City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening everyone. Welcome to the city council works session. It is April 21st at 4:30 p.m. and we'll begin tonight's meeting with roll call attendance. Thank you, Mr. Council President. Councilman Cavar here. Councilman Taylor here. Councilwoman Strader here. Councilman Whitlock here. Councilwoman Z Roberts here. Councilman Overton here. Next up is adoption of the agenda. Mr. President, Councilwoman Little Roberts. Present. Seeing no changes, I move that we adopt the agenda as published. Second.

We have a motion and a second to adopt the agenda as published. All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Nay. The eyes have it. The agenda is adopted. Next up is a consent agenda. Council Councilwoman Little Roberts. Having no changes. Sorry. Sorry, Dean. Having no changes regarding the agenda, I move we adopt the consent agenda as published. Second.

We have a motion and a second to adopt that agenda. I'm assuming that's for the council president to sign and the clerk to attest. Yes, since my notes are on the wrong page. Thank you. Second agrees. Second. All those in favor say I. I. Oppose. Nay. The eyes have it. The consent agenda is approved.

There are no items moved from the consent agenda. So, we move on to department reports. And first up is a presentation by Adam Schroeder with 80 county weed pest mosquito abatement presentation. That's a lot of Thank you, President Overton. Distinguished members of the council, I appreciate your time. Appreciate the uh opportunity to come speak to you about this important issue and uh happy to answer any questions as we go. So, feel free to interrupt. I just have a few slides for you,formational purposes, um and to try to give you a little perspective on what we're seeing in 80 county as far as the rat issue. Um, little bit of background. Excuse me. Sorry, clicked too fast. I'm the director for Ada County weed pest and mosquito abatement. I uh am administer noxious weed control department, which is the entire county and two special taxing districts. I answer to the board of county commissioners. I have legal authority that is granted to me by Idaho statute and IDAP rule. Our pest abatement district, just for your awareness, is all the unincorporated areas of Ada County. Uh that's 894 square miles where we control gophers and rock chucks. Uh that special taxing district. Uh those fees are paid by the folks who reside in those in that district. Uh and then our services are offered as part of that. Those funds go to fund our program and those are the species that we're concerned with control in those areas. Uh the mosquito abatement district is also a special taxing district which includes uh the city of Meridian which is all the incorporated areas of Ada County. Uh we provide mosquito abatement services for all of the residents in Ada County or at least in the abatement district. We have three service sections

surveillance larvide and adulticide uh where we control mosquitoes um wherever we find them and ask in a preventative measure as well. So as far as rats go um rooftop and Norway rats have been identified in Ada County. Uh recent public sentiment indicates that we have rising population. So we're getting a lot of reports. We're taking about two to five calls per week. That includes calls from your constituents in the city of Meridian. Uh both species have the ability to harbor and spread disease, leptospirrosis, haunt virus, plague, uh many other diseases, and and can damage property of course as you might know. uh cause structure fires by chewing and gnawing on electrical wires, um destroying insulation, destroying property, uh very damaging uh rodents and uh of course they spread disease. So this is certainly an area of concern that we're um working on. Uh and certainly there is ane anecdotal evidence that these populations are increasing as the number of calls have increased and public sentiment online. as you might have noticed and in the media has uh certainly risen in the past few weeks or over the last year or two I should say. Uh so it's unknown if rat populations are being monitored in any scale. So through the session we've determined that no they're not being monitored. We're probably the only agency that uh folks call on a regular basis to talk about rats. Um, and we don't, you know, because they're not in our funding structure and they're not a species of that we've identified or the county commissioners have identified as species of control for those abatement districts. Uh, I can't spend any money really monitoring or surveilling rats or doing any control work uh, legally right

now. So, it's unknown if public utility agencies and and I've seen Oh, I'm sorry about that misspell there. Um, I've seen that uh over the past testimony over the session that uh utility agencies are not um monitoring for rats. Um, there's no clear control strategy or documentation method to reduce or eradicate rat populations as they stand now. They're not an invasive species as identified by Idaho State Department of Agriculture, and they're not in our codes or abatement district statutes. Uh, lots of media coverage as you might have noticed. Um, this is, uh, I had a video in there of rats crawling around in the in the um, you should see the window seal. Kind of scary. That was in Northwest Boise. Um, but certainly we're seeing that more folks are reporting, mo more folks are talking to the media about this and it has gained a lot of attention over the last especially year. Uh what really worries me is that the environmental and cultural risk that we face here in Ada County and City of Meridian uh could certainly contribute to rat population increases. We're seeing more and more people. Rats love to be where people are. Uh we're seeing abundant food. you know, when it comes to bird feeders or uh un unsecured trash, uh restaurant trash, anything that uh might harbor, you know, wood piles, junk piles. That harbor bridge is certainly present in Ada County for uh and in the city of Meridian for rats to live in. Uh we have warm weather, uh mild winters as we have noticed that uh it certainly doesn't help decrease rat populations or rat um fertility, shelter access. There's a lack of predators in

the natural urban environments. Uh and certainly the community response is not organized yet. And so these are contributing factors that might uh certainly cause rat population increases. current challenges right now is that we have fragmented efforts. Pest control operators might respond to consumers or customers who who pay for their services to control rats on their property alone. Uh but that doesn't do anything to any of the community rats to say so to say in the neighborhood or those that are traveling along the irrigation canals which we've seen a lot of and in the rights of way. uh inconsistent communications as far as local agencies and pest control operators. They don't control or or collaborate on control efforts or communicate with each other and there's no documentation structure and uh there's no legal authority as it sits right now. Uh and I'll talk about the legislation that failed um in the in the House this uh session and what what that means or what that leads to is just that we have ineffective control strategies and single case interventions certainly don't help control rat populations as a whole. uh potential mechanisms in Ada County. Uh we can add the commissioners I should say can add species to an existing district but as you might have noticed before uh the rat populations are not necessarily in the unincorporated unincorporated areas yet in the agricultural sectors yet um which is where we control gophers and rock chucks. They're primarily in the um incorporated areas in the cities. uh and that doesn't marry well with mosquito abatement. The this the types of service just really don't marry well. Uh it's completely different types of service as

far as providing any kind of controller documentation strategies. Um and so we could we could certainly do that. Um there's also uh we could create an interim abatement district which would then have to be either ratified by election or dissolved within two years. Uh that would u provide a special levy authority to the commissioners to uh pull together some money for a rat control uh operation. Um you know current climate with budgets and everything. I'm not sure, you know, where our commission lies as far as that goes. I I know they're supportive of rat control. Uh they want to do something about it. I think they're more interested in a collaborative effort as opposed to Ada County taking on the entire load. Um so what we have as far as hurdles, you know, we I just talked about that the the abatement districts don't quite marry up. Uh we're not currently funded or staffed or equipped for or trained in rat control operations. It's just totally outside of what we normally do. And uh not to mention, and this has been borne out in the testimony over the last session, uh that rat control is not typically handled by municipal agencies as far as you know, government folks crawling in uh addicts and crawl spaces in people's homes to control rats. That's not a a that's not a common structure that I've seen across the nation. When I look at other municipalities or health health districts or counties that run rat control operations, uh primarily what we see is that uh the government has a duty to document strategy, provide educational materials, provide free snap traps, do inspection services. Uh those types of operations are are typically what's handled by government. Uh and then pest control,

