City Council - Regular Meeting

20 years of knowledge with the city where we unexpectedly don't have a quorum. We know we have one on vacation, one at work, and a third who thought was going to be here not responding. So we're going to sit at ease. If we get that fourth person for a quorum, we will do our business. If not, we will continue. Hopefully, we can at least get someone to call in for the 6 o'clock meeting where we have public hearings. but we can't take any comments or we can't receive the information. I know we do have to have our consent agenda, but even the receiving of the information on the other two items, we can't do unless we can get to a notice meeting. So sit at ease, talk amongst yourselves. Don't feel the need to be quiet, but not much we can do for right now.

Hey, Chris, can you hear me okay? We can hear you. Thank you.

Hey guys, I'm just getting my camera working. But I am here. Sorry.

Thank you, Councilwoman. Also, we'll call the meeting order for the record. It is July 20th at 6 p.m. We'll begin tonight's regular city council meeting with roll call attendance.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Councilwoman Strader.

Here.

Councilman Whitlock. Here. Councilwoman Little-Roberts. Here. Councilman Overton. Here. Mayor Simison.

Here. Next item is the Pledge of Allegiance. If you'd all please rise and join us in the Pledge. I pledge allegiance. Next time on the agenda is community invocation, which there we go. Good, Mick. They gave me a different one. It didn't have the who's going to do it, so I'm glad that's why you're here. If you'd all please join us in this community invocation or take this as a moment of silence or reflection. Mick, good to see you.

Father, we thank you for the economic vitality that this community enjoys, and even in the middle of all this growth, it still remains a quality place to live. We pray for our schools as the kids are out and enjoying summer and just pray for preparation for the fall. We thank you, too, for this new project that will finish the square, the Heritage Square. And thank you for the partners that have come together to create a really spectacular place for downtown Meridian. There are many competing interests as this valley grows. There's water, power, and just how to provide services. I just pray for wisdom for our council, for our mayor as they make decisions on how to allocate permitting and how to meet the needs of this community. Again, just that we would continue to honor you and to be grateful for what we have. In Jesus' name, amen.

Thank you. Okay, up next is adoption of the agenda.

Mr. Mayor. Councilman Overton. Take me a second here to explain the agenda tonight. We had to cancel the work session at 4.30. So we need to amend tonight's agenda to add items one through 23 from the 4.30 work session to the six o'clock regular meeting. Item one through 22 will be consent agenda items. Item 23 will be a department report and it will be heard after the public hearings. in tonight's agenda also if you're here for item 28 which is the public hearing that's continued on cherry blossom East that it has a motion tonight to be continued until September 8th and we will make that motion when that item comes up. And with that Mister mayor I move that we approve the agenda with the changes second.

And most of the second to adopt the agenda as amended is there any discussion. If not, on favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed nay. You guys have it. And the agenda is agreed to as amended. So up next, anything under. Mr. Mayor.

Yes. It's not on here, but I think up next is going to be our consent agenda.

It should be the announcements and recognition and public forum first. Anything under announcements and recognition? Anything in their public farm is cooking was sent up that's where nobody signed up. OK now move to the consent agenda.

Mister mayor councilman over to move that we approve the consent agenda for the mayor to sign the clerk to a test.

I have a motion second to prove the consent agenda is a discussion. If not on favor sit signify by saying aye aye. Those name you guys have it and the consent agenda is agreed to there were no items move from the consent agenda and the department report will be following the public hearing so with that will move to item 24 which is public hearing for proposed fall 2026 be scheduled the ready and parks and recreation department will open this public hearing with staff comments from Mr. White.

Mr. Mayor and Council, thanks for having me tonight. In front of you are the fees for our next fall activity guide. And just for clarification, these activity guide fees do not include non-residents I spoke about a week ago. This is just the activity guides as they normally are presented in front of you guys. So with that, I'll stand for questions.

Thank you. Council, any questions for staff? Okay. Thank you. Mr. Clerk, do we have anyone sign up to provide testimony on this item?

Mr. Mayor, we did not. Okay.

Is there anybody present who would like to provide any public testimony regarding the fee schedule or the Meridian Parks and Recreation Department? If so, you can come forward at this time, or if you're online, use the raise your hand feature. Seeing no one coming forward and no one raising their hand, do I have a motion to close the public hearing? Councilman Locke.

I move we close the public hearing on agenda item number 24, the proposed fall 2026 fee schedule for Meridian Parks and Rec. Second.

I have a motion to second to close the public hearing. All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye. Aye.

Opposed nay. The ayes have it. The public hearing is closed. Next item up is item number 25, which is resolution number 26-2592. Mr. Mayor. Councilman Locke.

Move that we approve agent item number 25 resolution number 26 2592 a resolution adopting the fall 2026 fee schedule for meridian parks and recreation department.

Second. Have a motion second to approve resolution between six dash two 592 is their discussion. If not, call the roll.

Thank you, Mr Mayor straighter.

I would lock little Roberts over to buy.

All ayes, motion carries. The item is agreed to. Next item is item 26, which is a public hearing for Victory State Center H2026-0016. We will open this public hearing with staff comments.

Good evening, Mayor, members of the council. Next item on the agenda is the annexation and conditional use permit for Victory Stakes Center. The applicant requests annexation of 5.81 acres of land with the R-8 zoning district and a conditional use permit to construct a 22,630 square foot church. The site is generally located at the northwest corner of Victory Road and Linda Road, and the future land use designation is low-density residential, and the current zoning is RUT in Ada County. The applicant's proposal to develop a church on the site is generally consistent with the low-density residential flume designation. We typically anticipate residential uses in this designation. However, there are allowances for some non-residential uses, which does include a church. The applicant is not proposing to put any residential on the site and states that the primary use of the site will be for Sunday worship, with some meetings being on weeknights after 5 p.m. So this is the concept plan on the screen. One of the unique aspects of this project is site access. This is due to the site configuration. It's an odd shape and the future roundabout at Linder and Victory intersection. The applicant worked closely with ACHD throughout the review process. Because the planned roundabout and the property's limited frontage on Linder Road, ACHD had significant concerns regarding access management. As a result, ACHD only approved a single access point for the subject property, and that would be furthest away from the roundabout, future roundabout. The applicant's narrative also indicates that the church could accommodate up to 300 applicants at one time. However, the primary use facility will be used for Sunday worships. While some limited activities are anticipated during the week, the majority of the traffic will occur on Sundays when roadway volumes are generally lower than weekday peak hours. The applicant has agreed to implement traffic mitigation measures if necessary, including providing personnel to assist with traffic control on Sundays should congestion become an issue. Because the site is limited to a single access point, staff is requiring the applicant to provide cross access to the west and to the north. Staff intentionally did not identify a specific location for these connections because the surrounding properties are currently large estate lots. Those properties may or may not develop in the future. However, if redevelopment does occur, the new local streets or private drives are constructed near the church site. It would give the applicant an opportunity to connect to that street or shared driveway with the intent, and the intent behind this is to provide additional access in the future to Linder and maybe further down on Victory Road. The proposed building elevations are shown on the screen. Staff identified one issue with the steeple height. While the zoning code allows steeples to exceed the standard height limit of 35 feet because it does not contain occupiable space, the proposed steeple elevation exceeds the maximum height allowed with the additional 20 feet. So the maximum height that is allowed is 55 feet, and as shown on the screen, it is proposed to be approximately 69 feet. So the applicant is aware of this, and it is a condition of approval with the application, and they did not seem to have a concern with it. So during the Planning and Zoning Commission hearing, four members of the public testified. Testimony included that when the property was donated to the LDS Church, they demolished the site, which damaged the irrigation lateral, preventing the neighbors from receiving water for about a month. The neighbors fixed the issue, but it cost $18,000. The neighbors would like to ensure that the irrigation is not impacted when the site develops and would like to be reimbursed for the money they spent to fix the irrigation issues. In addition, some of the other concerns include future roundabouts in the proximity to their home from that roundabout and whether the subject development is contiguous to city limits and which the subject property is contiguous. The commission is recommending approval of the proposed development, and I'll stand for any questions that you have.

