HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-07-01E IDIAN CITY COUNCIL REGULAR
MEETING AGENDA
City Council Chambers
33 East Broadway Avenue
Meridian, Idaho
Tuesday, July 01, 2014 at 6:00 PM
Roll -Call Attendance
X David Zaremba O Joe Borton
X Charlie Rountree X Keith Bird
X Genesis Milam X Luke Cavener
X Mayor Tammy de Weerd
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Community Invocation by Becca Nothohm
4. Adoption of the Agenda Adopted
5. Consent Agenda Approved (Pg 2-4)
A. Amendment to Subgrant Agreement Between Ada County and City of
Meridian
B. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Approval: AP 14-001 Southridge
Gravel Mining by Idaho Sand and Gravel Located South of W. Overland
Road and East of S. Ten Mile Road Request: City Council Review of the
Conditional Use Permit Modification (MCU 14-001) Application
C. FP 14-028 Oaks South No. 2 by Coleman Homes LLC Located South Side of
W. McMillan Road Between N. McDermott Road and N. Black Cat Road
Request: Final Plat Approval Consisting of Thirty -Four (34) Single Family
Residential Lots and Nine (9) Common Lots on 11.23 Acres of Land in an R-
4 Zoning District
D. Development Agreement for Approval: PP 14-004 Biltmore Subdivision by
L.C. Development, Inc. Located South of W. Victory Road and West of S.
Meridian Road Request: Preliminary Plat Approval Consisting of 159 Single
Family Residential Building Lots and Twelve (12) Common/Other Lots on
56.19 Acres of Land in an R-4 Zoning District
Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda — Tuesday, July 01, 2014 Page 1 of 3
All materials presented at public meetings shall become property of the City of Meridian.
Anyone desiring accommodation for disabilities related to documents and/or hearing,
please contact the City Clerk's Office at 888-4433 at least 48 hours prior to the public meeting.
E. Lease Agreement for Lift Station Lot at Southern Highlands
Vacated from the agenda
F. Approval of Agreement to Apex Integrated Security Systems for the
"Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Administration, Lab and Control
Buildings Access Control" Project for the Not -To -Exceed Amount of
$70,221.01
G. FP 14-029 Amberwave Subdivision by The Land Group Inc. Located
Southwest Corner of W. McMillan Road and N. Meridian Road Request:
Final Plat Approval Consisting of Twenty -Seven (27) Residential Lots and
Three (3) Common Lots on Approximately 4.70 Acres in the R-15 Zoning
District
H. Approval of Award of Bid and Agreement to Granite Excavation, Inc. for the
"NE 3rd Street, Williams King Ada Sewer and Water Main" Project for the
Not -To -Exceed Amount of $489,683.71
Approval of Agreement to Apex Integrated Security Systems for the
"Access Control System Equipment and Installation at Fire Stations 1-5"
Project for a Not -To -Exceed Amount of $50,197.58
6. Items Moved From Consent Agenda None (Pg 4)
7. Action Items
A. FP 14-027 Woodburn West Subdivision No. 2 by Northside Management
Located North of W. Ustick Road and East of N. Linder Road Request: Final
Plat Approval Consisting of Forty -Eight (48) Building Lots and Seven (7)
Common / Other Lots on 25.75 Acres of Land in the R-8 Zoning District
Continued to July 15, 2014 (Pg 4-5)
B. Public Hearing: AZ 14-007 Sugarman Subdivision by George Sugarman
Located 1450 W. Ustick Road Request: Annexation and Zoning of 5.04
Acres of Land with a C -C Zoning District Approved (Pg 5-10)
C. Public Hearing: SHP 14-001 Sugarman Subdivision by George Sugarman
Located 1450 W. Ustick Road Request: Short Plat Approval Consisting of
Four (4) Building Lots on 3.99 Acres of Land in a Proposed C -C Zoning
District Approved (Pg 5-10)
D. Public Hearing: Southern Highlands Real Property Exchange (Pg 10-11)
Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda — Tuesday, July 01, 2014 Page 2 of 3
All materials presented at public meetings shall become property of the City of Meridian.
Anyone desiring accommodation for disabilities related to documents and/or hearing,
please contact the City Clerk's Office at 888-4433 at least 48 hours prior to the public meeting.
8. Department Reports
A. Pegasus Planning and Development — Economic Development and Fields
District Recommendations and Findings (Pg 11-23)
B. Public Works: Public Works Week Update (Pg 23-26)
9. Ordinances
A. Ordinance No. 14-1616: Southern Highlands Property Exchange Approved
(Pg 26-27)
10. Executive Session per Idaho State Code 67-2345(1)(d) To Consider Records That
are Exempt from Disclosure as Provided in Chapter 3, Title 9, Idaho Code
Into Executive Session at 7:23 p.m.
Out of Executive Session at 8:22 p.m. (Pg 27-28)
11. Future Meeting Topics (Pg 28)
Adjourned at 8:23 p.m.
Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda — Tuesday, July 01, 2014 Page 3 of 3
All materials presented at public meetings shall become property of the City of Meridian.
Anyone desiring accommodation for disabilities related to documents and/or hearing,
please contact the City Clerk's Office at 888-4433 at least 48 hours prior to the public meeting.
Meridian City Council July 1, 2014.
A meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, July
1, 2014, by Mayor Tammy de Weerd.
Members Present: Charlie Rountree, Keith Bird, Genesis Milam, David Zaremba and
Luke Cavener.
Members Absent: Joe Borton.
Others Present: Bill Nary, Jaycee Holman, Bruce Chatterton, Tom Barry, Kyle Radek,
Tracy Basterrechea, Parry Palmer, and Dean Willis.
Item 1: Roll -call Attendance:
Roll call.
X David Zaremba Joe Borton
X Charlie Rountree X Keith Bird
X Genesis Milam X Luke Cavener
X Mayor Tammy de Weerd
De Weerd: We'd like to welcome you to our City Council meeting. Thank you. It's
always nice to see members of our community here. For the record it is Tuesday, July
1 st. What a great day July 1 st is, don't you think?
Bird: Oh, yeah, it's your birthday.
De Weerd: We will start today's meeting with roll call attendance, Madam Clerk.
Item 2: Pledge of Allegiance
De Weerd: Thank you. Item No. 2 is the Pledge of Allegiance. If you will all rise and
join us in the pledge to our flag.
(Pledge of Allegiance recited.)
Item 3: Community Invocation by Becca Nothohm
De Weerd: Okay. Item No. 3 is our community invocation. Is Becca here tonight? All
right. If you will all join us in the community invocation or take this as an opportunity for
a moment of reflection. Thank you.
Nothohm: Thank you. Will you pray with me. Precious Father God, it is wonderful to
be here tonight and we thank you for this Council and we thank you for our Mayor and
the leadership that is provided here in this room tonight. Father, I thank you for the
blessings that we have, for health and just for the leadership that we have in this
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 2 of 28
community and for the many blessings that you have bestowed upon us. Lord, I pray
this night that you would be about the business of this Council, that you would bless our
Mayor and each Council Member as they seek to guide our community. Lord, we ask
that you grant them wisdom, that you would grant them understanding of the needs and
hopes for the people of this great community and, Lord, I just pray for unity amongst
your people, that you would bond them together this night. Lord, we, again, just thank
you so much and ask your blessing to be upon all the proceedings for this evening in
your precious name we pray, amen.
De Weerd: Becca, I would like to offer you a City of Meridian pin for leading us.
Nothohm: Thank you.
De Weerd: Thank you. Sorry, I'm too curious. I have to open my card first. Okay. It's
from my husband. Now, this is a real shock. I just want you to know that.
Bird: Happy Birthday. Come on. Happy birthday.
Milam: If you would like to join us in a song for our Mayor.
(Happy Birthday sung to Mayor De Weerd.)
Item 4: Adoption of the Agenda
De Weerd: Thank you. Item No. 4 is adoption of the agenda.
