City Council - workshop

Well, hello, everybody. We've got two items and then an executive session for today's work session. So I'll go ahead and call us to order. Clerk, will you call the roll? Corliss. Here. Halliburton.

Here.

Morales.

Here.

Nash.

Here.

Fed. Here. Willis. Here. All present. Thank you. First up, we've got interim budget changes. Hi, Alicia.

Hi. Good evening. Good evening. Mayor, council members, I have nine interim budget changes for your consideration this evening. The first item is from the airport. With the terminal expansion and the opening of the new rental car facility this fall, the airport is requesting approximately two months' worth of salary costs in FY26, so they may hire nine FTEs. It includes one accounting analyst, four custodians, two floor technicians, and two maintenance technicians. So these positions are fully supported by the airport fund and are necessary to maintain customer service and operational standards as the airport grows. The ongoing costs starting in FY27 will be about $720,000. Madam Mayor.

Yeah, do you want to take questions or do you want to let Alicia go all the way through? Are you finished with the first?

I'm finished with, yes.

Thank you so much. I had a clarifying question. So these FTEs are actually in the FY27 budget. What this does is just get them early.

Madam Mayor, Councilmember Willits, these positions are not in the 27 budget. These would just be hiring them in 26. There are additional positions in 27 that are requested as well.

So it would be this plus what's in the 27 budget? Correct. Okay. Madam Mayor, follow-up? One of the things that I think is really helpful for folks to know is that these funds come from airplane taxes. It's not coming from property taxes, but I am curious... as to why we are knowing about these now when we've had so much of a ramp up on the rental car facility and are really excited about it. I'm just curious, like, this seems new. I would have thought we would have known before.

Madam Mayor, Council Member Willits, that's a fair question. I think these, as the airport has been planning for this expansion, I think these positions have been planned and needed. I think It's just the urgency for them has come to light as they're getting closer to opening and the need to recruit and train them for this fall opening of the rental car facility is the urgency now.

That makes sense. I can appreciate that. And obviously you want something rolled out well at the beginning. So I understand you need people, but that's very, very helpful. Thank you so much.

The next IBC is also from the airport. This is a $79,000 budget neutral appropriation request with airport funds for a percent for the art project to create a history exhibit at the new rental car facility. The exhibit will take the form of an immersive wall wrap that'll highlight the history of the Boise airport through photographs and interpretive displays. The next request, this one is from Planning and Development Services. This request is actually advancing a project that is in the FY27 budget. This is $2 million for the North Block Redevelopment Project, advancing it in 26 rather than waiting until October. This will allow the contractor to move directly from the south block to the north block, and it'll improve construction efficiency, reduce impacts to downtown businesses, and complete the project sooner. So then once we start fiscal year 27, NIBC will follow to reduce that $2 million from the 27 budget. So it's just advancing it a couple of months for efficiencies in the project. The fourth IBC is also from Planning and Development Services. This is a request of $84,000 from HCD's City Housing Investment Funds to reimburse the impact fee fund for fees exempted under city ordinance for an affordable senior housing project. So the ordinance allows affordable housing projects to receive an impact fee exemption, but the impact fee fund must be reimbursed. to ensure that the development fund does not subsidize the exemption. So this action fulfills that requirement using the city housing investment funds. The next one is also from Planning and Development Services. This request is for approval of $1.5 million from community development block grant funds, as well as city housing investment funds to purchase approximately 1.6 acres on North Cole Road for future affordable housing. The property is located near bus transit routes and commercial services and supports the city's land trust strategy. The sixth IBC is from Public Works. This request is to increase the expense and revenue budgets at Public Works by $50,000, so it's net neutral, to allow for the execution of the Rocky Mountain Institute grant that will fund electric vehicle charging infrastructure at two city-owned affordable housing sites at South Capitol Boulevard and West Franklin. Project completion is anticipated by December 2026. The seventh IBC is also from Public Works. This request combines grant funding, available fund balance and a small reallocation of existing appropriations to address aging irrigation system infrastructure serving about 400 properties. So these improvements will improve reliability, reduce future maintenance needs and leverage outside grant funds to help reduce costs for rate payers. And the request includes increasing the revenue budget by $109,000 with the grant from Idaho water resource boards aging infrastructure program. And appropriation increase of 156,000 and fund balance and then reallocating a budget from the pump stations modernization project. The next two are also from Public Works, the Lander Street Water Renewal Facility Project. It's a budget neutral reallocation of $6.7 million of existing appropriations from the Recycled Water Project to address capital increased costs at the Lander Street Project for the primary and secondary clarifiers. Updated equipment pricing and procurement costs are driving the need for this additional budget in that project. And then the last one, it's budget neutral. It's allocating $155,000 of existing appropriations from the water renewal collection system to address facility maintenance needs that were identified later in the budget after the budget adoption to replace a failed access gate and fire sprinkler improvements. And then this will not impact the water renewal collection system, but it is just to continue with some maintenance and repair needs. And Madam Mayor, Council Members, that concludes the interim budget changes. I'm happy to take any questions that you may have.