Thank you, Nick. Dallas, any questions for staff? Thank you. With the app, I'd like to come forward.

Good evening. Johnny Watson, 1152 Bond Avenue, Rexburg, Idaho, representing the owner. Appreciate the opportunity to stand here, Mayor, Council, members. Only comments are that since I was unaware of the neighbor issues regarding the irrigation since I was brought I was contracted after the demo of the property, but I committed to making the neighbors whole. which has been done. A check was written for the amount, the $18,000 and something to the neighborhood group. Also, we committed to surveying the existing irrigation line. And as you know, by law were required to not impede any water rights. And so that will be strictly monitored during construction and the final solution. The other issue was I was unaware that the weeds were quite high, and so we had the property mowed also. So I believe the neighborhood concerns have been met since planning and zoning meeting. Thank you.

Thank you. Council, any questions for the applicant?

Mr. Mayor?

Councilman Wallach.

Mr. Watson, thank you for being here. And you heard staff talk about the height of the steeple at 55 feet. Is that a condition that you're okay with?

Yes, we will. When we submit for our building permit, we'll provide new elevations with our vise steeple. Mr. Mayor, follow-up?

Council Member Locke.

and Mr. Watson in reviewing the Planning and Zoning Commission minutes, there was talk about the roundabout and how that might be developed in phases, maybe a single lane and then a double lane at some point. But the concept plan that we have showing on the screen now, will that accommodate the double lane roundabout?

Correct. We waited and I think we found out about mid-December that ACHD had – in their future plan are planning for a double lane. So the layout you see accounts for the template that has been given to us by them and includes the 50-foot right-of-way dedication that they're requiring. Thank you.

Council, any additional questions for the applicant? Thank you very much. Mr. Clerk, do we have anyone signed to provide testimony on this item?

Mr. Mayor, nobody indicated they wanted to speak.

Okay. Is there anybody present that would like to provide testimony on this item? And if you're online, you should raise your hand. Otherwise, you can come forward. Seeing no one coming forward and no one raising their hand. Does the applicant have any final comments? Are they waiving any final comments? Applicant waves, final comments. Council, your direction.

Mr. Mayor.

Councilman Willock.

I move that we close the public hearing on agenda item number 26. Second.

I have a motion and a second to close the public hearing. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed nay, the ayes have it, and the public hearing is closed.

Mr. Mayor.

Aspen Whitlock.

After considering all staff, applicant, and public testimony, I move that we approve file number H2026-0016 as presented in the staff report for the hearing date of July 28th, 2026.

Second. I have a motion and a second to approve item H2026-0016. Is there discussion? If not, call the roll.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Strader?

Aye.

Whitlock? Aye. Roberts?

Aye.

Overton?

Aye. All ayes, motion carried, and the item is agreed to. Next item is item 27, which is a public hearing for Burnside Ridge, H2026-0019. We will open this public hearing with staff comments.

Mayor, we have Sonia coming in line. So give us a few seconds here to get situated and get this one rolling. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. You guys are speedy tonight. The next application before you is a request for a development agreement modification. This site is generally located a quarter mile west of South Linda Road on the south side of West Victory Road. Burnside Ridge Estates subdivision was annexed and received preliminary plat approval in 2024, followed by a subsequent final plat approvals in 24, excuse me, 25 and 26. As part of the annexation process, the applicant entered into a development agreement that includes provisions governing future development of the property. One of those provisions requires future development to incorporate 10-foot-wide detached multi-use pathways within required street buffers along all collector and arterial streets within and abutting the site. The applicant is proposing a modification to the existing development agreement, provision number 5.1E, to allow a 5-foot-wide detached sidewalk instead of a 10-foot-wide detached multi-use pathway along the east side of the northern portion of the Collector Street, South Farmyard Avenue, connecting to West Victory Road. Here's a little diagram of the section here that they're requesting that on. the red section a 10 foot wide detached sidewalk and pathway was required consistent with standard policy along collector and arterial streets the intent of the requirement is to preserve public safety by providing an on-street area for bicycles in lieu of an on in lieu of an on-street bicycle lanes as well as for pedestrians In order to comply with the existing requirement, the applicant states the collector street would need to shift to the west, reducing the depth of the lots along the west property boundary, which have 144 feet lot depths to act as a buffer to the existing adjacent rural residential properties to the west. The lots along the west side of the collector street would also be reduced in depth, which would put the homes closer to the collector street. The applicant is proposing to construct the full collector street section on the northern portion of the site rather than only the half plus 12 foot street section typically required by ACHD because they want to provide safe pedestrian facilities on both sides of the street and a tree-lined entry to the subdivision. On street, dedicated striped bicycle travel lanes are proposed. The area where the five foot wide sidewalk is proposed along the northern portion of the collector street and the area where the 10 foot wide sidewalk is proposed along the southern portion of the collector street is delineated on the exhibit before you, along with their proposed street sections in each area. Minimum 20 foot wide travel lanes are required on either side of the planner islands at the entry of the subdivision to meet fire department access requirements. A landscape plan was submitted as shown on the right, which depicts the proposed street section improvements. Staff is in support of the request of modification since the applicant has proposed to construct the full street section rather than the half street section. The written testimony has been received from Jeff Bauer, Givens Pursley, representing the applicant. Staff will stand for any questions.