the physical pest control is done by PCOS or pest control operators. Um and uh you know what we worry about of course is that any localized control structure is not going to be able to mitigate or prevent rats from proliferating across the state or across county or city boundaries. Uh certainly the desired outcomes we would like to see is uh prevent disease and loss of life and loss of property. Uh reduce or eliminate rat populations and prevent spread. um help educate folks uh build structures for systematic control actions and documentation of public efforts. Uh the public industry government collaboration for rat control eradication uh strategic planning reporting ongoing control. Uh, I might be naive, but I think we should be able to come together to really craft a a a a solution that works not only for government and for our constituents, but also for private pest control operators as well as um folks in the public who are experiencing these issues. Uh, legislative efforts. We had a couple of House bills that amended existing law to allow rats to be declared agricultural pests. Um both of those efforts didn't make it out of well one made it out of committee. Um but that's kind of where they fell short. Um Senate Bill 1271A uh would would have declared rats as a public health nuisance and required abatement. Uh that was also a a bill that would have required Idaho State Department of Agriculture to create a plan, bring in the stakeholders and collaborate on solutions. Um, but that failed on the House floor just because I think, you know, other counties in in Idaho see this as an Ada County problem and certainly don't want to fund um, you know, something that they don't feel

affected by yet.

Uh, so what now? Uh, right now we're building a stakeholder group. It's in the early stages of formation. Uh we have folks from ma county emergency management central district health city of eagle and boyisey have members engaged. We're trying to also bring in city meridian. Um that's why I'm here today uh to uh solicit your support for this um stakeholder group. Uh and you know of course we would like to see you guys um contribute and and have a say in in how these things how these conversations happen. Um, and really that's just a managed space to collaborate on control concepts, educational resources for constituents, policy initiatives, information gathering, uh, and proposal formation. Um, and of course to investigate grant opportunities and and get proper messaging out to folks who are experiencing these issues. Um, so we haven't uh set a next meeting yet. Um, like I said, we would like I'm just kind of on a PR PR tour right now to solicit support from uh Idaho Pest Management Association and other cities to try to uh come to the table and see if we can craft a solution. And with that, uh, Mr. President, I would stand for any questions.

Council, any questions, Mr. President? Council Taylor.

Uh, Adam, thank you. Was very helpful. Um I knew we were going to be getting a briefing at some point, so I'm glad to have you here. A couple of questions on um you mentioned uh sort of the government's role is is not so much to fund all of these efforts as much as it is maybe to coordinate it, communications, a strategy, effective strategy, and then allowing some of the um private sector groups who specialize in this to actually do the work. Um, also, you know, the the legislative efforts that failed, but you'd mentioned, uh, is it kind of like an emergency declaration where you can establish a 2-year like an abatement district, an actual taxing district with the vote of the county commissioners? Um, if you do that, um, does that actually fund the collaborative efforts? Does that fund the efforts to actually remove the rats? like walk me through a scenario there just to help me understand if the county commissioners choose to do an emergency declaration to set up a a a district now uh how does that actually work in terms of coordinating funding it etc. Mr. President uh Councilman Taylor. Uh so if I'm not a lawyer, but in my mind, if uh an interim abatement district is created and there are levies assessed to folks who reside within that district, then we're in the pest control business. And and that's when we gear up, we buy trucks, we train, we you know, we go out and start, you know, killing rats. And so, uh, that's an I think it's kind of a gray area, but in my mind, if if it works like, uh, the Pestaban district where those folks pay for control

efforts, they don't pay for just control or STR or strategy and education and and resources. They pay for us to go out there and take care of the problem. And so if uh if a special taxing district was formed on an interim basis, I believe that that would be the foundation for a government control uh framework.

Yeah, thank you for that. And just a quick follow-up question to that then. Um would that be something that would be um countywide like you you'd include all the incorporated cities within that? not just sort of segmented out to just the county properties, but probably an overlay over the entire county is what? Again, I know you're not an attorney. I'm just trying to think through some of the ideas. Is that kind of what your thinking would be if that were the decision of the county commissioners to do that?

Mr. President, Councilman Taylor, uh, yes. I I don't believe it makes sense to create any kind of geographical boundary within the county if we were talking about rat control because rats don't respect geographical boundaries. And certainly if we decided that we wanted to control rats in the incorporated areas, then all of a sudden they start transporting out to the unincorporated areas and affecting our farms and our feed lots and our feed structures and our agricultural producers. Uh that's an that would be something I would try to avoid in the formation. So at least in my ability to influence the county commissioners to do so.

Just one final question, Mr. President, if I may. Um, do you do you think this is an issue that uh will stay around long term? Uh, or is this something that if we act now and decisively, we can maybe get it in control within a couple years potentially and and the issue goes away or is this sort of our new reality and we're going to have to kind of continue to stay after it? What's your your sense? I know you're not an expert on rafts, but you know, in this world, what what should we expect in terms of a a time horizon for addressing it? Mr. President, Councilman Taylor. Uh, so speaking to my pest control operator friends, uh, you know, who have worked in big cities doing rack control, they say once you have them, you have them. Uh, I guess the issue for me would be, okay, we have them. Well, if we don't have any control structures or an organized effort, then we're going to have them really bad. And and those issues are going to start coming to the forefront. and there's no standard population control or any kind of an organized effort, then we're talking about a much bigger problem over time and a much more expensive problem to implement once we get down the road. So, I I don't know if that answers your question, but I think yes. Uh and I have spoken to folks stepping back um who worked for the health district way back in the 70s and they said that they were you know killing rats on the Boisee River um and around that those corridors. So, I would say that rats have been here, but because of the immigration that we've seen and and some of the, you know, some of these species being brought in uh and then not controlled and um you know, there's there's nothing there to keep them from really start starting to become an issue that is top of the mind for folks um in our communities and neighborhoods. President

Councilman Caber

Adam again appreciate you being here and I recognize you're not an expert. I think you're more of an expert than us and so I I appreciate you sharing um some some insight with us a handful of questions and really my perspective is what can we do as the city of Meridian. So I think my my first question would be is when I look at the you know the state statute it does say that the mosquito district because it also focuses on other vermin of public health it does seem within your guys' wheelhouse without having to be specifically defined. So help me understand why you can't begin mobilizing under the current language that already exists.

Mr. President and Councilman Kavana, uh, I would say that yes, you're you're exactly right. That Burman word in the statute would allow for adding a species to the abatement district. Now, if we're talking about mosquito abatement district where we want to control rats right now, well, like I said, our mosquito abatement operations are completely different from rat control operations. And so I think it would really require a def a definitive and um I would say an intentional effort to gear up and to uh really focus on hiring folks or you know we have to understand what our goals are and what the control structures would look like before we add them to the district and then say we're in the rack control business because I think that a lot of pest control oper operators would certainly be opposed to that as far as us competing in the private industry on rat control. Uh so I mean I hope that doesn't sound too wishy-washy. Um but yes, we could certainly add them to the district. Um but that doesn't mean there's funding and framework to for actual control.