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: Item 5-E has been requested to be vacated from the agenda. Item 7-A, the
applicant has requested a continuance on that item until July 15th and Item 9-A, the
ordinance number is 14-1616. And with those changes I move that we adopt the
agenda as published.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to adopt the agenda as -- as amended. All
those in favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Item 5: Consent Agenda
A. Amendment to Subgrant Agreement Between Ada County and
City of Meridian
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 3 of 28
B. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Approval: AP 14-001
Southridge Gravel Mining by Idaho Sand and Gravel Located
South of W. Overland Road and East of S. Ten Mile Road
Request: City Council Review of the Conditional Use Permit
Modification (MCU 14-001) Application
C. FP 14-028 Oaks South No. 2 by Coleman Homes LLC Located
South Side of W. McMillan Road Between N. McDermott Road
and N. Black Cat Road Request: Final Plat Approval
Consisting of Thirty -Four (34) Single Family Residential Lots
and Nine (9) Common Lots on 11.23 Acres of Land in an R-4
Zoning District
D. Development Agreement for Approval: PP 14-004 Biltmore
Subdivision by L.C. Development, Inc. Located South of W.
Victory Road and West of S. Meridian Road Request:
Preliminary Plat Approval Consisting of 159 Single Family
Residential Building Lots and Twelve (12) Common/Other Lots
on 56.19 Acres of Land in an R-4 Zoning District
F. Approval of Agreement to Apex Integrated Security Systems
for the "Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Administration,
Lab and Control Buildings Access Control" Project for the Not -
To -Exceed Amount of $70,221.01
G. FP 14-029 Amberwave Subdivision by The Land Group Inc.
Located Southwest Corner of W. McMillan Road and N.
Meridian Road Request: Final Plat Approval Consisting of
Twenty -Seven (27) Residential Lots and Three (3) Common
Lots on Approximately 4.70 Acres in the R-15 Zoning District
H. Approval of Award of Bid and Agreement to Granite
Excavation, Inc. for the "NE 3rd Street, Williams King Ada
Sewer and Water Main" Project for the Not -To -Exceed Amount
of $489,683.71
Approval of Agreement to Apex Integrated Security Systems
for the "Access Control System Equipment and Installation at
Fire Stations 1-5" Project for a Not -To -Exceed Amount of
$50,197.58
De Weerd: Item 5 is our Consent Agenda.
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 4 of 28
De Weerd: Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: I move that we approve the Consent Agenda and as amended, authorize the
Clerk to attest and the Mayor to sign.
Bird: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve the Consent Agenda as changed.
Madam Clerk, will you call roll.
Roll Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, absent; Milam, yea;
Cavener, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Item 6: Items Moved From Consent Agenda
De Weerd: There were no items moved from the Consent Agenda.
Item 7: Action Items
A. FP 14-027 Woodburn West Subdivision No. 2 by Northside
Management Located North of W. Ustick Road and East of N.
Linder Road Request: Final Plat Approval Consisting of Forty -
Eight (48) Building Lots and Seven (7) Common / Other Lots
on 25.75 Acres of Land in the R-8 Zoning District
De Weerd: So, we will move into Item 7-A, which is FP 14-027.
Chatterton: Madam Mayor, Council Members, as Council Member Rountree just
mentioned, the applicant is requesting continuance to July 15th. I understand the
reason is to resolve some boundary issues with the site. I believe the applicant is
present if you have any questions about that.
De Weerd: Okay. Council, any questions for the applicant?
Rountree: I have none.
De Weerd: If not I would entertain a motion to continue to this to July 15th.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 5 of 28
Bird: I move we continue FP 14-027 to July 15th, 2014.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to continue Item 7-A until July 15th. All those
in favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
B. Public Hearing: AZ 14-007 Sugarman Subdivision by George
Sugarman Located 1450 W. Ustick Road Request: Annexation
and Zoning of 5.04 Acres of Land with a C -C Zoning District
C. Public Hearing: SHP 14-001 Sugarman Subdivision by George
Sugarman Located 1450 W. Ustick Road Request: Short Plat
Approval Consisting of Four (4) Building Lots on 3.99 Acres of
Land in a Proposed C -C Zoning District
De Weerd: Item 7-B and C are public hearings on AZ 14-007 and SHP 14-001. 1 will
open these two public hearings with staff comments.
Chatterton: Madam Mayor and Council Members, this is, as you mentioned, an
annexation and zoning. It's a short plat for the Sugarman Subdivision. The site
consists of 3.99 acres of land. It is currently zoned RUT. Is located at 1450 West
Ustick and that's the northeast corner of Linder and Ustick. The applicant requests
annexation and zoning of just over five acres with a C -C zoning district and a short plat
is also proposed, consisting of four building lots on 3.99 acres. A conceptual
development plan is proposed that shows a 3,600 square foot gas station, 12,500
square foot retail commercial multi -tenant building and a 5,000 square foot bank with a
drive-thru. Because the drive-thru is shown at the east boundary of the site adjacent to
property that's designated for residential, staff recommends the concept plan be revised
to relocate the drive-thru internally within the site. Access is shown on the concept plan
via Linder and Ustick, with cross -access to the north. Staff recommends a right -in,
right -out access via Linder and access to Ustick to be determined by ACHD. The P&Z's
recommendation was to approve with the development agreement and those provisions
are in Exhibit B of your staff report. At the Commission in favor Laren Bailey testified.
No opposition. And the only written testimony has also been submitted by Laren Bailey
in favor of the application. There are no outstanding issues from either P&Z or staff for
you tonight. Happy to answer any questions.
De Weerd: Thank you, Bruce. Council, any questions?
Milam: I have none.
Rountree: I have none at this time.
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 6 of 28
Bird: I have none.
De Weerd: Okay. Is the applicant here? Thank you. Good evening. If you will,
please, state your name and address for the record.
Sherrow: My name is Scott Sherrow. I'm with LEI Engineers and Surveyors. I'm
standing in for Laren Bailey tonight. My address is 3032 East Copperpoint Drive,
Meridian.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Sherrow: By the way, happy birthday.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Sherrow: We agree with the staff report. The only comment that we would like to make
-- or request we would like to make is under the Site Specific Conditions of Approval,
Section 2.11. We agree that it's our responsibility to construct the sewer and water
through the site. What we do request is that we'd like to defer its construction until after
a user is identified and construct the improvements at the time of the building permit.
There are currently two eight inch stubs and two sewer services to the site. It's our
belief that if a larger user comes through and utilizes more than one of the four lots
proposed, that the additional services through the site will not be needed or may be --
need to be reconfigured. So, it's our request that we try to come to an understanding of
that need at the time of building permit and, again, we do understand it's our
responsibility to put in those improvements at the time, but we'd like to have it deferred
until we better understand it. Short of that I'm here to answer any questions that I can.
And thank you for hearing this tonight.
De Weerd: Thank you. Council, any questions?
Bird: I have none.
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: I have a question for Kyle on the request of the applicant with respect to
sewer and water. And it looks like he's studying that right now.
Radek: Yeah. Councilman Rountree, I was not prepared for that question and that --
we have -- we have site specific conditions of approval that say the applicant shall be
responsible for constructing that and, I apologize, I -- sir, could you repeat your -- your
argument for not constructing it?
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 7 of 28
Sherrow: Well, it's not that we are -- won't construct it. We do understand it's our
responsibility, but what we'd like to do is defer it until we can better understand where
those utilities would be best located. Right now I think there is a proposal out there to
kind of loop the water through the site. If we have one or two major users on that
particular piece of property --
Nary: Sir, could you speak into the mike. It's hard for him to pick it up.
Sherrow: Excuse me. We may want to reroute those utilities in a different
configuration.
Radek: Yeah. This is just an annexation and zoning and as long as -- I'm not sure this
is -- oh, there we go. As long as the -- we doing annexation and zoning first.
De Weerd: And the short plat.
