HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009 08-25Meridian City Council Meeting August 25, 2009
A meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 7:10 p.m., Tuesday,
August 25, 2009, by Mayor Tammy de Weerd.
Members Present: Mayor Tammy de Weerd, Charlie Rountree, Keith Bird, Brad
Hoaglun, and David Zaremba.
Others Present: Bill Nary, Jaycee Holman, Anna Canning, Caleb Hood, Tom Bany,
Sonya Wafters, Keith Watts, John Overton, Mark Niemeyer and Dean Willis.
Item 1: Roll-call Attendance:
Roll call.
X David Zaremba X Brad Hoaglun
X Charlie Rountree X Keith Bird
X Mayor Tammy de Weerd
De Weerd: I'll go ahead and launch into our regular agenda meeting and for the record
it is Tuesday, August 25th. It's 7:10. We will start tonight's regular agenda with roll call
attendance.
Item 2: Pledge of Allegiance & Flag Ceremony with Boy Scout Troop # 600,
Autumn Faire Ward:
De Weerd: Item No. 2 is our Pledge of Allegiance and we have the privilege to have the
Boy Scout Troop 600 with the Autumn Faire Ward. They are here to eam their citizen
merit badge and duty to God. We appreciate you joining us and they will present our
colors and lead us in the pledge. If you will all rise.
(Pledge of Allegiance recited.)
De Weerd: I would like to ask the young men to, please, come forward and I will
present to you a City of Meridian pin. We do appreciate being joined by our Boy
Scouts, our future leaders, and -- and today's leaders as well. So, that's one of the
highlights of our evening. It doesn't mean that our meetings are boring, but we do look
forward to seeing the youth of our community.
Item 3: Community Invocation by Steve Moore with Ten Mile Christian
Church:
De Weerd: Item No. 3 is our community invocation. Tonight we will be led by Pastor
Steve Moore with Ten Mile Christian. If you will all join us in the community invocation
or take this as an opportunity for a moment of reflection.
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August 25, 2009
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Moore: Dear God, we have so much to be grateful for. Our pledge these young men
led us in reminds us of that and we thank you for those who have put their lives in
harm's way, given their lives to preserve what we have. We thank you for our local
police force and the protection, our fire department that they give us, and the way of life
that we have. We tend to take so much for granted and it's a very good thing that as a
community and this meeting its very purpose is to promote the wonderful life that we
have here in Meridian, that we draw aside for a moment to express our gratitude for
you. We thank you for the every day things, like -- that we have in this community. It's
a beautiful evening here in Idaho and it's not humid and our air is clean. I pray, God,
that you would remind us through daily life how blessed we are. I thank you that we are
getting our interchange and I think of that, that so many have worked for that to improve
our community and that you would protect the workers out there and everyone would be
safe and that these kinds of things enhance our community. God, I think of those in our
community that are mixed up, that are selling drugs and doing violent crimes, I pray that
somehow through decisions that are made here by the Council, by those of us in just
every day life that we might somehow influence them and they would see how much
you love them and that there is another option for them. Last tonight, God, really, for
the purpose that this meeting is, I pray for these who will make decisions. I pray that
you would bless their homes and their lives. Thank you for the time that they commit,
for all of the employees of our city, for those that volunteer, I pray that this meeting will,
indeed, honor you and that things that are decided would be for the benefit of this
community. Direct all that happens in Jesus' name, amen.
De Weerd: Thank you, Pastor Moore. We appreciate you being here. I think this is the
first time you have been here since you opened your church.
Moore: I think the second, but --
De Weerd: Oh. Second. Well, I hope you're doing well.
Moore: We are.
De Weerd: I hear good things.
Moore: Thank you.
Item 4: Adoption of the Agenda:
De Weerd: Thank you. Item No. 4 is adoption of the agenda.
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Zaremba.
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August 25, 2009
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Zaremba: There are, actually, no changes to the agenda, although I would mention that
Item 8 is, in fact, a public hearing. That may not be clear from the agenda. That's not a
change, but it is a public hearing. And with that I move we adopt the agenda.
Hoaglun: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to adopt the agenda as published. All those
in favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 5: Consent Agenda:
A. Approve Minutes of July 2, 2009 Special Budget Workshop
Meeting:
B. Facility Use and Indemnity Agreement between Cyanergy and
the City of Meridian for Nutrient Removal and Algae Growth
Project at the City of Meridian Wastewater Treatment Plant:
C. Acceptance Agreement with Clay Simons for Display of
Artwork in Initial Point Gallery:
D. Order for Time Extension Request for One Year Development
Agreement for Shops at Victory:
E. Revised Proposal from Nampa Paving Bz Asphalt Co. for ACHD
2009 Federal Overlay Project to Adjust 22 Valve Boxes, 2 Blow
Offs and Place Concrete Collars over the Roadway for
$8,700.00:
F. Acceptance Agreement with Julie Clemons for Display of
Artwork in Initial Point Gallery:
De Weerd: Item 5 is our Consent Agenda.
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: I move that we approve the Consent Agenda as published and for the Mayor
to sign and the Clerk to attest.
Hoaglun: Second.
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August 25, 2009
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De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve the Consent Agenda. If there is
no discussion, Council, roll call, please.
Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Hoaglun, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carves.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 6: Department Reports:
A. Planning Department:
1. Review and Discuss Draft List of Priority Transportation
Projects compiled of the most needed roadway and
intersection improvements in Meridian:
De Weerd: Item No. 6 under Department Reports we have the Planning Department.
will turn this over to you, Caleb.
Hood: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. It doesn't seem like it's
been a week already, but I was here last week and should have received in your mail
boxes color copies of what's on the overhead projector regarding the draft roadway and
intersection priorities for the city as drafted by the transportation task force. I don't know
that I need to go into much of a presentation, but, hopefully, you received both the e-
mail and a hard copy and have time to review them. Maybe just a couple of quick
refresher points. There are three lists. You have the ACRD list, the ITD list, and, then,
the community programs project list. That last list we will be bringing back to you after
our next transportation task force meeting, which will be September 3rd. So, that third
Tuesday workshop we will also be discussing or presenting the safe routes to schools,
gaps in sidewalks, pathways, priority lists with you all. But this evening just would like to
get some feedback from the Council on the draft ACHD and ITD priorities, again, as
drafted by the transportation task force and, Madam Mayor, I may follow up. You had a
question or a concern last time and you asked me to follow up with ACHD staff
regarding one project that doesn't show up in the list currently and that's the Ten Mile
Franklin to Cherry project, including the intersection at Franklin and Ten Mile. And I did
talk to ACHD staff and they said it is on their 90 day bid list and it is in their fiscal year
'10 budget, which the current priorities are for'11 to '15. So, in the next fiscal year. So,
unless something catastrophic happens that project should be constructed in '10 and
they were okay with us not having that project on the list, understanding that it is still a
priority project for the city, but not having to have it remain on this list and use points
towards it there. So, we will call that project out still in our narrative to them with that
same understanding, but follow up with them on that.
