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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-01-05 Town Council Minutesti MINUTES VAIL TOWN COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 5, 1988 7:30 P.M. A regular meeting of the Vail Town Council was held on Tuesday, January 5, 1988, at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Vail Municipal Building. MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT: TOWN OFFICIALS PRESENT: Kent Rose, Mayor John Slevin, Mayor Pro Tem Eric Affeldt Mery Lapin Gail Wahrlich-Lowenthal Gordon Pierce Tom Steinberg None Ron Phillips, Town Manager Larry Eskwith, Town Attorney Pam Brandmeyer, Town Clerk The first order of business was a presentation of plaques to Paul Johnston and Hermann Staufer for their service on the Vail Town Council. Mayor Rose noted Hermann served on the Council for six years and that working for the town was always close to Hermann's heart. Hermann thanked Council members, congratulated the newly elected ones and thanked the Town staff for their hard work. Mayor Rose then stated that everyone had been missing Paul, too, and that Paul had been on the Council for seven years. Paul commented that it had been a privilege to serve as Mayor and to be on the Council. The next item was a ten year anniversary award to Mike McGee. Ron Phillips stated that Mike is the Town of Vail Fire Marshall and has worked for the Town as a Firefighter since December of 1977. After mentioning more background information on Mike, Ron congratulated him for ten years of service. Dick Duran then explained how Mike was instrumental on the fire programs and thanked him for all of his hard work over the years. The next item was the approval of the minutes from the December 1 and 15, 1987 meetings. Mayor Rose noted that on the December 1 minutes, first page, second paragraph, that the name was "Steve Simonett", not "Dave Simonett". There was no other discussion on the minutes. Tom Steinberg made a motion to approve the minutes as presented, including the correction noted, which Gordon Pierce seconded. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously 7-0. • The fourth order of business was an appointment to the Local Liquor Licensing Authority Board. Pam Brandmeyer commented that Colleen McCarthy was the only applicant for the position, and that Colleen had served on the Liquor Board during 1984-85 until her residence was deannexed from the Town. There were no comments from the public or Council. Gail Wahrlich-Lowenthal made a motion to appoint Colleen to the Board, and Mery Lapin seconded,. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously 7-0. The next item of business was ordinance No. 1, Series of 1988, first reading, regarding an amendment of the business license fee ordinance. Mayor Rose read the full title of the ordinance. Mayor Rose stated that on Monday, January 4, 1988, the Town Clerk had received petitions requesting a referendum on this issue. Therefore, this ordinance would be set aside until the referendum process had been completed. The sixth order of business was Ordinance No. 2, Series of 1988, first reading, regarding West Vail assessments. Mayor Rose read the title in full. Larry Eskwith stated that before Council took action on this ordinance, he wanted to present witnesses and also let those who object testify. Ron Phillips, Town Manager of the Town of Vail, was sworn. He testified the Town staff had forwarded objections on to the Council, assessment roles were open for inspection by the public, notices had Is been sent to all affected property owners, and that notices were also published in the Vail Trail. Stan Berryman, Director of Public Works and Transportation for the Town of Vail, was sworn in next. He testified he had been involved in the construction of the street improvement district, that construction began May 15, 1987 and construction is completed now, improvements were reconstruction of 2-1/2 miles of roads which were available for use by the property owners, the total cost of the work was $1,020,000 which the Town would pay $495,000 and the residents $525,000, the bonds to be used totaled $525,000, the formula for the assessments was created by the Town of Vail engineer under Stan's supervision and described the formula used, and the assessment formula had been prepared by the Town engineer, Bill Andrews, Next, John Schwartz, an independent field appraiser from Denver, was sworn. John testified as to his education, described how he performs appraisals, that he has been used as an expert witness in appraisals for the State of Colorado and District Courts and had done many appraisals within the Town of Vail, was familiar with the West Vail street improvement district, had seen the area before and after the improvements were made, had evaluated the improvements, and the improvements enhanced the value of the properties equal to or exceeding the amounts assessed. Hud Wirth, representing a group of affected residents, was sworn in next. He testified they approve of the improvements, but disagreed because of some