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City Government

MAYOR HOTLINE June 23 to 30

 July 7, 2006 ⋅  Post a comment

Looks like a lot of people are unhappy with the City this week. It is the longest complaint list we have seen, but leads off with a compliment for a business fix. Contractor has ignored an agreement with the city and neighbors are irritated, a guy wants help getting out of a mental institution, and a former police chief opposes nightime sidewalk booze.

It is a long post, so click on the bottom to get all 12 pages.

6/23/06
Scott Mickelson
2035 N. Travertine
Boise, ID 83712
Compliment: Mayor Bieter, about two weeks back, I came in to talk to you about some signage issues at a place where I am a property manager. They are just having some difficulty until we get the place, the permits in and all that. You were so kind to me, as was your assistant Jade Riley, I believe. I just wanted to call you and tell you thank you very much. Not only did someone call me from code enforcement division but, also Bruce Chatterton called me. I just thought that was very nice that everybody was concerned and made sure we were taken care of out here at the Water Front at Lake Harbor. Thank you. I just have been very impressed with you and just wanted to let you know that. Thank you again. You are doing a great job.
M/CC

6/24/06
Steve Hill
11889 W Bronte
Boise, ID 83709
Construction Noise: I am calling regarding the work that is going on in Rivendell Estates, on Saturday morning, that is before hours that are dictated by Boise City Council. This has been an ongoing problem during the construction phase. I also wish to speak with, if possible Mr. Bisterfeldt about a couple other issues that he talked about in regards to the construction of this subdivision that has not been followed. If he could return my call I certainly would appreciate it. Thank you.
M/CC PDS
Action Taken: PDS

6/24/06
Tim Herring
560 S Hemingway Ave
Boise, ID 83709
Construction Noise: The Rivendell Subdivision has an agreement with the City of Boise and Planning and Zoning to not begin construction before 8:30 a.m. on the weekends. They’ve started before 8 o’clock this morning. They are out there with paving equipment that has the back up beepers. I am on the Walden Pond Homeowner’s Association Board, and my phone has been ringing since before 8 o’clock this morning. I would appreciate if Code Enforcement would levee whatever fines are applicable. This is not the first weekend they have done this. The agreement they have with the city hasn’t been honored at all. We have been the ones that have been suffering and have been left to try and enforce it.
M/CC PDS
Action Taken: PDS

6/24/06
Phil Anderson
11337 Aldershot
Boise, ID 83709
Construction Noise: I live in the Brookhollow Subdivision. I am calling this morning because you and the city council told the developer of the Rivendell Estate, which is between Picarl(?) subdivision and the Walden Pond Subdivision, that they could not start construction during the weekends before 8:30, nor could they start before 7:30 during the week. Well, it’s the 24th of June and the pavers are out there. He has been out there before 8am. I have left a message with Code Enforcement and also with City Council. I would just like to let you know that I do have a concern and that everybody that voice concerned during the hearings was concerned with them starting early and developers following the rules. Well, I just wanted to let you know that I guess our concerns were without.
M/CC PDS
Action Taken: PDS

6/26/06
Margie Ritz
Construction Noise: She called to complain that construction was beginning before 8:00AM Saturday morning in the Rivendell Sub. She wanted the Mayor’s office to be aware of it.
M/CC PDS
Action Taken: PDS

6/26/06
Kay Scotp
1915 Lake Heron Lane
Property Tax: I wanted to know if anything has been talked about regarding the property tax. I am a 63 year old widow who lives on a fixed income. And at the rate they are going, I will probably have to sell my home within the next 3 years. So, I was wondering if anything is happening. I know it has been considered that you would shift some of us to a tax, raising the sales tax. I was wondering if anything like that was going to occur. I would appreciate hearing from someone.
M/CC
Action Taken: contacted

