33 MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 9: MFP 07-003 Request to Modify Final Plat (FP 06-043) from the approved four (4) foot vinyl fence to allow a six (6) foot vinyl fence with three (3) foot step-down twenty (20) feet from right-of-way along Lot 2 and Lot 3, Block 1; between Lot 1 and Lot 2, Block 2; and to revise the landscape plan to show existing and mitigated trees on the site for Tapestry Subdivision by Raftis Capital, Inc. - 675 South Under Road: De Weerd: Okay. Item 9 is MFP 07-003. I will start this item with staff comments. Canning: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, this is a final plat modification. The property is Tapestry Subdivision, which is located on the west side of Under Road above Waltman Street or above 1-84, north of 1-84. The request before you tonight is just some minor changes in the landscape plan. They had proposed four foot fences in a couple of areas and they now would like to do six foot fences for a greater sense of privacy on those properties and, also, they wanted to reflect which of the existing trees needed to be removed. They had thought that they could save some, but after discussing with our parks department found that they needed to remove a couple of the existing trees they hadn't anticipated. And those are the only changes. There is no letter from the applicant, because we are, basically, recommending what they originally requested and staff feels that it's as good or better solution for the landscaping. I'll answer any questions the Mayor and Council may have. De Weerd: Council, do you have any comments, questions, for staff on this item? Bird: I do not, Mayor. De Weerd: Okay. Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Bird. Bird: No discussion, I move we approve MFP 07-003. Zaremba: Second. De Weerd: Okay. I have a motion and a second to approve Item NO.9. Is there any discussion? Rountree: I have none. De Weerd: Mr. Berg, will you call roll. Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 12 of 33 MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 10: Item 11: Item 12: FP 07-012 Request for Final Plat approval for 52 single-family residential building lots, 22 multi-family lots, 7 commercial lots, 2 private road lots, and 7 common lots on 27.36 acres in R-8, R-15, and C-G zones for Bienville Sauare Subdivision by Red Cliff Development - 2935 North Eagle Road: Public Hearing: CPA 07-004 Request for an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to change the land use designation from Industrial to Commercial for Jabil East Comprehensive Plan Amendment by the Joint School District No.2 - 1303 East Central Drive (Lot 1, Block 1, Jabil Subdivision): Public Hearing: RZ 07-005 Request for a Rezone of 9.21 acres from I-L to a C-G zone for Jabil East Property by the Joint School District NO.2 - 1303 East Central Drive (Lot 1, Block 1, Jabil Subdivision): De Weerd: Okay. Anna, as I understand it, Items 10, 11, 12 and 13 have been requested to continue? Canning: No, ma'am. Just 10, 11, and 12. Bird: Not 13. Zaremba: Not 13. De Weerd: Okay. Not 13, even though it has to do -- oh, with Jabil West. Canning: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, would you like a brief explanation? De Weerd: I would like that. I would appreciate it. Canning: The Jabil East properties are where the current Jabil facility sits and because there is a rezone associated with it, they needed to post the site. They weren't clear on that, so they failed to post the site, so we are continuing those two. This is just -- Item No. 13 is a Comprehensive Plan amendment just west of that property. It's an empty lot with the ball fields -- soccer field currently on it. Zaremba: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Zaremba. Zaremba: I move we continue Item 10, FP 07-002. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 13 of 33 Bird: Second. Zaremba: To our meeting of June 5th, 2007. Bird: Second. De Weerd: Okay. I have a motion and a second to continue Item No. 10 to June 5th. All those in favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carries. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Zaremba: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Zaremba. Zaremba: I move we continue both Items 11 and 12, CPA 07-004 and RZ 07-005, to our regularly scheduled meeting of June 5,2007. Rountree: Second. De Weerd: Okay. I have a motion and a second to continue -- actually, I believe I should open these two public hearings first. I will open the public hearings on Items 11 and 12. I do have a motion to continue these two items for CPA 07-004 and RZ 07-005, to June 5th, 2007. All those in favor say aye. Okay. All ayes. Motion carries. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 13: Public Hearing: CPA 07-005 Request for an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map to change the land use designation from Industrial to Commercial for Jabil West Comprehensive Plan Amendment by the City of Meridian Planning De Weerd: Okay. Item 13 is a Public Hearing on CPA 07-005. I will open this Public Hearing with staff comments. Canning: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, this is the Jabil West property. We call it that not because the Jabil facility actually sits on this, but it was part of the original Jabil Subdivision. So, it's the western portion of the subdivision currently zoned I-L The proposal before you tonight is a Comprehensive Plan amendment to change it from industrial to a commercial designation. Originally scheduled also to be heard tonight were the Comprehensive Plan amendment and rezone on the property immediately to the east, which would make the entire area commercial. So, we felt it was important to include this one as a Comprehensive Plan amendment, so that we had a consistent designation throughout the area. The applicant -- it is a 19 acre parcel and if approved the Comprehensive Plan amendment would allow the applicant to potentially obtain one of four commercial zones and those are the C-G, C-N, C-C and L-O districts. As you Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 14 of 33 may have noticed from the zoning map, most of the surrounding properties are zoned C-G. Again, there is an application in the works that you will hear next week to rezone the property to the east of this C-G as well. There is no development proposed at this time, so we don't have any elevations for you. The Planning and Zoning Commission did recommend approval at their April 19th, 2007, Public Hearing. No one spoke in favor of the applicant. The