De Weerd: Thank you.
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August 25, 2009
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Hood: And, then, one other thing that I didn't get to last time and you can see it,
actually, on the overhead right now is project number three. The task force didn't make
an official action on this, but we did discuss it for quite some time and it's regarding the
Overland, Ten Mile to Linder project. As you know -- and, actually, last week Phil Hull
from The Land Group was here to talk about landscaping. That landscaping that he
was here to talk about is regard to that project. As he mentioned, the north side of that
project for about a half mile will not be fully improved, because the right of way is not
there yet to complete that project. But there is a project for that road widening and we --
all these that the task force -- even though, again, it wasn't an official action -- do
believe that the improvement is substantial enough and will hold over, if you will, well
enough that maybe another project should move up a little bit and take the place, rather
than finishing off. Essentially, all that's needed is your curb, gutter, sidewalk and the
landscaping on the north side. So, up to you, but there is a project that's moving
forward under the developer's cooperative for that project. So, I don't want to say we
would be wasting our points, but maybe our points could be better spent on another
project. Again, just looking for further direction to report back to the transportation task
force as we look to finalize this list. This list will be, then, modified and massaged
further and brought back to you again that third Tuesday in September, so, hopefully,
you have had a chance to review and I am ready to take any notes you may have for
me.
De Weerd: Thank you, Caleb. Any comments, questions from Council? Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: Madam Mayor. Caleb, I have a couple of concerns and a project that I
haven't found and it may already be on a current list, but on ACHD roadways, it shows
the Ten Mile, Cherry to Ustick and that's a 2014 project. That also incorporates the
Ustick and Ten Mile intersection. My concern is is that when Ten Mile interchange
opens in 2011 late or early 2012, that's not going to work. That intersection is going to
immediately become the problem that we had at Meridian and Ustick, because it's going
to become the way most of those folks in that part of town and a good number of folks in
Canyon county find their way to the Ten Mile interchange. I believe we are going to
have the same thing happen on Cherry and Black Cat. That intersection is not even in
a program that I can find. It's an intersection that is difficult to navigate. It's not
signalized. You have two legs that are five lanes and you have two legs that are four,
but they are kind of quasi -- four and ahalf -- I mean people are on the shoulders and
every where out there, so -- and on numerous times of the day you have all those lanes
full and it's really confusing on whose turn it is next, not being signalized. So, I think to
me that's a project that needs to be added. Or if it's on another program, I'd like to see
it identified. I'm confused about some of the ACHD intersection rebuilds, considering
we have some intersections that are not even signalized at this point and they are
talking about rebuilding intersections that may have a temporary signal, but seem to be
working fine and the roadway segments that abut those intersection improvements are
not on the program. So, why are we looking at a rebuild of an intersection until we can
phase in the rebuild of the adjoining roadways. Case in point is the Meridian and
Ustick, there is a note here that there has been improvements on -- on segments of
that, as there has been. There is also a project on here from Chevy to Ustick on -- on
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August 25, 2009
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Meridian for an improvement. It's already three lanes through there. I know we
anticipate five, but I don't see why it has priority over some of the projects that need to
be done that are only two lanes. So, I'm confused as to the prioritization, I'm confused
about some of these projects that you have talked about. On the ITD state project, I
know we probably can't effect those orders, but I would like to see us, along with the
philosophy that you guys came up with about getting things done and -- before we start
piecemealing other projects, I'd like to see Eagle Road done. I'd like to see those
improvements done before we get underway with State Highway 16. I'm not sure I'm
excited about not keeping Overland on the program. I'd like to see it stay where it is. I'd
like to see it done. I'd Like to see Franklin done. I firmly believe in what you have
talked about on Ustick, but I believe that that portion of Ustick from Cloverdale west is
probably going to be very difficult. If the difficulties are such that that project can't
advance, I would like to put forth the idea of moving from Eagle west in Meridian where
those folks in that part of town can access Eagle Road where they want to go to a
Meridian interchange or an Eagle interchange or a Ten Mile interchange and utilize
Ustick. And I believe that that probably can be accomplished a lot easier than that three
mile segment from Cloverdale west. That would certainly benefit our citizens. And I
believe that we should -- even though a good portion of it's in Boise, I do believe we
need to get Franklin done from Cloverdale to Meadow Lake. I'm not sure that I can
agree that we keep 3rd Street on our program, other than for planning purposes. I don't
know that we should waste any points on that. And if I have missed one of my notes I
will be back at you.
De Weerd: Thank you, Council Rountree. Any other comments?
Hoaglun: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: I just want to be sure I understand this, Caleb, for -- for that Ten Mile area.
Councilman Rountree is absolutely correct, that -- when that interchange opens that
thing is -- the people from Star, Emmett, Middleton, northern Canyon county areas,
that's going to be their closest and quickest access to the freeway and that's the way it's
going to be. So, I just want to be sure I understand what you had told the Mayor earlier,
that the Franklin -Ten Mile intersection is included with the Ten Mile, Franklin to Cherry
project and that's for 2010 and, then, the intersection, Ten Mile -- or the roadway,
number five under A, Ten Mile, Cherry to Ustick, that would not be until 2014 is what
they have planned at that time frame?
Hood: Correct.
Hoaglun: Okay. Well, I'm the same as Councilman Rountree, we will definitely have to
have that moved up somehow some way. That's -- that will be just a bottleneck and it
will just be a constant frustration for everybody with these -- with these roads. But I also
agree with Councilman Rountree that Cherry and Black Cat is very confusing. If you
have driven that, that -- somehow we need to get that moved up there. Since I'm on this
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August 25, 2009
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page, before I move to the next page, East 3rd Street connection, I still think we need to
keep that in front of them somehow, whether we assign points or refer to it in the letter,
that that is a project that we are interested in and we know there is some obstacles
there and some property and different things that we have to do, but I think long term
that is going to be part of a solution or necessary part of traffic flow through Meridian in
the long term. Under D, State Highway 16 extension, ITD. And funding. This -- this
gets to be a serious situation with the lack of funding and we don't know when that's
going to be resolved. I don't know if we should have that there. I'm just not overly
optimistic that that's going to be a project that will be moving forward anytime soon.