Thank you, Sonia. Council, any questions for staff?

Okay.

Would the applicant like to come forward?

All right, good evening, Mayor and Council, Jeff Bauer, 601 West Bannock in Boise. Here tonight on behalf of the applicant, Tresidio Homes, who's the owner and developer of the Burnside Ridge Estates Project. We have some slides to go through, but planning staff, as usual, summarize this really well. I think this is a pretty straightforward application. We have reviewed the staff report. We're in agreement with staff's recommendation to approve this modification. And so in line with the first public hearing tonight, I'm happy to stand for any questions and not belabor the point here. But I do want to answer any questions if there are any.

Council, any questions?

Okay, thank you very much.

Thank you. Mr. Clerk, anyone sign up on this item?

Mr. Mayor, nobody signed up.

Is there anybody present that would like to provide public testimony on this item? Or if you're online, use the raise your hand feature. I see no one coming forward and no one raising their hand. The applicant wave any final comments. The applicant waves any final comments. Council?

Mr. Mayor.

Councilman Whitlock.

I would move that we close the public hearing on agenda item number 27 for Burnside Ridge, age 2026-0019. Second.

I have a motion and a second to close the public hearing. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed nay. The public hearing is closed.

Mr. Mayor.

Councilman Walach.

This one does seem pretty straightforward and appreciate the applicant's willingness to go above and beyond that center line and keep our folks safe. So I would move that we approve H file number H 2026-0019 after considering all staff applicant and public testimony and as presented in the staff report for today's hearing date. Second.

I have a motion, a second to approve item 27, which is H 2026-0019. Is there discussion on the motion? If not, quick call the roll.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Strader? Aye. Woodlock?

Aye.

Little-Roberts? Overton?

Aye. All ayes. Motion carries. The item is agreed to. Thank you very much. Okay. With that, we'll move on to item 27, which is public hearing for H 2025-0030. That was originally continued from January 27th, 2026. And I don't know if I just want to turn directly to council or staff or the applicant for any comments before anything is, any motions are made. Okay.

Mister mayor that's been over to there's no comments from staff for the applicant. We received the information that they want to continue the hearing that was continued from January 27th to a new continuation date of September 8th 2026.

I have a motion a second to continue this item is your discussion on the motion. If not all favor signify by saying aye aye. As they guys have it and the public hearing is continued. And with that we'll move on time 29 which public hearing for blueberry Hill subdivision age 2025 dash 0048 open this public camera staff comments.

Thank you Mister mayor members of the Council the next applications. Before you excuse me just 1 second my. I think it's a little off here, is a request for annexation and zoning in a preliminary plat. This site consists of 8.87 acres of land. It's zoned RUT in Ada County and is located at 4315 North 10 Mile Road on the west side of 10 Mile, midway between Ustick and McMillan Roads. A little history on this property. Back in 2008, an amendment to the future land use map was approved that changed the designation of the subject property from mixed-use wastewater treatment plant to office and low-density residential. The Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map Designation is office on the 1.65 acres along the frontage of the property along 10 Mile Road and low density residential on the remainder of the 7.25 acres of land. Low density residential calls for three or fewer units per acre. The applicant is requesting annexation of 36 acres of land with R4 zoning, which is 7.22 acres, and LO zoning, which is 2.14 acres, for the development of 20 new single-family residential homes with four commercial office buildings along the frontage of 10 Mile, as shown on the concept plan. The proposed uses and residential density of 2.77 units per acre is consistent with that anticipated in the comprehensive plan for this property. A preliminary plat is concurrently proposed to subdivide the property into 24 building lots, and that's 20 residential and four commercial, and 12 common and other lots on 8.87 acres of land. The plat is proposed to develop in two final plat phases due to the city's inability to provide sewer service at this time to the five western lots in phase two. And those are shown in kind of purple there on the left side. The property lies within two different sewer sheds. The white drain trunk shed will provide service for phases one and two will be served by the black cat trunk shed once sewer infrastructure becomes available. There is an existing home and accessory structures on this property that will be removed with development. There is also an existing access easement and driveway from 10 Mile Road across proposed lots one through six, block one, that currently serves the home that will be removed and two other properties. This easement will be vacated with the proposed plat and the driveway will be removed with development. Access will be provided for the two remaining properties via an access easement and common driveway on lot six, block one. When those properties redevelop in the future, the access easement should be vacated and a driveway removed and the area landscaped. One local street access is proposed via 10-mile road for the development in alignment with West Belltower Drive, a collector street on the east side of 10-mile. Stub streets are proposed to adjacent properties to the north, south, and west for future access and interconnectivity upon redevelopment of those parcels. A drive aisle stub is proposed to the south from the office development on the east end of the site, which will serve as a backage road along 10-mile road and connect to the drive aisle being constructed to the south with 10-mile north storage. Cross-access ingress-egress easements should be provided between all commercial lots in the subdivision and to the property to the south. A conceptual redevelopment plan was submitted as shown as requested by staff for the two out parcels adjacent to this site. This shows how they could possibly redevelop in the future with access from proposed local streets. A 25-foot-wide landscaped street buffer is required along 10-mile road, and a 10-foot-wide buffer is required along West Bell Tower Drive on LO zone lots, as shown on the landscape plan. Landscaping is required in accord with UDC standards along internal pedestrian pathways and within common open space areas. A minimum of 12% or 0.87 acres qualified open space is required to be provided in the R4 district. 15% or 1.08 acres is proposed exceeding the minimum standard, which includes 50% of the street buffer along 10-mile road and open space areas within the development, including a large pond and linear open space areas as shown on the qualified open space exhibit. Based on the area of the development, site amenities totaling a minimum of one point are required. Walking paths and a picnic area on a site greater than 5,000 square feet in size is proposed, totaling two points, which exceed the minimum standard. Conceptual building elevations were submitted for the proposed single family residential dwellings as shown that represent the quality of development proposed. Conceptual building elevations were not submitted for the future office buildings. These buildings should be designed to comply with the design standards in the architectural standards manual. The Commission recommended approval of these applications, and Sabrina Durtski, the applicant's representative, testified in favor. There was no one that testified in opposition or commented on the application. Written testimony was received from the applicant's representative in response to the staff report that they are in agreement with the recommended conditions. The Commission was supportive of the proposed project and there were no changes to the staff recommendation There are also now no outstanding issues for council tonight and no written testimony has been received since the Commission hearing That concludes staffs presentation. The applicant is here to present tonight.

Thank you Thank you council any questions for staff besides the fact that so odd that there's no sewer so close to our sewer treatment plant.

I

Councilwoman Roberts.

