Two parks items are on the agendas of Boise City Council members for their Tuesday, May 8, meeting. Both items include appropriations and formal bidding processes, one for a new Terry Day Park, another for new tennis courts at Ivywild, Peppermint and Baggley parks.

• City of Boise
• Plans for the Terry Day Park off Federal Way.

Seven acres between Kootenai Street and Federal Way were donated by Boise resident Pat Day, and accepted by the city in 2006. Day asked that the park commemorate the life of his late wife, a local volunteer in dozens of civic groups, including founding the Festival of Trees celebration.

Boise Parks and Recreation director JIm Hall identified the need for a new park on the Bench as a top priority in 2004. The City Council will approve or deny eight bids to build the property.

The council will also consider a purchasing recommendation to install four tennis courts to replace the old courts at Ivywild Park, and with plans for two tennis courts at both the Parkcenter Boulevard Baggley park, and the Peppermint park adjacent to Pepper Ridge Elementary School.

During the Tuesday, May 8, meeting, the Boise City Council will consider revisions to a proposed ordinance that would alter how taxi cabs operate in the city. Boise Weekly rode shotgun back in January to gauge the reactions of taxi drivers.

While the original proposal suggested a five-year age limit on new vehicles brought into taxi fleets, the new version extends that to a seven-year age limit, with vehicles closer to 10 years of age eligible for an exemption. Classic vehicles, wheelchair accessible vehicles and clean fuel automobiles make up other exemptions.

A new component also limits a requirement for criminal background checks of all taxicab company employees. Now, company owners and shareholders are exempt, while criminal background checks will be required only of taxicab business applicants and operators.

However, some key components remain unchanged, like the requirement that debit and credit cards be accepted in vehicles, and that all drivers demonstrate the ability to speak English.

According to the City Clerk's Office, there are currently 70 licensed taxi companies in Boise with a total of 154 cabs.

The city can address the revisions, or suggest more when they take up the ordinance on Tuesday. There will be no additional public hearing on the ordinance, but written comments will be accepted through the City Council.

When the Boise City Council convenes on Tuesday afternoon, it will consider changes to the City Code that would alter Boise's parking requirements. Among the changes:

-Restaurants or bars will be required to have one general parking space per three seats inside the establishment. (The existing guideline requires one space per 300 square feet inside the establishment.) Restaurants and bars inside the city's core downtown are not required to have designated parking.

-Day care facilities will be required to have one general parking space per 10 children. (The existing guideline requires one space per employee.)

-Cars, trucks, trailers, boats, boat trailers and recreational vehicles will not be allowed to be parked in unimproved parking areas, or areas not designed for vehicle parking.

When the Boise City Council meets this Tuesday evening, it will consider a unique land swap—6,723 square feet of city property in exchange for approximately 5,150 square feet of property belonging to the Ada County Highway District. Both strips of land are on opposite sides of the old Boise Armory. City planners say the swap would allow them to "even up" property lines.

The long-abandoned armory is expected to be part of another, much bigger land swap with a California-based developer who hopes to restore the building. The city can't sell the land outright, so the developer is expected to purchase land near the Boise Airport and swap it for the armory.

City officials and the developers, J&M Land LLC, have been tight-lipped about the proposed project.

When the Boise City Council meets Tuesday afternoon, lawmakers will reconsider revisions to the city code concerning charges for fire and rescue services. The council approved changes for rescue fees in June 2011, but it turned out that a number of the fees were in conflict with existing code so council members need to revisit the issue.

False-alarm fees, in place since 2004, are being boosted from $25 for a fourth incident to $75 for a second incident. Swift water rescues when the river has previously been considered dangerous by authorities would result in $1,000 in fees, and minor or major hazmat incidents may result in fees ranging from $450 to $2,500.

The fees are expected to mitigate approximately $40,000 in additional costs to the Boise Fire Department.

When Boise City council members meet this Tuesday evening, they're exected to approve a drop in fees for curbside glass collection. If Boise lawmakers approve, the original subscription cost - $9.95 - drops to $5.50 a month.

"Many residents told us the price tag was out of reach for many families," said Mayor Dave Bieter in February. "I'm thrilled [Republic and Boise] have worked together to make the program more effective and accessible."

