New York Life Insurance Company leased 8,532 square feet of office space at 1290 W Myrtle in downtown Boise. Greg Gaddis of Tenant Realty Advisors represented the tenant.
ABM Industry Groups leased 3,084 square feet of industrial space at 2141 E Summersweet Drive in Boise. Greg Gaddis of Tenant Realty Advisors represented the tenant. Nick Schuitemaker and Mike Greene of Thornton Oliver Keller represented the landlord.
Darigold Inc. leased 6,490 square feet of industrial space at 11345 W Executive Dr. in Boise. Jake Miller and Stephen Fife of Cushman & Wakefield Pacific represented the tenant.
Janine Reynard leased 159 squre feet of office space at 1655 Fairview Ave. in Boise. Bree Wells of Cushman & Wakefield Pacific represented both the landlord and tenant.
Lowe Law Group leased 131 square feet of office space at 1655 Fairview Ave. in Boise. Bree Wells of Cushman & Wakefield Pacific represented the landlord. Julie Kissler represented the tenant.
Adam & Eve leased 2,400 square feet of office space at 1111 Blue Lakes Blvd North in Twin Falls. Bree Wells, Jen McEntee and DJ Thompson of Cushman & Wakefield Pacific represented the landlord. Michael Bergmann of Lee & Associates represented the tenant.
CosmoProf Leased 4,117 square feet of office space at 1111 Blue Lakes Blvd North in Twin Falls. Bree Wells, Jen McEntee, and DJ Thompson of Cushman & Wakefield Pacific represented the landlord. Nick Clark and Katie Mikula represented the tenant.
Encompass Health leased 2,969 square feet of office space at 1450 S Eagle Flight Way in Boise. Sherry Schoen with Newmark Grubb ACRES Commercial Real Estate represented the tenant. Steve Winger and Lew Manglos with Colliers International represented the landlord.
Gulfstream Outdoors LLC leased 3,990 square feet of retail space at 8600 Franklin Road in Boise. Sherry Schoen with Newmark Grubb ACRES Commercial Real Estate facilitated the transaction.
208 Sip LLC leased 900 square feet of retail space at the corner of Meridian Road and Deer Flat Road in Kuna. Sherry Schoen with Newmark Grubb ACRES Commercial Real Estate Services represented the tenant. Malissa Jackson with Colliers International represented the landlord.
Barret Business Services Inc leased 3,734 square feet of office space at 3597 E Monarch Sky Lane in Meridian. Sherry Schoen with Newmark Grubb ACRES Commercial Real Estate represented the tenant. Karena Gilbert and Al Marino with Thornton Oliver Keller Commercial Real Estate represented the landlord.
Mad Swede Brewing LLC leased 2,758 square feet of retail space at 816 W Bannock Street in Boise. Sherry Schoen with Newmark Grubb ACRES Commercial Real Estate represented the tenant. Jennifer McEntee with Cushman & Wakefield Commercial Realty Advisors represented the landlord.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Fisheries managers are optimistic a program to save imperiled Snake River sockeye salmon is heading in the right direction despite few of the ocean-going fish making it back to central Idaho this year.
Of the 730,000 young sockeye released in Idaho 2017, only 17 survived the 900-mile (1,400-kilometer) journey to the Pacific Ocean and then back again to arrive as adults in the Sawtooth Basin near Stanley.
But John Powell of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game said late last week that fish raised to adults in hatcheries will keep the population going. Biologists also released 610 adults into central Idaho lakes this fall to spawn naturally.
“Years like this are where we can see the benefit of having the captive brood stock for maintaining the genetic diversity of the founding population,” Powell said.
He also said biologists have solved problems that caused most of the young hatchery sockeye to die shortly after being released into the wild in Redfish Lake Creek in 2017.
Of the 17 fish that returned this year, genetic tests indicated three had ancestors in Pettit Lake and they were released there to spawn naturally. The rest, which genetics showed came from Redfish Lake, were taken to the Eagle Fish Hatchery in southwestern Idaho to be artificially spawned and contribute to future brood stock and young fish released into the wild.
An estimated 150,000 sockeye at one time returned annually to central Idaho, and Redfish Lake was named for the abundant red-colored salmon that spawned there. Federal officials say the run declined starting in the early 1900s due to overfishing, irrigation diversions, dams and poisoning, eventually teetering on the brink of extinction in the early 1990s. The fish were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 1991.
