CC - Applicant Letter to Mayor C H D Kent Goldthorpe, President
Dave McKinney,Vice-President
Jim D. Hansen,Commissioner
Mary May,Commissioner
Alexis Pickering,Commissioner
September 1, 2021
City of Meridian
Honorable Mayor Simison
33 E. Broadway Ave
Meridian, ID 83642
Honorable Mayor Simison,
I want to thank you for the long-standing partnership that ACHD and Meridian have enjoyed. We have seen
great successes from the smallest of projects to those that were quite complex such as the Meridian Split
Corridor. As you know,the City and ACHD have been working well on multiple projects to support Meridian's
growth and congestion challenges. Most recently,ACHD is leading the effort to design the Linder Overpass, your
top priority.
I am growing concerned however about ACHD's proposed Ustick Maintenance Complex,which ACHD has
proposed,to provide greater and more expeditious service to the City of Meridian. Notwithstanding the funding
challenges that we are all facing from the Legislature's new tax laws, it appears that Meridian wants to place
unreasonable conditions on ACHD,to include what some may consider an unreasonable exaction of a major
capital project as a condition for the Ustick Maintenance Complex development entitlements. As you know,
ACHD has negotiated in good faith and has met and exceeded all of Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission's
reviews and recommendations, which was approved. During the recent Meridian City Council hearings and
negotiations with City Staff,the City's has expressed concern that ACHD will not fulfill the development
conditions. In doing so,the City has maintained that Meridian must maintain the maximum legal leverage to
ensure that ACHD will fulfill all the development conditions. I even understand that some have suggested that
Meridian has demanded more concessions from ACHD than they would from any developer. I find this
concerning and a setback to our interagency relationship.
In summary, I believe that it is in our mutual interests to defer any further discussions on ACHD's Ustick
Maintenance Complex for six months in order to allow more time for us to look for potential solutions and to
better understand how the Legislature's most recent tax policy will impact ACHD's ability to fund future projects.
Sincerely,
1 9(0w(9�
Kent Goldthorpe
ACHD Commission President
Ada County Highway District 9 3775 Adams Street•Garden City,ID•83714 9 PH 208 387-6100•FX 345-7650 9 www.achdidaho.org