Radek: And the short plat, which I'm not really familiar short plats. Same rules for a
short plat as far as Warren signing it as --
Nary: Yes.
Radek: Because we will want that infrastructure built before Warren signs the short
plat.
Chatterton: Madam Mayor and Council Members, I apologize, I wasn't aware of any
outstanding issues here, so we are really not prepared for this. I don't see a problem
with -- with granting the applicant's desire here, if engineering doesn't.
Radek: No. As long as we get the infrastructure where we want it at the end of the
platting process and we are going to -- we have controls to make sure that happens, but
that's okay with me and Public Works, I should say.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: Bruce, really with a short plat all he's asking is not to put it in until we definitely
know where it's at. So, I believe we have done this before on a short plat. Now, with a
preliminary plat, then, we -- he would have to do it, but until you know exactly on a short
plat where it's going to be, I believe we have allowed this before and as long as he
knows that he's got to get it through -- to and through his property.
Chatterton: Madam Mayor and Council Member Bird, I'm comfortable with the request.
Bird: Comfortable with that? Okay.
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 8 of 28
De Weerd: Okay.
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Okay. Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: We do respond to staff's suggestion that the back building be refigured to
move the drive -up window away from the residential.
Sherrow: That site plan that was provided was in concept only. We are not asking for
the building placement approval at this time, that was just for concept for an idea of
what may occur. If a bank or drive-thru does come into play on one of those parcels,
we would be happy to talk about the configuration that best meets the community's
needs. By no means what we have shown you today is what we are looking for
approval. It was concept only.
Zaremba: Thank you.
De Weerd: Okay. Any further questions?
Bird: I have none, Mayor.
De Weerd: Okay. Thank you so much.
Sherrow: Thank you.
De Weerd: This is a public hearing. Is there anyone who would like to offer testimony
on either of these two items? Seeing none, Council, any further questions for staff or
the applicant at this time?
Bird: I have none.
De Weerd: If not, I would entertain a motion to close these two public hearings.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I move we close the public hearings on AZ 14-007 and SHP 14-001.
Zaremba: Second.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to close the public hearing on Items 7-B and
C. All those in favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carried.
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 9 of 28
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I move we approve AZ 14-007 and to include all staff and applicant comments.
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 7-B. Any discussion from
Council? Madam Clerk.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried.
Roll Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, absent; Milam, yea;
Cavener, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I move we approve SHP 14-001 and to include all staff and applicant comments
and this is the part that has -- takes the sewer line to and through, which the -- when we
get to the preliminary plat the determination of location will be at that time.
Milam: Second.
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: This is the preliminary plat. So, it will be --
Bird: No. This is a short plat.
De Weerd: So, it will be -- this is a short plat. So, it is a plat. But it would be upon
building permit. I believe that was the request.
Bird: Yeah. Preliminary.
De Weerd: Okay. So, does motion and second agree with that?
Bird: Yeah.
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 10 of 28
Milam: Second agrees.
De Weerd: Okay. Any discussion? Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: Madam Mayor, would the maker of the motion clarify that the applicant has
stated that this is concept and this is not an approval of the drive-thru on the residential
side on the east.
Bird: Yes. His comments stated that and that was my motion to accept his comments.
Milam: Second concurs.
De Weerd: Okay. Okay. That's noted in the motion. If there is no further discussion,
Madam Clerk.
Roll Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, absent; Milam, yea;
Cavener, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
D. Public Hearing: Southern Highlands Real Property Exchange
De Weerd: Item 7-D is a public hearing on the Southern Highlands real property
exchange. I'm not sure who is taking this. Mr. Nary?
Nary: Madam Mayor, I don't know if Public Works has any input on this particular item.
This is a property exchange. It's been properly noticed. We have a parcel of ground in
the Southern Highlands development that is for a lift station. There was originally going
to be a small public park that was going to be in this area that was decided they were
going to make it a private park, so they didn't need as much ground for that and a
different location. Eventually there will be sewer, obviously, to this parcel, as the lift
station can go away. So, what they have offered to do is the city has a well lot site
already in this parcel -- and if I'm getting this wrong Kyle probably knows more specifics.
But, anyway, what they are willing to do is, essentially, move the equivalent amount of
ground that the lift station lot currently occupies when the lift station is -- can go away,
they will add that ground to the city's well site, which will allow us a little bit more of a
use of that site for a future water development in that southern area. So, they are,
essentially, exchanging the land that's currently being used for a lift station to adding
that to the well site that we already have and that's what the land exchange is in regards
to. And if I messed any of that up, Kyle, please correct me, but -- so, all we are doing is,
essentially, moving that. But we are going to be continuing to use that well -- or that lift
station lot for a period of time until the sewer connection is completed, which I don't
know what the date of that is, but we will have a short window of using that lift station
and actually leasing it back. That was on -- that was the item on your Consent Agenda
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 11 of 28
that was moved off, we had to clarify a few things with that first. So, anyway, that's the
public hearing part. I don't know if anyone else is here from the public to talk about it.
De Weerd: Okay. Kyle, did you have anything you wanted to add? Is anyone here to
make comment on this? Council, any questions for staff?
Rountree: I have none.
Bird: I have none.
Nary: Oh, Madam Mayor, one last thing. And so on your -- Council, on your ordinance
in Section 9 -- so, when that comes up that ordinance just will finalize this exchange, so
that's the purpose of that.
De Weerd: I did have two people signed up in favor of this property exchange. But if
they don't want to make any comment, we will just include that in the record.
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: Seeing that, I move that we close the public hearing on Item 7-D.
Bird: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to close the public hearing on Item 7-D. All
those in favor say aye. All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Rountree: Accept 9-A, then, to finalize this.
Bird: That, yeah, just goes to the ordinance on it.
De Weerd: Yes. We will wait until the ordinance. Okay?
Item 8: Department Reports
A. Pegasus Planning and Development— Economic Development
and Fields District Recommendations and Findings
De Weerd: Okay. So, we will move into our Department Reports. Council, I'm pleased
to introduce you to this next item. Pegasus is coming back to report on their findings
and I guess I would just like to give a little bit of an overview. As the report really
demonstrates, there has been a lot of work done in this community leading up to their
report and putting together a plan on how best to move forward as a community. We
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 12 of 28
have placed a lot of the building blocks to get us to this point and we have seen a lot of
residential, office, retail and healthcare grow in our community and certainly a lot of that
was in the healthcare sector. We have seen a lot of activity and result from a real focus
on what the CORE put together and looking at health sciences and technology and
certainly the addition of Idaho State University was -- was kind of the completion -- that
final piece that really brought all of that together. We have consolidated our Building
and Planning Departments, we have looked at our permitting processes, our Planning
Department has put together a small business concierge program to help those one
time only users through the bureaucracy sometimes of permitting and the unknown
-- I guess atmosphere or terrain of that. So, this was the logical next step in hiring a
consultant to -- to look at where we are, looking at a comprehensive economic
development program. They -- when we first hired Pegasus we hired them to take a
look at the Fields District and the Fields District we had prepared a white paper that
contemplated another industry cluster that was similar to our health science and
technology corridor, but what made it different is that the CORE was developed by a
free market. They really started putting that with Blue Cross, with St. Luke's, with ISU
and a number of the healthcare providers in that area. The Fields Districts are a little bit
different. It's open space, it's -- it's not developed and it has a lot of questions in
addition to what we did with the white paper. So, we have the concept, we have the -- a
branding effort and the naming of it and Pegasus has really taken it to that next step.
The first step was a go or a no go. Did it merit enough consideration to, then, take it to
the next level and further flushing out the viability of an economic development cluster in
that area and in the meantime we also embarked on an economic development strategy
that I have been really impressed and pleased with the consultants in how they have
pulled in a number of stakeholders in the conversation. By doing so, they have created
ownership and some buy -in to the process and into the conversations that have
surrounded all of this and I can tell you that there has been quite a buzz that has been
created and a great deal of the excitement about what role we all play in moving forward
in becoming -- in rolling out the strategy, but also creating that synergy that will net new
upstarts and what we hope are family wage jobs and seeing our existing businesses
thrive in our community. We need to put more arrows in our economic development
quiver and so today we certainly welcome our consultants back to make their
presentation on their findings and steps to move forward. So, I will turn this over -- I
believe to Sean and welcome you and your team back to City Council Chambers.
