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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1972-03-20 Town Council Minutes.MINUTES. SPECIAL MEETING BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE TOWN OF VAI L MARCH 20, 1972 A special meeting of the Board of Trustees with the Board of Directors of the Vail Resort Association was convened at 2:15 p. m. , March 20, 1972,. in the Conference Room of the Vail Municipal Building., Mayor John A. Dobson and the following Trustees were present: Richard Bailey Dr. Thomas Steinberg John Donovan Gerry White Clay Freeman Also present were: Terrell Minger, Town Manager Charles Gersbach, President of the VRA Dale McCall, Executive Director of the VRA Members of the Board of Directors of the VISA ' Mr. Gersbach noted that the meeting had been 'requested for informational purposes; as a beginning, it was felt hisgroup needed information on the possible parking structure, conference center and transportation terminal. Mr. McCall added that it seemed feasible that all three could be done together; also, that it was his understanding that some preliminary work had been done. Mr. Minger• stated that.a committee, composed of Trustee Bailey representing the Board of 'Trustees, various architects and engineers, and himself had been formed. This group is preparing a feasibility study. The most difficult variable to define is the need for parking spaces. Either, too few or too many spaces would create problems. They are trying to write the report in such away that its validity does not stand or fall on the correctness of any one piece of information. They are looking at alternate sites, especially in terms of their cost and distance. .They must allow for the possibility of interceptor lots further down the valley in the future and also for the possibility of a mass transit system. In terms of cost, the projection is for about $2,000 a parking space. A final portion of the study looks at possible projects that could be done in conjunction with the parking. structure. The least expensive of these, and the most logical, would be a • transportation terminal. It might also be possible to have. a facility for selling lift tickets in the structure. In terms of timing, a portion of the facility could be constructed by October if wemove quickly. In determining who should pay for the facility, it appears that it will be impossible for the parking to be free of charge. A fee of $1 .50 to $2.00 a day would cover 1/2 of the debt service and the operating and maintenance costs. The rest of the debt service would have to come out of tax monies. Vail Associates could make an arrangement for day -skier parking. In regard to a conven- tion center, the first question .is whether, the Town desires such a facility. Questions from the group brought out the points that: 1 . it appears that 1,200. spaces can be justified as the proper number if there are no additions to the lifts and no increase in core densities; 2. Vail Associates owns the current parking lot but the Town has a long-term lease on the property. If the new structure were built on the site, the Town would need to own it in fee simple. If the Forest Service requirement is for free parking, Vail Associates could have spaces in a new structure, but they would have to pay for them in some manner; on a per -ticket basis, for example. A representative of Vail Associ- ates noted that some sort of adjustment would. have to be made; perhaps if • they sold the land to the Town, the. responsibility for parking provision would be transferred. An additional point of note was that in order to accomplish any construction this summer, a complete decision would need to be reached by the end of May. A fourth point was that the actual issue of whether to build the structure would not be on the ballot, but the bonds to be sold would be on the ballot and provide an indirect public vote on the core issue. Approximately 50% of the cost would be funded through. bond issues. The payments and debt service on these bonds would not cause a hardship to the Town (requiring approximately 25% of sales tax revenue a year) unless the Town undertook other major projects. It was suggested that perhaps a larger transportation system would be of more benefit to the entire town; however, the main direction of thought seemed to be that the need for a parking structure could not be alleviated by such a system. Mr. McCall returned the discussion to the idea of a convention center. It was his hope that the possibility of its combination with the parking.. structure project would not be lost. Mr. Minger acknowledged that its inclusion might be logical; however, ,in economic terms, both projects could not be undertaken at once. The undertaking could be perhapsdone in stages over a period of time. As a point of information, Mr. Minger noted that the Town is considering applying to the Department of Transportation for a grant to develop a mode of transporting people from intercept lots to the center of Town. Also, as the Bus Depot is going to be required to move from its present location, a tentative new site has been selected at the east end of the parcel where 40 the Municipal Complex is located. Mr. Gersbach then turned the discussion to three additional items of interest to them; the Vail Institute, the development of additional recrea- tional facilities and the regional economic impact study of Vail. In regard to the Vail Institute, Mr. Minger indicated that his article in the March 17 Vail Trail covered most of the areas the University of Colorado has indicated an interest in. If the community felt other areas should be treated, it is likely they would be amenable to suggestions. The Vail Symposium will probably be keynoted by Stuart Udall. Tentatively, its.focus will be on land -use philosophy and water issues. The Institute will run for eight weeks beginning the last week in June; the Symposium will be the first week in August. The economic impact study has not yet been started. A representative from Vail Associates contributed that everyone is looking for the proper vehicle to conduct the study. It has been suggested that a Regional Planning Com- mission could fulfill this role. Mr. Minger added that this would be a group.. • not to supersede the County but to focus exclusively as an advisory•gr, oup on particular problem areas. In regard to summer activities., Mr. McCall suggested that a horse .opera tion, a trap and skeet shooting facility, a rod and gun club and an outdoor amphitheabr for meetings (rather than theatrical productions) are all desir- able. His group is encouraging programs in hiking, back -packing, etc. But, for other things, they will need -some help. One suggestion has been for hiking trails around the Village. Gerry White, who is also a member of the Recreation District Board, contributed that they are going to stock Gore Creek this summer. He suggested that the VRA do some groundwork on the projects that have been suggested. On the matter of horses, the cooperation of Vail Associates would be needed as they have the Forest Service permit on possible grazing areas. The topic of the type of information service needed was then brought up. The Rotary Club is trying to put up an informational sign, but. that could not take the place of a staffed center. The representatives of the VRA . indicated that they had considered moving both the administrative and informational functions into the same facility.•, perhaps this could be accom- plished in conjunction with a convention center/parking structure. There was some disagreement with this plan; the suggestion 'was that they con tinue to use the present site only with better staffing. This person could. perhaps do secretarial work either for the Town or the VRA while manning the center. Mr. Gersbach suggested that Mr. McCall and Mr. Minger discuss making use of the present facility. Some final points were: 1. the Town will be redoing the play lot this summer, as well as the parking structure if it is decided upon; 2. the Town is concerned about the general problem of pedestrian traffic and has been building pedestrian lanes when streets are widened. As there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:00 p. M. lh • • •