Mr. President, if I can follow up

and I guess admin, what's what's preventing from at least getting that first step going? And I I can understand it's a little chicken and the egg, but it feels like that we've got, you know, a clock that's been ticking. And the one thing I hate is government getting in the way of itself. And it feels a little bit like that Spider-Man meme where like all the Spider-Mans are pointing to each other saying, "Hey, this is this is your responsibility." U with all due respect to the private operators that are out there that do a good job. This is a public health issue and so we should be attacking this like like any other public health health issue which is let's let's get moving now and not wait for a solution to show up in a box. And so I guess that's some feedback that I was shar What would it take for the mosquito abatement district to add rats and to at least begin building out some of that infrastructure to start addressing this? Is it an act of the commissioners? Is it an is it an act of some other group? I mean, help me understand what what would it take to at least get that process going.

Uh, Mr. President, uh, Councilman Cavender, okay, if we're talking about rat control, we add the species. Say if the if the commissioners say yes, we want to add rats to the mosquito abatement district. Well, our mosquito abatement district budget is a little over $2 million for, you know, the entire county. Um, so all of that money, and I'm asking for a lot of supplementals this year, all of that money is spent. Um, and then, you know, as if we're talking about housing, training, equipping, and u, you know, mobilizing actual rack control operators, uh, that's going to take a lot more levy. And I think that that would be something that could that the commissioners would have to seriously look at before they would uh add the species to an existing district or even an an interim district. Um, and uh, I'm I'm not exactly sure about what, you know, increasing a levy by, you know, I think it's against the law if you wanted to increase the uh, the mosquito abatement district budget by over, you know, 3% or over, you know, in this case, I would think you would be doubling it, you know, just to start out with. So, um, those are kind of the hurdles I think that the commissioners would have to contend with. Um, and they're not against, like I said, working on this issue. We're just trying to find the best path forward. And I understand your concerns about we're letting time pass and these rat control, these rats are starting to proliferate. Um, but like I said, we're just trying to get folks to the table and see if we can craft a solution and gather support, look at grants, look at any kind of opportunities that we can gather funds to either, you know, start and and we've talked about this at the stakeholder group. Start getting some information out there. start collecting information

via mobile app, uh, survey 123, reporter a rat, put it on our database, moderate that information that's coming in so we can start getting a good picture of where these populations are popping up. Um, having a reporting hotline, those are things I think that can be implemented pretty quickly and we're working on that. Uh but as far as you know physical control efforts that's an entirely other you know pest. Mr. President maybe one or two more just quick questions if I may.

Councilman Adam you you touched on you said northwest Boisey is where you're seeing these right now. Are are you seeing them in Meridian? Are you getting calls for Meridian? If so is it in any section of our community north, south, east, west, central, all over.

Uh Mr. President, uh, Councilman Kavana, uh, we are getting reports from Boyisey, Meridian, Eagle, Star, um, those are the the four primaries. Um, we're we're hearing reports South Meridian now, um, Amity area. Uh, we're hearing reports here in town, but like I said, I don't I don't pin those on. We just collect the calls and take the notes. So, I don't pin those on a map and I don't document where those are coming from yet. Uh, but I would say that yes, we have getting we are getting reports from Meridian constituents as well. Um, and that's part of that secondary effort to try to, you know, put together that database and and start, you know, collecting information that is useful to folks like you to make these decisions.

Mr. President, just one more. Adam, gonna ask you to kind of take a regional hat off for a second and look at it from a Meridian perspective. Um, you've got the magic wand. What is it the city of Meridian should be doing like yesterday to start addressing this?

Uh, Mr. President, Commissioner, uh, sorry, Councilman Kavana, I would just say that, uh, if if there are folks that you can assign to our stakeholder group to help, you know, collaborate on these issues, start getting information out to your constituents, um, start, you know, notifying folks of these of these issues. I think that's kind of the number one thing. Um, and then to be honest, if if there is a a mechanism that the cities can employ to help collaborate on a fund or collaborate on an effort that would work across jurisdictions, that would be something that would be useful, I think, to all the constituents, not only in city of Meridian, but also in Ada County.

Okay. Thank you. Appreciate you being here. Council President Overton, Council Member Straighter.

Thank you. Um, I appreciate you being here. Uh, as a recovering former resident of New York City, I have a lot of experience with rats, unfortunately. Um, it's such a public health issue. They're so disgusting. New York actually has a rat map, if I recall correctly, where they would map where the rats are. Um, from my perspective, it is definitely an important issue to get a hold of. Is the sooner the better. You'll get no argument for me. I'm sure we could send someone to your stakeholder group. I cannot imagine Mayor Simmonson not agreeing to that uh or our city council. I am a little concerned. Can cities collaborate on a fund or effort? Certainly we could, but I think you guys need to drive it and tell us what you need, right? Because you're you're the only um you're the only agency that is in a position to address it. to your point and you understand like if the city of Meridian hires like 10 people to control rats that doesn't do anything because they're just going to run all around and and proliferate. So, um do you know what those action steps are? What that fund would look like? What a request looks like? Should we have any kind of time frame in mind where you're going to come back to us? Just help me understand how we could hash this out. Do the commissioners need to hear from us that we Yes, obviously we're very interested in collaborating with them. like what helps you to move something forward?

Mr. President, uh, Councilwoman Strader, I would say that yes, uh, to your second question, um, any communications that you have with our board of county commissioners are helpful and anything that you can offer in terms of support would certainly be helpful. Um, and then also, uh, your question as to, um, your first question, I'm sorry, would you repeat that? Yeah, Council President Overton, just you mentioned specifically cities could collaborate on some kind of a funer effort, like what would that look like? Do you have any initial thoughts on like what what kind of a contribution you would be looking for? What kind of format that would be? Um just I'm just kind of are we going to have a follow-up meeting? Like help me kind of understand how do we actually move a solution forward?

Thank you. Uh, President Overton, Councilwoman Strader. Uh, yes. So, what it would look like, we don't know, right? And that's that's kind of the point is that we would like to get the stakeholders together and say, okay, what does this look like? What are the legal structures that we have available to us to contribute for something like this? Uh, and then I I think in my mind, uh, it's hard for me to want to reinvent the wheel. I think if we look across the nation, we see a program or see a structure that we like um and then try to do the best we can to emulate something like that. You know, uh certainly smarter people than me across the nation have built, you know, rat control operations on in a government perspective. Uh and I would certainly not, like I said, want to recreate the wheel. I would try to model something that is effective in other areas. Uh we saw that with the Alberta method, you know, that was introduced at the legislature, but it was unconvincing. You know, in Alberta, Canada, they were able to eradicate rats uh basically by a a pro a provincial effort that was directly focused and and funded by the province of Alberta and they brought in experts and they really did a great job of eradicating rats in the province. So that is not going to happen in Idaho. we've heard. Um, so right now we're kind of back to the drawing board on what that looks like as far as a county city perspective. But in my mind, I would I would say like I said before, just try to emulate something that works um in other in another city or municipality or other county.