Just my thoughts on that for what it's worth. On the transportation task force
recommending Eagle, Victory to Ridenbaugh continue to be the highest -- city's highest
priority project, I agree, I think those folks have waited a long time for something to
happen out there. We need to help make that happen. I also agree with the narrative
on -- that you had talked about on that Ten Mile -Franklin intersection up to Cheny
Lane. And, then, my notes on the Ten Mile. So, those are my thoughts on that, Caleb.
But did you have any questions for me? I kind of went through that quick and maybe
convoluted, but --
Hood: No. I think I got them and Dean's here to take minutes in case I missed
something. I will make sure I review all of the comments before I make the changes.
De Weerd: Any other comments from Council?
Rountree: ,Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: I did find one more and, Caleb, it's in the bright yellow on your last page of
the new projects and it has the Black Cat and Franklin intersection improvement. One
of the notes it says it does not meet the warrants -- doesn't meet the warrants for a
signal. I don't know if that's been modeled with the Ten Mile interchange open, but I'm
betting that Canyon county is going to break the bank on that one once that interchange
is opened up. So, I think that might be a true statement if the model's been done. The
modeling's not been done on the traffic on that one. That could become a bad one as
well.
Hood: Madam Mayor, Councilmen, Councilman Rountree, I had asked a similar
question, because when you look at the technical criteria all around the new Ten Mile
interchange, they do not assume the Ten Mile interchange and a lot of those things.
So, we are next year going to see a bunch of their criteria, things are going to --
depending on how people drive it, we are going to see some new intersections for sure.
I do have notes of your -- I mean comments that tells you some of these -- at least
intersections, if we can't widen the roadway, you better take care of some of the nearby
intersections, anyways, first. But, no, they don't -- they don't assume that Ten Mile is
there when they do the scoring and ranking of their technical criteria for this year. So,
we will have to -- there is some lag time there and we will see that next year or the
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August 25, 2009
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following year, maybe even, depending on when they do that technical analysis. But,
no, that's not included and a good point.
De Weerd: Council, thank you for your comments. Mr. Zaremba, did you have
something to add?
Zaremba: Madam Mayor, I would just -- I know it's been said, but to chime in, when that
Ten Mile interchange opens, the whole nature of Ten Mile Road is going to change and
if -- if ACHD is not doing the intersection projects, such as Ustick and Ten Mile -- if we
think of how Ustick and Linder has been boxed up -- bollixed up by the improvements
that they have been making there and I certainly appreciate the improvements, but if we
wait on Ten Mile and Ustick until the interchange is actually operating, I don't see how
they can do with that intersection what they did with Ustick and Linder. They will have
to close the intersection at certain points and that's too late.
Hood: Madam Mayor? Can I ask, then, does the Council feel comfortable with moving
-- taking that -- because that isn't -- because that intersection is included with the
roadway widening project currently, I think we have a better shot at getting that
intersection maybe programmed '10 or '11. '10's pretty tight, I know, at ACHD, but
maybe '11, which will be real close, they can maybe do it the first part of '11 and, then, it
should be done right around when the interchange is scheduled to open. We probably
have a better shot of maybe getting that intersection in or one of those intersections in
in '11 versus a full mile and an intersection in the project. So, do you want me to leap
frog some of these other ones with making that our number one new intersection being
Ten Mile -Cherry or is there one on black -- like Black Cat -Franklin that you think is
more important or -- I guess I'm looking for some direction there. I hear you, just don't
know -- when we get down to the -- to the details of this kind of where would you like --
astarting point for us to kind of see where that kind of falls out or do you want to have
the task force hash that out?
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: Depends on the perspective you view those two. The Black Cat and Cheny
intersection to me is a safety issue and it's a safety issue now. I have not seen any
numbers and I don't know if Lieutenant Overton can relate any significant accident data
at this point on that location, but that might be something they want to look into. At the
Ten Mile and Ustick it's just going to be a bottleneck. I mean no turning movements are
accommodated. It's just a plain old rural four lane intersection.
Barry: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Tom.
Meridian City Council
August 25, 2009
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Bany: On behalf of Public Works I would just like to express our concern and support
for moving forward the section of Ten Mile Road widening and improvements between
Cherry and Ustick. Certainly that corridor is an important corridor for us as it relates to
our backbone of our reclaimed waterline system #hat is ultimately going to serve the Ten
Mile interchange. So, I'm coordinating that with ACHD's other projects in a time frame
that allows for the utilization of that resource down at the Ten Mile interchange would
benefit us both in the landscaping of Ten Mile interchange and certainly with potential
development that might have a use for that source of water. So, that may be one other
thing to think about in the coordination of this. I know you have other priorities to -- to
include, but that would be one thing we would be supportive of.
Hoaglun: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: One more for Caleb I found in my notes that -- I think it's listed at number
nine, Linder Road, Ustick to McMillan. You know, we are doing that intersection
improvement at Ustick and Linder, which is great, it's going to be wonderful. They are
almost getting done. But with Sawtooth Elementary -- or Sawtooth Middle School there
and there is still lack of access, we were able to get them across the road, but now they
are back on the road to get to the schools. So, that is something -- if there is safe
school money for those roadways and whatnot, boy, that's -- that's something that we
need. But there is a lot of priorities, but those school kids still don't have away to -- to --
like Isaid, we got them across the intersection now, but there is still no easy way to get
to the school.
Hood: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Hood: Council Members, Council Member Hoaglun, I will let you know there are
actually four separate projects between Sawtooth -- McMillan, even -- McMillan,
Sawtooth, and Tully Park, including that intersection. That intersection is one of the
projects. There are two HAWK signals -- two pedestrian signals to get pedestrians a
continuous system from, again, McMillan all the way down to the park. Now, they do
have to cross over -- they have to cross over Linder due to a huge canal on the east
side of the roadway, but there will be a continuous system this fall. I don't know that
they will have it done next week when school starts, but it will be -- it will be real close
anyways. They are in final design right now. Some of those --one of those projects are
being performed by ACRD maintenance -- maintenance forces, so that will be
something that they -- they will be using vehicle registration fees and, then, the other
two HAWK signals, again, are scheduled to go in later this fall. So, it doesn't help with
roadway capacity, but for children and safe routes type things, I am working with them
to make sure that those projects get in as soon as possible, so the kids that do have to
traverse by foot or bike or whatever have a safe route anyways.
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August 25, 2009
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De Weerd: And safety busing will still commence until those improvements are done.
So, they will start the school year with emergency busing.
Hoaglun: Great. That's good to know. Thank you, Caleb.
