The Merriam City Council this week voted to rescind its earlier decision to remove key elements of a plan to remake the city’s downtown corridor.
The rare move undoes a vote taken last month which opted to keep a busy stretch of Merriam Drive between Hocker and Johnson drives untouched as part of the larger downtown project.
Now, parts of the plan that had been nixed by the previous vote — including the addition of a gateway arch over Merriam Drive and the removal of a center turning lane in that stretch — are back on the table.
The council could take a new vote on the project
- Councilmember Whitney Yadrich told the Post that because the Jan. 23 vote, for which Mayor Bob Pape cast the tie-breaking vote, is voided, the council “can now entertain another vote as an agenda item in a future meeting.”
- “This, as I understand it, opens it back up for negotiation and compromise and discussion,” City Administrator Chris Engel told the city council on Feb. 13. “One more chance.”
- The vote to rescind the Jan. 23 decision was approved on Feb. 13 in a 7 to 1 vote, with Councilmember Bruce Kaldahl casting the only opposing vote.
Tonight the council voted 7-1 to rescind the vote made on 1/23/23 to remove Merriam Drive from Johnson Drive to Hocker from the 2023 redesign project. The motion was presented off agenda by Council President Hands and seconded by me.
— Whitney Yadrich (@WhitForMerriam) February 14, 2023
The rescinding vote was not a scheduled agenda item
- Council President Chris Evans Hands presented the motion during the council items portion of the meeting.
- Hands said she thinks there is still an opportunity for a better compromise on the Merriam Drive project.
- Kaldahl, who made the motion on Jan. 23 to nix a part of the Merriam Drive project, said his vote against the motion to rescind was about consistency with council decisions.
- “We shouldn’t be undoing things that we’ve done on any type of regular basis,” Kaldahl said.
- But he said he was supportive of moving forward with a compromise on the Merriam Drive street project if there is one.
The Merriam Drive project will be discussed on Feb. 27
- Engel told the city council the Jan. 23 motion created some issues with the overall project, including with stormwater design.
- Engel told the Post via email there has not been a motion to rescind a previous council vote in his 10 years with the city.
- Engel said the Merriam Drive street project will be placed on the Feb. 27 agenda in “hopes to receive direction from the council on how they would like to proceed with that project.”
Go deeper: Sneak peek: Concept for future of downtown Merriam