That's President Overton. Council member Straight. Just a light-hearted thought. Maybe a bounty. Get all the boys of Meridian together with their BB guns. And you know what? We'll give you a quarter for every rat you bring. I'm just You never know. Thank you. Thank you, Council Administrator, Council Member Whitlock.

Thank you, Council President. Um, Adam, thanks for being here and thanks for the update. And, you know, I'm I I appreciate all of the coverage that this has received. I think public awareness is probably the first thing that we need to focus on. Um, if we can eliminate places where these rats would like to be and work on, you know, some of the transportation routes or migration routes for these so that they don't spread. I think that's that's key. And just to follow on with council member Straers, I mean, we we don't even do dogs or cats. I don't think we want to add rats to the city of Meridian. So, so we do look to you to um to help guide us in that conversation. And again, to her point, I think um there wouldn't be any push back from from me for the mayor to appoint somebody to to sit on the council and collaborate with you because we do need to be ahead of this. I've also lived in places where they've had national trap rat day. Um, and they weren't hard to find and and you could get a half a dozen or a dozen in a day. Um, so yeah, I think public awareness is is a big part of it and collaboration and hopefully we can get ahead of it.

May I address that?

Uh, President Overton, Councilman Whitlock. Yes, it thank you for that. And to your point, I would say that uh we have seen across the nation that municipalities have enacted code restrictions uh as far as rat harbage goes. Um you know, where the cities across the nation have said, you know, you can't have junky wood piles that are harboring rats. You can't you have to secure your food sources. You can't be leaving, you know, in the restaurants. Certainly uh you know the health districts are always inspecting for rat droppings and that sort of thing, but that might be something down the road that the city of Meridian could help with as far as you know and and all the cities really as far as you know that municipal code making sure that within the cities it is illegal to harbor rats and to let them proliferate. So I would just add that to your comment sir. Adam, I appreciate everything you've said. I think you've heard enough from members of our council to know that uh I think every one of us would be committed to working collaboratively with the other cities in the county and with your agency on trying to come up with a solution for the rat problem. Um it's sad to me that at the state level it's not our problem. It's an 80 county issue because if we're not careful, I mean, it doesn't take long when you look at the counties that border 80 county and now it becomes a regional issue because we didn't decide to take quick action and do something. Um, I think you'll find we'll have a lot of support to build a collaborative team coming from our city. And I hope you're getting that same level of collaborative support from every other city because if we don't, it makes it really tough for us to have a team approach to take because it's only going to work if it's a team

approach. So I would say currently um Kendall with the mayor's office would be your first point of contact and anything we could do or help or mobilize to help with that uh will be at the table. Um thank you sir. I appreciate your comments and appreciate your support. Council, thank you for your time. President, Adam, just wanted to say thank you real quick. I also wanted to point out that our superintendent of parks is here and so I'm just curious um I'm guessing that he's interested in this as well. So, might be a good contact as well.

Thank you, ma'am. Mr. President, Council Member T, if I add before you leave, if I might. Um I think there's um this is one of those issues that I don't think you'll see a lot of push back from the sense that um the government needs to take a lead in sort of organizing the response. Um from my perspective and I would assume uh most of my colleagues here would we're really uh probably pretty anxious to see the county commissioners lead out on this. we will support that effort, but we're I think we're feel a little bit limited in what we can do other than offer our support and encouragement because of just the way we're structured. But um I don't think there'd be any concerns. Uh and we would encourage the message back to the county commissioners to please aggressively uh lead out on this and consider all options on the table. The lack of action from the state shouldn't be an excuse to not do something when statute allows them to do that. even if it's on an interim basis to get it started because a year passing without any action could lead put us in a spot that's really bad. And then the Ada County problem is probably a statewide problem in a not too distant future. And I did listen to the debate in the legislature and it was very much well that's an Ada County problem. It's not my problem. It will be very soon. Um but I think you know I think that's a message if you could take that back that we we want them to take a lead. We're willing to help. We don't want to just put someone on a a a in a meeting to offer ideas. We really want to see some solutions. So, we would ask them to take all actions that current law allows and explore them as um quickly as they deem reasonable. So, thank you.

Uh thank you, Councilman Taylor. I appreciate that. I will certainly bring that message back to the commission and I know that all of us are very concerned about this. I know our commissioners are as well. Um it's just we are we all have our you know handcuffs that we have to deal with legislatively, legally speaking and then also you know financially speaking and so it's really just trying to work through those and and find the key. So thank you. Thank you Adam. Is that it? Thank you. Appreciate your time council. That brings us to the end of our workshop. Do I have a motion to adjourn

Mr. President, I move that we adjourn the meeting. We have a motion to adjurnn. We have a second. All in favor say I. I. We are adjourned.

Evening council and welcome to the regular meeting will come to order. For the record, it is April 21st, 2026 at 6 PM and we'll begin this evening with roll call attendance. Thank you, Mr. President. Councilman Cavender here. Councilman Taylor here. Councilwoman Strader here. Councilman Whitlock here. Councilman Little Roberts here. Councilman Overton here. If you'd all please rise and join us in the pledge of

allegiance. Pledge allegiance 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. Up next will be our community invocation. And tonight we're glad to welcome Mick Armstrong to the house. Father, I just thank you for your blessing on this city. And as I was reading last week, King David when he finally found peace in his kingdom and he sought to build a temple for you, he you told him that um his son Solomon would do that, but you told him that you would establish his throne forever. And he went in and sat before you and he said, "Who am I that you would do this for me?" Thinking as I was a shepherd boy um from the smallest tribe of Israel and now I'm king. God, you've um grown this city and made it a great city. You've given us good leaders, um great departments and people that have protected us and provided good services. We just pray for the wisdom u decisions made tonight and decisions in the future and and two for the mayor's prayer breakfast upcoming next month. It's just that it' be an opportunity to draw our community to honor you. And pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you, Mick. Up next is adoption of the agenda.

Mr. President, Council Member Little Roberts. Mr. President, I move we adopt the agenda with no changes. Second. We have a motion and a second to adopt the agenda with no changes. All those in favor say I. I.

Oppose? Nay. The eyes have it. The agenda is adopted. Our next item on the agenda is uh was intended to be a proclamation for Cole Valley Christian boys basketball team. We are going to just skip over that at this point and revisit it if they show up at a little later time. That brings us to the next item on the agenda which is announcements and recognition. Council, we have no announcements and recognition tonight. That brings us to the public for Mr. Clerk. Uh Mr. President John Forsberry. Mr. Forsber, if you'll come up on public forum. You have three minutes, sir.