Hood: Madam Mayor, can Ijust -- I want to summarize just real quick and, then, maybe
ask a couple of follow-up questions for our next meeting. I guess as a summary, three
things that really -- one of the things that I asked for in my memo was, basically, a cover
letter for this -- this highway district, what would you like to kind of call out as -- you
know, where is our list -- attached our list of priorities. Please consider the following
things. I guess a couple of things -- and I just need some affirmation, I guess, that I
heard you correctly, but definitely I think we just -- as a general comment say things
around the Ten Mile interchange are going to blow up -- and I will use a more technical
term than that, but, please, consider where ever you can to improve intersections, widen
roadways, do whatever kind of around this area. The second one would be 3rd Street.
Just to call that out in our narrative saying it's still on the city's radar. Yeah, 'it's not in
our top five, but it still is something that the city would like to see. I know there is some
discussion about where that should be, but maybe that's an appropriate place for 3rd
Street is to call it out in our narrative. The third one that I heard was -- 3rd Street. Ten
Mile. And, then, the rebuilds of intersections being a lower priority than new
intersections. So, improve your four way stop controlled intersections first and get those
up and running before you rebuild currently signalized intersections. So, maybe it's not
five and five project, but you do eight new intersections and maybe one or two rebuilds.
I don't know how all that plays out. There is certainly some balancing of dollars and
things, but we could call that out in our narrative, saying we still have a lot of stop
controlled intersections and we'd like to see you spend a majority of your funds on new
intersections, versus rebuilds. So, I'll work on some language. I don't know if there is
anymore comments on that, but maybe that could be some of our -- again, our cover
sheet to the highway district after we thank them for considering our applications and
things is to maybe make some of those comments, too. So, is there anything else along
those lines or different lines that you want to maybe have me include in a draft narrative
to ACHD?
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: Caleb, I agree with what you have summarized. I would add when you talk
about the Ten Mile from Overland to Franklin, emphasize how much we appreciate that
they are doing that with the interchange improvements. So, when it opens there is a
good facility in place and it does -- it's going to be an inconvenience while it's being
built, but it will open up done. Not only the interchange, but the roadway improvements.
And even having said that, I know they are concerned about, well, we programmed that
and we just delivered that, now you want more on Ten Mile. Well, I guess our priorities
ought to be congestion improvement and safety improvements and if rebuilds of
intersections need to slide, how they are functioning needs to be compared to how
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August 25, 2009
Page 11 of 25
these other intersections that are not signalized are functioning and maybe it's not a full
rebuild at some of these rural intersections. The Ten Mile light on Franklin has made a
tremendous improvement in traffic movement. It's really eliminated a lot of delay. And
that, I think, was just a reuse of equipment they probably had in a yard somewhere. I
know it's not inexpensive, but it's a lot less expensive than putting in a multi-lane, multi-
phase signal operation. Some of those prioritized projects don't necessarily have to be
in the form of a -- in my opinion a final project. Something that relieves what we
anticipate is going to happen out there. But don't forget to thank them for what we have
got, because we really do appreciate it.
De Weerd: And just one last thing that is important. As they work with it, we would love
to have a joint meeting to discuss it if -- if they fiddle with our list at all.
Rountree: Yes.
De Weerd: I ,think it is more important that that is one face-to-face conversation we
need to have. Council, I appreciate the dialogue on this and I'm sure you will see a
summary and a draft letter -- by when, Caleb?
Hood: It will be at least a week before. Mid September sometime. A few weeks
anyways.
Item 2: Discussion in Response to City of Kuna Proposed
Annexations in Meridian Area of Impact:
De Weerd: Okay. Thank you. Okay. The next item. Anna.
Canning: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, in your -- probably on your desks
tonight you have received a copy of a letter for staff -- that staff has prepared for Mayor
and Council's signature with regard to several annexations that are before the city of
Kuna Planning and Zoning Commission later this week. The subject -- or the -- the
content of the letter mimics the conversations we have had for the last two years. This
one focuses on the impacts of City of Meridian services and particularly the overlap and
planning areas and facility planning within there. And, then, one of the --anew issue
that we are raising is that in regard to fairness to property owners, because the decision
by the city of Kuna with regard to these five properties that want to annex will affect the
ability of approximately 25 other people to be able to annex into the City of Meridian. It
will effectively block the annexation path for those properties. We would like to have the
Mayor and Council sign this, so we can get it off this week. This is before the Planning
and Zoning Commission. If there are changes you'd like to see or a different tone in the
letter that goes up to city council, we can redraft a letter for them or provide a different
tone. Whatever is the pleasure of the Mayor and Council.
De Weerd: Anna, I think we need to give planning and zoning a different tone and --
and I do think that what -- what is not stated in here is kind of the philosophy of growth
and the areas that are being referenced, they are smack in the middle of Kuna and
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August 25, 2009
Page 12 of 25
Meridian. They are going to a growth location without a home, without an identify, and,
essentially, what they are doing -- our fire district's going to have -- will be serving it and
it pulls the -- this is sprawl and it goes against the whole basis of why we want to grow
from the inside out, is it really stretches services and it causes inefficiencies, it causes
extra expense, and it is what those impacts are going to have on our roads, on our
police and fire -- or in particular our fire and stretching very limited resources. So, with
that said, there needs to be an understanding that response times will be different than
in urban areas that are better placed. I don't know how best to say it, but we need to go
-- this is more than just sewer and they have really focused on the sewer. It is more
than just sewer. There is a whole lot of other services that -- that urban development
demands that are not being considered. Council, any other comments?
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: I'd just like to confirm that 25 property owners -- much more than 25
individuals -- have been contacted, know that their name will be in this letter, because I
would not want my name in the letter if I disagreed with what's in the letter. So, that I
think needs to be investigated and confirmed that they are okay with that. Otherwise,
you just call out a number of folks for a number of property owners, as opposed to each
individual one. And, then, in the last line before the closing sentence, I would add
something about we cannot do so at the expense of our community's established
values, planning, and investment in infrastructure and I think those are important and
we have done alot -- we have spent a lot of time and energy since the early to mid '90s
planning for that area and planning -- master planning that area for all sorts of things,
from recreation to sewer and water. We were probably the only folks that encompassed
that area that have completed that and probably done it several times and will be doing
it some more. But I don't know that Kuna has -- has a master plan complete for any of
this area in terms of development, other than it's a -- it's a finger out from the core of
their community and an opportunity to get some more annexed to help pay for their
wastewater facility. As far as tone, I'm not sure if tone's going to matter one way or
another. But, yeah, I guess you can butter it up some.
De Weerd: I don't think it's buttering it up. We are sending it to a citizen's commission
and we need to remember that. These are not the elected officials that kind of got us
here in the first place and so I do think that it needs to have a tone that's appropriate.
