2015-04-14(: �%WE FT *,,- --
IDAHO
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP
MEETING AGENDA
AMENDED AGENDA
City Council Chambers
33 East Broadway Avenue
Meridian, Idaho
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at 3:00 PM
1. Roll -Call Attendance
X David Zaremba X Joe Borton
X Charlie Rountree X Keith Bird
X Genesis Milam O Luke Cavener (arrived at 3:06 p.m.)
X Mayor Tammy de Weerd
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Adoption of the Agenda Adopted
4. Consent Agenda Approved
A. Reimbursement Agreement Regarding the Landscape Design Services for
Bellano Creek Neighborhood Park Between Coleman Homes, LLC and the
City of Meridian for a Not -To -Exceed Amount of $23,387.50
B. Addendum to Acceptance Agreement: Display of Artwork of Joyce Green in
Initial Point Gallery from May 1, 2015 to July 2, 2015
C. Payment and Release Agreement with Bill Walker, 1016 NW 13th Avenue,
Meridian ID. in the Amount of $900.00
D. Approval of Award of Bid and Agreement to Trojan Technologies for the
"UV EQUIPMENT" project for a Not -To -Exceed Amount of $487,979.00
5. Community Items/Presentations
A. Signal Timing and Traffic Flow Presentation
6. Items Moved From Consent Agenda None
7. Department Reports
A. Finance Department: Annual Update
Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda — Tuesday, April 14, 2015 Page 1 of 2
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.
B. Arts Commission Update: Meridian Art in Public Spaces (MAPS) Ordinance
C. Community Development: Performing Arts Center Discussion
D. Mayor's Office: Budget Amendment for State of the City for the Not -to -
Exceed Amount of $6,930.00 Approved
E. Citywide Strategic Plan Presentation
F. Public Works: Safety Program Update
G. Public Works Department: Utility Rates Annual Update
H. Legal Department: Resolution No. 15-1063: A Resolution Declaring The
Intent Of The City Of Meridian To Convey To The Ada County Highway
District For Right Of Way Purposes A Portion Of Certain Real Property
Located At The SW Corner Of North Meridian Road And West Railroad
Street Approved
I. City Council Liaison/Committee Updates
8. Future Meeting Topics None
9. Executive Session Per Idaho State Code 67-2345 (1)(d)(C): (d) To Consider
Records that are Exempt from Disclosure as Provided in Chapter 3, Title 9, Idaho
Code; AND (c) To Conduct Deliberations Concerning Acquiring an Interest in Real
Property, Which is Not Owned by a Public Agency
Into Executive Session at 8:44 p.m.
Out of Executive Session at 11:10 p.m.
Adjourned at 11:10 p.m.
Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda — Tuesday, April 14, 2015 Page 2 of 2
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 Workshop April 14, 2015
A meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 3:00 p.m., Tuesday, April
14, 2015, by Mayor Tammy de Weerd.
Members Present: Mayor Tammy de Weerd, Charlie Rountree, Keith Bird, David
Zaremba, Joe Borton, Genesis Milam and Luke Cavener.
Others Present: Bill Nary, Jacy Jones, Bruce Chatterton, Tom Barry, Warren Steward,
Mike Pepin, Mike de St. Germain, Mark Neiemery, Stacy Kilchenmann, Robert Simison,
and Dean Willis.
Item 1: Roll -call Attendance:
Roll call.
X David Zaremba X Joe Borton
X Charlie Rountree X Keith Bird
_X_ Genesis Milam _X Lucas Cavener
X Mayor Tammy de Weerd
De Weerd: Well, good afternoon. Thank you for joining us. It's always nice to see our
Finance Department outside of the budget workshops; right? Thank you. And thank you
for steering committee members to join us tonight and, of course, our reliable citizen
watchdog Ralph. And Frank. For the record it is Tuesday, April 14th. It's a little bit after
3:00. We will start 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: Adoption of the Agenda
De Weerd: Item No. 3 is adoption of the agenda.
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: On Item 7-H, the resolution number is 15-1063 and with that addition, Madam
Mayor, I move that we approve the agenda.
Bird: Second.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 2 of 88
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve the agenda. All those in favor say
aye. All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 4: Consent Agenda
A. Reimbursement Agreement Regarding the Landscape Design
Services for Bellano Creek Neighborhood Park Between
Coleman Homes, LLC and the City of Meridian for a Not -To -
Exceed Amount of $23,387.50
B. Addendum to Acceptance Agreement: Display of Artwork of
Joyce Green in Initial Point Gallery from May 1, 2015 to July 2,
2015
C. Payment and Release Agreement with Bill Walker, 1016 NW 13th
Avenue, Meridian ID. in the Amount of $900.00
D. Approval of Award of Bid and Agreement to Trojan Technologies
for the "UV EQUIPMENT" project for a Not -To -Exceed Amount of
$487,979.00
De Weerd: Item 4 is our Consent Agenda.
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: I move that we approve the Consent Agenda as published, authorizing 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. Madam Clerk,
will you call roll.
Roll Call: Rountree; yea; Bird; yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 5: Community Items/Presentations
A. Signal Timing and Traffic Flow Presentation
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 3 of 88
De Weerd: Item 5 is under our community presentations and we have a riveting
presentation in front of us on streetlight timing.
Hood: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, Shawn Martin from ACHD is here to give
you that riveting presentation. This is -- for those of you that were at the joint meeting last
week, one of the topics that was on the agenda and there wasn't much of a dialogue, so
invited Shawn to come and present and answer any questions you may have about this
topic, so Shawn.
De Weerd: Thank you, Shawn, for your quick follow up.
Martin: Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. My name is Shawn Martin, like Caleb said.
I'm the traffic program administrator at the highway district. The long title for basically
saying I oversee traffic operations and congestion management, which is why I guess
they asked me to come and present to you. On the front page here -- I don't know if you
have seen this latest signal head we had. It's the one with Facebook. We are replacing
that with our red ball and stuff, seems to be where everybody is going nowadays at the
red lights. We are trying to give everybody really as much time as possible to check
Facebook. So, we want to make those red lights.
De Weerd: It is illegal. I will just say that.
Martin: It is to, text and drive. Not checking Facebook at a red light. So, there is three
basic signals in operation. Fixed mode or fixed time, where the movements get pre-
programmed times regardless of demand or movement. That's probably what you see in
downtown Boise. Basically you're going to give a movement 40 seconds, the other one
20 seconds. It doesn't matter if anybody is there or not, that's going to happen every
single time regardless. An isolated intersection is an individual signal that is probably
about a mile away from all the other signals. The one I put here at Meridian and Ustick,
because there is not another signal within a mile on any of the sites. So, it runs basically
on demand that's inputted into the controller and inputting time and parameters. So, you
may give it the minimum times, the maximum times, you may say -- it can run from a
minimum time of five seconds, a maximum time of 50 seconds and, then, what it's going
to do is it's going to use this -- we use the video detection cameras mostly for detection.
So, if there is no other cars that are using that that will cut off that and, then, go to the
other street. So, it's not interacting whatsoever with any of the other signals. And, then,
we have coordinated signal operation where it carries a signal, it will run a background
cycle length and the minor movements are usually still actuated, but the major movements
are guaranteed a maximum -- or a minimum green time. That's a long way of saying is
you're trying to move traffic -- you're picking one direction. It's never going to try to shove
as much traffic as we can along that road and the obvious example there is Eagle Road.
We have identified Eagle Road north and south as a priority, so we are going to give that
movement as much time as needed, whether this traffic is waiting on the side street --
you're going to be sitting there and wait for awhile. We have all experienced that. If you
have ever tried to cross Eagle Road on Ustick, Fairview, Franklin -- if you get there at the
wrong -- wrong time or the right time, you could be waiting two and a half minutes before
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 4 of 88
you are going to go. And feel free at anytime to ask questions. It's probably best if it's
interactive, otherwise, this gets real boring. I did have a couple slides based on some
input and some questions I thought you guys might be interested --
De Weerd: And this is definitely going to make it more interesting; right?
Martin: What signal wouldn't be happy without an equation. I did put this up, because a
lot of people ask, you know, how do you get a yellow time or how do you get a red time
and there is the equation. I mean it's kind of obvious; right?
De Weerd: It's a no brainer.
Martin: But -- if I could get this to work. I will tell you what it's trying to do. What I have
drawn here -- that's the yellow time. You're trying to get a vehicle -- what we call the
dilemma. Imagine you're driving along and the light turns yellow. So, you're always at
that point of should I go or should I stop and that's what we call the dilemma zone. So, at
one point -- so, if you're anywhere along this side you're going to go, if you're on the other
side of the line you're supposed to stop. So, we are trying to get you the yellow time that's
going to allow you to safely get from this point to the stop bar. Then once you get to the
stop bar by Idaho Code, once you are in the intersection you're allowed to go and proceed
through the intersection. So, on the red time it's trying to get you from the stop bar to the
other side of the intersection. Hopefully that makes some sense. So, we do have -- a
typical intersection will have three time of day plans, an a.m., a mid day, and a p.m.
Others might also have a weekend plan, like Fairview -- if you have driven Fairview you
know that there is as much traffic on Saturday as there is on a Wednesday, because of all
the commercial development along there. So, the a.m. plan may run typically from around
7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., your mid day plan would pick up then and, then, your p.m. plan
would start -- it depends on the intersection. Like Eagle Road I think starts at like 2:30,
but most intersections might not start until 4:00 on the p.m. plan.
De Weerd: Shawn, let me interrupt you just for the record. Councilman Cavener has
joined us 3:07. So, thank you. You were there just in time to hear about the dilemma
zone and that was important. So, good timing, Shawn.
Martin: He was in the dilemma zone I think where he didn't know if he wanted to come in
or if he wanted to stay away from this presentation.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Borton: Could I ask one question on the last slide? The equation slide. Is your -- is your
equation accurate enough to account for an individual goes through an intersection -- and
this happens somewhat frequently and gets hit by a vehicle who says my light was green,
your light had turned red, does it account for speed of each intersection, speed of travel,
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 5 of 88
so if you were to have crossed into the intersection after it turned red, have only gone so
far, the other light turned green and could have hit you?
Martin: Correct.
Borton: Does the math account for that?
Martin: Yes.
Borton: I had always wondered how accurate --
Martin: Let me make sure I -- so, what we have -- the way you describe it we have an all
red where every movement has received a red time, so no one is moving and that allows
that vehicle once it gets passed that to get through. But what I have circled here is the all
red and, then, let me just highlight -- the V is the speed, velocity.
Borton: So, any lawful entry into an intersection because of a yellow light, you would have
been able to clear the intersection prior to the other oncoming traffic getting a green?
Martin: Councilman Borton, that's correct
De Weerd: But don't tell anyone.
Martin: So, why do we coordinate a signal. Coordination does have its advantages,
which is, basically, improve mobility and access for the main corridor and that's -- you
always have to pick a direction -- this is what we are going to favor in lieu of the other
movement. Because that main corridor also has more traffic, it's not going to be stopping
as much, you should be able to reduce the vehicle accidents in the area, to reduce fuel
consumption, reduce the number of stops and reduce your emissions and reduce the
overall delay. And I did highlight reduce stops and reduce overall vehicle delay. A lot of
people think that means I don't have to stop, well, that's nice, that's what we want to have
happen, but that's not always going to be possible regardless. We try to reduce the
number of stops and overall vehicle delay. But, like anything, it does have its
disadvantages, too. So, what I have done here is we get -- we have an e-mail address
and I'm sure you guys are all familiar -- that anybody that has an issue with the highway
district -- we get a lot and signal timing is probably -- if it's not the number one, it's at least
number two on the number of complaints. But what I have done here is highlight some of
the common complaints that we get. I have a red light, but no one is coming. Well, if
you're on a coordinated corridor that's exactly what is going to happen. If you're on -- for
instance, we just did a signal timing project on Eagle South of the interstate and we had a
lot of complaints from residents at Easy Jet on both sides, because previous in the
morning they would be able to come up, it was a red light, if no one was coming on Eagle
the light would just trip and they would be able to go. So, we tied those signals in the
coordination, so now people that live along Easy Jet, they have to come -- if they hit it at
the wrong time they could be waiting two minutes before they get a green light. So, that --
they weren't too happy and we received a lot of, calls on that one. And it's not just the side
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 6 of 88
street traffic either. It's also left turning vehicles. If you're on Eagle Road, you're trying to
turn left onto Fairview or onto Ustick we are not going to give you as much time, because
that's going to take away from -- like if you're going northbound on Eagle and you want to
turn left on Fairview, the more time we give you to turn left that's the less time that the
southbound Eagle Road is going to have. Swimming against current -- and what I mean
by that is that travel time is actually increased if you're going against what we identify as
progression. So, for instance, I would say in the morning we favor eastbound traffic and,
then, in the night -- in the p.m. here we do the reverse, so, then, we are going to favor
westbound. If you happen to be going eastbound in the p.m. period against the
westbound traffic, your time could actually increase. The same for an interchange. We
favor southbound traffic in the morning towards your interchanges, because that's where
people are going, because they want to get on the freeway and, then, conversely, on the
p.m. period we are going to favor traffic going northbound away from the interchanges.
Walk indication is on, but there are no pedestrians. People think our push buttons must
be broke, because the walk light is on, but there is no one crossing. Well, when you put
a signal in coordination you have to assume that there are going to be pedestrians there
and you have to account for them every cycle, whether they are there or not. Because,
actually, pedestrians take longer to cross the street than vehicles do and additional
infrastructure is needed, you're going to have to have fiber interconnect or some kind of
interconnect with all your signals. We have fiber. And, then, you're going to need more
staff. The more complicated it is the more staff you're going to need. So, I can give 20
more seconds. That's 20 more seconds I can get through. Whenever you -- pick a
corridor -- and I will go back to Eagle Road, for instance, you have to identify what's the
critical intersection and, obviously, that one it's probably Fairview, so that's the busiest
one. So, first you start there and you identify what green times you need to get traffic
through there at Fairview, but the problem is when the signal is in coordination they must
run a common cycle line, so if you're running two and a half minute cycle lengths at
Fairview you have to run a two and a half minute at Pine, at Franklin, at River Valley, at
Wainwright, at Ustick. They all have to be the same. So, what may work at Fairview, for
instance, might not actually work at River Valley, but you have to assume that the traffic is
going to be similar. Two way progression is difficult. You could -- if all you wanted to do
was just say I'm going to make cars go more fast, to do that that's -- southbound, then, is
going to be more difficult if you don't give them just as much consideration. That's kind of
the swimming in progression again. The signals should be evenly spaced. So, most of
the signals I would say in -- we have a mile grid pattern and, then, do have a lot of half
mile signals and we could deal with those. Signals we have problems dealing with are
your -- on your interchange branch signals, because those are closely spaced or like
when you have a signal like at Hobble Creek on Eagle Road, it's actually a third mile, it's
actually a third mile south of Chinden. So, all your signals along Eagle Road are a half
mile and, then, you get to Hobble Creek and now that one is a third mile. Signal
preemption by emergency vehicles creates problems. Going back to Eagle Road again,
because that's everybody's favorite child. St. Luke's being right there, there is probably an
ambulance or police or fire by interrupting those signals every like 15 minutes or so. So,
once the signal is interrupted and it has to get back into cycle and that could take up to
five minutes or so just to get back into cycle. If your roadway is over capacity or if your
speed limit is not set proper -- because if we put a signal coordination you're going to do it
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 7 of 88
at the speed limit. So, if you can't go the speed limit you're going to have a problem. Like
I will go with my commute. I live in north Meridian, but you guys know where the highway
district is, so I go on Chinden every morning and ITD went in and they increased the
speed limit to 50, which was great, except it seems like every morning I have two cars
going 45 right next to each other and the signals are coordinated for 50, so I'm stuck
behind them, so, sure enough, I know what's going to happen, if I'm not going 50 I'm going
to get stopped at the red light.
De Weerd: At every one of them.
Martin: Every one of them. The coordination plans during the day causes disruption. I
showed you the different timing plans. There is an a.m., a mid day, a p.m. When that
change happens it's going to take a couple minutes for those signals to change their
offsets and change their flip in the cycle length, you're going to have about a ten minute
period where you get -- like in downtown Boise -- I'm there at 9:30 in the morning and I
was traveling 9th Street, well, that's just right when our plans are changing down. So,
obviously, we try to do those -- we don't try to do those in the peak period, because no
matter what we are going to do them like at 9:30 in the morning, somebody is going to be
there. Here is another diagram for you, Mayor. And another one. Let me see if I can
explain this one right. Early return to green. So, what you see here is a time -space
diagram and if you don't have enough traffic on your side streets what's going to happen
is it will terminate that space and go back to the main movements to give you a green.
Well, that sounds, I could go -- what happens is signal coordination -- when it lets you go
early, you're just going to get stopped at the next light and you're going to get a red light.
So, if I could draw a line here -- what it shows here is a typical -- if you're on a green light
you go and by the time you get to the next light it's going to be go for you, too. However,
right here is your red light to your main -- your side streets. If your side street doesn't use
all of this green time, it's going to let you go early, so you're to leave here -- see what
happens when you leave? You go to this intersection and now you're at a red. Now
you're having to wait. So, if your side streets actually don't have enough traffic, it's going
to let you go early, so trying to reduce overall delays -- the one good thing you don't have
to sit there and wait, because if you sit there and wait, then, we get those calls I'm sitting
here and waiting and no one is coming by. So, we let you go early and now -- now you're
having to stop. Why am I having to stop? It should be coordinated. I did mention that
pedestrian crossing times often dictate green times and this is just sort of a -- so, this is
sort of a simple -- so, we time our pedestrian signals to walk at three and a half feet per
second. Say a five lane facility is about -- about 80 foot wide, so 80 foot wide at -- is that
right? At three and a half feet per second, it's going to take that pedestrian 23 seconds to
walk across the street. Now, if you're on a street that doesn't have that much vehicles, but
you have to account for the pedestrians, vehicles may only need 15 seconds of green, but
you have to account for 23 seconds every time. So, that goes back to why is the red light
on, there is no one there. What we did, actually, on some of the signals along Eagle Road
is we didn't account for pedestrians every single time on coordination. So, if a pedestrian
comes along and hits the button they will still get the walk light and they will still get their
time to cross, but it's going to knock the signals out of coordination, because we just
simply didn't account for the pedestrians crossing every single time, because, to be
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 8 of 88
honest, there is not a pedestrian crossing on Eagle Road every signal cycle. So, in
downtown Boise and your downtown here probably is a pedestrian crossing required a
single cycle. That's just -- that's some theory and just some background. And I will kind
of get more into what we have done here in Meridian. We do time our signals. We have
about 340 traffic signals wouldn't you say there, Bob? We try to retime those on a five
year rotating basis. We zone out the county and every year we go pick which ones we
are going to do. We do hire consultants to help develop those plans and in Meridian the
last we timed your signals in 2014 and there was 42 of them and I will show you which 42
those are. I will put up a map. It makes it easier with a map. So, basically, if your signal
along Ten Mile at your left boundary -- and as I said, we did this section of Eagle Road
here at the east boundary. This is Fairview and Cherry for a top boundary and, then,
Overland Road from Stoddard to Silverstone and, then, your downtown core here on Main
and Meridian and we waited until after the project was done when we did those. And,
then, also a piece of Franklin Road from your downtown to Locust Grove. And these
other signals along Linder -- you can see there is no line in between them. We did put a
new timing -- if you go back to the beginning we treated those as isolated signals. They
are there, they are not really talking to each other, so if you're on -- part of the problem is,
of course, the railroad crossing along Linder. It's hard to coordinate a railroad -- or Linder
when you have a railroad crossing with a stop sign. Maybe once we get that section of
Linder here widened we can go back and coordinate those as well. And the percentages
that you see here are the travel time reductions that we experienced. So, just as an
example on Ten Mile Road northbound we were able to reduce travel time 15 percent.
And that's over the course of a day. Southbound seven percent. You can see the rest of
them. That means that we are able to reduce travel time delay and stop. These are some
before and after studies we did. We go out and we drive the corridors before, seeing how
long it takes us to travel, you know, how many times we get delayed or how many stops
we have and, then, we go back after we put in the timing and we do the same. You can
see the reduction here in travel time, delay and stops. Current issues and that's what we
are having in Meridian. Meridian interchange construction is creating quite a challenge.
We are consistently monitoring that, making adjustments as we can. I should say -- and
this goes back to either construction before or after, during, it doesn't really matter --
anytime we have interchanges our number one goal on an interchange, which is signal
timing, to keep people from backing down the ramps and onto the interstate. We would
rather you stack and have to use your overpass over your structure, rather than having
you stick out onto a freeway with people who are going 65 miles an hour. So, we are
going to favor your off ramp on an interchange. Specifically now during construction, but
really anytime. 1-84 construction and traffic is shifting to other east -west roads. People
don't want us to sit there and wait in line, so we have seen increases in Victory, Overland,
Franklin, Fairview, Chinden, Highway 44, any east -west route with its traffic. We have
added some closed circuit TV cameras at Franklin and Linder and Franklin and Ten Mile
to help us monitor the traffic and make adjustments. Help us monitor the traffic and make
adjustments. And we are looking at some possible dynamics, which is fine, on arterial
roads installing this -- we are looking at Eagle Road, Ten Mile, and Meridian, all timing
near the interchange. There is something new we are trying and it's supposed to be a lot
more flexible than a standard control. It adjusts the timing for the red, yellow and green
lights accommodating changing traffic patterns, will automatically adapt to unexpected
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 9 of 88
changes. Before you always go in, you base your green times on the traffic you think is
going to be there based on historical counts. So, if we see a surge we will add that 20
seconds of green time that we are asking for and at the next light, well, we may take that
20 seconds back away from it. So, if it does see a longer queue than normal it's going to
give you more green time. We are trying that and here is the corridor we are trying it on
right now. The Chinden, Highway 44, Eagle Road, and Glenwood, in that box area there
is 20 some signals in there and we are evaluating that right now. There is a project the
works between us and ITD, then, to extend and adapt the signal along Eagle Road from
Chinden back all the way down to the interstate. Okay. I think this is my last slide. They
did want me to speak briefly about Main, Meridian, Fairview, so I think that's one of the
ones that came up at the joint meeting. This is going to be complicated, but I will try to do
my best.
De Weerd: It looks clear as day.
Martin: Yeah. I know. That's -- so, this is -- again, this is a time -space diagram. The
green is your green time. The red is when you're stopping. So, if this direction is going to
the top, this is westbound, so if we look at the bottom and go to the top, you're going
westbound. If you're going from the top down to the bottom you're going eastbound.
Now, there is a period -- it's based on -- if you were sitting right here -- and that's Main
Street going westbound and you got a green light, you're going to go and you're going to
hit a green light also at Meridian Road. And so you get to this point right here. So, if
you're one of the first cars in line at Main Street you are going to hit a red light at Meridian.
However, if you're going eastbound you get a red light here and go through and you're
going to -- you're supposed to be able to get a green light at Main Street. The problem is
why is it you're getting a red light when -- the other way when you're going westbound --
so, you have to start when -- and you have to look all the way back here and the
transportation commission -- I actually -- I thought it was running by itself, but it's actually
running as part of the system as well. We are trying to get the traffic from Locust Grove,
actually, a mile back and trying to get them all the way through the intersection as well.
So, if they are leaving Locust Grove and they are getting a green light at Lake and they
are coming to Main Street and getting a green light and, then, they are getting a green
light at Meridian and that's why if you're -- if you didn't come from Locust Grove, if you
came from one of the side streets and driveways at Burger King or any of those
establishments along and you're at Main Street, you're going to get a red light at Meridian,
because when you can see the difference between red lights here and a red light here,
there is more traffic on Meridian Road than there is on Main Street at this time. We are
having to account for more traffic on Meridian and that's why you're stopping. But if you
ever come into a situation and you want to know why am I stopping or what's going on,
the best thing to do is always note which direction you're going and the time of day,
because if you give up that information, then, we will -- I will be able to go to the guys that
really know what they are doing and I can ask them and, then, I can get you an answer.
Hopefully that wasn't too -- I left you with a cartoon. If you have any questions I will be
certainly glad to answer them.
De Weerd: Thank you, Shawn. Council, any questions?
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 10 of 88
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: Shawn, you talked about the adaptive signal control. What kind of investment
does that take? Can you do it with existing controllers or installed technology?
Martin: You can use your existing controllers, but it does require another box, basically,
for you to put in there and depending on which vendor you select -- like we selected
Rhythm Engineers or Insync System and they want you to really use their cameras as
well, which is creating problems, but it's about 30,000 dollars an intersection, so if you do
20 that's 600,000. So, it's not cheap.
Rountree: Thank you.
De Weerd: Any other questions from Council? I think you made it clear as day.
Martin: I don't know. I might have muddied the waters, but it's not -- it's not easy and it's
not going to get any easier as we go.
De Weerd: Well, we appreciate you coming and sharing that, Shawn. I think it did really
help understand the -- the sooner you allow us to move might screw up the rest of the trip.
So, now I know that, so when I'm sitting there cursing you, I know one day you will love
me.
Martin: Or are you cursing the cars in front of you for not going the speed limit.
De Weerd: Yeah.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Milam: I do have a quick question. So, do they -- do they have to be one way or the
other? Is that what I understand? They either have to be coordinated times or active --
motion activated?
Martin: Yes. There is coordinated or the other one where it's a little more responsive.
When you use the cameras, then, it will be more responsive to you, yes.
Milam: But it's one way or the other?
Martin: Yes.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 11 of 88
Milam: And can you -- then can you -- do they have to stay the same or can you have
certain ones that would be coordinated during the weekdays, but maybe activated on
weekends?
Martin: Yes. You can change that up. It doesn't have to be coordinated all the time. We
will take signal coordination at nighttimes, you know, Eagle Road I want to say like around
10:00 or 11:00, they are not going to be uncoordinated, they are going to be more
responsive. So, yes, there is periods where we -- we call it free operation at that point
where they are not coordinated and now we installed the video projection cameras.
Milam: Okay.
De Weerd: Okay. Well, thank you again for sharing that.
Martin: Thank you.
Item 6 Items Moved From Consent Agenda
Item 7: Department Reports
A. Finance Department: Annual Update
De Weerd: And we had Finance follow you to say yours wasn't the dry one. Oh, sorry.
Okay. Our strategic update from our Finance Department.
Kilchenmann: Welcome. It's -- I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing to follow, but I
am going to skip around to different topics, so, hopefully, you won't laps into a coma in the
next 20 minutes. This is the Finance Department. I brought most of them here and told
them they were going to be asked to say a few words and they all got sweaty palms, but
not really. I'm not going to ask them to say anything. But if you have questions everybody
is here and willing to answer questions about their area. So, this is the organizational
chart that we just produced for you. This is the Finance Department. We in the last
couple years have reorganized a bit. We kind of went backwards and we flattened our
organization. It turned out that nobody really needs to be managed so much, so kind of
flattened it out and do a team approach. So, I'm going to go back for a minute and talk
about where we left off a couple weeks ago when we were talking about budgeting,
transparency and accountability. I'm going to talk a little bit about something called
Governmental Accounting Standard Board Concept Statement No. 1, which addresses
exactly what we were talking about. So, concept statements are not standards in that
they are not mandated, but they are strongly recommended. So, this concept governs
how we account and report. It is our financial reporting standard and there is two main
standards or two main concepts. Accountability and interperiod equity. So, interperiod
equity -- and this is their wording. I wouldn't talk like this personally, but it's that
government should pay for current services with current resources and not postpone
payment to burden future budgetary periods. That's something that's very unique to
government accounting and sometimes -- and budgeting sometimes makes it hard for
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 12 of 88
people to understand the way we do things the way we do. So, I'm going to answer
Council -- I'm going to answer Councilman Zaremba's budget workshop question now and
that's why we keep reapproving the budget every year, including the capital. So, it's also
why you all meet with the Mayor and your departments and you literally go through line by
line items. So, you're -- you don't want to do that in a workshop, because you wouldn't
live that long. That's basically what we are doing. We have to reapprove the whole entire
budget every year. That's where we get into the concept of carry forward, why we use
that term carry forward. We are literally reappropriating -- reappropriating every line item.
So, then, accountability, that's what we were talking about a little bit a couple weeks ago.
So, that's kind of the cornerstone of financial reporting. That's a statement of the concept
the government is accountable for public resources to provide public services and the
primary consistent is the citizen. So, the reporting format, we can talk about this briefly.
I'm going to go back to the funds again, because we talked a little bit about that last week
and I found myself the last couple of weeks trying to explain the concept of a fund and not
doing very well, so I'm not sure that this will clear it up any better, but a fund is established
due to the diverse nature of government operations and the need for legal compliance.
So, a governmental fund we -- we are always talking about governmental funds and
enterprise and proprietary funds. So, a governmental fund, the reporting focus is on
determining the financial position and changing in financial position, rather than on
determining net income. So, we have -- here are some that we have. General Fund.
Capital Improvement Fund. Impact Fee Funds. Proprietary funds are used to account for
activities that are similar business operations in the private sector or when the reporting
focuses on determining net income, finance position, and changes in cash flow. But that
-- that statement, that change in cash flow, is a pretty major part of the audited financial
statement, an exercise to determine if the entity is liquid, so -- and we just have one, the
water and sewer utility. So, we have this fund level and the big thing here is that the
format that we use is universal, so that any -- almost anybody can look at it for any entity
and it will make sense. It will be comparable. For example, auditors, bank rating
agencies, investors, even companies that want to relocate, they will look at the financial
health of whatever locality they are relocating in, because that can affect stability of
services, quality of life, how stable the tax base is. So, then, it comes down to functions.
So, functions are those big roll ups that you see. We have -- we have water, sewer, fire,
police, parks, admin and community development. Big role, except what we usually talk
about what we give you in the Council statements that usually regularly report in. Then
we drop down lower and we go to the level of programming. So, we -- that's a subset of a
function. We use it for what we call departments. So, in accounting circles we look at
your accounting, financial statements, we typically in the city in the departments have
what we call functions, but within accounting it's all those sub sets within the financial
statement and it might possibly be interesting, because if you're looking for a piece of
information, if you know the department you can drill down further, you don't have to read
through 500 lines of data or look at that big rolled up statement. So, departments are
important for directors and managers, because they can see information at a small level.
We -- or I don't like it so much, because we are getting more and more tables of data to
manage and you can -- we lose comparability over time and you can't - it's like you're
looking at the tons of trees and not the forest. But here is -- we have like 16 departments,
so part of the reason I'm showing you this is you can sympathize with Todd or with
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 13 of 88
accounting when they are reviewing the financial statement or taking all of the data and
rolling it up, this is kind of what they deal with. Again, it's helpful to know this. If you just
want to know something about the wastewater treatment plant lab and you don't want to
dig through the entire Enterprise Fund statement to figure it out. So, then, I'm going to go
and switch off that, because that's concepts. Now, when we look at -- this is back to that
higher level roll up. Like this is what we talked the last couple of weeks ago, we talked
about revenue and switched over here and talk about our expense side. So, like we just
completed this. We are in the process right now of building a FY -15 budget, so we are
looking back and this is how we looked in FTE accounts. When we look at that high level
roll up and look at the total number of -- in comparisons. Change in employees over five
years. Change in employees from year to year, et cetera. So, this gives you -- and we go
into the budget and we look at revenue and we decide how much is our revenue going to
be, are we going to take the property tax, are we not, and start planning that. Well, how
much growth can we reasonably expect to fit in the city given the level of growth in
development. This kind of tells you, you know, what you're looking at in the future. So,
we are hot off the press today, breaking news, that the FY -15 General Fund fund space,
there is no operating space above 5.5 percent and Enterprise is up 5.3 percent, so both
up five percent. So, I'm going to drill down and get down in to my department. So, in
general administration we talk always about here is administration. Well, that's actually 12
departments. So, it's a very diverse group of departments and it kind of starts really to
make conclusions or do analysis on that number administration without looking at all the
different functions within it. But COMPASS knows -- it seems like every report we give
you that's got all these 12 departments listed. Some of them are very small. So, I will just
-- you can look at this over time. You can see all the different departments that make up
administration. So, in total the '14 -- the '15 budget, fourteen percent of the total city
posted budget is FTE. Financing, IT, Legal are in the Enterprise Fund. Other
Government is -- it's kind of a different animal where it's very, very, very, very general
things. Like we have two people in there. We have the construction manager who works
for both the Enterprise Fund and General Fund and the communications coordinator.
That's also where we have like our city dues and just different items we can't really trace
to one department in particular. So, it's been kind of like commercial development when
the fund comes with a primary program entry eventually the support staff has some input,
too. I'm going to switch completely and talk about utility billing. It has to be blue and
orange, because they are just like a rabid BSU fan. Don't ever go in there on a Friday
during game time, you will be blinded by the orange. So, utility billing is actually funded all
through the Enterprise Fund, but it's managed and reports to Finance. We have had kind
of a full year this year, because we have had a couple of internal promotions and
throughout here I put some numbers and year of the stats and it's unusual that we have --
we have -- we don't have an old staff, we have staff that's been here a long time. So,
billing manager Karie has been here since 16 years and we have two promotions, billing
administrator two and billing administrator one was left out. Marie has been here 12
years. But Marie actually started as a temp and worked her way up. We had the person
who was doing this job left over the weekend without notice and a couple weeks later we
noticed, oh, Maria is doing the job and it seems like a good fit. Then we had a chance to
promote Cody. She has been here seven years to the backup to Maria, so those two gals
do all the primary functions to get the bills out each month. Peter is our lonely male and
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 14 of 88
he does property ownership transfers, so he's kind of -- and everybody here is cross -
trained. Everyone of these people can jump up and take over the lobby, take over
whatever position, plus do their primary position. Accounting clerk, front desk, we have
Ev who has been here ten years. Ev is kind of a serene person in the crowd. You could
spray an AK47 around and she would say may I help you. Barbara Davidson has been
here six years and she is just now taking over property management and third -party billing
that Cody has been doing. It's a new opportunity for her that she jumped up and took
over. And, then, we have a new person Vickie who has been here one day. She started
yesterday. Jackie has worked for the city before for Karie, so the addressing and it turns
out she and Barbara graduated from the same high school, the same year, from a city in
California. So, there you go. A little bit about what they do and little bit of benchmarking.
So, these are extra services, just some things that we track. Services connect, property
management, billing and payment arrangements. Each of those has payment
arrangements and property management billing that it serves the people who primarily do
that. Then there are payment types. Online payments. Counter payment. Pay by phone.
One thing we noticed -- or I noticed is how come our phone calls and counter payments
are going down, but we are still increasing the number of accounts. I mean why do we
need all these people? We don't need all these people. And Karie wisely pointed out that
-- that spend time on quality control before the bills go out. So, a lot of what everybody is
doing -- and it's the whole staff -- after that meter read they are reconciling the bills and we
did the billing and they post services, too. So, everyone in the department is working on
reconciliation. That means when the bill goes out the bill is more likely to be right and
people don't have to call us and complain or come in. So, we still have a lot of direct
contract. We have people that come in and pay over the counter. They just -- they like to
do that and we have public, of course, a lot of phone calls. Well, one of the big projects
we are doing in billing is replacing the software system. It was time for an update on the
progress of that project. Here is a timeline of what we have done and where we are
going. Up at the top you see the cost. Original budget request was in FY14 and -- for
710,000. It looks like the cost will be 618,000 and the maintenance will be about 5,000
more than we actually budgeted. So, it's pretty close. Some of the -- some of the --
where the cost are off a little bit, but overall we are pleased with the project. We expect it
will come in at or just under cost. Here is what we have been through. We started out by
trying to define our requirements and we hired a firm called Moss Adams to -- their closest
office is in Portland. They worked with finance, billing public works, IT, water and
community development to start developing requirements. During this process we knew
we needed a project manager and we were going to use one in IT who left, so we ended
up contracting with a firm called Experius, which Cheryl I believe you all remember in
November as the project manager -- well, it turns about we were able to terminate Moss
Adams' services early than the original contract. They weren't quite doing what we
wanted. Not quite as responsive as we wanted. So, we had terminated that and saved a
little money on that. But we -- we released the RFP August 12th, 2014, with all that
technical -- all those requirements, functional requirements, vendor profile references and
costs. We had seven responses. Narrowed it down to two. It sounds easy when I read it,
but not so much. It's very time consuming. All of these -- gathering people back together,
hold a meeting, and plow through all this. So, we ended up selecting one vendor True
Point. The software is called TrueBill -- for an on site visit. We sent an evaluation team
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 15 of 88
with billing, water, and IT and they visited one of the -- a primary user Sacramento
Suburban Water District and -- okay. Billing did not complain. Water and IT complained
about the quality of their rotation and their accommodation. I did not choose. Cheryl
chose those. But they survived, they all came back alive and determined that this was
that out-of-the-box solution that would meet their requirements. So, December 10th,
2014, we announced our selection and started contract negotiations. So, again, that goes
through a whole long process of going through the contract negotiations and it's turned out
that we had a slight change of scope, because it turned out that -- it turned out that the
system would do something the water hadn't necessarily been planning to use it for is
dealing with the meter inventory, so it's something that could be much more easily in this
software than the way we were originally going to do it. So, I think the difference was like
less than 25,000, if even that much. Cheryl let everybody have a break over the holidays.
So, then, February 10th you approved the contract for the software purchase. The
implementation is scheduled from February 2015 to January 2016. So, almost a year.
March 16, 17 and 18 we had the kickoff and they started the training and workshops. The
first part of May they will be here for production training, baseline installation and, then,
Cheryl has listed all the other steps. I'm not going to read them to you -- that will follow.
Basically on the floor target as of this week that we will meet that January 2016 target.
Okay. Now we are going to skip to -- I should ask if there is any questions about that
project before I move on.
De Weerd: Any questions from Council? I think you have been very good at keeping us
in the loop on it.
Kilchenmann: Okay. So, we are going to skip, we are going to go to the purchasing
department. This is one of -- we have got a couple different projects here to talk about.
So, this is an area where growth -- city growth has definitely been a challenge for us. We
have two employees. One has been here nine years and eight years. Keith, who is the
president of Idaho -- the Idaho Public Purchasing Association. And I mention this,
because both of these people have been very involved in the outside training and
particularly like Kathy, she's an hourly employee, she does this on her own time outside of
the work. She is the vice -present of the Idaho Public Purchasing Association and will be
president --
De Weerd: I see you have a coup.
Kilchenmann: She said it occurred in a weak moment, but too late now. So, it's
purchasing is complex and time consuming. So, a lot of the law is when someone has
abused something, so somebody made a lot of corrections and, then, somebody does
something else and somebody else makes another law and it just like mushrooms. So,
this is a quote I found. It's not just government, it's of everybody. So, this is from a
magazine on procurement and it says procurement fraud is the second most frequently
occurring forms of economic crime behind asset misappropriation and it just talks about
procurement fraud and, then, its most common at the vendor selection stage, followed by
the bid process. And, then, it lists some of the sectors that report the most fraud, so
government, energy, utilities, mining, engineering, construction and transportation, which
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 16 of 88
is just kind of like everything. So, as you probably know the state is working on revamping
the purchasing laws and they have had a few sticky wickets, so maybe this will solve
everything. We looked at why are we so busy. Are we just not efficient. We use case
management. We streamlined procedures and we know where each project is. So, if you
look -- if you look at the growth in the city about on that graph it shows RFPs and RFQs.
It groups the different functions and you can see it's just -- it's mushroomed and this from
Legal, too, because they are kind of the end point after us. So, another way to look it is,
well, how much are we spending on construction. So, just in three years we went from
spending 9.3 million dollars to spending almost 25 million within a year. So, all that goes
through a big RFP, RFQ bid process. And, then, another thing which is time consuming
is, well, how much are we spending for assessment services? Well, in five years we have
spent almost 16 million dollars on assessment services. One thing that's important to note
is that purchasing does not write specifications. Specifications come from the
departments. It would be great if they knew everything about everything and could write
specifications, but they don't. So, they facilitate the process of moving -- departments give
them through this final contract.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: Go back to that purchasing --
Kilchenmann: This one? Oh, yeah. So, if I -- I think -- I'm not sure. The graph doesn't
drop down enough to --
Borton: Okay.
Kilchenmann: It's another category, but I will look it up and let you know. So, we have got
all this purchasing going on and we are creating all these contracts and we have all of this
information is funneled through on accounts payable person who pays the payments on
the contracts and they need to be accurate, because when it -- push comes to shove and
it's not, it's the Finance Department gets it on the audit report. Plus we want to pay in
accordance with the contract. So, we also at year end we have to report on all the
outstanding contracts for the auditors. It's called a commitment list. And we just have
contracts and agreements roaming around the city for years and finally Reta, who gets the
commitment list and manages accounts payable, she's just like I'm done, we got to do
something about this. So, this is for Todd.
