Meridian council hears detailed update on Settlers Park community center design; bid timeline unchanged

City staff gave Meridian City Council a design development and project status update for the Settlers Park community center, saying the schematic site plan and building uses remain the same and that detailed design work is progressing with the goal of putting the project out to bid this fall.

"Things are on schedule, on track, to be ready to to, bid this fall," said Steve Sidway, who introduced the presentation before turning the update over to Garrett, the project manager. Garrett told the council the team has moved into design development and is resolving room sizes, mechanical needs and access-control placement.

The presentation stressed refinements intended to reduce future disruption and cost: drain fields beneath parking were sized now to accommodate a possible future gym expansion, and the design includes access-control zones that would allow contracted instructors to operate parts of the building in the evenings without full staff presence. Garrett said the design also preserves flexibility for staged staffing "by using just a couple of internal promotions so that we can grow into the facility over time as the budget allows."

Garrett showed building elevations and a site plan that includes about 347 parking spaces and two parking areas near the ball fields. He said discussions are ongoing with Meridian Youth Baseball to finalize a contribution toward the parking lots, but said parking would remain first-come, first-served rather than reserved for a single user. "Part of the agreement is to show that those fields can be used by the public and not just NYB," Garrett said.

Design details presented: a flex gym/assembly space sized for sports and small stage events; a pair of half-court outdoor basketball courts placed to preserve fire apparatus access; a sound-managed yoga/fitness classroom wing with a cooking classroom and arts/kiln space; multiple secure access doors to isolate wings; and multiple public-art locations being coordinated with the city's arts staff. Garrett said the fiber route and data infrastructure have been planned to minimize construction disruption and extend service to adjacent park features.

On operations, council member questions focused on projected operating costs and staffing. Garrett summarized the current operating estimate as an incremental annual subsidy of roughly $150,000 after anticipated revenues and said that figure is based on recruiting internally and using two position promotions rather than adding a large number of new hires. He said the promotions would cost about $101,000 in today’s dollars and that other operating line items (utilities, janitorial) are estimates based on comparable facilities. "A lot of those are still kind of... good, estimates based on what we have at HomeCourt and other city facilities," Garrett said.

Council members asked about the trade-offs tied to timing. Garrett and Sidway noted a $19.7 million capital request and cautioned delaying construction could increase cost due to industry inflation; a construction manager estimated 5–10% price inflation per year in the current market.

Why this matters: the council will review the community center budget next week, and staff said the update was intended to limit design Q&A during budget hearings so council can focus on the funding decisions.

Council reaction was broadly positive on the design and the staging approach; several members asked staff to include more precision in budget and timing numbers during the upcoming budget deliberations. Garrett said staff would be prepared to answer additional operational and timing questions when the council considers the budget.