6/26/06
Tom Conn
Motorcycle Parking: This is my third call about this. I talked with Jim Tibbs about three weeks ago. He thinks the motorcycle parking downtown is a good idea. Since my last call I haven’t heard anything back; although I did hear a rumor that the city has decided to implement motorcycle parking. When I said, don’t be afraid, be the first ones to do it, although I know you’re not and be brave and put in that motorcycle parking. So, would somebody please call me and let me know what is going on. I would certainly appreciate it. I think it is more important that we get gas conservation for the vehicles on the road rather than letting people drink alcohol on the patios on the side walks until 2 o’clock in the morning. All you are doing there is perpetuating the situation with drunk drivers, fights, and probably shootings and stabbings because Boise is not the sweet city is used to be when I moved here over 30 years ago. I think the mayor has his priorities a little mixed up. Please call me back
M/CC
Action Taken: contacted

6/26/06
Guy Midnight
Code Enforcement: I am calling on behalf of Lisa Gowel and Lucky 13, in the North End of Boise. I was wondering if it would be possible to talk to the Mayor as early as is convenient. We just had some questions to ask him. Right now we are the middle of some permit issues and we just wanted to see if he could answer some questions. We are just a little confused on some of the things that are going on down there. So, if you could let me know if there is a time that we could sit down and talk to him I would appreciate it. Thank you. *** (Also called the mainline the same day in the afternoon) He wants to be contacted about the date and times for the Mayor’s weekend office hours.
M/CC PDS
Action Taken: PDS

6/26/06
5413 Pendleton St.
Code Enforcement: There is a storage unit sitting in the street and it has for over 2 months. I called Lucinda at code, and they tell me that once again that your name and phone number is required to do this. I don’t think this really right because I don’t think that the neighbors should have to have a problem with each other if the city would just do what they are suppose to do and go out and let the people know that they need to remove these items. The place over there also has a car, that hasn’t been moved for over two months, and their yard is looking like the dickens. So, I wish that something could be done by the Mayor, city hall or somebody to get this situation cleaned up. I’d appreciate if you’d do something. Contact Lucinda, and maybe send some city employee out. I think that’s what we are paying taxes for. Thank you.
MCC PDS

6/26/06
Comment: This is a commentary about the new sign along the connector, the big billboard that went up on the huge pipe; I guess it would be called, as you come into the city. It certainly is a distraction from the sky line of Boise, to have this awful looking advertising piece up there. I am surprised that we don’t have regulations or rules against that. I think if a merchant or building owner wanted to put a sign that large on their building they would probably be prohibited from it. I don’t understand how they were able to get that sign up there. Hopefully, that is the only one, and that won’t happen again in the future. It certainly is not a pretty addition to the Boise skyline. Thank you for having the hotline it gives me a chance to vent and hopefully to add some suggestion to the pool of thoughts that you have.
M/CC PDS

6/27/06
William Larson
Fireworks: He called to let the Mayor know that there is a law that allows each city to decide if they will or will not ban fireworks. He has been doing research at the local library about it. He thinks fireworks cause lots of havoc and destruction and nothing good comes of them. He wants to let the Mayor know that if he can, pass a law banning fireworks in the City of Boise. He thinks the Mayor should do this. He said that if the Mayor wants a copy of the articles he has been researching regarding fireworks, that he would be happy to send them.
M/CC Fire

6/27/06
Paul McAfee
378-1135
Code Enforcement: Second call this summer about 7014 Brookover Dr. It has tall weeds that are a fire hazard. They are against his garage.
M/CC PDS
Action Taken: PD

6/27/06
Pam Walton
5135 W. Camas Lane
Boise 83705
Code Enforcement: She is very concerned about the tall dry weeds growing in the vacant lot at the corner of Kootenai and Orchard behind Jacksons and Burger time. It is a fire danger.
M/CC PDS
Action Taken: CE