Lavoie: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, good to see you.
De Weerd: Nice to see you, Todd.
Lavoie: So, as Stacy was stating, Reta was tired of dealing with contracts, asking
questions about the audit and a number of things have occurred over the years that made
us ask the question how can we fix it. We would have, you know, projects going on that
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 17 of 88
we would have the checkered flag to make final payment and we would ask the project
manager has all the requirements of the contract been satisfied and we find out the
contract was still in question, unknown if the requirements have been satisfied. So, we
found out that insurance was due on a certain item or property payments were due and
we found out the contracts were not being managed to the best. So, we tried to find an
efficient, effective way for the city to manage the numerous contracts that we all have.
You would see them on a weekly basis. There is thousands of contracts out there in the
numerous departments that we have. In May 2013 we presented to you guys that we
would try to develop a contract management database in house. I'm happy to tell you that
we have successfully developed a program. May 1st we will be releasing it to a select
group of employees with the help of IT. Nick Barrett and Mike Tanner. It's a program that
was developed in house. The project team in this case is -- we have Keith Watts, we
have Reta Cunningham, Nick Barrett was our lead IT project or program manager. We
have Karen Waddell. I'm not sure if everybody has met Karen Waddell yet, but she's
actually going to be the contract management administrator. She's going to be in charge
of trying to input hundreds of contracts that you approve every year. She's going to input
them into the database. Eventually we would like to have it automated, but right now we
have one person that's going to manage this. Kathy has that -- I mean Karen has that
daunting task to manage all these contracts in the database. It's not going to just be
contracts, it will be agreements, it will be reimbursement agreements as well. Again, the
database is going to try to help the user, be it the Council members or any city staff
employee to be able to access online data regarding a contract, be it the milestones, the
start date, the execution date, when it stops, when it starts, does the contract have
requirements like insurance. Does it have a requirement to have tax information
submitted. Hopefully this database will be a one stop shop for all city employees and the
Council members to access those, so that if there is ever a question on a contract you can
go to this one central location, have the contract in front of you, with the pertinent
information. Legal is going to be a very large user in this, they are going to help us out a
lot in the future on future advancement and development of this program. Again, we are
hoping that it's going to be a great tool for the city. It's going to help Finance out
tremendously over the years in being able to answer the questions of what contracts we
have outstanding. So, this is just a quick snapshot of just the various amounts of data
that we are going to collect on behalf of the contracts for all city employees to use. Being
that this is developed in house Nick Barrett up in IT has worked with Mike Tanner and we
are going to have this project actually work in conjunction with the project that is going on
in the engineering division. Right now Mike and Nick are working with the engineer to
develop a new project, a management software program, and given that they are both
developed in house all the projects will have an associated contract. So, we have a
contract management database, so now they will be able to talk amongst each other,
since we have developed it in house, we have the same language and we will be able to
share the data on the fly, on the go, so anybody that wants to know of a contract they can
go to the project or if anybody wants to see a project they can go to the contract. Again,
using the resources we have upstairs it's going to be a great interface between the two
programs. Again, as I stated, our goals are related to a select group of individuals. On
May 1st we are going to have it introduced officially on April 29th. We are going to use --
hopefully use word of mouth and some other training in the future to release this to all
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 18 of 88
employees, any staff members that have an interest, have a need, have a use for this
program. Again, future development of this database is going to work with legal a lot. We
are going to hopefully utilize a function of -- as we do data input into Word or Adobe, it will
automatically fill in the database so that Karen doesn't have to retype all the data again
and it will help remove the errors in typing. Again, as I explained to Public Works
engineering division, their project, these two are going to work in conjunction, they are
going to talk to each other, but I think it's just really going to really, really work nice. It's a
positive for the -- for the city staff members to be able to access the contracts on a daily
basis, at your fingertips. If you're out in the field you have access to it there as well. The
project is almost done for its release. We only have a couple weeks left. So, I'm happy to
say with all the great work that Kathy, Karen, Reta, Nick, Keith, Mike -- we put a lot of time
in this, it's a hundred percent in house. We didn't outsource any of it. We worked with
Public Works, Legal, other departments, Fire, to get input on the way this is going to lay
out. So, I think at the end of the day I think everybody is going to be happy with the
product and I'm happy to answer any questions. It's been a year since I have given you
an update and I'd stand here to answer any questions if you have any.
De Weerd: Okay. Council, any questions? Well, we look forward to the launch
Lavoie: Thank you.
Kilchenmann: Hang in there. We are getting close. So, I'm going to switch now and talk
about the accounting department or dedicated accounting, our accounting assets. This is
the department that Reta is the captain of. Captain of the starship Enterprise. Reta has
been here 19 years. She's our controller. Our senior accountant Jenny just received a
promotion -- well, in the last few months. She's been here six years and she's now our
senior account at all of 31 years old. So, we like calling you a senior. Then as Todd
mentioned, Karen is our new employee. You gave us a new position a year ago. So,
Karen has been here actually almost a year. We kind of stole her or lucked on her or
were lucky. She has 30 years project management at Hewlett-Packard and six years at
the city of Boise managing grants and accounts -- grants and accounts. Grants and
contracts. We have had to be like really charming and friendly and angry and -- to find
people like this who are willing to come to work for us and are a great, as I said, asset.
Then we have another new position, Courtney -- I'm not going to try to say her last name.
I will massacre it. But she's been with the -- so, she was a really good find. She wanted
to move here from Jerome. She was the controller at Don's Irrigation, which actually she
was there for seven years and that's somebody who is selling those big agriculture pivot
systems, so she's got experience in every area. It's just been great. We are excited to
have her on our team already asking what can I do, I'm ready to do more. Payroll. Barb
has been here 13 years. Barb has a new name. Barb is now --
De Weerd: I noticed that. Why is that?
Kilchenmann: I know. Barb got married last fall, so she's now Barbara Mall. So, Barb is
like a priceless diamond. Everybody always is very nice to Barb, because we know what
she does for just as one person handling payroll. And we have another new employee.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 19 of 88
Our arts and culture specialist. So, Hillary has actually been here seven years -- seven
years and she's 24 years old. So, talk about getting some longevity. So, she's very
excited. This fits exactly with her dream of what she wants to do and she won't stay in the
Finance Department forever, but for right now we are feeling very left brained and glad
that we have them. So, as Todd explained when we -- when you gave us a new position
we restructured everything. Karen is in charge of care and feeding of the contract
database. Jeff will reconcile account payables, the cash receipts. I was going to talk a
little bit about cash. And what every new employee does, does grant accounting. Jenny
does -- she like does 8,000 things, but anything you want done Jenny does it. Do you
want an org chart? Jenny does it. You want the cost for police on the street hours, Jenny
does it. So, she -- she's doing the monthly financial reports that you get that I used to do.
She does that now. A lot of the special projects -- she does all the work with Accella. She
did that all season to accounting for the cash. If you want it done ask her. I just have to
make a little comment about the ugly thing. Meridian Heights manual. Three hundred
and twenty items, 20 year payment, accounts receivable thing. But Jenny does that.
Hopefully our new utility billing software will do that. Utility billing deals with it a lot, too, so
-- our goal as we restructured, reorganized, besides trying to deal with that big risk area of
contracts, our is to make more room for analysis, do a fiscal impact statement, do fee
documentation, cost policy options, internal control in doing one of those special type of
projects. I want to talk about another function that takes a lot of time that you probably --
people don't think about a lot. I'm sure you spend a lot of time thinking about what
accounting does. But cash management is an extremely big part of all our daily functions
on the accounting side. Cash comes in from a zillion trillion sources and it has to go to the
right accounts and it has to go to the bank and we have several different bank accounts
and funds that it has to be moved in between. So, we have four people that work on cash
daily. Karie and Karen spend their morning reconciling cash from the day before. So, I
know this is totally illegible, but the one on the top is an example of the General Fund
reconciliation for one day. So, cash in the utility billing department is coming in and it's
going through Accella. That's what Karen is reconciling. And, then, the one below is just
a tiny piece of the month reconciliation that Karen does. So, like I said, every morning
those cash reconciliations are done. Then Barb is also checking bank deposit -- bank
statements, because we get some money that comes in and so she's got to check that.
Month end Todd balances the bank accounts. I was just -- I'd say manages the bank. It's
really -- the technical term is manage our bank relationship, but that kind of sounds funny.
But what it means is he has a relationship with people at the bank, the corporate customer
service people, so we are opening and closing credit card accounts, we are changing
limits and so forth. Reta also has a lot to do with that, too. Then Reta and I have to make
sure that the checking accounts have enough money to cover the checks we write, but we
also want to move it -- and we will talk about it in a little bit -- we want to move it into the
most opportune spot for it to live to generate whatever puny little interest it can. So,
again, where does cash live? Well, these are all the different accounts where it lives. It
lives in four funds and every fund -- well, not every fund, but most of them have all these
unusual accounts. Public accounts have different interest rates and their interest rate
depends on the longevity of the investment with market. So, our goal is to meet our daily
cash needs. Also to maximize interest. So, when we look at where we are going to lose
money, we will -- we don't do it on -- what the budget says -- or what the execution rate
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 20 of 88
are supposed to do, or anything else, we do it completely based on judgment of how
much we think we are going to spend. So, this area really is an experience area where
you just like on the fly how much are we -- how much is our accounts payable going to be,
what's payroll, what are we going to spend on construction and, then, we try to move
money to maximize our interest. I really think we do a good -- a pretty good job in this
area. We have an extremely fast cash turnover. If you just look at utility billing, from the
date we read the meters to the cash in the bank is 35 working days. I'm telling you most
businesses would kill for that. That is fast. So, we have a couple vendors we work with
and we expect -- I mean we are hard core with the bank. So, every time the Bank of the
Cascade merges -- well, they haven't done it in the last while, but they would come over
and say we really need to start charging you fees and we say, no, I really don't think so.
We are not going to pay fees. So, we do a lot of negotiations of how much money we will
keep in there overnight to avoid -- to make them happy and us feel like we are not
completely pinching to death. And we also work with an investment advisor who
purchases bonds and CDs and we have got the -- you know, pay a fee for that -- you
know, we are paying more in fees than we are making in interest, so we have been
moving a lot of money to the Idaho Bond Fund and the schools. The other day we were
like did you notice we are losing money -- yeah, but it would be irresponsible if you didn't.
So, we said, well, how about if you lower your -- our investment rate and they did. So,
good deal. We are paying less for that. So, again, we are really -- we are layering out
over ten years, so we are investing over ten years, so if -- I'm sure you want to know more
about cash, so in the audit there is a big footnote disclosure on cash investments and
there is all kinds of regulations and rules and -- and we have policies on how fast our
portfolio turns over and what interest rate, what investment rate we are willing to pay. So,
we are going to go back to the last part and we are back to the budget again. I wrote
Todd in really big letters, because he's the budget department. Therefore, he doesn't
have a lot of -- you know, doesn't have a lot of room on this page. Todd has been here
eight years and, then, I help him a little bit. I have been here 14 years. So, here is some
of the projects that we have going in budget, besides just cranking out the budgets. I
retired from the impact fee committee and Todd and Ted now do it. Doing a great job.
They have been meeting quarterly. Each meeting they have had a different department
come in and meetings have been well attended, so I think that's going well. The revenue
manual -- this is like the coolest thing ever. This is my favorite thing. So, I will be starting
that this week. That will be a comprehensive look at the economy, so I will start at the
national level, I will ratchet it down to the region, down to Idaho, down to Meridian and I
always do a three year revenue projection. I'm trying to run a tight budget schedule this
year, so trying to get that done quickly. Very cool, though. A lot of -- if you look at
demographics in the area, you look at -- Idaho does a great report on what it looks like as
far as commercial, our residential development. For somebody in community
development that's got an interest in this and it's going to be something they can kind of
dig into. So, again, a cool project. New projects. Another -- okay. I hate to overuse cool,
but this is going to be cool. This is Todd's next project, which we are going to develop
some budget software, the same way we did the contract management software, so it's
not quite all by hand. It will be for the entire city, every fund, every department. It's going
to start this summer. So, phase one is the capital improvement plan. Hopefully next year
at this time I will be back giving you an update. Again, it will involve multiple departments
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 21 of 88
and the great resources of Nick and Mike. And another new project that Todd has
actually started. We have the CIP plan and now we have this PFP plan. So, what he's
doing is he's created a database -- he will put in everything into it. So, the capital
improvement is both capital and related personnel -- this is going to be all personnel, all
capital, all operating. So, we can -- look at the whole city and start putting numbers in and
doing projections like we do this this happens. So, we talked about statement number
one. Statement number two is -- we talked about the accountability. Statement number
two is measuring what we did. So, we have gone full circle. It kind of ties into Tom is
going to talk to you about with the strategic plan. But there actually is a concept
statement at C, service, efforts and accomplishments, which is the only thing -- what did
we do with the money you gave us. So, GASB says financial statements measure
financial performance without fiscal and operational accountability. But they do not
provide all the information necessary to the degree to which the government is successful
in helping maintain or improve the well being of our system. So, concept statement --
something funny happens to concept statements. Sometimes -- frequently they become
standard, which means you will do it. It's part of your audited financial statement. So,
very good change that this concept statement will become standard and we will have to
include this report with our audit report. So, basically, C, report is a performance
measurement report. It's what was the goal of the program, what does the program do.
You know, a discussion back -- obviously, we can set a lot of goals and challenges are
unexpected things, like lack of funding and you kind of see them. But it kind of has a
standard format. I won't spend anymore time on it. There are hundreds of formats. So, I
took an example. This is actually -- I can't remember the city. Austin. Austin. That's
right. So, it's their culture -- cultural arts and entertainment, they have a budget of 44
million dollars. Kelly is loving this. And 56 full-time employees. So, they just -- if you just
-- you can go to any city and look at their website, they do a very simple -- this is the
purpose of the program, this is the history -- and then I stopped typing. And they had
some very simple targets and whether they met them or not. So, just to give you an idea
of where we hope to move and hope to be back in next year talking about that actually did
some of it and not that we want to do some of it. So, that's kind of the end of my
presentation. I have some budget projects for you all. So, we talked a little bit two weeks
ago fund balance transfers, where we are having to put policies around those, our
standardization. So, it would be good if I got feedback on what your goals might be and
what your desires and results might be and that can help me kind of guide how to get
there. I just -- an example would be economic development projects. So, those come up,
they aren't -- you can't always plan for them. We want to be agile and take advantage of
them. But how would we get there? How could we kind of create a way to do that. How
much would we need? How much would we be comfortable spending? Maybe you want
to say we don't want to budget more than X percent of each year's revenue on personnel
-- or personnel and operating and I can research that for you. But if there is things like
that that you think of, let me know and, again, I will do some research on that, too. Is
where do you want to get to. And, then, I know how I can help you get there. So, an
internal audit, performance policy evaluation person -- I think you could do it. I think you
should follow through with it. This fund can do probably more things than one person can
do, but policy option analysis, including an internal audit -- kind of where we were going at
the end of the meeting last time, I think if we do it it has to be right the first time, because
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 22 of 88
it's just a very unique fund and there is only one person doing this and we need somebody
who is really experienced, they have to be independent, they have to be skilled, they have
to report this to a number of people. They have to also have the trust not only of you,
Mayor, but employees. So, it's really important that -- this person be very experienced I
think. I was thinking you could invite Boise auditor to perform an evaluation to help you
guys -- not that I'm telling you what to do, but those are just some of my ideas of how this
could work. And, finally, keep the state legislature informed about your challenges at the
local level. You are basically working for free. If I get up there and do facts and figures
I'm just going to give facts and figures. If it comes to me and it's going to mean something
and if we don't do this we are going to keep losing more and more of our revenue,
because they don't want to increase their taxes and there is some big issues at the state
level. You all know it's transportation, education, health and welfare. They are going to
take -- it's just an enrollment every year it's a little piece, a little piece, a little piece. So, I
think it's really important that you have relationships and you show your challenges,
because that's where it all happens at this level. That's what makes it look like it looks
like. So, I think that's just key -- a key thing for the upcoming year. Any information you
want, again, we will be glad to get -- to get for you or dig up or -- we probably have it. So,
that completes my presentation.
De Weerd: Council, any questions?
Bird: Just a very, very good report.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Stacy, question for you. How -- what percentage of your utility billing payments
come in over the counter or over the phone? Is it half? A third? Karie, I didn't mean to
put you on the spot.
Kilchenmann: It's good for her.
De Weerd: You need to wait until you're up here.
Karie: On a daily basis I would say probably only about a third of our payments come in in
person over the counter. The bulk of our payments are electronically. They hit various
log boxes, whether it be a hard copy check mailed or people still bank bill pay, but I would
say the bulk of the payments actually come to us over the counter. We have -- I want to
say based on the slide I want to say it's about 2,000 payments come across the desk,
whether it be a credit card or a check in the lobby compared to 10,000 coming in
electronically.
Cavener: Great. Thank you. Appreciate that.
De Weerd: Any other questions from Council?
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 23 of 88
Rountree: Nice report, Stacy.
De Weerd: Thank you. Thanks, Karie. And thank you to the Finance team and all of the
various departments for efforts that go on. We appreciate all you do.
B. Arts Commission Update: Meridian Art in Public Spaces (MAPS)
Ordinance
De Weerd: Okay. Item 7-B is under our Arts Commission update. So, we will turn this to
Robert.
Simison: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. We are back before you
based upon the direction that you gave us a few weeks ago with the now apply warned
map ordinance, the Meridian Arts -- lost my place. Art in public spaces ordinance. So, we
took it back to the Arts Commission at your recommendation for their discussion. They
had no comment. They said it was great. So, we are back before you to report that they
have reviewed it and here to seek further direction on how you would like us to proceed,
either to put this on a future agenda for consideration or to ask -- ask any questions with
Mrs. Kane, who is here, to answer questions regarding the ordinance.
De Weerd: Thank you, Robert. Any questions?
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: Question for you, Robert. Maybe Emily. But the language in the draft ordinance,
the word shall, Council shall -- unless I read it wrong --
Simison: Correct.
Borton: Shall allocate funds each year for the particular purposes. Is there any issue with
the funds -- okay.
Kane: Madam Mayor, Council Member Borton -- so, the short answer is, no, there is no
problem with that.
Borton: Okay.
Kane: There is -- there are other mechanisms in the code where you state what you're
going to do from year to year with the city's money and the -- if there comes a year when
the City Council does not wish to allocate funds for the match program, the ordinance
could be repealed. It's as simple as that. Shall does establish a definitive policy to say
that this is a commitment that City Council is going to make from year to year.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 24 of 88
Borton: Madam Mayor? Is the source of -- you might have discussed this, but is the
source of funds limited to General Fund only?
Kane: Madam Mayor, Council Member Borton, yes, it is.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: On top of Joe's question there, Emily, why couldn't it be may and, then, we don't
have to worry about dealing an ordinance or something -- City Council may on an annual
basis instead of shall. There might be some years that we -- fortunately have never had,
but there might be some years where we cannot fund. But why can't may just go in there
and, then, we don't have to worry about repealing an ordinance.
Kane: Madam Mayor, Council Member Bird, that's certainly an option. I think this is,
again, a definitive statement of policy, it's a commitment, and it's analogous to other
percent for art programs where cities declare that art is an important part of their
community and they want to do that very year. So, it really -- though you're not completely
trapped, it does set a policy saying that you're going to make this commitment every year.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: The reason for my question was just whether it's appropriate with respect to -- I'm
committed to the tone of commitment with the word shall, I don't have any problem with
that, as long as it's permissible, if we have the ability to undo it at a future time.
De Weerd: Any other questions?
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: I think you did a great job. My recommendation would be to put it on a future
agenda.
De Weerd: Thank you. Will do.
Kane: Thank you.
De Weerd: Did you hear that? Make sure, Council, when you talk to swallow the mike.
Kane: Thank you.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 25 of 88
C. Community Development: Performing Arts Center Discussion
De Weerd: Thank you. Okay. Item 7-C is under our Community Development
Department and I will recognize many of our steering committee members here, that I'm
sure Bruce will introduce -- as if they need introduction.
Chatterton: Mayor and Council Members, yeah, this afternoon we have several members
of our steering committee, Calvin Barrett, Rob McCarvel, Clint Shifflett and if Ashley is still
here as well? She has to leave here in a few minutes. That's our steering committee.
So, we are really -- we are really appreciative of that chamber's hosting of the steering
committee and of the structure that's brought the energy that's been channeled to the
steering for this project. We are really glad those folks are here this afternoon. Maybe if I
could give a -- just a quick update to cue up discussion of the performing arts center. We
do remain on schedule to issue the RFP in June, as we first reported to you in March.
There has been a lot of activity. The performing arts subcommittee has been very active.
What they have been doing is they prepared a letter of interest that's actually gone out
and I have heard some of the performing arts groups have responded to it. The letter of
interest has gone out under the auspices of the Meridian Arts Foundation. I think it's
better that a letter like that comes from a group like this foundation, rather than say from
the -- from the City of Meridian that would simply be more appropriate. But, really, briefly,
it asks are you interested in performing at a venue in Meridian. What do you need in a
venue? What do you want? What's your wish list? The expected number of
performances and ticket sales that the group could expect to have. What funding they
bring to the table. And as we talked about with our overall schedule, those letters of
interest, the intent is to put forward, comply them, and put together a picture of the
performing arts venue that would be ideal for the greatest number of performing arts
groups. That information can, then, be included in the request for proposals of information
for development of the proposals. The other thing we have been doing is besides looking
at a lot of RFPs from around the country is we have had informal discussions with
developers. Several meetings in which we laid out what we are looking for. You know, if
it is -- you think it's going to be a positive effort that will get attention to the development
community, we need to hear that, but we also need to hear any criticism as well. What we
have heard is -- from the developers is it's -- and I'm going to sort of summarize this in a
very unique way. The city, the Meridian community, lay out what you want. Lay out your
concept. Layout the site. You know, as you know we have a couple of conceptual layouts
on specific sites. State what you desire and want to partner with a development team to --
to get a hotel -conference center and a performing arts center, but they said don't limit the
responders to proposing a concept. Just take your blinders off and encourage developers
to also look at additional uses and possibly additional sites in downtown Meridian. In
particular one developer commented that they fairly recently -- Boise issued a request for
proposal -- you might have read about it in the Statesman -- for the water cooler site and
one of the things that this particular developer appreciated the fact of the RFP was that
they were -- it wasn't closed. It wasn't a closed specific thing. It said, okay, here is the
site, but what would you propose for the site and perhaps even for the area around the
site should you want to try additional uses and property into it. They thought that that was
a good approach. And the other thing is -- so, that's some of the feedback we have had
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 26 of 88
from developers. It is encouraging. It's by no means definitive. Some of the other things
we have talked about is that developers I think pretty much all said, yes, we would need
public participation to help mitigate our risk on a project like this. So, they would expect to
see something brought by the community -- by the public to help mitigate their risk. And
there are various ways -- various ways of doing that that I think we will be exploring. We
also looked at some other funding strategies, besides any test money that might be
available or as we discussed an auditorium district for Meridian. One that is available to
us under state law is the community infrastructure district, a CID. It's not a new tool. It's
been around for several years. There is three of them in the state. Harris Ranch in Boise
has one. Avamore has got one. And, basically, what it does is it funds infrastructure by
taking the risk and putting it to those who benefit from the infrastructure, the actual
property owners that who have benefit from the infrastructure. So, we will be looking at
that as well. Scratch me and you will see that my knowledge is not very deep on this. If
Council is interested we could certainly cue up a presentation from the law firm, but more
on that perhaps. Given that, I believe the request is for discussion of the performing arts
component and whether that should be included in the request for proposal and I would
just be happy to have that discussion with you and if some of the committee members
want to be involved with that they are welcome to. The idea that we are moving ahead
with it is that the -- we could go all the way from the RFP for developers with the
performing arts center idea, here is the -- how far the public has gotten with it, where we
are, all the way to, developer, we are going to challenge you to deliver on the performing
arts center. So, there is a range there that we could challenge developers on, all the way
from site awareness to we are going to require you to show us how you could deliver a
performing arts center, given the information that -- that we have received. And I should
also mention that the developers we have spoken to feel that the performing arts center
would be key to the success of a hotel/conference center. That the relationship there is
very strong. So, even if a developer didn't want to do the performing arts center, they
realize the importance of that success with the performance arts center.
De Weerd: I think, essentially, when you started out taking an idea that comes out in a
report and you start to drill down and have the conversations, oftentimes it takes side
roads you never envisioned. Clint is here. He serves on that funding subcommittee and
brought up the conversation of the CID and other funding tools that -- that might be
brought into this process. Rob did a wise handoff to Calvin and Calvin is now chairing the
various subcommittees and trying to herd all the cats in -- in this project and Ashley has
been involved on the public relations. As this starts to progress we realize that a number
of questions evolve and it's important to get out in front of those looking at what some of
those frequently asked questions would be and bringing facts to help keep it grounded to
the -- the project that certainly this Council has heard about and to hopefully help ground
truth the -- where we are at and dispel any -- any rumors or things that -- and some
questions -- even identify some of the questions that are coming up and being asked. So,
anyway, we appreciate all of the efforts that are -- that are underway and would open this
up to Council's questions or comments.
Chatterton: Mayor, if I could just add one thing that I think is a good way of approaching
the request for proposal. Calvin said a couple times that the request for proposal in his
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 27 of 88
view is a proof of contract. That is in answering questions that we don't currently have.
So, approaching the discussion from that way might be useful. But we are trying to find
out what we don't know and learn things along the way and come up with a concept that
works best for us.
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: Madam Mayor. The reason that -- in light of the question last week to come and
have this discussion this week is just the point concerning kind of which end of the
spectrum the city wants to go down. And it was my understanding from -- you have seen
the Pegasus report and some of the questions that were asked of us and -- but the
commitment we wanted to make concerning the performing arts center is that that was
part -- a specific deliverable within the RFP and, then, as you gather data I got a sense
that the some of the arts foundations got a sense of maybe focus has been diluted a little
bit, focused more on the hotel, convention center idea that may or may not incorporate a
performing arts center. There seemed to be a little bit different tact. So, that's what
brought us at least here today to try and get some clarity and from my perspective I
thought it was urgent and adamant and crystal clear that the performing arts center -- not
necessarily expect the performing arts center was a specific component in the request for
a deliverable within the RFP. And so when you gave your spectrum reference it was on
the far end of the certain challenge for the developers.
Chatterton: Mayor and Council Member Borton, I think my only hesitation on including a
performing arts district as a requirement of the RFP would be if the performing arts center
could be privately funded and have legs of its own we wouldn't want to slow it down.
Other than that I'm certainly fine with including that as a requirement. It simple goes into
our review. How well the developer has responded to that component, along with the
other components.
Borton: Madam Mayor? And by requirement I mean it's required to be within the request
that goes out. I think it was discussed that there would be options in the RFP, to propose
on a hotel and/or conference center or perhaps a performing arts center independent.
Perhaps we could do all three. I think that's what I heard you say is we are going to be
open to more opportunities for the developer, but I was concerned about that through any
of this development that the performing arts center piece was omitted.
Chatterton: Madam Mayor, Councilman Borton, certainly not -- certainly not omitted. I
think that -- that -- that talking about this option of the performing arts center really came
from -- these are the folks in the community that, well, would the developers really be
interested in doing that. Would that be something that really is -- we know that it would be
synergistic of a component to the other pieces of what we want to accomplish, but is that
the best way to success and I guess I was just simply asking that question of folks in the
community, is that the best way to go or should we require it. Certainly what I'm hearing
from you is that we should continue to keep an eye on the big three projects, a hotel,
conference center, and performing arts center. The requirements of all three of those.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 28 of 88
De Weerd: Did you understand that answer?
Borton: I did.
Rountree: I'm still working on it.
Borton: I think I did. And what's great about this presentation -- and I'm so glad folks from
the steering committee are here -- is if we are going to go down this track it's really
important that it be a single message from the committee and ourselves and the
developers that if -- if there is a different way to go, we need to make sure we are clear on
our direction to you and the steering committee, so we know where we are headed and
where we have made commitments to go and it's pretty clear.
Chatterton: Well, Council Member Borton, in between discussions that we have here with
the group, you know, we try to listen to the community and try to remain nimble, so
hopefully they are one and the same.
De Weerd: Any other questions?
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: I don't want to put Calvin on the spot --
De Weerd: Yes, you do.
Rountree: -- but in the pilot's chair on this thing, I just want to get a sense from him what
he envisions that to entail.
Barrett: Madam Mayor, Councilman Rountree --
De Weerd: You want to pull the --
Barrett: Is this better? From the perspective in -- through guidance from Council, I think
what the steering committee is trying to do is vet this process out and deliver an RFP that
addresses the original intent from Council, which was to include all three projects. Some
of the frequently ask questions or concerns that have been raised is, well, when you throw
in the performing art center piece is who is going to own it and, then, subsequently who is
going to operate it. There is some communication from the arts side that I have just heard
in passing that, you know, they feel that the city shouldn't be owning that portion of this
property. So, that's where the discussion has led in terms of do you need to separate
those two projects. The steering committee actually does need some guidance in terms
how you want them to proceed. Developers are saying, well, they don't really know how
the performing arts center is going to make them any money. You know, they can make
money on developing a hotel, they can make money on developing a potential convention
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 29 of 88
center, but how does the developer make money on the performing arts piece of it? So,
that's where the discussions have led us to this point that -- do we need to separate or do
you want to include them. The steering committee is wanting to do -- and follow any of
the direction that was provided. These are just some of the questions that have -- have
been -- have come up and we would seek your guidance.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I -- I think they have to be separated. I don't see developers wanting to do a
performing arts center as part of this project. A performing arts center is, to say the least,
a different business to run than what the developers are for. I can't think of any
development that has tied a performing arts center to -- to it. I mean a convention center
you can with a hotel and stuff, but not a performing arts. So, while I want to see -- and I
think all of it works together, I don't think we need to tie the developer into the performing
arts, but in looking at having the convention and the hotel.
De Weerd: I think probably an important step in what Mr. Borton was -- was pointing out
is through this vetting process and through the letter that the arts foundation put out, it
helps to identify partners in the performing arts and there are needs that would be
essential in a performing arts venue. That can be an option in putting out an RFQ to -- for
the responding entity to either choose to improve or not. But at least it helps define some
of those -- those projects that were identified in our -- in the plan as components
necessary in the potential redevelopment of the downtown and it gives the different art
venues for interest an idea of what is needed and who was interested and what gap -- it
almost expands that gap that our consultants identifies that is needed and will help us
start bringing that all together into a package and I think that may be one of the things that
Mr. Borton was kind of addressing is that is going to be an important piece whether it's
included in the RFP or a developer decides to respond to that piece, they know what the
essential component of that piece is going to look like and perhaps that we might have a
responding interest that does have expertise or interest in that, because they can see that
it's going to be -- bring potential philanthropic interest to it and also perhaps additional
funding to address a joint issue and that's going to be the perfect piece. So, I don't know.
I would agree with Mr. Borton you don't want to totally close the door on that, but continue
on the RFP as you have several parts to this. It could be all inclusive or you can separate
one out and that's the beauty of it. The other piece -- and I know this will be addressed in
the frequently asked questions is we are looking at the public parcels to most of this and --
in terms of -- and not private property parcels. That hasn't been identified as what we are
putting out there. I do think one question is is the corner out in front as well.
Chatterton: And, Madam Mayor, we can certainly have that discussion about the east
parking lot. The idea being that the more we can bring to the table at the outset perhaps
the more effective this will be. So, just an idea that's been -- that's been discussed since
the last time we spoke about this -- this discussion item, is the idea of including our
parking lot out here in front of City Hall, with the idea that a developer could potentially --
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 30 of 88
this could be part of a multi -use center, part of what you're looking for, with the stipulation
that -- certainly with at least the stipulation that the number of parking spaces available to
the public be recreated in some fashion. That they -- you know, perhaps there could be a
parking facility there with -- with additional parking spaces to help the entire area and
perhaps it will be a revenue stream for the developer, for the city, but that might be part of
it as well. I believe that's what you are --
De Weerd: Well -- and I think that's what the Council has envisioned. A higher and better
use.
Chatterton: A second ago -- I don't want to lose that discussion, but a second ago as you
were talking I was remembering a discussion I had with a -- with the chairman of the
board of a performing arts group and this individual said -- is in touch with, you know,
potential philanthropists and the discussion went along the lines of, well, this individual --
would this philanthropist or any other philanthropist put their money into something and
pledge money unless there is a project. So, perhaps -- going back to Council Member
Borton's emphasis on including this, to have the strength of requirement of performing arts
could be addressed by the developer and we could, then, have a real project that would,
then, be benefited by philanthropic. Now, someone has to move off square one here and
perhaps that's the way of moving off square one with the performing arts center, by
challenging developers to come in with a concept that, then, others could contribute to.
That's just another thought.
De Weerd: Thank you. We have made it even milkier.
Rountree: Madam Mayor, I would agree with what Bruce just said and that's kind of the
concept of how we are thinking about it. It's always been, yeah, it's not going to be a
developer finance let's say. But it is going to be a developer driven thing based on what
they come up with with the convention and hotel complex. You said in your comments it's
a valuable component if it's there for that complex to succeed. So, again, it's an option
that we throw out and say how -- how does this work with yours -- how can you work this
with yours knowing that the potential for that is going to be a philanthropic process, here is
what the community said in terms of needs, here are some folks that are backing those
kinds of things. Put it in or pull it out, but at least have it in the RFP. If it's something they
can build a proposal around showing a performing arts center in a way that compliments
your convention/hotel complex. And the city throws in -- you know, we are -- as the Mayor
said, we are -- we are in it in terms of land and anything else we can do to make it move
forward. But to me that's -- that's the separation we need. We understand it's not
something that we are expecting anyone to go out and do, but we are expecting you to at
least consider that as a proposal that you will submit to the city of that component being
and how best does that work with you, so it is potentially in a project so you can say, well,
this is how it would work. Would you be willing to fund it.
De Weerd: It's kind of like identifying the potential inhabitors as well. So, it's -- whether in
the event center it's a potential museum or a library or the chamber or whatever it is, is
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 31 of 88
this helping to identify different components to the project that would help make it pull out
more. Any other comments from Council? Mr. Cavener?
Cavener: My only comment is that I don't see where we lose by keeping it all together
and I think ultimately we gain a whole lot more by keeping it as a group. So, I think you
have heard probably -- so I'm clear from a majority of us the direction we should take.
De Weerd: And give the RFP option to piece and parcel it. Anything further from
Council? Or anything you need?
Barrett: Madam Mayor, thank you for the opportunity to just brief the Council on the
progress that's being made and as I have -- as Bruce mentioned, you know, we really are
working on a proof of concept and -- and we don't know what we don't know yet and we
may find a developer that's willing to come in and do the whole thing and, then, we got to
figure out how we are going to pay for it. So, there is a lot of unanswered questions in this
process. There is a lot of talented people that are volunteering their time to work on the
steering committee. The Council has definitely given their input. I would agree, I would
make it a comprehensive RFP at this point. You could always separate it later. But if you
don't include it you don't know what the response is. Nobody knows what the performing
arts center looks like. We don't have a picture. We don't have any drawings. Right now
we are just trying to -- as mentioned before we are kind of fishing. We have got a great
idea. We have had -- we have spent a little bit of money in terms of our consultant to tell
us what we need to have a revitalized downtown area and the steering committee is
working towards that direction and you have got some great partners on the committee.
The city is involved. Meridian Development Corporation, as well as the chamber and,
then, several other interested parties. The Meridian Arts Foundation is involved. And the
idea here is to gather some momentum, get a little bit more information, and, then,
ultimately see if we can actually pull it off. So, thank you for the opportunity.
De Weerd: And I would just add a lot of enthusiasm, so -- and interest. It's exciting.
Anything further?
Borton: Yeah. Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Borton.
Borton: To that point I -- you know, we can't lose site of the fact that there really is interest
and demand from the groups that you have talked to and the reason your steering
committee is populated by the kind of heavy hitters that are on it is because your group
and the chamber is aware of that true real interest. The group has heard it and we have
heard it. We have seen in the audience some pretty powerful people from our -- our arts
community in the valley and that's the reason why we as a city are giving you that clear
direction to -- to drive forward the way you are. One of the next items that we are all going
to talk about, strategic plan process in the city. I think it's the fifth component of the
strategic plan makes some specific reference to commitment to the arts as part of a
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 32 of 88
vibrant community. So, the timing of this is great and we really appreciate the steering
committee's efforts and keep driving forward.
Chatterton: Thank you.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Chatterton: Thank you for the direction.
De Weerd: Council, I'm going to call a five minute break and we will reconvene at -- at
seven after 5:00.
(Recess.)
D. Mayor's Office: Budget Amendment for State of the City for the
Not -to -Exceed Amount of $6,930.00
De Weerd: We will start again and turn this over to Robert for Item 7-D
Simison: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. What you have in front of
you today is our annual State of the City budget amendment. This budget amendment is
to provide an additional 6,930 in spending authority. As you are aware we fund raise the
monies from sponsorships for the State of the City. The bills to the city have been paid.
This is to allocate the additional funds above what was brought in for the cost of the State
of the City to put towards some projects which have -- were committed to by the Mayor as
part of the State of the City, which includes the Meridian Symphony being part of Gene
Kleiner Day. That's an annual commitment for that. It also has some items that we have
talked to you about in the Mayor's strategic plan, to focus these funds by allocating them
to the welcome video and Meridian video, so we will be able to get a jump on that project
to get it going this year, rather than waiting about a year from now until the weather gets
going, so we can have these ready by the State of the City in 2016. So, with that I would
be happy to answer any questions you may have about the budget amendment. But all
these funds have been collected and happy to stand for any questions.
De Weerd: Council, any questions?
Bird: I have none.
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: Seeing no comments or discussion, I move that we approve Item 7-B in an
amount not to exceed 6,930 dollars.
Bird: Second.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 33 of 88
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 7-B. Madam Clerk, will you call
roll.
Roll Call: Rountree; yea; Bird; yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, absent; Milam, yea; Cavener,
yea.
De Weerd: Okay. So, all ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT.
E. Citywide Strategic Plan Presentation
De Weerd: And we are at 7-E under the city's strategic plan. Council, it's my honor to be
-- oh, I don't have the -- where do I point it? Okay. At Tom. It's certainly my privilege and
honor to be in front of you to introduce this next item and, first of all, I will ask if you all got
your plan last week and just want to make sure that you all received it. Okay. We wanted
to get it out well in advance, so you had an opportunity to review it and absorb it.
Certainly I don't have to tell many of you that are sitting up there that the city is -- has seen
some rapid growth and that we tripled between 1990 and 2000 and we doubled between
2000 and 2008. Several years ago at a department retreat -- at your director retreat it was
really identified that -- the need for a comprehensive citywide strategic plan. Certainly we
have been working the plan of -- that was created for the focus areas that was adopted by
Council previous to several of you sitting up there and some of our individual department
plans that really focused on those different areas that were identified. Tonight I'm pleased
to show you a plan that will support, identify, and prioritize our organizational efforts and
this is a plan that's over a five year period and this plan will align outcomes with
community priorities and through our goals and objectives. So, as I mentioned, we have
seen a number of growth and with that we added responsibilities, service expectations, as
well as staffing requirements and new regulatory requirements as well. Today we thrive
and certainly I will -- would like to not patronize all of you, but thank all of you for the roles
that you have played in where we are at today as a community. Certainly I would be
remiss if I also didn't thank our senior management team and our employees and our
community partners in getting us there as well. We are a full service community and we
are serving over 90,000 residents and I know we have seen a number of different
population numbers, but, needless to say, those numbers will continue to expand and we
know we need to focus our efforts to make sure that we continue that -- those
expectations from our citizens of levels of services and -- although we have done good,
we know we can always do better. So, the importance of strategic planning. We know
that we need to guide our future. We need to guide our growth. We need to be visionary,
deliberate and disciplined in our approach to this. Certainly this talks about the
importance of strategic planning. It is a roadmap to our success. I equate it to something
that comes up often in our employee surveys and the feedback we get in these employee
surveys I always relate to a car trip with my kids. It's where are we going, are we there
yet, and are we going to enjoy the trip once we arrive. And so I think that that
encapsulates that road to success is we need to share with our employees where we are
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 34 of 88
going, where we are in the process, so they know when we will be there and when we
arrive we can celebrate those successes. Certainly a defined specific result, it establishes
a clear vision. It sets appropriate strategic objectives and it also aligns our resources with
the decisions that we need to make to achieve our strategic objective and these last two
are -- are really important in the communication piece. It communicates again those --
that direction and -- that we are assuring our -- our citizens that we are guiding growth
where it was planned and in our citizen survey -- number one of those concerns was
growth and it wasn't necessarily, in our opinion, the rate of growth, it's that we are
planning for it. That we are identifying resources and that it's guided where it is planned
for and it's a communication tool that shows what our city's priorities and the direction is.
