Treasure Valley Partnership
Meeting Minutes
November 28, 2007

Attendees

John Evans opened the meeting and welcomed everyone to Garden City. He said it was a pleasure to showcase the Garden City Hall/Library facility. He turned over the floor to Tom Dale for a presentation. Tom presented Eagle Mayor Nancy Merrill, with a Certificate of Appreciation from the Treasure Valley Partnership for her many years of service to the organization including the past three years as President.

John Evans introduced Tammy de Weerd to begin the discussion on the upcoming Local Option Tax District Legislation. Tammy asked if any Partnership member had major issues with regard to the legislation, and are we comfortable moving forward at this time? Tom indicated he had talked with the Mayor of Payette and she had a concern that adding more sales tax would hurt the border communities. Tom felt that this concern highlighted concerns that the tax would be levied outside of the Regional Public Transit Authorities boundaries (Ada & Canyon Counties).

Ken Burgess, the lobbyist for COMPASS stated that there is concern around the State that this is an ADA County bill. Ada County Highway District has expressed concern over the voting structure of the District. He stated that they are changing the name, nature and co-chairs of the “Coalition to reflect the State-wide nature of the group. He felt that this would help alleviate some concerns that it is not just transit legislation related to ADA County, but transportation legislation that will have impacts Statewide. Ken felt that if there is not broad unanimity coming from the Treasure Valley, we might have a hard time moving the legislation forward.

John and Margie asked what were the primary concerns coming out of the Ada County Highway District? Tom mentioned that part of the Bill includes the consolidation of COMPASS and VRT. Right now, the way COMPASS voting is structured; ACHD has a greater power than any community. With the proposed Bill, jurisdictions would be more equalized. Matt Stoll added that ACHD prefers to have the money directly allocated to them, instead of having money coming from the Regional Transportation Authority. In addition, they also have concerns regarding the mix between transit and roadways.

Tammy de Weerd felt that the bottom line question is that, if a potential COMPASS partner is in opposition to the legislation, do we feel comfortable moving forward. Nancy Merrill asked if there was opposition from the Canyon County Highway Districts. Tom Dale indicated that he has heard nothing but support coming from these Districts.

Dave Bieter stated that we need to be unanimous in our support and if there is opposition from a Partnership member, we need to hear that now. Nancy Merrill indicated that she is running a pole, in the first part of December for our legislative districts, of which, this transit legislation will be part of the pole. Margie Watson added that people from Gem County, Weiser, Payette, Fruitland and other communities on the Oregon border consider themselves part of the Treasure Valley. We need to make sure that it is clearly communicated that this will only have an effect in ADA and Canyon Counties.

Tom Dale believed if there is a fundamental objection to the idea, the opposition would work around the issue and find miniscule sections of the legislation to oppose. With regard to ACHD, the fundamental disagreement is the equalization of the power of the voting arrangement in the RTA.

John Evans asked if there is any reservation to adding transit to this local option? Nate Mitchell indicated that today, there is no opposition to the transit piece of the legislation. He added, in his district, legislators are going to beat on the City Council hard. Tammy de Weerd mentioned that she has a split City Council; they don’t oppose it and believe the citizens should have the opportunity to vote. She added that Legislative Districts 14, 20 & 21 will be difficult districts.

Tom Dale moved that the Partnership put together a statement of support for the Local Option Legislation. Margie Watson seconded the motion.

Discussion:
Matt Stoll pointed out that there is one inherent piece of the legislation that everyone needs to be comfortable with. That is the merger of Valley Regional Transit and COMPASS. Nancy Merrill stated that she had a discussion with Senator Bastion. He is under the assumption that COMPASS is going away and that Valley Regional Transit is going to be the lead. The concern is, what happens to the MPO? Matt Stoll added that the two organizations have the same elected officials so there will be some time efficiencies with the merger. The MPO will still exist, just under a different banner.

Dave Bieter’s concern is whether it hurts the chances to pass the legislation. He indicated that the City’s of Pocatello and Idaho Falls had concern about that piece of the legislation. Kelli Fairless added that the voting structure is an issue with ACHD as well as throughout the State. It is going to create an opportunity for Regional Transportation Authorities to figure out a voting structure.