And I guess, Anna, we look at it from our end of it. What I try and do also is look at it
from a citizen's perspective and they utilize the sheriff department resources for -- to do
their law enforcement. I just wonder if their existing citizens know what development in
that area is going to pull from their core that -- that service pull its -- I don't think we can
understate the importance of what that is going to do to impact not only our citizens, but
their citizens as well. Or maybe to them more importantly their citizens. Any other
comments from Council?
Meridian City Council
August 25, 2009
Page 13 of 25
Canning: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, obviously, these aren't little tweaks
we are talking about. Would you like me to sent it out to everyone? How would you like
to proceed from here?
De Weerd: Yes. If you would write -- if you would make it -- a-mail it out and ask for --
when is the meeting?
Canning: Thursday.
De Weerd: By the end of the day tomorrow we can a-mail it and fax it and maybe even
need to hand deliver copies on Thursday for the meeting.
Canning: We will do that.
De Weerd: So, Council, the changes will be out tomorrow. Ask for your immediate
turnaround of any comments if you have some.
Bird: Thank you.
Zaremba: Just --
De Weerd: Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: Two things. I would be able to come by here to sign a copy. That's not a
problem. The second is a question on what is actually our objective. They are actually
meeting on applications that have been made to them by developers. Is that our goal
that those developers should have asked Meridian, instead of Kuna? Is that what we
are -- is that what our end goal is?
Canning: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, Council Member Zaremba is looking
at me, I guess I will take a stab at this. But, you know, the goal was when we
established the area of city impact, is that that was -- we were planning on that being
City of Meridian. So, obviously, there is not an annexation path at this time, so our goal
is to ask the city of Kuna to pause and not annex them at this time and wait until an
appropriate time to have those discussions, but we do believe it should be in the City of
Meridian.
Zaremba: So, if the developers wanted to do their developments now, they would have
to apply to Meridian instead, but we don't have city limits close enough to where they
want to work; is that the problem?
Canning: Correct.
Zaremba: Yeah.
Meridian City Council
August 25, 2009
Page 14 of 25
Canning: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, Council Member Zaremba, it doesn't
appear that -- that the folks want to move forward too quickly. One of them does have a
preliminary plat with the annexation request, but one wonders how far that preliminary
plat will go given current inventory -- excess inventory in similar size lots.
Zaremba: Thank you.
De Weerd: So, I guess Anna's comment -- we ask them to pause and, you know, see
how things start to unfold over the next -- over the months to come and see what our
public works directors can do and further discussion for that area. I think if there is no
rush and -- and because of the market I don't think there is a rush, we would like to have
that time to continue to work together and see what we can come up with -- or not
continue to work together, but begin to work better together. Okay.
Canning: Madam Mayor, I assume you want that incorporated in the letter?
De Weerd: Yes.
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: Given that opportunity, if it's e-mailed or sent out to us in some fashion, I
would suggest that the bottom line is that you're authorized to sign the letter at the close
of business tomorrow, whether you hear from us or not.
De Weerd: Yeah. Ideally I think it would be good if -- if all five of us could sign, but if
that's not possible we can certainly do that, too.
Bird: I'd have no problem with that.
Canning: We'll make two different versions.
De Weerd: Okay.
Rountree: With and without.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Hoaglun: That could be dangerous.
Item 7: Items Moved from Consent Agenda:
De Weerd: There were no items moved from the Consent Agenda.
Meridian City Council
August 25, 2009
Page 15 of 25
Item 8: AP 09-002 Request for City Council Review of the Planning Director's
decision on the application of UDC provisions and design guidelines for
Paramount Elementary School Portable Classroom Structure by
Hutchinson Smith Architects - 550 W. Producer Drive:
De Weerd: We will move to Item 8, which is a public hearing an AP 09-002. We will
open these public -- this public hearing with staff comments.
Wafters: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. The applicant for the
next application before you, Hutchinson Smith Architects, on behalf of the Joint School
District No. 2, submitted an application for certificate of zoning compliance and design
review approval of a portable classroom structure for Paramount Elementary School.
Staff reviewed the application and sent a letter to the applicant detailing several items
needing to be addressed in order for the site and structure to comply with the minimum
design standards listed in UDC 11-3A-19 and the city's design manual. A copy of this
letter is attached to the memo from staff to the Mayor and City Council dated August
18th that you should have in your packet. In reviewing the structure against the UDC
standards staff notes the following: The building facade visible from North Dietrich
Avenue do not incorporate modulations or articulations in the facade to break up
building mass. The primary building entrances are not clearly defined by the
architectural design of the building. And the roof design does not provide variations in
profile through modulation and/or articulation. You will see on the screen here there is a
-- just a zoning map showing the location of the property and an aerial view of the
property. The school building there. The little red rectangle there is the approximate
location of the portable classroom the applicant is proposing. And this is a copy of the
proposed site plan. Again, with the red arrow pointing to the portable classroom
structure. You will note on either side there are residential lots that abut the school and,
then, on the top part there, kind of to the north of the site, is North Dietrich Avenue. The
northwest. In reviewing the structure against the design manual staff noticed the
following: Landscaping should be installed in accordance with the objectives and
guidelines listed in Section D, 1.6, of the design manual and the architectural character
of the building should be consistent with the guidelines listed in Section D-2 of the
design manual. In response, the applicant has requested City Council review of the
director's decision on this matter. That's why this is before you tonight. These are the
elevations proposed of the portable classroom structure on this site. Staff will stand for
any questions Council may have at this time.
De Weerd: Council, do you have any questions? Okay. Hi.
Exline: Good evening. Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, my name is Eric
Exline, I'm the public information officer for the Meridian School District, so I'm here on
the school district's behalf. I think more than probably any of the technicalities of the
design, you -- the conditions I want to talk to you a little bit about about Paramount
Elementary, our planning as a district, the tools we have to deal with growth and kind of
where the school stands right now. We build our schools with a capacity of 650
students. We do that intentionally, so that in the kind of construction that you see in
Meridian City Council
August 25, 2009
Page 16 of 25
most of the communities we serve, we have 3.5 per acre, about 80 percent residential,
that generates 650 students. That's in north Meridian planning area. In the end of the
day you will have a school that sits in a square mile surrounded by laterals that the kids
will not have to cross and you will end up with a neighborhood school that a hundred
percent of the children will actually be able to walk to and never be bused. In the
meantime, growth happens and Paramount opened in the fall of 2007 and served two
square miles, which it still does today. The square mile within which it sits and the one
immediately to the west, which is where Lochsa Falls sits, to give you a little bit of sense
of geography. It opened at slightly under capacity. In the course of its first school year
it grew beyond capacity. For the 2008 and '9 school year its enrollment was capped.