6/27/06
Gary Makouski
4405 Elbian St
Boise, ID 83705
ACHD/ Boise Growth: I have been here for 35 years, and I see more traffic coming into the city than it can handle. My concern now is that I read front page here is “Agency Pick Boise for Incoming Refugees”. We just got over 1500 of them, which it says, I’m sure it’s more than that in the past five years or less. Plus we have all the Mexican’s coming, all the people from California, and all this building. It’s just too much for the taxpayers to take. Furthermore, when they build these subdivisions they should make the developer pay for one lane or road on each side of that development, next to the main street. If they keep doing that, making them pay for a lane or a highway, it will take care of it and the tax payers don’t need to give out of their pockets. All these new homes that they are putting in all these fields, they need to pave a lane right in front of it immediately and have it paid for by the development. As it goes, just keep on taking out money for that. And then when they are ready to pave the thing down, they would be already paid for by separate account. Anyway, that is my concern. I sure hope somebody can do something about these refugees, refugees, refugees, refugees. I don’t understand it but why is it always Boise, Idaho? And another thing, these development companies, throwing these houses up and there are no roads to take the traffic. We have the same roads we had here when the horse and buggies went through. It never changed. They need to wake up and build some roads for this. They need to go to Chicago or New York or Milwaukee, Wisconsin and learn how to build a road. This is just chaos here. Thank you for your time.
M/CC
Action Taken: M/CC corres

6/27/06
Steve Hill
11889 West Bronte
Boise, ID 83709
Construction Noise: I am calling in regards to the work going on in the Rivendell Estates; it’s after six o’clock and by Boise City Councils direction they were supposed to stop work in the evenings at six o’clock. We called over the weekend because of the problems with noise and the problems with traffic. We are still having the same thing in the evening. This has been in the direct disregard for what Councilmen Bisterfeldt has said. Could somebody please give me a call? Thank you.
M/CC PDS
Action Taken: PDS

6/28/06
John Church
726 Pierce Street
Sidewalk Ordinance: I was chief of police here for 15 years and was a police officer for the City of Boise for 29 years. I am really concerned that the Mayor and the Council have now unanimously approved longer hours at night for side walk vendors to sell beer. It just bothers me that, with two of my colleagues on that City Council that they would think, and the rest of the Council would think that this doesn’t have some some consequences when you actually encourage more and more alcohol dispensed late. Just because there are fewer people on the streets doesn’t mean that things don’t still happen with the drunks arriving and all those things that could and should be curbed more, not actually condoned. Any police officer that has been out there at all knows the problems with alcohol. It’s just another drug. I want you to know how I feel. I feel pretty strongly that this is not a wise measure to pass. Thank you.
M/CC Legal BPD
Action Taken: Legal

6/28/06
Dean Borup
11300 Chickadee
Boise, ID 83709

PDS: What I am calling about is that, I bought a duplex and we were told at the time that we could do a duplex to townhouse conversion. It’s a simple process; you just go in and fill papers out. Now, they are telling us that we have to go through the whole process of forming a new subdivision, to do a lot split. I was wondering, isn’t there an ordinance that can be enforced that would streamline the process when all you’re trying to do is to get affordable houses for people to be able to buy. That can be done by doing townhouses because the lots are less and that brings the price of the houses down. I was wondering if there was something that could be done to streamline the process instead of taking six months to do this. Knock it down to a couple of months. I would appreciate some information on this if you have it. Thanks.
M/CC PDS

6/28/06
Elke Griboskov
ACHD: She called because several years ago ACHD improved the drains on Ustick where her business is. But now when it rains all of the storm water goes into a ditch in her backyard. Her backyard is where she is supposed to have customers park. When it rains she gets almost six inches of water in her backyard. This makes the parking unusable for people coming to her business and without parking she has no business. A year ago she was told by ACHD that they would fix the problem and nothing has happened. She has contacted them and they haven’t given her any response. She wants to know what is going to be done. She was also wondering about Ustick going from a three lane road to a five lane road. She would like some information about this. She knows that there is a meeting on Thursday, but she thinks that it is about something else. She wants the issue of the storm drains to be dealt with.
M/CC ACHD