That was actually going to be my question. And I didn't know if it was a question for Sonia or a question. I think Clint is on line. Doesn't that present kind of an interesting problem that you've got two different sewer sheds in one development? Well, because I don't think there's any even any plan at the moment to get that other one in.

I'd be the applicant can answer that one.

Okay.

All right. Would the applicant like to? Councilman Schroeder? Yes.

I'm sorry, I just had a quick question for Sonia. The only thing I've been struggling with besides, yeah, the sewer kind of boggled my mind is just the out parcel is like right in the middle and it just doesn't feel very cohesive to me. What is staff's opinion about that? um and what do you usually recommend this is an odd site layout and it's just it's right in the middle of it and i know they gave us an illustration of what it could look like but i just wanted you to delve into the pitfalls or advantages of that a little more um mr mayor councilwoman straighter council you know these are legal parcels

It does happen like this, unfortunately. Rather, they all come in together, but when they don't, we try to plan for future development as best as we can. So that's why staff asked for a conceptual development plan showing how the site could redevelop in the future. So we have connectivity to it. We have access. Not ideal, but...

Are you, Mr. Mayor, if you don't mind, are you concerned at all about the connectivity? And I can see that there's a thought about, well, maybe there could be kind of a cul-de-sac here, but it looks like it It depends also on a road that might go across another parcel that's not even under discussion. Help me understand how critical all of that is. Do you feel like there's enough connectivity that if these other out parcels that are in red came in together that we would get the connectivity we needed? Or is there like a little piece of this that would actually have to go through that corner?

I think I've missed some of your point, Councilwoman Strader. I'm going to have Bill understand what you're asking, so he's going to respond. Thank you.

yeah mayor members of the council councilwoman straighter um i think sonya's done a great job kind of explaining getting that redevelopment plan so that road that you see off the map that ties into the the driveway to the five acre parcel that will go away as well in the future and we are planning a step street to that property so for the interim when the applicant was negotiating um if you look at the aerial site there is actually a a private driveway that goes out to 10 mile currently that serves that property but the applicant can't vacate that gentleman's right away unless they provide another access to them so he did not want to use the public street at this time so the applicant has worked with that property owner to provide that dirt road to the common lot so they can have access to a public street system and again this is all temporary in the future all of that will go away there are contingencies in the development agreement for that to happen as well and get turned back over and remediate it but at the same time if we're going to approve a common driveway we have to see how that's going to work for that particular property and make sure that we're not cutting off that gentleman's access so that's why you see that gravel road growing going across the top as part of the enclave or the car route we saw something similar to this in by paramount off of producer avenue i thought there was a little enclave there where they had a common drive that went in there it was called bordeaux estates and there was four lots off of that cul-de-sac but it's essentially a common driveway that went in so i can see that being a common driveway serving four homes so As long as in these instances, we try to still provide street frontage so that if, and when that home is removed and this property is redeveloped, they do have street frontage to public streets. So we don't create landlocked parcels.

Thank you.

Mr. Mayor.

That's one little Roberts.

Bill then is that stock lane? Is that what you're referring to? Is that a different lane in that area?

Mayor, members of the Council, Councilwoman Ann Roberts. Yes, Stock Lane is along the south boundary. They do not have access to that roadway. That's what the other property south of them. There is, I don't know exactly the name of the road. Applicant may remember the name of it, but the road I'm talking about, I don't have a cursor, but it runs... Right along the North boundary in their Northeast corner of their site. So Sonia's kind of drawn a line there. That's the private lane or private. The easement that's currently. Yeah, it's bugle lane. Thank you, Sonia. I appreciate elk bugle lane. So that will, a portion of that will be removed in favor of this. new driveway this new configuration that you see here again applicants worked with the property owner he has big trailers he thinks he can maneuver through the site using that common driveway and so if if that makes them happy then city staff is certainly happy council additional questions for staff okay with the upcoming to come forward

Good evening.