Because of concerns of the developer of Paramount that it was causing a slow down in
sales -- people choose to move into areas with the intention of attending their
neighborhood school and we engaged in the process of planning on how we could lift
that cap, temporarily provide enough space in the building until we get another school
constructed. So, over the summer -- or last spring, more accurately, we lifted the cap
and I guess true to his belief, if you can move into a neighborhood and attend your
neighborhood schools, people will do that. We've enrolled 80 new students at
Paramount just this fall. So, that's kind of the background of how we plan for growth.
We have a few tools in our kit bag with which to deal with it. One of it is to run bond
measures and build new schools. We do that fairly regularly and as citizens of Meridian
I'm sure you're quite aware of that. We can reassign subdivisions and what that looks
like is we will find a subdivision that's being proposed and current attendance already
where a school we already know is sort of under stress and before anybody moves in
we will reassign it to some other school. So, at least when they move in they know that
I'm not going to get to attend that school that I thought. Our third area is do a cap
enrollment and to bus kids to anon-neighborhood school, which was the case with
Paramount, and our last -- and, by the way, most flexible thing that we can do in to
install portable buildings. So, in the 2005 bond measure we invested 1.5 million dollars
to buy state tagged, code compliant, portable buildings as you see in that illustration.
These are buildings that are approved by the state to be moved in on a temporary
basis, largely in school settings, to relieve overcrowding. Which, I guess, brings me to
where we at right now as we have come through the summer. Paramount is built for
650 students, as I mentioned. It's enrollment today registered kids is 802. At the
kindergarten level. We have class loads of 27. The state and district goals are 23. We
have class loads in first and second of 25 and 26. The class loads target there is 24.
Third grade is the one grade that we are at the target. Fourth and fifth are in the 32 and
33 range. We have no space with which to break those classes up. We could not
reconfigure a new class. We could not reassign a teacher anywhere, because we
simply have no classrooms left. Whatever you could kind of call additional space, the
science room, the art room, have been assigned as classrooms for a long time. I think
the most important thing that I can tell you is that these are intended to be temporary
buildings. We have already submitted plans to the city for the next elementary, which is
located in the mile immediately to the west. It will be called Willow Creek. We have to
run a bond to build that school, but it will provide the relief for Paramount and as the
Paramount Subdivision continues to grow it will fill Paramount elementary. That
portable building will no longer be necessary. I recognize the value of design review
Meridian City Council
August 25, 2009
Page 17 of 25
standards, because you don't want your community to be built in a permanent way in
which in the end it becomes an unattractive and really economically viable for the place
that will attract people to the housing or to place their businesses here. But we have no
intention of leaving that building there. We invested in these particular types of
portables for exactly that reason. They are portables. The other inventory of portable,
which are scattered from Star to Eagle, many are prior to the requirement that they be
state tagged and code compliant and they are no longer movable and at some point, to
be honest, they will probably just be demolished. I won't go into the history of how they
came about, but they were built to replace Meridian Middle School one year when it
burned down. But that's not what these structures are. To require us to have three roof
pitches or significant modulation on the side of the building essentially makes them
nonportable. That would tell me rather than moving that building in and committing that
amount of expense to do that, I would prefer to just simply add on to Paramount
Elementary. However, doing that now is going to create a school that's going to serve
an area in the end that's larger than a square mile, which brings me back to the
beginning is that our goal was to make neighborhood schools that the majority of kids
can walk to. For these reasons, because of where we are at, because of portable
buildings being an important part of our tool kit to deal with growth as it happens,
because we believe we are partners in promoting and supporting that growth, I would
ask that you approve our application to place a portable building at Paramount
Elementary. And with that I would stand for any questions.
De Weerd: Thank you. Council?
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Bird.
Bird: Eric, how far away is Hunter and how full is Hunter Elementary School?
Exline: Madam Mayor, Councilman Bird, Hunter is the mile -- a mile as the bird -- as the
bird would fly is actually to the south and east. Hunter is over 650 students. The other
nearest school that you could really look at maybe changing something in the
attendance area is Ponderosa, but it's running at about 675. So, it's actually over
capacity as well. Or only available space we are going to have to bus these children
-- the most obvious place is McMillan Elementary, which is, actually, in Boise. They
have open classrooms. Chief Joseph is a possibility, but I'd have to look at their
enrollment again.
Bird: How far south does the boundaries for Hunter go, then?
Exline: Hunter -- Madam Mayor and Councilman Bird, actually their attendance areas
are both two square miles. So, Hunter actually serves the two square miles that are
immediately below the two square miles served by Paramount.
De Weerd: Other questions from Council?
Meridian City Council
August 25, 2009
Page 18 of 25
Hoaglun: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Hoaglun: What -- you know, knowing the economy the way it is, is that bond election
going to happen anytime soon? Are they going to try to -- when one bond expires try to
fill that in? Can you give us a sense of timing when we look at this portable for what
you're looking at?
Exline: Madam Mayor and Councilman Hoaglun, a very good question. This year
despite the economy, we are actually built -- we have built our budget on an increase in
enrollment of 860. In Meridian you can grow by 650 kids simply by graduating 2,000
kids from your senior class and, then, we enroll 2,700 at kindergarten. And that
mechanism's already in place. We pretty much know that's what's happened. Now
what we are waiting to see is the ends and outs at all the other grade levels.
Preliminary indications would be we may actually be low on our enrollment estimations.
That having been said, we are looking at -- and I can't say that we made any kind of
decision -- fall of 2010 to run our next bond measure. We would have actually started
the construction of Willow Creek this fall using plant money, but because of the 12
percent drop in the total market value of our district, our district lost 1.8 billion dollars in
market value. To do so we would have had to increase that plant facility levy to the
point where we would have had to cause a tax increase and our district has had about a
15 year commitment that we would not do that. That school on the next bond would be
one of those schools, in all likelihood, that we put on the sort of fast track in which we
pass a bond in the fall and we open it by the next fall.
Hoaglun: Thank you.
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: I was just going to comment that my recollection of the Unified Development
Code is that it does not acknowledge temporary buildings and I'm sure that the director
had to make the decision that she did based on the laws that she was given. That said,
it seems perfectly reasonable to me that we should find a way to make an exception. It
is a temporary building, not a permanent building. The director could not have done
otherwise, but that's why the appeal process. I certainly support your application.
De Weerd: Thank you, Mr. Zaremba. And, you know, we have -- this is how you have
dealt with growth for years and sorry it was probably one of the things that was not
contemplated when writing the code. Certainly it wasn't to the affect the school's ability
to temporarily deal with the growth in that interim period between when you can build
the new facility and certainly understand because of the economy and the pressure
Meridian City Council
August 25, 2009
Page 19 of 25
that's added to budget, that it's caused an even more complicated situation here. Any
further comments from Council?
