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VEAC Minutes 03-12-19 FINAL Vail Economic Advisory Council March 12, 2019 Vail Town Council Chambers 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM MEETING MINUTES VEAC Members Present: Yann Benjamin, Laurie Mullen, Mike Ortiz, Matt Ivy, Rayla Kundolf, Chris Romer, Michael Connolly, Alison Wadey, Mike Lange, Sarah Franke, Kim Newbury-Rediker, Bob Boselli, Brian Nolan, Mike Glass, Lori Pohl, Travis Coggin, Meredith Macfarlane, Greg Moffett Town of Vail Staff Present: Greg Clifton – Town Manager, Kathleen Halloran – Finance Director, Mia Vlaar - Economic Development Director, Matt Miano, Economic Development Coordinator, Ernest Saeger, Special Events Coordinator, Carlie Smith, Financial Services Manager Others Present: March Meeting Link AGENDA Meeting Reminders, • Clifton – please join the town for an exciting and informative community meeting tonight at Donovan (Annual Community Meeting 5pm-7pm) Financial Update, Kathleen Halloran (5 minutes) • January sales tax up 6.3% • Parking Rev Season to date – pass sales 1.6 million up 36%, daily sales of $3.2 million up 33% from prior winter season • See handouts 2019 Budget Message, Carlie Smith, Kathleen Halloran (15 minutes) • Link to Budget Message Presentation • Connection between budget plan and council goals, it begins with the town’s vision and moves into goals • 3 areas of spending within those goals – housing, sustainability and economic development • Increases in 2018 to all three areas of spending • Mullen asked where budgeted? A) Housing/Indeed Program– capital improvements, Economic Development – general fund, Sustainability Efforts – Real Estate Transfer Tax • Council will consider a new spend of $4M to purchase deed restrictions at East Vail housing development; this is not currently in the budget VEAC Minutes March 12, 2019 • Clifton – general fund reserves are usually left in tact, capital funds go up and down from time to time • Clifton – secondary data center is a terrific back-up system and will aid in reducing our vulnerability. • THOR project will greatly enhance the fiber optics along I70 corridor and connection will be easily connectible preparing us for 5G infrastructure • New town IT director officially starts next week and he will be involved in this project which has been ongoing over the past couple of years • Vlaar – Presentation in November showed how the process moving to 5g will work (link to council THOR presentation here Agenda Item 3.1) • Smith – went through upcoming capital projects budgeted for 2019 • Ortiz – Ford Park Shelter Vail Recreation District decided on a building a shade structure and will offer our guests protection from sun and more importantly lightning. Construction will begin soon • Smith – breakdown of pie chart in presentation “2019 Budgeted Revenue and Budget Expenditures” • The town currently has no debt. • Reserve charts represent 2 years past and 3 years forward and includes council’s increased minimum to be held in reserves • Prioritizing capital projects will be integral because reserves will not cover all projects • $35 million in TIF for civic plan and we can borrow off of that. • Clifton – we have the mechanism in place to execute whatever the civic plan ends up becoming • Halloran -Life of TIF is 2030 • Clifton - Municipal building is not in TIF district but it can be with a demonstration of connectivity, or nexus Town Manager’s Report, Greg Clifton (5 minutes) • IT director is officially starting next week but has been getting acquainted • We’ve been short staffed in that department but we will be fully staffed as of next week • CAST (Colorado Association of Ski Towns) meeting in Denver last week with governor as keynote speaker • CAST faces similar issues and conversations based off all these topics, housing, traffic, economic development etc. • Sam Mamet will be here next week from Colorado Municipal League next council meeting and give him his due recognition of 40 years of service with the CML. Education and Enrichment Task Force, Mia Vlaar (15 minutes) • Vlaar went through the Cultural, Recreation, Community vs. Education and Enrichment event criteria • Taskforce will better define what EE includes and should not include to ensure everyone is on the same page • Moffett volunteered to be on the task force VEAC Minutes March 12, 2019 • Kundolf – I believe taskforce should be between council and CSE because they understand everything that goes into the process • Vlaar- we’re opening this up for everyone’s input on how this should be made up • Wadey- We want to understand why we are doing this because we did this 2 years ago when it was renamed EE and we believe we have a firm understanding of what this is • Gordon – my takeaway from council from the last time was that there was a desire for a “big Idea” in the EE world. But we have an existing category that has some of our most popular events and would hate to see something like Vail Symposium go away because a task force was looking for the big idea • Wadey – unless that doesn’t follow council goals • Moffett – We are missing the Big Idea and the task force could identify what’s missing and how we go get it • Wadey – if goal is to recruit events that is not what the CSE does • Clifton – good reminder that even without ROI these EE events are good for our community. What’s missing is the bigger idea, something like the Aspen Institute. We tried it in Telluride and it has been slowly progressing and the return is there • Kundolf – biggest problem is they don’t have a brick and mortar. There is a space in town and I have talked to council about it, not sure if town should buy it or not but it is here. • Gordon – I would volunteer for a Big Idea Task Force but believe EE is working well • Kundolf – Commented on Vail Centre and how two programs are continuing with funding from CSE • Romer – Hugely important, agree a brick and mortar is important and Aspen Institute is an inspiration but not a model. You need to actively find the right organization to do this. • Moffett – Biggest thing missing in Vail is education opportunities for grownups • Mullen – we have to better define what we are trying to achieve in the EE category • Franke – I work for an organization that does this stuff and I am not clear of what the goals of this task force are. Defining those are a great first step • Coggin- Start by casting a big net and need to own what Vail is. Happy to throw my name in the ring for task force • Clifton – we have the brain power and experience in our community and should tap into these resources • Mullen - maybe we should look into some of the programming we already have like Bravo and Dance that offer educational components • Clifton – Continue dialogue with council? • Moffett and Coggin – agreed that offline conversations may be a better place to start Citizen Input • VEAC Minutes March 12, 2019 Other Business (5 minutes) • Yann Benjamin – Epic for Everyone – Epic Day Pass product that offers a lift access product at a significant discount. During holiday season guests can buy a ticket for $125, non holiday is $106. Only caveat is that you purchase tickets prior pass sales ending around thanksgiving. • Clifton – Nod to Suzanne Silverthorn and Susan Mitchell on the Year in Review publication and annual community meeting efforts • Mullen – Q) Second window of engagement vail civic plan will be what? A) Clifton – second window will focus more on stakeholders • Romer – ‘Best of Colorado’s” sponsored by Colorado Meetings and Events met and named: Vail Mountain Best Activity in state outside of metro Denver • Vail Valley Partnership was named Best Destination Sales and Marketing Organization in state outside of metro Denver Adjournment Next Meeting Tuesday, April 9, 2019 8:00 – 10:00 AM, Town Council Chambers VEAC Minutes March 12, 2019