City Council - Regular Meeting

Council will call the meeting to order for the record. It is May 5th, 2026 at 6 p.m. We'll begin tonight's record city. Council meeting with roll call attendance. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Councilman Caver here. Councilman Taylor here. Councilwoman Strader. Councilman Whitlock here. Councilwoman Little Roberts here. Councilman Overton here. Mayor Simpson

here. Next time is the pledge of allegiance, which tonight will be led by Meridian Girl Scout Troop 909. If you'd all please rise and join us in the pledge. And if the troop would like to come forward up to the podium to help lead that I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, Troop 909 and Council Strader for helping to organize that event this evening. Next up will be our committee invitation which tonight will be delivered by uh Carrie Laafr. Hopefully I got that right again. I think I got it right last time. But um if you all if you all please join us in the community invocation or take this as a moment of silence and reflection God said it here. Not only amen. Thank you very much.

Next up is adoption of the agenda. Mr. Mayor, Councilman Overton, there are no changes to tonight's agenda. I move that we adopt it as published. Second. Have a motion, a second to adopt the agenda. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Nay. The eyes have it and the agenda is agreed to. Up next is the consent agenda. Mr. Mayor, Councilman Overton. No changes to tonight's consent agenda. I move that we approve the consent agenda for the mayor to sign and the clerk to attest. Second. Have a motion, a second to approve the consent agenda. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor signify by saying I. I.

Oppose? Nay. The eyes have it and consent agenda is agreed to. There are no items moved from the consent agenda. So, Mr. Cer, anyone signed up under public forum? Mr. Mayor, nobody signed up. Okay. Then with that, uh, we'll move on to announcements and recognition. Council, any announcements or recognition items? Councilwoman Strader,

I think you Thank you. Um, I just wanted to welcome Girl Scout Troop 909 to our city council meeting. um they are working on their democracy for cadetses badge and we just thought it would be a really fun experience for them to see how local government works and um would just an open invitation to anyone on the council or the mayor that wants to meet. I know we have a very short meeting and they would love to ask you their questions and meet you um after the meeting. Thank you.

Thank you council. Any other announcements or items? Okay. Then with that, we'll move on to our three proclamations for the evening and and the first one will be our proclamation for ALS month. So if Linda and anybody else from the Kenny's or join would like to join us at the podium Hello. Oh, there we go. Thank you, Chris. All right. Sorry for that delay. Um, as I mentioned, our first proclamation is for ALS awareness month and thought I'd bring down my uh water bottle for those um that may or may not be familiar with. Uh, I'm a member of the F Delta Theta fraternity. Um, and so uh, Wugar Garrick's disease and ALS has always been something that's been very relevant to my upbringing since college uh, through that. And so when I got a new water bottle, I only put one sticker on it and this is the one that I put on it. So, um, in case I get thirsty, but at the same time, uh, to know that, you know, this is personal for me in a different way. But with that, I'm going to read a proclamation and turn over for

any words or comments you all would like to make. Oh whereas amitrophic collateral solar solarosis also commonly known as Lou Garri's disease is a progressive fatal neuro degenerative disease in which a person's brain loses connection with their muscles slowly reducing a person's ability to walk, talk, eat, and eventually breathe. And whereas thousands of new ALS cases are reported every year, and estimates show that every 90 minutes someone is diagnosed with ALS and someone passes away from ALS. And whereas the ALS association is the largest philanthropic funer of ALS research globally and is committed to accelerating the pace of discovery filled by the hope that one day ALS will be a livable disease for everyone everywhere until a cure can be found. And whereas clinical trials play a pivotal role in evaluating new treatments, enhancing quality of life, and fostering assistive technologies for those living with ALS. And whereas ALS awareness month provides an opportunity to increase public awareness of the dire circumstances of people living with ALS, acknowledge the tele impact this disease has on those individuals and their families, and support research to eradicate the disease. Therefore, I, Mayor Roberty Simpson, hereby proclaim May 2026 as ALS awareness month in the city of Miden and call upon all our citizens to join in supporting ALS research, advocating for increased funding, and standing in solidarity with those affected by this relentless disease, the 5th day of May, 2026. So, on behalf of the city, I'd like to present this proclamation to you all and invite you to make any comments you'd like to make.

And if you don't want to make comments, that is that's is perfectly fine.

Okay. Well, if you do you want to take a picture and we can do that if that works. Okay, I saw Evan, you want to come up for the next proclamation? Okay, next up is uh the proclamation for Idaho Gives Week, which we are already enjoying the benefits of. So, we'll read and give it up to you. You more than welcome to come over. I won't bite you. I promise. Whereas nonprofit organizations help build and sustain healthy communities in our state and enhance the quality of life for Idahoans and for others throughout the country and the world. And whereas over 7,000 charitable nonprofit organizations based in Idaho contribute significantly to our economy by providing services to our communities, employing over 79,000 Idahoans, and producing total revenue of over 10.3 billion. And whereas nonprofit organizations often fulfill their missions by advocating on behalf of those who cannot advocate for themselves. And whereas IDO's nonprofit leaders often are entrepreneurs, create new solutions to problems, and fill previously unmet needs in the areas of health, recreation, education, research, arts, social services, and more. And whereas Idaho gives week services a time for Idahoans to join together with one voice on one day to contribute to and amplify the efforts of Idaho nonprofits.

