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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-05-05 Regular Meridian City Council May 5, 2026. A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 5, 2026, by Mayor Robert Simison. Members Present: Robert Simison, Luke Cavener, Liz Strader, John Overton, Doug Taylor, Anne Little Roberts and Brian Whitlock. ROLL-CALL ATTENDANCE X Liz Strader X Brian Whitlock Anne Little Roberts _X_ John Overton _X_ Doug Taylor _X_Luke Cavener X Mayor Robert E. Simison Simison: Council, we will call the meeting to order. For the record is May 5th, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. We will begin tonight's regular City Council meeting with roll call attendance. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE LED BY MERIDIAN GIRL SCOUT TROOP 909 Simison: Next item is the Pledge of Allegiance, which tonight will be led by Meridian Girl Scout Troop 909. If you would all, please, rise and join us in pledge and if the troop would like to come forward up to the podium to help lead that. (Pledge of Allegiance recited.) COMMUNITY INVOCATION Simison: Thank you, Troop 909 and Council Woman Strader, for helping to organize that event this evening. Next up will be our community invocation, which tonight will be delivered by Kerry LaFramboise. Hopefully I got that right again. I think I got it right last time, but -- LaFramboise: You did. Simison: If you would all -- if you would all please join us in the community invocation or take this as a moment of silence and reflection. LaFramboise: Lord, we come to you tonight humbly and reverently acknowledging who you are and understanding who we are. You said it here in these verses and in many other places in the Bible that wisdom, knowledge and understanding come from you and tonight these men and women need your wisdom, your knowledge and your understanding not only for the items on the Council agenda tonight, but for every area of government they oversee and are responsible for and in their personal lives. Please grant them what they need, including strength for the job and peace and rest when the job is done. We ask these things in the name of the Lord Jesus, amen. Meridian City Council May 5,2026 Page 2 of 7 ADOPTION OF AGENDA Simison: Next up is adoption of the agenda. Overton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Overton. Overton: There are no changes to tonight's agenda. I move that we adopt it as published. 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: ALLAYES. CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item] 1. Approve Minutes of the April 21, 2026 City Council Work Session 2. Approve Minutes of the April 21, 2026 City Council Regular Meeting 3. Take 5 Overland Water Main Easement No. 1 (ESMT-2026-0097) 4. Newkirk Subdivision No. 1 Water Main Easement (ESMT-2026-0098) 5. Boise Meridian/Trout Development Sanitary Sewer and Water Main Easement (ESMT-2026-0101) 6. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Ledges Business Park (H- 2026-0008), by Sandee Transtrum, Biltmore Co., located at 4120 and 4096 N. Linder Rd. 7. Approve Change Order 4 to FilmTec Corporation for the WRRF Tertiary Filtration Facilities Construction project for the Not-to- Exceed amount of $645,354.00 and authorize Procurement Manager to issue and sign the Purchase Order for the Not-to-Exceed amount of $645,354.00 8. Approve AIA G802-2017 Amendment No.2 dated March 11, 2026 to Cushing Terrell (CTA) for the Not-to-Exceed amount of $304,222.00 for Construction Administration Services for the Meridian Community Center project and authorize Procurement Manager to Meridian City Council May 5,2026 Page 3 of 7 issue and sign the Purchase Order for the Not-to-Exceed amount of $304,222.00 9. Agreement between Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District and City of Meridian for pathway along the Tenmile Drain at Pinedale Subdivision 10. Encroachment Agreement with Northwest Pipeline 11. Full Release of Security Interest in Troutner Business Park Between the City of Meridian and Troutner Business Park Development Corporation 12. Resolution No. 26-2586: A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Meridian, Idaho changing the fee for Liquor, Beer, and Wine license transfers and authorizing the Meridian Finance Department to collect such fees Simison: Up next is the Consent Agenda. Overton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Overton. Overton: No changes to tonight's Consent Agenda. I move that we approve the Consent Agenda, for the Mayor to sign, the Clerk to attest. Little Roberts: Second. Simison: Have a motion and a second to approve the Consent Agenda. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay? The ayes have it and Consent Agenda is agreed to. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. ITEMS MOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item] Simison: There are no items moved from the Consent Agenda. PUBLIC FORUM Simison: So, Mr. Clerk, anyone signed up under public forum? Johnson: Mr. Mayor, nobody signed up. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RECOGNITION Meridian City Council May 5,2026 Page 4 of 7 Simison: Okay. Then with that we will move on to announcements and recognition. Council, any announcements or recognition items? Council Woman Strader. Strader: Thank you. I just wanted to welcome Girl Scout Troop 909 to our City Council meeting. They are working on their Democracy for Cadets badge and we just thought it would be a really fun experience for them to see how local government works and would -- just an open invitation to anyone on the Council or the Mayor that wants to meet. I know we have a very short meeting and they would love to ask you their questions and meet you after the meeting. Thank you. Simison: Thank you. Council, any other announcements or items? PROCLAMATIONS 13. ALS Awareness Month Proclamation Simison: Okay. Then with that we will move on to our three proclamations for the evening and the first one will be our proclamation for ALS month. So, if Linda and anybody else would like to join us at the podium. Okay. Hello. There we go. Thank you, Chris. All right. Sorry for that delay. As I mentioned, our first proclamation is for ALS Awareness Month and I thought I would bring down my water bottle for those that may or may not be familiar with -- I'm a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and so Lou Gehrig's disease and ALS has always been something that's been very relevant to my upbringing since college through that and so when I got a new water bottle I only put one sticker on it and this is the one that I put on it., So in case I get thirsty, but the same time to note that, you know, this is personal for me in a different way. But with that I'm going to read a proclamation and turn it over for any words or comments you all would like to make, so -- whereas Amyotrophic Lateral Stenosis, also commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease is a progressive fatal neurodegenerative disease in which a person's brain loses connection with their muscles slowly reducing a person's ability to walk, talk eat and eventually breathe and whereas thousands of new ALS cases are reported every year and estimates show that every 90 minutes someone is diagnosed with ALS and someone passes away from ALS and whereas the ALS Association is the largest philanthropic funder of ALS research globally and is committed to accelerating the pace of discovery filled by the hope that one day ALS will be a livable disease for everyone everywhere until a cure can be found and whereas clinical trials play a pivotal role in evaluating new treatments, enhancing quality of life and fostering assistive technologies for those living with ALS and whereas ALS Awareness Month provides an opportunity to increase public awareness of the dire circumstances of people living with ALS, acknowledge the terrible impact this disease has on those individuals and their families and support research to eradicate the disease. Therefore, I'm, Mayor Robert E Simison, hereby proclaim May 2026 is ALS Awareness Month in the City of Meridian and call upon all our citizens to join in supporting ALS research, advocating for increased funding and standing in solidarity with those affected by this relentless disease, dated this 5th day of May 2026. So, on behalf of the City of Meridian I would Meridian City Council May 5,2026 Page 5 of 7 like to present this proclamation to you all and invite you to make any comments you would like to make. And if you don't want to make comments that is that's perfectly fine. Linda: Okay. Thank you. Simison: Well, if you -- do you want to take a picture and we can do that if that works. 14. Idaho Gives Proclamation Simison: Okay. Evin, you want to come up for the next proclamation? Okay. Next up is the proclamation for Idaho Gives Week, which we are already enjoying the benefits of, so we will give it up to you -- you are more than welcome to come over. I won't bite you, I promise. Whereas nonprofit organizations help build and sustain healthy communities in our state, enhance the quality of life for Idahoans and for others throughout the country and the world and whereas over 7,000 charitable nonprofit organizations based in Idaho contribute significantly to our economy by providing services to our communities, employing over 79,000 Idahoans and producing total revenue of over 10.3 billion and whereas nonprofit organizations often fulfill their missions by advocating on behalf of those who cannot advocate for themselves and whereas Idaho's nonprofit leaders often are entrepreneurs, create new solutions to problems and fill previously unmet needs in the areas of health, recreation, education, research, arts, social services and more and whereas Idaho Gives Week services a time for Idahoans to join together with one voice on one day to contribute to and amplify the efforts of Idaho nonprofits. Therefore, I'm Mayor Robert E. Simison do hereby proclaim May 4th through 7th, 2026, as Idaho Gives Week in the City of Meridian, encourage all citizens and residents to continue to recognize and support the many nonprofit organizations that help in our community, dated this 5th day of May 2026. On behalf of the City of Meridian we would like to present you with this proclamation and invite you to make any comments you would like to make. Bask: Thank you. Hi, everybody. My name is Evin Bask with the Idaho Community Foundation. I think this proclamation sums it up pretty well. But Idaho Gives is a statewide giving campaign May 4th through the 7th, idahogives.org. Our goal this year is six million collectively raised from 20,000 individuals and right now we are at about 2.5. But as this proclamation mentions, you know, nonprofits are really the backbone of our communities, whether it's the hospitals we are born, the after school programs, like Girl Scouts that our kids go to, the arts that we are enjoying