Garretson: Thank you, Mayor and Council. I have a couple of brochures and I'm not
sure -- Bruce, have they received this before? To be honest with you, what I think I'd
like to do is hand one out to you all, because I primarily brought them for the public and
if you can share those. I think you received one yesterday also. But we will make sure
that you get some copies. Some of you in the audience have seen these before, too,
but I'm just going to hand out a couple and you can share. Okay.
De Weerd: Now, Sean, if you will, please, state your name and address for the record
first.
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 13 of 28
Garretson: Yes. Sean Garretson. Austin, Texas. U.S.A. So, Mayor, thank you very
much for that -- those opening remarks. It really -- I love hearing that, especially the
part about buy in. You know, that is part of our process. We have found that the more
you involve people, the more they are bought in, and the more effective you are going to
be at implementation. So, you know, we have spent -- Steven and I -- Steven
Spaulding with Point A Consulting, we were talking today and we first started with you in
September, so, you know, we have come a long way and we have really enjoyed our
time here. I want to just point out this logo on the top here. Meridian Rising. The
Mayor's initial comments, actually, were the origin for us putting this together, where
Meridian is where agriculture meets technology. So, my project manager Jillian, she --
she's a great project manager, but she's also starting a brewery on the side. So, I
questioned her if that was a hops, but she assures me it's wheat. You guys might be
able to decipher that better than 1. But I think this is a very exciting time for you guys
and what I would like to do is not really go into a lot of the detail of the audit, you heard
a lot of that. So, really, kind of hit the broad brush strategies, knowing that there is a lot
more detail in the strategic plan. So, this is the agenda that we are going to cover, but
this -- this theme really is the overall vision for this economic development strategy,
diversify the economy by cultivating talent, developing an innovation eco system and
continuing to improve quality of place to keep and attract talent. That's a theme
throughout this project. There we go. So, just a little bit of background. Some
redundancy with what the Mayor was saying. So, the go, no go, was phase one of that
Fields District and we finished that before Christmas and, then, you engaged us to
develop phase two, which is to put together a plan for implementing the Fields District
and, then, at the same time you also hired us to do an economic audit and, then, a
strategy based on that audit. So, all of those elements of that economic audit went into
that and we are going to go through the recommendations tonight. I'm having a hard
time advancing this. Oh, did you do that for me?
Chatterton: Yeah.
Garretson: Thanks. So, what goes into this secret sauce of the economic development
strategy, which is a five year plan. You know, it really is a lot about the -- the
quantitative part that you have seen before. All these fancy pens aren't working for me
either. So, the quantitative input and, then, qualitative input all goes into the five year
plan and I'm curious if we can just get a show of hands of anybody that has been in any
of our interviews, focus groups and you won't mind just raising your hand. Love seeing
that. Love seeing that. So, we have put a lot into this. One of the things that you will
see a little bit later is one of the charts that we have from the business survey that we
did, an online business survey. Their top three priorities, small business assistance,
business expansion, downtown improvements and business recruitment is right behind.
Mind advancing that again?
Chatterton: Sean, try it again. And we think we might have gotten the so-called smart
board working again. Are you able to draw on there? No luck, uh? Okay. I will -- just
let me know when you want it advanced. Please go ahead.
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 14 of 28
Garretson: So, just the executive summary. So, first of all, you have two deliverables
now. You have the economic audit and strategy with an appendix that has all of the
data that we have been collecting, which is pretty extensive and I think for Brenda and
Bruce and the Mayor I think you're going to find a lot of that data helpful in your
business development efforts. And then -- but the real crux of this whole strategy -- it's
about fostering a culture of innovation, having predictable growth, economic
diversification, talent development and quality of place. So, some of our key findings. I
first -- you know, when you do an audit you look at the good and you look at the -- the
areas where you can improve upon and I want to just say, first off, that you guys have
done an excellent job of putting those building blocks in place that has lead you to the
success you have seen in office, retail, healthcare, especially with the CORE initiative.
Economic diversification is necessary. It's necessary for a lot of reasons, as you
probably know. One, just job opportunities. When you have a recession disposable
income, you know, really is not spent, so your retail suffers. So, there is a need for that.
We also have definitely noticed there is -- there is insufficient collaboration among the
business and workforce groups. Lack of tourism assets. I think what is going on in your
downtown I think is great, but I think that our recommendation is going to help you build
upon that. Also insufficient small business support resources I think the efforts that the
city has made in having the business concierges I think is a great step, but in terms of
technical assistance for small business, that's an area needed. And, then, you have
also had a significant loss of farmland and the missing key demographics, particularly
the millennial demographic, that 25 to 35 year old demographic. Next slide, please. So,
I wanted to point this out. First of all, why are the millennials important? First, it is one,
if not the second largest demographic in the United States. Fifty-five million 25 to 35
and they spend money. They like to spend money. I have an 18 year old and she
spends money. I know she's going to be a spender as well. But what's really telling
and very important for you guys to understand is that while your population growth has
really just kicked off, especially since 2010, your millennial growth declined during that
same period. In Boise that millennial growth increased during that same time frame.
Downtown Boise has a lot of those assets that millennials seek. You know, if you go
downtown you see -- you see that. And I think you know kind of what I mean. So, there
is several themes that really form the basis for all these economic development
strategies. One, this is not an -- this is not a project that should be implemented by one
person or one department. Every city department and its economic development
partners have a role in its implementation. Secondly, future land, utility extension, and
your capital improvements plan has to be predictable and that's -- that's very important
for economic development growth and for sustainability fiscally for the city. Making
education, business, and workforce partnerships number one priority. Investing in the
downtown and the quality of place improvements. That's going to attract talent, it's
going to keep people here. It's going to make your city better than it already is. Again,
attractive demographics that Meridian is missing. Breed that culture of innovation and
build on your ag historic strengths. And, lastly, I just want to say economic development
is a marathon, not a sprint and what do I mean by that is, you know, another analogy --
there is no silver bullet in economic development. It takes the building blocks that you
put in place and it takes a sophisticated and long-term effort to be successful. Next
slide, please. So, we did a lot of target industry analysis. All of that analysis is in the
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 15 of 28
appendix and in the report and there is a lot more specificity to those industries. But we
also did occupational analysis to understand which of these industries makes the most
sense for the region and, you know, obviously, we looked at what the state is looking at,
as well as BVEP, who I think is represented here tonight. Those last three target
industries are very much related to healthcare and the CORE initiative, but just know
that, again, the economic development strategy is built upon the input that we have
received, the quantitative input on the target industry analysis as well. So, let me slide
into the economic development strategy and talk about that. Next slide, please. So,
the components of the overall strategy -- of course the Fields District -- we have two
reports, but all the strategy in the Fields District have been folded into the economic
development strategy. So, you have one economic development plan now that can be
implemented. You have eight target industries. You have five catalyst projects and,
then, you have six strategies -- all of those catalyst projects within those strategies. And
I will explain that in just a second. So, these catalyst projects, they are not always
necessarily brick and mortar projects, but several of them are, including the Venture
Meridian start up center and the downtown conference center and what we -- we are
going to talk about the catalyst projects first, but just, again, know that each of these
projects is folded within the strategies. Next slide. So, I'm going to let Steven come up
and talk about three of these catalyst projects and, then, I'm going to hop back up.