Thank you. John Forsber, 2320 Cadillac Drive, Meridian. Um, also have a couple of properties up the street here, 1615 North Main and 1603 North Main. Um, we're located right next door, Mr. President, Council, sorry. We're located right next door to the vape shop um at 35 uh Fair View. And at least once a week, sometimes several times a week, kids get into the vape shops dumpster, take their bags of trash, and they move them over to behind our dumpster, and tear the sacks apart, and look for any kind of material that they can find that the vape shop might be throwing away. I have videos after videos. has been going on for years. I've been over and talked to the vape shop to try and get them to do something about locking up their container and they have a locking container available to them, but they will not put a lock on it. So, I end up dealing with their trash several times a week. And it's just I'm at the end of my rope on this whole thing. And I would like to see you guys come up with an ordinance that makes anybody that has um material that is um what age prohibited material from being available to those people in a um manner that would you know give them access. Um, I'm, as I say, I'm at the end of my rope here. Um, I've cleaned it up. My employees have cleaned it up. My partners cleaned it up. You know, we just keep doing it and we go over and

talk to them and it it's like I might as well be, I don't know, talking to the carpet here. It just does no good. Um, so if I could get some help from you guys, I'd appreciate it. I've already sent a message to the mayor's office and uh I'm just would really appreciate you know anything that you could do questions anybody Mr. President, Council Member Cavender,

John, appreciate you being here. The challenge with this public forum is it doesn't provide an opportunity for us to engage in questions and seek additional feedback because we haven't noticed to the public that we're going to talk about this. So, it's if I'm on your side, I always feel like it's very frustrating because you you shared a problem and we can't necessarily get into a back and forth, but I I appreciate you sharing that with the mayor. And we do have a spot at the end of our meeting for future meeting topics. So I would anticipate there may be some conversation at that time at least um where we have noticed to the public that we're going to maybe speak about potential future meeting topics. Okay. Thank you for being here though. Thank you. Thank you, John. Council President Overton.

Yes, Council Member St. I I would recommend um well if you want to stick around the mayor's chief of staff um Kendall is here and she actually was on the Meridian anti-drug coalition for a number of years. I know she cares a lot about these kinds of topics. I think she would be a fantastic even though we can't go back and forth about this topic. I would recommend that you network with her for a few minutes. We have spoke. Good. Okay. Thank you. to say hi to your lovely wife for me. We'll do that, sir. Thank you.

Council, that brings us to our public hearings. And item number two is a public hearing continued from April 7th, 2026 for Alamar H2026005. And I'll turn this quickly over to staff. Sorry. So, Alamar um withdrew their application. Um they contacted um staff and said they no longer wanted to move forward with this application. So, they requested to have it withdrawn. Thank you, Linda. For the rest of council, because this was a continued public hearing with a withdrawn application, we need to have a motion to close that public hearing.

Mr. President Overton, Councilman Cavender, that we close the public hearing on item number two. We have a motion and a second to close the public hearing on item H2026-00005. All those in favor say I. I. Oppos? Nay. The eyes have it. The public hearing is closed. Council, at this point, we would need a motion to accept the withdraw the application. Council President Overton, Councilman Caver, move that we accept the withdrawal request uh for item number two.

We have a motion and a second to withdraw application H2026-00005. Mr. Clerk, roll call vote. Thank you, Mr. President. Governor, hi Taylor. Hi. Trader. Hi. Whedlock. Hi. Little Roberts. Hi. Overton. Hi. Six votes to allow it application to withdraw. It is withdrawn. The next item up is public hearing continued from April 14th, 2026 for Ledges Business Park H 2026-00008. And we'll begin this one with staff comments.

Good evening again. This time I actually know where I'm working. So tonight we are here for a development uh agreement modification is for Legis Business Park. It is located at um there's two lots. It's 4120 and 4096 North Lender Road. Um it is it consists of 2.28 acres of land and is zon. So, a little background on this. So, in 2005, an application for annexation and zoning um of this property from RUT for the county to LO and a preliminary plat approval. A preliminary plat was approved for Redfish subdivision. Um it had a development agreement uh with it which only they allowed the following uses which was professional and sales office, personal and personal professional services, clinics, medical, dental and optical and health care and social services or a daycare center with a conditional use permit. So along somewhere along the line, um that language did not get transferred to the DA when it was modified. Um which was later found out because in um 2022 they applied for short plat for leis business center which was approved. Um so it has the two lots that are shown here. So, lot one um is developed and it has a two-story building on it. Um, and there's also an accessory uh building that is located on lot two. And the condition of the approval for that was that the lot two would be considered non-buildable until the time of the

existing storage building is removed, converted to an office or remains as an accessory storage building to the new office building on lot two with the future CZC and design application. So, the applicant has said that it will remain a storage an accessory storage building and um they'd like to continue to utilize it as that accessory storage building and they're just um requesting that you guys um approve that they can retain that structure and allow the use to continue. So this is the future um plan for lot two to add a building here for um some type of professional use. These are some um concept elevations for it. So again, this is the DA that I was referring to. As you can see, as exhibit C, which was approved with the development agreement, has those services, the uses that are allowed, but somehow it did not get transferred to the actual DA itself. So it talks about this um exhibit C in the findings that it would be part of this development agreement but somehow it did not get in the language on the development agreement. So we feel that this should have been there. So what the applicant is asking is to modify the development agreement to add this language to it. Council, any questions for staff?

Council President Overton. Council member Straer. Thank you. Thank you, Linda. Um, I guess my my one I guess question or concern and if you could just clarify for me is this is located right next to a school, right? It is.

Okay. And um do we have any um limitations or special considerations in our code already around the types of businesses that can be located next to a school? And I I I just kind of wanted to understand that because and I I'll ask the applicant when they come up to explain um I just want to understand if it's like social services for example, what what would that look like? What is the potent what are the potential users of social services so we could determine if that's appropriate, you know, to be located near a school? Um um absolutely. Um you could always add language that whatever is coming in there um would have to have a conditional use permit so that you could look at what was going in there and determine if it was um actually suitable for that and so it wouldn't just be outright permitted.

It's a nice suggestion. Thank you, Mr. President. Linda, could you go back a couple slides to the, uh, exhibit C and then the development agreement? So, um, exhibit C, uh, you're you're looking at in that highlighted area where it says or a daycare center with a conditional use permit. So, that was in our findings that council approved, but then the development agreement did not include that and that's what you're highlighting, correct?

Okay. And then uh as a quick follow-up question to that um in kind of in line with council administrator's question with the types of uses in this zoning area, would this uh if we are to correct the development agreement to reflect what was uh indicated here in the findings? Um it seems like maybe a conditional use permit is a proper way to go about it. But is this a significant change to the type of use allowed in this zoning area or is it depending on the like what the actual use is?

It's not a significant change. Um there are a lot of things that are allowed in the um LO zone. Some do require conditional use permits. Um some are outright permitted. Um, but because we are opening up the DA again, you can make um restrictions to what is and isn't allowed. If there are some things that you see on here that you don't feel are appropriate for that because the DA has been opened up again, uh it would be your privy to the to make restrictions. Council, any further questions for staff? If not, would the applicant like to come forward? Mr. President, uh, council members, my name is Jason Pollson, Builtmore Company, uh, representing the owner of the property, uh, Rama Group LLC.