So, this is our strategic planning team, which is no surprise to you. This is the team that
together came to you to share our initial result. It certainly was facilitated by Phil Eastman
and I do want to specifically acknowledge Tom Barry, Mark Niemeyer, Robert Simison,
and Bruce Chatterton, who, as in any exercise and all of you have been involved in a lot of
boards and other activities, you know that there is always someone that helps guide and
facilitate and those four were part of that team that really help us -- keep us on track and
so my thanks to each of them. So, this is our process. Now, this looks like a Public
Works diagram and I think it probably is. I just want to -- this is a great graphic that shows
you there is a lot of front-end work to aligning this to where we were last fall when we
talked about the focus areas to where we were when we talk about the mission, vision,
and, restated our values. But this kind of aligns with what we did in getting -- getting there
through this process. So, we have quite -- first we acquired training and dimensional
strategy and that really set a framework. We hired leadership advisors that helped
facilitate this process. Then we conducted an organ izationwide strength assessment,
which really measured the readiness and the overall management strength of our
community. It set that frame work of this process. We conducted citewide environmental
scan, which is, essentially, the slot analysis. We reviewed the mission, vision, and CARE
values. We, then, met with you last fall and we appreciated that opportunity to really
brainstorm and see are we in line with what you our leaders envision as the future growth
of our community and where we should be spending our time and our resources as we
move forward over this next five year process. We used your input to, then, develop
strategic goals and objectives, which is in front of you today. Now, by any means in this
diagram it shows the final draft and Council review. This is not ready to implement, but
what we would like to do is to have you in the next couple of weeks adopt a plan that now
our departments can work with to develop specific tactical and operational plans and
through that process we will come back to you with measurements, because we believe
that you need key performance indicators to, again, know are we there yet and know
when we have arrived. But we didn't want to take all of that if we are not on the right
track, which is why we are here today. So, this is a vision statement that we brought to
you last fall and through this -- it hasn't changed since we last visited with you, but this
really drove the focus areas and it took this vision statement to really deliver these areas
and start developing those goals and objectives. The mission statement also is what you
saw last fall, as well as the CARE values, and the CARE values are much more than just
words on a sheet of paper, it's really how we treat one another and we treat our
customers, but it really is the conscience that guides our vision. These are the city focus
areas. Again, these are areas that you saw last fall and I will in a few minutes just turn
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 35 of 88
this over to Tom to take it from there on strategic growth. We will look at these statements
and I think they have just firmed them up a little bit in terms of strategic growth, economic
vibrancy, responsive government, safe and healthy -- health and safety? Yeah. Well, I
think it's still safe and healthy. And arts, culture, and recreation. As Councilman Borton
pointed out that the discussion that we had prior to this really is driving some of this in
terms of what we have in collecting all of this different data. The community inputs have
been significant. We have used our Comprehensive Plan, our economic development
plan, our capital improvement plan, but we have also used the feedback that we received
from Council in the strategic discussion that each department has when they stand in front
of you and through the impact we have through our liaisons. We have used the focus --
previous focus areas. We have looked at the citywide survey, both the last two, in helping
to develop these different components that you will be discussing here soon. We have
used input that we have received at town hall meetings, at Coffee with the Mayor, and
certainly through our employee survey. So, at this time I'm going to turn this over to Tom
and he will walk you through the document that you have in front of you.
Barry: Good afternoon, Members of the Council. I am honored to stand with the Mayor
this afternoon and also to represent my colleagues, the other directors, who have put
quite a bit of time and effort into this plan and we are excited to share it with you and
continue the conversation. The Mayor got to cover the fun stuff. I will get to just cover the
logistics and content and boring stuff like that. But just to get you familiar with the
organization around the plan, we put a couple graphics together and an example or two to
highlight the relationship between the plan and its level in our organization, how it will be
unrolled or unveiled throughout the organization. The work that's been done to date,
essentially, represents most of the elements of the top of this particular pyramid. We -- as
the Mayor mentioned, we refined our vision, mission, we reaffirmed our values. And,
then, we really rolled up our sleeves and began working on identifying goals -- very broad
goals and objectives that would support those goals at the city level. All in alignment with
the city focus areas that were described and discussed with you last fall. So, all of that
work that was determined at the city level, that's been done and that document is what
was delivered to you last week. There is still a whole host of work that needs to be done
at the department level that we paused on at the moment, because we want to make sure
before we rolled up our sleeves as department directors and really jump into that work,
that you as a Council agree with the broad goals and the objectives that support those
goals before we really begin to operationalize those. So, let me just talk with you a little
bit about how this -- how we see this sort of working and I will use this example. Let's say
we have a broad goal which is to just generally improve operational efficiency, the way
this plan is structured we might have several objectives that would support that broad
goal. In this case I have just shown two here. It may be improving emergency response
in and around operation efficiency or another objective would be to optimize say
personnel operations and maintenance. There could be additional objectives and you will
see those objectives in the plan under each of the broad goals and each of those
objectives would, then, be operationalized by the appropriate department which would
have responsibility for carrying out one or more of the objectives under each of the broad
goals. For example, if we were talking about emergency response, we might say we want
to identify or evaluate an institute improvement to dispatching emergency responders.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 36 of 88
That would be an operational efficiency goal improvement. Clearly if it was related to
public safety we might have the fire and the police departments take the leading role in
their tactical plans to make those improvements. Alternatively, another objective to
advance the operational efficiency goal -- and these are just examples, of course. Would
be to say maybe conduct preventive versus a preventive maintenance activity by
instituting a citywide asset management program. That's a strategy that we could utilize,
because we are doing that in Public Works, but we don't do that as a city. So, in that case
-- or we might have other departments which might lend assistance to or guide or have a
role in helping that to move forward. So, those are just two examples of how we sort of
perceive the operationalization of this particular plan being carried out in the future. This
strategic plan has been influenced heavily by our economic development plan, the
Comprehensive Plan, and the capital improvement plan as they already exist. We have
put a lot of time and energy as a city into investing in the developments of those plans and
we didn't want this new strategic plan to come along and undermine all of that work that
we have done. So, in this first go ahead or first go around with this strategic plan, we
used those documents to influence the developments of this strategic plan. However,
going forward we see that after separating those components into the strategic plan that
we will begin to utilize this strategic plan to influence, then, all of those other plans.
Because by thinking more strategically we will begin to align those supplemental plans
that really should be driven by the strategy we have as a city. So, for example,
Comprehensive Plan or economic development plan, all of the department plans, which
are these tactical or operational plans, the capital improvement plan, as well as our
budget as a city, both short and long term, should be driven by the strategies that we
agree help us to achieve the vision -- the vision that we have set for ourselves as a
community and city. So, that's how we eventually plan to be operating with the strategic
plan, that it will be a primary lead document that will allow us to -- and govern our budget,
our tactical resources, human resources, our equipment, material, however that works
best. So, let's talk quickly about the plan. I won't go through the entire plan, but I will
highlight, essentially, the primary goals under each of the city's focus areas. Before I do
that you will notice that the plan is pretty involved. We have all departments represented
and/or work in developing this plan and vetting it. We have five city focus areas that you
helped to develop last fall. From that we developed 20 broad goals and out of those 20
broad goals came a subset of 72 strategic objectives. The time frame we are generally
dealing with here -- although I think most of the directors and the Mayor would agree is a
little aggressive. We wanted to set the bar high and that is a five year time horizon. We
don't know if we will be able to get all of this done in the five year period, but we certainly
want to try. Each objective supports one or more of the city focus areas. We did not
deviate from the hierarchy I just described and the tactics and activities that I mentioned
earlier, which will come from the departments when they operationalize the plan, are still
to be added later as administrative and operational components of the plan. So, quickly
we will go through each of the focus areas and the broad goals and we said that under the
strategic growth that good growth fuels the city and we are able to promote growth that
enhances its vision and its family focus, properly planned, financially viable, and diverse.
And we just accept broad goals. The first is to facilitate the development and growth of
Meridian's downtown, culminating in a strong and diverse community pull. Second, we
want to create a growth management system to foster the growth of the city in alignment
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 37 of 88
with the Comprehensive Plan. Third, to protect land use and zoning plans to promote
certainty and predictability for future development within the adopted area of city impact
and, finally, develop and sustain the connections that shape and serve our community.
Now, for more detail under each of these goals you would go to the plan and you have
each of the objectives that were identified. And under those objectives to come later are
the tactics or activities that will support those objectives to move them toward the
attainment of the goal. So, we don't see that detail at least in what we are sharing today,
but we have that certainly in the plan that we shared with you a week ago. Under
economic vibrancy jobs make a city vibrant. Meridian will recruit family wage jobs and
promote the growth of existing organizations and employment zones that put work and life
together. Three broad goals include influencing location and retention of family wage jobs
in close proximity to where people live. Second, partner with others to develop a qualified
workforce that meets the needs of the targeted industries and, finally, promote a diverse
and sustainable economy. Focus area three was in relation to responsive government.
We recognize that the successful government of the 21st century is service driven,
approachable, and responsive. Meridian will embody those qualities by improving
efficiency and using transparency, utilizing technology and investing in our employees.
Those five goals -- or the five goals that support this general purpose area include
elevating engagement of the community with their local government. Establishing a
comprehensive workforce development and retention program for the city. Insuring
flexibility and adaptability and resiliency of government during times of crises and
recovery. Improving operational efficiency and organizational excellence and enhancing
transparency and decision making of city government. So, a lot of these goals are inward
looking and some of them are outward looking as well. We think that was important.
Focus area three. Health and safety. Safe and healthy. For a community to prosper it
must be safe, secure, and healthy. Meridian will invest in activities and services that
enhance public safety and community health, to build a stronger community and promote
the quality of life that its citizens and employees expect. Again, five broad goals. First is
to establish Meridian as a premier, safe community. Second is to establish Meridian as a
premier healthy community. If we want to be premier we have to be premier both in safety
and in health. Health and safety. Promote in advance social services that strengthen the
socio-economic well being of our community. This refers to a community safety net.
Establish a comprehensive health and safety program for the City of Meridian. And,
finally, advance sustainable and environmentally healthy practices throughout the city.
Finally, our fifth focus area is in art, culture, and recreation. We recognize also that a
premier community embraces cultural diversity and promotes an abundant offering of arts,
entertainment, and recreational opportunities. Meridian will invest in services, facilities,
programs and partnerships to establish itself as an active and vibrant community that
fulfills the diverse cultural and recreational needs of this people. Here we have three
broad goals. The first is to spur development of quality, regionally significant facilities for
recreation and entertainment in Meridian. To develop, maintain, and foster a portfolio of
activities and events that serve the diverse needs of the citizens of Meridian. And, finally,
to foster the infusion of the arts into our community. So, those are the five focus areas
with the 20 broad goals that we talked about. The objective, again, are in the plan that
you have, but we didn't go through them specifically tonight. So, what are the next steps?
Well, what we would need to do is get your approval and hopefully adoption to move
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 38 of 88
forward. We would like to have this plan adopted within the next couple of weeks, as the
Mayor suggested. That will be the signal for the directors that we need to roll up our
sleeves and begin working on the tactical or the departmental level plans to support each
of the objectives, which further the broad goals and, therefore, the attainment, hopefully,
of the vision that we shared with you earlier. This is an example of how we would do that.
What you see on the screen here is an example and a summary. Here we describe the
tactics, the goal elements, as well as the supporting objective. We would prioritize those
tactics. We identify who the lease and who the support is for, like a start date, a
completion dates, but the general project requirements would be what the tactical
summary is, meaning what's the purpose of this tactic. We also list the activities that were
associated with the advancing the tactic and, then, we would list the performance
measures in addition to make sure that we weren't barking up the wrong tree or that we
were going after the wrong result. And that we would have status updates that I will share
with you in just a minute what we mean by the status update. This is one way to do it.
This isn't something we have adopted just yet. This is just an example of what kind of
work still needs to come in order for us to take these visionary statements, these goals
and objectives, and turn them into on the ground improvements. We know that what gets
measured gets improved, so we have developed a matrix here that would identify periodic
reporting, systematic monitoring and updating to the strategic plan. So, biannually we
believe that the strategic plan, goals and measurements and progress be discussed. That
will probably be at the director's meeting and the Mayor will be the responsible party.
Annually there will be an execution progress report just to tell you folks and the community
and the department directors, everyone, what our progress is on moving or advancing the
tactics, the objectives and goals. Annually we also believe that we would have through
that process a refinement of the strategic plan. Notice this plan is going to need to be
somewhat of a flexible document. And, finally, annually we would review and refine the
department plan to make sure there is continued alignment between the goals and
objectives and the tactical plans that have been employed. I wanted to provide some
thoughts from our consultant. Phil Eastman has been a great facilitator for us and he
works with Leadership Advisors Group. He had a couple nice things to say about the
plan. I quoted him up there. It says the plan is both comprehensive and achievable and
that's a very difficult balance to strike. He has also said that the City of Meridian will reap
the benefits of this discipline for years to come and I couldn't agree more. His
observations about the plan -- we sent it to him at the same time we sent it to you and his
observations are down there in the bulleted form and I will just point out a couple. I think
we are all proud of the Mayor for leading this effort. This is not easy work and the Mayor's
investment in this path forward will be an important point and a lasting one. The effort
was inclusive of all aspects of the organization from departmental staff all the way through
to the City Council It has the right level of detail to be valuable without being
overwhelming. That's up for debate; right? It's pretty overwhelming in its own form, but I
think it's important and it reaches I think the right distance as well. It needs to be
executed and measured to have its full effect. This plan is owned by the organization, not
our consultant. Our consultant didn't put this together. He facilitated the education of the
staff and reinforced the process by which we follow in order produce this plan. But all of
the goals and all of the objectives are owned by the strategic leadership team or the
strategic planning team. And I think that's really important. Your adoption will also insure
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 39 of 88
that those goals and objectives are going to be embraced and owned by the city
leadership team. And, lastly, we did have to change management training, which was
actually very well received, where department directors invited their key staff, the ones
that were going to be helping to develop the tactical plans and also be responsible for
putting those out into their departments into about a half day change management
workshop, which was pretty well received. We understand that we will have to maintain
the strategic plan once it gets started, but I can't emphasize enough the importance of
holding additional conversations in being critical in helping us to maintain some and in
achieving the results that we are really going after here. If we change this plan wildly year
after year after year -- it's just like any goal you have set for yourself, you won't attain any
of them. So, we have to be consistent about the types of things we endeavor to achieve,
but we also have to be flexible and adaptable in how we achieve them. So, we
understand that it's going to have to be a dynamic document within certain parameters
and one that's subject to change. Staff will have opportunities through the measurement
monitoring program and the adaptive management that we talked about it a little bit
earlier, to reflect on progress and to make modifications to insure that we stay on track as
an organization. So, adoptive management will help us to improve organizational
effectiveness and attain the performance progress if we are able to do this on a periodic
basis. That's all I have for you at this point in time. I know the Mayor and I are anxious to
-- as well as the directors, to get working on this, so I guess I will leave you with this
parting thought. As the Mayor mentioned we don't expect any sort of action on this today
or even within the next week or two. But we would like to get the Council's blessing and
ultimately an adoption. Look at the revisions if we need to and let's talk about philosophy
and talk about whether we have hit the mark. But at the end of the day at some point we
would like to get this approved and adopted by the City Council, so that we know as
department directors that what we are working on is in alignment with what you expect us
to work on and that it advances us truly in the directions that you and the community want
and desire us to -- to more towards. So, with that I will stop and entertain any questions.
I'm sure the Mayor would be willing to as well.
De Weerd: Thank you, Tom. Council, questions? Mr. Zaremba?
Zaremba: Madam Mayor, if I may. So far this is excellent work. I'm glad that it's going
on. I can see there is a great deal of effort and thinking that has gone into it. I think
recognize some elephant -- elements of continuous quality improvement in there. I think
that's been --
De Weerd: Is your mike on?
Zaremba: It is on.
De Weerd: Okay.
De Weerd: Maybe I'm not close enough to it. But, as I say, I see elements of continuous
quality improvement, which I also think is excellent. Just a thought. The example tactical
summary, which you had a slide on and which in the pamphlet you gave us is on page ten
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 40 of 88
of 15, 1 like that you have identified start dates and completion dates and status updates.
I wonder if it might be useful to specifically identify what are the key deliverables by name,
whatever those deliverables are going to be and maybe also provide a visual chart of way
marks, so that you don't just have the start date and the end date, but some key -- key
way marks in the way, which will lead to the status updates of whether those are being
attained in an orderly manner or more or less attention needs to be given to a specific
area and -- and, then, as I say, the key deliverables. But I think this is excellent.
Barry: Thank you, Councilman Zaremba. Very good comments. I think the way mark
portion could be done in an GANT chart program, for example, but we would talk about
this at a director's meeting. I like GANT charts. Maybe my other colleagues don't. So,
there will be some give and take, but I definitely think that you brought some very good
points to us.
De Weerd: We will let him do all the changes.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Maybe to Councilman Zaremba's faux pas there, this -- this was a big elephant
and I have to be honest, being through many strategic plans I was not super excited about
kind of going through this, because inevitably there is multiple questions that are left at the
end and I only have two, so I really commend you on this. Things that I didn't expect to
see I saw and to the Mayor's point about it being a road map, I think it does a good job of
showing us where we are going and where we have been. A couple of questions you can
maybe answer for me. I love the tactile plan development. I think it does an exceptional
job of kind of taking that conceptual piece and really making it actual. My question is how
-- how are you going to rate or grade how effective those activities were performed? Is it
binary, we did it, so we get credit, versus things that have been done extremely well to
really move the plan. My second question is related to updates, the feedback, and I'm just
curious the thought process on an annual update to Council, as opposed to more
frequent, why the biannual updates to the Mayor and to the directors, as opposed to being
more frequent and as to why specific times were chosen.
Barry: Thank you, Councilman Cavener. Mayor, would you like me to address those or
would you --
De Weerd: Sure.
Barry: Okay. So, an excellent -- both excellent questions. As it relates to the update,
some of us who have some experience in operating under strategic plans -- that would be
the fire chief and myself. The people here at the city, and others who have exposure or
have worked with strategic plans, I think we all recognize that, essentially, when you work
on strategic objectives and the type of work that's involved in those typically there is a
certain amount of time that needs to be given to advance those initiatives and by
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 41 of 88
frequently or too frequently reporting on those there just isn't really enough movement for
the report to be meaningful. So, we have suggested that, essentially, it would be kind of
keeping a mark on, hey, are things happened, is it getting done? What are the
roadblocks? What are those type of things. And that would that be more of an
administrative internal discussion with the key focus on continuing to advance and keep
on task those milestones and, then, annually is sort of the, hey, how did we do. That's a
performance evaluation. Did we get as far as we thought we were going to get? Did we
go farther? What needs to happen and what needs to change? So, annually seems like a
good mark, but falls in line also with the way that we evaluate our employees and the way
that we look at other sorts of programs, plans, projects, our budget, those type of things.
So, annually it seems to feel like a good fit in time frame, but, you know, I don't know that
that's a show stopper. If the Council wants something more frequently or less frequently I
think that's something to discuss and have that conversation. But generally the reason.
To your second -- which was your first question, the tactical summary, rating or grading
the impact of the tactics is going to be very difficult. The first thing before you even get
there is prioritizing that, first, because we are going to realize that there is a lot of work
that needs to be done by each of the departments and some of the work will require
assistance from our support staff, for example. So, let's say to advance an objective or
even a broader goal, we have multiple departments wanting to do certain things in their
departments that require a whole lot of assistance from IT, from Legal, or HR, some of
those support functions, we are going to have to wrestle with what is the prioritization of
those particular activities or tactics first and some of that prioritization I'm guessing will
include an analysis which talks about the impact, the outcome or the output. We use
those terms in performance measurement and monitoring. If you have something that fits
an output matrix, for example, number of phone calls per day, is that as important as the
impact of each of those phone calls or the outcome. So, intend to have conversations
about how this clarifies that, but that -- those conversations haven't really happened yet.
So, I'm not certain that I can give you a satisfactory answer, but I will tell you that we
recognize it's going to be a challenge and it's going to start -- that challenge starts right in
the prioritization of the actual tactics and activities that were developed.
De Weerd: Any other questions or comments?
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Rountree: I just envision people crawling around in the weeds, so that's just how I -- when
I read it. Sorry. But, you know, the plan is concise. I do believe what the consultant said,
that it's certainly doable. I'm going to have a few picky comments as I get through it and
think about it, but, yeah, I think it's a grand effort and, hopefully, we can get it in place.
The idea of looking at 2035 is probably a bit ambitious for any elected body and city staff,
because you're going to -- you're going to be lucky if you get two years out of it without
having people screaming and yelling, but that's okay. You got to do it -- I wish we could
do it at other levels of government, so at least we weren't just looking at one year at a
time.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 42 of 88
Barry: Thank you, Councilman Rountree.
De Weerd: So, we look forward to getting that feedback and, yes, I think you do need to --
we aren't -- we want this Council to own it. If you own it we have the team that will
execute on it and we can bring back those measurements and to -- to insure that that plan
is being worked and that we are meeting those objectives that have been laid out.
Certainly as I mentioned earlier, these will -- these will drum beat you specifically in the
budgeting process as Tom laid out, you know, as you turn the strategic plan upright and it
starts to feed in those various efforts that we do. So, we look for your direction and we
want you to be nitpicky, because before we spend that time and detail to flush it out and
make it something that we can execute on, we need that full buy in and we need you to --
to look at it with a critical eye. So, thank you.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Cavener: Just a quick comment. And I don't like to jump into the minutia, but I do like
safe and healthy better than health and safety.
De Weerd: I do, too.
Rountree: And secure.
De Weerd: Safe, healthy and secure?
Milam: Madam Mayor?
Rountree: That's in your context.
Cavener: Yeah.
Milam: What I was going to --
De Weerd: Ms. Milam.
Milam: The only reason maybe that he changed that was that those two words were also
used in the opening sentence of that and so to not be redundant.
De Weerd: I think what Steve's point is is grammatically it's -- and better form this way,
but to me it takes the emphasis off safe first and that's always been a priority of this
Council and the city and that's why I like the safe and healthy. And secure.
Milam: And I agree with that as well. I was offering a possibility of why it was changed
just for the sound of the wording.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 43 of 88
Barry: And I don't want to sling that out on Mr. Siddoway. We had a good debate --
Rountree: He's not here. Go ahead.
De Weerd: I will tell him you threw him under the bus
Barry: No. No. He will appreciate that. So, if I have taken -- if I take your direction
correctly, we will retitle that safe, comma, secure and healthy. Is that --
De Weerd: I love safe, healthy and secure.
Cavener: I guess -- I don't want to get into the minutia.
Barry: It's -- okay. We will figure it out and bring you back our --
De Weerd: It will start with safe, though.
Barry: Yeah. We will. If I could make one other observation. You know, I have been with
the city now eight years or so and I have been around the block once or twice on this
strategic planning stuff, particularly at this level, the city level, and I can tell you that
although it is difficult and I recognize and appreciate that you recognize that, the direction
and the input and the engagement that the City Council has in this process early on and
kind of behind the scenes has been very important and it has made the job easier for us,
because we are not having to guess what your priorities are, what your desires are for the
community. That has been very, very helpful for us and that's what really allowed us to
move or advance this work forward the degree to which we did. So, I just want to thank
you and let everyone else know that behind the scenes, although I get to stand up here,
it's the hard work of the staff and certainly you that has allowed for this to culminate in
what it has, so thank you.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Thank you, Tom.
Cavener: Sorry.
De Weerd: Yes.
Cavener: That poses a question either for you or for Tom. When you look at the strategic
planning team do you notice that there is a member of Council that's absent on there?
Has there been any thought of including a member of Council on that team? I don't know
if that's an area for discussion, something anyone is interested in exploring. And if not --
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 44 of 88
and nobody's feelings are hurt. I was just curious -- just to the point that Tom made. I
didn't mean to put anybody on the spot. Sorry.
De Weerd: You know, at this point if -- once you have adopted kind of that 30,000 foot
level and we start getting into the operational aspect, I imagine that the liaisons will have
input at each of -- how their departments relate to us, but it is operational --
Cavener: Sure.
De Weerd: -- and certainly we -- we would never turn down an opportunity for you all to
roll up your sleeves, but I --
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I -- we had our input at the start and I -- I, for one, don't believe that a -- this type of
a group put together needs to have an elected councilman on it. You know, I just -- that's
something that could come back to us and, then, we get our -- we get the final say, so
whatever we do -- and we did -- I mean Phil had us in here and we went through this
originally first, which we always have on stuff like this, but I think something like this is not
a place for a city councilman.
De Weerd: Any other comments?
Rountree: Oh, I would love to have been involved.
De Weerd: I'm sure.
Barry: Well, thank you all.
De Weerd: Thank you, Tom. And thank you to the team. I think, then, Council, if you
could get comments back, we will bring this back in two weeks? Does that seem
reasonable? If you can get us any comments back in a week or if you have any questions
you know you have various people that you can ask, but if you can get your comments
back by next Tuesday we will put it back on the agenda in two weeks to discuss any
feedback, any questions and see if we will lay out a plan of adoption.
Rountree: To whom do we get back to?
Bird: Yeah. Madam Mayor. Is Tom going to be --
De Weerd: Certainly you can get back to me. To Tom.
Rountree: Okay.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 45 of 88
De Weerd: To Tom. Yeah. I don't mind that at all. Okay. Okay. Thank you.
F. Public Works: Safety Program Update
De Weerd: Our next item is under Public Works. Our safety program update. I think we
were really ambitious with this agenda, weren't we?
Rountree: Uh-huh.
Bird: Who set this?
De Weerd: Charlie.
Bird: I knew that.
Rountree: I will take the blame.
De Weerd: Okay. I did.
Rountree: I saw it.
De Weerd: Hi, John.
McCormick: Good afternoon, Members of the Council. Madam Mayor. Good afternoon.
De Weerd: Where is your prop? Is that your prop?
McCormick: That's it right there. Special effects. Back up material. Serves multiple
purposes. Thank you so much for the opportunity to talk about safety and, Madam Mayor,
thank you for the segue into that topic from your last topic. I want to go back and do a
thumbnail sketch of a few years of history for you and I know you're weary, so I'm not
going to drag this out, but for the benefit of the three Council Members who are the
newest and weren't around at that time, I think it's fair to do that. Back in 2012 as part of
the process for preparing for the 2013 budget I came before this group and requested
consideration for a safety program administrator or coordinator, that kind of a resource,
largely due to the situation that we had at the time where that had been outsourced to the
same vendor. There was a lot of dissatisfaction with the performance of that individual
and the service level was not adequate to meet the demands of the workforce at that time
and so I thought it would be worthwhile to consider a change and the Council at that time
wisely and appreciate the sage advice and direction, requested that we go out and hire
somebody to do an assessment of the safety program in its entirety and even uplifted the
budget to allow for that to occur and since that time we have engaged with a consultant to
do exactly that. It's taken much longer than I thought, but it took us probably six to nine
months just to engage with the right consultant. There are not very many of qualified
people in this field that are out there and available and interested in doing this kind of work
for us. So, we engaged Northwest Safety Services and they, in addition to doing the
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 46 of 88
assessment, did some training for us and did a number of job site inspections and some
job safety analysis for us as well. So, what I wanted to do is give you an update on the
assessment itself, be as brief as possible, and, then, talk about the steps going forward.
So, I think we have to start fundamentally why is safety important at all and we have two
reasons for caring about safety. One, of course, is for the employees themselves. We
have a moral obligation to provide our employees with a safe and healthy work
environment. We have a legal obligation to fulfill as well and in this area we have eight
different agencies that we have to deal with and comply with their regulations. They are
all listed there. We also consider some guiding principles when we manage the safety
program in Public Works. The first is that safety is part of our cultural fabric. We have it
represented in many different aspects of what we do, either in the -- in the pursuance of
operational work, maintenance work, in our consideration strategically for the department.
We don't look at safety as an event or a happening, it's something that is
always taking place. Safety is necessary to sustain our operations and as much as we
have invested in our operation we have to make sure that we are doing a good job of
keeping those that are running it safe. Safety is an investment in the protection of our
human resources or another way to say that is that it is an investment in that that we have
already invested in. So, it's just sustaining that investment. Safety is also an essential
component of any viable concern or organization. If you don't have a good safety
program and you don't take the time or consideration for investing in that area, it will be
very much an uphill battle for any organization going forward. A fully functional safety
program in Public Works is about mainly training and education, first and foremost, so that
people know what steps to do and know how to go about doing it in a safe and healthy
way. It involves audits, inspecting job sites and facilities to insure that they are hazardous
free as much as possible and it involves certification and recertification. We live in that
world and about 75 percent of our workforce has to have some form of specialty training,
whether it be confined space, evacuation, trench work, roadways, et cetera. And, of
course, this last week we saw a real live example of that put on display with the water
main break at Locust Grove and Franklin and it was those kind of people that were out
there in the roadway managing the traffic and doing traffic control. Policy development
and management is an important part that we have a good infrastructure and we have
accountability around that to insure that there is consistency in the execution of safety
procedures and policy. And, then, again, it's just sustaining the investment that we have
already made. I want to get now into just the work that we have completed, the work that
is in process, and the work that is left to be done. The first is in large part we have spent
a lot of this time in these last couple years doing the assessments and putting that
together. We have spent a great deal training our workforce. In fact, we have taken every
staff member through basic safety training of eight hour and we have done all of the
specialty training that we needed to do to bring people up to speed and up to the level that
they need to be. Keep in mind that this is training that has to reoccur every two years to
fulfill the requirements of compliance. And, then, we finally recertified everyone in the
department in the OSHA ten hour. So, we are in pretty decent shape when we were
heading into 2015. We are not at the present time. Facilities inspections, we did two of
them, one for water, one for wastewater. I'm going to report on the results of that. That's
a large part of the assessment that was done. Job site audits. We did a number of wells,
PRV sites and things of this nature. And, of course, we -- on an ongoing basis we have
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 47 of 88
monthly safety committee meetings where we talk about these kind of issues and anything
that might be pressing from a hazard standpoint or anything that needs to be done. We
have developed a 30-60-90 day plan in 2015 when we went into the fiscal year. We had
thought we were going to have negotiations closed with the safety provider that we were
working with. He disengaged with us for no apparent reason. It was hard to get him
reengaged and, in fact, we never did. So, 2015 has been a very bare year for the amount
of work that we wanted to do. This is work that does not go away. It doesn't disappear
with time. It just continues to build up backlog and so we have a pretty significant
resource gap at the time that we are in right now. The assessment process involved a
complete and comprehensive review and check of all relevant documentation. I have that
in front of you. In fact, Madam Mayor, the safety manual is 434 pages long. At this time I
think it was --
De Weerd: Fascinating read.
McCormick: Pardon me?
De Weerd: Fascinating read.
McCormick: Yeah. Oh, absolutely. And you wouldn't want to read it when you're going to
be, because it would keep you awake all night. We interviewed employees at all levels of
the organization to find out what their knowledge extent was and their awareness, their
safety, and their perceptions about safety. When we did the employee supplemental
survey we found that that was one of the biggest things that was missing for us in the
department was that people did not have adequate training in safety. They had no
concept for it. They had no awareness that it was available and it wasn't at that time, but
lots -- lots of our effort went into getting -- capturing people's perceptions on that. We
conducted site and workplace visits, summarized findings in the safety program and
procedures assessment document, which I have here and we will talk a little about that in
a little bit. We used a SWAT approach in doing the assessment, so everything is captured
around sense, weaknesses, opportunities and stress. Those things that are harmful to the
organization's objectives, those things that are helpful to the organization's objective.
And, of course, both internal and external to their department. I'm not going to go through
the details around that. Part of the assessment involved the two facility inspections, water
and wastewater. We found a number of violations in those two locations and we are
referring to those as observations. So, we characterize them according to the following
criteria. They are prioritized. So, obviously, catastrophic would be the worst. It requires
immediate attention. And, then, it kind of goes down from there in terms of degree of
severity. Critical, moderate, minor, and, then, more of a general finding that might have
some -- either financial or security matters, as well as safety. So, we took and cataloged
these and these are 250 -- 215, excuse me, different safety observations that were found
in the two utilities. Water had 38 and wastewater had 177. Very -- very different
operations, of course, and wastewater being the more complex of the two in terms of the
equipment, the -- the footprint that it's on and that sort of thing. Water in terms of their
footprint is really the city, so they are in vehicles a lot and so there is a different kind of
safety consideration there. But you can see that these things range from everything from
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 48 of 88
electrical to the -- the use of hand tools and compressed gases, the storage of chemical in
the appropriate cabinets. The communication around hazards, so that things are labeled
correctly, that sort of thing. All of these are detailed in those lists I have sitting there,
along with -- so, there is a classification of the hazard, there is the location of it and the
regulation that is associated with that hazard, as well as the photograph of the hazard
itself. And some of these are very concerning, because it's just not having the proper
mind to take care of some things like expiration of eye wash equipment. Exploration of
things that are important to keep you safe and we have allowed them to lapse. So, just a
whole lot of good stuff here that we didn't know about before the assessment. So, that
why I think it was very wise of you to hold us to -- hold us accountable to that. These are
the observations by priority. Thankfully we had no observations that were catastrophic.
We had a number of them that were critical and a number of them that were moderate
and minor and, then, a few general kinds of things. I'm pleased to say at this point we
have been able to address many if not most of these areas of concern and now what we
don't know is because this is just a snapshot in time, you always have new things coming
into the funnel, you know, as technology and equipment changes, as your staff changes,
that sort of thing. We have hired people who have come from another municipality who
have never been trained in safety and they were there for 12 to 15 years in that other
municipality doing the same kind of work that we hired them for. So, that's really things
that are kind of unheard of and that we want to correct. But a snapshot in time just gives
you a picture of what it looked like then. As time moves on, obviously, things change.
The work in process right now, we are in this 30, 60, 90 day plan. Dale Bolthouse, deputy
director of utilities, as well as Brian Kerr, the chief water operator and myself put that
together and this is part of that plan. So, we are carrying through on our commitment to
give you an update on that. One of the areas of -- missing for us is the training of new
hires. We did not consider the impact of that, of bringing people new into the organization
and the length of time it took to get them scheduled in the training class was a little longer
than what was comfortable. So, we have bought the material to do the new hire
orientation. It's a video set of material and we will conduct that orientation ourselves. We
had four specific projects at the wastewater treatment plant that were designed and
launched into construction this year. Those will be scheduled for completion by the end of
summer, certainly. Probably by mid summer. And those addressed four areas that were
of large concern to -- to the workforce and also in a way that was concerning to trust in a
larger sense, because it brought us to a realization that we design a lot of buildings and
design a lot of infrastructure and we don't consider safety in the design of that and so
that's one of the things that we will change going forward. We need to address the
assessment findings that are left undone at this point. There is still some things that we
haven't completed, like some of the critical and more moderate things that are left undone.
There is not many of them, but they are there. We have to pay attention to our vehicles
and we have people in the roadway that just -- the lights on the truck aren't sufficient to
provide them protection from vehicles that are in the traffic with them and so we are
putting reflective tape on the vehicles as well to highlight -- highlight that a little better and
we will continue to do our safety committee meetings. What's left to be done is we have
to find some resources. We either need to find another service provider or we need to
higher somebody and bring them on staff and get it done. We need to complete the
assessment work, particularly around risk management and accident investigation and job
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 49 of 88
safety analysis training. We don't have anybody trained in that area either. Excuse me.
And specialty training, that's probably the highest priority in terms of training other than the
new hire orientation and that is just to make sure that people that are in these areas of
confined space, trenches and the roadways, that are using equipment and things of that
nature, are doing that with all of the skills needed for safe operation. Facility infractions,
we will probably go back through that process again and see what the difference has been
between the first level of inspection and the second. That should give us a good idea of
how well we are doing in the areas of housekeeping, keeping track of certain things, like
chemicals and the labeling of chemicals and things of that nature. Job safety audit, which
-- or job site audit. Excuse me. Those are things that are ongoing all the time as the
infrastructure expands and as the -- as the structures age and that sort of thing, they are --
they are going through life, too, just like we are and if you don't keep care -- keep them up
to date and you don't maintain them and if you don't identify the safety hazards associated
with that, which is part of the maintenance, by the way, particularly in the area of electrical
wiring and things of that nature. And we need to update our safety program manual. That
434 pages probably could go down, you know, if we are all thinking about saving trees,
there is probably more, just because of the number of regulations that come into play and
the amount of effort it takes to address those. I wanted to give you some idea of what we
have done financially and here is the budget and the actual spend for the last four years.
You can see in '11 and '12 we didn't do a lot of -- we didn't -- actually spent less in 2013,
even though you approved for a greater amount of budget, but that was just simple we
couldn't find anybody, excuse me, to help us with that. It was not -- we had an RFQ out
on the street for quite awhile, we got one response. We got the one response in,
interviewed them, talked to them, and they turned out to be not qualified for the work that
we needed them to do. So, we had to go back and start looking all over again. 2015 we
have not hardly spent anything out of the budget, because we haven't done any work in
that regard. The situation is that we have taken the approach of meeting our safety
requirements by depending upon others, using a vendor has proven to be unsuccessful,
at least in the few times that we have done it, and we haven't had very good fortune in
finding people that are -- well, let's say compatible with our needs and expectations.
Training of the new hires, completion of safety projects, utility inspection, job safety audits
and the specialty training still needs to be completed for this year and going forward on a
full-time basis. We believe we have a full-time job here. We also believe that we -- since
we haven't done anything yet this year that we are probably 1,500 hours in arrears worth
of work that has -- has not been done. That means we have got a pretty good backlog to
burn off. So, it's going to be a challenge for anybody coming into this position if, indeed,
we hire somebody to take that bull by the horns and get us back into where we need to
be. I would say, too, this is one of the reasons why we are coming to you now instead of
waiting for the budgetary process and to integrate this request into the 2015 budget is
because it just takes too darn long to hire people, find people, that sort of thing. And we
have to act with a little bit of sense of urgency here. And we have no resource. I wanted
to give you a sense of what it would cost us to outsource versus in house. This is 2013
and '14 those are actual outsource dollars that we have spent. It isn't representative of
the amount of work that is demanded, it's the amount of work that we done. So, the
demand was much greater than the hours that are represented there. In 2016 and I just
established a standard of 2,080 hours, such as a full time equivalent, it would at $73.50 an
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 50 of 88
hour. At start wage that would be 152,000. We can do that job with our own dedicated
personnel on staff for half that. And so to get that done will require us to have another
12,000 dollars added to the base budget in the personnel area, so that we can -- we can
actually move forward with that and do the work that's needed. What is that work? This,
is the kind of pie chart that represents the full time piece of this. 2,080 hours. About 80
percent of that is wrapped up in three areas: 955 in training, 375 in audit, and 190 in the
area of job safety analysis. Then the rest of it -- the biggest chunk is in policy and
administering standard operating procedures, things of that nature and, then, the rest of it
is just in the little stuff that goes along with it. Reporting and things of that nature.
De Weerd: So, John, what makes you think that you can -- if you can't find a consultant
that you can find a qualified employee?
McCormick: Well, consultants come with lots of strings attached to. They want to work on
a contract basis. They are not -- and we are not the only customer that they typically
have. So, there is not a -- you know, you have to find somebody that's going to fit your
needs and we are a little fish in a big pond, frankly speaking. Now, that doesn't quite
answer your question, because we haven't gone after a safety program person yet, so I do
know that we have looked at six or seven municipalities and all of them have dedicated
safety personnel. They got them from somewhere. So, we would have to probably turn
over some rocks and go out and hunt just like we do for all the other positions that we look
for. No, you know, I don't know the answer to how successful we can be until we try.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
McCormick: I --
Bird: Go ahead, John. Go ahead and, then, I will come in.
McCormick: I just wanted to make that recommendation and I don't have an amendment
with me tonight, I wanted to mainly bring you up to date with what we have been doing
and also put forth the idea and get your support for moving forward with an amendment
and if you are supportive of doing that, I would be happy to come back in a week or two
and present that amendment to you and it would be in the neighborhood of approximately
for an addition 12,000 dollars over and above our base budget. Now, part of our base
budget has been used for this consultant, so about 70 percent of our base budget is for
personnel related or resource related cost and we would have to add that to the 12,000,
so the -- but the base budget line for safety would drop down and the personnel line would
come up. That would be also a fully loaded cost, so -- Councilman Bird?