All right, looks like- Yeah, Mayor, this probably isn't a question for now, but just so happy to see all these. I am interested in, I'm number six with Public Works, and it kind of gets into the weeds, but I think it's great that we were able to install, use some grant funds to install some of the electrical vehicle charging. I am interested to know how we determine whether or not it will be for residents and guests only, and how we decide when it's gonna be open to the public in addition, because it looks like we've got one for each. Either is great. But yeah, I can follow up on some specific things there, but excited to see some of the work done to continue to make sure that we're moving in that direction, despite some funding challenges that we've had to install some other ones in the past.

All right. With that, I'll take motion.

Madam Mayor, I move approval of the interim budget changes.

Second the motion.

We have a motion and a second. Clerk? Stead? Yes. Willis? Yes. Horliss? Yes. Halliburton? Yes. Morales? Yes. Nash? Yes.

All in favor, motion carries.

All right. Next up, we've got a historic preservation plan update with Jesse Lyle. Welcome. Thanks, Alicia.

Good afternoon, Madam Mayor and council members. Today I'm here to give an update on the historic preservation plan. So as some background, the existing historic preservation plan was adopted in 1979 and is almost historic itself. In 2025, council granted a budget update to update the plan to reflect the changes throughout Boise over the last almost 50 years and to update our historic preservation vision. So to walk you through the process so far, in November of 2025, the consulting firm Northwest Vernacular was hired, and their initial work was doing research and data collection. In January of 2026, a public survey was released on the city's webpage and shared with each neighborhood association. The survey ran through June 10, 2025, and 562 responses were received. Also in January, the consultant staff sent a draft of the existing conditions of historic preservation in the city. In March of 2026, an internal draft was sent to staff with rough goals, strategy, and recommendations. This was reviewed by staff for feasibility and alignment with overall city goals. In April, the consultant held one-on-one meetings with the Historic Preservation Commission members and targeted work sessions were held with city staff, historic preservation professionals, and developers and contractors who frequently work in the historic districts. Recently at the end of June, the first full public draft of the preservation plan was released. Here's a snapshot of the resulting SWAT analysis. There's a lot on here, so I can just provide a few highlights. For strengths, the consultant team found that the city's website and information on historic preservation was pretty robust, that we had qualified city staff, we had 12 locally designated historic districts, and some successfully city-owned rehabilitation projects like the Boise Depot. For weaknesses, they found that the historic preservation ordinance was a little confusing and not all in one place, that we did not have a strong demo ordinance, that we had a lack of meaningful penalties for noncompliance with a certificate of appropriateness processes and limited historic properties designated on the south side of the river. For opportunities, they found that we could better collaborate with arts and history. We could develop additional incentives as a city and provide a more robust public education. And for threats, they found that there was some development pressure on established neighborhoods that are not designated. There were some issues with demolition by neglect and that there was some issues with restructuring of SHPO at the state level. Next, we're gonna dive into a little bit more about the recent draft plan. On the screen is the vision statement included in the June draft. To create and sustain a community through the preservation of historic places that have shaped Boise's identity. Also included in the June draft are four supporting goals, as well as strategies and recommendations for each goal. The four goals can be grouped into buckets, with the first of city planning, where the goal is to have an esteemed historic preservation program with well-trained commission. Next is stewardship, where the goal is that the city leads the community in promoting stewardship of historic properties. Third is incentives, where the goal is to create a variety of programs to help property owners with upkeep. And finally, we have public outreach and education, where the goal is to share resources and help the public understand the importance of historic preservation. And I can go into more details of that if you'd like to hear it as well. Since the first public draft was recently released, we have, excuse me, We have some Community engagement opportunities scheduled with a news release and other outreach starting this week, there are two in person events scheduled for the end of July on the 28th we will be at the. library at colon you stick for an open house. And then on the 29th, there will be another open house at the Boise Depot. For anyone unable to make either date, a digital copy of the open house boards as well as a full draft of the plan are available on the city's website with a comment box soliciting feedback from the public. Additionally, we have elected a historic preservation subcommittee to work directly with the consultants and give them feedback. Finally, I'd like to outline next steps. After the public feedback opportunities at the end of the month and subcommittee feedback, The consultant will modify the draft plan. A final draft will be submitted to the Historic Preservation Commission in September for a public hearing and recommendation. And after that, the plan will be in front of city council for an additional public hearing and adoption later this year. That's all I have prepared, but I'm happy to take any questions or comments. And I can also go into some more details if that's helpful.