Only 16 adults returned over the next eight years. But state and federal officials used those fish to start an elaborate hatchery program that tracks genetics.
Young fish are raised to adults at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s Eagle Fish Hatchery and at another hatchery at NOAA Fisheries’ Manchester Research Station in Port Orchard, Washington.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Executives of an Idaho company that claimed to help schools fund athletic programs have been sentenced for taking thousands of dollars from the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.
The owner of All Around Sports LLC and two of his supervisors were sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court.
Company owner Christopher Hoshaw of Meridian, Idaho, was sentenced to one year of home detention.
Sales manager Calvin Pelichet of Boise, Idaho, was sentenced to two years in federal prison. Kristin DeBoer of Caldwell, Idaho, was sentenced to four months of home detention.
All Around Sports was sentenced to three years of probation.
Hoshaw, Pelichet and All Around Sports also were ordered to pay restitution of more than $157,000 to two Alaskan Native entities.
The Argus Leader reports the cases were brought through the U.S. Attorney’s Office Guardians Project, which fights financial crimes against tribes.
BYU-Idaho has stopped accepting Medicaid as health insurance coverage for full-time students. Photo by Michael Lewis
REXBURG, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho university has stopped accepting Medicaid as health insurance coverage for full-time students amid concerns they said they received from local health care providers.
Brigham Young University-Idaho officials have required students to buy a university-backed health plan, which can cost at least $81 a month for single students and up to $678 a month for a family, the Post Register reported Thursday.
“Due to the health care needs of the tens of thousands of students enrolled annually on the campus of BYU-Idaho, it would be impractical for the local medical community and infrastructure to support them with only Medicaid coverage,” the university said.
However, health officials were not in communication with the university before the change and did not express concerns about acquiring more Medicaid patients, health care providers said.
“It can increase our business,” said Nichole Jeppesen, a family nurse practitioner at Complete Family Care. “We currently take Medicaid patients, and we have enough providers to meet the needs of an increasing population and the Medicaid expansion,” she said.
Madison Memorial Hospital was not in communication with the university, spokesman Doug McBride said.
“I really appreciate and respect BYU-Idaho trying to be fiscally responsible to our community,” McBride said. “I do not particularly see right now there being a lot of extra burden put on providers at this point.”
Jeff Hopkin, a doctor at Upper Valley Family Practice, also said he wasn’t worried either and welcomes new patients.
University officials did not return multiple requests for comment.
Open enrollment for Medicaid expansion began Nov. 1.
Madison County, where the school is located, has the highest concentration of potential Medicaid expansion enrollees in the state, state health officials said.
A list by the state Department of Health and Welfare shows 11 primary care providers in Madison County who accept adult Medicaid patients.
The university plan options are too expensive and have limited coverage, some students have said.
A river salmon. The Salmon River is home to federally protected salmon, steelhead and bull trout. File photo
The U.S. Forest Service has agreed to complete environmental reviews of 20 water diversions in central Idaho that a conservation group says could be harming imperiled salmon.
A U.S. District Court judge on Thursday signed off on the agreement between the Forest Service and Idaho Conservation League involving the water diversions in the Sawtooth Valley.
The conservation group says the Forest Service is violating the Endangered Species Act by failing to complete consultations with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries about the water diversions.
The Forest Service has three years to complete the reviews of the diversions that mostly supply water to homes in the area.
The diversions are on tributaries or the Salmon River, which is home to federally protected salmon, steelhead and bull trout.
Salmon and steelhead swim about 900 miles (1,400 kilometers) up the Columbia, Snake and Salmon rivers to arrive in the Sawtooth Valley.
“Any salmon that makes it up that far doesn’t need to get sucked into an (irrigation) ditch or run into a dry creek,” said Marie Callaway Kellner of the Idaho Conservation League.
Some landowners have also filed lawsuits contending the land where six of the diversions are located doesn’t belong to the Forest Service. The Forest Service review will look into that question.
U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill in June ordered the Forest Service to complete the reviews, and the documents filed Thursday spell out a timeline as agreed to by the Forest Service and Idaho Conservation League.
Specifically, the lawsuit said the Forest Service in 2001 prepared environmental documents called Biological Assessments and found most of the diversions are “likely to adversely affect” one or more of the protected species.