I'm sorry. address of address for the record as well.

Yep. Address of 15 uh 80 West Caillus Creek Drive, Meridian, Idaho. Uh tonight bring before you a modification to the DA religious business park. Want to thank staff for her comments. We generally agree with all of the well we we agree with most of those I guess to help start with. Uh just we'll get into a little bit of the details, but as mentioned uh a two parcel commercial subdivision uh approved and recorded in 2022 and 2023 just north of Sawtooth Middle School, 4120 North Linder Road and 4096 North Linder Road. Uh 2.28 acres that lot one uh is developed. It does have a 10,000t building on it. Uh we are requesting a modification to that original development agreement. Again like uh Miss Ritter shared uh this parcel came with uh a backstory and a little bit of history that limited the types of businesses uh to professional uh and medical. Uh the exhibit C did not fully transfer and uh due to council's recommendation because of the time in this development agreement. We stand before you today to help uh clarify what could have been uh a staff correction back at the time that it was caught. But uh as we talk about uses and what might come, we want to be mindful of its location uh we have found that personal uh business usage is most desired uh in that area. Uh this is not a change of business that would be any sort of retail. Uh as the gentleman shared earlier provide opportunities for trash

or or uh unwanted items to be gone through uh by youth. Uh this is simply to open up and and provide uh better representation of what we believe the original intent of the development agreement uh included at that time. Um, again, wording uh for what we're asking for that it would allow professional, personal, healthcare, or social services or a daycare center with an additional use permit. Uh, is verbiage that came from exhibit C of that original red fish development agreement in 2005. Uh we we would caution and ask that a blanket conditional use permit not be added uh to this modification if possible. uh those allowable uses in the LO zoning uh limit and miss as Miss Ritter verified uh there are additional conditional use applications for those business types that might not be wanted uh located next to that school. Um, I guess again to close, we we feel like we're trying to go back to the original intent of of that 2005 development agreement. Uh, we recognize concern based on location. We feel like personal use uh being added or the others um would not be in detriment based on its location. Uh we appreciate your time. Uh by adding a blanket conditional use, as much as I love to come back before city council, I I want to limit and and respect your time and uh don't want to be forced into that opportunity to come back before you unnecessarily, but uh

I'll leave that and stand for any questions. Thank you for your time, council. Any questions for the applicant? Council member Straighter.

Thank you. Um, Council President Overton, thanks for being here. Um, I think where I'm getting hung up and what I really want to understand that maybe with your help and staff's help, what is the definition of some of the terms we're throwing around. So, what's the definition of personal services and health care services? How is that different than a medical office building um, and social services? Because I'll just give you an example. So, could I see like a halfway house or a drug rehab facility here right next to a middle school? Could I see um maybe something oriented toward um women's healthcare? Like, I can think of so many different things that could go here that I do think a cup would be helpful for to address. So,

walk me through some of your definitions. Uh thanks. Uh I will defer to staff if possible. These are not my definitions, but these are uh these are code definitions. Uh with the caution that trying to think through every possibility can be exhausting as well, but uh council president, if possible, Miss Ruter, can you Yeah. Council member Straer,

we we'll give um Linda just a minute to get her definitions up because I think it'll take her a second, but I I just want to respond to that. Um, you're asking us not to think through every possibility, but you've requested not to have a blanket cup on all of your different uses. So, if we were to approve this change tonight, then we would have no say as to what goes here as long as it fits into these categories. And that's where I'm getting a little hung up is I'm just trying to anticipate again because it's literally right next to a school. I just want to make sure that there's not a blind spot here.

Sure. uh and and to answer that spec I understand the the concern and uh why not a blanket. So, uh, medical medical procedures, uh, general practice doctors. Um, this site, uh, primary health or something like that doesn't suit square footage or it's very limiting to a doctor, uh, or, uh, something where, uh, medical procedures are taking place. Um, professional accountants. Uh we currently there's a real estate agent that occupies most of that uh 10,000t building. So uh light office use is intended for uh right light office um personal use. Uh where we find the most demand is uh most of the interested parties and and those that we've been in conversations with hair, nails, um personal improvement that doesn't fall under uh the medical umbrella where procedures are taking place. Um nails, lash, right? Um hair care. So if if I had to direct and give our preference of where again our our definition and our ask came from the original DA uh priority being professional medical and then personal

uh not trying to paint us in a corner in the future. We don't know what's going to interest and demand might be 10 years in the future, but uh health services again I'll defer to staff to try to talk through some of the definitions and and read that. Do you want me to read the screen?

No, I just put it up so they could see what the definition was. Okay. So, so in in your specific concern of halfway house or some other type of uh transitional personal healthcare type service, I would defer you to the square footage of the site and uh it it is a very small footprint currently that could not change without coming back before council again in the future. The current building envelope is a roughly 2,000 square foot uh structure 2 to 3,000. Neighborhood's concerns being no second story there. We're not intending a second story on this, right? Uh, so,

council president, council member Straer, um, Linda, I I I want to look around and make sure has everyone had an opportunity to read the definition of the healthcare and social services. If so, could we um quickly go to what personal services um involves?

Um, Council President Overton, Council Member Strader,

thank you. I I think this is really helpful. I I'm not so concerned about personal services like a nail salon, a lash place. I don't think that's a huge issue. Professional services, I think we have a better grip on on what's involved. Medical office is already permitted. So I think maybe where I'm having a little bit of heartburn is around the health care services and social services just because it's such a broad definition. And I get what you're saying about like there's a certain footprint that would be needed for a facility that might be of concern. Um but without I don't know I I just wanted to articulate my concern would be I I think maybe a cup would make sense for that type of use. Um I understand your request though. So, I'm going to chew on it.

I Sorry, bring it back. Uh, you you could add a conditional use just like a daycare. You could add a conditional use permit to health services if if needed as an additional conditional use application. Council, any additional questions for applicant? Mr. President, Council Member Taylor.