6/28/20
Porkupine
BPR: You don’t need to call me back. Last year at mile post 2.3FE on the greenbelt they had a porta-potty for all the tubers. It’s gone this year. I thought it was real helpful to have that put out there. There are still a couple of trash cans out there. I sure hate to see people peeing and going to the bathroom in the river. It seemed like that porta-potty there especially helped. It’s right where the fire department puts in their boats. Sure would like to see that put back. Thanks.
M/CC BPR
Action Taken: BPR

6/28/2006
Code Enforcement: Good afternoon, I am calling about a house at 514 Scott St. I don’t think it’s legal what this fellow is doing. He has got heaping mounds of just junk all over his front yard. All of our houses were reassessed at a higher value but I don’t see how we can possibly sell them at that value when his front yard is definitely a junk yard. Nobody in the neighborhood is interested in filing a formal complaint. Is there anything that you can do? Can you just have somebody just drive by there? You know, it’s awful to look at. Thank you.
M/CC PDS

6/28/06
Rex McCoy
Parking: Mr. Mayor, I don’t know if you remember me I was a friend of your dad’s and I talked to you before. I am retired teacher and before that I was with the army and retired from that. But, my question has to do with parking. I tried calling parking but I didn’t get an answer. The person who patrols the 8th Street Market Place, I’ve been dealing with this issue for a couple years. There are loading zones over there. Today, I got back from teaching a Red Cross class, and I had my vehicle full of manikins and other equipment and I could not find a place to park. There was a construction truck there and I went up to them and said, “You know this is supposed to be a loading and unloading zone.” And they had told me they had been there for two hours and no one had said a thing. When I have been there before, this guy in the little vehicle will come by and say, “You have 15 minutes.” It’s almost like he has an issue with the Red Cross, just whenever he sees we are carrying equipment. Anyhow, every parking, every loading zone in that area on 8th Street by Café Ole was taken today. None of the people were moving in 15 minutes. I never did see any tickets being issued. So, I have a real concern about that. I would appreciate it if someone would let me know.
M/CC F&A
Action Taken: F&A

6/29/06
Roy Snider
Library Fines & Bus Complaints: Mr. Snider came into the office complaining about VRT management and the bus in general. He returned to ask that the Mayor to give amnesty to all those with library fines like he did for those with parking tickets.
M/CC

6/29/06
Carla Casper
1315 Dalton
Boise ID 83704
PDS: 11/24/04 case # CUP04-00069 staff report # 50503-00015 her group, Syringa Water tried to work with a homeowner, Mr. Gabriel. She would like M/CC and PDS to know that to date, Mr. Gabriel has been unresponsive to the directive that council gave. She wants council to be aware that Syringa has tried repeatedly and he is uncooperative.
M/CC PDS
Action Taken: PDS

6/29/06
Sylvia Anderson
216 N. 9th Street
Boise, ID 83702
Open containers: I own a business called Syringas in downtown Boise. It’s a clothing boutique. The media has brought up the use of alcohol on the public sidewalks near the restaurants. My concern is First Thursdays. The DBA advertises for First Thursdays once a month, businesses open late. Most are serving wine, alcohol, food, appetizers to please the customer and give them a reason to come out after hours. The alcohol is being removed from the businesses and people are walking around with open containers. I know this for a fact because I’ve had a business downtown now for two years. A lot of shops are now closing because we’re dealing with drunk people. I don’t see a problem with serving a small amount of wine inside the premises. My problem is they are walking around the public streets with alcohol. I know this for an absolute fact. They are doing it with open containers. I don’t quite understand why the city is allowing this. I see no police officers at all informing these people they cannot have an open container on the sidewalk walking freely the streets of Boise. They can pass this along to a minor, which they can come in the shop and act totally drunk. They can destroy the clothing in my store with the alcohol. I don’t serve alcohol in my shop only because of the fact that I’m tired of dealing with the drunk people. Now for the last 6 months, I have finally decided to close on first Thursday, due to dealing with the alcohol. I finally had my male partner come in with me the last two first Thursdays to stand in the store and on the sidewalk to confirm what my complaint is. So, I would like some answers to this. Is this legal, is it not? What can I do about it to continue my business to be part of the DBA? I have spoken to the DBA about this and they were totally ignorant about the fact of what the ABC laws are in the state, Alcoholic Beverage Control. I would like to know before I go any further on my complaint. Thank you for your time. Have a fabulous day. God Bless.
M/CC DBA BPD