Spaulding: Thank you. I'm Steven Spaulding with Point A Consulting based in
Louisville, Kentucky, and part of the team with Pegasus Planning. We are delighted to
be back with you again and we are bringing to closure this great amount of work in the
form that you see it here. I just have to comment back on -- there was one of the earlier
slides that Sean showed that had the secret sauce and everything and you might have
thought that was a martini glass. It was not. It was a funnel and the point of the funnel
is that everything is coming together to a point of common -- of common importance to
us. The other things I think -- the Mayor teed up excellently were this first catalyst
project comes from in the sense that this desire to parallel the experience that had been
achieved with the CORE. In developing this other cluster, which was self evident that
agriculture was this basic strength of the region, the historic strength of the region and
you have seen that in all of the previous slides that lead up to this, whether it's target
industries and the themes and so forth, but as the Mayor also pointed out in developing
this cluster, is that it's scattered over the wide region. In fact, the assets that are part of
the cluster are scattered as far as Moscow -- to be obvious for the College of
Agriculture, but they are even in other states and they are in Idaho Falls and in Twin
Falls and so forth. So, we really got close to the stakeholder group here and the issue
for us was what is it the stakeholders are really looking for. And as we originally started
with the theme of research, which, again, was part of what the Mayor and the city was
asking us to look at, we really found that behind that came the question of innovation
and what is the innovation system that delivers the talent that the businesses need.
The businesses are here and they are conducting many different kinds of research and,
you know, ranging from the classic fuel research to the classic laboratory research and
new varieties and new food processes and so forth. But as we came to that conclusion,
then, it shifted the focus from the research itself to the people who are the foundations
for this industry sector and so we called this our talent and innovation center and as you
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 16 of 28
will see we are going to go forward -- also this will be wrapped into a strategy as well. I
will let you advance the slides for me. The diagram on the right shows sort of the
concept of the strategy already that if you focus on workforce or the CORE and you
develop that -- that critical mass and competitive advantage, that you have the ability,
then, to fuel entrepreneurship, to build industry partnerships and to ultimately research
and through collaborations is part of what can come about through that. It's really self-
evident that every university -- every one of the major success communities that we
think of automatically, Research Triangle Park or the San Francisco Bay area or any
others, and many smaller communities, it is based on the back of the universities, the
community colleges and all those workforce developments are centered. So, the
recommendations here really build on what we have already started in the dialogue with
all of the educational institutions in your region, including your community colleges and
including the public schools. This is very important to emphasize that it's that entire
continuum of K through 12. Each of them interestingly do have the industry
partnerships, but they are themselves somewhat finalized and there hasn't been a
cluster wide strategy among them to say given what we do with K through 12, given
what we do in community college, given what we do in higher education and looking at
the full range of things, the higher education does not just think that you think of as
agriculture research, but now all these applied areas of research -- like in nano
technology and precision agriculture and computer science that -- things that are going
on at Boise State, how do you bring all that together to support the ag -- the industry.
And so the idea of a campus as a place to do that is -- builds on actually the
precedence that you have with Idaho State and the school board or with College of
Western Idaho and it's other partnerships with industries and that the public schools
have already done. So, we believe that by building this together, creating a business
plan on how to do that and, then, above all I think this 1-D, creating the leadership
structure for this initiative. The key is going to get that group to coalesce and see
themselves as having a common agenda and a common initiative to drive this forward.
Next slide, please. This was just an example project that we know exists, so, you know,
we are not making this up that this kind of thing could be done and this reflects two
different projects that were really impressive, one of which is in Illinois in Richland
Community College, which has its own campus that includes all of these different
features from trade shows to classic research and industry partnership space, but also
in the lower box the local traits, the agri-science farm in Lexington, Kentucky, which has
its own farm and this is the key thing about this. This is a high school, very similar to
what you have at the Meridian technical school, the professional center, but it's actually
located on an 80 acre farm and we have other examples like this around the country
where these blends of activity can occur. Next slide. The second area -- we have
talked so much about agri-tourism and it's really indicative -- and Sean and I have had
this experience coming to the community. I actually brought my wife on this trip. It was
a chance for us to do this. And to say what is it we can do in our spare time and
beyond, obviously, going to the mountains, the question is how would you access all the
things that are related to agriculture if you're wanting to access them and, in fact, there
are a lot of ag heritage and agricultural related tourism bits and pieces and we have
confirmed, actually, even in our conversations with the state Department of Agriculture,
that they are keeping an inventory of them, but it is bits and pieces. It's this winery and
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 17 of 28
that winery and this dairy experience and something else going on over here and there
is no place we found, whether it's at the Boise airport or whether it's anywhere in the
region, that you can kind of get a sense of what is the gateway to get to all of this. So,
the strategy here is to build a comprehensive approach. This is a case where you can
say, well, why Meridian. It's a matter sometimes of who steps forward and leads and I
think that by stepping forward and leading and beginning to build the platform where
these kinds of activities are already in place can come together. You will see that there
is an unmet need here that can be filed in this community. Next slide, please. We think
a way to do this is to build on experiences that, again, we have seen in other places,
something that we call an agricultural experience center, but it's -- and this requires a
specific site, it's going to require some significant investment of capital, public-private
partnerships and so forth and it really needs to bring the industry together to support it.
But I would dare say that if this existed, this is the type of thing that somebody coming
up here to do some fly fishing in the region, somebody coming to see some wineries,
somebody coming into the airport and sees, oh, there is a place where we can go and
from this we can access everything that's going on. We have made some suggestions
that the Highway 16 area, because of the development that's going on there, could be a
place. But, again, it's going to require leadership of convening the stakeholders,
bringing them together on a consensus vision and a business plan to show how it would
operate. Next slide, please. And, finally, you have seen this other theme of innovation
and all of these pieces connect so beautifully. We know that there have been already
efforts to create a center for entrepreneurship in Meridian and there are also activities
going on throughout the region and Nampa has an incubator and there is other -- there
is a water cooler downtown Boise and there are programs that are statewide. They
haven't necessarily been brought together with all of their greatest strengths here and
so the question here is can we support the innovation, can we support the tourism, all of
this by maximizing the resources and the focus on an incubator and this is the piece
that could be a low hanging fruit, because you actually already have a city -- a city -
owned facility, the question is are the programming and the support for it robust and our
point is it isn't robust now, but it could be and it wouldn't take that much to bring it to the
next level. If you go forward. And these were just sort of examples, again, showcasing
the existing facility you have. There is no one organization that has a monopoly on this
space and clearly you're going to have private equity investors and angels in the region
that can be brought together. We think that that's part of the secret sauce for this
particular piece. Sean.
Garretson: Thank you, Steven. So, the last two catalyst projects and, then, I will talk
briefly about the strategy. We were told we had two hours; is that accurate? Now, we
are going to try to wrap up --
De Weerd: Sean, it's my birthday.
Garretson: I know. I know.
De Weerd: And as much I love this community, I don't really need to spend my whole
evening here.
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 18 of 28
Garretson: Exactly. So, the fourth one is the ag focus real estate development project,
which we -- which we have talked a lot about before and this was, you know, a lot of --
this was a result of our first analysis in the Fields District where we noticed how much
ag land was being lost in this whole region. Next slide. I think you have seen this
model before of what goes into an ag focus real estate development project. Again, we
are not making this up. They have several hundred of these across the country. But
you have a small almost organic sort of CSA -- community gardens, put a garden in the
middle with development around that. Next slide. So, you can see some of the
recommendations here. I will talk later about the fiscal impact modeling. We actually
worked with a group during this project that did a fiscal analysis of a typical land
development and an ag-based development, so that's a teaser for what I will show you
a little bit later. But I think that this is something that the city is going to need work on to
develop a mode for how that is fostered in terms of the codes and, then, trying to work
with a couple of developers that would have interest in that. Next slide. And, then, the
last one is a downtown conference center. Creating that space downtown, bringing
people downtown, having entertainment options there, training facilities, meeting
facilities, as well as theater and performing arts facilities all downtown and I'm stressing
that downtown. Invest in your downtown for that, not out on the interstate. Next slide.