Madam Mayor, Chelsea, thanks so much for doing this work. I'm really excited about this. I knew that our historic guidelines were out of date and could use an update and I didn't realize quite how out of date about 50 years of the last time it sounds like it's been that these policies come from and obviously our city has changed a ton. I'm excited to see what comes from this continued work and really appreciate all you're putting into it. A couple of questions. Do we have an opportunity to see those survey results?

Madam Mayor and council members, so the survey results are all included in the initial draft that's been released. So you can go ahead and see in the appendix all 562 in there. Thank you.

And then, Madam Mayor, another question. Um, I have, um, I think I have a unique position because I have two very engaged neighborhood associations in my district with conflicting opinions, I think on historic preservation, but I'm curious how I know that they're also very, they have some members that are very eager to participate in the public engagement. How are those opportunities being promoted, do you know, and have the neighborhood associations been invited to participate in those specifically?

Madam Mayor and council members, yes, so we definitely have involved the neighborhood associations. As I said, the survey was sent directly to each association, so all of their members could participate in that first round of just kind of wanting to hear what people knew about historic preservation already, where there could be some improvements, and just kind of like the public's initial first takes. So then, again, we've had some targeted outreach, but since the draft is released and we'll have those two public outreach opportunities, again, going to start advertising that this week. And if representatives from the Neighborhood Association can't make that, they still have the opportunity to comment online as well.

Great. Thank you. I guess, lastly, Madam Mayor, I would add specifically that I hope the opportunities of the libraries and things like that are specifically sent to the impacted neighborhood associations. And perhaps it's all neighborhoods, right, in the long run. But I know that they're eagerly awaiting those invitations and opportunities. Thank you so much, Jessie. Appreciate it.

Madam Mayor. Jesse, thanks so much. A couple of years ago, we had a really, I think, startling case that kind of got us talking a little bit more. As I recall, there was a homeowner that needed to replace the windows, newly installed windows in her garage because she was in the historic district, even though the garage was not historic. Will the survey address things like that? And I guess if not, how could it? Because that was a tough meeting for everybody. Oh, you're gonna phone a friend?

Oh, I was like, what is happening over there? I was getting a little nervous.

Sorry, that was an alarm.

Apologies, Madam Mayor and Council Members. Okay, so to recap your question, you're asking if this will address some of the potential misunderstandings with people who are in the historic district, may have done some work and didn't realize they were in the historic district, and how?

Yeah, I guess maybe let me flesh the question out a little bit more. As I recall, part of the struggle is that the way that the historic district was created was kind of a catch-all, whether your property was historic or not. Is there an opportunity to ensure that folks can invest in their property and us maintain the historic character, which we all love? And will the survey address those kind of issues that have come to council that have cost homeowners money?

I'll jump in here. I'll do this one, Jesse. There will be opportunity to take feedback from residents in general about what's working, what's not. But those issues are actually policy decisions that ultimately, if changed, would have to be changed by council and change the guidelines. that we have for the districts in general. So this is a chance for people to engage in the process and we'll, I imagine that, and you can go into more detail if you've got it about the types of questions we ask, but to get at some of those specific things will be council action afterwards.

And if Madam Mayor, also Council Member Willits, I think the The survey specifically has already happened. Is that right, Jesse? And the next steps, maybe you can give a little bit more detail again on what those next steps for public feedback can be.

Yeah, Madam Mayor and Council Members, first I'd just like to clarify the Historic Preservation Plan is more like a guiding document of visions, goals, and potential recommendations. So more like, you know, the blueprint Boise for historic districts and historic goals within the city. So I think what your question was addressing specifically is more like policy and guidelines aspects. And that's not what we're looking at at this point in time. Right now we're doing more of the visioning. So if those like minute changes or specific changes were to be made in the future, that would be an update to the guidelines or to code. And so that would come before council for ultimate decisions. Okay.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Jesse, would that go through the Historic Preservation Commission first? Okay, great. Thank you.