Those assessments were sent to Fish and Wildlife and NOAA Fisheries. But in June 2001, NOAA Fisheries notified the Forest Service, according to the lawsuit, that the additional information was needed to begin the consultation. The lawsuit says the Forest Service never followed up with that additional information.
Winmill rejected the Forest Service’s argument that it didn’t need to complete the consultations because, for two decades, it hadn’t taken any action to resolve them.
That decision led to Thursday’s formal agreement.
The Salmon River and eight tributary creeks are listed in the lawsuit as having diversions or some other type of structures harming fish.
The Sawtooth Valley has already seen a lot of conservation efforts for salmon and steelhead on streams at lower elevations, mainly on private land.
The lawsuit concerns public land managed by the Forest Service at higher elevations.
The Forest Service’s Matt Phillips didn’t return a call from The Associated Press on Friday.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced last month that it would be sending requests to states asking them to share driver’s license records, following a Trump administration executive order to expand the use of federal, state and local administrative records.
The U.S. Census Bureau told the Idaho Press Friday that Idaho would not be sharing state driver’s license records with the bureau.
The Associated Press reported in October that at least 13 states had refused to share the driver’s license data.
The Idaho Complete Count Committee met for the first time in July and has met one other time to address how to reach historically hard-to-count groups.
In the July meeting, former state legislator and co-chairwoman of the committee Wendy Jaquet said she is most concerned with an undercount of immigrants and people born outside of the United States.
Idaho officials are seeking public comments on a waiver to Medicaid expansion involving mental health treatment and substance abuse.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare said Friday it’s taking comments through Dec. 24.
The waiver would allow Medicaid recipients to receive inpatient treatment for mental health and substance abuse disorders at a freestanding psychiatric hospital.
Currently, those services are only available in the psychiatric unit of a full-service hospital.
State officials say the waiver will expand access to outpatient behavioral health services throughout the state.
The waiver is supported by Reclaim Idaho, the group behind the Medicaid expansion initiative that passed last year.
Waivers are required when a state wants to deviate from standard Medicaid rules.
TK Avenue, LLC purchased a 29,248-square-foot industrial building at 3562 S. TK Avenue in Boise. John Stevens, Dan Minnaert and Devin Pierce of Thornton Oliver Keller represented the seller. Gavin Phillips of Thornton Oliver Keller represented the buyer.
Chigbrow Ryan & Company leased office space in C.W. Moore Plaza at 250 S. 5th Street in Boise. Karena Gilbert and Patrick Shalz of Thornton Oliver Keller represented the landlord. Matt Mahoney of Lee & Associates represented the tenant.
Specialty Installations, Inc. renewed their 2,160 square feet of industrial space in the Eagle Industrial Center at 1762 E. State Street in Eagle. Chris Pearson and Gavin Phillips of Thornton Oliver Keller facilitated the transaction.
Kvell Meridian leased 2,616 square feet of retail space in Mercato at BridgeTower at 3015 W. McMillan Rd. in Meridian. Holly Chetwood and JP Green of Thornton Oliver Keller facilitated the transaction.
Barnes Property, LLC purchased a 9,240-square-foot building at 4990 Chinden Blvd. in Garden City. Gavin Phillips of Thornton Oliver Keller facilitated the transaction.
Cartershores, LLC leased 4,687 square feet of industrial space at 2603 Sundance Road in Nampa. Chris Pearson of Thornton Oliver Keller facilitated the transaction.
High Mountain Storage, LLC purchased 0.46 acres of land in the Gateway Industrial Park at 3630 E. Comstock Avenue in Nampa. Chris Pearson and Mike Keller of Thornton Oliver Keller represented the seller. Debbie Hunnemiller of Silvercreek Realty Group represented the buyer.
Prolink Supply, Inc. purchased a 21,440-square-foot industrial building at 1412 Freedom Ave. in Caldwell. Gavin Phillips of Thornton Oliver Keller represented the seller. Jake Miller of Cushman Wakefield Pacific represented the buyer.
Natural Intelligence Systems, Inc. leased 4,891 square feet of office space at 855 W Broad Street in Boise. Greg Gaddis of Tenant Realty Advisors represented the tenant. Beau Manwarring of Hawkins Company represented the landlord.
Dave Evans and Associates, Inc. leased 4,288 square feet of office space at 9179 W Blackeagle Drive in Boise. Bill Beck and Greg Gaddis of Tenant Realty Advisors represented the tenant. Charlene VanOstrand of the Sundance company represented the landlord.