Good evening. Let's get our PowerPoint up. There it is. Mayor Simpson, members of the council, hello and good evening. For the record, my name is Sabrina Durchey, and I'm here on behalf of the applicant. My business address is 5179 South Boven Avenue, Boise, Idaho, 83716. And this evening, I'm super excited and honored and privileged to present to you our applications for Blueberry Hills subdivision. So first, let me welcome you to Blueberry Hills. Blueberry Hills is envisioned as a thoughtfully designed upscale infill community that brings attractive single family residential lots with a complimentary light office uses within a tree line setting. The two uses have been intentionally planned to complement one another with the office component fronting 10 mile road and providing a natural transition into the quieter residential portion of the community. This rendering shows the primary entrance into the light office portion of the development from 10 mile. You can see the entry monument layered landscaping and natural materials have all been intentionally designed to create a strong sense of arrival, but also welcoming. As you entered into the community from West Bell Tower Drive, you will pass through our light office portion of the development. Parking is provided behind the office buildings, keeping it largely screened from the main entrance and creating a more attractive streetscape for 10 Mile Road. The rear parking areas also provides additional separation between the office buildings and the residential portion of the community. Beyond the parking lot, a generous landscape buffer provides another layer of screening and helps create a comfortable but gradual transition into the adjoining single-family homes. So as we move beyond the light office buildings in the parking area, we arrive at the residential portion of Blueberry Hills. The monument shown here clearly signals this transition and creates a distinct entry into the neighborhood. Its materials, colors, and design elements were intentionally coordinated with the light office monumentation, so the two entrances really complement one another. Together, the signs create a cohesive identity for Blueberry Hills and reinforces the sense that the office and residential components were planned as one harmonious design community. And here is an overall view of the entire site, showing again our main entrance, the light office tucked along 10 Mile Road, and then the transition into our residential portion of the site. From this perspective, you can see the overall design, the office and residential components are distinct, but they really have been intentionally planned as one cohesive development. So with Blueberry Hills, we're requesting annexation, a zoning of LO and R4 with a preliminary plat. We have four light office lots, 20 single family lots, and 11 common lots. Our gross density is 2.77 units per acre, with our diverse residential lot sizes ranging from 8,000 square feet up to 12,270 square feet. And here's a quick view of the comprehensive plan and the designation of low density and light office. And our proposed layout perfectly matches up with the comp plan designation. So really to better understand how the site fits within the area, it's really important to take a closer look at the surrounding context in detail. Immediately north of the site is Drawbridge Subdivision, a nine lot, low density residential neighborhood, along with the two unincorporated Ada County parcels that Sonia mentioned, that directly borders the application area. Farther north is the Volterra Development, which includes a mix of residential and commercial uses. To the east, we have Bridge Tower Crossing Subdivision, a medium-density development featuring a mix of single-family homes and complementary commercial uses fronting 10 Mile Road. The southern border of the site is adjacent to the 10 Mile Storage Unit development, which is currently under construction, as well as the City of Meridian's Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility. And to the west of the site is owned by the City of Meridian currently. So the surrounding context illustrates why Blueberry Hills is really well suited for this location. The proposed offices used along 10 mile roads respond to the more active character of the corridor, while the residential portion of the development provides a compatible transition toward the established neighborhoods to the north and east. together the proposed uses create a thoughtful connection between the residential commercial municipal and storage uses already present in this area so looking at the overall context and taking the consideration of our comprehensive plan which is really our guiding document when looking at our sites we're requesting the lo highlighted in purple and the r4 low density single family which is highlighted in yellow Since the site is bisected into two trunk shed boundaries, we'll be phasing the site into 15 lots within phase one will be served by the white drain trunk shed and the remaining five lots in phase two will be served at the black cat trunk shed once sewer is available. And we'll hit on that a little bit more after I'm done. now i would love to walk you through the homes within blueberry hills the elevations shown here illustrate the architectural character and vision for the residential portion of our community the community will include a mix of single-story and two-story homes with varied roof lines garage configurations and front entry features that create visual interest throughout the neighborhood although the individual homes will offer a range of styles and floor plans but they will share a cohesive design language. Elements such as board and batten siding, masonry accents, metal awnings, decorative gables, and warm wood details really help establish the timeless character envisioned for our community. Usable open space is a top priority, really forming the foundation for our community's amenities, pathways, and overall connectivity. Blueberry Hills provides 1.07 acres of qualified open space at 12%. And pathway connectivity and walkability is also a priority within our community, as seen in our pathway exhibit. Blue depicts our sidewalks along 10 Mile Road, which are existing. Purple depicts our five foot community sidewalks. And orange depicts our five foot micro pathways for a total of 660 linear feet. So this slide illustrates the overall amenity and landscape framework envisioned for Blueberry Hills and highlights the amenities and overall theme and design for our community. Our primary amenity area is located in the northwest portion of the community and is designed to serve as a welcoming gathering space for residents. The concept includes a pond style water feature with benches, a covered picnic pavilion, and an open lawn area that can support both active and passive recreation. The pond really becomes a centerpiece for infill development, allowing a beautiful view and open space for the lots that back onto it. This slide shows a great perspective at the very edge of the open space. This shows the beautiful flow of the pathways and amenities surrounding the pond. And I do want to mention that all the amenities will be built in phase one. So within this slide, you can see the covered picnic shelter. We're also incorporating a blueberry patch to our amenity area as a unique feature that reinforces the identity and character of our Blueberry Hills community. And the amenity area is connected to the surrounding homes by sidewalks, pathways, allowing residents to comfortably walk throughout the neighborhood and access the open space. And in summary, we feel that Blueberry Hills is thoughtfully planned. It's gonna be a high quality infill community designed to provide a balanced blend of attractive housing, functional and inviting open space, and intentionally designed gathering areas that encourage connection and create a strong sense of place. The project brings together complimentary residential and light office uses within a cohesive well landscape setting with its distinctive architecture, generous landscaping, and connected pathways We feel that the amenities and coordinated entry features really create an attractive, welcoming, enduring addition to the City of Meridian. And I'd like to thank staff for their time and guidance and assistance with the review. We're in full agreement with the staff report, and I did get unanimous approval from your Planning and Zoning Commission. So on that great note, I'd like to thank you for the pleasure of your time, your thoughtful consideration, and request approval this evening. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Serena. Counsel, any questions for the applicant? Councilwoman Roberts.

Sabrina, did you have anything else to add regarding the difference in the watershed?

Yes, yes, Mayor, Councilwoman. So we had several at-length conversations with your engineering staff. And due to, unfortunately, due to the grade of the road and potentially having to bring in some other pumps and et cetera, your head engineer, Mr. Stewart, really wanted us to phase it and not... have those five lots in the other sewer shed. So it was discussed at length. I was hoping we could get them all in one just to keep it easier for my client. But again, public safety is also a priority and we agreed to that condition. So, and I believe if Clint's on, he can probably, oh, there he is, there he is. He can probably explain a little bit further, so.

would you like to touch a little bit on this and maybe what what's what's the timeline expectation um that we're not allowing something if we approve it to maybe happen sure mr mayor members of the council so this parcel is split into two sewer sheds i know it seems a lot because it's so close to the wastewater plant but topography generally in meridian as you probably all know falls from the east to the west and so there's a line in 10 mile road that's deep enough to serve the majority of this parcel there's also another sewer line that flows to our north black cat lift station that's out on black cat between mcmillan and eustick that wraps around it goes through volterra heights and there's a stub to the 40 acre parcel that's just to the west of this development that is currently owned by the city right now but it may or may not be i don't know how much longer it might be owned i say there's some movement towards possibly transitioning part of that parcel to a developer and some sort of a land swap arrangement there's talk of a developer wanting to develop that parcel that 40 acre parcel once that develops they'll take the stub from voltaire heights and they'll take it through the development and bring it right to this development and they can develop the rest of their parcel.

Well, absent that happening, what are the options for this parcel? When it stays in the city's possession and never redevelops, will the city extend those services through its property as a to and through? What would be the expectation? I'm just curious.

Mr. Mayor, a couple different options were explored. One was that the city engineer was not in favor of putting grinder pumps in the five lots that Sabrina had mentioned. It would be an extra burden on the property owners. Another was fill, but we felt like there was too much fill to bring in to really make it work because there wasn't enough depth in the sewer. Another option that could be explored is to bring a sewer down there. It's not in our capital plan right now, but we could talk about that and see if that makes sense on a certain... I don't know what your thoughts are on that, but we could explore that option as well. I'm not asking. It's possible. That's what it's planned to do is to bring the gravity sewer. It's got the depth from Volterra Heights to go through to that parcel as it develops.

I'm just guessing that this project is penciled out at a certain... figure. If you can't develop five lots because sewer doesn't hit it. How do you solve that? And whose problem is it? That was kind of my just curious what we had thought about. Thanks.

And you know what, Mayor, at that time, after phase one's constructed, we're ready to construct phase two. We can always go back to staff and vet out other options as well. So at that time. Okay.

Council, any additional questions for the applicant? Okay, thank you all. Thank you. Mr. Clerk, anyone sign up on this item? Mr. Mayor, nobody signed up. Hey, is there anybody present that would like to provide testimony on this item? Be there in the room or online. You can just raise your hand feature. No one coming forward and no one raising their hand. Does the applicant have any final comments or is the applicant waive?

Mr. Mayor.

Councilman Bullock.