Dave Bieter asked if this “voting structure” issue complicates this too much. Kelli Fairless stated that she has heard from both Governor Otter and Congress Simpson, that if they are going to support putting more money in the coffers of transportation, they want to know that it is not going to bureaucracy. One of the strongest statements we can make in this legislation is that we are consolidating two organizations into one, we are going to maximize staff resources, we are going to create efficiencies for board members to meet and work on these issues. This is a large selling point.

John Evans called for the question. The motion is; does the Treasure Valley Partnership support the concept of a local option sales tax for transportation. Motion carried unanimously.

John Evans moved ahead on the agenda and that we needed to appoint a member to the Advisory Council for College of Western Idaho. Nancy Merrill moved and Nate Mitchell seconded to appoint Tom Dale as our representative to the Advisory Council of the College of Western Idaho. Motion carried unanimously.

Paul Woods highlighted the “draft” Covered Load Ordinance he had developed with his legal staff. He mentioned that the Covered Load draft Ordinance is modeled after the State of Washington’s covered load law. He requested that each Partnership member take the Ordinance and run it by each jurisdiction’s legal staff and the Council’s/Commissions. Tom Dale mentioned that the target goal of this ordinance is not agricultural trucks; it is the construction trucks running down the road with a load of sand/gravel dumping down on the roadway. Also, this becomes an air quality issue when this sand/gravel gets ground up on the highway and becomes PM 2.5 type air pollution. Tom indicated that we do not want to take on the agricultural issue at this time.

Paul Woods asked that we come back in February for approval. John Evans requested that each of our Staff’s look this ordinance over and rout your suggestions to Bill for distribution out to each of the members.

Paul Woods mentioned that during our meeting in Eagle this past spring that the woman from the Bureau of Reclamation talked about a study that then Congressmen Otter commissioned looked at additional storage to the Boise and Payette water sheds. Since then, during the Snake River Basin Adjudication, the Meridian/Nampa Irrigation District challenged the Bureau of Reclamation’s in-stream flow right within Lucky Peak. The issue is, if the Irrigators get that right, we the citizens of the Treasure Valley will have to pay for in-stream flow. If the issue is the delivery of water to farmers, we will never want to see that cut off. The question is, do we want to have a discussion with the Bureau of Reclamation on potentially providing additional storage at Lucky Peak. The consensus was that the Partnership wants to continue with dialogue on this issue and Paul Woods would represent the Partnership in continuing this dialogue.

Dave Bieter stated that he had a meeting with Senator Crapo with regards to the Fair Housing Act and what we are allowed to do under the Act with regard to “Group Homes”. He indicated that we could require notice as to where these Group Homes are to be located. This could then drive a meeting with the neighbors for communication purposes. Tom Dale stated that this is a real big issue in Nampa. After looking at it, there are a couple things we can do. Group Homes are still subject to International Building Codes. Once Group Homes house more than five people; the fire code could require sprinklers, handicapped access and other requirements. Additionally, we might be able to provide more regulation in the area of parking.

Dave Bieter stated that they have had some heated meetings with neighbors. Their primary objection was no notice was given with regard to opening a Group Home and there was no opportunity to voice an opinion. He felt the issue is not going to go away. The biggest objection was the neighbors wanted to know ahead of time. Dave Bieter requested that; each Partnership member get the opinion of their legal departments and come prepared at a future meeting to discuss what our options might be. Then we can take a united approach to this issue.

John Evans asked if we have any further information on fully funding the SAUSA Project through the Governor’s Office. Bill indicated that he, Mark Haws and David Hensley have been talking and preparing information for the Governor to make a decision on this issue. The report presented to the Partnership, completed by Christian Nafzger, highlighted a needs assessment on how the rest of the state was viewing their need to have federal prosecution of gang crimes.

John Evans mentioned that Garden City has just revised their towing ordinance. When the City requests a tow, they have had to regulate against abuse around charging gate fees.

Nate Mitchell moved, Nancy Merrill seconded to approve the previous meetings minutes and financial report for the month. Motion carried unanimously.

Meeting Adjourned