Bird: I have none.
De Weerd: Mr. Rountree?
Rountree: Madam Mayor, a question for staff. When you reviewed this were there any
suggestions made that might not necessarily bring them in compliant with the design
guidelines, but might have made it a little more palatable?
Wafters: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, Councilman Rountree, there were
several just general guidelines and some specific code requirements that were
described to the applicants that we didn't give them a specific way to comply with the
ordinance, but, you know, any way you can meet these guidelines that complies with
the ordinance, you know, we are willing to work with you, basically. But they -- they did
not come back with anything, they just chose to appeal the director's decision on it.
Rountree: Thank you.
Canning: And in addition, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, Council Member
Rountree, I think there was some discussion about alternative compliance using
landscaping materials, but that conversation was kind of at the beginning and doesn't
show up on any written documentation, though.
Wafters: It is -- landscaping was discussed in the letter issued to the applicant.
Rountree: Okay. Thank you.
De Weerd: Okay. Anything else from Council?
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: And I would throw out of -- an additional opinion, even though this may
happen again, I don't think I would go through and change the code. I think we want to
have a serious look at temporary buildings. There may be other organizations that may
ask for them. We know the school district. We address the school district. I'm not sure
that we should go to the effort of having a temporary building section in our UDC. I
think I would skip that, leave it the way it is. If the director needs to do something or put
rules on it, then, we will go through the appeal process.
Canning: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Meridian City Council
August 25, 2009
Page 20 of 25
Canning: We did modify the temporary use section of the Unified Development Code to
take the temporary uses out. There are a number of temporary structures that are still
addressed, notably construction trailers, and there is one other, but the most similar that
comes to mind is construction trailers.
Zaremba: Sales offices, I think, for subdivisions.
Canning: Sales offices. Things like that.
Zaremba: Yeah.
Canning: So, we do accommodate one or two temporary buildings and, then,
temporary uses at the school we have also exempted from -- from any requirements.
The only problem I see in amending the code is that if we open it up to all schools and
all portable classrooms, they may not be temporary, and it's the temporary nature and
being able to tow them, but, you know, if these are still on a trailer and are not put on as
permanent foundation, we may be able to work with some language like that, although I
don't -- I'm not sure it will ever be quite right for what we need. And with regard to the
request that's before you tonight, the appropriate action that would need to be taken, if
Council wants to direct staff to -- to approve this, we need to get an altemative
compliance approved. I am -- I assume that Council would want to waive those fees
and, actually, we need to ask Council to waive the fees for the application that's before
you tonight, too. So, we would need the applicant to submit an altemative compliance
and, then, we could approve it based on Council's direction and move forward.
De Weerd: Okay. Anything further from Council?
Bird: I have none.
Rountree: Madam Mayor, I'm just looking at this and I can understand where they are
coming from and I'm concerned about what temporary means and Mr. Zaremba said the
word trust and I think it's there. I don't think we are going to see this five years from
now at this location. I hope.
Exline: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, I would also add that I don't believe
that the developer of Paramount Subdivision would prefer to see this in there in the long
run either. And that it's not our goal that our schools will operate with a portable
structure as part of their ongoing operations. That's -- it's difficult when you grow like
we do, but it's not our goal.
Rountree: I guess my last comment per the consideration of the waiving of fees, I think
that was a good suggestion, Anna. I was thinking about that. If they were paying fees I
would have rather seen they spent those monies on at least full awnings of a different
color to maybe just give the kids something exciting to walk under when they are going
to class. But having said that, that's the sum of my comments.
Meridian City Council
August 25, 2009
Page 21 of 25
De Weerd: Okay. Thank you for being here. Okay. This is a public hearing. Is there
anyone else who would like to provide testimony on this item? Okay. Seeing none,
Council, any further information needed or do I have a motion to close?
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: Hearing no comment, I move we close the public hearing on AP 09-002.
Rountree: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to close the public hearing. All those in favor
say aye. All ayes. Motion carries.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
De Weerd: Okay.
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Rountree: I move that we approve the request and the appeal of the director's decision
for Paramount school portable classroom structure. Direct the applicant to submit an
altemative compliance application and that the fees for both the appeal of the director's
decision, as well as the application for altemative compliance, be waived, with the
understanding that this is a temporary structure and will be removed in the relatively
near future. And I'm not going to define that, but we need a new school and it sounds
like it's under -- it's in the planning and development process.
Bird: Second.
De Weerd: Okay. I have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Madam Clerk, will
you, please, call roll.
Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Hoaglun, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carves.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 9: Bid Protest Hearing for Emulsion Polymer Bid Award by Nalco:
De Weerd: Okay. Thank you. Item 9 is a bid protest hearing. Mr. Watts.
Meridian City Council
August 25, 2009
Page 22 of 25
Watts: Good evening, Madam Mayor, Council Members, you have a bid protest a-mail
in your packets tonight regarding the liquid polymer bid. Rich Dees is here also to go
over the testing procedures. I will give you an overview of the process from the
purchasing standpoint. June 8th we issued the bid to eight vendors and advertised in
the newspaper. We held apre-bid meeting on the 15th of June to review the
specifications and the testing process that we would go through. On the 17th we had --
we issued an addendum from a result of the discussion on the pre-bid meeting of the
15th. June 26 we received four bids, one from Nalco, one from Weschem, one from
Ciba and one from WaterTech. The full scale testing began on July 8th and the full
scale testing consisted of a test day prior to their official test to dial in their polymer and
the equipment to give the optimum result and, then, the full scale test was conducted
the second day. There were two of the bidders were deemed nonresponsive with not
meeting the minimum requirements of the bid specifications. Then on August 10th we
posted the final results of those full scale tests and the bid results and notified all the
bidders of the bid results. And Rich Dees can go over the details of the testing as well.
I guess I should also comment that the bidder who was protesting, Nalco, one of the
bidders who was deemed nonresponsive.
De Weerd: Okay. Thank you. Rich.