Madam Mayor, I've got a question. It might kind of end on the same lines of discussion here. So I didn't make it through all 176 pages, but there is a section that kind of talks a little bit about energy efficiency. And I'm wondering if you could just talk a little bit about some of the discussions that have happened and putting this together related to how do we How do we maintain our historic integrity while also opening up the door to more efficient and sustainable materials, solar panels, those types of things? Is this guiding document going to kind of give us some space to evaluate those things from a policy lens?

Madam Mayor and Council Members, that's a good question. Again, this preservation plan is giving recommendations on how to look at historic districts and look at historic properties now and in the future. Some of the recommendations that you're touching on are to work with the Climate Action Team, potentially Idaho Power. We already do allow solar panels in historic districts, so kind of open up some of those potential opportunities in the future on how to incorporate more sustainability aspects within the historic districts.

Yeah, great. That might be one of just my areas of input here is that as we are looking at this plan, and maybe if it's not addressed in a different section, I think that there may be some room in the energy efficiency area for us to, again, make sure that we understand that this is something that we want to balance and understanding that, you know, a potentially a solar panel on a street facing roof in a historic district isn't necessarily taking away the historic integrity, but I think opening the doors to evaluate that. So there's maybe, maybe possibly some room to expand in that area just to make sure that we're having that discussion. Cause kind of going back on a few of the, applications that council member Waltz is referring to and some other ones that we've seen. Those have been a lot of the conversations that we've had related to energy efficiency, the different types of windows, the different types of materials and stuff we could use. So maybe there's a little bit more room there. And then one other question, and again, could be a different document. Did anything come up within these discussions, the surveys related to historic trees?

Historic what?

Trees.

Oh, trees.

Madam Mayor and Council Members, I do believe there is a couple of recommendations in there about trees. I also haven't, for full disclosure, got through the whole document yet. But I know that there are some recommendations about working with parks on some tree inventory and history about how we look at trees in historic districts. So that's really all I've seen so far, but I can take that into consideration as well.

Great. Yeah, when we had that slide that kind of went through the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, I kind of saw that as whether it's in the opportunity or weakness, I think the existing plan doesn't provide a whole ton of clarity in regards to some of our historic trees. And I know that's a complex topic because you might have a historic tree that's about to fall down on the house, but it is something that also has come up in our council meetings and in some historic preservation meetings related to historic trees that may be in the neighborhood. But I appreciate all the work that's gone into this. I think that there's, you know, continued work. There's policy work, I think, on our side as council. And I think that having a document, the community's input, and I think some of those ongoing opportunities you were talking about to engage in the public meetings will be a great opportunity to have those discussions.

Madam Mayor? Jesse, thanks so much for presenting this as... Councilmember Willits had mentioned, I recall a few meetings talking specifically about windows and what type of material can be used. So I guess I'm saying that I think this conversation is very timely. But just the one comment I have is on the location because it's more procedural for engaging with the public. I see we have a meeting, I think it was at Cole Library. And I'm wondering if this is just a little bit too far removed from the historic district and if maybe we should either have another or look to move it somewhere closer to the historic district itself?

There's one at Cole and Eustick Library and also one at the Boise Depot. And because our historic preservation plan currently is so outdated, there's potential to add historic districts in other areas of the city that are still intact and over 50 years old. So I think engaging the community as a whole and not just the historic districts that we have active was part of the reason that we chose those locations. But I think we could potentially look into adding another one closer to existing historic districts if that's something that you'd like to see.

Madam Mayor Jesse Thank you yeah that makes sense to have to make sure that we're getting data from the city, but I do think we may want to look to having one, even if it's city hall or somewhere a little bit closer. So people aren't having to make it their way across town. Thank you.

All right. Is that your last slide?

Yeah.

Okay. I didn't want to cut you off. Really appreciate the work that you and the team have put into this and the feedback that we've gotten from the public. Look forward to the next steps of this. And yeah, that's old. There's been a lot of history since 1979.

Go ahead.

Great. Thank you, Jessie. Thank you.

Thanks, Jesse. Madam Mayor, pursuant to Idaho Code section 74-206-1J, I move to enter executive session to communicate with legal counsel on labor negotiations.

Second.

Clerk?

Dead.

Yes.

Willard? Yes. Horlitz? Yes. Halliburton? Yes. Morales?

Yes.

Nash?

Yes.

All in favor, motion carries. All right, we will be back here at 6. I know, then I was like, oh, I just said I was really old.

Yeah, you want that charger? I just need it at 6. You can have it until then.

Thank you.