6/29/06
Mike Walker
6615 Fairfield Avenue
Boise, ID 83709
Skinny House: I just learned today there is a property at 6625 Holiday Drive, two blocks away from my house, upon which someone is putting a tall, skinny house, in their backyard. I just want to find out what is the process for them getting it approved and what is the process is for those of us who aren’t happy with those houses in our neighborhood and how we prevent that from happening if we can. My wife and I are very displeased with those houses in our neighborhood and there are several other folks who feel the same way. I wanted to find out what recourse I have to prevent that from happening and changing my neighborhood. Thank you.
M/CC
Action Taken: contacted

6/29/06
Toni Breese
1621 W. Hays
Boise, ID 83702
Fireworks: I have my Fourth of July dinners knowing that on the fourth, tens of thousands of matches are going to be lit on sweltering days in Boise to celebrate the Fourth of July. Yesterday I went out to interview some of these folks that have set up the stands and one of the things I’ve found out is that on most of these fireworks, there are no instructions. One gentleman said, “All you do is light a match.” There are no directions in English or Spanish. This is an extraordinary cost for the Fire Department, the Police Department, and the Humane Society where animals jump through screens and the number of animals released onto the streets in terror. We are creating the exact same thing we did last year in selling these devices. Also another concern is my Hispanic brothers and sisters. I love them dearly and they love celebrating being Americans but there are no instructions for them. As one man told me at a stand yesterday, he said, it’s simple, you just light the match. But does that mean that 6 year olds light it; 4 year olds light the match? What is the cost to us as a society and why is it that we believe that we, like the Oakland Hills, don’t have the capability of becoming an inferno. I really dislike our town policy. Many of those fireworks will find their way into parched hills with no directions and it poses a threat to the community. As you can see, I’m not happy with this situation. My final question is, does the city authorize these people to set up stands to sell these devices? Do they need a license or do they just get to set up all over the place? If the city of Boise is issuing these licenses, I am literally stunned that we could put our firefighters and police at such great risks. If licenses aren’t issued, I feel like they should be shut down. I know that my opinion may be extreme but I came from the Oakland Hills and I got to watch the 3200 houses disappear in 12 hours without a trace. I am not happy with the fourth of July. Thank you and I hope someday the Fourth of July is a magnificent country-wide celebration with all the fire displays in the hands of pyrotechnic experts because that’s the way it should be: music, food, fireworks, and safety. We do not have that now. Thank you for listening and I think you are the greatest Mayor of all time.
M/CC Legal Fire

6/29/06
Michelle Rambycure
2835 N. Meridian Rd
Meridian, ID 83642
Re-zoning: I’m renting a home and the owner is planning on rezoning and we’re not real happy about it. We’ve lived here for almost a year and a half and we’re not real happy about it. He has not said anything to us directly about it. They posted a notice just last week on the date on the notice itself. It said it was posted on May 8th, which was a lie. I posted a notice to all the residents in the area. I am a single parent with my twin daughters that live here and I want them to graduate from Meridian High and I don’t think it’s right he wants to tear these down. The lady next door is pretty upset. There is space down the road if they want to build something without having to displace us. I do not have the money to move. I’m probably going to get disability because I have seizures and I lost my job. Anyway, I need to know what recourse we have. According to some of the neighbors behind us, they are going to start a petition to prevent this rezoning from happening. If you would give me a call, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
M/CC
Action Taken: Left msj