So, we don't recommend that the city take the lead and do this on your own. The most
successful ones I have seen are public-private partnerships. That would be the way to
go. First item of business there would be to conduct a feasibility to identify what exactly
is the space and demand and use needs before you start planning that. Next slide. So,
let me get more into the strategies. Next slide, please. For the first ones Steven talked
a lot about -- he said K through 12, but I know he meant K through 20 collaboration.
This is, again, the catalyst projects of Venture Meridian Center, the innovation campus
are part of this strategy. Next slide. I'm not going to go through all of those, just know
that they are each within -- within each one of those, like 1-A, there is about ten different
bullets of specific actions that -- that we are recommending need to happen. But, again,
this is about developing an innovation system, cultivating entrepreneurship in your
downtown through the -- the ag innovation center and elsewhere. Next slide. So,
business expansion recommendations. This is a snapshot from the online business
survey that we had and what's interesting when asked what should the main focus area
for economic development in Meridian be, overwhelmingly keeping and expanding
existing businesses was number one. Strengthening downtown was number two.
Small business support was number three and, then, attracting business number four.
So, I think those are very good. We had about 115 survey responses on that. Next
slide. So, on business expansion, again, you know, the catalyst projects related to the
innovation campus, Venture Meridian, and conference center, but you already do a
great job with your business retention -expansion. I think, you know, Brenda and the
Mayor doing that, I think it's been effective. I do think, though, you need to increase
your resources for that. I think the business ready team that you have created has been
great. I know you have been meeting with them a lot. I think the chamber needs to
take the lead on this -- and this is our recommendation -- on the small business services
support programs and the technical assistance and, then, also developing and
implement a Made in Meridian campaign. Next slide. So, on through the development.
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 19 of 28
You know, I don't want to repeat too much of what Steven said, but I did mention to the
Mayor yesterday during one of our meetings that I also got here -- I took a couple days
of R&R and had a friend in Idaho and we got to tour. We went up to McCall and went to
Burgdorff -- although we couldn't find -- we actually went for Crystal -- anyway, we went
all the way over to the Sawtooth mountains, down to Sun Valley, down the Shoshone,
and all the way through. So what's great about that is I really did experience how
Meridian is the center for experiencing this region's tourism and you need to own that
space. Geographically you're in a great place for it, but as Steven said, the first one out
of the gate that really develops that and owns that, you're going to be successful with it.
I think -- next slide, please. So, you know, I think first off, you know, a lot of it is about
partnering with the chamber, developing a tourism strategy, implementing some of
those catalyst projects. You know, you can see we have taken some liberties in --
looking at the scenic byways map and putting Meridian right in the middle. Highway 16
happens to be that connector between your -- between the scenic byways that you have
right here. Next slide. Next slide, please. Okay. So, the next strategy, land use
transportation and infrastructure. This is an interesting one. We put -- your Public
Works director, I'm glad he's here. He will be happy to see the amount of detail that we
put into this. So, this is really about integrating sustainable land use practices with
transportation improvements and infrastructure investment. One of the things that's -- of
course, you know, when we left Boise to come out here we left a little bit late. We
probably should have left a little bit earlier and we were stuck in traffic and I said to
Steven, well, you know what, maybe it might be a good thing we are late, we can -- it
will underline our point about really focusing on the connectivity throughout the region
and definitely within the city. One of the things that was really interesting for us was
looking at your water reclamation program. The byproducts that are coming from that,
the amount -- the ability for the city to provide free water in the Ten Mile area, that is an
economic tool that needs to be better utilized. Next slide. As I mentioned, we did -- we
worked with Anne Westcott and Idaho Smart Growth, who I believe had done some
work here for -- she did a specific analysis of looking at a 500 acre ag-based
development and a traditional development. All of that analysis is in the report and in
the appendix. But you can see the differences and the net impact is, you know, the ag-
based development project is more sustainable and fiscally better for the city and for the
developers. Next slide. So, with that being said, you know, of course, in our
recommendations we are recommending, you know, implementing the catalyst projects,
but, then, also conduct a fiscal impact analysis to assess the whole city, to assess the
implications of the current development pattern. We have worked in a lot of cities. Our
hunch is that fiscally it is not sustainable, the kind of growth patterns that you're having.
We recommend doing that fiscal analysis right up front. We also recommend looking at
the capital improvements plan, basing it on some of that analysis. At a hearing to the
city's ten year and, then, annual CIP and, then, establishing an approval permit and
utility system that maintains to the city's Comprehensive Plan and capital improvement
plan. The last thing, just under related findings, is that last little bullet. Our
recommendation is don't worry about providing the utility infrastructure and beating your
neighbor to the south and providing that utility infrastructure. Let it remain rural. Focus
and be strategic with your utility infrastructure and put it where you really want to grow
your community. Next slide. There are a lot more -- as I mentioned, Tom, you would be
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 20 of 28
happy, there is probably more recommendations in this than any of the other areas, but
I really do think that marketing Meridian as green and sustainable, including your Fields
initiatives, water recommendation, is a very good strategy for you from an economic
development perspective. Really improve the connectivity on the bicycle and the other
-- on transportation projects and, of course, regional rail and, then, complete that
Highway 16 and, then, 20/26 improvements. Next slide. So, downtown. You know,
downtown should be the heart of the city. I think it is. It used to be and I think the
efforts of Meridian Development Corporation and the downtown business owners
association, along with the city, have been great. Yesterday we had the pleasure,
actually, and opportunity -- MDC asked us, just kind of on our dime, since we were
going to be out here, to facilitate a discussion about what -- among the downtown
economic development partners. So, yesterday here in City Hall we had probably about
35 people and several of the folks, including the Mayor and Council Member Zaremba
were there as well, but -- so, of all the projects everybody went through and identified --
we asked them to write in on a piece of paper the top three projects and, then, we
asked every one of them to tell us what those were and, then, they had those sticky
dots and they scored them. So, it was -- it was pretty clear these five projects -- these
top five projects of all of those economic development partners and they reached some
consensus on that. Top one is downtown amenities. So, entertainment options. You
know, brew pubs. More things for family. More things for -- what we call third places for
millennials and others where they can go have a cup of coffee, et cetera. And, then, of
course, a conference center. Housing diversity. And that is, you know, housing --
affordable housing, market rate housing, high end housing, apartments, condos, some
for the 55 year olds and above, some for the millennials. And, then, transportation
connectivity and, of course, redevelopment of UP land. Next slide. So, you can see the
recommendations there. One -- and we definitely talked about this yesterday -- is MDC
expanding its role in economic development. Not only just within the downtown, but we
are recommending that, you know, they have by -- by authority with the state to be able
to expand their existing boundaries by ten percent. They should do that. And, then,
also they do have the ability to develop new urban renewal areas and we recommend
that just as Twin Falls has done that and become very successful, Meridian do the
same thing and Meridian Development Corporation do the same thing. I want to just
mention on the bottom there. This is what a lot of people were actually looking at
yesterday, the mixed use kind of development, ground floor commercial, a couple of
levels of residential. I happen to be developing this project in Austin. This building, plus
two others side by side. It's about a 12 million dollar project. It's called the Chicon. In
an area that used to be, you know, the heart of darkness, really, it was a bad area. But
all of that, building 43 units, 9,000 square feet of commercial space. Of the 43 units 33
are affordable to those making 80 percent of median family income and, then, the rest
are market rate. It's going to be very successful. What we did is we identified what the
demographic demand is and we definitely found the millennials and the 55 and over,
those are the two biggest demographics. I will guarantee you that is the case here as
well. Next slide. And, then, the last strategy it is quality of place. Promoting that quality
of place through arts, entertainment options, way finding and signage, streetscape
improvements. You know, I'm very impressed with the historical tour that MDC just put
together with the logos on the ground and the walking program, I think that's great.
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 21 of 28
Next slide. So, you can see from our recommendations -- definitely feel like you need to
implement an art in public places project. You have seen to the right there all over
downtown Boise, you know, you had a great example of that right in your downtown
where that giant silver box is that houses the filtration system, paint it. Make it pretty.