I would move then that we close the public hearing for Blueberry Hills subdivision, agenda item number 29. Second.

Have a motion and a second to close the public hearing. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed nay. The ayes have it and the public hearing is closed.

Mr. Mayor.

Councilman Willock.

Again, I think this one is pretty straightforward. It's a good infill project. There are some question marks, as Councilwoman Strader talked about. right in the heart of this, but it sounds like staff has evaluated it and has thoughts on how this could proceed and be developed. And I appreciate the mayor's questions about those additional lots in phase two and how we might approach those and what the options will be when we get there and appreciate the applicant's willingness to cross that bridge when we get there. With that, I would make a motion that after considering all staff applicant and public testimony, I move to approve file number H2025-0048 as presented in the staff report for today's hearing date. Second.

I have a motion and a second to approve item 29, H2025-0048. Is there discussion on the motion? If not, could I call the roll?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Rader? Aye. Whitlock?

Aye.

Little Roberts? Overton?

Aye. All ayes motion carries, I'm disagree to. With that we'll move on i'm 30 which is public hearing for story rock H 2025 dash 0025 and open this public hearing with staff comments.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. The next applications before you are a request for a development agreement modification, annexation, and a rezone, and a preliminary plat. This site consists of 75 acres of land. It's currently zoned R4 in the city and RUT in Ada County and is generally located on the south side of West Amity Road, midway between South Meridian Road, State Highway 69, and South Linder Road. A little history on this property. The western 50 acres of the site was annexed into the city as part of the South Meridian annexation in 2016 with R4 zoning and a development agreement. Any future development of the site requires an amendment to the development agreement to approve a proposed development plan. A preliminary plat was previously approved for Stonehill Crossing on the western annex portion of this property. The Stonehill Church property and the mill property, where the existing home is located at 799 West Amity Road, were included in a final plat application, but the plat has not yet been recorded. The remainder of the area included in the previous preliminary plat is now part of the new preliminary plat included in this application. A conditional use permit was approved back in 1979 by any County on the property located at 4, 5, 5, West Amity road for 6,000 square foot, two story structure for a radio station with offices in the rural residential zone for communication towers were also approved with the radio station, which were recently removed the office building and associated improvements remain on the property. The comprehensive plan future land use map designation is low density residential on the western 50 acres and medium density residential on the eastern 26 acres. The low density residential designation allows for the development of single family residential homes on large and estate lots at gross densities of three units or less per acre. The medium density residential designation allows for residential dwellings at gross densities of three to eight dwelling units per acre. The applicant is proposing a new development agreement for the proposed development, which includes an additional 26 acres of land to the east and a new development plan for the overall development. This property will no longer be subject to the original Mills development agreement. The proposed development plan is for 321 single-family residential detached homes, and that's 241 and 80 townhomes and office uses on 75 acres of land. Annexation of 27.11 acres of land is proposed with R15 zoning, which is 24.85 acres, and LO zoning, which is 2.26 acres, which is east of the area that is already annexed. This is the additional area proposed to be included in the amended development agreement. There is an existing office located at 455 West Amity Road, which is proposed to remain and continue as a nonconforming use in the R15 district in the medium density residential designated area. A rezone of 10.6 acres of land is proposed from the R4 to the R8 zoning district. This will provide a transition between the existing R4 zoning on the western portion of the development and the proposed R15 zoning on the eastern portion of the development. There is 38.85 acres of R4 zone property remaining. A preliminary plat is proposed consisting of 321 residential building lots, one commercial office building lot, and 47 common lots on 75.13 acres of land in the R4, R8, R15, and LO zoning districts. The minimum lot size proposed is 2,269 square feet with an average lot size of 5,359 square feet and a maximum lot size of 12,580 square feet. The plat is proposed to develop in five final plat phases, starting at the east side of the development to facilitate sewer extension from South Meridian Road through the proposed Syringa Crossing development to serve the eastern portion of this development. Access is proposed by a South Oakbriar Way, a designated collector street on the Master Street map, planned to be constructed at the mid-mile with Stonehill Church. And that's this street coming right through here. and South Pullman Avenue, which may be designated as a collector street from West Amity Road along the eastern boundary of the site. Stub streets are proposed to the south and west to the church and mills properties for future interconnectivity and access. Staff recommends either public right-of-way or cross-access ingress-egress easement is depicted through Lot 2, Block E1. for connectivity to the future mixed-use designated development to the east to reduce access points via the arterial street, Amity Road. A conceptual redevelopment plan was submitted as requested by staff that shows how the Mills property could possibly redevelop in the future with the proposed development plan. A landscape plan was submitted as shown. Landscape street buffers are required in accord with UDC standards along all arterial and collector streets. The caulkins lateral runs along the western part of the development within a 56 foot wide easement the lateral is proposed to be relocated and piped in common lots along the West side of South oak briar way. The bell sub lateral and Carl Carlson lateral runs across the eastern part of the development within a 50 foot wide easement and is proposed to be piped within common lots. Qualified open space is required to be provided with development. A minimum of 9.66 acres is required. A total of 16.49 acres or 21.96% is proposed, which exceeds UDC standards consisting of common open space areas, parkways, linear open space, 50% of the arterial street buffer and 100% of the collector street buffer. Site amenities are required to be provided with development. Based on the area of the development, a minimum of 15 amenity points are required. Amenities totaling 23 points are proposed consisting of a tot lot, two pickleball courts, a half basketball court from the recreation activity area category, three picnic areas with covered seating on sites greater than 5,000 square feet from the quality of life category, five foot wide internal pathways from the pedestrian or bicycle circulation systems category, and two bicycle repair stations from the multimodal category, exceeding UDC standards. The pathway's master plan depicts a 10-foot wide multi-use pathway along the east side of the Calkins lateral. Because the lateral is being relocated and piped, the pathway is being provided instead along both sides of the north-south mid-mile collector street, South Oakbriar Way, as an alternative. A 10-foot wide detached multi-use sidewalk pathway is also required along West Amity Road and South Pullman Avenue. Conceptual building elevations were submitted for the single family residential detached and townhomes that demonstrate the quality of development proposed as shown. Concept elevations were not submitted for the proposed office development. Final design of the townhome structures and offices are required to comply with the design standards in the architectural standards manual. The Commission did recommend approval of these applications to City Council. Kelly Black, Bailey Engineering, the applicant's representative, testified in favor of the application. No one testified in opposition or commented on the application. Written testimony was received from the applicant in agreement with the recommended conditions. And the applicant did make all revisions to the zoning and plans that staff had previously requested. So there are no outstanding issues tonight. The Commission was supportive of the proposed development with staff's recommended changes, and no written testimony has been received since the Commission hearing. Staff will stand for any questions.