Uh, thank you, Jason. Um, you know, I I want to um make sure we're trying to follow the original intent uh as much as we can. I think that's a a reasonable and appropriate ask. I do think the proximity to to a school though causes a little extra level of discretion that we want to have. Uh I agree with Council Member Strader's um thoughts. I looking at the um social services one, it there's a lot of different uses that could go there that I would be very opposed to potentially if my children were there based on what there's. Uh so I I think um I don't think your ask is unreasonable in any way to try to follow the original intent of council with correcting the development agreement but also we are opening it and I do think that the the definitions that we have in our our uh code here are pretty broad and I I would be uh I would want probably a cup if it was a social services application. The other ones I think are reasonable and would be fine. And I would be happy to kind of see it corrected as you're requesting, but I would probably only feel comfortable if we had another shot to make sure, well, what's the the actual use type of that facility then? So, my thoughts,

council, any additional comments, President Overton, Council Member Camp,

Jason, I uh thanks for being here. I know these are kind of wonky things to kind of walk through, so I appreciate your patience and grace with us. I I have some similar concerns is that my two colleagues have raised, but maybe one additional one and you know it it it certainly has to do with the with the use around these residential areas, right? And the the hope is that the use is large enough that it benefits those that surround the area uh but not so successful, right, that it has a negative impact, right, on our traffic network, particularly around Linder Road. And so, right, when I start to think about, you know, like medical services where there's procedures that are being done, is this a case that cars are coming in at 7 8 9 in the morning when traffic is at its highest? You wanted to find those complimentary uses where that traffic is kind of spread out throughout the day. So, help me understand kind of what are what are the current hours of your current building? What what is your anticipated hours that this facility would be would be open? And and I know that you're trying to keep things very open-ended about to what the specific use could be, but I'm sure you've got there's a reason I think that you're here is there's probably an anticipated user that you're hoping to be able to work with. And I appreciate confidentiality on that, but it would it would help me have some good understanding um about kind of what is planning to go there and the impact particular on traffic.

Yeah. Uh Mr. President, uh, Council Member Kavner, uh, in the L zone, businesses are able to operate, I believe it's 6:00 a.m. to 10 p.m., you know. Yeah. Uh, that's that's Meridian standard L zoning. Uh, current businesses in that business park do not operate at those hours. Uh so that that is a concern to uh speak forward thinking with interested parties. Uh salon and and personal services, nails and such. Uh their hours of operation, I again would guess but fall between 8:00 a.m. to a 5 to 6 p.m. type window. Uh I don't know a lot of salons that are open late or uh but again they're confined by code and

um I can't see a lot of interference taking place with the surrounding neighbors or super highly successful. Uh we we can all hope and and have tax dollars come into the meridian coffers, but uh the parking is existing. There's a shared parking agreement there. We have no existing subs for utilities needed. So, we're simply opening up again now with new concern with council uh what additional businesses can fit that small envelope and window without interfering with the surrounding.

Council President Overton, maybe one. Council, is a daycare an anticipated use? Not in my foreseeable future. Okay. Thank you. Appreciate that. the the Yeah. Council, any additional questions for the applicant? Councilman Whitlock. Jason, just looking at the property, it looks like there is sufficient parking for the existing business that's there, the 10,000 square ft. Um, looks like you've well exceeded what would be required for that facility. And I would imagine the carryover would help serve this new project if if and when you bring in new project. Yeah. Is that correct? Correct. Yes.

Council, if there's no further questions. Thank you, Jason. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. We have everybody sign up on this application. Mr. President, we did not.

Is there anyone in the room that wishes to comment on this application or is there anyone online that would like to speak? If so, if you could state your name and address for the record, please. Mr. President, council members Jeremy Amar, 1580 West Caillus Creek Boulevard here in uh Meridian. Um I work for Builtmore. I'm here with the developer as well. And just wanted to touch on kind of the cup thought. Um similar to how the the daycare has a specific cup because it is a more strenuous use than typical office use. We we'd absolutely be in support of uh having a cup condition for social services or some of those other kind of higher use or higher I guess maybe more worrisome types of businesses next to the middle school. Um again there's it is a very broad definition. I mean, a a dentist or a general practition office, maybe that doesn't need it, but yeah, social service or or different kinds of of health care, we'd fully support a cup like that. Um, thank you all. I'm happy to answer any question, but I think Jason covered everything.

Council, any questions? Thank you. Is there anyone else would like to comment on this application? I don't think we've seen anybody online raised their hand. Would the applicant like to have any final comments? Applicants waving final comments. Council, this is a continued public hearing. Mr. President Council member Taylor.

Linda, could you scroll back to the definition for the healthcare and social services so we could look at that? Just uh thinking of um what Jeremy said about, you know, if there are any other uses in here that uh would be considered a highintensity use at certain times that might be challenging with the traffic flow at certain times of the day with the middle school like a daycare. Um, I like to be careful about not being overly uh burdensome in terms of what our what we uh want to layer on top of uh a development. But um I just wanted to take a look at that to see if there were any other types of uses that would maybe warrant that. I again I'll just be consistent with what I said before. I think for social services for sure I would uh would want a cup just considering the types of uses that could fall under that and the appropriateness for that to be located next to a middle school. I'm not is my understanding would be and maybe Linda you can correct me for I guess healthcare and social services these definitions apply well let me just oh there it is okay thank you I'm slow at reading miss Mr. President, I would I would be uh I would want my personal opinion just in discussion here that a cup be required for both healthcare and social services but not for uh personal services.

Council member Kavana.

Uh thank you, Council President. I hadn't quite chimed in yet, but I I appreciate that. I I tend to agree with Council Member Taylor. Um but I would maybe um want one additional uh requirement uh as part of the DA mod which is um anything that we are assigning a CUP that it would also come with an additional traffic analysis study before council makes any decisions. start to think of what are going to be those high impact users on a widely used road right now that may become even more popular as the interchange begins. And I just want to make sure that future councils have the opportunity to really look at the totality of the impact of the use before they're asked to make decision.

Mr. President Council Whitlock, maybe a question for Bill um in terms of how this originally appeared and included healthc care services and social services in the original language that was taken out in the in the DA. But when we look at our Meridian code again, this title is health care and social services. It defines health care in the first part of that paragraph. Period. And then it defines social services in the second part of that paragraph. Can we bifurcate that in a in whatever we prescribed tonight for a conditional use? I and again I'll just I'm more comfortable with a dentist office not having to come back for a cup. I'm more comfortable with, you know, some of those health care services that would be that would fit in this square footage are not going to be high use. Um, I hear the concerns about the social services and so I would like to see that. Can we bifurcate the the healthcare and social services? Paragraph.

So, Mr. President, members of the council, Council Member Whitlock, I mean, that's a great question. I mean, I I guess my only concern is that by code, we've chosen to lump them together and by creating and separating them. I I I would hate to open this this council or a future council up to an argument that we were simply being arbitrarily splitting our own code and and two without some specific reasons why we don't think the code is adequate to require it as and this definition since we've chosen as a code to make it one. I would be more hesitant to simply split it in two. I agree with you. The way it's crafted seems logical, but I would be concerned a court might consider that to be somewhat arbitrary since again we don't normally split the code by sentence. We normally split it by section. So I I would be more hesitant to to recommend that. Um Mr. President, if you don't mind the other comment, and I don't know where the council is going to go on the traffic um that council member Cavern just raised. I would suggest you would maybe put some discretionary language because again it's hard to know today what is going to be sought in the future and what the needs are going to be and what the roadway system is going to bear or not bear. So I don't know that you want to put that it's required on every request of cup but it certainly may be it may be required on every on the cup um because again I don't know what the circumstances are going to be and what they're asking for. So, I would leave it at least a little discretion, but yes, you're putting the applicant future applicants on notice that that may be a consideration, but then you may have different standards that may exist at that point in time that we don't know about today.