Bird: Madam Mayor? John, go back to your list of -- of your bad cords and all that crap
McCormick: That 215 worth of crap? This one?
Bird: Right there.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 51 of 88
McCormick: Yeah.
Bird: That has all been taken care of I take it?
McCormick: About 90 percent of has.
Bird: How come not a hundred? You -- I mean there is companies that got a lot more
employees and do a lot more dangerous work than we do. Do you have weekly tool box
safety meetings with all your guys where Tracy or somebody sits down with everybody
and they go over everything and they list what cords are -- if you're out there or Tom is out
there, carry a pair of dykes, you see a bad cord, cut it. OSHA would -- I mean we wouldn't
have enough millions to pay the fine. Safety has to be done every hour and its up to the
individual, but we have got to lead them and it don't take a full-time safety guy to do it. It
takes just planning and making sure that you have safety meetings and everybody is
doing it. A new hire, yes, you should give him six or eight hours. You got chemicals and
stuff. Out at the wastewater plant you have got machinery and stuff. They should know
how to do it. But everybody should have -- safety is common sense and we have all --
there is not a one of us in this room that hasn't done something stupid in our life and we
are lucky to be alive. But that -- I mean that can't go on. I mean bad cords, power tools
guards off -- have you ever seen a -- have you ever seen a saw blade come -- a 20 inch
saw blade come apart --
McCormick: No, I haven't.
Bird: -- with no guards? I have never seen one come apart with no guard. Thank God
we had guards. This safety has -- but I don't think you solve it by hiring a full-time
employee. I think you solve it by getting First Link or somebody like that out there to set
you up a program and, then, do it with what you have got with the employees you got out
there and Tom can walk around out there once in awhile as being the deal and take a pair
of dykes with him and if you see something cut it. I did it.
De Weerd: There you go, Tom, another job
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
McCormick: I didn't mean to set you up like that
De Weerd: Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: I appreciate the presentation and I agree with Councilman Bird's premise, but
not with his conclusion from the premise. The amount of time it takes to prepare a
program, make sure the program is followed in my opinion is worth a dedicated person. It
is -- this is an activity that we have attempted to have done by hiring outside people and it
was a legitimate part of the budget. I understand the difficulty of keeping somebody like
that engaged when they have other things to do and we are -- our demands are getting
bigger and bigger. And as with anything that the city outsources, my discussion with my
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 52 of 88
liaison departments is always I'm happy to hear you consider whether something should
continue as a consultant or be brought in house. As we grow and our situation changes
I'm glad that is always being reviewed. This is a subject that came up the last time that I
was liaison to the Public Works Department and I have cycled around and now I am again
the liaison and it's still on the table. I personally believe we have satisfactorily got to the
point where we need an in house person doing this. For the cost of 12,000 dollars beyond
what we already anticipated paying, I think that's a fair thing to do and I guess I compare
that to what if we don't. As Councilman Bird pointed out, there are dangers all over these
facilities and out in the roads when they are not in the facilities. The people need to be
made aware of it and, yes, it is an individual responsibility, but there are some things that
they need to be told first before it becomes their individual responsibility to follow what
they have been told and I think an expert is an important person to have on staff, as
Councilman Bird pointed out, there could be penalties from some of the regulatory
agencies, but not even that, think of an injury. We don't want an injury to happen to any of
our people. The downstream effects of that are not pleasant either and expensive. We
don't want damage to occur to our equipment. All of these are related to safety and I'm
half agreeing with Mr. Bird, but I'm on the other half saying I believe this is all the more
reason that we need somebody who is dedicated to that job and, yes, it's everybody's
responsibility to participate, but I -- a dedicated trainer -- I'm sure the fire department,
which also has dangerous equipment, has a dedicated training -- I believe it's a deputy
chief at that level to do the safety training and I personally support that for Public Works
as well.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: Let me follow up on my -- my biggest concern about hiring in house -- something
comes up and you go 50-50, one way or the other, and one of us elected officials or the
Mayor or Tom or John go down and says, no, don't bring it up now, we are going to wait.
It's an employee. Where if you hire and outsource like First Link -- and I think that's the
name. I can't remember. John McConkie.
McCormick: Yeah.
Bird: They -- you know, you either do it right then or they just red tag you and call OSHA
or whoever. That's -- that's my one concern. And, plus, once we get this program set up
-- and you 483 pages of safety program you said or 433 --
McCormick: Uh-huh.
Bird: -- which can be condensed down I'm sure, John, but --
McCormick: I hope so.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 53 of 88
Bird: Thank God I didn't have to write one that big. But I -- I think sometimes outside
eyes are better than in house eyes, but that's neither -- however we go that way, I don't --
yeah, I do care, but my main concern is that we get these things taken care of right now.
Not 90 days from now, not a week from now. If we got bad equipment out there or a bad
situation, you got guys working around it, get it fixed.
McCormick: And if I might, Councilman --
Bird: And I'm sure Tammy will give you the money. I mean she will -- she don't want it
anymore -- we don't want that kind of stuff.
De Weerd: I'm not going to give you money. The Council is the only one that can give
you money. John, I guess the question I asked Tom was if this is a challenge of other
cities, is there an opportunity to join together and look at a -- a valley wide approach, a
multiple agency approach, something -- I don't know if this is a full-time position. I'm sure
we can always find some things to justify it, but you really want a person that's totally
focused on the aspect of safety and if you're having a hard time getting a safety company
to commit, asking for Boise and Nampa and Caldwell and others to see how we can work
together for a multi -agency or a valley wide solution.
McCormick: Madam Mayor, if I could respond to that.
De Weerd: Well, it was kind of a question.
McCormick: Yeah. I think that, you know, we have thought about shared resources
before, cost sharing or something on that order to try to mitigate the cost of it, number
one, but what we run into is the demands that we have on that resource are so high just
with our city alone and if you think about bringing other jurisdictions into it -- let's say that
the City of Meridian, city of Kuna, and the city of Nampa all shared that resource, well, we
all have competing priorities and we all have different issues that we deal with, that that
resource would be pulled in so many different directions I don't know that we would get
the leverage out of that resource that we would get if we managed it as a dedicated
resource to the City of Meridian. Now, if -- you know, if you set up a consortium of those
kind of resources that may ultimately be where this thing goes in the long term, because
there is scarce resources. I don't think they are turning enough subject matter experts out
and a lot of them will go into the high tech areas and work in industrial hygiene areas,
earn a lot more money than we are able to pay, that kind of thing. So, I don't know -- in
my own mind I don't know how that would work. I mean if we just split your job, for
example, amongst three jurisdictions, you would have three different communities that
have very different needs, very different views of how to address those needs -- would
that be a satisfactory resource that's being pulled in so many different directions? I don't
know the answer to that.
De Weerd: Well -- and I would imagine if I was that individual I would make sure I knew
what priorities of each of my bosses were and would stay focused on that, but that might
be easier said than done.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 54 of 88
McCormick: That was my thought.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: John, I think -- I think, seriously, once you get -- you guys get something set up --
the safety program set up -- get all these taken care of and the employees have their six
or eight hour -- I know the OSHA program is I think a two hour, if I remember right.
McCormick: Two hours.
Bird: And it's a good -- it's a good -- it's a good program. Every new -- every new
employee should go through it. But, anyway, once you get it set up I think your people
within the plant and stuff can manage themselves as far as safety. If everybody knows --
you know, if I got a bad power cord, get it over to whoever is the boss, get it out of here.
Another thing with power cords, you need to make sure that we are using the right
strength. You don't use a number six when you need a number 12. So, I -- I know it's --
know I'm being a negative horse's rear, but I just -- I just think we can do it with in house. I
think we have got enough people -- smart people that can do it with in house once we get
it -- we might have to have somebody come in and help us get these meetings going or
stuff like that. But we should have -- and, John, as deputy chief you should every week
when they have those safety meetings, you should get a copy of the minutes of what was
discussed from each one of them and have it on file. I don't know why public have to do
what private does.
McCormick: I would say, Councilman, that a lot of that work is going on already.
Bird: I'm sure you --
McCormick: We do have an established program that's pretty well defined. We just have
difficulty resourcing the subject matter expertise of that program, so we are -- and I would
say this: The staff has paid attention to safety. We have one of the lowest incident rates
and time loss rates around for any industry. Our MOD rate for worker's comp is very low.
So, you don't get there totally by accident, no pun intended, but -- but, you know, part of
this, too, is when you are trying to be the best you have to find things in your closets that
aren't doing -- aren't fitting that part that's going to help you with that. These are the
things in the closet we have to clean up and we have cleaned up a number of them. So,
want to make sure that it's clear to you that we are probably a lot better off than what you
might think and we have tried to engage with First Link and to no avail.
Bird: The boss don't -- McConkie don't reply?
McCormick: Pardon me?
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 55 of 88
Bird: Bob don't reply?
McCormick: We did not -- we met with First Link. In fact, they were one of the first ones
we met with and they wanted to do more construction work.
Bird: Yeah. I understand that.
McCormick: And so we said, okay, and that's when we found Northwest Safety, because
they broke off of First Link. They just kind of parted ways.
Bird: You know, being out there as much as I have been out to the plants, when this
come up I could not believe it, because that plant -- to be truthful with you, other than it
being a wastewater treatment plant, you could eat off the pavement out there, you know.
wouldn't want to, but you could.
De Weerd: I wouldn't advise it.
Bird: It's clean. And, then, I see these, you got pressure hose and all this stuff and I'm
going what are we doing. Anyway, get it solved.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
McCormick: Thank you.
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: So, John, I apologize now, because we have kind of gone in a circle around this,
but could you just clarify -- I mean you're asking for an FTE, so what would be the daily
duties? Is this person training? Is this person going around looking for things that are
wrong? What are the daily duties?
McCormick: Okay. Madam Mayor, Council Woman Milam, this -- this represents about
2,080 hours it looks like in a year and it would be very similar to what it might be on a
day-to-day basis as well. A lot of training. A lot of inspections and -- site inspections, job
audits, things of that nature. We are in the -- we are in the business out in the field all the
time. Out in the roadways all the time. And so, you know, those places have to be
inspected. We don't want to put our workers in the harm's way or run the risk that they
could be there. So, this is something that the safety manager would do is to go out and
do those inspections, take people with them that are appropriate subject matter experts in
their area, whether it be wastewater, water inspections or engineering and make sure that
we have a good record of the condition of the -- either the environment that these guys
are operating in or in the facility that's being inspected, like a lift station or something of
that nature. So, they would be doing that on a daily basis in addition their reporting that
needs to be done, things of that nature. I'm sorry, did I answer your question?
Milam: Yes. Thank you.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 56 of 88
McCormick: Okay.
Cavener: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: John, so if I'm reading this chart we are looking at three days of training a week;
correct? If I do my math right?
McCormick: For --
Cavener: So, this person would be conducting -- I mean if they work an eight hour day
they are going to -- I guess two and a half days to three days a week --
McCormick: Possibly. Sometimes maybe a little more, sometimes a little less. A lot of
that depends on who -- what replacement workers we hire that have had training or not
had training. Some of it is dependent upon -- like sometimes we run -- we run our basic
safety block, we run that in big blocks. So, we will have 20 people to a class and we will
do five classes and it might take place over the course of a week or two weeks or we
might spread it out.
Cavener: Follow up? So, again, I don't want to jump into the minutia, but you feel
confident that number is accurate, the amount of training hours that are needed out there
right now?
McCormick: As far as the 955?
Cavener: Yeah.
McCormick: Absolutely.
De Weerd: Do they get five weeks off?
McCormick: Pardon me?
De Weerd: The ground --
McCormick: They get two weeks of vacation and what I factored in here was six days
holidays a year and, then, the rest of that time is for attending their own training and
conferences and things of that nature for their own education. Whether it's exactly that or
not I'm not sure.
Cavener: Madam Mayor, one more question if I may. John, what -- you said that you had
about 90 percent of that list handled. What's keeping you from getting the other ten
percent done?
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 57 of 88
McCormick: Of the 215?
Cavener: Uh-huh.
McCormick: Time and resources.
Cavener: Okay.
McCormick: Now, I want to caution people here. Once you do that list that doesn't mean
everything is clean and cool. It means that you just get to start over again.
Bird: Well, hopefully, we have educated -- excuse me, Mayor. We have educated the
employees to look out for the stuff that we got now so it don't happen again; right? They
get a bad power tool or something it goes similar to File 13 until it's fixed.
De Weerd: I guess, John, my question is you have prioritized the different findings and
am hopeful that the critical, the urgent have all been taken care of, because that's one
thing that isn't acceptable is that those items that are -- that cause some safety concerns
to our employees -- I hope they are not that ten percent that hasn't been addressed.
McCormick: Now, I would -- Madam Mayor, I would say that we have definitely taken the
critical ones and taken care of them first.
De Weerd: I didn't want to assume, so --
McCormick: Yeah.
De Weerd: Because I know what that definition meant.
McCormick: The exception are the four projects that are being -- in construction at the
wastewater treatment plant at this time that are nearly done, but not quite done. That
would be the exception to that.
De Weerd: And those critical things are being built into a daily checklist or a weekly safety
meeting, as Mr. Bird mentioned?
McCormick: I can say that that happens. I don't know -- and I can't say with certainty that
it happens as consistently as you would like in all areas. Some areas it might happen
every week, for example, in the inspection area they do it very often and in other areas
they may do it less often.
Bird: Madam Mayor? John, are you talking -- you're talking about Beniton -- what Beniton
is doing out there, just --
McCormick: No.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 58 of 88
Bird: Oh, you're talking about what we are doing ourselves?
McCormick: Just operationally what do we do on a regular basis.
Bird: Okay. Yeah. But I know Beniton has their weekly tool box meetings.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Were you done? So, is there any way to incentivize the current employees to --
you know, for clean audits or for finding issues or not having -- not having problems, it
seems as if it might be a lot more cost efficient anyway as far as that part goes.
McCormick: Madam Mayor, Council Woman Milam --
Milam: That's okay.
McCormick: I'm sorry.
Rountree: Go ahead, John.
McCormick: My mouth is kind of dry at this point. But, you know, there is lots of different
things around safety and some of them work, some of them don't. I prefer to make it a
part of our cultural fabric that it is in the -- in the same light that Councilman Bird looks at
it, it should be something that everybody does without forethought and having to --
De Weerd: It sounds like a railroad job to me.
McCormick: Yes, there are -- there are incentives and -- you know, then, you could get
people doing the right thing for the wrong reason. I think we have taken the tact in Public
Works that we want an educated workforce, we want a workforce that's trained. They are
now. They know far more now than they did two years ago about safety, about how to
take care of things. So, I think we are much further down the road and the incentive -- the
largest incentive that anybody has is to come to work and go home safely.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: We will get into this I think if there is a proposal coming forward in subsequent
weeks, but I'm not so sure Councilman Bird's comments and concerns are off base. Back
to your list. If there is 215 items, 90 percent are done and we are talking that 20 some
items still aren't fixed and cleaned up and seeing that the -- the services and tasks to be
performed by a new employee -- none of which are going to fix and clean up these
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 59 of 88
omissions or problems, the new employee doesn't satisfy the lack of time and resources
to go fix them, you have 20 odd deficiencies out there, so that will be part of my thought
process on whether or not adding a new employee is appropriate. Looking at the list, not
knowing the details -- we will get into it later, if there is -- if there is an employee who
brings a handmade tool to use, it sounds so grossly unsafe that I don't know why you work
here. And I don't know the details of anything, but there has got to be some omissions
that I would -- so just your own internal management and operations would say you're
trained on safety policies, you know, X, Y and Z in particular, and they are not optional
and if you violate them we don't tolerate it -- and I'm probably mischaracterizing the level
of management, but that was just some of the initial concern that discussing this proposal
has brought forward.
McCormick: Okay. Well, I'd like that opportunity to talk about it and I think we can
effectively address that and most of them I hope. You know, a lot of these practices that
we are talking about, have been around for a long time. The guys made their own pry
tools, because you couldn't get them somewhere else. Or they may have had
disinterested management in supporting them and giving that, because they didn't want to
spend the money. I don't know the answer to those questions. But I do know that we
have identified our hazards that have been in the workplace and have been addressed
and are being taken care of in that area, too. So, that -- to me that's the most important
thing. Going forward it's important that we sustain that kind of environment, so that it's
very much like a lean environment, where you set things in place and you standardize the
operation and you sustain it going forward by keeping people educated and trained up on
safety.
De Weerd: Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: Madam Mayor. I just -- in an environment where we expect high productivity
out of --
De Weerd: Are you -- is your mike on?
Zaremba: It is on.
De Weerd: Okay.
Zaremba: I'm not quite --
De Weerd: I can't hear him, so -- I didn't know if you could or not.
Zaremba: Okay. Hopefully this is better. What I was going to say is in an environment
where there are dangers, but we expect productivity and busyness from the employees,
there is a tendency when you're very busy to maybe cut a few safety corners, to forget
where our ladder really ought to go and because this is where you used it, you lean it
against the wall, because it's expedient to what you're doing at the moment and tomorrow
you're going to come back and need that ladder in the same place, the 200 and some
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 60 of 88
items that were recently identified that need to be fixed probably developed over time.
They were discovered because of a safety audit. They have been being worked on to be
fixed, but there has not been another safety audit done since then and I think John has
made the point -- maybe there is a few off the original list that are still not fixed, we are
working on it, but we haven't done the safety audit to see what the new list is. There is
another list of things going on out there now that somebody just hasn't thought of or
perhaps they are too busy to do it exactly right and there does need to be somebody
whose specific job it is to look those things over, to bring them to people's attention to
remind them day after day and I realize that if -- if it's an employee problem where they
are just not getting it or they are not buying into the safety features, then, that's an
employment issue. But there are good employees out there that sometimes just aren't
thinking about that one aspect and I -- I'm fully supportive of having a person whose job
that is -- is to go around and remind everybody and to do these safety audits on a regular
basis of saying, okay, this is slipping, this needs to have attention again. Because I would
be willing to bet there is another list of a hundred things, probably, that the next safety
audit would find. Hopefully they are in the lower end of the importance as we go along,
but I got to say I support this request and this budget amendment, because I think this is
something we need to be doing.
De Weerd: Thank you.
McCormick: Thank you. So, what I'm gathering from this is -- what is the direction for
John? So, I'm not gathering anything.
Zaremba: If you ask me, Madam Mayor, my direction is write up the amendment for this
year's budget for 12,000 dollars to supplement what's already in the budget and try and
find somebody to hire in house. That would be my direction.
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: I have been trying to absorb all of this, because safety is an issue for me and
have mentioned several times that probably the biggest issue for all of us is vehicular
safety, as long as the city continues with policies that allow people to drive around using
their cell phones I'm hard pressed to hiring a specific safety person to deal with issues in a
lot of cases should be being done on the job site based on some of the -- some of the
violations. But my biggest concern about this is -- is we have a 400 and some page safety
manual that's an accumulation of who knows what all and that absolutely nobody in the
world is going to -- no working employee is going to go grab and read. Somebody has got
to read it and somebody's got to implement it and one person isn't going to do that. It's
got to be in the culture. And even if we hire the person, I don't see it getting done,
because it's a monumental job and multiple year job just to sort through the manual, let
alone trying to put something in place. So, I'm still of the mind that there has got to be
somebody out there that we can hire and make that transition, because we -- we need
those outside sources. I do not see any one individual coming in here and doing this job
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 61 of 88
-- the job you want accomplished without them and us having to hire consultants to get
some of this stuff in order. I would like to see -- let's get a consultant online and in order,
so if we are lucky enough to find an individual that can implement this program, we have
got a program for them to step into and do. I don't -- given what you're telling me I don't
see that one individual is going to come in here and we have got to do it right now, is
going to come in and make a difference for another two or three years. And I'm not
wanting to put that off, I think we need somebody to come in and put a program together
for us so we know what the program is, so we can see if we can find somebody that can
do it. To me it's -- it's wishful thinking. And I understand how difficult it is to find qualified
people. I fully understand that. But there has got to be an organization out there -- or
maybe it's multiple organizations, one that deals with -- with electrics, one that deals with
manual labor, one that deals with heavy equipment, one that deals with roadway stuff --
and there is a lot of individuals that do that and there is a lot of stuff in that particular area
that's free. So, I'm just at a loss of why we think we can accomplish this with a staff
person at the level or the lack of detail or level that we have right now. I think there is
more immediacy to get a program in place that sorts through all this, so somebody can
step in. Once we have that, then, I think we are in a position to say, okay, we do or we
don't need an individual, we do or we don't need a couple individuals that can do this area
and that area and do something else, whether it's inspections or whatnot. To me it's just
too much. And I don't think the 77,000 dollars is fully loaded. You have got to keep that
person current with the regulations, they have got to have training. You're going to have
outside consultants coming in doing specialized training in safety areas that that individual
is not going to be able to do, unless that individual is traveling all the time and going to
training sessions. So, he gets to be a -- or she gets to be a trained trainer type of person
that can bring it back. So, there is a lot of things that haven't been thought through. Not
that I'm trying to put this off, but I think we need to think through a little more in detail.
McCormick: Madam Mayor, Councilman Rountree, thank you for those thoughts and that
input. I would say that when we come back to you with an amendment those questions
that you asked will be addressed. Those thoughts that you have about that -- I don't know
if we can put them to bed entirely, because sometimes the proof of that is in the execution
of the strategy and it plays out over time, so sometimes you don't always have the benefit
of looking forward and knowing what the outcome is going to be. But the plan is that we
can do more by directing that resource ourselves in the right places, in the right ways,
than trying to find somebody who will sell us their organization and, then, we have to
compete for their resources within that organization with other agencies and we -- we will
lose out most of the time on that deal, unless we up the ante and one of the things that we
have tried to do is be fiscally responsible about our approach here and maybe we are
being too conservative with it, I -- I don't think so in my -- in my heart. I think we are doing
the right -- the right thing in terms of making this kind of a recommendation moving in this
direction. But I leave that to you to decide that, so --
De Weerd: So, John, when you -- you bring this back onto an agenda item, a job
description, what other cities are doing, primarily the cities in the Treasure Valley, just
their experiences with the same thing, but, then, taking what Councilman Rountree just
talked about and looking at what your -- your different safety training specific needs are,
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 62 of 88
the categories and what consulting firms are out there that would likely bid work on -- or
be able to provide that kind of expertise and do a cost comparison. I guess just trying to
show two different options and compare certainly the employee option to what others --
the conclusion they came to and how you have one person that can address the safety
challenges of all the different aspects of your safety program. Safety is a priority and
appreciate that you're bringing this and that your department continues to focus on the
safety aspects, because that should be the number one priority of Public Works to your --
to our employees, but I -- it's just trying to be able to put in front of everyone so you can
digest it and certainly if you can get that out in advance of the meeting to give people an
opportunity to -- to digest the information and if you could, please, share what is the
remaining safety aspects, that ten percent that hasn't been addressed and specifically
what that is, so we have an idea of what's remaining to be done, so you show the nexus to
the employee and what are those ongoing public safety aspects that aren't even part of
that report that are a part of a public safety or a safety training person. So, if you just
understood that I -- I think you're awesome. Whatever I just said.
McCormick: Mayor, just for - not to delay the conversation, but we did go out to the other
cities and check with them in terms of the resources that they had and we -- if you can see
this slide, it shows you what the various cities are doing and they all have -- the ones that
we talked to anyway, have dedicated resources that were part of their -- either their risk
management or safety program or both. In the case of Boise, for example, six of those --
of those six FTEs, I believe four of them are trainers. That's all they do.
De Weerd: And are they only -- so, that -- that's the detail that -- if you can provide. Are
they for all departments citywide? Are they just Public Works specific -- you know, just -- I
think there is -- there is seven people up here struggling with various levels of questions
and -- and we don't know what we don't know to even ask. So, you will have to help us
with that.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Also -- and maybe you have already asked the question, but how is this working
for them? You know, these cities may have said, well, what are other cities doing. Well,
they are doing this, so they had it -- is that working for them. Has that made a difference.
I think a report like that would really be helpful in our decision making process as well.
McCormick: We will have those answers for you when we come back.
De Weerd: Any other information -- specifics you're looking for? I think Charlie gave a
good list. Okay. Thank you, John.
McCormick: Thank you very much.
De Weerd: And I appreciate that it was going to be short
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 63 of 88
Bird: You tried.
McCormick: I gave it my shot anyway, so -- thank you very much for the insights.
Bird: It wasn't your fault. Don't forget your books.
De Weerd: You forgot your prop.
Bird: Tom might have to read that 430 pages.
G. Public Works Department: Utility Rates Annual Update
De Weerd: Okay. Item 7-G. Well, I -- I did -- Mike knows that he's following in the
footsteps of -- of John, who always brings props, so I'm really thrilled, you brought a prop.
And it's clean.
Pepin: I couldn't be outdone -- I don't know that I could upstage 453 pages of safety
documentation, but I thought it was appropriate given the fact that as a young boy I grew
up in love with models, I would put them together, play with them, and in the last 20 years
of serving in the Air Force they would just decorate my office. So, today I come before
you to discuss our annual utility rates update and also some future considerations. So, it's
really depending on the model that is much difference that than the model that's right in
front of you. This one doesn't talk back at all, but the model that I have been working with
and our analyst Alex Freitag we have been working with the last few months, it talks back
to you every time you make an input to it and many of you are very familiar with the
model. I believe you were all present when we provided last year's annual utility rates
update to you and you got to see the picture of that model. Well, today we hope to
provide you an update to that and, then, also answer any questions you may. We do
have some recommendations that we would like to discuss as well, so I will get started.
figured I will start with discussing a little bit about the Enterprise Fund. Talk about the
model itself. Some recommendations -- future considerations that we have in mind that
we would like to present to you and, then, also just have a good discussion at the end.
So, here is, basically, what the Enterprise Fund is all about. We have inputs, which we
really have two customer classes that drive the inputs to our Enterprise Fund in terms
revenue sources. One, predominately our ratepayers and those come in the forms of our
base and usage. Rates for water and sewer and, secondarily, our second biggest
customer class in terms of revenue are the developers and the contractors and those
revenue sources come in the form of assessment fees or connection fees. They will kind
of use that interchangeably, but they, essentially, the same thing and when we have a
developer that wants to develop, we assess what it's going to take for them to connect,
what our system can handle and, then, we charge them in terms of connecting to them,
depending upon those assessment fees. Some other miscellaneous income and, then,
Republic Services, all drop down into our Enterprise Fund and, then, from there,
obviously, we have outputs, our expenses. A large majority of that is our capital
improvement plan for water and wastewater. Secondarily followed by a personnel,
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 64 of 88
operations, and maintenance and, then, we do have some, as Stacy commented on
earlier today, that we do support and share through inter -fund transfers folks like our Legal
Department, IT, HR, Finance would share in some of those expenses as well. A good
look at our first customer class is all about accounts and account growth. Specifically on
this chart I draw your attention to the blue graph or the blue columns and those are our
water accounts. So, we currently have right at about 30,000 water accounts in the City of
Meridian. Right next to them, the gray graph, are our sewer accounts. The difference
between the two are primarily irrigation. If you have an irrigation only account there is no
reason to flush. So, that's the difference between the two. As far as you can see we have
had steady growth in account growth, so since FY -08. What you see also there is the red
line, which is our revenue and it was a little low in '08, '09 and '10, but during those years
is when we saw and you approved an increase to the rates, which really brought up
revenue commensurate with accounts. So, what you see now is that our revenue track in
alignment with our account growth and I will be happy to project that. Year to date we are
in alignment with where we were last year, about two and a half to three percent growth of
utility accounts. With this the growth provides predictability, which lends to greater fund
stability as I have mentioned. So, this is our stable source of revenue. This is the second
class that I was talking about earlier in terms of revenue and that is our developers and
our contractors and we get revenue from them in means of assessments. So, on this
graph you will see the light blue area primarily are -- those represent our residential
assessments or connections. In the blue area you have multi -family and you also have
single dwelling families -- residential units. And the green area, which is a smaller
percentage, is our commercial assessment revenue. So, you can see in the downturn in
the economy when growth slows down this revenue source is very variable and this slows
down as well. But as you can see from '12 through '14 -- and I'm happy to let you know
today that projections show that that FY -15 will land at or a little bit higher in terms of
connections at FY -14. So, we are counting on the growth of this community and the
growth of our developer to continue as we forecast our budget for assessment for
connection fees into the future. And this last chart is the overall fund revenue. The blue
area is, obviously, our primary customer cost, which comes from our utility ratepayers and
the gray area on top are what I just mentioned to you, assessment fees. Down below we
have some miscellaneous -- excuse me -- miscellaneous revenue, things like meter sales,
plan reviews, franchise fees, things like that. A good thing to mention here in terms of
projections -- we are projecting through account growth, assessment revenue, that we will
land or be slightly above where we were in '14. So, what it tells us is that we are -- we are
experiencing growth, but we are experiencing stability, too, which allows for better
planning and preparation. And before I move into the rate model -- the rate model really
started really started back in about 2008 for Public Works here in the City of Meridian. It
allows for multiple scenarios to be analyzed, enables us to make informed decisions about
financial position, provide increased predictability and it minimizes the impact on the
Enterprise Fund by helping us avoid unforeseeable expenditures. Here is some inputs
very quickly that you are very familiar with and, actually, approved and agreed upon.
Operating reserve. These are things in the -- the model that stay constant. They will have
a little bit of variation, so that we account for them when we are putting in all of our
projects and our revenue and our expenses and things like that. We are holding four
months of operating reserve, which amounts to -- right now about 5.6 million dollars to
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 65 of 88
keep both our utilities operating if something were to happen. We have an emergency
reserve and you can see the breakdown right there. We do maintain a regulatory reserve.
We started this a few years ago and it started at two million and, then, we had another two
million, it compounded to four, then, we had another two million at six. So, this year's rate
model shows eight million in regulatory reserves. I will touch a little bit more on that later.
Here is the rest of the items that are the inputs to the current rate model and the last one
as you're familiar with, we are reflecting the recently adopted utility rates and sewer
connection fee increases that we brought to you last year and, then, the sewer connection
fee was implemented on 1 January. So, those are also -- those increased revenue
sources or amounts are also reflected in the rate model. Internal assumptions. Execution
rates are very important to us. We align with historicals and projected rates to how we are
going to execute on revenue, personnel, O&M and the CIP. External assumptions. We
have to take into consideration personnel costs increase every year. Also construction
costs insulator. So, the engineering new record talks about the three percent for
construction cost insulator and, then, we also use the CPI, consumer product price index,
excuse me, and right now that's hovering around two percent. So, we included that into
the model as well. Here is a picture of what all of those items that I just went over, how
they reflect the fund when it comes out. So, I will explain this very quickly and, then, draw
upon a few key areas. The or sign at the top -- or the top line is our ending fund balance.
So, that includes all the reserve that I previously mentioned. That's all of it. That's the --
that's the whole bucket that we have. The blue line going across the middle is -- we have
separated it by utility. So, the blue line going across the middle is our water division. And,
then, what you notice is the black line and the green line down below -- wastewater is a
huge influencer, as you are very aware of on our fund right now. So, this really drives the
black line, which is the undesignated ending fund balance, which, obviously, does not
include reserves. So, what I will draw your attention to is -- are the circles that I first
identified on there. So, this is car projections. So, if you look at the circle to the left it
shows where our undesignated ending fund balance will cross into a negative. But we still
had reserves that will carry us -- if you look over to the right circle to 2022, essentially
what I'm -- what this graph suggests to you -- will not really suggest what it tells you with
that, if we continue the way we are right now we would need to start dipping into reserve
spending by the end of next year. So, we do have some recommendations following that
picture of the rate model and the Enterprise Fund right there. We are not recommending
a rate increase at this time today as I stand here in front of you. We are not. But we -- we
know to reiterate this that is on the Enterprise Fund right now, the 200 million dollars over
ten years, 115 million of that is towards regulatory costs. Gross costs are impacting there
as well. Eighty-five million. We do have a funding gap right now from Point A to Point B
that's still around 40 million dollars. And, quite frankly, that's really unsettling. Not just for
myself, but the others in the department and I'm sure for some of you as well. Our pay -go
strategy, while it's very responsible, it may not be as reasonable as we thought it was
maybe a year ago when We look at things like this. Some things you can look at. Could
we restrict growth? Absolutely you could restrict growth. But that comes at a -- at a cost
or -- if you take that 85 million dollars in the gross cost and you say we are only going to
give out 600 permits for residential units this year -- well, that's how you could restrict it,
but I don't think that's the nature of our community or what we would like to do. So, what
we have kind of landed on is we need to look at other options and it may require us to go
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 66 of 88
into debt to finance this picture right here. But we know that's also not a settling comment
either. So, we do have a few recommendations for you to buy us a little bit of time. The
first one. Those reserves I talked about, if you look up to the top left, the current state --
we talked about four months in emergency reserve and, then, we are carrying eight million
dollars in regulatory in the model. Our recommendation to you is that you enable us to
move to more of a -- an operating reserve with six months in each utility, go down to a
million in emergency reserves and, then, start spending the regulatory reserve and stop
accounting for them in future models. And this is what the rate model shows if we take
that approach or you provide us that approval. Now we would still become in the overall
fund insolvency in 2022, but what it does on the left side is it pushes out or pushes further
to the right the need to move into our reserves by at least a whole other year to 18 months
just on making those few minor adjustment to the way we -- we strategize and we work
with our reserve figures. And, like I said earlier, you can -- this thing talks back to you.
So, if we want to tweak this things some more we can absolutely do that. But I wanted --
thought it was important to show you this money that we are holding onto in terms of
reserve, what it could do for us if we made some tweaks to it. Additionally, while it's not a
familiar topic, if we move to a six month operating reserve it aligns us to be in a better
position to bond if that is a go forward means or strategy that we need to pursue. It sets
us up more appropriately for that type of situation. Some other things that we are working
on that are going to impact the Enterprise Fund. Remember last year we brought to you
the sewer assessment fee and we went through and we -- we did a big exercise and we
went and talked to BCA and we went and talked to BOMA and we had a focus group and
we came back to you and we showed you, after a third -party review, what the sewer
assessment fee model could do for us. We are currently doing the same with the water
assessment fee. It has not been touched for 2007 and we are currently in the works for
the help of -- not internal staff, but also JUB, to update that model. We are going to send
it off for a peer review and, then, we want to bring that back to you with those results,
given if there is an increase, and come to you with a plan for consideration and potential
adoption. Another thing that could potentially impact the Enterprise Fund -- about a year
ago Tom stood here and talked about fee leveling and that was one of the pieces on the
pie chart where we saw potentially there was four million dollars in opportunity there.
Well, we are currently working with Finance and the Community Development folks to nail
down how we are determining out ERUs. ERUs are tied directly to assessments, which
are tied directly to connections. So, if an ERU is calculated one way for commercial and a
different way for multi -family, there is about three different ways that you can do it that are
industry standards. We want to maintain and land on some consistency, because those
haven't been reviewed for awhile as well. So, we believe there potentially could be an
opportunity to help out with gaining predictability and a justifiable calculation with our
ERUs. So, that is a potential opportunity to improve our fund status as well. And the last
thing -- we are currently doing some work to research and identify what indexing our rates
and our fees could look like. So, what we would propose and would bring back to you is
that we would like to see index in our rates and our fees on a fiscal year basis, October
1st of every year. We update our water assessment fee. We just got done with our
sewer, we just adjusted our rate last year. We have a perfect position now that we feel we
are in a stable place with the fees and the rates, to implement an indexing opportunity.
So, we are going to go look at -- we know that's formulaic. You can't just say we are going
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 67 of 88
to use the CPI or we are going to use the construction or the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
so it's got to be a formulaic method to work to take into consideration assessments and
utility rates and we want to do the work to come back and show you what that looks like,
so that you could consider that. Here is a quick example of what indexing could have
done for us. Just take the water assessment fee that we are currently reviewing, it was
last touched in 2007 and it was set at 1,794. It's still at 1,794, but what the column on the
right shows is the calculation with the column on the left -- so, if we would have taken a
construction cost index every year our water assessment fee would be at 2,209. If you do
out the math we have not collected, since we have not taken an indexing approach, nearly
1.7 million dollars in just water assessment fees since 2007 and that's just water. We
could go back and look at the sewer and I know Tom has, but I just wanted to give you
one picture of what indexing and the impact it could have on just this one opportunity. So,
to wrap it up, one, we would like your support to adjust the reserves, to give us some
more time and move that -- that circle a little bit to the right to 2018 and leave our reserves
alone. Second, we are very serious about indexing our rates and we'd like to bring back
to you what that looks like in terms of a formulaic calculation and how that would work with
our rates and fees and, then, lastly, the work in progress that I commented on, the
connection fee for water and the fee leveling, we want to bring that work back to you as
well, all by the summer of 2015, so we can make some more decisions, do your guidance
as we move forward with the Enterprise Fund. And at this time if you have any questions
or comments I would be happy to hear them and address them as I can.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Thank you, Mike. Mr. Bird.
Bird: Mike, on your charts with your cost -- indexing, are you figuring in some EPA deals?
Pepin: No, sir. No, we are not.
Bird: Okay. That brings up another question. The 3.75 that we charge now for EPA, is
being put in a fund set aside for that or is that just going into your fund to use? General
Fund.
Pepin: Madam Mayor, Councilman Bird, that is just going into the Enterprise Fund. We
are calculating and we are tracking that. It brings us about 110,000 dollars a month.
Obviously, 3.75 times your sewer counts. So, we are tracking that. Is that being fenced?
That answer is no.
Bird; So, what we are putting it -- we were supposed to be putting that aside, so that
when we did have EPA things come up we would have at least some money to do it if it's
getting thrown in the General Fund -- or in the Enterprise Fund.
Pepin: Well -- and I would also offer this, Councilman Bird. We are -- and we just had a
few good meetings recently about the things that we are looking at tackling and the
projects we are working on -- capacity at the treatment plant and regulatory compliance.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 68 of 88
So, I feel very safe to say that that 3.75 is only being spent on regulatory compliance. But
to answer your question, there is not a separate pot.
Bird: Okay.
Barry: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Barry.
Barry: I just want to offer a little clarity on that question and comment. The $3.75 was a
number that was picked to initially begin saving towards the regulatory requirements --
requirements that the EPA is going to be instilling on us. That money is going to the
ending fund balance and to be clear when we discuss these reserves, there is no
separate account for any reserve that we have inside the Enterprise Fund. We talk about
operating reserves, we talk about depreciation reserves, regulatory reserves, emergency
reserves, those are all paper funds. There is no fund that's been designated by the
Finance Department to separate out those. We track those separately in the model. We
track those separately in the spreadsheets and in the funds. So, Mike is right, that there is
-- it all goes to the -- to the fund. But it's all being reprogrammed for -- in the case of the
$3.75 referred to, all to the regulatory requirements. Keep in mind that the funding gap of
40 million dollars is largely regulatory driven. So, we still haven't even closed that gap. At
some point we may need to possibly increase that contribution to the EPA fund fee if you
will. But at this point in time there is not a separation of funds. All of this money is in one
giant fund called the Enterprise Fund. It's not even segregated between water and
wastewater, operations, personnel, maintenance, capital -- it's all one fund. We divide it
up on paper, so we can track it, and monitor each of those sub sets and that's how we
essentially are able to describe where the money is coming and going to. But, essentially,
it is and always has been one giant fund.
Bird: I understand that, Tom.
Barry: If I could also add one other comment. I don't know if you caught on, but we are
making a recommendation as a department to increase the operating reserve from four
months to six months. Now, that might seem counterintuitive if we are trying to reduce the
overall reserve amounts. The reason we are doing that is because we feel that it would
be wise to begin to position ourselves for debt financing. Meaning to take on a bond. And
typically bonds will require -- or bonding companies or agencies will require a minimum of
six months reserve and that's why we want to set that aside sooner than later, so that if
we end up having to bond we are not scrambling to find another three or four million
dollars to come up with the difference between a four and a six month operating reserve.
To counter that impact or effect, the recommendation to begin to spend the regulatory
reserve that we have been saving for seems prudent. We have knowledge of the types of
regulatory projects that are going to be required, why not spend that money that we have
been saving for to spend, why hold it aside and strain the fund any longer? And, then, in
addition, the emergency reserve -- we are making a request to reduce that to one million,
because we feel like there is some protection offered in a greater operating reserve, so
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 69 of 88
that we wouldn't need to overstress the fund by having a six month operating reserve and
a five million dollars regulatory reserve. So, pivoting a little bit or reprogramming some of
those funds, freeing up the regulatory reserve, buying ourselves a little bit more time as
we refine the regulatory projects and the growth related projects in both water and
wastewater and modify future rates and fees potentially with indexing or other
modifications that seem suitable at the time. So, I will pause there.