Do something with that.
De Weerd: We are doing a mural.
Garretson: Excellent. Good. So, you can see some of the other recommendations --
and I'm not going to move into those. Next slide, please. So, at the end of the strategy
we have an implementation table for that -- we are going to help the city and all of its
partners. We have put all the major recommendations in there. When? We are
recommending that those start and stop, etcetera. Next slide. And, then, the next
steps. You know, you kind of are at that intersection of planning and implementation
right now. You know, the next steps are adopting the Fields strategy and the economic
development strategy. Aggressively pursuing implementation. Don't let this sit on the
shelf. As the Mayor said, you have a lot of buy -in right now, people that are ready to
kind of get this going. They already are moving forward on a lot of initiatives as well.
For example, Venture Meridian, I know that the city has been working very aggressively
behind the scenes to move that forward. Establish, you know, an organizational
leadership framework or frameworks -- for example, with the innovation -- excuse me --
the ag innovation center. There is a lot of organizations, they are -- all of which -- all of
them are ready to participate, but there needs to be an organizational framework and
business plan set up for that. Engage all your city departments. That's one of the big
recommendations. We put a lot of detail in there about having some presentations,
educating all the city departments and their heads about their potential role in this
economic development effort. Again, MDC becoming more aggressive in its economic
development role, as well as understanding other -- the Chamber of Commerce and
other partners. Integrate the fiscal analysis CIP. Develop detailed business plans
where appropriate. And, of course, increase your resources for economic development.
I know you have a gentleman from BVEP this evening to talk about a project I think and
I'm very familiar with the state incentive program. That's a very good example of what
I'm talking about in terms of increasing those resources. You know, in the name of
economic development there is an adage of you got to pay to play and you have a good
opportunity in front of you, so I'm curious to see how you move forward on that. Next
slide. That is it. You can move to the next slide. And if you have any questions we
would be happy to answer.
De Weerd: You did that in record time, Sean. That's a lot of information. Council, any
questions?
Bird: I have none.
Milam: Great.
Rountree: I'm sure I have some, but I haven't had enough time to digest it.
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 22 of 28
Bird: Digest it
Spaulding: Well, we were pleased that we were able to have multiple passes with you
and a chance to get acquainted a little bit and peal back the layers of the onion and you
will still have that with the written documents that we can address questions by e-mail
and on the web, you know, to get to the heart of the matter.
Rountree: Very good.
Garretson: And I will say also that, you know, as we said to Bruce, we are committed --
you know, our contract is pretty much done after this evening, but we are committed to
continue to make, you know, minor edits, et cetera, should you -- once you have an
opportunity to kind of review and I know Tom as well, so thank you very much. Oh.
Sorry.
Chatterton: Mayor and Council Members, a couple points. As far as the energy behind
this, we had aspects that says -- as Sean mentioned -- to come up with really not so
much time a branding for this effort, but a name, a moniker, and that's what we have.
We have a number of folks in the room tonight that are also going to be meeting at 7:30
tomorrow morning over at -- is it Heritage building? Heritage Insurance Building. To
talk about --
De Weerd: What next.
Chatterton: -- the ready team and also the recommendations as well and so you will be
putting some structure and movement. Sean talked about the collaboration between
the chamber, between the business community at large, between folks like the city.
BVEP. The Department of Commerce. We really want -- we are very serious about
that. So, trying to promote this energy. One of the things that's not cued up tonight --
oh, and I should also mention that Scott Oliver with Idaho Smart Growth is here. The
model and Anne Westcott's services were provided through the auspices of Idaho
Smart Growth and we also want to -- when Sean was talking about the long-term
sustainability of our land use pattern, we wanted to be able to take a wider look at the
entire city and see, really, the path that we are on, make adjustments as necessary to
become fiscally sustainable if we are not, indeed, sustainable right now. So, all that's to
say that we want this to have energy and to make some real lasting changes in the
community around this and I think that Steven said several times during this process
that a plan really is a series of conversations, so we need to keep the conversations
going and have actions around those conversations as well. We had prepared --
actually, Pegasus had prepared a draft resolution, so that you could, if you wish,
actually adopt the findings, so the Fields District and the economic strategy we -- that's
not cued up for this meeting, but if it's your pleasure we can bring that back and have
discussion around -- around that resolution. The idea of giving it the blessing and the
resources of the city, but I think it also acknowledges all the efforts of the various
stakeholders, some of who are here tonight.
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 23 of 28
De Weerd: I think that would be perfect and I would -- I know we do have a group
meeting tomorrow morning at 7:30 -- after my birthday is not really my idea of great
timing, but I would like to maybe when we put that on the agenda for resolution to adopt
the study that we have this group kind of give an overview of what the ownership is and
what the rolls and responsibility will be of each of the stakeholders. Because, really,
what we envisioned is this would be a community -- a community -owned report and
effort, because all of us play a role in it, which has been so nicely laid out in that report.
So, I'm excited to see that. I was very excited to see that there is an emphasis and
certainly in the survey that you did on that priority of keeping our existing businesses in
the forefront. Certainly we want to see our primary employers thrive, because their
vitality -- you know where rising tides float all boats, they are going to support the other
-- the other business community, achieving realistic opportunities and building on our
CORE competencies and looking at how to grow our own, but also attract others,
because of the CORE competencies that we have in place, instead of recreating
something that -- that is not who we are, understanding and defining who we are and
exactly what direction that we want to go and certainly, as you stated, growing our
talents, continuing to focus on the quality of place and being able to communicate that
quality of place and what it means in business attraction, business retention, and how it
benefits the entire community as a whole, is very exciting and, finally, putting strategies
behind fostering innovation and seeing how we can capture the talent, instead of losing
that talent, but capture the talent and see it grow, that economic -- or that organic,
economic gardening type of thing. So, your work has been very exciting. It's great to
see the -- again, the energy that you have created, the excitement that you have stirred
within our community and a lot of the key players are sitting out in the audience behind
you ready to pick up where you just left off and I think we are going to start seeing some
great wins and we appreciate the impetus, the fuel that you have given to launch this
effort.
Garretson: Well, I just -- on behalf of our consulting team I want to thank all of you, as
well as everybody else who has provided us a lot of resources and we put a lot of
demands on your time and their time and staff time, so thank you very much.
Bird: Thank you.
De Weerd: Thank you.
B. Public Works: Public Works Week Update
De Weerd: Okay. Well, Item 8-B is under our Public Works Department. We will get
an overview and an update of Public Works Week.
Barry: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. It's my pleasure to share
with you tonight an update from the Public Works Week celebration that we just really
had a couple weeks back. As you know this is our sixth annual Public Works Week
celebration. What better way to show you what happened than through a video. So, we
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 24 of 28
are just going to -- put a short little video slide show together, it's about five minutes or
so, and hope that you enjoy it and it covers most of the activities that were covered
through the week, so --
(Video played.)
Barry: Thank you. That's just a quick slide show of some of the events that we held.
As you know we had the proclamation Tuesday of that week, then, we had the expo.
We also held a Go With The Flow tour and we had a golf scramble and, then, finally, the
poop scoot. So, it's a really great week for us. The events continue to grow in size and
interest. We continue to reach out to more and more people. We have estimated this
year that we have reached out to about 1,100 to 1,200 folks in total for the whole week,
which is great for us. I wanted to give you a couple other statistics here. About 80
organizations contributed either money or prizes or in kind assistance. Eighty different
organizations, which is phenomenal. We had 21 major sponsors donate each over 200
dollars to this event and these activities, of course, ran from June 3rd to June the 7th.