Robert Williams Appraisals renewed its lease of 816 square feet of office space at Broadway Office Suites, 1843 Broadway, Ste 104 in Boise. NAI Select facilitated the transaction.
Fleet Street, Inc. leased 31,605 square feet of industrial space at 1445 W. Commerce Avenue in Boise. Gavin Phillips of Thornton Oliver Keller represented the landlord. Chris Pearson of Thornton Oliver Keller represented the tenant.
KC Custom Cabinets renewed 4,850 square feet of industrial space in the South Cole Industrial Center at 2756 S. Cole Road in Boise. Chris Pearson and Peter Oliver of Thornton Oliver Keller facilitated the transaction.
Adventure K-9, LLC leased 3,200 square feet of industrial space in the QTI Complex at 2147 S. Centurion Place in Boise. Chris Pearson of Thornton Oliver Keller facilitated the transaction.
Air Care, LLC renewed 1,440 square feet of industrial space in the Eagle Industrial Center at 1756 E. State Street in Eagle. Chris Pearson and Gavin Phillips of Thornton Oliver Keller facilitated the transaction.
A local investor purchased 2.99 acres at 11950 Karcher Road in Nampa. Chris Pearson and John Stevens of Thornton Oliver Keller represented the buyer. Michael Ballantyne and Sam McCaskill represented the seller.
An investor purchased 3.24 acres in the Sky Ranch Business Park at 4420 Capital Street in Caldwell. Chris Pearson of Thornton Oliver Keller represented the buyer. Lincoln Hagood of Colliers International represented the seller.
Idaho Legal Aid Services purchased 3,659 square feet of office space at 496 Shoup Ave., Suite G, in Twin Falls. Grayson Stone and Dan Wilhelm of Thornton Oliver Keller facilitated the transaction.
Schaeffer Industries leased 192 square feet of industrial space at 5700 E. Franklin Rd. Ste 220B in Nampa. Bryant Jones, Mike Pena and Lincoln Hagood of Colliers International facilitated the transaction.
Movement Mortgage, LLC leased 1,070 square feet of office space at 5700 E. Franklin Rd. Ste. 230 in Nampa. Bryant Jones, Mike Pena and Lincoln Hagood of Colliers International facilitated the transaction.
Zymergen Inc. extended their lease of 3,500 square feet of office space at 12426 W. Explorer Dr. Ste. 250 in Boise. Jamie Anderson, Lew Manglos and Kyle Uhlenkott of Colliers International represented the landlord. Bill Benton of Newmark Knight Frank represented the tenant
Applus Technologies, Inc. renewed their lease of 1,200 square feet of industrial space at 2216 Cortland Place in Nampa. Bryant Jones, Mike Pena and Lincoln Hagood of Colliers International facilitated the transaction.
Green Leaf Design renewed their lease of 213 square feet of retail space at 1st Street Marketplace in Nampa. Bryant Jones, Lincoln Hagood and Mike Pena of Colliers International facilitated the transaction.
PaintMania Paint Parties renewed their lease of 724 square feet of retail space at 1st Street Marketplace Ste. 202 in Nampa. Bryant Jones, Mike Pena and Lincoln Hagood of Colliers International represented the landlord. Rex Tedeski of Coldwell Banker Tomlinson Group represented the tenant.
Carson Roofing, LLC renewed their lease of 2,172 square feet of industrial space at 16095 N. Franklin Blvd. in Nampa. Mike Pena, Bryant Jones and Lincoln Hagood of Colliers International facilitated the transaction.
The Idaho Shirt Shack LLC renewed their lease of 1,320 square feet of industrial space at 16089 N. Franklin Blvd. Ste. 4 in Nampa. Mike Pena, Bryant Jones and Lincoln Hagood of Colliers International facilitated the transaction.
Boise River Canning, LLC leased 3,353 square feet of space at 2807 S. Cole Rd. in Boise. The Sundance Company represented the landlord. Dan Minnaert with T.O.K. represented the tenant.
Paddle’s Up Poke leased 800 square feet of space at Hotel Ketchum on Main Street in Ketchum to open their third (first outside of Boise) location in Idaho. Paul Kenny, CCIM, Matt Bogue, CCIM, and Matt Gelso of Paul Kenny & Matt Bogue Commercial facilitated the transaction.