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Mike, off the wall question and it kind of presumes your position. Why not
increase rates now?
Pepin: Madam Mayor, Councilman Cavener, good question. Definitely. And we actually
had this discussion multiple times. We are very cognizant of the tolerance on our
ratepayers. Let's say we took a rate increase of one to two percent, just for water and
wastewater, base and usage fees, and we took a two percent -- two percent inflationary
last year, the reality is, then, it compounds out to not even four million dollars of additional
revenue. So, if you want to add another one to two percent on that, you might get another
three to four million dollars in revenue over eight to ten years. Those small increases,
which are tolerable by our ratepayers, they really won't have much of an impact on our
fund, quite frankly. Now, a larger jump, which we know isn't favorable and the timing is
never good, would significantly adjust our position in the fund, but that, obviously, comes
with some risk and a tolerance level, so -- but it has been discussed. We are trying to be
cognizant of timeliness of that and, then, the amount also.
De Weerd: And you're looking at how that offsets what you would do incrementally now
and having your fee leveling versus targeting perhaps that the bonding alternative at some
point and what that would mean to the rates, versus a year over year with the fee leveling
and the difference of each of the approaches.
Pepin: Madam Mayor, we have had that discussion, but we haven't -- we haven't done
the work to see what that comparable looks like in terms of bonding for a certain portion,
but, then, also incremental increases, either to the rates or assessment fees, what that
looks like year over year. We want to do that work. We will do that work and can bring
that back to you, but, no, I don't have an answer for -- for you on that right now. These
little incremental things, as I mentioned, just aren't getting the steps we need towards a 40
million dollar gap.
De Weerd: But are those more incremental increases --would those pay for a bond that
is spread out over a 20 year period? For that gap in what you need.
Barry: Madam Mayor, we are not sure. We haven't run bond calculations yet. I can tell
you that if we have to bond it's going to cost a whole lot more than if we could finance it
ourselves, because we will have to pay the bond origination fee, we are going to be
paying interest and, then, you got to pay the principal back within the time period. So, it's
going to cost a lot more. The reality -- Mr. Cavener has asked a very good question and
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 70 of 88
we struggled with this internally and to be quite frank with you, it's difficult for us to stand
before you with this fiscal problem and not make a recommendation for a rate increase.
But we -- but the primary reason for us not doing that is a couple fold. One, we are very
sensitive that we have just asked that ratepayers and the developing community for
increases within the last six months or so. Two, we are not sure that even if we continued
for the next eight years or so with rate increases we could still close the gap. Now, we will
get closer to closing the gap, but part of what we need to gain in understanding from you
folks tonight is what the tolerance is for that indexing. For example, indexing works over
time via compounding. Right? But if the time horizon is shortened, the compounding
period is less, the indexing impact is less. So, if we were going to try to close this 40
million dollar gap in the eight to ten year horizon we have been communicating with you
over this last year, it would be most wise to take your biggest increments first and your
smaller increments as you go, because they will have the biggest compounding effect
year over year. Which mean maybe in October you take a five percent increase, the year
following that you take a four percent increase, the year following that you take a three
percent increase, the year following that we regauge and we say, ah, maybe we can lower
it, maybe we keep it the same, maybe we have to go back up. We haven't done any of
those calculations today. I can't tell you what kind of impact that would make. We have
done some rough napkin -- you know, kind of back of the napkin estimate. Like Mike said,
we calculated this morning at about a one percent increase in water rates, sewer rates,
water impact or what we call assessment and wastewater assessments. So, we would
have to raise all of those, the two fees and the two rates by one percent, gets us about
250,000 dollars every year. So, over a ten year period that gets us 2.5 million dollars.
Well, that's not a whole lot if you're closing a ten million dollar gap. But if you took five
percent in one year, now you have got, essentially, 12.5 million dollars over that ten year
period that you closed with one five percent rate increase, as long as you took it, you
know, very soon. Then if you added four to that maybe you close at another ten million,
because you got eight years with that four percent increase. So, now you're maybe down
to -- you know, what does that get us? Maybe less than half of the challenge just by
taking a five percent and four percent -- this is -- I'm just going to be clear, these are back
of the envelope calculations. I can't stand behind these calculations right now, but it looks
something like that. So, the question is is it doable is somewhat related on your tolerance
for how much of an increase and when we could make in some of these fees and rates.
Certainly it would be far, far cheaper for us to pay all of this without having to go into debt.
Far cheaper. Because if we took a 30 million dollar bond, you probably would be paying
60 back with the bond origination fee, with the interest, with the principal over that period
of time. Granted you would have 20 years, maybe 30, instead of eight to ten for the
overall rate increase could potentially be less, but I wouldn't suspect it to be a whole lot
less.
De Weerd: Well -- and, Tom, I think we all know that, but it's the difference between
looking at a 20 year house loan and a shorter term -- it's what you can afford.
Barry: Right.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 71 of 88
De Weerd: And it's what you're citizens can afford and at some point you make the
decision to spread that cost over time, because it's what can be tolerated and I know there
is extra cost. Anyone that owns a house knows that. But at some point you also have to
understand what is that stress or breaking point of your ratepayers and, you're right, we
are just at the tail end of a large increase and what is tolerable and at this point I don't
know of that 200 million that was 160 million last year or 180 million, that just now has
increased, how much of that is due to growth and how much of that is the regulatory and
-- and how do we best communicate that -- it's -- it's kind of that -- what kind of decision
points does this Council need to make some of those decisions and I guess another
question that's out there lingering for me is we still haven't gotten our permit. We think we
know what it is. I know your team is still busy trying to figure out is there any other
solution that maybe doesn't have the same cost impact, but is it a total drop dead? Is the
EPA totally you have to have that at year nine and in operation a whole year prior to? Is
there flexibility to that? Because certainly we all know by doing math the longer we can
continue to collect without having to build compounds that dollar even more. So, I guess I
still have those questions, too.
Barry: Madam Mayor, I'm -- we have many of the same questions, which is why we need
time to work through these. Now, do we have a final permit? No, we don't. Do we have a
draft permit? Yes, we do. Has the EPA told us that draft permit is all but certain? Yes,
they have. We are waiting on DEQ's compliance schedule. Once that gets issued and
the EPA certifies it, the ten years is going to be the ten years.
De Weerd: I know. And the longer the delay the more time we have.
Barry: Absolutely. Which is why it's prudent to have these conversations now and, you
know, this idea of indexing makes a lot of sense, because what it does is it at least, at a
minimum, regardless of what other decisions we have to make, it keeps the pace of the
rates and fees in line with market and economic conditions. That's what it does. It might
not be enough; right? I mean we could say cost of living, CPI, you know, construction
cost index, or whatever says it should be two percent over this next year. That might not
be enough. We might have to do more and the reality is if we have to bond, I can tell you
that we are going to have to raise rates and fees to bond for these kind of things as well.
So, I think what we are suggesting here tonight is -- these are going to get increasingly
more difficult, these discussions, and we recognize that. But we think that we can begin
to position ourselves with the time upon our side, as long as we make some prudent
decisions today, get your support for indexing and allowing us to run the model with the
impacts of indexing on it to show you is that significant of a difference or not. How certain
is it that we might have to bond versus being able to take care of this situation by self
funding it. We are not completely clear on all of that just yet. So, we think that making the
adjustments in the reserve that we have talked about, which is really just a paper
exercise, there is nothing that needs to happen, it just changes the inputs to the model,
and allowing us to bring back to you information and impacts on indexing. We could take
a standard number and say -- maybe it's two percent a year, because that seems to be
about what the number is going to historically show, and show you what kind of impact
that has and we can run another scenario in the model that says, well, what if you took it
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 72 of 88
as a five, four, three, two, and, then, held it at two. We can run another scenario that said
other sorts of things. Meanwhile, while all this is going on my staff will tell you that they
are not sleeping at night, same as me, because we are scrubbing and scrubbing and
scrubbing these projects, these estimates, all of these things. It -- a lot of us live here,
too. We don't want any impacts. We don't want these impacts to impact our wallets
either. So, we are working diligently -- I can assure you that. But at the end of the day we
don't have all of the pieces yet so refined that we can communicate with certainly about
what is going and what isn't going to happen. We could tell you based on the modeling,
based on the estimates we have today, based on what the EPA is telling us today, we
have big challenges ahead of us. But we still have a little time on our side to work these
through. So, that's part of the conversation tonight.
De Weerd: Okay. Are we all just burned out or --
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: I'm not interested in bonding. To me that just -- basically the rates are going to
have to go up anyway to pay that and it's a waste of money. I'd like to know what -- see
the whole math trail of what would it take to get where we need to be now as far as
increments and if we didn't do that the alternative, which you're talking about, which is
bonding, what would the rates have to increase to pay for that and what is the long-term
effect. You know, I understand needing more time, but I don't really want to just pass this
off to the next council or, you know, to somebody else to have to deal with this way down
the road and, then, have it end up with a huge rate increase when that happens either, so
I'd like to see those numbers. Thank you.
Barry: Madam Mayor? I think Councilman Milam has got exactly the kind of
recommendation we would need and want, so that we can bring you back that
information. I would want to caveat that, so we are not running endless model runs. I
would say if you would agree as a Council with her recommendation we certainly could if
we caveated it with some basic assumptions, say, for example, what would a 40 million
dollar bond or a 20 million dollar bond look like, so we are not running -- because there
are scenarios in between both extremes; right?
Milam: Right.
Barry: We could take some increases, we can close the gap a little bit, we could take a
smaller bond if had -- I mean so there is an endless number of runs that we could do. So,
to make sure that we get you what you are looking for, if you could give us some more
specificity on what type of scenarios you would like us to run or give us the latitude to
bring you two or three and we can handle it that way as well and, then, give you that
information and you can direct us accordingly afterwards.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 73 of 88
Rountree: Tom or Mike, either one -- and from your comments I'm confused about the
money that's there. We have a budget, okay, and in the budget there is certain categories
of funds that are budgeted. Part of those funds are operating reserves. Is that just a
paper number or is that number actually carried continually year after year and that money
is there and now in the reserves or does the reserve number we see include that money
as well?
Barry: Do you want me to take that? You can take it.
Pepin: Madam Mayor and Councilman Rountree, it is paper, but it's reflected and carried
in the model, so you can see and we are very cognizant of when we get close to those
reserves and that's kind of what led to the reserve option that we provided earlier, is we
are so close to dipping into the reserves -- if we could adjust our reserves to make it more
manageable, then, we wouldn't be dipping into them for about another year and a half to
two, which would enable us to do some work as the other Council Members had
suggested and come back to you.
Rountree: So, the answer to my question is that money is the reserve or is that money
that's reserved for those purposes?
Barry: Madam Mayor?
Rountree: To me there is a difference.
Barry: There is a difference. So, the reserve that we set aside in the model include all of
the reserves that you required or requested us to carry years ago. Regulatory reserve, all
the stuff is included in that.
Rountree: Okay.
Barry: It is a paper set aside. It's on a spreadsheet, it's just earmarked on paper, but it's
real money.
Rountree: Okay.
Barry: It exists in our fund --
Rountree: Right.
Barry: -- but it's not separated out in that fund. So, what we would be doing my making
this recommendation, if you concur --
Rountree: Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. It's not separated out of what fund?
Barry: It's not separated out of the Enterprise Fund. The Enterprise Fund is like just
one --
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 74 of 88
Rountree: But when we see the reserve fund that consists of carry over and all of that
stuff, is it in there or is it still all one? It's still all one.
Barry: All one. Yeah. It's all one. The Finance Department did not segregate the fund
into multiple funds as you're suggesting. It's all one fund, which is why the model is so
critical, because it forces that on us to make sure we know what is the lowest limit that we
can take, the undesignated any fund balance to preserve the total balance with reserves
in it. Does that make sense?
Rountree: Okay. Okay. And that's -- and that ends up with -- with your suggestion about
operating reserves and regulatory reserves doing that million two?
Barry: Councilman Rountree, essentially, what it looks like is right now we are carrying
if I'm not mistaken -- and Mike can correct me, he's looked at the numbers most recently --
about 17 million dollars in reserves today on paper. So, when we plug in the model we
say if our ending fund balance let's say was 30 million dollars -- let's just say in the
Enterprise Fund the total ending fund balance was 30 millions dollars, we subtract out 17
and we set it aside. That means we only have allowed that difference to use to cover
capital costs, to cover operating costs, those types of things.
Rountree: All right.
Barry: What we are suggesting is instead of setting aside that 17 million, let's reduce that
to ten million by allowing us to spend the regulatory reserve or saving -- we have been
saving for, which it seems completely reasonable since we know the regulatory projects
we have to work on, why don't we just access the money we have been setting aside to
work on those regulatory projects now, but also by reducing it to ten million we
repositioned the reserves to allow for six months operating, which is, essentially, your
eight and a half or nine million and one million emergency. So, the overall reserve total
amount would be ten million set aside, instead of 17. The seven that we have freed up
and reprogrammed to utilize for operations and capital and all of that would be the
difference that gets us that extra year. Does that make sense?
Rountree: No. I don't get -- where do you get the ten million? You're talking about six
months in each utility of 8.5 million.
Barry: That's total for both utilities.
Rountree: That's to both of them?
Barry: That's correct.
Bird: And, then, another million for --
De Weerd: For emergency.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 75 of 88
Rountree: That's not how that reads. It's six months in each utility.
Barry: Which equals approximately 8.5.
Rountree: Okay.
Barry: Sorry for the confusion.
Rountree: All right.
Barry: That's what's intended by the --
Rountree: Because that's where I got to 17 million.
Barry: Understood. Understood.
Rountree: All right. Okay.
Pepin: Councilman Rountree, our current -- the way we are currently set up is 5.6 of four
months. That carries both utilities.
Rountree: Right.
Pepin: This would be -- and, you're right, that little squiggly line, which I don't really know
what you call it, that's probably not a good descriptor of what it really means.
Rountree: Well, some would be okay or -- you know. Whatever. Or equals or -- but it
doesn't communicate. It didn't communicate.
Pepin: But -- and Tom is right, it would be around ten million. We would go from about
17, which currently in the model for reserves to around ten. So, you would, essentially, be
releasing that seven million.
Rountree: Seven million.
Pepin: Yes.
Borton: Mr. President?
Rountree: Joe.
Borton: Is it your position that reducing our reserves from 17 million to ten improves our
bonding capacity and rating potential? It would seem to be the exact opposite.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 76 of 88
Barry: No. So, let's make this clear. Right now we have three different types of reserves
that we are holding. An operating reserve of -- what did we say, 5.6 million or something
to that effect. Yes. We have a five million dollar emergency reserve and, then, we have a
reserve that has been growing year over year based on the Council's approval years ago
to set aside two million for unknown regulatory problems that we know we are going to
have and -- I shouldn't say problems, but projects that we are know we are going to have
at some point in time, because we didn't have a permit four years ago. We had no idea.
But we knew, because EPA had been telling us, along with the other jurisdictions, it's
going to be bad. So, we just said we will set aside some money for that. That's grown
now to eight million. What we are saying, essentially, here that we want to free up that
eight million.
Borton: I understand that.
Barry: Which would leave, essentially, ten million left. But on paper, instead of saying five
million as a regulatory reserve and 5.6 million as an operating reserve, we would move
the money that we would need to cover six months of operating reserve in the amount of
around eight and a half million, so that we were positioned on paper with a six month
operating reserve instead of a four month operating reserve and, then, the emergency
reserve, essentially, goes down to one million. That's self imposed, by the way. This
emergency reserve is something that you said, hey, we need to have a rainy day fund.
Bird: That's right.
Barry: But, in reality, if we are able to finance this all ourselves and stuff, we -- if we can
show that we don't need a bond, we can take those reserves back down to four months
and free up three million more dollars. We don't need that.
Borton: I understand all that.
Barry: But if you do need a bond you're going to have to show that you have six months
operating reserve. Now, if you want to hold ten and call six of it this and four of it that or
three of it this and seven of it that or all ten of it this, it makes no difference. They are
going to look at say how much money are you holding to cover payments on debt in the
event, you know, you default and for how long.
Borton: And -- Madam Mayor. I want to say that that -- what an underwriter would see is
that has changed from 17 million to ten million effectively.
Rountree: No.
Borton: Sure. Regardless of how you -- how you categorize your three types of reserves,
you have available reserves of 17 and those are going to ten. What I'm saying it seems
like an underwriter that would have a big impact on bonding capacity.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 77 of 88
Barry: Yeah. I think they probably -- I mean -- I don't know, Councilman Borton. The
reality is that it is very typical for a government agency to hold six months of reserves in
order to qualify for a bond issuance and whether we took, you know, a 25 million dollar set
aside and reduced it to whatever is -- I guess in my opinion irrelevant. What is relevant is
that we can prove that we have- the money we need set aside to cover potential default
situation, which in their case is six month operating reserve typically. So, I don't think that
it puts you in any worse or better spot than if you said I went from 17 to ten, as long as
you can prove up you have got six months of operating reserve. I mean the whole point to
going after a bond is because you need the money. If you go from 17 to ten, but you can
still cover your six month operating reserve -- I mean it goes hand in hand. The point is,
well, yeah, you're -- you don't have enough money at this point in time to cover the
expenses, so that's why you're going after a bond, but you have responsibly set aside the
six months worth of reserve and then some in this case, which would satisfy, in all
likelihood, those requirements from the bond companies to have the six month set aside.
So, I see where you're going and philosophically, hey, bond company, we went from 17 to
ten, whoa, that's a problem, let's -- that's the whole reason you bond, because your
ending fund balances are decreasing. So, the proper point here I think is when do you
bond. Do you bond now at 17 million? You want to bond with 17 million in reserves or do
you want to bond with a six month reserve. You're just going to borrow money that you
have already got in the bank that you don't need to hold as a set aside. It just doesn't
seem in my estimation prudent to do that. But it could be done.
Borton: Madam Mayor? The reason for the comment and the question was -- is there
was a remark that increasing the operating reserve to six months would strengthen the
position for future bonding, which I don't think is the case. I don't think it hurts it, definitely,
right, because we had six months today in light of the emergency plus operating. I think
it's neutral at best. So, if the thought of this type of transition improved our position, I'm
not certain that's the case. I'm not saying it necessarily hurts it to your point, we had six
months effective operating reserves today, we have more than that.
Barry: Uh-huh.
Borton: So, making that transfer is effectively a neutral position with regards to bonding
capacity. Is that accurate?
Barry: I see your -- I see how you're coming up with that and it is accurate what you're
suggesting. It is almost mute, though, because, really, we call these what we want and
we set them aside in the form that we want them. So, I would say, yes, technically you're
correct. What we would like to do in the model, though, is set aside six months; because
it's a separate line item in the model, so that we have set that aside and, then, allow the
emergency reserve. We are just shifting money from one of those reserves to another
reserve and, then, freeing up a third reserve to begin spending it on regulatory projects,
so --
De Weerd: Anything further from Council?
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 78 of 88
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: So, you're still looking for direction on where to go with those -- what numbers we
would like to see; is that correct?
Rountree: That's correct.
Milam: Okay.
De Weerd: There was an option of give you leniency to bring back several different
scenarios and at this point, five hours into our meeting, I am all in favor of that.
Milam: I would like -- as along as one of those options is no bond.
Pepin: The plan is to address all your concerns and bring back multiple scenarios that
would show you the calculations of, you know, bond compared to raising rates over a
multiple year pronged approach, closing the gap, adjusting our reserves and things like
that. So, we can absolutely bring those back to you. The indexing is one thing that we
have really -- it's going to take some work to put into that and we would really like support
if that work is done, that at least it would be considered for potential adoption come
around in October. Now, it would require a -- if it was implementing a rate increase and
also a fee increase, but from our standpoint that is -- when you implement something like
that -- let's say you implement it and you sign it in for three to five years, then, every
October, rather than going after a true all out rate or fee increase, it would just be common
practice to take the indexing. So, that's the work we want to bring back to you as well.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Bird.
Bird: Mike, do you have a hard copy of your model and how you guys do this that I could
get?
Pepin: We will get you a picture of that, yes.
Bird: Please. If you would.
Pepin: Would you like that just -- I can bring it up and put it in your box.
Bird: Put it in my box, please, Mike.
Pepin: Yes, sir.
Bird: Thank you very much.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 79 of 88
De Weerd: Okay. Anything further from Council, in addition to what Mike just
summarized for us?
Pepin: Okay.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Pepin: We will see you soon. Thank you.
Barry: Madam Mayor, just before we part, not to be a wet blanket. I know we are all
excited to move on. The reserve discussion, do you want more time to think about that?
Do you want to allow us to make those changes? Because when we run these model
scenarios it would be important for us to plug those numbers in. If you want us to hold 17
million in reserves it's going to change the model runs. If you want us to hold ten million
or five million or call it this or call it that, it will change these scenarios. So, we need some
direction on now exactly the Council feels on where the reserve should be, so that we can
get you accurate data on the model scenarios that we are promising you.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: Ten million to me, Tom, I don't think is going to make a hill of beans difference with
a bonding company, the little bit I know about bonding, it's -- you know, if you got too
much reserve they are going to wonder why you want a bond.
Rountree: I'm okay with the scenario presented as far as reserves in any fund. I think if
we have got the money we ought to spend it.
De Weerd: I do think at some point we really do need a bond counsel to come in and talk
about bonding and the pros and cons and just to get educated about what that is.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Borton.
Borton: If -- to throw a wet blanket on a wet blanket, if there is going to be an expenditure
of previously allocated funds to reserves for regulatory matters, right, then, I would want to
see how tapping into those reserves is used to directly resolve pending regulatory issues.
Milam: Yes.
Borton: Which I'm sure is the intent, but let's tie it together. If the previous councils had
said we are going to set aside these funds to address --
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 80 of 88
Bird: Amen.
Borton: -- the regulatory issues, if we were to make a decision like this, let's see how that
would tie together.
De Weerd: Well, the whole idea behind setting that money aside was in anticipation for
the EPA regulatory requirements and so as I think Tom said, we would be using those
reserves for exactly the purpose that we started putting those aside, so --
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I agree in the fact that why can't we take that 3.75 and use it as not an impact fee,
but -- and, then, it stays right there that that money is only used for EPA deals? That's so
-- the reason I'm behind -- thinking about that, Tom, is that's what we sold our ratepayers
on.
Barry: Yeah.
Bird: That that was EPA only.
Barry: That's exactly right. So, Madam Mayor, with your blessing, you will have to recall
six months ago we talked about all this and we have provided you the models for the
sewer assessment --
De Weerd: Are you saying we have to recall that?
Barry: I'm hoping you do, because it's going to be a long night if you don't.
Milam: Going to be?
Barry: So, I'm assuming you do. When we brought that to you six months ago and we
said, hey, we had this -- this sewer assessment model was calculated based upon the
inputs of growth, growth impact on the regulatory demands, all these other sorts of things,
and we set the assessment based upon that information. That assessment money goes
for growth and growth's impact on regulation and that's it. Everything else is going for the
regulatory improvements that we have to make in the treatment plant, which is why
ratepayers are paying for that. So, by that very token, by that very modeling what we are
saying is that growth is growth's proportionate impact and share and the ratepayers are
having to pay their cost for the regulatory compliance components. So, by the very nature
of that segregation and modeling, we are by default -- whether we move this eight million
in the -- in the ending fund balance to regulatory projects to start now or the 3.75 that we
are taking from ratepayers, it's all going to the regulatory challenge that we have right
now, because growth has already got theirs accounted for, they are paying for it in a
higher assessment. They went up, what 900 dollars? They are already paying for that.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 81 of 88
Our ratepayers haven't caught up yet. Our ratepayers paid two percent last year and
$3.75 and it is not enough. That's what we are saying here. So, I hope that helps,
because the growth part we have already addressed, except for the growth part on water,
which is what Mike alluded to earlier. That hasn't been touched since 2007. We think that
a similar outcome is going to be realized -- maybe not to the degree it did in the sewer
assessments, but that work still needs to be done on the water side. But on the sewer,
can show you that 3.75 and the regulatory reserves are going towards regulatory projects.
We don't have anything else for them to go towards. Growth is paying theirs. So,
hopefully, that gives you some comfort.
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: That gives me a lot of comfort in the midst of this conversation. Mrs. Milam.
Milam: Sorry. The 3.75, is that -- was that the rate that was calculated in the -- the 40
million dollar gap that we have? Was that before or after? The 3.75 -- we still have 40
million after that; is that correct?
Barry: Correct.
Milam: Okay. So, what we move seven million, then, we will be -- basically your numbers
are going to start with like a 33 million dollar --
Barry: No. No. We always anticipated that that eight million dollars, which will be ten
million next year, which will be 12 million next year as set aside, was going to be used for
regulatory -- we counted on that money. What we are saying is let us have it now. That's
all we are saying here. How long do you want us to save it before we can use it? That's
all we are saying by moving that regulatory reserve. If you want us to continue to grow
that regulatory reserve our model results will show you that we go insolvent much sooner
than we even need to show, because we set it aside. For what? We set it aside for
regulatory problems. Well, why aren't we using it for regulatory projects? But that's all we
are saying here. Let us use the funds now --
Milam: I'm in favor of using it. I was hoping that was going to bring down that --
Barry: So, it's already accounted for.
Pepin: It was a revenue source --
Barry: I wished I had that -- yeah. It's already accounted for. Sorry. Now I get to be a
wet blanket twice.
De Weerd: I'm not going to touch that one.
Barry: Thank you.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 82 of 88
Pepin: So, Madam Mayor --
De Weerd: Okay. So, I think we are clear on --
Pepin: Just one more clarification. Just use the ten million, rather than the 17 that we
have --
Milam: Yes.
Pepin: -- apportion it the way I showed it in there. We will be back to you with more
indexing information if we can get your support on that with some scenarios and the
calculations and, then, continue the work we currently have going on.
De Weerd: Yes.
Rountree: Good.
De Weerd: Now, take your model and go home. No.
Pepin: Yes.
De Weerd: Thank you for the prop, Mike. You lived up to your position. Okay. Council,
am going to call a break. You can go and grab something and, then, we will just continue
on.
(Recess.)
H. Legal Department: Resolution No. 15-1063: A Resolution
Declaring The Intent Of The City Of Meridian To Convey To The
Ada County Highway District For Right Of Way Purposes A
Portion Of Certain Real Property Located At The SW Corner Of
North Meridian Road And West Railroad Street
De Weerd: Okay. Well, we will go ahead and continue with Item 7-H under our Legal
Department.
Nary: Thank you, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council. I will try to keep this under an
hour. The resolution you have in front of you is to begin the process to transfer properties
-- a common routine that we have done previously on other projects. This is the property
that is immediately west of City Hall across Meridian Road. There is a portion that has
been requested by the highway district for future right of way along Railroad Street. The
current resolution says there is no compensation for that and we are still in discussion with
them about the compensation piece. They had -- did have a conversation today with
planning on other requirements that they may have and I think we are going to probably
be able to have those all worked out, but -- and there may be compensation for this
particular parcel on the transfer, which means we will, then, amend the resolution and the
ordinance that we ultimately bring to you. But all this does is set in motion a process of
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 83 of 88
doing the advertising for the public hearing that's necessary before we can transfer it to
any -- to a public entity no matter whether they compensate us or not. So, if we can go
ahead and move that forward we can begin that process and get the noticing done for the
public hearing.
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: Aren't we talking about property that we just bought from them?
Nary: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, Council Member Zaremba, yes, we are
talking about property that we did purchase from them and I did have a conversation with
their counsel last week and if you recall we have an agreement with the Ada County
Highway District to transfer properties to them at no cost, but we did also build into the
agreement that there are going to be occasions that are kind of anomalies to the routine
and this is one of them. So, they are -- they are certainly willing if they need to to
compensate us back for that property. If we need to do it in some other form that's
something we can discuss, but it was just simply a straight financial transfer -- or
transaction and they are willing to do that, too, so --
Milam: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mrs. Milam.
Milam: So, Bill, when would we have that conversation?
Nary: Well, we will have that conversation before we bring it back to you for final
approval. So, we will come back to you with a recommendation on whatever the outcome
of that discussion is.
De Weerd: And, Council, I would say after this was brought to our attention I did e-mail
Director Wong and he did say that ACHD will not be charging Meridian for any right of way
use and ACHD will most likely be sending us a check as well that ACHD will not require
Meridian to remove two of the driveway access points that this project would have looked
like it originally was going to be asked to do and that they would coordinate with the city
regarding the strategy on the landscape buffer that will block those two entries. So, they
are very interested in working with us. They do apologize for -- for any concern that this
has caused, because it was -- this is kind of backwards, why did we purchase this and
now we are being asked to give it and it was just an oversight that Mr. Price is working
with Bill to unravel and he just wanted to give assurances, because on behalf of
Councilman Rountree and I I did ask him last week for clarity. So, Mr. Zaremba, that's a
question that immediately came to mind. So, thank you.
Zaremba: Uh-huh.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 84 of 88
De Weerd: Okay. You do have in front of you, Council, Resolution 15-1063.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird; I move we approve Resolution No. 15-1063.
Cavener: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second and another indicator by hand, but, Madam
Clerk, will you call roll.
Roll Call: Rountree; yea; Bird; yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
I. City Council Liaison/Committee Updates
De Weerd: Item 7-1 is City Council liaison/committee updates and I will start with Council
-- or Councilman Cavener, as he doesn't have a plate in front of him, so --
Cavener: Sure. But, unfortunately, I -- I will be brief. My --
De Weerd: That's unfortunate?
Cavener: Well --
De Weerd: I think it's very fortunate.
Cavener: -- whoever is next, so -- my full-time endeavors have kept me from meeting with
staff today and so we have rescheduled for later on this week. We have not met since our
last workshop session.
Milam: Let's see. In the Police Department the construction project is 70 percent
complete and the public lobby -- they are hoping to have it open on Thursday. They are
coming to inspect it. And public safety academy is in full swing and the third week starts
this Thursday. And the clerk's office, the permitting is in full swing. It is that time of year.
So, that's about it.
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: Madam Mayor. I don't have to tell you about the Finance Department, they give us
a 45 minute show today. The Parks Department has -- if any of you have drove out on
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 85 of 88
Stratford and Watertower that the Bark Park is coming along. They are getting everything
done. They got all the dirt hauled out, so they can start packing it and doing stuff. I think
curb and gutter and sidewalks even might be laid. I haven't been out there for a day or
two, but they were getting ready to do that, so -- they had a bicycle tour the other night on
their parkways, which I guess was very successful, so they are just keeping up and the
parks absolutely look beautiful. The tennis courts are going to have their ribbon cutting
the 24th of this month, isn't it? So -- and they look fantastic. I was out there the other day
and walked around and they were being used like you couldn't believe. That is fantastic.
Anyway, the Parks Department is doing a great job. So is Finance.
De Weerd: I would just add -- we had probably the nation's largest Easter egg hunt in
Kleiner Park even though there were some -- some things that can be improved upon next
year, our teams did gather to debrief and talk about what they might be able to do
differently, but it was wildly successful and just a huge gift to our community and to our
families and certainly the reach of beyond. So, I just wanted to tip my hat to our police.
They had two bicycle police officers there to -- certainly Nancy and the team they worked
with the TUP on this, again, like I said, they have met to talk about how -- what kind of
improvements can be made next year, because we just imagine it's going to just get more
popular and it seemed like there was a good time had by all.
Milam: The kids.
De Weerd: Yeah. At least the kids. That's true. And, you know, it's -- it's disturbing, but
you just cannot regulate people that are irresponsible. We had some parents just
dropping their kids off -- six year olds to go and hunt Easter eggs. They had a designated
pickup point, but I don't know how they tell time. You know, there were, what, I think 20
plus kids that were reconnected with their parents pretty rapidly. But, you know, if you
have been out there it seems like someone yelled go and, you know, all bets were off,
because those kids are scrambling and parents are scrambling after eggs. Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: Madam Mayor. The Mayor and I have had our budget discussion about what
will end up in the budget book, so that's complete at this point. Probably the highlight of
the year is the -- there is a bunch of villages that have their folks returning, so the
legislature is over and the legislature did not necessarily do no harm, they passed a
couple bills that take away more duties and functions of cities, but I guess there is not
much we can do about that, other than hopefully we can come together with our other
cities as they move forward with the -- I don't know what it was they passed, but a study or
an evaluation of urban renewal districts that supposedly is going to happen between now
and the next session. So, that should be something that we need to keep on eye and
probably participate in as best we can. But they are gone, with the exception of possibly
being called back for the child care issue that they created. The big issue for us is that
they did pass a 96 million dollar transportation bill. Caleb and I had a conversation with
ITD last week with respect to transportation and a new program they have it's called
strategic initiatives program that is going to be funded at a level of about 20 million dollars.
They are anticipating that coming from the new legislation that will split 50-50 any monies
over and above the projected budget will be distributed between transportation and the
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 86 of 88
General Fund. So, they are thinking about 20 million dollars a year. We will have a
project in there for Meridian. Your project from Eagle to Locust Grove on Chinden to
complete that program. The program is -- consists of allowing each of the six districts in
ITD to have a million dollars to put together projects that can compete for the remaining --
remainder of that 20 million. So, there is about 14 million dollars in the competition to be
spread around the state for projects of merit that deal with economic development, safety,
and some of the other elements that ITD has in their strategic plan. So, that's come up.
We just sent a letter to ITD. I think the Mayor may have signed it. If not she's at least
reading it and maybe modifying it. But a letter to ITD saying we support that Chinden
initiative project and I made an offer to ITD -- much as the offer we made with ACHD
about we need to partner together to make these things come to all of our benefit and I
suggested that if they needed some extra support analytically or planningwise that the city
would assist in that in their applications amongst themselves trying to get these projects --
that one or any projects in the future and they seemed to be receptive to start thinking
that, yeah, maybe we all ought to make plans together and working together more closely
for the benefit of the citizens of our area. Anyway, that's -- that's what I have got and
press on with the good work you have been doing to all of you.
De Weerd: And thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate you and Caleb meeting with ITD
and it sounds like it was a fruitful discussion. Just one thing from the outcome of the
legislature that's not for sure yet, we are hoping for a veto of the CBD Oil that they
passed. There is a lot of question to that and it will have a fiscal impact -- or impact
regardless of what the sponsor said. We are waiting to hear from the governor and what
he plans, but I will tell you that a majority of our representatives voted against making that
legal, listening to what -- the law enforcement concerns and certainly adhering to a
resolution they passed two years ago saying we will not legalize marijuana in any form
and we did have a couple that did support it, which was disappointing. But we are waiting
two see what happens with that, because it will have an impact on our Police Department
if that does go into law, so --
Bird: Have an impact on your kids, too. Don't kid yourself.
De Weerd: Exactly. Mr. Borton.
Borton: Madam Mayor, most of the focus has been on the Fire Department. Been
meeting with the chief -- had several meetings with the chief and with some of his staff
walking through the draft budget presentation and, then, also the upcoming work on
service level standards that is going to come before us to give them some clear direction
as part of their strategic planning process of what are the concrete matrix that we are
going to seek the fire department to meet. Response time being one of the -- the more
objective measurable that's going to be part of that. Tie -- woven into the budget
discussion and woven into what this Council and the Mayor will be comfortable with on
some of those particular matrix was a detailed discussion that continues on overtime and
staffing and the ways overtime can and cannot be managed. What tools there are there
and that will also come before us as -- as part of the budget and perhaps before, because
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 87 of 88
it ties into some of those performance matrix that we are going to give direction and want
the Fire Department to meet. So, really good discussions that are ongoing.
De Weerd: Thank you. Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: Thank you, Madam Mayor. As liaison I have the Legal Department and they
keep trucking on doing what they do well and serving the city well. The other one is
Public Works Department. We have been spending quite a bit of time working on budget
issues, both this year and next year's budget issues. You heard the fruits of several of
those discussions tonight. What you didn't hear about was about a two and a half hour
meeting that we had last Friday to discuss next year's enhancement, so -- Public Works is
a big department and there is a lot going on and it makes a lot of difference to us and to
the citizens, so there is a lot to do there, and they also are handling it well, but there is
some big expenses to be talked about in the future. Valley Regional Transit is pushing
forward the plans to come up with a Public Transit 101 subject, probably available by next
fall, and also during the summer they will be looking at restructuring the service that they
have. So, that's going to be some extra planning work on their behalf. And that's about it.
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Rountree: On the subject of VRT, there is some rumor afoot that Nampa is contemplating
pulling out of matching federal funds for transit. If that was the case probably the system
in Caldwell, Nampa, and Meridian will go away.
Bird: I had heard that before.
Rountree: And I don't know if that's a serious conversation that's going on in their budget
process or if that's just a rumor, but that will affect our budget if that were to happen.
Zaremba: True.
De Weerd: Okay. Well, thank you for those updates. I do want to make sure that you all
have Thursday, April 30th, on your calendars for the prayer breakfast. It will be held at the
West Ada School District administrative offices as usual at the popular hour of 6:45 a.m.
So, hopefully, you do have that on your calendar.
Item 8: Future Meeting Topics
De Weerd: So, I would entertain, Council, if -- oh. Any future meeting topics?
Rountree: I have none.
Bird: No.
Meridian City Council Workshop
April 14, 2015
Page 88 of 88
Item 9: Executive Session Per Idaho State Code 67-2345 (1)(d)(C): (d) To
Consider Records that are Exempt from Disclosure as Provided in
Chapter 3, Title 9, Idaho Code; AND (c) To Conduct Deliberations
Concerning Acquiring an Interest in Real Property, Which is Not
Owned by a Public Agency
De Weerd: Okay. I would entertain a motion to adjourn into Executive Session.
Bird: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Bird.
Bird: I move we go into Executive Session as per Idaho State Code 67-2345(1)(c) and
(1)(d).
Milam: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to adjourn into Executive Session. Madam
Clerk, will you call roll.
Roll Call: Rountree; yea; Bird; yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea; Milam, yea; Cavener, yea.
De Weerd: All ayes. Motion carried.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: (8:44 p.m. to 11:10 p.m.)
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 11:10 P.M.
ILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
MAYOR_ Y DEW D DATE APPROVED
ATT ST: 0 0, CeDAUCGsrl
0 r9
ow
City of
J EE LMAN, CITY CLE IDAHO .
P
SEAL
���<<he TRE ASU�i.
Meridian City Council Meeting
DATE: April 14, 2015 ITEM NUMBER:
PROJECT NUMBER:
ITEM TITLE:
A. Reimbursement Agreement Regarding the Landscape Design Services for Bellano
Creek Neighborhood Park Between Coleman Homes, LLC and the City of Meridian for
a Not -To -Exceed Amount of $23,387.50
MEETING NOTES
Community Item/Presentations Presenter Contact Info./Notes
CLERKS OFFICE FINAL ACTION
DATE:
E-MAILED TO
STAFF
SENT TO
AGENCY
SENT TO
APPLICANT
NOTES
INITIALS
REIMBURSEMENT AGREEMENT
REGARDING THE
LANDSCAPE DESIGN SERVICES
FOR
BELLANO CREEK NEIGHBORHOOD PARK
BETWEEN
COLEMAN HOMES, LLC
AND
THE CITY OF MERIDIAN
THIS REIMBURSEMENT AGREEMENT is made and entered into this day of
March, 2015, by and between Coleman Homes, LLC (Coleman) and The City of
Meridian, Idaho (City), to establish a mutual understanding of the conditions upon which
the City of Meridian will receive partial reimbursement for work associated with
Landscape Design Services for Bellano Creek Neighborhood Park.
WHEREAS, Coleman is the developer of a subdivision approved by City as the Isola
Creek Subdivision and marketed by Coleman as the Bellano Creek Subdivision
(hereinafter referred to as the Bellano Creek Subdivision); and
WHEREAS, City intends to develop a public park on City -owned land within the Bellano
Creek Subdivision; and
WHEREAS, City has received a proposal for Landscape Design Services and
construction plans for the Park; and
WHEREAS, as a requirement of the Development Agreement for the Subdivision,
Coleman has agreed to pay 50% of the cost associated with the preparation of the park
design and construction plans.
NOW, THEREFORE, the parties hereby agree as follows:
1. City shall engage Jensen Belts and Associates to prepare the Landscape Design
Services set forth in the proposal dated December 18, 2014, a copy of which is
attached to this Agreement as Exhibit A and incorporated herein.
2. Upon completion of Tasks 1, 2, and 3 of the proposal contained in Exhibit A, City
shall invoice Coleman for 50% of the cost of those tasks, an amount not to
exceed $23,387.50.
3. Upon presentation of the invoice, Coleman shall pay City for the invoiced amount
within 30 days.