Thank you, Mr. Har. Council President Overton, Council Member Strader. Um, question for Bill. Um, what would you recommend in terms of like at whose discretion? Uh, would be my question with the CUP? Like would that be a a director in planning would make that call that okay in this case hey you know what a dentist's office is one thing but you're talking about a hu you know a facility we didn't anticipate like is that who should have the discretion or what would you recommend?

Yeah yeah Mr. President members council council majority no I do think it' be a staff level director determination on that is appropriate I mean we have some other sections in the code depending on um things that are within the code it gives the discretion of of the department or the director to direct additional information so I wouldn't leave that to an outside entity or someone else I do think it's an internal discussion but I do think it just puts the future applicant on notice that that is a consideration we might consider and again it's really going to be very dependent on the use that's being requested and what's the current situation at the time. I mean, there may not be any change to this area for 10 years and a dentist's office may not really trigger that, but a daycare 10 years from now might. So, I think you want to leave yourself to discretion, but I think that's an internal decision, not an external.

Council followup. Council member Straer. Thank you. Would you recommend that that language be included within the DA agreement itself that a traffic impact study may be required at the discretion of the city planning department? Yes, I would say the only thing I would suggest is maybe not say impact study. I know those are very particular items of art, but a traffic study or traffic analysis uh may be required something to that effect. So that there is at least again language that's a letting the future applicant know that we may be looking at that. It really depends on what you're asking for. Okay,

council. Any additional comments?

Throw my final comments in myself. Um, I think you have done a fantastic job in pushing this out to where it came from, to where it could go. I mean, we've heard the applicant talk about this could happen in the next 10 years, and yet we're looking at something that was originally brought in in 2005. So, I mean, we're talking a big time stamp of really in history and not knowing where the next 10 years are going. Um, I think I'm very supportive right now of the comments that have been made on how this would be approved and where it would require uh future approvals and whether that would also be some of those approvals be at the director's level.

Council with that, do we have a the president? Yes. Make council Taylor. I'd make a motion that we close the public hearing on item H-2026-00008. Second. Council, we have a motion and a second to close the public hearing on H2026-00008. All those in favor say I. I. Oppose? Nay. Eyes have it. The public hearing is closed. Mr. President, Councilman Taylor,

uh, I'd like to make a motion. Uh, and I do want to before I make the motion, just to clarify, I agree with um including language that says that uh we uh if a if it requires a conditional use permit that a traffic analysis may be required at the discretion of the department. Is that how we would Okay. Um, I would move that after considering all staff, applicant, and public testimony, I move to approve file number H--2026-00008 as presented in the staff report and specifically change the language to read as follows. that uses within the subdivision will be limited to professional services, personal services, or health care or social services or daycare. Okay, I'm going to start over again. I think I'm getting this off. The language, make sure I'm getting this right. I got my notes here scratching. uh uses within the subdivision be limited to professional services and personal services or healthcare and social services and daycare centers with a conditional use permit and that if a conditional use permit is required that a traffic analysis may be required at discretion of staff. I think I got

Council President Overton. Council member St. um a suggestion. I'm open. Yes. Um perhaps just to clarify saying uses within the subdivision will be limited to professional services and personal services. Period. Health care or social services or a daycare center will be allowed with an approval of a conditional use permit. Period. Um the the conditional use permit may require a traffic uh analysis at the discretion of the city of Meridian. That would be my suggestion.

That is a great suggestion. Or to do it on the fly. Would you like me to restate that or could we just say she just clarified it the way I was hoping to articulate it? Would the original maker of the motion like to allow Council Member Strader to be the new original maker of the motion? Yes, I'll second that. So, we have a motion and a second.

That's probably not appropriate. Okay, since there was not a second on the motion, if I might re uh reoffer that motion to get it clear because it as I was thinking and talking at the same time, I clearly cannot chew and walk at the same time. So, Mr. President, I'll withdraw that motion.

Motion withdrawn. And I would move that we after considering all staff applicant and public testimony, I move to approve file number H--2026-00008 as presented in the staff report for the hearing date of April 21, 2026 and that we approve the language as follows. Uses uses within the subdivision will be limited to professional and personal services. Period. Healthcare, social services, or daycare center will be approved with a conditional use permit. Period. If a conditional use permit is required, a traffic analysis may be required at the discretion of staff. Period.

Council President Overton, Council Member Strader. Um, I would second for discussion uh with the with one suggestion um that in the second sentence that it would read uh will be allowed with the approval of a conditional use permit. Mr. President Councilman Taylor

maybe some uh I mean my understanding would be that that's implied I agree with that unless we need to restate it for the motion. I'm just not sure if I have to restate that. Okay. So original motion is is good. Councilman Strader. We have a second. Is there any other discussion on the motion? If not, Kirk call roll. Thank you, Mr. President. Cavar, I Taylor, hi. Strader, Whidlock, hi. Little Roberts, hi. Overton, I.

All eyes. Motion has passed. Brings us to ordinances. Mr. Clerk, if you could read ordinance number 26-2123 by title only.

Thank you, Mr. President. an ordinance of the city of Marine, Idaho, granting to Inter Mountain Gas Company a 20-year extension to its franchise to construct, maintain, and operate a gas transmission and distribution system, providing for use of streets and alleys and rules governing the same, subjecting the grantee to all powers of the city. Setting forth the rules of the franchise in the grant, providing for the right of inspection by the city grantes plans, accounts, and books. Requiring grantee to furnish certain maps, setting forth the annual payment to the city and the filing of annual reports with the city. Requiring grantee to indemnify city and file evidence of insurance. Requiring compliance with safety regulations. Setting forth an agreement not to not. Setting forth an agreement not to compete. Reserving power of eminent domain. Providing for surrender of franchise. Granting right to salvage. Requiring written acceptance. Providing for consent to sale. Assignment or lease. Providing for payment of publication costs. Setting forth penalties and forfeitures. Separability and repeal.

Council, you've heard this ordinance read by title only. Is there anybody who wishes to hear this ordinance read in entirety? Seeing none, Mr. President, Councilman Taylor, move that we approve ordinance number 26-2123. We have a motion and a second to approve ordinance number 26-2123. Um, clerk call. Thank you, Mr. President. Cavan, hi. Taylor, hi. Strader, I Whitlock. Hi, Little Roberts. Hi, Overton. Hi, Council, which moves us to future meeting topics. Council President Overton, Councilman Kavar,

we heard from a member of the public tonight with some concerns about trash being transported from one dumpster to another. I know that president had some suggestions. It's great that he was able to connect with the mayor's chief of staff. I guess just a request to follow up with the chief of staff and if this does need to become a a future meeting topic, uh, that we get it scheduled at the time that makes the most sense. Absolutely, Councilman Cavar. It's a great idea. Any other future meeting topics? If not, I'd entertain a motion to adjurnn. Council member Little Roberts and I move we adjourn. We have a motion and a second to adjurnn. All in favor say I. I. Eyes have it. We are adjourned.