Sun Valley Guides leased an 871-square-foot office at Hotel Ketchum on Main Street in Ketchum. Paul Kenny, CCIM, Matt Bogue, CCIM,
and Matt Gelso of Paul Kenny & Matt Bogue Commercial facilitated the transaction.
Eastfork Wines leased 1,200 square feet of space in the Ketchum Trade Center in Ketchum. Paul Kenny, CCIM, Matt Bogue, CCIM, and Matt Gelso of
Paul Kenny & Matt Bogue Commercial facilitated the transaction.
A private real estate investment company purchased a 3,186-square-foot office suite in the Idaho Independent Bank Building at 491 N Main St in Ketchum. Paul Kenny, CCIM, Matt Bogue, CCIM, and Matt Gelso of Paul Kenny & Matt Bogue Commercial facilitated the transaction.
Local business owners purchased 7,200 square feet of condominiumized industrial space near the Hailey airport. Paul Kenny, CCIM, Matt Bogue, CCIM, and Matt Gelso of Paul Kenny & Matt Bogue Commercial facilitated the transaction.
Patella LLC purchased 925 square feet of office space in the Kneebone Building in downtown Ketchum. Paul Kenny, CCIM, Matt Bogue, CCIM, and Matt Gelso of Paul Kenny & Matt Bogue Commercial facilitated the transaction.
The wall o’butter in the Melt team room. Photo by Sharon Fisher
A booming Idaho plant-based food company is looking to expand, not just in products but in markets.
Melt saw $1 million in sales for the first time in the third quarter. The company’s plant-based butter is now sold in 12,000 locations in the U.S. and Canada.
In the first half of 2020, CEO Scott Fischer hopes to bring eight new plant-based products to market, including cheeses, cheese dip and other snacks. He wants to raise $8 million to $12 million to launch those products through a private equity firm connected to a strategic acquirer, rather than directly through another food products company.
“We’re taking advantage of the plant-based revolution,” Fischer said. “We’re up 100%.”
Melt’s main competitor, Earth Balance, is up 2%, while Smart Balance is down 3%.
Bill Benjamin
The changes in the company are getting attention in Idaho’s funding community.
“It is great to see innovation like this in a sector Idaho has been known for, and in a way that leverages Idaho’s resources and advantages in a sustainable, helpful and proud way,” said Bill Benjamin, managing partner of Galena Capital Partners, a Boise-based investment bank that is engaged with the company to raise money.
When Fischer first looked at Prosperity Organic Foods, which makes Melt plant-based butter, he was being brought in for his expertise, as founder of CFO Idaho, to perform due diligence on the company for Steve Hodges of Bluestem Investments, who was considering investing.
“I highlighted a number of opportunities to reignite the company in what we all agreed was an industry ready to take off,” Fischer said. “’It’s a great product at its core and there are things we could do to jump-start it.’ They came back six weeks later and said, ‘We agree with your assessment. Would you be willing to come in and do all these things?’”
When Bluestem promised to make a $3.5 million investment, Fischer joined the company as CEO in May 2018.
Scott Fischer. Photo by Sharon Fisher
The first issue Fischer had to deal with was a big one: taste.
“We started out by talking to our consumers,” Fischer said. “Consumers always know why you’re growing or not growing.”
Those consumers said was the butter tasted “coconutty.”
“A very small percentage loved it,” Fischer said. “Another percentage hated it. So I said, let’s get rid of the coconut taste.”
Some consumers also said the packaging was confusing and not relevant, so Fischer hired a microagency out of Santa Monica to do a redesign.
The company also looked at ways to save money on distribution and its supply chain, such as saving 60% on supply costs by switching to Uber Freight and consolidating all its purchasing through one broker and sending it to a single location, Fischer said.
“It used to cost $6,000 to ship,” he said. “Today it costs $350.”
Most important, Melt had to decide what its brand was – and Fischer got a commitment from the remaining six employees (now there’s 11) that they would live the brand as well.
“If we say ‘organic,’ we have to be organic,” he said. “If we say ‘save the planet,’ we have to save the planet. We have a set of values we adhere to and we do that every day.”
Fischer also altered the way the company was run, such as changing the CEO’s office to the “team room” and putting his office in the bullpen with everyone else so he’s more accessible.