4. In the event that Coleman fails to fulfill its obligations under this agreement, City
reserves the right to utilize any available legal remedy receive reimbursement.
Reimbursement Agreement - 1 of 8
5. If a suit, action, or other proceeding arising out of or related to this AGREEMENT
is instituted by any party, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover its
reasonable attorney fees, expert witness fees, and costs (i) incurred in any
settlement negotiations, (ii) incurred in preparing for, prosecuting or defending
any suit, action, or other proceeding, and (iii) incurred in preparing for,
prosecuting or defending any appeal of any suit, action, or other proceeding.
6. This AGREEMENT shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with the
laws of the State of Idaho. The parties agree that the courts of Idaho shall have
exclusive jurisdiction and agree that Ada County is the proper venue.
7. Time is of the essence with respect to the obligations to be performed under this
AGREEMENT
8. The failure or neglect of a party to enforce any remedy available by reason of the
failure of the other party to observe or perform a term or condition set forth in this
AGREEMENT shall not constitute a waiver of such term or condition. A waiver
by a party (i) shall not affect any term or condition other than the one specified in
such waiver, and (ii) shall waive a specified term or condition only for the time
and in a manner specifically stated in the waiver.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties do execute this Reimbursement Agreement the
day and year first above written.
COLEMAN HOMES, LLC
By
CITY OF MERI
By: '-k/8
Tammy de
Attest:
Jaycee L. of n, City Clerk 7Ei`j 1 'I
� lF
Reimbursement Agreement - 2 of 8
Jensen Belts Proposal
Attachment A
December 18, 2014
Meridian Parks and Recreation Department
Attn: Mike Barton
33 E. Broadway Ave, Suite 206
Meridian, ID 83642
RE: Bellano Creek Neighborhood Park - Meridian, ID
Proposal for Landscape Design Services
Dear Mike:
I am pleased to respond with this proposal for the landscape architectural services for the Bellano Creek
Neighborhood Park. This proposal considers that Jensen Belts Associates (JBA) and the design team will provide
the City of Meridian Parks and Recreation Department with the scope of services as listed below. Insight Architects
and Erickson Civil will serve as sub -consultants under JBA for all Architectural and Civil Engineering
Requirements. Throughout the design process, Jensen -Belts Associates (JBA) will provide project lead and
coordinate with the City of Meridian and the design team to provide a design appropriate to the project site.
ITEM 1: SCOPE OF WORK -
Project Description:
The City of Meridian Parks and Recreation will be developing a Neighborhood Park in the Bellano Creek
subdivision near Ten Mile and Ustick Road. Coleman Homes has donated a total of 9 acres for this park consisting
of 5 flat and developable acres and 4 acres along Five Mile Creek. The City envisions a 10-20 car parking lot,
restroom building, playground, picnic shelter, open play field, pathways and other amenities to be determined in the
future.
Task l: Design Development and Probable Cost
Based on the conceptual plan developed with the Meridian Parks & Recreation Department and Coleman Homes;
Jensen Belts Associates (JBA) shall prepare Design Development level drawings that depict all improvements
expected to occur. Revisions to the plans are anticipated as we receive input in programming meetings with Meridian
Parks & Recreation staff, Coleman Homes, The Meridian Parks and Recreation Commission and the Meridian City
Council. JBA will prepare a Statement of Probable Cost based on the final Design Development level drawings.
Task 2: Public Meetings
JBA shall attend and support Parks & Recreation staff in presenting the design and gathering input at public
meetings. JBA shall attend 3 public meetings and provide graphic presentation style site renderings.
Task 3: Construction Documents and Probable Cost
Task 3.1: Topographic Survey — Erickson Civil shall have a topographic survey of the +/- 9 acre site prepared. The
survey will document the elevations of the existing ground, existing improvements, fence lines, driveways, landscape
areas, curb & gutter and other planimetric features necessary for design and mapping. In addition, we will exhibit the
property boundary based on information of public record and property monuments found during the course of the
field survey.
Reimbursement Agreement - 3 of 8
Task 3.2: Construction Documents - JBA will provide construction documents as follows
Grading, Drainage and Utilities Plan — Erickson Civil will prepare site grading and drainage construction plans in
accordance with current industry standards and local agency requirements. The drainage system shall be designed to
retain all storm water on site. Water utilities will be extended from the street to a meter and on to the restroom and
proposed drinking fountain. All design work and construction drawings will consider connections to the future
phases of improvements. Erickson Civil shall coordinate with ID Power to bring electrical service to the site.
Site Layout Plan — JBA will provide the final site drawings which indicate the required final location, sizing and
layout of all site elements. JBA and the design team will provide necessary construction details demonstrating the
required construction of site elements specified.
Structures — Insight Architects will provide architectural, structural, electrical and mechanical drawing for a
Men's/Women's single occupancy restroom building. JBA will provide engineering for a 20x20 picnic shelter.
Specifications - JBA and the design team shall provide all required technical specifications for civil, landscape and
irrigation improvements.
Landscape Design — JBA will provide design and drawings for specific plant material, layout, plant sizes and details.
Playground Design - JBA will provide design and drawings for the playground design and play equipment, plus one
additional sport amenity (Le Basketball Court, Volleyball Court, etc. To be determined).
Site Furnishings - JBA will provide design and drawings for all site furnishings including site locations and
manufacturers details.
Irrigation Design — JBA will provide irrigation design for landscape areas on the site. The irrigation design will
include pumping system and controls and a connection to the City's pressurized reclaimed water system.
Progress Submittals — JBA will provide plan sets and specs to the Owner for all required progress submittals and
agency submittal. We will address any agency and owner comments received.
Task 3.3: Statement of Probable Cost — JBA and the design team will prepare a Statement of Probable Cost based on
the Construction Document level drawings.
Task 3.4: ACHD Approval and License Agreement — Erickson Civil will submit construction documents for the
proposed pathway connection at Ten Mile Road and the approach at the interior local street to ACHD for approval
and respond to any comments received. Erickson Civil will prepare and submit all required documents for an ACHD
License agreement for any improvements within the Right of Way associated with this project.
Task 3.5: S WPPP Documents — Erickson Civil will provide an Erosion and Sediment Control Plan and Narrative per
local agency requirements. This work does not include filing the Notice of Intent or on-site inspections of the erosion
control.
Task 3.6: Pathway — Erickson Civil will work thou floodplain concerns and provide appropriate consultation to gain
all necessary agency approval.
Task 3.7: NMID — Erickson Civil will work to gain NMID approval and license agreement to allow the pathway and
landscape improvements planned in the right of way.
Task 4: Bidding Scope of Work
JBA shall prepare a written scope of work for inclusion in the bid documents.
Reimbursable Expenses
Reimbursable expenses including but not limited to mileage and printing shall be billed per Item 3: Design Team Fee
Proposal. Reimbursable expenses shall not exceed $500 without prior approval from the Owner.
Reimbursement Agreement - 4 of 8
ITEM 2: EXCLUSIONS-
JBA provides other professional services in addition to those described above. Unless described above and
specifically included in this proposal, services including but not limited to the following are not included in the
proposed fee and shall be charged as Additional Services if required:
Project applications and agency permit/review fees.
Street frontage construction documents for Ustick Road.
3D Site Modeling and Renderings.
Geotechnical Soils Report or Materials Testing.
Retaining wall design for walls greater than 3' height.
Park Lighting.
Park Signage.
Wetland and Riparian Delineations.
Construction Survey Staking.
Bid advertising and/or contracting.
Construction Administration fees.
ITEM 3: DESIGN TEAM FEE PROPOSAL -
TASK PERSONNEL HOURS RATE/HR SUB -TOTAL
Task 1:
Design Development
& Probable Costs
Sub -total: Principal Landscape Architect
8
$100 $800
Sr. Landscape Architect 30
$90
$2700
Landscape Architect Drafting
30
$65 $1950
Civil 45 $115 $5175
Civil— Topographic Surveying
$3200
Architecture 5 $115
$575
Structural 0 $120
$0
Mechanical 1 $130
$130
Electrical 1 $130
$130
$14,660
Task 2:
Public Meetings
Sub -total: Principal Landscape Architect
4
$100 $400
Sr. Landscape Architect 12
$90
$1080
Landscape Architect Drafting
8
$65 $520
Civil 2 $115 $230
Architecture 5 $115
$575
Structural 0 $120
$0
Mechanical 2 $130
$260
Electrical 2 $130
$260
$3,325
Reimbursement Agreement - 5 of 8
Task 3:
Construction Documents
& Probable Costs
Sub -total: Principal Landscape Architect
Sr. Landscape Architect
70
Landscape Architect Drafting
Civil 48 $115
$5520
Civil — SWPPP Plans
Civil — Legal Description
&
Exhibit Preparation
Architecture 16
$115
Structural 6
$120
Mechanical 6
$130
Electrical 6
$130
$28,790
Task 4:
Bidding Assistance
Sub -total: Principal Landscape Architect
Sr. Landscape Architect
20
Landscape Architect Drafting
Civil 13 $115
$1495
Architecture 14
$115
Structural 1
$120
Mechanical 2
$130
Electrical 2
$130
$6,345
Sub -total Page 4 $53,120
Sub -total from Page 4
$53,120
Reproduction Costs
Additional Budget Items
Reimbursable
Not included in design team fee
Sub -total
Geotechnical Services
NMID Attorney Retainer
NMID Land Use Change App. Fee
CZC/Building Permit Fee
$0
TOTAL DESIGN TEAM FEE $53,620
20 $100 $2000
$90 $6300
100 $65 $6500
$3150
$1200
$1840
$720
$780
$780
$100 $800
$90 $1800
0 $65 $0
$1610
$120
$260
$260
$500
Services beyond this scope of work can be added as separate proposals or as additional services at an hourly rate
based on the attached Schedule of Charges. All work will be in compliance with City of Meridian landscape
requirements.
In consideration of the scope of services I propose an hourly, not -to -exceed basis (including expenses) for the design
phases as stated. If we can complete the work quicker than anticipated there would be a corresponding reduction in
cost to the project.
Reimbursement Agreement - 6 of 8
This proposal is based upon an e-mail from Mike Barton on Thursday November 20th, 2014, outlining the Bellano
Creek Neighborhood Park Scope of Services. The park plan is based on the original Bellano Creek (Isola Creek)
Subdivision Preliminary Plat submittal to the City of Meridian in August 2012. See attached plan for Bellano Creek
Neighborhood Park work limit site map. The Design Development Phase can begin immediately. Progress
landscape plans will be provided for review and comment prior to submittal of stamped and approved issue.
Our deliverables will be a stamped full size PDF document packages e-mailed to City of Meridian Project Manager
(hard copies upon request). Later design revisions resulting from changes to the approved plans will be considered
as additional services at an hourly rate based on the Schedule of Charges below.
JENSEN BELTS ASSOCIATES
2014 SCHEDULE OF CHARGES
Staff
Principal
$ 100.00
Sr. Landscape Architect
$ 90.00
Landscape Architect
$ 85.00
L.A. CADD
$ 65.00
Expenses
Copies .10 each
Plots 5.00 small, 6.00 large
Out of house printing At Cost
Travel, telephone, postage At Cost
KEY PERSONNEL
Kim Siegenthaler, Principal-in-Charge/Project Manager
Mrs. Siegenthaler will perform the administrative function including all program, policy and contractual issues. She
will also be responsible for coordination during design phase and oversee all Design and Documentation.
CONTACT
Kim Siegenthaler
Jensen Belts Associates
495 Main Street
Boise, ID 83702
Phone: 343-7175 ex 5 Fax: 343-7178
E-mail: kim@jensenbelts.com
We greatly appreciate the opportunity to assist you on this project, and are pleased to address any proposal
clarifications. Should this proposal meet your expectation, please signature and return a copy.
Yours truly,
Reimbursement Agreement - 7 of 8
JENSEN-BELTS ASSOCIATES, PLLC
Kimberly C. Siegenthaler
Principal
Attachment:
Bellano Creek (Isola Creek) Subdivision Preliminary Plat — Limits of Work Site Map
Reimbursement Agreement - 8 of 8
Signature/Date
Meridian City Council Meeting
DATE: April 14, 2015 ITEM NUMBER:
PROJECT NUMBER:
ITEM TITLE:
B. Addendum to Acceptance Agreement: Display of Artwork of Joyce Green in Initial
Point Gallery from May 1, 2015 to July 2, 2015
MEETING NOTES
Community Item/Presentations Presenter Contact Info./Notes
CLERKS OFFICE FINAL ACTION
DATE:
E-MAILED TO
STAFF
SENT TO
AGENCY
SENT TO
APPLICANT
NOTES
INITIALS
ADDENDUM to ACCEPTANCE AGREEMENT:
DISPLAY OF ARTWORK IN INITIAL POINT GALLERY, MERIDIAN CITY HALL
This ADDENDUM to ACCEPTANCE AGREEMENT: DISPLAY OF ARTWORK IN INITIAL
POINT GALLERY, MERIDIAN CITY HALL ("Addendum") is made this 140A day of April, 2015
("Effective Date"), by and between the City of Meridian, a municipal corporation organized under the
laws of the State of Idaho, whose address is 33 E. Broadway Avenue, Meridian, Idaho (hereinafter
"City"), and Joyce Green, an individual, whose address is 1088 W. Chateau Avenue, Meridian, Idaho
(hereinafter "Artist"). (City and Artist may hereinafter be collectively referred to as "Parties.")
WHEREAS, on January 20, 2015, the Parties executed an agreement entitled Acceptance
Agreement: Display of Artwork in Initial Point Gallery, Meridian City Hall ("January 20, 2015
Agreement"), which establishes terms and conditions of Artist's display of artwork in Initial Point
Gallery;
WHEREAS, due to a cancellation, the Parties wish to extend the removal date of Artist's display;
NOW, THEREFORE, for good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which
is hereby acknowledged and agreed, and in consideration of the mutual promises and covenants herein
contained, the Parties agree as follows:
I. Section I of the January 20, 2015 Agreement between the Parties shall be amended to read as follows:
I. SCOPE OF SERVICES.
Artist shall personally deliver to Initial Point Gallery, on May 1, 2015, at such time as is specified by
the Gallery Curator, artwork which shall substantially conform to the description of such artwork set
forth in Exhibit B hereto. Artist shall be responsible for hanging such artwork on May 1, 2015 at the
direction of the Gallery Curator; shall allow the display of such work in Initial Point Gallery from
May 1, 2015 through July 2, 2015, in accordance with the terms of this Agreement; and shall be
responsible for removal of such artwork on July 3 2015, at such time as is specified by the Gallery
Curator.
II. Except as expressly modified by this Addendum or other duly executed addenda, all provisions of the
January 20, 2015 Agreement shall remain in full force and effect. No other understanding, whether oral
or written, shall be deemed to enlarge, limit or otherwise affect the operation of the January 20, 2015
Agreement or this Addendum thereto.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Addendum on the Effective
Date set forth above.
ARTIST:
r�
Joyce Gre n
U„
CITY OF M
BY: 74W�l Mayor .
T my eerd, . ` ,r.r r, ryy jJayce Holman, City Clerk
ADDENDUM TOINITIAL POINTGALLERYAccEPT4ArcEAEl2E'EMENT v PAGE 1 OF 1
Meridian City Council Meeting
DATE: April 14, 2015 ITEM NUMBER:
PROJECT NUMBER:
ITEM TITLE:
C. Payment and Release Agreement with Bill Walker, 1016 NW 13th Avenue, Meridian
ID. in the Amount of $900.00
MEETING NOTES
Community Item/Presentations Presenter Contact Info./Notes
CLERKS OFFICE FINAL ACTION
DATE:
E-MAILED TO
STAFF
SENT TO
AGENCY
SENT TO
APPLICANT
NOTES
INITIALS
PAYMENT AND RELEASE AGREEMENT: 1016 NW 13th AVENUE
This PAYMENT AND RELEASE AGREEMENT: 1016 NW 13th AVENUE is made this
FAday of April, 2015, by and between the City of Meridian, a municipal corporation organized
under the laws of the State of Idaho, whose address is 33 East Broadway Avenue, Meridian, Idaho
(hereinafter "City"), and Bill Walker, whose address is 1016 NW 13th Avenue, Meridian, Idaho
(hereinafter "User") (collectively, "Parties").
WHEREAS, User is the owner of parcel number R7052110215, located 1016 NW 13th
Avenue, Meridian, Idaho, in Ada County, Idaho (hereinafter "Property");
WHEREAS, until November 2013, the residence at Property was connected to the public water
system, but was not connected to the public sewer system, and instead remained connected to a private
septic system;
WHEREAS, due to a clerical error, User paid City for sewer services in the stipulated amount
of one thousand six hundred and thirty dollars ($1,630), and the Parties agreed to apply such amount to
the fee to connect the residence at Property to the City sewer system, and the City agreed to waive the
remainder of the fee;
WHEREAS, in November 2013, the residence at Property was connected to the City sewer
system and the septic system was disconnected from the residence; and
WHEREAS, the City has determined that it is in the best interest of the Parties to reimburse
User for costs related to connection of the residence at Property to the public sewer system, in the
stipulated amount of nine hundred dollars ($900.00);
NOW, THEREFORE, for good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of
which is hereby acknowledged and agreed, and in consideration of the mutual promises and covenants
herein contained, and in consideration of the recitals above, which are incorporated herein, the Parties
agree as follows:
L RELEASE. In consideration of City's waiver of sewer assessment fees and payment of nine hundred
dollars ($900.00), the agreed-upon amount of confirmed cost of materials and equipment needed to
disconnect the septic system and connect the residence at Property to the City sewer system, User
hereby releases City from liability for any and all rights, causes of action, claims, lawsuits, damages
of any nature, both known and unknown, both now and in the future, that have or may have arisen,
that will arise and/or that are related in any way to the connection of the residence at Property to the
City sewer system including, without limitation, any claim to overpayment for City sewer services
or payment for services not received. This Agreement discharges City from any and all claims and
lawsuits whatsoever that User has brought, could have brought, or could bring against City in the
future. User fully understands and agrees that this Agreement is a full, final and complete release
and discharge of any and all claims of any nature which User may have against City. User shall
continue to be solely responsible for any and all costs related to operation and maintenance of all
portions and functions of the sewer system between the City sewer main and the residence served
by the City sewer main.
AGREEMENT FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS TO CONNECT TO PUBLIC SEWER SYSTEM PAGE I OF 2
II. INDEMNIFICATION. User shall, and hereby does, indemnify, save, and hold harmless the City and
t.,
any and all of its employees, agents, volunteers, and/or elected officials from any and all losses,
claims, and judgments for damages or injury to persons or property, and from any and all losses and
expenses caused or incurred by User, its agents, employees, guests, and/or business invitees, in
connection with this Agreement or activities related thereto. User acknowledges that acceptance of
the offer described in this Agreement presents risks, some of which are unknown, and do agree to
assume all such known or unknown risks. Except as to rights held under the terms of this
Agreement, User shall, and hereby does, waive any and all claims and recourse against City,
including the right of contribution for loss and damage to persons or property arising from, growing
out of, or in any way connected with or incident the performance of this Agreement, whether such
loss or damage may be attributable to known or unknown conditions, except for liability arising out
of concurrent or sole negligence of City or its officers, agents, or employees.
III. PAYMENT. Within thirty (30) days of execution of this Agreement and receipt of User's completed
W-9 form, City shall send User a check via U.S. Mail addressed to: Bill Walker, 1016 NW 13th
Avenue, Meridian, Idaho, 83642.
IV. FINAL AGREEMENT. This Agreement sets forth all promises, inducements, agreements, conditions,
and understandings between City and Users relative to the subject matter hereof, and there are no
promises, agreements, conditions, or understandings, either oral or written, express or implied,
between City and Users, other than as are stated herein. Except as otherwise specifically provided
herein, no subsequent alteration, amendment, change, or addition to this Agreement shall be
binding upon the Parties unless set forth in writing and duly executed by both Parties or their
successors in interest.
V. ADVICE OF ATTORNEY. Each parry warrants and represents that in executing this Agreement, it has
received independent legal and financial advice from its attorney and/or financial advisor, or has
had adequate opportunity to seek such advice.
VI. APPROVAL REQUIRED: This Agreement shall not become effective or binding until approved by
the City Council of the City of Meridian.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Agreement on this cl' A
day of April, 2015.
Lml",
Bill Walke
CITY OF MERIDIAN:
• -
Tammy
Mayor
_T
A,� / Az,-a�ayce . Holman, City Clerk
AGREEMENT FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS TO CONNECT TO PUBLIC SEWER SYSTEM PAGE 2 OF 2
Meridian City Council Meeting
DATE: April 14, 2015 ITEM NUMBER: 4D
PROJECT NUMBER:
ITEM TITLE:
D. Approval of Award of Bid and Agreement to Trojan Technologies for the "UV
EQUIPMENT" project for a Not -To -Exceed amount of $487,979.00.
MEETING NOTES
1411
Community Item/Presentations Presenter Contact Info./Notes
CLERKS OFFICE FINAL ACT/ON
DATE:
E-MAILED TO
STAFF
SENT TO
AGENCY
SENT TO
APPLICANT
NOTES
INITIALS
AGREEMENT FOR THE SUPPLY OF
UV DISINFECTION EQUIPMENT FOR WWTP
PROJECT #10055
THIS AGREEMENT FOR EQUIPMENT / SUPPLIES PROCUREMENT is made
this 24th day of March, 2015, and entered into by and between the City of Meridian, a
municipal corporation organized under the laws of the State of Idaho, hereinafter
referred to as "CITY", 33 East Broadway Avenue, Meridian, Idaho 83642, and Trojan
Technologies, hereinafter referred to as "SUPPLIER", whose business address is 3020
Gore Road, London Ontario Canada N5V4T7.
INTRODUCTION
Whereas, the City has a need for UV DISINFECTION EQUIPMENT; and
WHEREAS, the SUPPLIER is specially trained, experienced and
competent to provide and has agreed to provide such equipment;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises, covenants,
terms and conditions hereinafter contained, the parties agree as follows:
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Equipment / Supply Specifications & Requirements:
1.1 SUPPLIER shall supply the equipment, supplies and services to the
City upon execution of this Agreement and receipt of the City's written notice
to proceed, all items, and comply in all respects, as specified in the Request
for Proposals titled "UV Disinfection Equipment for WWTP" and suppliers
proposal dated December 11, 2015, which by this reference are incorporated
herein, together with all addendums issued.
1.2 The SUPPLIER shall provide all equipment and services under this
Agreement consistent with the requirements and standards established by
applicable federal, state and city laws, ordinances, regulations and
resolutions and the UCC. The SUPPLIER represents and warrants that it will
perform its work in accordance with generally accepted industry standards
and practices for the profession or professions that are used in performance
of this Agreement and that are in effect at the time of performance of this
Agreement. Delivery shall take place within 8 weeks of approval of
submittals to the address below:
UV DISINFECTION EQUIPMENT — page 1 of 11
2
3.
City of Meridian, Wastewater Treatment Facility
Attn: Tracy Crane
3401 N. Ten Mile Rd.
Meridian, ID 83646
Consideration
2.1 The SUPPLIER shall be compensated on a Fixed Price basis as
provided in Attachment B "Payment Schedule" attached hereto and by
reference made a part hereof, for the Not -To -Exceed amount of
$487,979.00.
2.2 The SUPPLIER shall provide the City with a detailed invoice upon
delivery of all equipment and supplies, which the City will pay within 30 days
of receipt of a correct invoice and approval by the City Project Manager. The
City will not withhold any Federal or State income taxes or Social Security
Tax from any payment made by City to SUPPLIER under the terms and
conditions of this Agreement. Payment of all taxes and other assessments
on such sums is the sole responsibility of SUPPLIER.
2.3 Except as expressly provided in this Agreement, SUPPLIER shall not
be entitled to receive from the City any additional consideration,
compensation, salary, wages, or other type of remuneration for services
rendered under this Agreement., including, but not limited to, meals, lodging,
transportation, drawings, renderings or mockups. Specifically, SUPPLIER
shall not be entitled by virtue of this Agreement to consideration in the form
of overtime, health insurance benefits, retirement benefits, paid holidays or
other paid leaves of absence of any type or kind whatsoever.
Term:
3.1 This agreement shall become effective upon execution by both
parties, and shall expire upon (a) completion of the agreed upon work, or (b)
unless sooner terminated as provided below or unless some other method or
time of termination is listed in Attachment A.
3.2 Should SUPPLIER default in the performance of this Agreement or
materially breach any of its provisions, City, at City's option, may terminate
this Agreement by giving written notification to SUPPLIER.
3.3 Should City fail to pay SUPPLIER all or any part of the compensation
set forth in Attachment B of this Agreement on the date due, SUPPLIER, at
the SUPPLIER's option, may terminate this Agreement if the failure is not
remedied by the City within thirty (30) days from the date payment is due.
UV DISINFECTION EQUIPMENT — page 2 of 11
4. Termination:
If, through any cause, SUPPLIER, its officers, employees, or agents fails to
fulfill in a timely and proper manner its obligations under this Agreement,
violates any of the covenants, agreements, or stipulations of this Agreement,
falsifies any record or document required to be prepared under this
agreement, engages in fraud, dishonesty, or any other act of misconduct in
the performance of this contract, or if the City Council determines that
termination of this Agreement is in the best interest of CITY, the CITY shall
thereupon have the right to terminate this Agreement by giving written notice
to SUPPLIER of such termination and specifying the effective date thereof at
least fifteen (15) days before the effective date of such termination.
Notwithstanding the above, SUPPLIER shall not be relieved of liability to the
CITY for damages sustained by the CITY by virtue of any breach of this
Agreement by SUPPLIER, and the CITY may withhold any payments to
SUPPLIER for the purposes of set-off until such time as the exact amount of
damages due the CITY from SUPPLIER is determined. This provision shall
survive the termination of this agreement and shall not relieve SUPPLIER of
its liability to the CITY for damages.
5. Independent SUPPLIER:
5.1 In all matters pertaining to this agreement, SUPPLIER shall be acting
as an independent SUPPLIER, and neither SUPPLIER nor any officer,
employee or agent of SUPPLIER will be deemed an employee of CITY.
Except as expressly provided in Attachment A, SUPPLIER has no authority
or responsibility to exercise any rights or power vested in the City and
therefore has no authority to bind or incur any obligation on behalf of the
City. The selection and designation of the personnel of the CITY in the
performance of this agreement shall be made by the CITY.
5.2 SUPPLIER, its agents, officers, and employees are and at all times
during the term of this Agreement shall represent and conduct themselves as
independent SUPPLIERS and not as employees of the City.
5.3 SUPPLIER shall determine the method, details and means of
performing the work and services to be provided by SUPPLIER under this
Agreement. SUPPLIER shall be responsible to City only for the
requirements and results specified in this Agreement and, except as
expressly provided in this Agreement, shall not be subjected to City's control
with respect to the physical action or activities of SUPPLIER in fulfillment of
this Agreement. If in the performance of this Agreement any third persons
UV DISINFECTION EQUIPMENT — page 3 of 11
are employed by SUPPLIER, such persons shall be entirely and exclusively
under the direction and supervision and control of the SUPPLIER.
6. Indemnification and Insurance:
SUPPLIER shall indemnify and save and hold harmless CITY from and for
any and all losses, claims, actions, judgments for damages, or injury to
persons or property and losses and expenses and other costs including
litigation costs and attorney's fees, arising out of, resulting from, or in
connection with the performance of this Agreement by the SUPPLIER, its
servants, agents, officers, employees, guests, and business invitees, and not
caused by or arising out of the tortuous conduct of CITY or its employees.
SUPPLIER shall maintain, and specifically agrees that it will maintain,
throughout the term of this Agreement, liability insurance, in which the CITY
shall be named an additional insured in the minimum amounts as follow:
General Liability One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) per incident or occurrence,
Automobile Liability Insurance One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) per incident
or occurrence and Workers' Compensation Insurance, in the statutory limits
as required by law.. The limits of insurance shall not be deemed a limitation
of the covenants to indemnify and save and hold harmless CITY; and if CITY
becomes liable for an amount in excess of the insurance limits, herein
provided, SUPPLIER covenants and agrees to indemnify and save and hold
harmless CITY from and for all such losses, claims, actions, orjudgments for
damages or injury to persons or property and other costs, including litigation
costs and attorneys' fees, arising out of, resulting from , or in connection with
the performance of this Agreement by the SUPPLIER or SUPPLIER's
officers, employs, agents, representatives or subSUPPLIERs and resulting in
or attributable to personal injury, death, or damage or destruction to tangible
or intangible property, including use of. SUPPLIER shall provide CITY with a
Certificate of Insurance, or other proof of insurance evidencing SUPPLIER'S
compliance with the requirements of this paragraph and file such proof of
insurance with the CITY at least ten (10) days prior to the date SUPPLIER
begins performance of it's obligations under this Agreement. In the eventthe
insurance minimums are changed, SUPPLIER shall immediately submit
proof of compliance with the changed limits. Evidence of all insurance shall
be submitted to the City Purchasing Agent with a copy to Meridian City
Accounting, 33 East Broadway Avenue, Meridian, Idaho 83642.
6.2 Any deductibles, self-insured retention, or named insureds must be
declared in writing and approved by the City. At the option of the City, either:
the insurer shall reduce or eliminate such deductibles, self-insured retentions
or named insureds; or the SUPPLIER shall provide a bond, cash or letter of
UV DISINFECTION EQUIPMENT — page 4 of 11
credit guaranteeing payment of losses and related investigations, claim
administration and defense expenses.
6.3 To the extent of the indemnity in this contract, SUPPLIER's Insurance
coverage shall be primary insurance regarding the City's elected officers,
officials, employees and volunteers. Any insurance or self-insurance
maintained by the City or the City's elected officers, officials, employees and
volunteers shall be excess of the SUPPLIER's insurance and shall not
contribute with SUPPLIER's insurance except as to the extent of City's
negligence.
The SUPPLIER's insurance shall apply separately to each insured against
whom claim is made or suit is brought, except with respect to the limits of the
insurer's liability.
6.4 All insurance coverages for Suppliers subs shall be subject to all of
the insurance and indemnity requirements stated herein.
6.5 The limits of insurance described herein shall not limit the liability of
the Supplier and Supplier's agents, representatives, employees or
subcontractors.
6.6 The limits of insurance described herein shall not limit the liability of
the Contractor and Contractor's agents, representatives, employees or
subcontractors.
7. Bonds: Payment, Warranty and Performance Bonds are required.
8. Warranty: In addition to any warranty required in the specifications, all
equipment, coatings, valves, controls, and other components provided under
this agreement shall be guaranteed for two (2) years against defects in
workmanship and materials from the notice of acceptance.
9. Notices: Any and all notices required to be given by either of the parties
hereto, unless otherwise stated in this agreement, shall be in writing and be
deemed communicated when mailed in the United States mail, certified,
return receipt requested, addressed as follows:
City of Meridian
Purchasing Manager
33 E. Broadway Avenue
Meridian, Idaho 83642
UV DISINFECTION EQUIPMENT — page 5 of 11
Ph. (208) 489-0417
Email: kwatts(�Dmeridiancitv.org
Trojan Technologies
Attn: Marvin DeVires c/o Jordan Fournier
3020 Gore Road
London, Ontario Canada N5V4T7.
Ph. (519) 457-3400
e-mail: ifournier0troianuv.com
Either party may change their address for the purpose of this paragraph by
giving written notice of such change to the other in the manner herein
provided.
9. Attorney Fees: Should any litigation be commenced between the parties
hereto concerning this Agreement, the prevailing party shall be entitled, in
addition to any other relief as may be granted, to court costs and reasonable
attorneys' fees as determined by a Court of competent jurisdiction. This
provision shall be deemed to be a separate contract between the parties and
shall survive any default, termination or forfeiture of this Agreement.
10. Time is of the Essence: The parties hereto acknowledge and agree that
time is strictly of the essence with respect to each and every term, condition
and provision hereof, and that the failure to timely perform any of the
obligations hereunder shall constitute a breach of, and a default under, this
Agreement by the party so failing to perform.
11. Assignment: It is expressly agreed and understood by the parties hereto,
that SUPPLIER shall not have the right to assign, transfer, hypothecate or
sell any of its rights under this Agreement except upon the prior express
written consent of CITY.
12. Discrimination Prohibited: In performing the Work required herein,
SUPPLIER shall not unlawfully discriminate in violation of any federal, state
or local law, rule or regulation against any person on the basis of race, color,
religion, sex, national origin or ancestry, age or disability.
13. Reports and Information:
13.1 At such times and in such forms as the CITY may require, there shall
be furnished to the CITY such statements, records, reports, data and
information as the CITY may request pertaining to matters covered by this
Agreement.
UV DISINFECTION EQUIPMENT — page 6 of 11
13.2 SUPPLIER shall maintain all writings, documents and records
prepared or compiled in connection with the performance of this Agreement
for a minimum of four (4) years from the termination or completion of this or
Agreement. This includes any handwriting, typewriting, printing, photo static,
photographic and every other means of recording upon any tangible thing,
any form of communication or representation including letters, words,
pictures, sounds or symbols or any combination thereof.
14. Audits and Inspections: Subject to applicable laws respecting the
protection of privacy and the City's requirement to comply with the Idaho
Public Records Act, at any time during normal business hours and as often
as the CITY may deem necessary, there shall be made available to the CITY
for examination all of SUPPLIER'S records with respect to all matters
covered by this Agreement. SUPPLIER shall permit the CITY to audit,
examine, and make excerpts or transcripts from such records, and to make
audits of all contracts, invoices, materials, payrolls, records of personnel,
conditions of employment and other data relating to all matters covered by
this Agreement.
15. Publication, Reproduction and Use of Material: No material produced in
whole or in part under this Agreement shall be.subject to copyright in the
United States or in any other country. The CITY shall have unrestricted
authority to publish, disclose and otherwise use, in whole or in part, any
reports, data or other materials prepared under this Agreement.
16. Compliance with Laws: In performing the scope of work required
hereunder, SUPPLIER shall comply with all applicable laws, ordinances, and
codes of Federal, State, and local governments.
17. Changes: The CITY may, from time to time, request changes in the Scope
of Work to be performed hereunder. Such changes, including any increase
or decrease in the amount of SUPPLIER'S compensation, which are
mutually agreed upon by and between the CITY and SUPPLIER, shall be
incorporated in written amendments which shall be executed with the same
formalities as this Agreement.
18. Construction and Severability: If any part of this Agreement is held to be
invalid or unenforceable, such holding will not affect the validity or
enforceability of any other part of this Agreement so long as the remainder of
the Agreement is reasonably capable of completion.
19. Waiver of Default: Waiver of default by either party to this Agreement shall
not be deemed to be waiver of any subsequent default. Waiver or breach of
any provision of this Agreement shall not be deemed to be a waiver of any
UV DISINFECTION EQUIPMENT — page 7 of 11
other or subsequent breach, and shall not be construed to be a modification
of the terms of this Agreement unless this Agreement is modified as provided
above.
20. Advice of Attorney: Each party warrants and represents that in executing
this Agreement. It has received independent legal advice from its attorney's
or the opportunity to seek such advice.
21. Entire Agreement: This Agreement contains the entire agreement of the
parties and supersedes any and all other agreements or understandings, oral
of written, whether previous to the execution hereof or contemporaneous
herewith.
22. Order of Precedence: The order or precedence shall be the contract
agreement, the Invitation for Bid document, then the winning bidders
submitted bid document.
23. Applicable Law: This Agreement shall be governed by and construed and
enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Idaho, and the
ordinances of the City of Meridian.
24. Approval Required: This Agreement shall not become effective or binding
until approved by the City of Meridian.
CITY OF MERIDIAN
B
TAMM WE RD, MAYOR
Dated: `i—/`�- /S
Approved by City Council;
H(JLMAN, CITY CLE K
Purchasing Department Approval
TROJAN TECHNNOLOIGIES
BY: 'MARVIN DEVRIES, PRESIDENT
Dated:
)ved as to Form
ATTORNEY
Public Works Department Approval
UV DISINFECTION EQUIPMENT — page 8 of 11
BY:
Keith� s, Purc/hasing Manager
Dated:
Dated:
UV DISINFECTION EQUIPMENT — page 9 Of 11
Attachment A
SCOPE OF WORK
REFER TO REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS PW -15-10055, ALL ADDENDUMS,
ATTACHMENTS, AND EXHIBITS included in the Request for Proposals Package
#PW -15-10055, written proposal by Marvin DeVries dated December 9, 2014,
Performance Guarantee dated 2/10/15 and attached Revised Scope of Supply are by
this reference made a part hereof.
UV DISINFECTION EQUIPMENT — page 10 of 11
Attachment B
MILESTONE / PAYMENT SCHEDULE
A. Total and complete compensation for this Agreement shall not exceed
$487,980.00.
UV DISINFECTION EQUIPMENT — page 11 of 11
DATE
TASK
DESCRIPTION
(Dependent on
PAYMENT
Council, Approval
A.
Written Approval of Submittals
5/29/2015
$48,798.00
B.
Deliver Y
8 Weeks after
Approval of
$390,384.00
Submittals
C.
Final Acceptance of project (+/- 30 days)
7/31/2016
$48,798.00
Total Base Bid .......... $365,400.00
Bid Alternate (7.5 MGD Option) ........ $108,240.00
Payment, Performance and Warranty Bonds ........... $6,737.00
2 Year System Warranty ........... $7,603.00
CONTRACT TOTAL ....................... $487.980.00
UV DISINFECTION EQUIPMENT — page 11 of 11
Meridian City Council Meeting
DATE: April 14, 2015 ITEM NUMBER: 5A
PROJECT NUMBER:
ITEM TITLE: Community Items/Presentations
A. Signal Timing and Traffic Flow Presentation
MEETING NOTES
Community Item/Presentations Presenter Contact Info./Notes
CLERKS OFFICE FINAL ACTION
DATE:
E-MAILED TO
STAFF
SENT TO
AGENCY
SENT TO
APPLICANT
NOTES
INITIALS
.40
CHID►
(/Onvrnn�P� �4 GPi
Signal liming and Traffic flow
Meridian City Council Briefing
� Shawn M. Martin, P.E., PTOE
Traffic Program Administrator
April 14, 2015
Our Mission: Provide the best public highway system for the safe and efficient
movement of people and goods throughout Ada County
CHD Basic
T IL
signal Timing Operation
Fixed time —Movements get programmed times
regardless of demand. (Downtown Boise)
Isolated —Individual signal that runs based on
demand provided by detection and inputted timing
parameters. (Meridian/Ustick)
Coordination —Series of signals that run a
background cycle length. Minor movements are
usually still actuated but major movements are
guaranteed a minimum green time. (Eagle Road)
iq
CHD Basic
T IL
signal Timing Operation
Change Period
Yellow Time
All -Red Time
Dilemma Zone
Time of Day Plans
AM
Mid Day
PM
Weekend
Yellow A11 -red
1.47*V �' +20\�
CP=1.0+ +
(20 + 64.4g) 1.47 * V
3
401" ANNIVERSARY
Coordination Advantages
Improves mobility and access through the area for
the main corridor.
Reduces vehicle accidents in the area.
Reduces energy and fuel consumption.
Reduce number of stops.
Reduced vehicle emissions.
Reduce overall vehicle delay.
4
P44011ANNIVERSARY
r i
Coordination Disadvantages
"I have a red light but no one is coming" — Longer
delays for minor movements (side street traffic and
left turning vehicles).
"Swimming against current" —Travel time could
increase for traffic going against progression.
"Walk indication is on but there are no pedestrians"
— Pedestrians need to be accounted for every cycle.
Additional infrastructure needed.
Additional qualified staff is required.
5
4011 ANNIVERSARY
r i
Coordination Challenges
"Why can't you just add 20 more seconds" —Critical
Intersection —Signals in coordination must run
common cycle length.
Two-way progression is difficult.
Signals should be evenly spaced.
Signal preemption by emergency vehicles.
Vehicles must be able to go posted speed limit —over
capacity conditions.
The transition of coordination plans during the day
causes a disruption to traffic
a €'
40TIl ANN�VFRSAR�
Coordination Challenges
m Early return to green.
�59 T
Low Demand
Minor Slreer
yI
4011 ANNIVERSARY
r i
Coordination Challenges
Pedestrian crossing times often dictate green times.
Table 5-9 Pedestrian clearance time
Pedestrian Crossing
Distance, ft
3.0
Walking Speed, ft/s
3.5 4.0
Pedestrian Clearance Time (PCT), s
40 13 11 10
60
20
17
15
80
27
23
20
100
33
29
25
E:
V,
cHD IVE
YEAR SIGNAL TIMING PLAN
Retime traffic signals on a five year rotating basis.
