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VEAC Minutes 05-14-19 FINAL Vail Economic Advisory Council May 14, 2019 Vail Town Council Chambers 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM MEETING MINUTES VEAC Members Present: Yann Benjamin, Matt Ivy, Rayla Kundolf, Chris Romer, Michael Connolly, Alison Wadey, Mike Lange, Sarah Franke, Kim Newbury-Rediker, Bob Boselli, Brian Nolan, Mike Glass, Meredith MacFarlane, Mark Gordon, Laurie Mullen, Matt Morgan Town of Vail Staff Present: Mia Vlaar - Economic Development Director, Kathleen Halloran – Finance Director, Patty McKenny - Interim Town Manager, Matt Miano -Economic Development Coordinator, George Ruther- Housing Director AGENDA Financial Update, Kathleen Halloran (5 minutes) • March sales tax up 1.5% from last year • 6.8% up year to date through March • RET $2 million flat from last year • Construction use tax a little down • Parking revenue – up 35% on pass sales, up 28% on daily sales through April Potential Long Term Housing, George Ruther (20 minutes) • I’ll provide information then solicit some feedback and open it up for questions • 3 current sources of funding, general fund, housing fund and capital fund • Ruther mentioned that they’re looking at various long term funding options, and then ran through slide presentation • Next steps: public opinion survey, this will dictate direction of further steps • Consultants are looking for strong support from community • 2 potential taxes, 1) property tax increase 2) sales tax increase • Gordon asked if reallocating RETT was explored. A) We looked at it and decided it would be preferred to not touch that right now if possible. Also looking at fees that are associated with development • Nolan asked -Do you know what Summit or Pitkin County raises in assessments? A) I do not, I do know they have a quarter percent in sales tax • Ivy- If we had a quarter percent sales tax here do you know what that would add up to? Ruther - Currently we raise $27 million on 4%, a quarter percent increase would be $1.7, a ¾ would raise $5.2 million VEAC Minutes May 14,, 2019 • Property tax 1 mil increase would cost every $100,000 in home value $7 and would raise about $1.2 million • Morgan: Q) What’s the goal? A) About $2.5 million would be a great start as it would allow for the Town to begin to bond against the revenue collected annually • Boselli Q) How many deed restricted units do we have now? A) Currently we are at about 870 deed restricted homes • Gordon: Are we looking at just in East Vail and West Vail? A) Everything in Valley is on the table to obtain the number of deed restricted units we are aiming for • Ruther went on to explain that the tax question would be for November 2019, we are putting out a press release to let people know about the survey to gauge initial thoughts • Newbury Rediker - I would encourage you to reach out to business owners to talk to employees to get them to take survey • Ruther said survey will be open to everybody • Ruther -When properties are outside of Vail town limits it is the decision of town council to move forward with it or not as a part of the town’s housing initiatives. • Boselli- Q) so you would look at Leadville? Because it is about the same distance and land is cheap. Ruther A) I wouldn’t want to say no but we would have to figure out some logistics such as transportation and ensuring we capture a community benefit to the Vail taxpayer • Gordon Q) Will survey ask if we are interested in looking outside of East or West Vail? Ruther A) There will be some open ended questions to solicit that type of feedback. • Nolan – Is anyone talking to the school district about long term picture of housing? Ruther A) We have talked about short term issues currently and have identified them as a primary partner • Ruther – I’d love to return post survey to discuss with this group. Neighboring Business Report • Vlaar - we will get something going online and anonymously next fall • Nolan – timing of survey is hard because no one is in town in May Kundolf – • Consensus was business was down this past winter and the reasons given were events, lack of foot traffic, and peoples feeling that Vail is expensive And that Vail doesn’t market for the businesses • Changes made were reduction in employees and reduction in prices • I heard that the demographic of customer has changed and they are not spending money • Burton Games kicked off my season but other business owners didn’t agree Boselli- • Businesses thought they would do better with the better snow. VEAC Minutes May 14,, 2019 • Lower end retail had better years than higher end retail. Lionshead was very strong for me. • Solaris events are challenging, we could literally close our doors for a few hours • We didn’t change anything and nobody I talked to said they had made any changes either • I feel like we saw a lot more Denver people that brought some new friends with them but I think that will slow down • Concerns: Getting the right events and then getting people here for a number of days not just one night. • We think summer is going to be strong with a slightly later start Mullen – • We were down a little but attribute that to supermarkets getting full strength beer. Our concierge business is also a bit down. With more Colorado people they are here for shorter lengths of time and that is really affecting retail, bring what you need with you • The ski shop I spoke to also felt that people were bringing their own gear. • Events were really good for us, Burton is the shining star • With all the housing options fewer people are living in Vail and that affects our vibrancy • Increased marketing • Comments are that Vail continues to cater towards destination guests. It is really important to our vitality