According to the Public Works Department, the reduction is expected to increase citywide participation to about 1,500 residential customers. The net effect of the reduced rates and increased participation will increase Republic's expenses, which will be, at least partially, offset by increased efficiency in the glass collection routes.

The new rate would be retroactively effective to March 1.

The Boise City Council will meet in workshop this Tuesday afternoon to consider a proposed roundabout linking 36th Street and Hill Road. Construction is not scheduled until 2017 but planning for the unique thoroughfare is well under way with Ada County Highway District.

Planners are wrestling with whether to make the 36th St. roundabout two lanes or one lane and calculating projected speeds of vehicles entering or exiting the circle. City staff are recommending that the roundabout be constructed with single lanes and lower speeds. It's estimated that a single-lane roundabout could accommodate traffic through 2023, but multiple lanes would be needed soon thereafter. Staff expressed concern that multiple lanes would cause a 10 percent to 15 percent increase of traffic but added that much traffic "east of Hill, a collector, and consequently North End streets, is not acceptable."

Instead, Boise city staff is recommended that additional money "be spent on increasing capacity on State Street."

When the Boise City Council meets this Tuesday, they'll be briefed on the City of Trees' financial income and expenses.

Boise officials will consider the first quarter financial report for Fiscal Year 2012, which began Oct. 1, 2011. The six-page summary will reveal that there have been no "significant deviations from revenue and expenditure patterns compared to the same period of the prior year."

Revenues for the first three months totaled more than $13 million, approximately 8 percent of the general fund budget for the year. That may seem low, but the first major revenues from property taxes weren't expected until January.

Other highlights:

- Airport fund revenues, $7.4 million, stood at 18 percent of budget for the first quarter, while personnel expenses were 24 percent of budget.

- Practically all city departments showed payroll expenses above 25 percent of budget due to "one time compensations" paid in December.

- Overtime in the city's Finance and Administration Department skyrocketed to 118 percent of its budget for the year as a result of an implementation of the city's Enterprise Resource Planning, the new automated system to manage payroll, revenue and financial functions.

- Overall expenses for contract services were 32 percent of the annual budget, compared to 27 percent the previous years.

There was the 20th century New Deal, President Franklin Roosevelt's federal response to the economic downturn of the 1930s, and now the 21st century New Deal, a nonprofit network looking for local solutions to our current economic downturn. The NewDEAL (Developing Exceptional American Leaders) regularly singles out regional leaders for what it calls "pro-growth progressive ideas, which range from streamlining government to making clean energy more affordable to connecting small businesses to university research."

Today, NewDEAL selected Boise City Council Member Lauren McLean as one of its 10 "rising leaders." In the announcement, honorary chairs of NewDEAL Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and Alaska U.S. Sen. Mark Begich said McLean was among the few American leaders who "are proving that you can be both pro-growth and progressive."

Specificially, Begich and O'Malley said McLean was chosen "for her efforts to grow Boise's economy by promoting sustainable development."

Among other leaders chosen for today's honors were Columbia, S.C., Mayor Steve Benjamin; Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton; Providence, R.I., Mayor Angel Taveras and Flint, Mich., Mayor Dayne Walling.

• Boise Mayor Dave Bieter

Boise Mayor Dave Bieter thought the setting was perfect. With the Boise Depot as a backdrop, Bieter was sworn in to a third term of office Tuesday night, and he didn't waste a moment before praising the benefits of rail transit.

"In the next four years, we have to begin building a new transit system for our city," said Bieter to a depot-full of applause. "We absolutely need trains to run through this depot again."

Bieter sang the praises of the 87-year-old landmark, even calling it a shrine.

"This wonderful station," said Bieter waving his arms to the soaring 3,500-square-foot atrium. "My brother and I even call it 'Our Lady of the Depot.'"

Bieter said his administration's challenge was to convince the citizenry that a transit project was necessary.

"I remember Gov. Cecil Andrus once said, 'I hope to leave this state better off for future generations,' but then he said, 'Hope is not strong enough. It's my obligation.' That's how I feel. This is my obligation."

Bieter also took time to swear in Boise's newest council member, Ben Quintana. In a landslide vote last November, Quintana secured 9,227 votes, more than both of his opponents combined.

"I never thought this day would come," said Quintana. "I'm so excited and anxious to begin this journey."

• Council Member Ben Quintana