Consultants develop plans with oversight from ACHD
professional staff
• Meridian traffic signals last retimed in 2014 — 42
ffii- rirrr, -%Ir
10.
7
CHD
'2014 SIGNAL TIMING PROJECT
M I--
jw- n a
T
s
ONO;
�I
pVictory Rd
Dr
Dr
rsr4apE R
E
Ti
Figure 1. Average daily travel time reductions on Eagle Road, Overland Road and Ten Mile Road
HIC
-00
cHD 01
0%
-5%
-10%
C -15%
_o
Y
-20°'0
m
-25%
C
a)
U -30%
a�
0-
-35% -35%
-40%
-45%
-50°0
4 SIGNAL TIMING PROJECT
Travel Time Delay Stops
■ Eagle Road Overland Road Ten Mile Road
Figure 2. Averaqe travel time. delav and stop reduction on Eagle Road. Overland Road and Ten Mile Road
CID
URRENT EFFORTS AND ISSUES
• Meridian Interchange Construction —Staff making
adjustments and monitoring.
• I-84 construction —traffic shifting to other east/west
routes. (Victory, Overland, Franklin, Fairview,
Chinden)
• Added Closed Circuit TV camera at Franklin/Linder
and Franklin/Ten Mile to help monitor.
• Possible Dynamic Message Signs on arterial roads to
help warn commuters of incidents.
12
ADAPTIVE SIGNAL CONTROL
4011 ANNIVERSARY
Adjusts timing of red, yellow and green lights to
accommodate changing traffic patterns.
Automatically adapts to unexpected changes in
traffic conditions.
Continuously distributes green time in proportion to
number of vehicles and waiting time.
13
} ' ADAPTIVE SIGNAL CONTROL
Chinden, Eagle, Glenwood, State
J
0 3
RNERSIDE OR
\- i ��
40
MAMOOLO ST
z
W
0N.
t7 ~
0
.If
14
A
I
AD
-A
'W
vQ
O
J
�
�.
W
p
J
ac
cc
J
_d
O
W
W
O
cc
RMERM0E OR
x
ISLAND WOOD DR
SH z
COLCHESTER DR
J
0 3
RNERSIDE OR
\- i ��
40
MAMOOLO ST
z
W
0N.
t7 ~
0
.If
14
A
I
AD
-A
'W
vQ
O
J
�
�.
W
p
O
ac
J
_d
d
W
J
0 3
RNERSIDE OR
\- i ��
40
MAMOOLO ST
z
W
0N.
t7 ~
0
.If
14
a €'
401" ANNI VERSAR�
MAIN/MERIDIAN/FAIRVIEW
15
*` s'It�
CHD
6;n7a-fl
Comments or questions?
best public highway system for the safe and efficient
people and goods throughout Ada County
v
Meridian City Council Meeting
DATE: April 14, 2015 ITEM NUMBER: 6
PROJECT NUMBER:
ITEM TITLE:
Items Moved From Consent Agenda
MEETING NOTES
� er-
Community Item/Presentations Presenter Contact Info./Notes
CLERKS OFFICE FINAL ACTION
DATE:
E-MAILED TO
STAFF
SENT TO
AGENCY
SENT TO
APPLICANT
NOTES
INITIALS
Meridian City Council Meeting
DATE: April 14, 2015 ITEM NUMBER: 7A
PROJECT NUMBER:
ITEM TITLE: Department Reports
A. Finance Department: Annual Update
MEETING NOTES
Community Item/Presentations Presenter Contact Info./Notes
CLERKS OFFICE FINAL ACTION
DATE:
E-MAILED TO
STAFF
SENT TO
AGENCY
SENT TO
APPLICANT
NOTES
INITIALS
lxputvOilet~/
Controller
Rets Cunningham
Payroll
Administrator
Barb Null
Accounting
Specialist 1
Cortni Klurken
Senior Accountant
Jenny Fields
Accountant
Karen Wooddetl
Arts R Culture
Specialist
Hillary Bodnar
CFO/Treasurer
Stacy Kilchenmann
��� I Balling Manager
Karr Glenn
Tole! I- - Me
Billing,
Administrator II
Maria Edwards
Billing
Administrator
Codee K►susch
Balling Accounting
Clerk
Ev Nichols
tkq
Clerk
/letter game
B'ill� AOOeNe�t+tlH�
Clerk
Barbara Davidson
Purchaung Manager
Keith Watts
Buyer
Kathy Wanner
GASB Concepts Statement #1
• Two primary concepts govern accounting and financial
reporting standards; accountability and interperiod
equity.
• Interperiod Equity —government should pay for current
services with current resources and not postpone
payment to burden future budgetary periods. (Why we
keep approving the budget, including capital, each year.
Also why we meet and go through the base budget each
year).
• Accountability - the cornerstone of financial reporting.
Governments are accountable for public resources to
provide public services and their primary constituent is
the citizens.
GASB Concepts Statement #1
• The budget is the most important financial document of the
governmental unit because it expresses public policy, financial intent,
control usually with the force of law, and a basis for evaluating
performance.
• Basis for evaluating performance? -more on that later!
• Accounting methods and reporting formats were developed to
monitor, control, and measure budgetary performance in accordance
with governmental and accounting regulatory bodies.
• The City of Meridian Finance Department did not make
them up!
Reporting Format
In accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principals
• Funds - Established due to diverse nature of governmental
operations and need for legal compliance (independent
business)
— Governmental Funds —reporting focus is on determining
the financial position and changes in financial position
rather than on determining net income.
• General Fund
• Capital Improvement Fund
• Special Revenue Fund — Impact Fee Fund
— Proprietary Funds — used to account for activities that are
similar to business operations in the private sector; or
where the reporting focus is upon determining net
income, financial position, and changes in cash flows.
• Water and Sewer Utility
Reporting Format
In accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principals
The prescribed reporting format is universal so that statements for almost any entity
can be read and understood by a wide range of interested managers and users.
Auditors, Banks, Rating Agencies, Federal and State Government, Investors, Relocating
Companies,
Function; activities related to providing a major service or regulatory program.
the minimum level of reporting.
Water/Sewer Utility
Fire
Police
Parks and Recreation
Administration
Community Development
Program; — can be used interchangeably with function or can be used for a more
specific activity of government. We have adapted the principal to the level we call
departments.
We want to be able to measure a subset of activity within a function, but not get into so
much detail that the "table" of data becomes unmanageable and microscopic,
departments with one person in them. Can't see the forest for the trees and lose
comparability over time.
Some of the 60 Something City Departments
Massive Date Wrangling — But Provides Managers with Needed Information
• Water/Sewer Utility
Police
— Public Works Admin
— Admin
— Environmental Admin
— Uniform Patrol
— CSWPP
— Records
— Land Development
— Youth
— Utility Billing
— CID
— Water Admin
— Community Services
— Water Operations
— Code Enforcement
— Water Distribution
— Fire
• Fire Admin
— Water Production
• Fire Station #1
— Water Backflow Prevention
Fire Station #2
— Water Construction
Fire Station #3
— WWTP Admin
Fire Station #4
— WWTP Treatment Plant
Fire Station #5
— WWTP Collection Lines
Fire Safe House
— WWTP Pretreatment Division
Parks and Recreation
— WWTP Lab
— Parks Admin
— WWTP Construction
— Parks Maintenance
— Recreation
Breaking News ..........
FY2016 General Fund Base Up 5.5%
FY2016 Enterprise Fund Base Up 5.36%
City of Meridian — Changes in Budgeted FTE
Count
High Level Roll -up
FY2010-FY2015
PERCENT CHANGES IN FINAL BUDGETS (Before Transfers)
Average Annual
Increase #
Total #
Change
% Change
$ Change
Employees
Employees
FY2010 - FY2015
FY14 - FY15
FY2010 - FY2015
FY2010 - FY2015
FY2015
PERSONNEL
General Administration
8%
6%
$13317,654
12
54
Parks and Recreation
8%
8%
$5675289
6.50
22.5
Police Department
5%
14%
$3,151,878
11.50
117.5
Fire Department
6%
5%
$197269535
5.50
71.5
Development Services
1%
8%
$237,960
-0.50
15.5
Water/Sewer Utilities
5%
9%
$23024,065
17.50
106
Total City Net Transfers
6%
9%
$950255381
53
387
General Government — Administration — Drill Down
City of Meridian FY2015 Budget Support Personnel
Cost - $4,250,000 #54 FTE
■ City Clerk
City Hall
• Twelve departments makeup
the "General Government "
Administration Function.
Council • 14% of the total City budgeted
Finance FTE's (full time equivalents)
Human Resources
■ Information Technology • Finance, Human Resources, IT,
Legal and Legal are split 50/50 with
Mayor's Office the Enterprise Fund.
Other Government
Admnistration
Personnel Budget
FTE Total
FY2015 Budget
FY2015
FTE Change
FY2010-FY2015
City Clerk
6
$408,745
0.50
City Hall
2
$144,356
1
Council
6
$144,632
2
Finance
10
$822,579
1.50
Human Resources
5
$482,937
0.50
Information Technology
13
$1,090,622
5.50
Legal
4.50
$553,790
0
Mayor's Office
5.50
$413,010
0
Other Government
2
$189,338
1
ADMIN P/C Budget
54
$4,250,009
12
Transfer Costs to Utility Fund
$2,172,352
Total City
387
53
• Other Government; where
very, very general things go.
Personnel consists of
construction manager and
communications coordinator.
• Like commercial development
follows residential
development; support staff
follows program staff.
Utility Billing —
Billing Admin-
Billing Administra :
Accounting Clerk -
Property Ownership
Accounting Clerk -
Front Desk
Accounting Cle-1,-
P,
Karie Glenn
Maria Edwards
Codee Krausch
Peter Frame
Ev Nichols
16 Years
12 Years
7 Years
9 Years
10 Years
Management Services Barbara Davidson 6 Years
Accounting Clerk -
Front Desk Vicki Silvis 1 Day
and Changes
• Bill and collect
$35,000,000 dollars of
revenue annually with a
customer base of 30,000
plus. Bill for the Republic
Services and other City
Departments.
• Average length of service
10 years. Challenging
frontline customer
service positions.
• Multiple services and
functions to maintain
customer data base, title
changes, billing
arrangements, and 3rd
party billing.
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
Extra services
FY2014 FY2013 FY2012 FY2011
Service Disconnect —K—Payment Arrangements
(Property Management Billing
Payment Types
0
FY2014
-m$--On-Line Payment
FY2013 FY2012 FY2011
Counter Payment Pay by Phone
• Phone calls and counter
payments down despite
increase in accounts.
• Time spent on quality
control pays off when
the bills go out!
Everyone in the
department works on
reconciliations and
reviews.
Direct Customer Contact
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
FY2014 FY2013 FY2012 FY2011
—0—Phone Calls Counter Payments
FY2014 Budget Request
Projected Actual Costs
License
$120,000
Software License
$150,000
Implementation
$450,000
Implementation
$259,000
Software
$130,000
Project Management
$170,000
Hardware
$10,000
Requirements Definition
$39,600
Total
$710,000
$618,600
Maintenance
$25,000
Maintenance
$30,000
Utility Billing System Software
Replacement Update
New software, Clean-up Data,
New Processes
■ Requirements Definition - with assistance of Moss Adams — CPA/Business Consultant Firm defined
requirements for Finance, Billing, Public Works, IT, Water, and Community Development.
■ RFP
■ Terminated Moss Adams contract early, contracted with Experis for local project manager Sheryl
Bishop.
■ Released RFP August 12, 2014 with evaluation criteria being; technical requirements, functional
requirements, vendor profile, references, and overall cost.
■ 7 RFP responses. Narrowed to two vendors for system demonstrations at City Hall.
■ One vendor, TruePoint (TrueBill) selected for on-site visit. City sent evaluation team with
members from Billing, Water, and IT to visit a TrueBill user, Sacramento Suburban Water District.
Determined out of the box solution meeting the intent of all requirements.
■ Selection and Award - December 10, 2014 - City announces selection of TruePoint's TrueBill. Contract
negotiations began based on City's standard terms and conditions, and RFP's documented
requirements, scope of services, and cost proposal requirements. Slight change in scope when it appears
that system will work for Water meter inventory. Sheryl allows break between Christmas and New
Years.
Utility Billing Software Replacement Update
• Contract - February 10, 2015 — City
Council approves software purchase,
implementation, and maintenance
contract with TruePoint.
• Implementation
February 2015 to January 2016
— March 16,17,and 18, 2015 —
UBS Kick -Off and Workshop
— May 2015 — Production
Training/Baseline Installation
— Customization and Reporting
Resources
TruPoint
Core Team -3
Extended Team — 3
Meridian
Data
Mapping/Migration/I ntegratior.
Training
— Testing
— Implementation
— Post -Implementation Support
Core Team -10
Extended Team
—10
Contract Project
Manager —
Sit Com — April 10, 2015
On target for January
2016
Department Challenges City
Growth— Procurement
Public Purchasing is complex and time intensive.
Purchasing Manager
Keith Watts CPPB - 9 Years
President Idaho Public Purchasing Assoc
Buyer
Kathy Wanner CPPB - 8 Years
VP Idaho Public Purchasing Assoc
Public purchasing laws and practices are the results of past abuses but the
dam continues to spring leaks.
"Procurement fraud is the second most frequently reported form of
economic crime behind asset misappropriation.
The PwC Global Economic Crime Survey 2014 showed 29% of organizations
had experienced procurement fraud and it was most common at the
vendor selection stage, followed by the bid process.
The sectors reporting the most procurement fraud were state-owned
enterprises, followed by energy, utilities and mining; engineering and
construction; and transport and logistics. "
Maybe great things will come from state revamp of purchasing laws.
Yup — and the moon is made of green cheese
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Growing and Getting Busier and Busier!
Purchasing Functions
FY2014 FY2013
Bids/RFP/RFQ
Addendums
■ Agreements
City -Wide
$ Spent on
Construction
FY2012
$9,392,375
FY2013
$14,406,925
FY2014
$24,944,202
FY2012
City -Wide
$ Spent on Professional Services
FY2010 - FY2015 - $15,983,000
• Purchasing does NOT
write specifications.
• Purchasing and Legal
facilitate the process of
acquiring goods and
services from the
departments definition
of what they need
through the creation of
a contract or
agreement.
• And then ............
Creation of the Contraction Data Base
■ Herding contracts and agreements
• And then ............
has always been a challenge for
Payment for all construction
and professional services
agreements funnels to one
accounts payable person who
is reviewing for accuracy and
compliance with the contract.
Accounting.
■ Need to report on what contracts
exist at year-end as part of audit.
■ Need to pay in accordance with
the contract.
■ Many agreements and contracts
roam around unattended,
sometimes for years, and catch
us off -guard when some
milestone occurs.
■ Reta called DONE
Contract Management Database
• Project initiated May 2013
• Primary Goal of the Contract Management Database is to
create a centralized database for storing
Contracts/Agreements (Internal &External) and providing
tools that will allow users to interact with the database on
various levels.
• The database will house contract information such as
Contract Name, Details, Milestones, Contact Information,
etc...
• Database has been developed in-house using existing staff
resources to develop the database.
— Project Team : Nick Phares (IT Software Engineer), Keith Watts,
Kathy Wanner, Karen Wooddell (CMdb Administrator), Reta
Cunningham, Stacy Kilchenmann, Todd Lavoie
Contract Management Database
Project Group: Utility Infrastructure
Project Info: 10045: Primary 1/2 Fermentation
Original Contract Amt 150,975.00 t- Contract Amt
Contract ID 10D45.e
Payments
Vendor/CA*w er [CH2M HILL ENGINEERS, INC
14
Balance
J Cuetorrrar?
Name W= Fermentadan B Odor CwW Project Programming & krtegration
Description Control system software services. including programming and field testing. are required' to provide automated monitoring and control functions for the
new processes and systems in conjunction with the new Fermentation and Odor Control project currently under way.
Project Manager Clint Dolsby {G27t}} Executable Date 11/19/2013 Days To Complete 0 Completion Date
Approved By coma Renewable Renewal Date 5piration Date w 5/30/2014
Bid Number Final Accp.❑ Final Accp. Date Notice To Proceed - 11/20/2013
Contract Type Task Order W Flag Contract As 'Error Closed Closed Date —
Attachments, S p0/CH. Order 1 $ Payments y Milestones Contact into I City Staff I Required Items I Notes I Proj. Type(s) j GL Group Maint I
Contract Management Database
• Database is set to be released to a select group of staff
members on May 1, 2015
• Training on the database will occur on April 29th to
select staff members
• Utilizing word-of-mouth and future training
opportunities, the database will be made available to
all City staff expressing an interest in the database
• Future development will continue over the years to
improve data input and management
— Projects to include the Legal department and formalization
of contracts
— Projects to include automating data input via PDF sheets
Accounting Assets
• Controller - Reta Cunningham — 19
Restructure functions, Karen is in
Years Captain Starship Enterprise
charge of care and feeding of the
contract data base. Karen also
• Senior Accountant — Jenny Fields -
reconciles accounts payable, cash
6 Years Promotion MV
receipts, and the grant accounting.
• Accountant — Karen Wooddell
Jenny does the monthly financial
(almost one year) 30 years Project Manager HP,
reports, special projects and a million
6 years City of Boise managing grants and contracts
other things. Org charts, whipped up
New Position/ New HireHM
the cost of the Police step plan, Deals
• Accounts Payable — Cortni Klucken
with Accela, leaps tall buildings .........
•
Ugly Thing — Meridian Heights
Dons Irrigation 7 years Controller, associates
degree — New Hire I I I I I I I I I I
Goal - Keep moving toward
• Payroll — Barb Null — 13 Years making room for analysis; fiscal
New Name!!!!! impact statements, fee
documentation, cost policy options,
• Arts and Culture Specialist — Hillary
internal control reviews,...........
Bodnar — 7 Years (she is 24)
New Position/Promotion ! ! ! ! ! !
Cash Management—The Process
• Cash comes in from multiple sources and in multiple forms and must be
coded to the right account. At least four people work on cash daily. Karie
and Karen spend the morning reconciling, Jenny reviews. Barb checks
bank for electronic fund transfer. Month-end — Todd balances bank
accounts, manages bank. Stacy and Reta move money weekly.
10/1/2014 TPE credit card received in bank 10/1/14
(3,891,51) CR15-001
10/01/14B1dgCC 3,891,51
3,891,51 - 10/1/14 entry clears 09/26/14 Duplicate CC payment att
10/1/2014 refund Brineqar rezone,PP withdrawn EarlGlenSub
1,085,34 AP15-006
refund 09/26 1,085.34
1,085.34 - 10/1/14 entry clears 9/26/14 refund processed in ACCELA
10/2/2014 PayPort Credit Card received in bank 10/2/14
X288,00) CR15-002
10/02/14B1dgCC 288.00
288.00 - 10/2/14 entry clears 9/29 posting
10/2/2014 TPE Credit Card received in bank 10/2/14
X4,355,01) CR15-002
10/02/14B1dgCC 4,355.01
4,355.01 - 10/2/14 entry clears 9/29 posting
10/3/2014 PayPort credit card received in bank 10/3/14
�666,00� CR15-003
10/3/14B1dgCC
10/3/14 entry clears 9/29 posting
10/3/2014 TPE credit card received in bank 1013114
�6,411,38� CR15-003
10/3/14B1dgCC
1013114 entry clears 9/30/14 posting
10/1/2014 Accela export for Dev-Services on 10/01/14; TPE
2,829.14 CR15-002
10/01/14Dev-Services
10/6/2014 TPE credit card received in bank 10/6/14
(2,829,14) CR15-004
10/06/14B1dgCC 2,829.14
2,829.14 -
One Small Bite - UBS Daily Cash Recon
Cash Checks Total Items CC Lobby Items E -Pay
$830 $5,305 $6,135 68 $394 3 $33,084
Phone Pad Items Conv Fee Direct Pay Items Metevante LE Items
$1,649 16 24 $109,886 1770 $200301 301
And On and On and On
Items
397
/PAY LB #4 Items
$36,435 199
■ Where does cash live?
■ Checking Accounts
■ State Pool
■ Idaho Bond Fund
■ BOTC Money Market
■ Government Bonds Four Funds
■ Municipal Bonds
■ Certificates of Deposit
■ Schwab Cash Account
• Moved almost every day
• Meet Daily Cash Needs
• Layer to maximize interest, based not on budget,
or "execution rates", but on our judgment.
• Pretty Good Job all in all
• Very Fast Cash Turnover — on average from meter
read to cash in bank — 35 to 40 working days,
businesses would kill for that.
• Expect a lot from our vendors. Squeeze every
drop of blood from the turnip.
• Banks — balance how much we hold in
overnight funds and long term funds for no
fees
• Investment Fund ( purchases bonds and
CD's) just lowered our investment rate
• Check out the cash/investments note in the
Audited Financial Statements
City of Meridian Investment Portfolio
Govern Bonds
■ Muncipal Bonds
■ Certif of Deposit
Investor Cash
$32,825,575 $25,369,577 ■ BOTC MM
Cash
■ Idaho Bond Fund
``$100,574 Idaho State Pool
._$245,627
_$1,065,866
_$2,120,607
$17,569,935 _$2,450,914
$200,000
$180,000
$160,000
$140,000
$120,000
$100,000
$80,000
$60,000
$40,000
$20,000
$0
City of Meridian Interest Income by Fund
(GF includes restricted and designated funds)
General
Enterprise
■ Total Budget ❑ Budget YTD ❑Actual YTD ■ Prior YTD
Back to Budget
Senior Budget Analyst
Todd Lavoie CGFM
8 Years
And Stacy Kilchenmann CPA
CFO — 14 Years
• Impact Fee Committee now
meets quarterly — each meeting
has featured a different
department and meetings have
been well attended.
• Revenue Manual — starting this
week, comprehensive economic
evaluation, three year look
• New Project - budget software —
phase #1 Capital Improvement
Plan. This will be for the ENTIRE
City, all funds and departments.
Anticipate IT will have resources
available this summer.
• New Project — Comprehensive
Financial Plan — data base with all
personnel and operating and
capital for ALL funds and
departments for five and ten
yea rs.
GASB Concepts Statement #2
SEA Service Efforts and Accomplishments
Financial statements measure
financial performance about
fiscal and operational
accountability (GASB Concept
Statement #1), but they do not
provide all of the information
necessary to the degree to which
the government was successful
in helping maintain or improve
the well-being of it's citizens.
What sometimes happens with
concepts ????????
They become standards!
• Essential Components of a SEA
report
— Purpose and Scope — why is the
information being reported and
what portion of government does
it relate to?
— Major Goals and Objectives — what
are the major goals of the program
or what is the government trying
to accomplish
— Key Measures — what key
measures are important to readers
and reflect the government's
achievement of lack thereof of
major goals and objectives
— Discussion and analysis of results
and challenges, what factors
affected the level of achievement
of results and what is the plan for
addressing in the future
Cultural Arts and Contracts
Approved Amount; $44,288,969
Approved FTE: 56
• Purpose:— Nurture, perserve, and promote Sample
City's arts and creative industries.
• History: No legal mandate, this activity was created in
FY2004 as part of a strategy to identify economic
development strategies that focus on non-profit arts,
music and creative industries to improve economic and
cultural vitality.
• Services:
• Contact:
FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2014 FY2015
Actual Actual Actual Target Target
Number of Public Events 93 68 63 50 50
Total Audience Served 231301 131887 13,296 18,100 181000
Some Projects for You
■ Fund Balance Transfers - define some goals or
desired results so we can provide options on to get there.
■ For example - would like to have a reserve fund for economic
development projects that may occur in the future. We want
be agile.
■ We do not want to budget more than x% of each year's new
revenue on personnel.
■ I'll come up with some options too
■ Internal Audit/Performance/Policy Evaluation for Elected Officials
■ Follow through —function can provide policy option analysis,
routine internal audit, solution research
■ Has to be right the first time - unique function that requires
someone who is experienced, independent, skilled, and able to
inspire trust both in the Council and Mayor and with employees.
■ You could invite Boise's auditor and someone from the State
Office of Performance Evaluations to participate in job
description and interviews.
■ Keep the State Legislature Informed about your challenges and
responsibilities at the local level.
■ Don't want to increase "their" taxes, going after cities.
Meridian City Council Meeting
DATE: April 14, 2015 ITEM NUMBER: 7B
PROJECT NUMBER:
ITEM TITLE: Department Reports
B. Arts Commission Update: Meridian Art in Public Spaces (MAPS) ordinance
MEETING NOTES
Community Item/Presentations Presenter Contact Info./Notes
CLERKS OFFICE FINAL ACTION
DATE:
E-MAILED TO
STAFF
SENT TO
AGENCY
SENT TO
APPLICANT
NOTES
INITIALS
DRAFT
CITY OF MERIDIAN ORDINANCE NO.
April 14, 2015
BY THE CITY COUNCIL: BIRD, BORTON, CAVENER, MILAM, ROUNTREE, ZAREMBA
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MERIDIAN, AMENDING MERIDIAN CITY CODE
TITLE 1, CHAPTER 9, TO ADD SECTION 4; ESTABLISHING THE MERIDIAN ART IN
PUBLIC SPACES PROGRAM; REGARDING PURPOSE OF FUNDS, FUNDS
APPROPRIATION, CARRY FORWARD, AND EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS; ADOPTING A
SAVINGS CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City of Meridian is authorized by
personal property, including public art, and pursuant to Ida
appropriate funds by ordinance to create, purchase, operate
facilities and activities;
WHEREAS, the City Council of the
component of and vehicle for stimulating ecc
place, community expression and dialogue, l
of life for Meridian residents and visitors;
WHEREAS, the City Council of i
enduring method of appropriating general
NOW, T1-
CITY
FCITY OF
Section 1. That the
Code, to add See trgnd,ao I
1-9-4:
Ae section 50-301 to acquire
sections 50-303 and 50-1006, may
ntain recreation and cultural
finds that Plbblic art is a valuable
,nt and revitallai`tion, tourism, sense of
ublkc.areas, and erllt ncement of quality
Tian seeks by this ordinance to establish an
art in Me'dian's public spaces; and
COUNCIL OF THE
be made to Title 1, Chapter 9, of the Meridian City
A. MAPS pr6lgr,am established. There is hereby established the Meridian Art in Public Spaces
("MAPS") progi=am, under which the City Council shall annually dedicate funding to the
establishment of drt in public places within Meridian,
B. Purpose of funds. The I Mei-idian Arts Commission shall adopt, with City Council approval, a
strategic plan for installation of ail projects funded by MAPS program funds. MAPS funds shall
be used to purchase visual, tangible artworks, for installation on public property within the
Meridian city limits, in accordance with the strategic plan.
C. Funds appropriation. City Council shall, on an annual basis, appropriate for the MAPS program
an amount from the general fiord equivalent to fifty (50) cents per resident, as estimated by the
current annual population estimate adopted by the Community Planning Association of Southwest
Idaho. Annually, no more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) of general funds shall be
appropriated for the MAPS program. Nothing contained in this section shall preclude funding of
art by grants, matching monies, donations, or other means.
MERIDIAN ART IN PUBLIC SPACES (MAPS) ART FUNDING PROGRAM
PAGE OF
DRAFT
April 14, 2015
D. Carry forward. Any MAPS funds not spent during the current fiscal year shall be carried forward
to the next fiscal year.
E. Expenditure of MAPS funds. The Meridian Arts Commission shall recommend, and City
Council shall approve, expenditures of MAPS program funds by budget enhancement, in
accordance with the strategic plan duty adopted by the Meridian Arts Commission as set forth in
this section.
Section 2. It is hereby declared to be the legislative iI
Ordinance shall be severable. If any paragraph, part, section,
this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid by a Couti-
shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this
Section 3. All City of Meridian
conflict herewith, are hereby repealed.
Section 4. That this ordinance shall be
PASSED by the City Council of the City of
APPROVED by the Mayor of the
APPROVED:
Tammy c
the provisions and parts of this
on, sentence, clause, or phrase of
retentjurisdiction, such decision
e.
partS,rthereof, which are in
upon its pasage and publication
this _ day of April, 2015.
day of April, 2015.
Jaycee Holman, City Clerk
MERIDIAN ART IN PUBLIC SPACES (MAPS) ART FUNDING PROGRAM PAGE.2 OF 3
DRAFT April 14, 2015
NOTICE AND PUBLISHED SUMMARY
OF ORDINANCE PURSUANT TO I.C. § 50-901(A)
CITY OF MERIDIAN ORDINANCE NO. 15 -
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MERIDIAN, AMENDING MERIDIAN CITY CODE
TITLE 1, CHAPTER 9, TO ADD SECTION 4; ESTABLISHING THE MERIDIAN ART IN
PUBLIC SPACES PROGRAM; REGARDING PURPOSE OF FUNDS, FUNDS
APPROPRIATION, CARRY FORWARD, AND EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS; ADOPTING A
SAVINGS CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
City of Meridian
Mayor and City Council
By: Jaycee Holman, City Clerk
First Reading:
Adopted after first reading by suspension of the
Idaho Code § 50-902: YES NO,,
Second Reading:
Third Reading:
STATEMENT OF
ADEQUACY OF
The undersigned, Williatti
that he is the legal advisor
of the City of Me3�idian, Id
notice to t1jP`,p is Dursua
DATED this' day of
101
the City of Meridian, Idaho, hereby certifies
a copy of the attached Ordinance no. 15-_
ko be true and complete and provides adequate
2015.
illiam LM. Nary
ty Attorney
MERMIAN ART IN PUBLIC SPACES (MAPS) ART FUNDING PROGRAM PAGE 3 of 3
Meridian City Council Meeting
DATE: April 14, 2015 ITEM NUMBER: 7C
PROJECT NUMBER:
ITEM TITLE: Department Reports
C. Community Development: Performing Arts Center Discussion
MEETING NOTES
Community Item/Presentations Presenter Contact Info./Notes
CLERKS OFFICE FINAL ACTION
DATE:
E-MAILED TO
STAFF
SENT TO
AGENCY
SENT TO
APPLICANT
NOTES
INITIALS
Meridian City Council Meeting
DATE: April 14, 2015 ITEM NUMBER:
PROJECT NUMBER:
ITEM TITLE: Department
D. Mayor's Office: Budget Amendment for State of the City for the Not -to -Exceed
Amount of $6,930.00
MEETING NOTES
Community Item/Presentations Presenter Contact Info./Notes
CLERKS OFFICE FINAL ACTION
DATE:
E-MAILED TO
STAFF
SENT TO
AGENCY
SENT TO
APPLICANT
NOTES
INITIALS
R
0
d
3
m
M
m
a
C
CD
1A
O
N
m
N
13
I■
A
A
Y
m
0
13
A
o °
c y
� a
r
m
f
d m
O Oa0
m m
iN
W
H V
9
m
11 11 z
z
O
O
O
00
0
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
Y
Y
Y
F+
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
a
a
d
v
d
F+
w
Y
w
Y
w
Y
w
Y
w
Y
w
Y
w
In
Y
A
N
O
NN
O
O
N
O
N
N
0
0
0
0
0
0
A
O
N
O
O
I
I�
UI
O1
VI
N
N
VI
U•
c
O
N
J
W
W
O
O
Y
O
In
O
O
In
Y
M
A
Y
N
V
VI
O
N
V
Y
T
x
z
'^
OOOY
N
Y
O
w
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
°o
O
O
c
~
z
0
d
a'
c
'
n
w
m
m
o
�
m
a
a
D
n
x
3
°
L. .
s .
R/
o
m
_5
'
f°
n
o
a
O
C
m
o
°
3
°
A
x
°'
a
0
N
N
and
a
;
3
B
o
�
O
V
N
i
Y
Y
W
N
N
Y
W
w
O
N
Y
O
In
V
OI
OYI
O
O
V
O
O
O
O
N
N
i/)
N
ih
W
V)
V�
W
W
V�
'V•
'V)
r
Y
W
N
N
F+
W
W
Y
O
O
N
ls�
Y
A
O
OO
W
V
01
O
O
O
0 O
O
O
J
R
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
w
a
w
a
a
a
v
v
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
N
O
NN
O
O
N
O
Y
W
N
N
N
Y
N
INJ�
w
N
FN+
A
O
N
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
c
O
3
o
m
n
?
<
T
x
z
'^
D
N-
m
m
D
°o
°
c
3
0
a'
c
n
w
m
m
�
J
N
n
0
CD
Q
w
N
O_
mn
W
C
Q
n
D
CD
Q
CD
7
rTl•
1
O
r
n
s;
<
o c
�
O °
o
Jm
ee
a
�
`e"
o
0
1
S
O
�
D
a
tt
o
o
r
d
v
Q
CD
Q
p1
7
N
O
1
cn
co
C
Q
cc
(D
D
CD
D
Q
(D
7
O
w d
<
o c
o
o
Jm
rpp
a
J
J
O
D
3
m
-
c o'S
m
2
3
¢
n
n
<. Tom.
n
-on
c
n
22
2:
n 'a
o Qm
pJ4
d d
O
N
N
m
C d o
N
S
-�
JS
W •� F'
m_ OO
O
J
W
N n M
d
C
T
O
d 0
»_ d
H
j' p
d .7
J W
O
N
M
0
p
n
<
N �, n w
n
Q D
J n
d o o
N
'd0
d
u
'c >
G J O
> m M. o w
d
J
v
3
3
o
E
• d
o. a
M
00
J0 o
- w
- C.
^
=c
c Jm
`°
rap m
a
M
J. am
wo
O
O
!l
3 a
d
J
N
d
'N
a N O d udi
o
m
m T
m
m
w
<^
rp
c
n a 0
o
N J
¢
ID VI
N O
d
J
O `2
< p n
'O S
N
¢
N
N N O 0, N
O
u
3
d
0
0
3
O 0
3 v o a
m
£"
c
3 m
F,
•^
S o w
m
N
–
3
ut
>•
rp
m
c m
w'nri.no<ia
3
S
O N
d
:r'
a
x
O
N
J p J
E d S
p0 J
C
T
J ¢
a
.+
_
N j
d
y'0
V
-nom' 'm m
ry
0 0
a
3
o
`�
N
C
N
S
D
N
OvOi
N M
m'
.�.
u
Gl
=p —
0
n
O.di
�m
°'
-'
a
Z 3
J
C
o n N d �c
!p
n0 d G0
J
O
V1
O J d d
0Mo o
o J
°'
p
a
n a n z c
S
oa
» g m J
c
m
°
o
C
v
wurOz�£
J
"'-
¢
@
J
o O C J p0
n
d
=
O O J p9
'o
a
d
c< >•
%
0
d
3
^
3
w o `e o M. �
n
¢
m M o sa
F
¢ <<
=
d
d
v
Q
CD
Q
p1
7
N
O
1
cn
co
C
Q
cc
(D
D
CD
D
Q
(D
7
O
City Of Meridian
Statement of Revenues and Expenditures - Rev and Exp Report - Todd
1312 - Mayor's State of the City
01 - General Fund
From 10/1/2014 Through 9/30/2015
TOTAL EXPENDITURES WITH 13,999.92 8,683.52 5,316.40
TRANSFERS
set+el�¢sHfns f-1,0 L'YJ
7Z!17-11LFt,4,qL
Tn/C�ZASt(IC31tn.40> ��4� �2rJF3r
OI.Iz12.34,;�y1 1�(a,gsn,
0A,V 20,S2-1410 % 3,b0()-
01�S�SOU
44. tt=So^
Budget with
Current Year
Budget
Ua,soa-
=4I14�24-'i
Ul.1�4O.
Amendments
Actual
Remaining
GS000
REVENUES
C)(. 310.b
o(ol
34741
Community Event
20,000.04/
26,930.00
(6,929.96)
Rev/Sponsorship
Total REVENUES
20,000.04
26,930.00
(6,929.96)
OPERATING COSTS
51300
Office Expense
150.00
0.00
150.00
52710
Community Events Expenses
8,300.04
8,658.52
(358.48)
53806
Scholarships
3,999.96
0.00
3,999.96
55104
Contracted L
Labor
I
99.96
0.00
99.96
56102
Postage & Mailings
99.96
0.00
99.96
57400
Advertising/Promoti nal/P...
249.96
0.00
249.96
57500
Printing/Binding/En raving
500.04
25.00
475.04
59300
Bldg & Structures Re1nta1 &
600.00
0.00
600.00
Lease
Total OPERATING COSTS
13 999.92
8.683.52
5.316.40
DEPT EXPENDITURES
13,999.92
8,683.52
5,316.40
TOTAL EXPENDITURES WITH 13,999.92 8,683.52 5,316.40
TRANSFERS
set+el�¢sHfns f-1,0 L'YJ
7Z!17-11LFt,4,qL
Tn/C�ZASt(IC31tn.40> ��4� �2rJF3r
OI.Iz12.34,;�y1 1�(a,gsn,
0A,V 20,S2-1410 % 3,b0()-
01�S�SOU
44. tt=So^
011310•
-y,Zo
Ua,soa-
=4I14�24-'i
Ul.1�4O.
SslTS
2,000
Ol • I Z-1 V
GS000
C)(. 310.b
o(ol
i�r7_Rt�'sr%
Date: 3/30/15 11,11:56 PM
Page, 1
z.y Ial,,j
J
NNNN N.n
c vi o vi a �
7 N N N N
N
11? 0 o N o M N IQ 0
NI 0 o N o N 0
jFy 1D N 10 m N V N N n N M Nlry N I
LL '1 N T
e-1 i0 m m O O O .i N O
n m m N tO b m .i O O b H1 r m 1O �p ei
n N N m N N m V VI O
l0 l0 VI � N fl M N m N b r V V1 Q n e{
r o ai n;ry oi� e
ti N
� a
Q 'n
U
N
N � e
A
OI xw
W d 6
y � O
W _
V• nm o vm'
N fi N l0 t0 N l0
G N m m N N t0 N l0
co 'C .^-I nmmm�m
m e 0 a ry N
z
Z F
N N N N N N N
LL
QJ
K y
Z e
W Lp
N
N
d) N b N N m I m N m
C C O O N O .i r N C tO m C
•o '- moovi ria mmad
V'
c d
O O
N N N N N N N N N V
n N m n n O o m
c r m b N m m n o q
m
C m V N N W M T N
n
NNNNNNNNNVI
N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N
O N
10 .
M
O n O N m
r N�OO a
m
O
O O N N
N O'
m'
d
=N =a
o n
,AN
q LL
V
N
N N N
N N N N N N
N N N N
e i
O
b
O
N
E
b
�
V
N
N
p
6
dl
�
N
C
O
q
O O
O N
m
d
N rl
n
m
a
n
O
N
a
N N N
N N N
N
N
O
M
�
N
ry
o
N N
N
N
o m
N N
N
H
O O
N N
O
N'
N O
O
p
N N N
N N
m lO
N
m
`^I N
m m
vi �o
.a
NN
Nin
N N
N N
E
.n
v v m
T
w
N
N rti rl
MI
^
m a m
a
NNN
Ny.
V ei t0
N
n ='
@..
a T
O
•y
.Ni
N
o n m
$
e
m m b
m
m
ro 1i
fl
v'
N
k
N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N
O N
10 .
M
O n O N m
r N�OO a
m
O
O O N N
N O'
m'
m
=N =a
o n
,AN
N
N N N
N N N N N N
N N N N
N N N
O
b
O
E
�
V
N
N
6
�
N
N
O
q
O O
O N
m
d
N rl
n
m
a
a
N N N
N N N
N
N
d
c
ry
o
N N
N
N
o m
N N
O O
00
N N
N N
N N N
N N
`^I N
m m
vi �o
m m
N N
N N
E
T
O
0v
0
� m
m
NNNVlN NNNNNV
7
N
N N N
rIl
�
N
WC
N c
•-
o
7
v m
cr
w n
z
o
7
N
N N N
N
N
WC
N c
•-
o
7
v m
cr
w n
z
o
F
VF
N N N
N
a
12
0
Q
`
Z
f
LL
J
W
Z
C C
W
q
F
N
N
O
C C
N
'p •�
O
O O
N
N N N
N
a
c
o
e
m
N
�
a
6
N
.N
N N
N
0 0 o a o 0 o a
a n a a a a
O
O
N
a
m
0
N
Meridian City Council Meeting
DATE: April 14, 2015 ITEM NUMBER:
PROJECT NUMBER:
ITEM TITLE: Department Reports
E. Citywide Strategic Plan Presentation
MEETING NOTES
Community Item/Presentations Presenter Contact Info./Notes
CLERKS OFFICE FINAL ACTION
DATE:
E-MAILED TO
STAFF
SENT TO
AGENCY
SENT TO
APPLICANT
NOTES
INITIALS
(ERIDIAN��
Citywide
Strategic
2016-2020
Ladership dvisors
s
�I
�f
�. � Y
A ril 14, 201,5
r �
1
New Horizons
New Opportunities
A Growing City
O The City Has Seen a Lot of Change Over the Years
O Fastest Growing City in Idaho
O 10th Fastest Growing City in Nation
O Arguably the Second Largest City in Idaho
O Center of the Treasure Valley
O Today We Thrive
O Full Service City
O Support a Population of More Than 90,000
O Exciting Developments, Businesses, and Subdivisions
O Future is Ours To Make
Opportunity to be More Strategic With Our Services and Resources
Importance of
Strategic Planning
A Road Map for Success
Defines specific results that are to be achieved, outlines a course
of action for achieving them & details measurements to ensure
the outcomes of those results
Focus the direction of our financial resources & employees
Ensures the most important priorities are identified,
communicated and achieved with direction & effective planning
Communication tool to share the City's intentions to the
community
Mayor De Weerd
Mark Niemeyer
Tom Barry
Steve Siddoway
Jeff Lavey
Jaycee Holman
Bill Nary
Strategic
Planning Team
Robert Simison
Bruce Chatterton
Patti Perkins
Stacy Kilchenmann
Our Process
Strategic Plan Development.