on the weekend or the ski hills we are going to in the winter, nonprofits are really here to support all community members. So, idahogives.org, great opportunity to show your favorite nonprofit some love and support them May 4th through the 7th. Thank you. We have our regional council member and a nonprofit leader here with us. 15. Building Safety Month Proclamation Simison: And last, but not least, our proclamation for Building Safety Month of -- it looks like that Dave and Sam here tonight and, you know, it's -- and a lot of ways it's kind of Meridian City Council May 5,2026 Page 6 of 7 fitting. Today we held a groundbreaking ceremony for one of our newest larger projects going on in Meridian and so this will be the fourth proclamation of the day and it kind of circles back around to where that's at, so whereas Built to Last, the theme for Building Safety Month 2026 encourages us all to get involved and raise awareness about building safety on a personal, local and global scale and whereas Building Safety Month acknowledges the essential service provided to all of us by local, state, tribal, territorial and federal building safety and fire prevention departments and protecting the lives and property and whereas our confidence and the resilience of these buildings that make up our community is achieved through the devotion of vigilant guardians, building safety and fire prevention officials, architects, engineers, builders, trades people, design professionals, laborers, plumbers and others in the construction industry who work year round to ensure the safe construction of buildings. And whereas the modern building codes are resilient and include safeguards to protect the public from natural hazards, such as snow storms, wildfires, floods and earthquakes and whereas the City of Meridian is committed to recognizing that our growth and strength depends on the safety and essential role homes, buildings and infrastructure play, both in everyday life and when disasters strike. Therefore, I, Mayor Robert E. Simison proclaim the month of May 2026 as Building Safety Month in the City of Meridian. Encourage all citizens to join us as we participate in Building Safety Month activities and recognize those that help us strengthen our community and to practice in the buildings where we live, work, and raise our families, dated this 5th day of May 2026. So, on behalf of the City of Meridian I present this proclamation to Dave, Sam, whoever would like it and invite one or both of you to come up for comments. Miles: Well, it's 6.18. 1 promise I won't go past 7.32. But I did just want to take a few minutes to -- to get some words out, because I -- I don't think our staff hear it enough and I want to make sure Mayor and Council you are aware of the words that we receive. Someone today offered me thanks for the work that the department does and, really, that's an acknowledgement of people like Sam and everybody in our building department and so I think they don't hear it enough and we do regular customer surveys through our permitting process, everybody gets a chance to give us feedback and I will tell you that generally the feedback we hear is 98 percent positive feedback and I thought it would be fun just to share a couple of the points that people -- we get to read and I get to share with staff sometimes. Always a good time with the group. Appreciate you guys. This one went smooth. Thank you. Everybody was very very helpful. Everything was top notch. Everyone I work with is great. Exclamation point. Exclamation point. And, finally, I felt like your team did an excellent job. I deal with many different jurisdictions where it can be very difficult to accomplish even simple tasks. In my opinion the City of Meridian is doing excellent. So, I just wanted to say thank you to the Mayor and Council for acknowledging us and, more importantly, to our staff that do the work every day. They are the ones making sure that your buildings in your community are safe and that they are able to be occupied by people and I really appreciate the work that you all do. So, thank you. Any words? Zahorka: Just --just really quickly. You can -- you can check out Building Safety Month on ICC's website. But ultimately for 46 years Building Safety Month has reinforced the Meridian City Council May 5,2026 Page 7 of 7 need for the adoption of modern updated building codes and -- and helps individuals, families, businesses understand what it takes to create safe and sustainable structures. So, it's -- it's really about safe structures. There is -- there is four themes throughout May. Safe homes, strong communities week one. Week two voices of the built environment. And week three prepared to protect. And last communities without limits. So, I encourage you to check it out. Thank you. FUTURE MEETING TOPICS Simison: Council, anything under our future meeting topics? Or do I have a motion? Overton: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Overton. Overton: I move that we adjourn. Little Roberts: Second. Simison: Motion and second to adjourn. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay? The ayes have it. We are adjourned. And say thank you, Council, for coming down and helping us honor those tonight with these proclamations and other recognition. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 6.18 P.M. (AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS) MAYOR ROBERT SIMISON 5-19-2026 ATTEST: CHRIS JOHNSON - CITY CLERK 5-19-2026