“I trust these people. I hired them because they’re phenomenal experts at what they do,” Fischer said. “Nobody gets penalized for making a mistake. It’s different if you make the same mistake over and over again. We celebrate mistakes because we just discovered another thing we’ll never do wrong again.”
Susan Karnes lives in a half-acre lot in South Meridian. She said she worries that Meridian is losing its rural character as it allows more density throughout the city. Photo by Kate Talerico/Idaho Statesman
Paula Connelly’s life is messy. On her 10-acre farm south of Victory Road and just east of Ten Mile Road, she raises chickens and roosters, along with steers that she shoots, kills and skins in her backyard each year. When she sprays manure, her field can stink for days.
“It’s not everybody’s way of life,” she said.
But it’s a way of life some residents feel is under threat as Meridian considers a new city plan that envisions more houses, up to three per acre, on what is now farmland.
On Tuesday, the Meridian City Council held its first public hearing on the city’s comprehensive plan, a document will help to shape Meridian’s growth in the coming decades. State law requires Idaho cities to prepare comprehensive plans to curb sprawl and make clear to residents and developers alike what types of construction — houses? apartments? Starbucks? — can go where.
Meridian’s comprehensive plan has not been updated significantly since 2011, when the city’s population was 76,510. Now — eight years later and with a population of 114,680 — the city is updating its comprehensive plan to reflect Meridian’s rapid urbanization.
But that doesn’t sit right with many Meridian residents, who are clinging to the city’s small-town roots.
Kenzie Ward, who grew up on a dairy in Ada County outside of Meridian, told the City Council that she dreamed of raising her children as she was raised. “We’ve done all the hard labor by ourselves,” she said. “Very few people have this opportunity to grow up with this rural lifestyle.”
One of the biggest changes to the plan is the elimination of Meridian’s rural zoning designation, which ensures lot sizes larger than five acres. The city would rezone many of those rural areas to allow up to 3 units per acre.
That’s too dense, critics argue.
But city planners say the rural designation isn’t enough to protect farmland from development.
Forty acres of farmland could still be turned into houses — just eight 5-acre lots, instead of perhaps 120 one-third acre ones. Taxes from the denser development can better pay for police, fire and other services. The denser development can support sewer lines; the 5-acre lots cannot.
Many farmers seize the chance to sell their land when it becomes valuable for development. For some, the sale may fund their retirements.
“Some of those folks, over time, are going to want to develop that property,” said City Planner Caleb Hood at the public hearing. “You can color the zoning map however you want, but it’s not going to preserve it.”
A LAND WAR BETWEEN MERIDIAN AND KUNA
Kuna, too, has begun to eat away at some of the land Meridian had tried to keep rural.
The rural zoning in Meridian’s south “has not served the city well thus far,” Hood said. “It has pushed those that want to develop to another city.”
Hood said many farmland owners have chosen to annex into Kuna rather than Meridian because Kuna offers the ability to develop at higher densities, making the land more valuable.
Kuna recently revitalized its downtown streets by adding bulb-outs and trees. What Meridian wants to preserve as agricultural, real estate developers see as prime land for development in Kuna. Photo by Sharon Fisher.
County landowners, sooner or later, may seek to annex into an incorporated city. Incorporating can offer benefits to a developer, such as access to sewer and water and faster and fire police response times, along with the ability to build at higher densities.
To be considered for annexation, land must be within a city’s comprehensive planning area, which a city defines as its projected area for future growth. The land must also be connected to another parcel already annexed in the city. This is to prevent islands of incorporated city land from forming. It’s also why many developers talk about needing a “path to annexation” to form before they can annex into a city.
Kuna and Meridian share a border. Their comprehensive plan areas also overlap between Amity and Lake Hazel Road, leading them to compete over land. As these two communities grow and get closer to one another, landowners in between have the choice to annex into either city, as long as they share a border with land that has already been annexed.
What Meridian wants to preserve as agricultural, real estate developers see as prime land for development in Kuna.
The area between Amity and Victory along Ten Mile is a good example of Hood’s point. It is just a few minutes away from Interstate 84, offering quick access for suburban commuters.
Real estate investors like Tim Eck have sought to annex those properties into Kuna, which recently built a wastewater treatment plant near the southwest corner of Ten Mile and Lake Hazel roads, close to Kuna’s border with Meridian. The plant can serve Eck’s proposed homes, while Meridian cannot, unless denser development is allowed under Meridian’s comprehensive plan.