Thank you. Council, any questions for staff?

Okay.

Would the applicant like to come forward?

Give me just a moment here, Mr. Mayor.

There's only one word on each one of those pages that you're going to flip through, right?

Yeah. I'll be brief.

There we go. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor, Council, and staff. My name is Kelly Black with Bailey Engineering, 868 East Riverside Drive, Eagle, Idaho. Tonight, we are presenting Story Rock, a 75-acre community in South Meridian. This project includes a development agreement modification, annexation, rezone, and preliminary plan. Again, this is the 75-acre community. It is located south of Amity Road between Meridian Road and Linder Road. It's positioned near several developments, schools, and transportation corridors. So here you can see the area is experiencing steady growth, and the site is surrounded by existing and planned neighborhoods. The project is intended to complement surrounding development while providing connections that support the broader South Meridian area. The City's Future Land Use Map designates this property as a combination of low density residential and medium density residential, and Story Rock aligns directly with those designations. The overall project density is approximately 4.26 dwelling units per acre. Story Rock will have four zoning districts, R4, R8, R15, and a limited office LO area on the northeast corner. Together, these districts create a gradual transition from lower density development to more compact housing opportunities. Near the southeast, sorry, northeast corner of this project is an existing office building. You can see that highlighted on the screen. Staff has requested the zoning for this section be R15, and we did revise our materials accordingly. The building will remain as a nonconforming use within the R15 zone. So looking at our preliminary plat, our proposed plat includes 210 single-family lots, 31 cottage lots. Those are also single-family. They're unique, and I'll touch on those a little bit later. We also have 80 townhome lots and that one commercial lot on the northeast corner. So in total, the project includes 321 residential units. And this mix of housing type really responds directly to the comp plan policies, which encourage housing variety while maintaining an overall density that is consistent with the future land use map. So looking at access and circulation, the community is served by two primary access points from Amity. We have Oakbriar on the west and then Pullman on the east. And we are providing Stub Street connections to the adjacent properties. One of the defining characteristics of Story Rock is its commitment to open space. This project provides approximately 16.5 acres of qualified open space, representing almost 22% of the site. This significantly exceeds the city's minimum requirement. Instead of concentrating the open space in one single location, we've distributed recreational opportunities and amenities throughout the neighborhood. So looking a little closer at the amenity package, we've created destinations within the neighborhood that encourage outdoor activity and social interaction. Our amenities include two pickleball courts, a half basketball court, three covered picnic and gathering areas, two bike repair stations, and a playground. project exceeds the city's required amenity points for the amenity requirements and provides a balanced mix of recreational opportunities so we are proposing five phases for this site we will start on the northeast corner which was requested by staff in a revision we made prior to city council In terms of our pathways and connectivity, we do have a continuous pathway network that links open spaces and amenities and future connections beyond the project, as you can see depicted here, we have 10 foot and five foot sidewalks throughout. And again, this design supports the COMP plan goals related to walkability and neighborhood connectivity. Here I really wanted to get into the vision of this site. So I'm offering a conceptual vision of the Story Rock Entry Monument, which establishes a strong sense of identity for the community and will create a welcoming gateway. And on this slide we illustrate the overall vision for story rock and what it feels like to live here. The goal is to create a neighborhood that feels connected attractive and livable the Community is dying design, not simply as a collection of lots, but as a complete neighborhood that encourages interaction recreation and provides a sense of community. So if we look a little bit more at some of the amenities, of course, we have that half basketball court where folks can have a friendly pickup game. And we have that covered seating area nearby so that they can also socialize and have some spectators. And then we have our playground here where the youngest residents can recreate and play and then their families and parents can meet and socialize. And then, of course, we have Pickleball, you know, the friendliest game in the neighborhood. Fast way for friends to do a quick game. It's an easy game to learn, social, and it's fun to watch. We have two courts with some covered seating to create a daily gathering point that brings every age together for a fun game. Next, I wanted to walk into some of the products that we're offering on this site. So with this project, we're introducing cottage homes. So these homes are unique and they're a smaller footprint, but they do offer a really big advantage, an opportunity to enter the housing market as well as an opportunity to downsize. So it really meets the needs of two different home buying demographics. And then here I wanted to show off a little bit of this single family home elevation. So you can see what will be featured at Story Rock. We will have both the detached and attached town home products. And here I wanted to showcase some of the interiors this home builder offers. As you can see, they are really beautiful interiors and the home buyers love them. So in closing, Story Rock delivers a community that is consistent with the comprehensive plan, a variety of housing opportunities, significant open space and amenities, a strong pedestrian and transportation connectivity, and a development that supports orderly growth. So we do agree with all the staff conditions of approval and respectfully request approval of the applications. Thank you for your time, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Council, any questions for the applicant? Okay, thank you very much. Mr. Clerk, anybody sign up on this item?

Mr. Mayor, nobody signed up.

Okay, is there anybody present who would like to provide testimony on this item? If you're online, you just raise your hand. Seeing no one coming forward, no one raising their hand. Is the applicant wave any final comments? Applicant wave final comments?

Mr. Mayor.

Councilman Overton. If there's no more public comments, I move we close the public hearing. Second. I have a motion to second to close the public hearing. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed nay. The public hearing is closed.

Mr. Mayor. Aspen over to make motion but make a comment before that motion. We get a lot of calls for housing varieties anymore instead of just having all big homes or more apartments something it kind of in the middle and what I appreciate about what you proposed here tonight is there's it's a lot of even the cottages are single family, but they're much more for affordable. on the east side where you're going to scale up to the bigger lots and bigger houses on the west side. I like the way it's laid out. I think it gives a lot of different opportunities for a cross-section of people that move into our city, and I appreciate seeing that. I appreciate the fact that I'm not slamming multifamily, but I'm pro-single-family residence, so I really like the way this lays out, and I think it's going to be good for our community. With that being said, after considering all staff applicant public testimony, I move to approve file number H2025-0025 as presented in the staff report for the hearing date of July 28th, 2026. Second.

I have a motion to second to approve item 30 H2025-0025. Is there discussion on the motion? If not, call the roll.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor Strader. I was like, Hi, little Roberts. Overton.