This activity -- or week I should say of activities is really not possible without the men
and women of my department who work tirelessly to put this event on and I wanted to
recognize them now if you don't mind. Give me a few minutes. Certainly Kyle Radek,
who is with us tonight, he has been our committee chair almost since the inception of
Public Works Week started six years ago and he has been a passionate advocate for
the activities and the events and continues to encourage and motivate the staff to think
of new things. It was his idea to bring the hydro car to the expo this year and have the
kids learn about pressure and water, hydraulics, and go through some engineering
analysis there, which was really great and he's been our committee chair for -- for the
last several years and this event or series of events would not be possible without his
leadership. Also Austin Petersen was our expo chair. David Allison helped us run the
expo. Mollie Mangerich was our tour chair. Matt Hoffman also helped on the tour.
Deana Smith was our Poop Scoot Fund Run chair. Alex Frietag also helped on the
poop scoot. And, then, Joe Meusch was our golf chair, along with Dave Miles and
Randy Elliott, who helped with golf. Susie Deardorff was our marketing chair. Diana
Russell did the majority of the marketing for the week's activities. And, then, finally
Brent Bjornson from the development services team helped coordinate the bird houses
and Home Depot, which has been, obviously, a great success for the past couple years
and we get great feedback from them as well. A couple other interesting perspectives
or points that I'd like to also convey to you, but I think for those I will have Kyle come up
and if you wouldn't mind give us a couple more fun facts about the week's events and,
then, we'd like to present the proceeds of our week's worth of activities and sponsorship
funds to the Meridian Food Bank, who are also with us tonight.
Radek: Thanks, Tom. Yeah. Just a -- I think it was on the slides that were up, but we
-- we think maybe 800 to 900 people attended the expo infrastructure tour. We had 52
people on the bus. We had 23 teams fill up the golf course for our golf scramble,
significant generator of -- of funds for the food bank. And also a great marketing
opportunity. The big news, really, is that I didn't win the Poop Scoot Fun Run this year,
Austin Petersen won it. Of course he's got like 20 years on me, so if you actually
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 25 of 28
handicapped it I probably really beat him, but -- we had 21 major sponsors -- actually
also 410 pounds of food were collected for our entry fees for the fun run as well. So, all
in all a pretty successful week of outreach to our community, our customers, our
citizens, so I keep thinking we are going to plateau at some point, but it seems to be
getting a little bit bigger every year, so it was -- it was another good week to learn about
Public Works. So, we want to present a check to the food bank today and so Tom is
going to come say a few words about the food bank and, then, we will do that.
Barry: Thanks, Kyle. Dan, would mind coming on up and joining us. Thank you, sir.
Dan Clark is the -- well, essentially, the chairman and executive director of the food
bank for the Meridian Food Bank and, you know, we partnered really with the food bank
for a number of years on this series of activities and are proud to support them. They
do a phenomenal job in our community supporting those in need in our community. The
food bank was founded in 1996 and it's an all volunteer organization, there are no paid
personnel at the food bank, which I found interesting. Over a hundred volunteers make
the food bank run on a daily basis. They currently serve 21 cities throughout the
Treasure Valley with regard to the food pantry, with 76 percent of those clients being
within Meridian and adjoining Boise. Eighty-five percent of the clients that they serve
are low to very low income levels. Last year they served almost a million pounds of
food that was distributed in the food bank, which was astonishing and about 63, 64
thousand people are touched by the Meridian Food Bank at least in 2013. So, it's with
our pleasure to present to you a donation of 5,000 dollars on behalf of the
representatives, the City of Meridian, and most importantly our sponsors -- and that's
not the real check, we will have the real one to you here in just a little bit. And we are
firming up our finances, so there might be just a little bit more coming, but we are very
pleased --
De Weerd: Tom, you need to speak into the microphone.
Barry: I thought I was already fairly vocal. Anyway -- so, I will repeat all of that
De Weerd: No, that's all right.
Barry: In any event, we did want to thank you for all that you do in the community and
let you know how much we support and value your services and it's our pleasure on
behalf of the men and women of the Public Works Department -- I'm sure I speak for the
City Council and Mayor when we say just how fortunate we are to have you and the
dedicated volunteers of the Meridian Food Bank giving so much to our community, so
thank you very much. Thank you again. Do you have a few words or --
Clark: I just -- this is just an awesome thing. I love it and I really appreciate what you
guys do to support us. I mean you have been behind us for these many years and I
really appreciate that. The timing on this is perfect. We have -- this time of year we
start to get slight in money and slight in food and so we start looking for ways to gain
and this does help a lot. A couple pallets of milk right here. Good deal.
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 26 of 28
De Weerd: God does provide; right?
Clark: God does provide. That's right. So, this is awesome. I really thank all of you for
just your support and I thank you for -- this has been great. I really appreciate this.
Thank you.
Barry: Lastly, I would just like to thank the sponsors and there are so many of them to
thank, but I think just in general to say if it wasn't for the sponsors of the activities that
we provide we would not be able to do this particular series of events. It's been
phenomenal to see the support from all over the community, not just for the food bank,
but for also promoting and supporting Public Works Week. So, we are just very very
pleased and, again, we appreciate your support and the opportunities you provide us
each and every day in our work and just want to thank you for that and I will stand for
any questions you might have.
De Weerd: Tom, that's awesome. Good job. Thank you, Kyle, being chair again
Barry: Thank you.
De Weerd: Thank you. Outstanding.
Item 9: Ordinances
A. Ordinance No. 14-1616: Southern Highlands Property
Exchange
De Weerd: Okay. Item 9-A is an ordinance 14-1616. Madam Clerk, will you, please,
read this ordinance by title only.
Holman: City of Meridian Ordinance No. 14-1616. An ordinance authorizing the
conveyance of certain city owned real property to BHH Investments One, LLC, located
in the City of Meridian, consisting of approximately 9,200 square feet of real property
along East Tekonic Drive, identified as a portion of the southerly portion of Lot 16, Block
1, Black Rock Sub No. 1, Ada county parcel number R-0988260167, the surplus parcel.
Authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute and attest on behalf of the City of
Meridian the deed and other documents necessary to complete the transaction.
Providing for a waiver of the reading rules and providing an effective date.
De Weerd: You have heard this ordinance read by title only. Is there anyone who
would like to hear it read in its entirety? Nope, I don't see anyone.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I move we approve Ordinance No. 14-1616 and with suspension of rules.
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 27 of 28
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 9-A. Any discussion from
Council? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, will you call roll.
Roll Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, absent; Milam, yea;
Cavener, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
Item 10: Executive Session per Idaho State Code 67-2345(1)(d) To Consider
Records That are Exempt from Disclosure as Provided in Chapter 3,
Title 9, Idaho Code
De Weerd: Item 10 is Executive Session. Do I have a motion?
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I move we go into Executive Session as per Idaho State Code 67-2345(1)(d).
Rountree: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to adjourn into Executive Session. Madam
Clerk, will you call roll.
Roll Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, absent; Milam, yea;
Cavener, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
EXECUTIVE SESSION. (7:23 p.m. to 8:22 p.m.)
De Weerd: I would entertain a motion to come out of Executive Session.
Rountree: So moved.
Bird: Second.
De Weerd: All those in favor say aye. All ayes.
Meridian City Council
July 1, 2014
Page 28 of 28
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
De Weerd: Do I have a motion to adjourn?
Bird: So moved.
Rountree: Second.
Item 11: Future Meeting Topics
Zaremba: Do we want to talk about future meeting topics?
Rountree: Do you have something?
De Weerd: Do you have something?
Zaremba: It's not a topic, but National Night Out is August 5th or something. Do we
need to close the calendar, so we don't --
De Weerd: Already done.
Holman: We did that. We have remembered this year.
Zaremba: Good. Thank you.
Holman: Yeah. We are on it.
Zaremba: That's it.
De Weerd: Do I have a motion to adjourn?
Bird: So moved.
Rountree: Second.
De Weerd: All those in favor? All ayes.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:23 P.M.
(AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
MAYOR MY DE WEERD DATE APPROVED
ATTES o�oRPgCDA GU5 r
9
City
JAYCE--E_gL-MAN, CIT -CtER F 11 ppxa W
6�n. SEES >P,