“It comes down to: Who wants your poop the most?” Eck joked.
In addition, it’s easier to annex in Kuna in that area because so much of the land is already incorporated, Eck said. Many of the landowners between Black Cat and Linder roads and between East Lake Hazel and Victory roads have opted to remain a part of the county, creating a “great wall” that has blocked others in that area from annexing into Meridian, he added.
“It’s the accessibility to an annexation corridor, it’s the accessibility to services,” he said.
THE EXPENSE OF DEVELOPING AT LOWER DENSITIES
Developers also make more money building at higher densities.
“There’s just not a huge market for one to five-acre parcels,” Hood said.
“Something has to give,” he added. “You have to pay more for the service, or you can cut back on the level of service,” or you can have more people paying for the service.
Meridian faces the same problem as Eagle, which is considering removing its own low-density area — the Foothills — from its comprehensive plan in light of planners’ worries that development won’t cover the cost of city services.
“We’re planning for a city,” Eagle planner Nichoel Baird Spencer told residents at a meeting Monday. Hood said the same thing to Meridian’s residents at Tuesday’s comprehensive plan meeting.
Click to enlarge. Image courtesy of Kate Talerico/Idaho Statesman
HOW TO PRESERVE MERIDIAN’S RURAL HERITAGE?
Residents like Connelly and Ward want the city to create a land-use designation for one-acre lots. The city argues that one-acre lots could be developed in the low-density areas that would allow up to three houses per acre, but residents want more protection from the higher densities on that range.
Susan Karnes, who moved to South Meridian from Eagle three years ago, helped form a neighborhood group that has advocated to preserve lower densities in her area. She has been a strong advocate on the steering committee against removing the rural zoning designation.
“It may be eventually that we will be an urban community — but we think it’s premature, especially when the stakeholders so strongly value our existing agricultural and semi-rural properties,” she told the council.
Ward, the former dairy farmer, also wants the council to force developers to preserve more than the currently required 10% of land in new developments as open space.
Hood agrees with Ward about the 10% requirement. He also said the city is considering doing what Boise has done to save land in its Foothillls: Ask voters to pass a property tax levy to buy farmland for preservation.
“Unless people are compensated, we don’t have a way to preserve agricultural land,” Hood said.
DEFERRING A DECISION ON THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN?
Updating the comprehensive plan required 18 months of public involvement from residents, developers and city planners.
Karnes asked the council to consider deferring a decision on it to the new mayor, Robert Simison, and new City Council members who will step up in January.
“Is it fair to our newly elected officials to be responsible for a guide in which they had no voice?” she asked the council. “Is it fair to the public who elected them to represent their interests through a democratic mandate?”
City Council Vice President Luke Cavener, who will remain on the council come January, agreed.
“When we began this process 18 months ago, we didn’t know that we would have a brand new mayor and council,” he said. “I think there is a benefit to having the new mayor and the new council weigh in on it.”
Councilman Treg Bernt, who will also remain on the council, said he’d rather “nail this out sooner rather than later.”
The council will continue to hear testimony at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 26 at City Hall, 33 E. Broadway Ave.
The Idaho Humane Society recently moved into a new building on South Bird Street in Boise. Photo by Chloe Baul
After years of fundraising and development, the Idaho Humane Society has opened its new location on South Bird Street in Boise. Located near Boise’s retail hub, the 42,000-square-foot IHS includes a veterinary hospital, adoption center and public education center.
The facility was funded by donations, philanthropy and revenue from adoptions and services. The total costs for the project — including the 9.71-acre property acquired in 2011 — was close to $15 million. CSHQA was the building architect and PETRA was the general contractor for the new location.
“What we got was an incredible building. I would say it’s one of the nicest animal shelters in the entire United States,” said Jeff Rosenthal, CEO of the Idaho Humane Society.
Rosenthal said they wanted a location with easier access to public transportation. With three bus stops nearby, senior citizens and children have better access for volunteering and visiting IHS’s education center. Low-income individuals will also have easier access to affordable veterinary care.
Previously, the Idaho Humane Society was located in a more out-of-the-way spot on Dorman Street near the Boise Airport.
“We’ve really been challenged bringing children into our facilities and now we have a dedicated classroom,” Rosenthal said. “This place is much safer for kids, and they can be a lot more interactive with the animals in the facility.”