technical questions concerning certain properties; i.e., one lot was shown with the wrong square footage, some properties had parts that could not be used because of the slope grade and therefore should not be assessed, and did not feel that assessing developed property at half of the assessment of undeveloped property was fair. Stan responded to Hud's concerns. Larry stated that staff would look into the possibility of the error in square footage. Stan explained how the figures were decided on, to which John Schwartz was in concurrence. After some discussion by Council, Larry asked for anyone to comment in favor or disfavor to speak their mind. •Byron Brown agreed with Hud Wirth, explained why he was opposed to the district and asked the Council to work on funding it another way and quit using street improvement districts. Mayor Rose agreed with Byron and that it had been discussed at the Work Session today, they were working on to improve it this year, but they had to go through first reading to keep the ball moving. Larry explained why and what's happening with the bonds according to bond counsel. He stated he would have a report for Council at the next Work Session. Dick Peterson asked questions regarding the cost of the work and funding to cover it, to which Stan responded. Dick then stated his dissatisfaction with the results. Stan then agreed to go with Dick sometime the next week to review the area in question. After a short discussion by Council, Eric Affeldt made a motion to approve the ordinance on first reading. John Slevin seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed 6-1, with Mery Lapin opposing. The seventh item was Resolution No. 1, Series of 1988, opposing Homestake II. Larry Eskwith gave background information leading up to this resolution. Ron Phillips stated this resolution would reinforce the letter opposing Homestake II signed by local municipalities. Jim Lamont thanked the Council and staff for moving quickly. Jim then noted information to bring the Council up to date on what was happening presently. He then requested the Council incorporate his documents into the resolution or give reasons why Council does not agree, and requested Council make a resolution to adopt the wording of a letter from the Historical Society to Eagle County Commissioners to safeguard the historical sites in the area. Larry Eskwith stated this resolution gave a complete disapproval of the project which was what he was instructed to do by the people who signed the letter, and suggested the resolution stay the same. Ron Phillips explained the resolution was the same as Jim Lamont's position, but just does not go into detail. After a brief discussion by Council, a motion to approve the resolution was made by Mery Lapin and seconded by Gordon Pierce. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously 7-0. Tom Steinberg then requested a resolution be written incorporating the wording of the letter from the Historical Society. Ron stated that Council could adopt a resolution in general which Larry could draft and get approved later. Tom Steinberg then suggested the Council approve a resolution requesting the Eagle County Commissioners to consider and approve the letter dated October 27, 1987 from the Historical Society. A motion to approve this resolution was made by Tom Steinberg and seconded by John Slevin. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously 7- 0. There was no Citizen Participation. Under the Town Manager's Report, Ron Phillips noted Tom Steinberg and Ron attended a reception for Governor Romer, and they presented the Governor with one of the Town's • VAIL books as a gift from the Council. Tom and Ron thought the Governor and his -2- wife were very appreciative. Ron then commented that bus ridership for December 1987 was down five percent from December 1986 and for the year 1987 totals were down six percent overall. He stated that the shuttle route for 1987 was down four percent and that one factor was that private shuttles increased from 65 two years ago to 127 in 1987. He thought more people were riding on the private shuttles, and that staff would be examining the statistics in the next few months. Ron next mentioned the Vail Community Chorale was requesting a donation from the Town of Vail for 1988. He noted last year the Town donated $500 so the Chorale could purchase material to make their outfits. He stated that the Vail Resort Association is helping the Chorale, too. Gail Wahrlich-Lowenthal commented it was amazing that the members of the Chorale devoted so much time to practicing and performing. Mery Lapin suggested that instead of the Town donating money to them, to send them to the Eagle Valley Community Fund for financial help. Gail Wahrlich-Lowenthal and Gordon Pierce agreed to have the Chorale approach the Community Fund for help, but if it did not work out, to resubmit their request to the Council. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m. . ATTEST: Pam���rayileyer, own Clerk Minutes taken -by Brenda Chesman • • Respectfully submitted, Kent o�ay�� -3-