Boselli – We could funnel short term housing taxes into the housing issue Nolan – • Restaurants in Lionshead agree with above sentiments, Denver, Denver, Denver! • South America was great for us, I think we should pay more attention to Florida spring break because it is now rivaling Texas • Employee base is completely moving west, restaurants down Valley are seeing increased numbers between 830-930 because of Vail employees • 10th Mountain Parade was coolest event that we had heard about and is one the coolest things that happened this winter • We need to get this neighbor business report in June, we’ll get a more cohesive and greater response. Morgan – • Hard to find people to talk to. • Overall in retail I got medium to medium plus on winter • Businesses thought snow would materialize into higher sales and that didn’t pan out • High end jewelry store talked about a change in demographic and millennials have much different buying habits. VEAC Minutes May 14,, 2019 • Our business was good, up 6-8% • The employee piece is a huge issue, hard to find and keep good staff • One comment of what we could do better is finding a way to get people outside (dining, cafes, espresso, music etc.) Nolan – • Hyman Avenue Mall in Aspen is a great example of outdoor activation • No night life in Vail or anywhere down Valley really Gordon – heard about a business that grew, had a great year and is now closing because they can’t keep employees and were paying $22/hr Newbury- Rediker – our average stay went from 4.5 nights to 3.8 nights at Antlers Benjamin – • Locals are considered instate, 40% of total numbers were local and 2/3 of that are from front range • We had some challenges with international, Easter hurt, early season was softer than expected • Destination, slow start, on Thanksgiving but after holiday week both international and destination did well and was pretty healthy Morgan – • In April we had 300 realtors in town and nobody else was open and we didn’t know they were here and we got crushed. Is it possible to share that information with businesses? Romer • School calendars are out for next year – few notes, Hanukkah is same week as holidays, Texas spring break starts March 7, I’ll look into Florida MacFarlane- • Rooms were flat, F& B was up 7%, very optimistic about summer Vlaar – • Guest experience collaborative – lets make sure that we offer a memorable experience regardless of skiing conditions Ivy- • Our December was awful, Jan/ Feb was great, first two weeks of March were strong and then it dipped off. Everyone had snow, not just Vail. • New restaurant opened at the end of February and it killed it in East Vail so we were very happy about that. Lange – VEAC Minutes May 14,, 2019 • we went out with a very aggressive rate and set records in Jan / Feb, about flat the rest of the year • People followed the snow everywhere and the Epic Pass gives people that choice to go elsewhere • Summer is pacing very well at this point Romer- • Occupancy up 5%, rate down 4%, • From lodging folks I spoke with those who dropped rate did well and those who held steady lost occupancy Wadey – • we need to be careful with that message though because we don’t want to start a race to the bottom as far as rate goes, and 5 star service comes at a premium so are messaging needs to be mindful of that. Connolly – • It’s a mixed bag between hotels and property management companies and it makes it a difficult comparison People who book large homes plan ahead so by the time snow was good those people already made other plans Romer - • Hotels run 17-23% higher occupancy than condos and condos have higher rates month over month Connolly – • Our summer looks awesome and we are hoping that this years snow will translate to next years business Interim Town Manager’s Report, Patty McKenny (5 minutes) We will begin recruiting for town manager and discussion will at our next town council meeting. • Discuss with elected officials the process, timeline, priorities etc. • I expect it will take a couple of months at the very least • Department heads will have chance to meet with recruiters and offer feedback and our perspective of what they would look for • Any feedback, please reach out to elected officials and my door is also open to you. • Election Day is November 5th, 4 council seats open, one is a 2 year term; other 3 are 4 year terms. Moffett 2 year and is term limited, Mason, Langmaid and Foley are up for reelection. • Petition for nominations are available in August and you have about 3 weeks to obtain signatures • Civic area plan update at our next town council meeting VEAC Minutes May 14,, 2019 • We can schedule more one on one with this group with the civic group after this meeting if you’d like. New Business: Mullen – I think we should be very proactive as events people, partnership VLMD and come together and discuss what we do we need here? Franke - a couple of additions to Whistle Pig: • Sept 2 – Bon Iver • Sept 5 Gary Clark Jr • Sept 18 – Jason Isbell Wadey- • Summer Update meeting is Monday June 3 830-1030 at Arrabelle • Beth Howard will be there as well as trails group and public relations Romer- • New service from Philadelphia in winter Opening Dates for Summer Vail Mountain • Lionshead Gondola open for GoPro Mountain Games Friday, June 7 • Gondola 1 – will open June 28 • Weekends after labor day Benjamin -Pricing is pending. Kids ride free is back; family 4 pack is not coming back, planning to offer a 2 day package where you get an afternoon and the next day. Rediker • Vail Golf Course – lot of work going on delayed opening May 17 few holes • June 7 Holes 1-9 open • June 14 full course open Adjournment Next Meeting Tuesday, June 11, 2019 8:00 – 10:00 AM, Town Council Chambers VEAC Minutes May 14,, 2019