6/29/06
Shirleen Abbott
8601 W Emerald, #150
Boise, ID 83705
Zoo: I am with All Seasons Mental Health and approximately a year ago, the zoo changed its policy of charging disabled people for assistance, which I believe is a violation of ADA, American Disabilities Act. They don’t charge extra for people in wheelchairs so they shouldn’t charge extra if someone has to bring in their care attendant, their PSR or their case manager for people who require that assistance to be in public. My understanding is when I talked to the Zoo management is that it was the City Council’s decision to start charging assisted people. They do pay the disabled rate but again, you shouldn’t be charged anything because our disabled clients have to cover that cost.
M/CC BPR PDS

6/29/06
Fireworks: I was just watching the news and they were talking about fireworks in Boise and trying to figure out a location. I just thought maybe why not on Table Rock where the cross is. It’s above the city and everyone can see it in the whole area. Anyway, I don’t live in the city anymore but I just thought it would be a good idea. Good Luck!
M/CC

6/30/06
James B. Byrnes
155 W. Hulls Ridge Court
Boise, ID 83702
433-8784
Greenbelt: I am a retired army Colonel. I’m calling in reference to the bike path. I’m concerned about it. I’ve been here for about 13 years. I’m an Idaho resident by birth, I spent time in the army and then the Middle East for 13 years and I come back and now I’m back in Idaho and retired. I use the bike path for recreation and exercise but it’s in such bad shape, particularly from the Warm Springs Area out to the Diversion Dam heading out past Barber Park that you can no longer ride on it with a road bike. Three years ago, someone went through and marked all locations where it should be repaired but nothing was done. The cracks are getting larger and larger and it just beats the bike and the rider to death as you ride down it. I live on the north side and I put lots of money into property taxes and state taxes but I never see that money go into anything that I’m interested in. I use this to get around the city, I use it for my exercise but right now it’s driving me to ride on the road between Warm Springs and Barber Park. This aggravates the motorists. Something really needs to be done on this to try and get it into some kind of shape. Never am I on that green path that I don’t see 8 or 10 other people on it. It doesn’t matter what time or day of week. There is tremendous use on that. I would really like to see some of my money going towards some of the things I’m interested in and I think is important. It seems like all I do is pour my money into things that I pay on these huge property taxes that have no benefit to me. Thank you.
M/CC BPR
Action Taken: BPR

6/27/06
Loretta
Graffiti: I am calling about tons of graffiti that is getting rampant in our city, which is heartbreaking. I wanted to report some places that it is at and see if you have a task force that can go out and spray paint over it. So that they get the point out that we are not going to deal with it. If we just keep l letting it go, if will become rampant as everybody knows. There is some on Bannock and 16th, 18th and State, 17th and State and 17th and on 14th and Grand. There is also some on the ‘Rite Aid’ on State, the one by Albertson’s on 17th.I hope to hear back from someone.
M/CC Graffiti Team

6/28/06
Don Coberly
395 Hearthstone
Boise, ID 83702
Graffiti: At the corner of Curling and Bogus Basin there are two transformer/utility boxes. Both of them of have graffiti over them. I sure hope you can get that off. Thanks.
M/CC Graffiti Team

6/30/06
Kurt
General Auto Parts APA
2810 Idaho
Boise, ID 83702
Graffiti: We were hit again with graffiti on the side of the building. We were hit last week. We’ve been in touch with Detective C. Farmer at the gang unit. I guess this isn’t the right line to call because this is just a comment line so I will just call the police directly. You know the gangs are here right? No matter what this detective says. They are not just poor little white guys, they are legals. Ok, bye.
M/CC Graffiti Team

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