Rosenthal said there are more opportunities for visitors to interact with animals at the new location, since they are housed in an open environment with state-of-the-art HVAC, noise control and ambient lighting.
“The dogs are far calmer, far happier, so much more content — they’re sleeping in these kennels,” said Rosenthal. “It was very difficult for the animals to get the rest they needed at Dorman Street because of the number of animals per enclosure.”
With plenty of land for expansion at the new location, Rosenthal said they hope to add a dog park at some point. The Dorman Street location will remain as the animal control and intake facility, which is funded by city and county contracts.
Could X mark the spot of Boise’s HP campus? File photo
After HP rejected its acquisition offer, Xerox is playing hardball with a hostile takeover or proxy war.
John Visentin, Xerox vice chairman and CEO, does not mince words in a letter to Enrique Lores, who became HP president and CEO on Nov. 1, and Chip Bergh, chair of HP’s board of directors.
“Unless you and we agree on mutual confirmatory due diligence to support a friendly combination by 5:00 p.m. EST on Monday, November 25, 2019, Xerox will take its compelling case to create superior value for our respective shareholders directly to your shareholders,” Visentin states.
HP didn’t wait until Monday to respond.
“It is clear in your aggressive words and actions that Xerox is intent on forcing a potential combination on opportunistic terms and without providing adequate information,” Lores and Bergh replied on Nov. 24. “When we were in private discussions with you in August and September, we repeatedly raised our questions; you failed to address them and instead walked away, choosing to pursue a hostile approach rather than continue down a more productive path. But these fundamental issues have not gone away, and your now-public urgency to accelerate toward a deal, still without addressing these questions, only heightens our concern about your business and prospects.”
The letter continued that HP was still willing to work with Xerox, but noted that HP was not dependent on a merger – and that there might be other fish in the sea.
“We have great confidence in our strategy and the numerous opportunities available to HP to drive sustainable long-term value, including the deployment of our strong balance sheet for increased share repurchases of our significantly undervalued stock and for value-creating M&A,” Lores and Bergh wrote.
In response, Xerox said on Tuesday that it intended to pursue a hostile takeover.
Xerox’ offer, made earlier this month, was for $22.00 per share, comprising $17.00 in cash and 0.137 Xerox shares for each HP share.
But while HP’s board had acknowledged the synergies between the two companies, Lores wrote a letter rejecting the offer saying it undervalued the company and could raise debt – reportedly $25 billion – a concern shared by industry watchers after the initial proposal.
Xerox didn’t take it well.
“Frankly, we are confused by this reasoning in that your own financial advisor, Goldman Sachs & Co., set a $14 price target with a ‘sell’ rating for HP’s stock after you announced your restructuring plan on October 3, 2019,” Visentin wrote. “Our offer represents a 57% premium to Goldman’s price target and a 29% premium to HP’s 30-day volume weighted average trading price of $17.”
Moreover, Visentin indicated that HP wasn’t acting in good faith on its offer to continue discussion.
“You have requested customary due diligence, which we have accepted, but you have refused to agree to corresponding due diligence for Xerox,” Visentin wrote. “Any friendly process for a combination of this type requires mutual diligence – your proposal for one-way diligence is an unnecessary delay tactic.”
Xerox could complete its due diligence in three weeks, he continued.
What would the deal mean for Boise?
If accepted, Xerox said the deal could generate $2 billion in cost synergies – $1.5 billion of which were likely to be through layoffs – and result in HP holders owning 48% of the company. It is not clear how many of those layoffs could affect HP’s Boise location.
The Oct. 3 restructuring to which Visentin referred included layoffs of 7,000 to 9,000 employees by the end of 2022, but HP hasn’t said how many were expected in Idaho.
HP has had more than 3,000 employees on its Boise campus, but is now down to roughly 1,700, according to a recent speech by a local executive.
Several analysts have downgraded HP stock over the past few months due to concerns about sales of printer supplies, on which the company depends. In response, HP announced a sales model where customers could choose between paying a higher price for hardware, which can be used with third-party ink suppliers, or subsidized hardware that works only with HP printing supplies.
Some analysts have speculated Xerox’s initial offer was a ploy to get HP – which has a market capitalization ranging from $27 billion to $29 billion, compared with Xerox’s market capitalization of about $8 billion – to buy Xerox instead.
This article was updated on Nov. 26 with new information.
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