HomeMy WebLinkAbout2. VEAC Minutes 10-11-2016 FinalVEAC Meeting – October 11, 2016 Page 1 of 3
Vail Economic Advisory Council (VEAC)
October 11, 2016
MEETING MINUTES
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VEAC Members Present:
Rob Levine, Phil Metz, Sarah Franke, Robin Litt, Chris Romer, Greg Moffet, Mark
Gordon, Kim Newbury-Rediker, Michael Kurz, Rayla Kundolf, Matt Morgan, Alison
Wadey, Mia Vlaar, Rob LeVine
Town of Vail Staff Present:
Kelli McDonald - Economic Development Manager, Laura Waniuk - Event Liaison
Specialist, Kathleen Halloran – Finance Director, Stan Zemler – Town Manager
Others Present:
Ryan Kelsey – The Antlers, Kristin K. Williams – Vail Resorts, Dominic Mauriello -
Mauriello Planning Group, LLC
Housing Strategic Plan, George Ruther (60 minutes)
Please see presentation for complete details. Focus on affordable housing within the
community and county. Come up with a goal, identify the means and come up with a
method to achieve the strategic plan goal. Goal is for Town of Vail to acquire 1,000
additional resident housing unit deed restrictions by 2027. Housing stock is depleted by
second home owner purchases. There is a new decision making structure involving Vail
Town Council (policy), Vail Local Housing Authority (implementation) and Town Staff
(administration). The recommendation is to continue with existing deed restriction
guidelines. The current deed restrictions are similar re gardless of the size of the
property and there will be further discussion about sales of deed restrictions. Going
back to the Town Council on November 1 with additional information and working with
the realtor community to identify how to get the informati on out to potential buyers.
Financial Report, Kathleen Halloran (20 minutes)
Upon receipt of all sales tax returns, August collections are estimated to be up 2.6%
compared to budget and up 6.1% from the prior year. 2017 projected revenue growth is
2%. RETT collections through September 26 total $3,817,790 down 16.1% from this
time last year.
Town Manager’s Report, Stan Zemler (20 minutes)
Goal of taking a first reading of the 2017 budget Oct. 18, targeting Nov. 1 for adoption of
the 2017 budget. The town is rolling back the revenue projections a bit. Looking at FTE
positions in specific areas, they are changing how the Town carries out the services,
plowing, flower beds, parking as well as water quality questions. There are several new
parks coming online as well as pickle ball courts. There is a different type of operation
maintenance.
Golf Clubhouse status: Nordic needs to be operational by November 1.
Meeting with the Cascade to discuss what’s happening and the parking situation.
VEAC Meeting – October 11, 2016 Page 2 of 3
There are also discussions with Vail Resorts regarding parking and there will be a report
to the council Oct. 18. They are looking at the policies that are adopted and the parking
on the Frontage Road in the perspective of powder days and events. There is a chance
that this summer was a bit of an anomaly; events are driving the parking on Frontage
Road in the summer. The hospital will be working through their parking operation s.
There is a lot of renovation going on in town right now, the Cascade, McDonalds, Sports
Authority space (leased by Christie Sports – the upper level
The Four Seasons is very close to closing the sale.
CSE applications were received on Oct. 3. Reviewing the applications and
presentations on October 19, then the allocations meeting will be on October 26.
The new restaurant, Pendulum, on Bridge Street, has been applying for their liquor
license and will plan to be open in mid-December.
Old Forge pizza in West Vail has been leased, but not sure to whom yet.
The construction on the Frontage Roads and I70 underpass is still in progress, their
schedule is to suspend construction on December 1. The frontage roads will go back to
their two way direction on December 1.
Citizen Input
N/A
Other Business
Metz and team have been meeting directly with lodges and held a lodging roundtable to
address concerns about the current options for lodges to package lift ticket sales for
their guests.
Metz clarified how the lift ticket sales will be managed with the lodging community. Last
year the “ticket portal” was shut down, this allowed lodging staff to purchase tickets for
their guests. This year they eliminated the “ski free stay free” promotion. This was done
with the idea to enhance the guest experience. If the guest lost their ticket or wanted
additional days, etc. Vail Resorts would have to send them back to their hotel which
created a challenging process for the guest. Vail Resorts are currently working on 3
solutions that hope to be in place for this season:
1) White label booking engine – Vail Resorts will develop a landing page for any
lodge that would like to participate. Directs the guest directly to online to
purchase tickets. No cost to lodging community, Vail will build the pages.
2) Process of delivering hard card media to lodging properties that request it – this
allows the guest to purchase their ticket online. If they purchase their tickets in
advance, those tickets will be at the hotel delivered.
3) Low tech – high touch – Properties will interact with Rebecca McDonald’s staff.
Providing a rate sheet for that lodging property, etc. The individual still needs to
be connected to the ticket. Lodging properties would be able to pick up the
tickets as they used to do.
VEAC Meeting – October 11, 2016 Page 3 of 3
4) Flipping the lodging portal back on – but it will have the same issues as it did
before.
Still don’t have a solution for guests who expect the hotel to take care of everything;
current plans include the guest interacting directly with Vail Resorts. They are working
with product sales department at Vail Resorts to make it happen. There are still some
items that need to be worked through, but the plan is to get it started prior to the ski
season.
There are a couple other questions and rumors in the community. Vail Resorts does not
sell wholesalers tickets at lower rates. Think of the ticket and lodging division as
separately, the price of the ticket is set; the lodging is independent from the ticket sale.
Vail Resorts would like the lodging community to reach out to them with questions to get
direct answers and clarification. There seems to be some issues around group ticketing,
but there has not been a solution identified yet. There are questions about the
international booking as well.
Romer said if anyone has questions on Ballot issue 1A to contact him and he can
present the details and explanation. He said it’s a well-thought out plan by the local
governments. There are a lot of other factors that go into needs for the workforce
housing. He suggests to go to www.voteyeson1A.com. The county commissioners
would implement the program. There is a sunset of 20 years built in.
Kurz mentioned there is an opening in the Art in Public Places board so please consider
applying. There are also several openings on the Commission on Special Events.
Next Meeting:
Tuesday, November 8, Antlers, 8:00-10:00 AM