Therefore, I mayor Roberty Simmonson do hereby proclaim May 4th through 7th, 2026 as Idaho Gives Week in the city of Meridian encourage all citizens and residents to continue to recognize and support the many nonprofit organizations that help in our community that this fifth day of May 2026. On behalf of the city marine, we'd like to present you with this proclamation and invite you to make any comments you'd like to make. Thank you.

Hi everybody. My name is Evan Baskin with the Idaho Community Foundation. Um I think this proclamation sums it up pretty well. Um but Idaho Gives is a statewide giving campaign May 4th through the 7th. idaho gives.org. Our goal this year is $6 million collectively raised from 20,000 individuals and right now we're at about 2.5. Um, but as this proclamation mentions, you know, nonprofits are really the backbone of our communities. Whether it's the hospitals we're born in, the afterchool programs like Girl Scouts that our kids go to, um, the arts that we're enjoying on the weekend or the ski hills we're going to in the winter, um, nonprofits are really here to support all community members. So, idogives.org, great opportunity to um, show your favorite nonprofit some love and support them May 4th through the 7th. Thank you. a regional council member in here with us. And last but not least, our proclamation for building safety months of it looks like we got Dave and Sam here tonight. And uh you know, it's in a lot of ways it's kind of fitting. Today we held a groundbreaking ceremony for one of our newest larger projects going on in Meridian. And so um this will be the fourth proclamation of the

day and it kind of circles back around to where that's at. So whereas built to last the theme for building safety month 2026 encourages us all to get involved and raise awareness about building safety on a personal, local, and global scale. And whereas building safety month acknowledges the essential service provided to all of us by local, state, tribal, territorial, and federal building safety and fire prevention departments and protecting lives and property. And whereas our confidence in the resilience of these buildings that make up our community is achieved through the devotion of vigilant guardians, building safety and firerevention officials, architects, engineers, builders, trades people, design professionals, laborers, plumbers, and others in the construction industry who work year round to ensure the safe construction of buildings. And whereas the modern building codes are resilient and include safeguards to protect the public from natural hazards such as snowstorms, wildfires, floods, and earthquakes. And whereas the city of Merid is committed to recognizing that our growth and strength depends on the safety and essential role our homes, buildings, and infrastructure play both in everyday life and when disasters strike. Therefore, I, Mayor Roberty Simpson, proclaimed the month of May 2026 as building safety month in the city of Meridian. I encourage all citizens to join us as we participate in building safety month activities and recognize those that help us strengthen our community and to protect us in the buildings where we live, work, and raise our families this 5th day of May 2026. So on behalf of the city of Merinian, I present this proclamation to Dave, Sam, whoever would like it and invite one or both of you to come up for comments. Right. Well, it's 6:18. I promise I won't go past 7:32, but I did just want to take a few minutes to um to get some words out because I I don't think our staff hear it enough and I want to make sure mayor and council you're aware of the words that we receive. Uh someone today

offered me thanks for the work that the department does. Um and really that's an acknowledgement of people like Sam and everybody in our building department. And so I think they don't hear it enough. And we do regular customer surveys um through our permitting process. Everybody gets a chance to give us feedback. And I will tell you that generally the feedback we hear is 98% positive feedback. And I thought it'd be fun just to share a couple of the points that people um we get to read and I get to share with staff sometimes. Um always a good time with the group. Appreciate you guys. This one went smooth. Thank you. Everybody was very very helpful. Everything was top-notch. Everyone I work with is great. Exclamation point. And finally, I felt like your team did an excellent job. I deal with many different jurisdictions where it c it can be very difficult to accomplish even simple tasks. In my opinion, the city of Meridian is doing excellent. So, I just wanted to say thank you to the mayor and council for acknowledging us and more importantly to our staff that do the work every day. They're the ones making sure that your buildings in your community are safe and that they're able to be occupied by people and I really appreciate the work that you all do. So, thank you. words.

Just just really quickly, um you can you can check out building safety month um on ICC's website. Um but ultimately for 46 years, uh building safety month has uh reinforced the need uh for the adoption of modern uh updated building codes and and uh helps individuals, families, businesses understand what it takes to create safe and sustainable structures. So, it's it's really about safe structures. Uh there's there's four themes throughout May. Uh safe homes, strong communities, week one, uh week two, voices of uh the built environment, and week three, prepared uh to protect. And last, uh communities without limits. So, I encourage you to check it out. Thank you. Council, anything under future meeting topics?

Or do I have a motion? Mr. Mayor, Councilman Overton, I move that we adjourn. Motion and a second to adjurnn. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed? Nay. The eyes have it. We are adjourned and say thank you council for coming down and helping us honor those tonight uh with these proclamations and