property owner's representative did not wish to speak. No one spoke opposition or commented and there was no written testimony. There were no key issues of discussion by the Commission, nor were there any changes from the Commission to the staff's initial recommendation. To our knowledge there are no outstanding issues before Council. And, again, staff actually asked this property owner to consider this Comprehensive Plan designation just to make the area -- the change in the Comprehensive Plan designation to make the area consistent, to not have the one industrial property on the north side of the freeway as you come off of Locust Grove. So, with that I will answer any other questions you may have. De Weerd: Thank you, Anna. Council, any questions? Zaremba: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Zaremba. Zaremba: At an unrelated meeting I heard somebody involved in Idaho State University, are purchasing part of the property that we are not talking about, express a far in the future hope that they might be able to buy this property and make it a school. Making a commercial designation out it would not prevent that, would it? Canning: No, sir. It would actually facilitate it and educational facilities are not currently allowed in industrial districts, but they are allowed in the commercial districts. Zaremba: Great. Thank you. De Weerd: Okay. Any other questions or comments? Rountree: I guess my only question is that is it possible to continue this, along with the other portions, so it's done together? Is there any advantage of doing this separate? Is there some advantage of making sure that the piece works together in the public process? Canning: Yes, sir, there is. We debated that and, actually, I'll have to tell Caleb he was right tomorrow that he had suggested that we also continue this one for that very reason. They are integrally tied. There was so little discussion at the Planning and Zoning Commission that we felt we could at least just get it off the agenda tonight, but if that's desire of Mayor and Council, staff has no objection. The applicant -- there is no from the property owners representing it tonight, so that would be fine with staff. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 15 of 33 Rountree: I have no issue either way, I just was thinking that if for some reason the other one doesn't go -- Canning: The Planning Commission did recommend approval of both. Rountree: Yeah. Okay. Thank you. De Weerd: Okay. Is there anything further from the Council? What would be your desire, to continue this item or would you like to take action? Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Bird: My desire would be to take action tonight, because I -- you know, this is -- to me this is a breakaway property that really isn't going to affect the existing building or parking at all, so -- and staff is in favor of it, I believe. The applicant is agreeable to all the conditions and everything, so I would just as soon go ahead and get it taken care of. I will make a motion if it's -- unless somebody else -- De Weerd: I would entertain a motion, then, to close the Public Hearing. Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Bird. Bird: I move we close the Public Hearing for CPA 07-005. Rountree: Second. De Weerd: Okay. I have a motion and a second to close the Public Hearing on Item 13. All those in favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carries. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. De Weerd: Okay. Mr. Berg. Bird: Madam Mayor, I move we approve CPA 07-005. Rountree: Second. De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 13. Council, is there any discussion? Hearing none, Mr. Berg, will you call roll. Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 16 of 33 MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 14: Public Hearing: CPA 07-001 Request for a Comprehensive Plan Amendment to change the Future Land Use Map designation from Industrial to Commercial for the property located at 600 E. Franklin Road for Thomas Comprehensive Plan Amendment by Lynn Thomas - north of East Franklin Road and east of Meridian Road: Item 15: Public Hearing: RZ 07-002 Request for a Rezone of 0.628 of an acre from I-L to C-G zone for the Lvnn Thomas Propertv by Lynn Thomas - north of East Franklin Road and east of Meridian Road: De Weerd: Okay. Thank you. Item 14 is a Public Hearing on CPA 07-001. I will open this Public Hearing with staff comments. Canning: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, this is the Thomas property. It's located at 600 East Franklin and it's the vacant property immediately east of the Fire Station No.1, as shown on the slide before you. The applications before you tonight include a Comprehensive Plan amendment and a rezone. The applicant is proposing to change an existing industrial designation to a commercial designation on about a .63 acre parcel. The property is currently zoned I-L and is within the corporate boundaries of the City of Meridian. Here is the current Comprehensive Plan designation. You will note that the surrounding properties are also designated industrial, even though they are zoned C-G. My understanding is that this was done through a planned development with a 20 percent use exception and that's how they got their current office buildings in there in the C-G zoning. So, they are asking to change just this one property to a commercial designation, so that they can have an office building built on it, and we have elevations of that proposed office building. The Commission recommended approval at their April 19th, 2007, Public Hearing. The applicant was not able to be present at the hearing. No one spoke in favor. No one spoke in opposition. No one commented. And there was no written testimony. The key issues of discussion by the Commission were the requirement of the development agreement to tie the applicant to the proposed elevations and that would be part of the rezone application, not the Comprehensive Plan amendment. Key issues of discussion by the Commission were -- oh, I already said that. Key changes to staff's initial recommendation were to add the provision for a development agreement that incorporates the proposed elevations as shown on the slide. And about the only outstanding issue for the City Council is whether or not you want that development agreement. There has been some written testimony since the staff report. It was just a letter from Mrs. Thomas stating she may not be able to attend tonight's hearing and that she agrees with the staff report and the recommended development agreement provisions, but she is here, so we have her here tonight. And with that I will answer any questions you may have. De Weerd: Okay. Council, any questions for staff? Bird: I have none. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 17 of 33 Rountree: I have none. Zaremba: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Zaremba. Zaremba: Of course I have a question. This property being located right next to the fire station where we are building a new training tower, I want to make sure there is no perceived incompatibility between what will probably be an attractive commercial property and that training tower. Clearly, it's obvious that it's already being built, but just in protection of our fire department, could we add a phrase in the development agreement that says nobody can complain about the fire department's tower or do we need to? De Weerd: Or they get gonged. Canning: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, I would look to Mr. Nary to answer that question. This property does sit lower. There is a little grade change here. You come down into this property. Also, the fire station itself would block visibility of that tower. It's my understanding that the tower I think is back here. I'm not sure exactly. Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Bird. Bird: Anna, will they -- so, they will have to bring their building up to grade like we did, because the property -- our property was that low originally. Won't they have to bring it up to grade, so that all the water from the street don't come down onto it? Canning: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, I believe, Councilmember Bird, that the site has been graded for some time and when the subdivision went, I think the pad has been graded, so I think it all kind of flows to some other location than Franklin, I'm pretty sure, so -- Nary: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Nary. Nary: I would love to put a provision telling who could complain or not complain about things, but that's an inalienable right of citizenry here, so I don't think we can probably enforce something like that. De Weerd: We did require the neighbors across the street to sign that they couldn't complain. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 18 of 33 Nary: Okay. Bird: They have never come to-- Canning: Never. Nary: We find they have been very quiet. De Weerd: Dead silent. Okay. Rountree: That's enough. De Weerd: Mrs. Thomas, do you have comments? Okay. If you will, please, state your name and address for the record. Thomas: My name is Lynn Thomas and my home address is 4790 Savannah Lane in Garden City. Good evening, everyone. We have a business park that's located where the site of the empty lot is. Currently we have a building to the south that is headquarters for Thomas Cuisine Management and, then, we have a two story commercial office building that's to the east of that and we just completed another commercial office building that's in front of the two story one. So, we want to make sure that our business park has commercial office and we have plans to build a one story that is similar to the one we are just finishing up, which would be probably about 5,000 square feet. So, we just want to be consistent. It's frontage on Franklin Road and it's -- it's a pretty office complex and we would like to keep it that way by building a commercial office. De Weerd: Thank you. Council, do you have any questions for the applicant? Bird: I have none, Mayor. Rountree: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Rountree. Rountree: You heard the comment from the Planning Administrator about a development agreement. Do you have any concerns with that? Thomas: No, I don't. Rountree: Thank you. De Weerd: Any other questions? Thank you. Thomas: Thank you. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 19 of 33 De Weerd: And we expect in your lease agreements the no complaint clause. Okay. Council? Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Bird. Bird: Nobody else wants to testify, I move we close the Public Hearing on Items 14 and 15. Rountree: Second. De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to close the Public Hearing on Item 14. All those in favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carries. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES, De Weerd: Anna? Canning: Madam Mayor, not that I think there is anyone here, but I'm not sure you gave an opportunity for anyone else to testify. De Weerd: Well, usually Ralph or Hillary don't, unless -- unless they give me a nod that they would like to, we will go ahead and stand on that motion to close the Public Hearing. Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Bird. Bird: I move we approve CPA 07-001 with staff and applicant comments. Rountree: Second. De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 14. If there is no discussion, Mr. Berg. Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. De Weerd: Okay. Item 15 is a Public Hearing on RZ 07-002 -- I didn't open Item 15. opened 14. Bird: Oh. Well, I closed 15 for you, too. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 20 of 33 De Weerd: Well, that's all right. I never opened it. Bird: Go ahead and open it. De Weerd: See, this will give an opportunity for Ralph or Hillary to give testimony. Okay. We heard this Item consolidated with Item 14. If there is no public testimony, now is your chance. Seeing none -- Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Bird. Bird: I move we close Item 15, RZ 07-002. Rountree: Second again. De Weerd: All those in favor of closing Item 15 say aye. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. De Weerd: Thank you. Okay. Mr. Bird. Bird: Madam Mayor, I move we approve RZ 07-002 with applicant and staff comments. Rountree: Second. De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 15. If there is no discussion, Mr. Berg, will you call roll. Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 16: Public Hearing: For the Purpose of Reviewing and Considering Fee Changes authorized in Title 9, Chapter 1 Water Use and Service, and Title 9, Chapter 4 Sewer Use and Service of Meridian City Code including Proposed Changes to water and wastewater assessment, water meters and appurtenances, water system itemized damage fees, and water and sewer user rates: De Weerd: Thank you. Item 16 is a Public Hearing for the purpose of reviewing and considering fee changes authorized in Title 9, Chapter 1, Water Use and Service, and Title 9, Chapter 4, Water Use and Service, of the Meridian City Code, including proposed changes to water and wastewater assessment, water meters, and -- what is that? Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 21 of 33 Watson: Appurtenances. De Weerd: Okay. What he said. -- water systems, itemized damaged fees and water and sewer user rates. I will open this Public Hearing with staff comments. Watson: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Council members. I'll try to be brief, but there is a lot of information to cover here. This -- normally in the past we have done these somewhat piecemeal and done them over several public hearings. This year we wrapped them all into one, hence, probably, the two month delay in getting them in front of you. The fees have been calculated based on the same methodology we have used for the last however many years, six, seven, eight years, somewhere in there. I'll preface it by saying I sent this proposal to BCA April -- mid April and as of today received no phone calls, no e-mails, no letters, nothing from them. So, that aside, we can jump into it. The assessment fees are -- hopefully you have this in front of you. They are listed at the top of the page. They show a nearly 16 percent increase in the wastewater assessment fee per ERU and nearly 15 percent on the water side of things. The main reason for this is these fees are calculated on what's called an equity buy in methodology. The higher the value of your system, the higher the pro rata share that you are buying into. All of that money that we sunk into the wastewater system and the water systems over the last -- well, two years, really has -- is reflected in the higher fees. It's, really, a reflection of the investment we have all made in these systems. It is a big jump, but these were updated last year using the very same methodology and I think the increases last year were in the -- I have this here somewhere -- in the five to seven percent range. Just as an aside, the replacement value of the combined infrastructure has increased over 12 months from 131 million last year to nearly 166 million this current year. So, that's a significant investment that's been made and that's reflected in these fees. And please stop me before I move on to any others, if you have any questions. If there are no questions on the assessment fees, I will move to the rates. Okay. De Weerd: No. Watson: All right. Last year -- over the last couple of years we have done more of a macro analysis of the water and sewer rates. This year we decided to do a detailed cost-of-service analysis and it showed -- it kind of took a divergent path. It showed that the wastewater fees were clicking right along and that we were right on target with where we should be, with a modest increase. On the water side of things it showed that we had a somewhat substantial gap in what we were charging versus what we should be charging. As you can see, the user charge for a thousand gallons would go from $1.05 per thousand to 1.39 per thousand proposed. There are quite a few reasons for this. The major ones are that the depreciation number that's used -- to calculate these user rates we have to fund depreciation. The figure that was given to us by finance over the last year had increased substantially. Well, that makes sense. The infrastructure value has increased substantially over the last couple years. It has increased in wastewater, too, but the scale of which it increased -- because the value was much greater than wastewater, it's not reflected as well, or much in wastewater. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 22 of 33 The value of the water system, which was smaller, jumped a big amount, but the percentage was greater. Sorry. I'm kind of going down a rabbit trail here, but that's one of the major reasons. Another reason is that the cross-control program -- cross-control _ - cross-connection control program was implemented about 18 months ago and that has now shown up in our budgets as an expense and we do get revenue, not -- but that doesn't cover the full cost of this. But this is a program that we have gone down that road, we have discussed that. A third reason that the rates increased is that the volume that we have sold has not increased proportionately to the population. And my rationale -- and I can't prove it -- is that until last year we were in somewhat of a drought, so we hit those summer months and people we were really ramping up in their use of water, particularly the areas that don't have PI systems. Last year we experienced a very very wet year and I was made acutely aware every month by the finance department that revenue was falling short of where it should be. The fourth reason is that the water system is very dependant on those costs that have been hit by inflation. The fuel. The power. The chemical costs. All of those things have hit the water department pretty hard over the last year and that's reflected in these fees. The minor reasons are that our consulting funds have gone up over the last couple of years and there is a variety of reasons. The water rights issues, some of the water quality issues that we have had to do, we had to implement new testing programs that are required by the regulatory agencies. Those aren't huge costs, but cumulative they add up. And the one thing I really really want to state for the record is that this has -- those user rates have absolutely nothing to do with the new building that's going on out there. That was funded by assessment fees over the years. Just wanted to be clear. Miscellaneous charges. There is -- there are many of them. I spoke with both Rick Clinton and Chip Hudson at the water department. They propose no change in the majority of those fees this year. You know, there are a few that are dollars and cents different, but some are higher, some are lower this year, but they weren't even significant. So, we elected to just keep those the same to ease the transition -- or not have a transition as far as the building permits and the MUB's department is concerned, we will just go with the same rates for another year on those items. The one change is the hydrant meter rental. It goes from 2.50 a day to five bucks a day. We are going to try that. The contractors that rent these hydrant meters, they are disinclined to bring those meters back with a $2.50 per day fee. So, we are proposing that we raise that to provide a little more incentive to get those back. All right. Berg: Madam Mayor, could I ask a question? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Berg. Berg: Do you charge a deposit on the meter? I know the rent is this much, but is there a deposit that would -- a refundable deposit that would maybe encourage them to return it? Watson: Madam Mayor -- no, there is not a deposit on hydrant meters. I asked that question of Mr. Clinton. I don't know the answer to that, but I could find out. I don't know why. There was a logical reason and I don't remember it right now. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 23 of 33 Zaremba: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Zaremba. Zaremba: The logic for moving it from 2.50 a day to five dollars a day I agree with, but it doesn't sound to me like that difference would be significant to -- I'm not sure that would encourage people to move any faster. If that's really the purpose, shouldn't we make it 50 bucks a day or -- I mean $2.50 the first day and 50 dollars for every day after that. Watson: Madam Mayor, Councilman Zaremba, I -- we did discuss it. It's difficult on a rental fee to be less than arbitrary, should I say that? All these other items we can quantify very well. We talked about what -- how many days it takes to payoff a hydrant meter, our cost to buy one. When it was set a 2.50 it was in the neighborhood of 18 months was kind of the life span of those meters. Keep in mind these are the ones that the contractors have out in the field and they are -- when they are done they heave them into the back of their truck and even going to five dollars is -- I guess we could presume that the life span is less than a year. I'm not answering your question and I know that. I'm sorry. Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Bird: Brad, on these ones that we are renting out, are they keeping them so long that we have to go purchase new ones for rental or are they gradually coming in, so we are not having to purchase new ones? Watson: Madam Mayor, Councilman Bird, they -- the majority of them are keeping them and just paying the fee every month and they are not being returned. The ones that are being returned are the very small operators that have them for a couple weeks and bring them back. But, yes, we do have to buy more to put in the inventory. Bird: Madam Mayor, follow up? De Weerd: Yes. Bird: And, Brad, I think that maybe we need -- do need to look at after a month or so that it goes to the point that within a couple months they have purchased a new one or replacing the old one. That's something that we need to I take a look at. I think if somebody's got it 30 days and don't -- and you know -- and I can understand contractors that are building 60, 70 houses a year, why they would never turn it back, but at 2.50 a day that's pretty reasonable, you know, and so I think we need to make sure that within 60 days we have the costs of a meter back to us. That's my opinion. De Weerd: Okay. Anything else, Council? Meridian City Council May 15. 2007 Page 24 of 33 Bird: I would like to make a statement that Brad and his staff and department, when -- they have always, from the time I have sat here, when they come in with fees, they have always had back up to it and I certainly appreciate that. I know that anytime they have raised -- or kept the fee at the same, they have got backup to prove that we need it or we don't need it and I appreciate that, Brad. Watson: Thank you. De Weerd: Okay. Anything else, Council? Rountree: Madam Mayor, I don't have any questions about the discussion. My question is what's the next step? We schedule this -- calendar this for a Public Hearing? Bird: This is the Public Hearing. Rountree: This is the Public Hearing for that as well? De Weerd: We need a resolution. Rountree: Okay. So, we come back with a resolution? De Weerd: Yes, Brad. Watson: Madam Mayor, Council Members, I'm sorry. There is one more category of fee and I just want to make sure that I get on the record so you're aware. Not to prolong the agony here. Don't want to be giving a finance report, because I know those are kind of dry. De Weerd: Stacy thinks otherwise. Watson: One of the things we are proposing to do is delete what we last year called a QAQC plan review fee. That was intended to recoup our costs for complying with DEQ's -- they call it the QLPE, Qualified Licensed Professional Engineer process whereby plans could be approve by a licensed -- QLPE and not go through DEQ review. We put that fee in last year, not knowing exactly how it was going to work. Len put together a really good plan on how it was going to work. When we implemented it the costs for us to do that were higher than what that fee generates. So, we have -- Len has solicited a proposal from the firm that is doing our QLPE reviews and we are going to change the way that's implemented -- or charged. It's a very very simple fee, 250 dollars per sheet. Not the title sheet, not the cover sheet, not the details, the actual engineered portion of those drawings will be charged 250 dollars at plan review. Just wanted to make sure you understood what was going on there. If I could just make two last things. I'd like to discuss -- I think we need to discuss an effective date or maybe that can be next week when the resolutions up, I'm not sure. I did have a preliminary Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 25 of 33 discussion with Stacy and Jaycee several weeks ago. We thought July 1 st was doable. Actually, Jaycee was not there. It was just Stacy. But I probably need to come back or we need to come back next week with a firm date after I discuss this with Stacy and Jaycee. And, then, I guess the final recommendation is based on yet another discussion with Stacy is that we look at the water and sewer user rates again this fall. What she wants to do is base these more on a projected budget, rather than what I have done traditionally, use the existing budget, and she would like to look at these again in the October, November time range. That's kind of a heads up that this may not -- we may be changing the cycle on how we do this and it will only be five to six months before we are back here. Okay. Now I'm done. Thank you. Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Bird. Bird: Brad, on the -- on the fees, strictly side stuff, you weren't going to charge for details or anything like that on the sheets? Do we not -- do we not check connections and details and stuff or is that part of it? I don't know. I'm asking. Watson: Okay. Madam Mayor, Councilman Bird, when a plan set comes in there are three, four sheets that are standard details that we own that we make them use. We have reviewed them. We don't need to look at them again. Bird: You have already done it. Watson: They have to use them and we know what's there, so -- no, we don't do a detailed review of the detail. Bird: Okay. Thank you. De Weerd: Any other questions? Thank you, Brad. Watson: Thank you. De Weerd: Ralph or Hillary, would you like to provide testimony on these fees? Okay. Please come forward. If you will, please, state your name and address for the record. Chappell: Okay. I'm Ralph Chappell. 1899 South Swan Avenue, Meridian. My question is this just for new developments or is this for everything that exists right now as far as raising the fees? De Weerd: This is a combination of both. The assessments would be for new construction and connection and the monthly user fees are for our existing residents. Chappell: Well, from what he said there, then, it's going to go up 32.3 percent? Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 26 of 33 De Weerd: We will ask him to respond, but I think that is the percentage. Chappell: In one year? De Weerd: Pardon? Chappell: In one year you're going to go 33 percent -- 30 percent? That's one big jump. De Weerd: If you look at the cost of the new regulatory requirements by DEQ and EPA for treatment and those kind of things, as well as the increase cost in all of our materials, yes. And this -- our Enterprise Fund is on a break even basis, so tax dollars don't supplement this. This has to be a break even enterprise. So, the true costs are the costs that are passed on. We have no one to cover the difference. Chappell: Thirty-two percent is a lot of true cost. De Weerd: We agree with you, sir. Hillary, would you like an opportunity to testify? Brad, do you have any comment? Watson: Madam Mayor, Council Members, just maybe to lend a little perspective to it. Yes, the actual user charge per thousand gallons is roughly 30 percent increase on the water side. If you look at a typical median user in that seven to eight thousand gallon per month range, which is typical of a single family residence, if you combine the water and sewer, there is an overall increase of nine percent. It would go from $40.42 per month to 44.22 per month. The sewer -- when you combine the base charge, plus the user charge for water, that median usage would go up 25 percent. The sewer is increasing three percent. The sewer is a much higher charge. I'm not trying to play tricks with numbers, I'm just -- if you look at it a little more globally, that -- the increase is nine percent on a typical home. Well, that is what it is, so-- De Weerd: I appreciate the perspective and -- because when they give an average, it's not always the typical average household. So, I appreciate you putting that in perspective. Council, anything further? Rountree: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Rountree. Rountree: And for Brad, I'm assuming you have already done this, but that kind of information and that kind of graphic would be good information to have, particularly for Jaycee if, in fact, this moves forward, folks are going to ask the same question and I think it's probably something that we are going to have to do. I think it would also be good to maybe have a comparison of another community our size, maybe it would be Nampa, maybe it would be Coeur d'Alene, or, you know, somebody like that in terms of what are their users actually having to -- and what do their users get. I mean it's not Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 27 of 33 really fair to compare trash service with say Vancouver, Washington, that pays 90 dollars a month for a brown bag full of garbage and pay whatever it is we pay in Meridian for as much as you can get to the curb once a week. So, those kinds of comparisons. De Weerd: And, Council, you do have comparisons to Nampa, Lewiston, Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls, Idaho Falls, and Twin Falls. Pocatello. And it looks like for the most part -- and those that just have a flat fee I don't how it compares, because I don't know what our typical user would have on their gallon -- per gallon type of thing. But it does look like the city is on the low side of all of the cities that are used in this comparison. Rountree: Madam Mayor, that information is embedded in the information we have, but it's not necessarily on a post card or a reference card that could be handed to somebody as -- we understand it's a big increase, let me put it in perspective and here is how it breaks down from the City of Meridian. And, by comparison, here is how we compare to -- you know, something somebody can carry away and -- I agree it's a -- it's an eye opener. It was an eye opener when I saw the numbers, but I can't disagree with the reasons why the costs are going up, because it's hitting us every day. Watson: Madam Mayor, Council Members, it hit the water department particularly hard over the past two years because of a variety of reasons. We have gone from a system that served under 50,000 to one that serves 70,000. When you cross that 50,000 population threshold, a whole new set of rules and requirements comes in, from testing and monitoring, to location of testing, to the number of -- a certain level of operators you have to have, even to the number of higher level operators you have to have on call and available all weekend, every night. The wastewater was set up differently for many many years, because they are a 24-hour-a-day operation and they have people there running those processes. There are a lot of things that have made the water department grow up, so to speak, over the last couple of years and if I can just point out these comparisons to other cities, you know, it's up there -- it's -- again, it's hard to do apples and apples with these other cities, because they structure things differently, they have different types of users, so I did my very best to say, okay, what are you charging a single family residence. We have Boise that's quite a bit higher, you know, at least ten percent higher. Lewiston. Post Falls. They are right there with us, if this proposal goes through. I'm not sure how Nampa -- I shouldn't even -- Nampa's is very low, in my opinion. I'm not quite sure how that works. So, we are not the highest, we are not the lowest. Zaremba: Nampa just dumps everything into Lake Lowell, so -- I did not say that. Bird: I think you need to look at apples to apples, as Brad said, and some of these cities might -- their public works -- what we call public works systems might be tax supported, too, to a degree. We don't know. Ours is not. And I feel that -- and we pay - - and we pay just like everybody else, every one of us sitting up here, we don't like raises, but we know it's a necessity. Our costs have certainly went up over 30 percent, I will guarantee you that. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 28 of 33 De Weerd: Thank you, Brad. Any other -- Mr. Berg. Berg: Madam Mayor, if I could, I just wanted to make a point that user rates and rates -- rates that Brad has to figure are based on what it costs us, not a comparison to other cities. And this is really a good efficiency rating to see that we are doing the best job that we can for the use that we have. I want to pay what it costs to treat my -- or get the water to my faucet. That's what I'm asking for and that's what they are providing and the cost is the cost. If we are very wasteful, we will see that when we start comparing other cities and we are the highest. But this -- comparing a market value is kind of -- you got to kind of hit and miss with it, but it's a guidance for efficiency and I think that as far as in the valley we probably have the best efficiency and for what we are getting as a product and I think Brad's crew knows that. That's -- you know, we don't go overboard or we would be paying a higher rate. But knowing that costs vary from -- even from this summer when you're going to raise rates to next fall when budgets are going to change, you got to be on top of it or you're going to go into a sinking hole and we are not going to be able to do other projects, because we are pulling money backwards. So, we need to pay what it costs to get that product. Watson: Madam Mayor, could I just make one last -- and I will shut up after that, I promise. A year -- well, not quite a year ago, about last June and July when I was becoming acutely aware from the finance department that our revenue projections -- or our revenues were not meeting projections, we -- all divisions of Public Works went on a very severe -- I don't know what you call it -- belt tightening process and we postponed filling positions, not doing some of the consulting that we thought we could get away with. The number varies depending on if you're looking at the audit or if you're looking at the budget the way I do in a rather simple way, but we saved anywhere between 1.3 to 1.8 million last year. It's not that we are out there just getting this money and throwing it around. We are very aware of the financial situation. Just because we are an enterprise fund we don't think that we have a money printer over here in Stacy's office. That's it. I'm done. Thank you. De Weerd: No. And I think, Brad, that -- that this Mayor and this Council appreciate that you do run it frugally and the regulatory trigger of our population levels did demand different approaches and so we have to react and it -- it is, as Mr. Berg said, a true cost that needs to be passed on, because there is -- there is certainly other communities that we would not like to be in the same situation. Okay. Anything else from the Council? Okay. So, that the next step on this is to close the Public Hearing and, then, action would be asked to -- did we -- did you need to come back and bring an effective date, Brad? Nary: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, I think there was actually two things. We talked about an effective date and you had -- Council member Zaremba had a couple questions about the meters. I don't know if you want to continue the Public Hearing, get that information -- I can certainly leave on the resolution blank what the Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 29 of 33 effective date is and you can make that determination at the time of passing the resolution. De Weerd: Okay. Zaremba: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Zaremba. Zaremba: Along with others, I ~- you have provided the factual information and done an excellent job of it. My discussion about the charge for the meters isn't really based on fact, it's based on a philosophy or a personal opinion of how much pain does it take to get the meters back and, you know, how can we charge that. So, it isn't really something that takes any further study. It could be an arbitrary number that the Council suggests to Brad or that he suggests to us or we would leave it the way it is and make a new number a year from now. Councilman Bird seemed to be supportive of having a painful number in there somewhere. Borton: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Borton. Borton: In light of the fact that we might be -- and we will be reassessing all of these fees this fall for sure, the matter could be addressed at that point. I mean one -- one way to put a figure on it is to have Brad give the best guesstimate as to the average use time frame for a particular meter and the cost of the meter and you do a simple division and they haven't returned it within their average use time and they will have paid the price of a new meter. We could continue this until next week to try and get some dollar figure for that. Approve it next week, and have a resolution early June, effective whenever. Or we can proceed now and deal with that single issue this fall. Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Bird: On the meter deal, I don't know why we couldn't -- can't figure out how long they last, how much they cost, and divide it into that. I'm sure that Tate's and them people could give us a formula of how they do with theirs, because, you know, we should be reimbursed for it, plus -- I know we don't like to hear it, but we need a little profit on top of it. De Weerd: Staff is it okay if we just go ahead and ask for a resolution to come back ~- continue this Public Hearing for staff to bring back any recommendations and as pertains to the meters and finish this next week? Sound good? Borton: Madam Mayor? Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 30 of 33 De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Borton. Borton: It does sound fair is my short answer. I didn't get a chance to comment to Brad and there are a lot of sentiments from Council and the Mayor that I agree with. I appreciate the definite diligent efforts in doing this analysis and reviewing it before today. Detailed comments from you, Brad, are helpful, the efforts to try and capture fluctuating costs -- not only of the service we provide, but of the improved services which you alluded to and your numbers reflect that the city provides in its water and services. It's not merely maintaining status quo for the users, it's improved quality, which I appreciate and I know all the -- all of the users in our city appreciate. I say this also -- I won't be here next week, so I won't have an opportunity, then, to publicly appreciate your work and your department's work in helping our city capture these true expenses that are incurred to provide the service. And with that I would move that we continue Item 16 to May 22nd. Bird: Would you, in your motion for the continuance, say that they bring back a resolution? Borton: Yes. Along with a proposed dollar figure for the meters. Bird: I would second that. De Weerd: Okay. I have a motion and a second to continue this item to next week and have staff prepare a resolution and also bring back cost estimates for the meters. All those in favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carries. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 17: Item 18: Item 19: Item 20: Ordinance No. 07-1315 : AZ 06-052 Request for Annexation and Zoning of 5.17 acres from RUT to an R-8 zone for Portico Place Subdivision by Portico, LLC -1780 East McMillan Road: Ordinance No. 07-1316 : RZ 07-001 Request for a Rezone of 1.59 acres from an R-4 to an R-8 zone for Deklan Subdivision b~ Heritage Development, LLC - east of the Northeast Corner of West 4t Street and Maple Street: Ordinance No. 07-1317 : RZ 06-012 Request for a Rezone of 1.69 acres from an R-4 to a C-C zone for Cherry Linder Rezone by Darren Blaser-1440, 1516 and 1528 West Cherry Lane: Ordinance No. 07-1318 Pawnbrokers Ordinance License Fee: Ordinance Amending Title 3, Chapter 5, of the Meridian City Code Regarding: License Fee; Section Numbering; and Providing Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 31 of 33 for a Waiver of the Reading of RULES; and Providing an Effective Date: De Weerd: Okay. Items 17 through 20 are ordinances on 07-1315, 07-1316, 07-1317, and 07-1318. Mr. Berg, will you, please, read these four ordinances by title only. Berg: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. Ordinance 07-1315, an ordinance for annexation of property being located in the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 29, Township 4 North, Range 1 East, Boise Meridian, Ada County, Idaho, as described in Attachment A and annexing certain lands and territories situated in Ada County, Idaho, and adjacent and contiguous to the corporate limits of the City of Meridian, as requested by the City of Meridian, establishing and determining the land use zoning classification of said lands from RUT to R-8 and providing that copies of this ordinance shall be filed with the Ada County assessor, the Ada County recorder, the Idaho State Tax Commission as required by law and providing for a summary of the ordinance and providing for a waiver if the reading of the rules and providing an effective date. Berg: Ordinance 07-1316, an ordinance finding that Wayne Enterprises, LLC, the owners of certain real property has made a written request for rezone of the zoning classification for property being situated in the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 12, Township 3 North, Range 1 West, of Boise Meridian, Ada County, Idaho, as described in Attachment A of this ordinance and rezoning certain lands and territories situated in Ada County, Idaho, within the corporate limits of the City of Meridian, as rezoning the land use zoning classification of said lands from R-4 to R-8 in the Meridian City Code, providing that copies of this ordinance shall be filed with the Ada County assessor, the Ada County recorder, and the Idaho State Tax Commission as required by law and providing for a summary of the ordinance and providing for a waiver if the reading of the rules and providing an effective date. Berg: Ordinance 07-1317, an ordinance finding that Darrell -- or Darren Blazer, the owner of certain land -- real property has made a written request for a rezone of the zoning classification for real property being in the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 1, Township 3 North, Range 1 West of, Boise Meridian, Ada County, Idaho, as described in Attachment A of this ordinance and rezone certain lands and territories situated in Ada County, Idaho, and within the corporate limits of the City of Meridian, and rezoning the land use zoning classification of said lands from R-4 to C-C in the Meridian City Code, providing that copies of this ordinance shall be filed with the Ada County assessor, the Ada County recorder, the Idaho State Tax Commission as required by law and providing for a summary of the ordinance and providing for a waiver if the reading of the rules and providing an effective date. Berg: And Ordinance 07-1318, an ordinance amending Title 3, Chapter 5, of the Meridian City Code regarding license fees, section numbering, and providing for a waiver of the reading of the rules and providing an effective date for the pawnbrokers license. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 32 of 33 De Weerd: Thank you, Mr. Berg. You have heard these four ordinances read by title only and it is my duty to ask if there is anyone in the audience who would like to hear any of these four read in their entirety? Okay. Council? Bird: Madam Mayor? De Weerd: Mr. Bird. Bird: I move we approve ordinances 07-1315, 07-1316, 07-1317 and 07-1318 with suspension of rules. Rountree: Second. De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Items 17 through 20. If there is no discussion, Mr. Berg, will you call roll. Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 21: Executive Session per Idaho State Code 67-2345(1)(c) - (to conduct deliberations concerning labor negotiations or to acquire an interest in real property, which is not owned by a public agency) & (f) - (to consider and advise its legal representatives in pending litigation): De Weerd: Okay. Item 21 is an Executive Session. Do I have a motion? Rountree: Madam Mayor, I move we go into Executive Session per Idaho State Code 67-2345(1 )(a),(c) and (f). Bird: Second. De Weerd: Thank you. I have a motion to adjourn into Executive Session. Mr. Berg, will call roll. Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Rountree: I move we come out of Executive Session. Bird: Second. Meridian City Council May 15, 2007 Page 33 of 33 De Weerd: All those in favor say aye. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. De Weerd: Do I have a motion to adjourn? Rountree: So moved. Bird: Second. De Weerd: All those in favor. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. 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