Dees: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, as Keith said, the testing went on on the
dates that he presented. The testing was fairly rigorous. The folks had to present to us
to demonstrate that their polymer worked. It was quite complicated. One of the things
they had to do was demonstrate they could get to 21 percent. At least between 21 and
22 percent. That was our goal. It wasn't -- 21 percent wasn't just picked out of the air, it
was a percentage that we came to a long time ago when the City of Meridian bought the
centrifuges. One of the things that had to happen is you had to have 21 percent solids
to pay the centrifuges back in the time allowed that you wanted to buy the centrifuges
for. Anything less than that would mean we were hauling more water than solids and
the cost would go up dramatically. In just a second I will tell you how little things means
quite a lot in this particular case. Indeed, the average cake solids for for Nalco was
20.4, instead of 21 percent. Now, they mentioned in their letter that they were getting
21 and 22 percent, but they were using a moisture balance, which is a little bit tricky to
use, it's just to determine the ballpark accuracy, so they could dial in their system. It
wasn't the official laboratory analysis. All the bidders knew that they were going to be
subjected to laboratory analysis of their cake when the test did begin. So, it wasn't a big
-- shouldn't have been a big surprise to anybody. Did you mention that everybody went
to the pre-bid meeting? Okay. In any case, the -- the test went on and they produced,
as our lab showed, 20.4 percent. The -- it's interesting enough, Weschem is the -- was
the winning bidder. Weschem, they got a 21.39 percent solid cake. However, during
the dial -- during your run up when they were trying to dial in the system as it were, they
had one point where they were messing with the configuration that they got a 20.66,
very similar to what Nalco got. Well, the reason that is is because they didn't have the
system dialed in just exactly like they wanted. In fact, they said, you know what, we had
to increase the polymer quite a bit to get it to your 21 percent. That's the reason the
Meridian City Council
August 25, 2009
Page 23 of 25
cost went up. If we take and back off the -- the numbers and say, okay, let's assume
that Weschem is allowed to use their 20.66 percent, that's 26.8 percent less polymer,
which means their bid would have come in at $66.71 under what Nalco came in. But
that wasn't the parameters. Our floor was 21 percent. So, we wanted to have a level
playing field for everybody and that's what we stuck with. So, that's pretty much it. We
just -- we are trying to get the best playing field we had. We did establish the criteria,
which was 21 percent, and we did establish the time that they had to get to that point.
We let them have a day of run up to make sure they got it dialed and, quite frankly, it's
unfortunate, but, quite frankly, the Nalco folks just couldn't make it work. Two bidders
did make it work, two did not.
De Weerd: Thank you. Council, any questions? Mr. Nary, do we need any kind of
Council action on this?
Nary: Yes, Madam Mayor. Just a couple more things. Nalco did advise I think the
clerk's office today they would not be present for tonight's hearing. They felt that their
letter of protest was representative of their claim. Yeah, we do need Council action.
Basically, what's in front of you -- the allegation and the bid protest was that their -- they
did have a representative bid, that they were the low bidder -- they would have been the
low bidder. What they have indicated in their letter was that their trial period testing was
sufficient to be counted as their bid. What's been presented now by the purchasing
agent was the process that was gone through by all the parties and how that spec was
determined by Public Works. Your evidence in front of you is that all of them were given
a fair opportunity to provide this testing when the testing was done. Actually, Nalco did
not -- the trial testing wasn't considered, it was only when the actual testing was done
was what was considered for whether it was a qualifying bid. Theirs was not. If the
Council wishes to accept that, then, you would, then, reject this protest that they were a
non-response bidder and, then, go ahead and move forward to direct to award the bid to
the lowest responsible bidder. If you accept Nalco's version of the circumstances, then,
you can order -- in this circumstance all you could order is to reject all bids and rebid the
whole project, because they wouldn't necessarily be lowest if they weren't the lowest
responsive bidder during the test, but if they think the test was skewed or the process
was skewed, you could direct that the entire process be done over.
De Weerd: Okay. Council, any questions? Do I have a motion?
Rountree: Madam Mayor, just a final question if I might. And this would be to Rich.
You indicated that the specs were written that the lab results would be what determined
and the reference in the letter from Nalco is that they believe theirs met the specs, but
that was based on an assumption, anecdotal information they had after the test,
something other than a certified laboratory analysis.
Dees: Yeah. Madam Mayor, Councilman Rountree, indeed, we specified that the lab
results would be the determining -- final determining factor whether they won or lost the
bid. What they used is a thing called a moisture balance, which was the rough -- rough
estimate of are you getting within the ballpark of applying the right amount of polymer
Meridian City Council
August 25, 2009
Page 24 of 25
for the bio solids. So, that's the number they were getting was about 21 percent and
that's all they could say was about 21 percent. Well, it was precisely 20.4.
Rountree: And I see nothing else in their response, other than they believe they
performed and met the specifications, nothing about the test or otherwise. Madam
Mayor, I would move that we reject this bid from Nalco as a nonresponsive bid.
Hoaglun: Second.
Rountree: And move to award to the lowest bidder.
Hoaglun: Second that.
De Weerd: Okay. Any discussion on that -- on that motion? Okay. Madam Clerk, will
you, please, call roll.
Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Hoaglun, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carries.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
De Weerd: Okay. Council, we are at the end of our agenda. I would invite Lieutenant
Overton to share the good news, if you want to take a moment.
Overton: I'm assuming when you talk about good news, Madam Mayor, Members of
Council, you're refemng to the national award that MADC was just given this week?
De Weerd: Yes, indeed.
Overton: This has been a year of awards for MADC and we pretty much thought it was
over, but we got one more. Our original grant writer for the MADC, Bethany Gadzinski,
the bureau chief with the State Department of Health and Welfare, submitted our
organization with highest national organization and the highest award we could achieve
for the MADC. They award between four and six coalitions or organizations each year
and when she told us that she was entering our organization we said that's really great,
but this is -- this is that long shot in the horse race and we got notified this week that we
weren't the long shot, we aced it, and we won the national award and we have both
members of our MADC, our director of our DFC grant and our part-time MADC director
headed to Anaheim, California in September to accept the reward on behalf of the
MADC. We will also get -- besides our paying for lodging, federal per diem, flights, the
whole works, there is an unrestricted 1,500 grant that they are giving us, along with that
national recognition, as well as being recognized in front of all these other folks as part
of this national prevention council, so -- I didn't bring the paperwork, I could have read it
right off of there, but it was pretty awesome. It's the biggest award we have won so far.
We got to go international to top this.
Meridian City Council
August 25, 2009
Page 25 of 25
Rountree: Good job.
Zaremba: Cool.
De Weerd: Okay. Council, do I have a motion? Yes, Mr. Bird.
Bird: Before we -- we all got invited to Thursday night at Spur Wing, a fund raiser for
the Meridian Education Association. Invite all of you there. I think you all got your
invitations. Hope you can make it. We would certainly enjoy seeing you.
De Weerd: Okay. Do I have a motion to adjourn?
Bird: So moved.
Rountree: Second.
De Weerd: All those in favor say aye. All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
De Weerd: We are adjourned.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:30 P.M.
(AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
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