Hi. Oh, I suppose Carrie Sam is agreed to. Thank you very much. Okay. With that, we'll move back to our department reports. And so we'll return to I'm 23, which is the health trust market update and vendor selection for fiscal year 2027. Welcome up, Christina Barney and want to thank the other members of the trusts and those that are here for this item that were able to stick around.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. You thought you had gotten rid of me? Not quite yet. After this report. Okay, so I wanted to go through the trust decision on our medical plan, go through some of that market analysis. I apologize for the delay in getting that data to you. You should have received that this morning. It was literally hot off the press. based on the discussion we had on at the board meeting last week we asked gallagher to go back and get some information on the stop loss and i'll go through that in a moment but that was the reason for the delay maybe thank you So what we'd like to talk to you about today is the board decision, the market check, as I had said, and then additional direction we had provided to Gallagher regarding the stop loss and some next steps. The goal for today is to provide you that high-level explanation of the board's decision and the path forward, and the detailed market data was provided separately. So as I had said last week, so on July 21st, we had a special board meeting to vote, and that vote was to retain Blue Cross of Idaho as the 2027 medical carrier and administrator for the city. I'll go into what that decision was in just a moment, but there was discussion also about the stop loss. and we asked Gallagher to continue to obtain best available stop-loss coverage pricing because Blue Cross of Idaho at that time was coming in at 56% higher than we are current day. Since then, they have come down to 30%, but we are looking to carve that out so that we can mitigate that increase and hold it at about 15%. the vote was unanimous to stay with blue cross of idaho and it was based on a variety of different decisions largely on the network claims costs and the stop loss so we considered a fiduciary over we consider fiduciary oversight renewal work and doi compliance as our board's role the council's role at this point is to determine the city's funding level for the benefits and Today's update is simply informational only as the trust has made that decision to stay with Blue Cross of Idaho, but we wanted to make sure we provided you this information in a timely manner. The information that we reviewed in that market check was the different carriers that responded. So Blue Cross of Idaho, Select Health, Pacific Source, RGA and Regence. The evaluation factors that we considered were the projected medical and RX claims. administrative fees, network access, pharmacy disruption, and stop-loss pricing. So those are all the things that were talked at length regarding this market check and that final decision to stay with Blue Cross. Some of the things that we want to caution is the claims projections are estimates, not guarantees. So anytime we go into this market analysis, we know that everything is presumed. There are presumptions on these numbers based on previous experience. And we won't know what those actually are until we actually incur those costs. Stop loss numbers remain preliminary. As we get closer to finalizing that, we get more and more claims data to finalize those. So as soon as we're ready to solidify that, we'll have more firm numbers on that. So the board focused on the total value, not simply the lowest preliminary number. Sorry. One of the things that we talked about at length, in addition to the carrier, was the stop loss. Blue Crosses, as I said, came in at 56%. They're down to 30%, but we still think we can do better with that. Blue Cross has offered the option to carve out. We don't currently have the employee count to do that normally, but because they are coming in so high, they have offered that carve out option so that we can get a better rate on our stop loss. So we appreciate that. One of the other things, as I had mentioned earlier, that was considered is savings versus disruption. So, yes, we can save some money with other providers. For instance, Select Health did come in lower on their claims costs. However, that is a very narrow network. would require our employees to select either St. Luke's or St. Al's as their provider. And if they went to the other that they did not choose, it would be out of network. So that was one of the things that we considered when we were looking at what could we save versus the disruption to the employee population. The closest comparison was Regents in terms of network. If you compare Blue Cross Network to the Regents Network, they are almost identical. However, the Regents claims costs were a bit higher than our Blue Cross claims. So we want to make sure that we're paying attention to that. Our largest claims or our largest cost is our claims. So we want to make sure that we're getting the best value we can in that network savings to reduce the cost of those claims. And this ideally is the reason we decided to retain Blue Cross. It maintains that broad PPO access. It preserves familiarity with the employees, the families, the covered dependents. They have access to the same doctors that they have currently. There isn't any disruption as far as that's concerned. And they had better rates on the claims costs. With the option to carve out that stop loss, that makes it the ideal choice. So prior to this meeting, we put together that high-level presentation, the market data, and provided that to you, and then confirmed stop loss plan options. Before you today is the renewal preparation. So once we conclude this meeting, we will be moving to finalize those stop loss bids, negotiate best pricing, do our actuarial review, which I believe that's already in the way. and complete the carrier and doi documentation and prepare things for open enrollment so we can keep everything moving and i will stand for questions mr mayor thank you councilman christina thank you very helpful and appreciate all the hard work that went in

Can you, for a very common citizen who doesn't understand insurance nomenclature as well as you articulated it, can you walk me through how the stop loss and how you get from the stop loss, which was 56% down to 30% to a carve-out that maybe will be at 15% in 2020? In layman's terms, can you take me from 56 to 15 in 60 seconds?

I'm actually going to ask Scott to come up here. He has a lot more information on that in particular.

Hi, Mayor. Hi, Council Members. So just, I guess, for some high-level context, stop loss is the insurance that the trust buys to protect itself from getting... too much exposure from any single large claimant. The stop loss that we're buying today protects us if we have any individual that has over $225,000 in claims during a year. Anything beyond that is covered by the stop loss. In the healthcare market today, those very large claims are by far the largest drivers of cost. And that market has been hard lately. Blue Cross, in fact, is exiting the stop-loss market. They used to do their stop-loss in-house And this year, they're partnering with a third-party stop-loss carrier to outsource that. So the reason that it came in at 56 in the first place is probably a couple of things. One, just some conservative underwriting by Blue Cross's new stop-loss partner, along with We've talked several times over the last year. We've had some tough large claims experience inside of the trust. The reason it came down to 30 was because through the market check, we identified that there are much more competitive options out there, shared that with Blue Cross and their stop loss partner. So that competitive intelligence along with another month of claims experience that's favorable. And they were willing to come down to 30. The rest of the market, we were fully transparent with them with the claims experience that we've had. And some of those carriers are just more aggressive in their underwriting. We had... Several almost all of the local carriers were kind of in that 10 to 15% range above our current stop loss. And since then, we've also expanded our search to other national commercial stop loss carriers who are also There's a kind of a wide spectrum of those quotes, but we have them in that 12 to 20% range, several. So I'm confident that all of those quotes are preliminary. They all want claims experience through August before they will finalize their numbers. But with where the claims experience is today, we're confident that we can get it down in that kind of 15% above current range.

So in layman's terms, the market, the market.

Yeah.

The market and risk. Counsel, any other questions? Okay, so you know, for the questions will say thank you all for sticking around this evening, you can come in 10 minutes late tomorrow to make up for it. No 15. Sorry guys. Okay, with that Council anything under future meeting topics or do I have a motion for executive session.

Mr. Mayor, with no future meeting topics announced, I move that we go into executive session for Idaho Code 74-206, subsection 1F. Second.

I have a motion and a second to go into executive session. Is there any discussion? If not, clerk, call the roll.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Strader? Aye. Wedlock?

Aye.

Little-Roberts?

Aye.

Overton?

Aye. All rise, and we'll go into executive session.