Industry Inputs M"N%
• Best Management Practices
• International City/County
Management Association
• National League of Cities
• Service Sector Associations
• Benchmarking
Baldrige Performance
Excellence Program
• Municipal Services Benchmarks
County Inputs
• Ada County Comprehensive Plan
• Ada County Emergency
Management Plan
City Input5
• Comprehensive Plan
• Citywide Capital Plan
■
Economic. Development Strategy
■ City Council Strategy Discussions
• City Focus Areas
• Citizen Surveys
•
CARE Values
■ Employee Surveys W100
Environmental
Scan (SWOT)
i
Vision,
Mission &
Values
Develop
Goals.
Establish
Objectives
1
Monitor &. Final draft &
Review Council Revtew
_ Implement
Vision Statement
By 2035, Meridian will be the West's premier
community in which to live, work, and raise a family.
Proactive City policies and well-educated, capable employees will,
together, create a compelling economic advantage yielding robust family -
wage jobs that will nourish our welcoming, vibrant, and diverse business
environment.
Our strategic growth will ensure an orderly development that balances
resources and leverages partnerships to create a sustainable and
financially viable community.
A flexible and responsive government will ensure that services meet
demand with financial prudence and excellence while safeguarding our
community's health and safety.
Community members will enjoy a vibrant downtown and a myriad of
diverse arts, cultural, and recreational offerings to have meaningful
experiences.
Mission Statement
We love Meridian; it's our town and our mission is
to cultivate a vibrant community by delivering
superior service through committed, equipped
employees dedicated to the stewardship of our
community's resources.
C,A,R,E Values
Customer Service
O Accountability
O Respect
Excellence
City Focus Areas
O Strategic Growth: Good growth fuels a city.
Meridian will promote growth that enhances its
vision and is family -focused, properly planned,
financially viable, and diverse.
O Economic Vibrancy: Jobs make a City vibrant.
Meridian will recruit family -wage jobs and
promote the growth of existing organizations in
employment zones that put work and life
together.
O Responsive Government: The successful government of the 21st century is service
driven, approachable, and responsive. Meridian will embody those qualities by
improving efficiency, enhancing transparency, utilizing technology, and investing in our
employees.
O Health and Safety: For a community to prosper, it must be safe, secure, and healthy.
Meridian will invest in activities and services that enhance public safety and community
health to build a stronger community and promote the quality of life that its citizens and
employees expect.
O Arts, Culture, and Recreation: A premier community embraces cultural diversity and
promotes an abundant offering of arts, entertainment, and recreational opportunities.
Meridian will invest in services, facilities, programs, and partnerships to establish itself as
an active and vibrant community that fulfills the diverse cultural and recreational needs
of its people.
Plan
Organization
Plan Structure
Management By Objective
City -Wide Strategic Plan Hierarchy
Determined
at City Level
Determined at
Department
Level
Goal Attainment
Management By Objective
Efficiency
Strategic
Plan
iineration;
MFT�gic Plan
^nsive
Plan
g the Nva
prehensive
Plan
Economic
Development
Plan
Department
pN Plans
I Capital
Improvement
Plan
Budgets
The Plan
I
Strategic Plan Document
`A plan hy Gl r staff fog- Gr staff'
DRp'F�
,016,20'Lo
�5
O 10 Contributing Departments
O 5 City Focus Areas
O 20 Broad Goals
O 72 Strategic Objectives
O 5 -year time horizon, 2016-2020
O Each objective supports one or
more City Focus Areas
0 Tactics and Activities to Come
Focus Area 1
Strategic Growth
Good growth fuels a city. Meridian will promote growth that
enhances its vision and is family -focused, properly planned,
financially viable, and diverse.
GOALS!
A. Facilitate the development and growth of Meridian's downtown culminating in a
strong and diverse community core.
B. Create a growth management system to foster the growth goals of the City in
alignment with the Comprehensive Plan.
C. Preserve and protect land use and zoning plans to promote certainty and
predictability for future development within the adopted Area of City Impact.
D. Develop and sustain the connections that shape and serve our community.
Focus Area 2
Economic Vibrancy
Jobs make a City vibrant. Meridian will recruit family -wage jobs
and promote the growth of existing organizations in employment
zones that put work and life together.
GOALS!
A. Influence the location and retention of family -wage jobs in close proximity to where
people live.
B. Partner with others to develop a qualified worlgforce that meets the needs of
targeted industries.
C. Promote a diverse and sustainable economy.
Focus Area 3
Responsive Government
The successful government of the 21st century is service driven,
approachable, and responsive. Meridian will embody those
qualities by improving efficiency, enhancing transparency,
utilizing technology, and investing in our employees.
MAI S.
A. Elevate the engagement of the community with local government.
B. Establish a comprehensive worltforce development and retention program for the
City.
C. Ensure flexibility, adaptability, and resiliency of government during times of crisis
and recovery.
D. Improve operational efficiency and organizational excellence.
E. Enhance transparency and decision -malting of City government.
Focus Area 4
Health and Safety
For a community to prosper it must be safe, secure, and healthy.
Meridian will invest in activities and services that enhance public
safety and community health to build a stronger community and
promote the quality of life that its citizens and employees expect.
r,OAI S.
A. Establish Meridian as a premier safe community.
B. Establish Meridian as a premier healthy community.
C. Promote and advance social services that strengthen the socio-economic well-being
of the community.
D. Establish a comprehensive Health and Safety Program for the City of Meridian.
E. Advance sustainable and environmentally healthy practices throughout the City.
Focus Area 5
Arts, Culture, and Recreation
A premier community embraces cultural diversity and promotes
an abundant offering of arts, entertainment, and recreational
opportunities. Meridian will invest in services, facilities,
programs, and partnerships to establish itself as an active and
vibrant community that fulfills the diverse cultural and
recreational needs of its people.
MAI I S•
A. Spur development of quality, regionally significant facilities for recreation and
entertainment in Meridian.
B. Develop, maintain, and foster a portfolio of activities and events that serve the
diverse needs of the citizens of Meridian.
C. Foster the infusion of arts in our community.
Next Ste
I
Implementation
Operationalizing the Plan
Example Tactical Summary
Tactic #: Title of the Tactic
• • insert Goal Title This Tactic Supports
• i : Insert Objective Title This Tactic Supports
Priority: Select between 1 -Highest and 5 -Lowest Estimated Cost. Select Between $-Lowest and $$$$$-'Highest
Anticipated Start Date: Identify Start Date Completion Date: Identify Completion Date
Lead Staff; Insert Tactic Lead
Support Staff; Insert Support Groups(s)/Individual(s)
External Support: Identify Those Outside YourDivision/Department Required To Advance The Tactic.
Tactical Summary: Insert Brief Tactical Summary Here.
Activities: List All Activities Required to Complete This Tactic in Logical/Chronological Order Below:
a)
b)
C)
d)
e)
f)
Performance Measure(s): List all Performance Measures to be Used.
a)
b)
Status Update•
Provide status updates here.
Review strategic goal
measurements and execution
progress
Execution progress report
Review and refine the Strategic
Plan
Review and refine Department
Plans
Implementation
Monitoring Progress
0
Mayor City Leadership
Team
Mayor City Council
City Council and
Mayor the City
Leadership
Team
Department Departments
Directors and Mayor
is-adershi
Consultant Feedback
"The plan is both comprehensive and achievable
dviSorS and that is a difficult balance to strike."
' ... the City of Meridian will reap the benefits of
this discipline for years to come."
Consultant Observations:
Meridian's Plan and Planning Process:
0 Is being led by the Mayor
Q Was inclusive of all aspects of the organization
0 Has just the right level of detail to be valuable without being overwhelming
Q Needs to be executed and measured to have its full effect
0 Is owned by the organization and not driven by consultant
Q Included training about how to successfully handle the human aspects of
the plan's execution (change management)
Maintenance
Future Revisions and Updates
O Organizational constancy is critical in
maintaining momentum and achieving the
desired results
O Dynamic document — one that is subject to
continual growth & change and will be
evaluated periodically
O City staff will have opportunities to reflect on
accomplishments & adjust to meet new
challenges
O Adaptive management will ensure improved
organizational effectiveness, attainment of
performance targets, & achievement of the
vision with measured and strategic
adjustments
Iscussio
I
Expanded G
and Objecti
I
Focus Area 1
Strategic Growth
Good growth fuels a city. Meridian will promote growth that enhances its
vision and is family -focused, properly planned, financially viable, and diverse.
A. Facilitate the development and growth of Meridian's downtown culminating in a strong and
diverse community core.
1. Reinvigorate the Destination Downtown plan by gaining broad, strong support and positioning the
plan for implementation.
2. Evaluate and, if appropriate, expand the Urban Renewal District.
3. Reform the Meridian Development Corporation to maximize its use in developing downtown.
B. Create a growth management system to foster the growth goals of the City in alignment with
the Comprehensive Plan.
1. Define and articulate the City's growth goals.
2. Identify priority growth areas and incentivize growth and development.
3. Complete rezoning in targeted growth areas to direct types of development in alignment with the
City's growth goals.
4. Promote and guide desired growth with investments in infrastructure and services ahead of growth.
5. Develop and implement a sustainable growth management system that includes the Fiscal Impact
Model to inform service levels, staffing, and General/ Enterprise Fund impacts.
C. Preserve and protect land use and zoning plans to promote certainty and predictability for
future development within the adopted Area of City Impact.
1. Codify established Area of City Impact boundaries.
2. Align land use plan with the City's growth goals.
3. Identify and preserve land(s) for interactive, educational, agricultural -based destination(s).
D. Develop and sustain the connections that shape and serve our community.
1. Promote a multi -modal transportation system, ensuring that residents and visitors have safe and
efficient mobility options.
Focus Area 2
Economic Vibrancy
Jobs make a City vibrant. Meridian will recruit family -wage jobs and promote
the growth of existing organizations in employment zones that put work and
life together.
A. Influence the location and retention of family -wage jobs in close proximity to where people
live.
1. Identify, develop, and utilize the tools needed for successful attraction and retention of
jobs.
2. Develop and maintain the broad spectrum of partnerships needed to cultivate diverse
businesses and jobs.
3. Promote job growth by identifying and attracting businesses in technology, agricultural
science and technology, health sciences, animal sciences, and food production.
4. Create a variety of housing options, open spaces, and amenities in order to provide living
choices for a diverse workforce.
B. Partner with others to develop a qualified workforce that meets the needs of targeted
industries.
1. Promote opportunities for and access to entry level and advanced education for
targeted industries.
2. Promote cultural and workforce diversity.
C. Promote a diverse and sustainable economy.
1. Identify targets and gaps in available goods and services.
2. Promote identified special business districts.
3. Pursue key catalyst projects.
Focus Area 3
Responsive Government
The successful government of the 21st century is service driven, approachable,
and responsive. Meridian will embody those qualities by improving efficiency,
enhancing transparency, utilizing technology, and investing in our employees.
A. Elevate the engagement of the community with local government.
1. Evaluate and define the objectives of, and adapt new strategies to elevate participation
in, City activities.
2. Improve citizen access to government.
3. Develop partnerships allowing the City to become an access point to other government.
B. Establish a comprehensive worlgforce development and retention program for the City.
1. Develop a cost effective and competitive benefit plan.
2. Identify position specific training needs.
3. Develop a succession planning program.
4. Develop an employee engagement program.
5. Develop and maintain a competitive compensation program that enables quality
recruitment and rewards and encourages high performance.
C. Ensure flexibility, adaptability, and resiliency of government during times of crisis and
recovery.
1. Develop a local Incident Management Team to respond during and after times of
community crisis.
2. Fully deploy and adequately train staff to meet all objectives of the City of Meridian
Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP).
3. Develop and implement technological and communications contingency plans and
programs for continuity of City operations.
Focus Area 3
Responsive Government (cont.)
The successful government of the 21st century is service driven, approachable,
and responsive. Meridian will embody those qualities by improving efficiency,
enhancing transparency, utilizing technology, and investing in our employees.
D. Improve operational efficiency and organizational excellence.
1. Align resources, systems, and employees to meet strategic objectives and priorities.
2. Develop and deploy a City-wide performance measurement, monitoring, and reporting
program.
3. Develop and deploy a City-wide continuous improvement program.
4. Evaluate the need for centralized, professional administrative and operational oversight
for City functions.
E. Enhance transparency and decision -malting of City government.
1. Establish clearly defined roles and responsibilities of City leadership up to and including
Elected Officials.
2. Conduct a priorities -of -government exercise to identify community expectations and
desired level of service standards.
3. Align community programs, City policies/ordinances, and staffing resources based on
community expectations and desired level of service.
4. Institute a priority -based budget system to meet adopted level of service expectations.
5. Evaluate the benefits of districting Council seats.
Focus Area 4
Health and Safety
For a community to prosper it must be safe, secure, and healthy. Meridian will
invest in activities and services that enhance public safety and community
health to build a stronger community and promote the quality of life that its
citizens and employees expect.
A. Establish Meridian as a premier safe community.
1. Use industry standards and benchmarks to develop and communicate the Safety Profile
of Meridian.
2. Set targets, identify gaps, and deploy programs and services that elevate the Safety
Profile to achieve the desired targets.
3. Align City ordinances, codes, policies, and resources based on the adopted Safety Profile.
4. Identify gaps and deploy programs and services that enhance the ability of people to
move safely within and through the community.
5. Become among the Top 100 "Safest Cities" nationally.
B. Establish Meridian as a premier healthy community.
1. Use industry standards and benchmarks to develop and communicate the Health Profile
of Meridian.
2. Set targets, identify gaps, and deploy programs and services that elevate the Health
Profile to achieve the desired targets.
3. Align City ordinances, codes, policies, and resources based on the adopted Health Profile.
4. Build and maintain a broad spectrum of partnerships to create a healthy community
and improve access to health care services.
5. Become among the Top 100 "Healthiest Cities" nationally.
Focus Area 4
Health and Safety (cont.)
For a community to prosper it must be safe, secure, and healthy. Meridian will
invest in activities and services that enhance public safety and community
health to build a stronger community and promote the quality of life that its
citizens and employees expect.
C. Promote and advance social services that strengthen the socio-economic well-being of the
community.
1. Define the educational, financial, food, shelter, personal preparedness, and personal
security environment ("Socio -Economic Profile") within the community.
2. Set targets and identify gaps in programs and services to elevate the Socio -Economic
Profile of the community.
3. Build and maintain a broad spectrum of partnerships to create a secure community and
improve the education of and access to social and support services.
4. Deploy programs and services that address social and support services deficiencies.
5. Align City ordinances, codes, policies, and resources based on the adopted Socio -
Economic Profile.
D. Establish a comprehensive Health and Safety Program for the City of Meridian.
1. Develop a comprehensive Risks Management program inclusive of risks identification,
mitigation, safety audits, training, and proper resourcing.
2. Develop a comprehensive family -focused Health and Wellness Program for City
employees.
E. Advance sustainable and environmentally healthy practices throughout the City.
1. Promote green building designs, practices, and materials that improve indoor air quality
and overall health.
2. Develop sustainability initiatives in the areas of water conservation, recycling, and
energy efficiency.
3. Promote community based eco -sustainable programs, projects, and services.
Focus Area 5
Arts, Culture, and Recreation
A premier community embraces cultural diversity and promotes an abundant
offering of arts, entertainment, and recreational opportunities. Meridian will
invest in services, facilities, programs, and partnerships to establish itself as an
active and vibrant community that fulfills the diverse cultural and recreational
needs of its people.
A. Spur development of quality, regionally significant facilities for recreation and entertainment in
Meridian.
1. Establish partnerships that foster development of mixed or single use facilities for
performing arts and conferences.
2. Identify desired sports facilities or complexes and establish partnerships that foster their
development.
3. Develop a plan for financing recreation and entertainment facilities.
4. Foster development of Discovery Parhs that uniquely blend arts, entertainment & culture.
B. Develop, maintain, and foster a portfolio of activities and events that serve the diverse needs of
the citizens of Meridian.
1. Determine, attract, promote, and maintain a "signature" event for the City.
2. Determine the viability of and, if feasible, develop a "farmers market."
3. Foster development of vibrant downtown entertainment options to meet the needs of
various generations.
4. Set targets, identify gaps, and deploy programs, activities, and events that provide family -
centered recreational opportunities.
C. Foster the infusion of arts in our community.
1. Research and identify a catalog of long-term funding mechanisms and contributors for
supporting arts and culture.
2. Develop a plan to infuse art in public spaces.
3. Connect to the artisan community and promote the education of utilitarian art forms and
their historical significance/value in our community.
Meridian City Council Meeting
DATE: April 14, 2015
ITEM NUMBER:
PROJECT NUMBER:
ITEM TITLE: Department Reports
F. Public Works: Safety Program Update
MEETING NOTES
jg,,�
Community Item/Presentations Presenter Contact Info./Notes
CLERKS OFFICE FINAL ACTION
DATE:
E-MAILED TO
STAFF
SENT TO
AGENCY
SENT TO
APPLICANT
r NOTES
INITIALS
(�/rE IDIAN*,-IZI DAHO
Public Works Department
PW Admin Division
Safety Program
Review & Update
Public Works Department
PWAdmin Division
Why Safety is Important
✓ We care about the safety of employees
✓ We have a legal obligation to fulfill
Safety Program
Update
o Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)
o Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
o National Institute of Occupation Safety & Health (NIOSH)
o National Fire Protection Code (NFPA)
o National Electric Code (NEC)
o American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
o Idaho General Safety & Health Standards
o Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD)
Public Works Department
PWAdmin Division
Guiding Principles
✓ Safety is a culture, not an event
Safety Program
✓ Safety is necessary to sustaining operations
✓ Safety is an investment in the protection of our human
resources
✓ Safety is an essential component of any viable
organization
Public Works Department
PWAdmin Division
Safety Program
A Fully Functional Safety Program Is About...
■ Training and Education
■ Audits —inspections at job sites, facilities
■ Certification and Re -Certification
■ Policy Development and Management
■ Sustaining investment we've already made...
Public Works Department
PWAdmin Division
Work Completed
v' Assessment
Safety Program
✓ Training of Workforce — Basic, Specialty, OSHA 10 -Hr
✓ Facility Inspections — Water, Wastewater Facilities
✓ Job Site Audits
v/ Safety Committee Meetings
✓ 30/60/90 Day Plan Developed to mitigate resource gap
Public Works Department Safety Program
P W Ad m i n Division Assessment Process
Assessment Process
1. Reviewed and checked relevant documentation.
2. Interviewed employees at all levels for knowledge,
awareness, and perceptions.
3. Conducted site and workplace visits.
4. Summarized findings in "Safety Program and
Procedures Assessment" document.
I
Strengths
0
N Good organization structure in place
c� to
Low incident and time loss rates
L-
a o • Basic safety training
5 • 10 -Hr OSHA Certification
r- c • Job site audits
Functioning Safety Committee
Opportunities
v
E Evolving OSHA regulations
0
Best practices of other agencies
a� Specialty training
L a,
� s
X o
W
a�
3
f0
Weaknesses
• New hire orientation a gap in training plan
• Facility inspections need to occur on a regular basis
• Accident investigation and follow up efforts
• Job safety analysis (JSA) needs to be completed
• Lack of safety audits to identify potential hazards
• Work and Right of Way, SDS, Traffic Control training
• Lack of safety consideration in project design
Threats
• Availability of subject matter experts (SME's)
• Contractor practices & behavior regarding safety
Public Works Department
PWAdmin Division
Safety Program
Assessment Process
Observation Prioritization Criteria
1. Catastrophic — requires immediate correction
2. Critical — requires correction within 30 days
3. Moderate — requires correction with 180 days
4. Minor — requires correction within 1 year
5. General Findings — requires correction ASAP or when feasible; other
important implications (financial/security) involved
Public Works Department Safety Program
P W Ad m i n Division Assessment Process
Safety Inspection Findings
215 Total Safety Observations
■ Electrical — overloading circuits, frayed power cords, panels blocked
■ Material Handling/Storage — compressed gases, flammables
■ Emergency Lighting — no exit signs, improperly lit exit signs
■ Compressed Gas — cylinders unsecured, not properly stored
■ Power Tools — guarding, damaged power cords
■ Hand Tools — damaged hammers, homemade tools
■ Pressure Hoses — cracked hoses, no pressure reducer/relief tips
■ PPE — not at job site or improperly stored
■ Hazard Communication — chemicals stored w/o proper labeling
■ Lock-Out/Tag-Out — locked but no identification tags
■ Ladders — stored leaning against walls
Public Works Department
PWAdmin Division
120
IM
.0
Ex
20
J]
Safety Program
Assessment Process
# Observations by Priority
Catastrophic Critical Moderate Minor General
Public Works Department
PWAdmin Division
Work in Process
✓ FY2015 Safety Plan — 30/60/90 Day Plan
✓ New Hire Orientation (NHO)
✓ Safety Projects at WWTP
Safety Program
✓ Address assessment findings — critical, moderate classes
✓ Vehicle Safety Equipment
✓ Safety Committee Meetings
Public Works Department
PWAdmin Division
Work to be Done
✓ Resource the Safety Program
✓ Complete Assessment Work
Safety Program
✓ Specialty Training — Confined Space, Fork lift, Roadway, etc.
✓ Facility Inspections
✓ Job Site Audits
✓ Update Safety Program Manual
Public Works Department
PWAdmin Division
$100,000
$90,000
$80,000
$70,000
$60,000
$50,000
$40,000
$30,000
$20,000
$10,000
M.
Budget vs Actual Spend
Safety Program
Financials
FY2011 FY2012 FY2013 FY2014
■ $ Budget $ Actual
Public Works Department Safety Program
PWAdmin Division
Situational Analysis
Approach to meeting safety requirements by using a
vendor has proven to be unsuccessful. Training of new
hires, completion of safety projects, facility inspections,
job safety audits, and specialty training still needs to be
completed for this year and going forward on a full-time
basis. Public Works currently has no resource available to
do this work.
Public Works Department
PWAdmin Division
Outsource vs In - House
Cost Analysis
FY2013 (550 hrs)
FY2014 (948 hrs)
FY2015 YTD (672 hrs)
FY2016 (2080 hrs)
Outsourced
$225560
$67,784
$152,922
Safety Program
In -House
M
M
$18,851
$77,424
A full-time, dedicated Safety person would increment the FY2015 base budget
by - $12,000
Public Works Department
PWAdmin Division
Here's the Hours of Work...
190
208
90
190
375
955
Safety Program
Training
Audits
JSA
Meetings
Time Off
Policy, SOP
Other
Public Works Department
PWAdmin Division
Recommendation
Safety Program
Amend the FY2015 budget to Hire a FT Safety Program
Manager to replace vendor who currently is not engaged in
providing safety services. This action would amount to an
incremental $12,000 being added to the current base
budget.
Discussion / Questions
Public Works Department
PWAdmin Division
What are others doing?
■ City of Boise — 6 FTE's
Safety Program
■ City
of
Nampa —1 FTE
Director of Safety
■ City
of
Idaho Falls —1
FTE Safety & Risk Manager
■ City of Pocatello —1 FTE Safety & Risk Manager
■ City of Twin Falls —1 FTE Risk Manager
■ City Bend, OR —1
FTE Safety
&Risk
Manager (PW Only)
■ United Water —1FTE
Health
&Safety
Manager
Meridian City Council Meeting
DATE: April 14, 2015 ITEM NUMBER:
PROJECT NUMBER:
ITEM TITLE: Department Reports
G. Public Works Department: Utility Rates Annual Update
MEETING NOTES
�r
Community Item/Presentations Presenter Contact Info./Notes
CLERKS OFFICE FINAL ACTION
DATE:
E-MAILED TO
STAFF
SENT TO
AGENCY
SENT TO
APPLICANT
NOTES
INITIALS
(� M�IE ND�AN*-�-
IDAHO
Public Works Department
Annual Utility Rates Update
Future Fund Considerations
April 14, 2015
Agenda
Enterprise Fund
Rate Model
Recommendations
Future Considerations
Discussion
nterprise Fun
d
Misc Income
Developers/
Republic
Services
Rate Payers
!,,LEnterprise w
Fund
Enterprise Fund
About the Fund
Other
Programs
Personnel,
Operations
&
Maintenance
Outputs
Interfund
Transfers
Enterprise Fund
Utility Account Growth FY08 — FY15ytd
35,000 $25,000,000.00
30,000
$20,000,000.00
25,000
+0020,000
$0.00
FY08
FY09
FY10
FY11
FY12
FY13
$15,000,000.00 (D
FY15ytd
Water 25,332
25,994
26,622
27,113
27,923
28,875
29,690 30,282
Sewer 24,857
25,364
26,054
26,620
27,361
28,357
o
U
Q 15,000
Total Revenue $11,698,745
$13,718,500
$16,825,315
$18,667,957
$19,398,987
$20,035,028
$20,481,918
>
$10,000,000.00
H
10,000
$5,000,000.00
5,000
$0.00
FY08
FY09
FY10
FY11
FY12
FY13
FY14
FY15ytd
Water 25,332
25,994
26,622
27,113
27,923
28,875
29,690 30,282
Sewer 24,857
25,364
26,054
26,620
27,361
28,357
29,279 29,953
Total Revenue $11,698,745
$13,718,500
$16,825,315
$18,667,957
$19,398,987
$20,035,028
$20,481,918
Enterprise Fund
Assessment/Connection Fee Growth FY08 — FY15ybd
Residential & Commercial Assessment Revenue
$35,000,000
$30,000,000
$25,000,000
$20,000,000
$15,000,000
$10,000,000
$5,000,000
$0
Enterprise Fund
Total Fund Revenue FY08 — FY15proj
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Projected
2015
❑ Miscellaneous ❑ Utility Sales ❑ Assessments
ti ls�ti Rat
1
���
Inputs
Rate Model Projection
Inputs:
o Operating Reserve — 4 mos in each Utility N$5.6M
o Emergency Reserve - $5M
o $3M for Wastewater
o $2M for Water
o Regulatory Reserve - $8M
o 10 -year Capital Improvement Plan for Water and Wastewater
o Personal, Operating & Maintenance Budgets
o Revenue
o Recently Adopted Utility Rates and Sewer Connection Fee Increases
Internal Assumptions:
Assumptions
Rate Model Projection
o Execution rates aligned with historical & projected rates
o Revenue
o Personnel
o Operating &Maintenance
o Capital Construction (CIP)
External Assumptions:
o Personnel Cost = 3.0%
o Construction Cost Inflator = 3.0% (ENR)
o Operational Cost Factor = 2.0% (CPI)
❖ Engineering News Record
❖ Consumer Price Index
til■■rel■I��i
•:0
Fund Balance: Current Projections,
So&
$40.000,000
-----
--------
---------
- - - - - -
- -
$30,000,000
--- -----------------------
$20,000,000
- --
---------------------------------
$10,000.000
-- ------------------
- -
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
$0
$1000O'D001
------------
--------
------------------------
j$20,000 000i
------ -
- - - --
-
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - - -
(530,000,0001
—————— —
— — — ——
—
————————
———————
($40:000.000)
2015
2016
2417
2018
2019
2020
2021
2922 2023
2024
2025
—Water
$2,374,205
$1,550,012
$3881901
$646,414
$341,646
$158,383
(5310,093)
($1,505,777) ($2,747,777)
($6,557,328)
($8,843,183)
_%Vastev&ter
$9,991,072
$1,007,729
(V,946,627)
($11,829,836)
($74,291,968)
($14,669,069)
($14,762,660)
(918,856,367) ($24,664,764)
($25,304,910)
($29,083,339)
—TOTAL U E F
$12,365,277
$21557,741
($6,557,726)
($11,183,422)
($131950,322)
($14,510,705)
(¢15,072,752)
(520,462,144) ($47,412,541)
($31,962,238)
($37,926,542)
TOTAL EFB
$31,048,767
$23,378,519
$14,443,794
$9,922,385
$71303,409
$6,894,682
$6,488,123
$1,258,150 ($5,528,795)
($9,910r898)
($15,7031339)
Recommendation
Recommendation
Modeling Results
Fund Strain
Enterprise Fund
Enterprise Fund is Strained:
o Existing Straining: $200M / 10 Years
o Regulatory Costs: $115M
o Growth Costs: $85M
o Financing Gap Currently: $40M
o Requires Debt to Finance
Reserves
Adjustment
Model Adjustments -Reserves
Enterprise Fund
Current State
o Operating Reserve — 4 mos in each Utility N$5.6M
o Emergency Reserve — $5M
o $3M for Wastewater
o $2M for Water
o Regulatory Reserve — $8M
Recommended Reserve Adjustments
o Operating Reserve — 6 mos in each Utility N$8.5M
o Emergency Reserve — $1M
o $500K for Wastewater
o $500K for Water
til■■rel■I��i
•:0
Fund Balance: Recommendation
$40:000:000
-------------------------------------------------------
$30,000,000
----i-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
$20.000.000
- - - - --------
$10,000,000
------------
- - - - - - - -
- -
$0
r
j$10;000:000j
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- -
- - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - -
- - - - -
- - -
{$20,000,0001
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
--
-----
--------
---------
--------
-----
($30.700,01}01
2415
2016
2417
2418
2019
2020
2,021
2422
2023
2024
2025
—water
52,668,342
$1,814,406
$622,834
$849,097
$512,280
$2961124
{$206,451)
($1,536,323)
($2,713,803)
(16,659,749)
($8,882,940)
—Wastemter
$18,855,230
511,832,946
$3,838,684
($1,085,422)
($3,589,468)
($4,4091523)
x$4,147,139)
(58,,285,958)
($14,144,611)
5$14,828,159)
(518,655,174)
—NOTAL U EF
$21,523,532
513,647,352
$4,461,514
($236,325)
($3,077,188)
($3,713,.399)
(54,353,194)
($9,822,291)
($16,854,41,4)
($21,487,948)
($27,538,113)
TOTAL EF6
331,048,767
$23,378,519
$14,403,794
$9,922,385
$7,303,409
$6,894,682
$6,488,123
$1,258,154
($5,528,795)
($9,910,898)
($15,703,339)
Future
Considerations
Work in Progress
Future Considerations
Water Assessment Fee:
o Water Assessment Fee Review
o Public Works
o J -U -B Engineers Updating
o Send for 3rd Party Review
o Results to Council by summer of 2015
Work in Progress
Future Considerations
Fee Leveling:
o Fee Leveling Research & Review
o Public Works, Finance & Community Development
o Determining Equivalent Residential Units
o Multi -family & Commercial
o Results to Council hx, ci immar of )nl i;
Work in Progress
Future Considerations
Indexing:
o Rate and Fee Indexing Research
o Index at beginning of each FY
o Consumer Price Index
o Construction Cost Index
o Bureau of Labor Statistics
o Results to Council by summer of 2015
o Example of Indexing
Example of Indexing
Future Considerations
Water Assessment Fee:
* ENR is Construction Cost Index (Engineering News -Record)
Support for Adjustments & Work in Progress
Enterprise Fund
1) Adjust Reserves:
o Operating Reserve — 6 mos in each Utility N$8.5M
o Emergency Reserve — $1M
o $500K for Wastewater
o $500K for Water
o Begin Spending Regulatory Reserves
2) Indexing on a Fiscal Year Basis:
o Rates
o Fees
3) Continue Work in Progress:
o Water Connection Fee
o Fee Leveling
Discussion
Meridian City Council Meeting
DATE: April 14, 2015 ITEM NUMBER: 7H
PROJECT NUMBER:
ITEM TITLE: Department Reports
H. Legal Department: Resolution No. �S_ 1D1o3 : A Resolution Declaring The
Intent Of The City Of Meridian To Convey To The Ada County Highway District For Right
Of Way Purposes A Portion Of Certain Real Property Located At The SW Corner Of
North Meridian Road And West Railroad Street
MEETING NOTES
Oa�
Ute.
Community Item/Presentations Presenter Contact Info./Notes
CLERKS OFFICE FINAL ACTION
DATE:
E-MAILED TO
STAFF
SENT TO
AGENCY
SENT TO
APPLICANT
NOTES
INITIALS
CITY OF MERIDIAN RESOLUTION NO. I S- i OCo3
BY THE CITY COUNCIL: BIRD, BORTON, CAVENER,
MILAM, ROUNTREE, ZAREMBA
A RESOLUTION DECLARING THE INTENT OF THE CITY OF MERIDIAN TO
CONVEY TO THE ADA COUNTY HIGHWAY DISTRICT FOR RIGHT OF WAY
PURPOSES A PORTION OF CERTAIN REAL PROPERTY LOCATED AT THE SW
CORNER OF NORTH MERIDIAN ROAD AND WEST RAILROAD STREET;
INSTRUCTING THE CITY CLERK TO ESTABLISH AND NOTICE A HEARING TO
REVIEW THE PROPOSED CONVEYANCE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE
DATE.
WHEREAS, whenever the City Council proposes to convey any real property, Idaho
Code Section 50-1402 requires a declaration of the City Council setting forth the value or
minimum price, if any, it intends to receive as a result of such conveyance or exchange; and,
WHEREAS, the declaration may be in the form of an explanation of an intended
exchange or conveyance for other than monetary consideration; and,
WHEREAS, when it is determined by the City Council to be in the City's best interest
that a transfer or conveyance be made, the City Council may, pursuant to the procedure set forth
in Idaho Code Section 50-1403, authorize the transfer or conveyance of any real property owned
by the City to any tax supported governmental unit, with or without consideration; and,
WHEREAS, the Ada County Highway District has requested that the City Council of the
City of Meridian set a hearing to consider the transfer of certain real property from the City to
the District for right-of-way purposes; and,
WHEREAS, following the declaration of intent, the City Clerk shall publish a summary
of the action taken by the City Council and provide notice of a public hearing before the City
Council at least fourteen (14) days prior to the date of the hearing.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY
COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MERIDIAN, IDAHO:
Section 1. That it is hereby declared that the City of Meridian intends to convey to the
Ada County Highway District certain real property located at the SW corner of North Meridian
j Road and West Railroad Street, as legally described in the attached Exhibit A.
RESOLUTION DECLARING INTENT TO CONVEY REAL PROPERTY — PAGE 1 oro
Section 2. That the City of Meridian hereby declares its intention to convey the real
property without consideration because it is in the City's best interest that the Ada County
Highway District take ownership of the property for right-of-way purposes.
Section 3. That the City Clerk is hereby instructed to publish a summary for this
declaration of intent and establish a public hearing date to review the proposal to convey the real
property.
Section 4. That the City Attorney is hereby instructed to bring forth a proposed
Ordinance as required by Idaho Code Section 50-1403 for the consideration of the City Council
at the conclusion of the public hearing.
Section 5. That this Resolution shall be in full force and effect immediately upon its
adoption and approval.
ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Meridian, Idaho, this � day of
2015.
APPROVED by
2015.
ATTEST:
LE
the Mayor of the City of Meridian, Idaho, this I `C day of
V
� ci;y of
City Clerk
APPROVED:
,moi �2
Mayor T e
We
RESOLUTION DECLARING INTENT TO CONVEY REAL PROPERTY —PAoE2 oF4
r�lr.��
City of Meridian, Idaho
City Hall West Side Parking Lot
Right -of -Way Requirement Description
A parcel located in the NE'/a of the SE %a of Section 12, Township 3 North, Range 1 West, Boise
Meridian, and being a part of Lots 12 and 13 of Block 1 of J•M, ANDERSON'S ADDITION as
shown in Book 2 of Plats at Page 71 in the office of the Recorder, Ada County, Idaho, more
particularly described as follows:
Commencing at a brass cap monument marking the northeasterly corner of said NE %a of the
SE '/Y fi•om which a brass cap monument marking the southeasterly corner of the SE '/4 of said
Section 12 bears S 0°43'29" W a distance of 2652.68 feet;
Thence S 0043'29" W along the easterly boundary of said NE '/ of the SE 1/ a distance of
1032.37 feet to a point;
Thence leaving said easterly boundary N 88°39'00" W a distance of 45.00 feet to a 5/8 inch
diameter iron pin on the southerly boundary of said Lot 13 and the POINT OF BEGINNING;
i' Thence continuing N 8839'00" W a distance of 111.83 feet to a 5/8 inch diameter iron pin
marking the southwesterly corner of said Lot 13;
Thence N 0°51'38" E along the westerly boundary of said Lot 13 a distance of 20.50 feet to a 5/8
inch diameter iron pin;
Thence leaving said westerly boundary S 88°39100" E a distance of 99.36 feet to a 5/8 inch
diameter iron pin;
Thence N 27°28'45" E a distance of 27.59 feet to a 5/8 inch diameter iron pin on the westerly
right-of-way of Meridian Road;
Thence S 0°43'29" W along said westerly right-of-way a distance of 45.28 feet to the POINT OF
BEGINNING,
This parcel contains 2,446 square feet (0.056 acres) and is subject to any easements existing or in
use.
Prepared by: Glenn K. Bennett, PLS
Civil Survey Consultants, Incorporated �PyYt PFlOF�3°
April 6, 2015 Q ap gUFiv O
WINUrm1
EXHIBIT MAP TO ACCOMPANY RIGHT-OF-WAY REQUIREMENT
DESCRIPTION AND BEING A PART OF LOTS 12 AND 13 OF
BLOCK 1 OF J.M. ANDERSON'S ADDITION LOCATED IN THE
NE 1/4 OF THE SE 1/4 OF SECTION 12,
TOWNSHIP 3 NORTH, RANGE 1 WEST, BOISE MERIDIAN,
CITY OF MERIDIAN, ADA COUNTY, IDAHO
SCALE: 1 "=30'
-- I
I
9 I
I
to I �
I a0eg I
---------_-
✓
W. ANVERSON5 AODIMN
I1 I
17
y
----------- -^;�
O� I
y1
� I
O
O
I o
-I _45, 00'
IV 8839 DO" W
OF
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - -
RAILROAD
312
,ML SURVEY CONSULTANTS, INC.
CONSULTING ENGINEERS AND LAND SURVEYORS
2693 SOUTH MERIDIAN ROAD
MERIDIAN, IDAHO 93842
(20B)9BB-/312
FOX 999-0323
Meridian City Council Meeting
DATE: April 14, 2015 ITEM NUMBER: 71
PROJECT NUMBER:
ITEM TITLE: Department Reports
I. City Council Liaison/Committee Updates
MEETING NOTES
Community Item/Presentations Presenter Contact Info./Notes
CLERKS OFFICE FINAL ACTION
DATE:
E-MAILED TO
STAFF
SENT TO
AGENCY
SENT TO
APPLICANT
NOTES
INITIALS
Meridian City Council Meeting
DATE: April 14, 2015 ITEM NUMBER: $
ITEM TITLE:
Future Meeting Topics
PROJECT NUMBER:
MEETING NOTES
Community Item/Presentations Presenter Contact Info./Notes
CLERKS OFFICE FINAL ACTION
DATE:
E-MAILED TO
STAFF
SENT TO
AGENCY
SENT TO
APPLICANT
NOTES
INITIALS
Meridian City Council Meeting
DATE: April 14, 2015 ITEM NUMBER:
PROJECT NUMBER:
ITEM TITLE:
9. Executive Session Per Idaho State Code 67-2345 (1) (d): (d) To Consider Records that
are Exempt from Disclosure as Provided in Chapter 3, Title 9, Idaho Code
MEETING NOTES
Community Item/Presentations Presenter Contact Info./Notes
CLERKS OFFICE FINAL ACTION
DATE:
E-MAILED TO
STAFF
SENT TO
AGENCY
SENT TO
APPLICANT
NOTES
INITIALS