HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-07-18 Town Council MinutesMINUTES
VAIL TOWN COUNCIL MEETING
JULY 18, 1989
7:30 P.M.
A regular meeting of the Vail Town Council was held on Tuesday, July 18, 1989, at
7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Vail Municipal Building.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Kent Rose, Mayor
John Slevin, Mayor Pro Tem
Eric Affeldt
Michael Cacioppo
Mery Lapin
Gail Wahrlich-Lowenthal
Tom Steinberg
MEMBERS ABSENT: None
TOWN OFFICIALS PRESENT: Ron Phillips, Town Manager
Larry Eskwith, Town Attorney
The first order of business was a ten year employment anniversary award to Matt
Lindvall, Police Investigator. Ron Phillips briefly reviewed Matt's employment
background with the Town, and presented him with a Town of Vail belt buckle. Ken
Hughey, Chief of Police, thanked Matt for his hard work over the years. Mayor Rose
commented he really appreciated what Matt does, and congratulated him on his length
of service.
The next item was Ordinance No. 13, Series of 1989, second reading, an ordinance
establishing the Booth Creek Local Improvement District. Mayor Rose read the full
title of the ordinance. Larry Eskwith stated this was a second public hearing, and
he would take testimony a second time because the Town was required to change some
figures in the ordinance. He noted the figures are now final. Larry called Stan
Berryman, Director of Public Works/Transportation as a witness, and Stan was sworn
in by Ron Phillips. Stan explained what had transpired since the previous public
hearing June 20, 1989. He testified he had contacted the engineers, looked at the
redesign and slight increase in the project cost, sent out a notice June 30, 1989 to
the property owners to be assessed, published a public notice in the July 7, 1989
issue of the Vail Trail. Ron Phillips noted the Town had received one protest by
Art Kleimer and the three other owners of one piece of property. Stan stated the
shape of the berm had been changed and it was smaller, all the assessed property
owners were abutting or would be benefitted by the improvements. He reviewed the
formula used to assess each property owner's share, and testified the total cost of
the project would be $386,766 minus the Town of Vail's contribution of $20,000, for
a total of $366,766 to be assessed to the District. There was a short discussion
regarding the protests from the first assessment versus the second assessment. Stan
stated there had been five bidders for the job, with L & N Enterprises of Berthoud,
Colorado as low bidder. Jack Acuff asked how the Town would handle the County's
contribution of $20,000, to which Mayor Rose and Ron responded. There was a short
discussion concerning the construction schedule. Stan stated the project could not
be awarded, or a contract signed, for 30 days, which would be August 18, 1989. He
stated the construction work would begin that day, and it looked like a two month
project. Tom Steinberg asked about the timing of taking the area out of the high
hazard designation. Mayor Rose commented the engineers would have to submit the
revised drawings. Larry Eskwith remarked the ordinance provided for it, too. The
engineer and geologist have committed to take the area out of the hazardous
designation if the project was built to their specifications. Pat Baker stated he
lived on Booth Falls Court and was in favor of the project. Mery Lapin commented
the Town would be responsible of maintaining the berm area in the future, and all
costs would be handled by the Town. There was then some discussion regarding
insurance coverage for a project like this. Gail Wahrlich-Lowenthal made a motion
to approve the ordinance, which Mike Cacioppo seconded. A vote was taken and the
motion passed unanimously 7-0.
The third item on the agenda was Ordinance No. 20, Series of 1989, first reading,
•concerning the issuance of local improvement bonds for the Booth Creek Local
Improvement District. The full title was read by Mayor Rose. Larry Eskwith stated
this was a first reading, rather than second reading of Ordinance No. 17, and would
repeal the Ordinance No. 17. The ordinance had been redrafted with correct figures
and second reading would take place in two weeks. Stan Berryman noted he had
scheduled a meeting with bond counsel, Dee Weiser, and another attorney to answer
questions for those interested in forming a new district for the Booth Fall
. Townhomes; the meeting was scheduled for Friday, August 4, 1989, 3:00 p.m., at the
Public Works offices. There was some discussion concerning clarification of the
scheduled meeting, and Mr. Weiser's involvement in living in the district. It was
noted that Mr. Weiser did not live in the district, his parents in-law live in the
next proposed district. Mike Cacioppo made a motion to approve the ordinance, and
Tom Steinberg seconded. Mery Lapin questioned if the bonds had been set up and who
was planning to buy them, to which Ron Phillips and Larry Eskwith responded yes and
explained. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously 7-0.
The following order of business was Ordinance No. 18, Series of 1989, first reading,
concerning cable television communications. Mayor Rose read the full title. Larry
Eskwith stated he had drafted the ordinance and reviewed it with outside counsel and
Heritage, and felt it was a good ordinance. Bill Perkins commented he had become
aware of the varied community activities Heritage had been involved in over the
years, and their good faith in business practices with local businesses. Mike
Cacioppo remarked he agreed with Bill, Heritage had done a fine job, and he was
comfortable with the ordinance and contract. Don Hagan reviewed concerns he had
regarding no automatic renewal, annexed or selected areas, non -controllable issues,
Heritage's liability, gross revenues, late fee interest percentage rate, digital
signals received over telephone lines, and monitoring. He also noted typographical
errors through the ordinance. After much discussion of these items, Eric Affeldt
made a motion to approve the ordinance with the typographical corrections, and Tom
Steinberg seconded. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously 7-0.
The next agenda item was Ordinance No. 19, Series of 1989, first reading, granting a
five year cable television franchise to Heritage Cablevision. The full title was
read by Mayor Rose. Larry Eskwith stated this ordinance would approve the actual
franchise agreement with Heritage; the agreement was for five years; and it had been
reviewed by Council as well as outside legal counsel. Kevin Rice, Senior Vice
President of Heritage, stated he believed Heritage had exceeded all their
commitments and requirements of the Town of Vail agreement in 1981; they had made
the system more dependable; Heritage was a good corporate citizen because they
believed in it; they also believed the new agreement was fair, but not for a long
enough term - they would be required to start negotiations in 25 months for the next
time. He also thanked Larry and Ron for their long hours of work on the agreement,
and thanked the Council for their friendly negotiations. Mery Lapin questioned why
Heritage was interested in this agreement, to which Kevin responded he felt the
agreement was necessary so both sides would know what to expect, and he did not feel
Heritage could do business in the Town and use our rights -of -way without it. Larry
agreed. There was some discussion by Council and Kevin regarding rates and
repercussions of conflict. A motion to approve the ordinance was made by Mike
Cacioppo and seconded by Tom Steinberg. Peter Patten, a resident of Vail, requested
•certain channels and stated a petition had been sent to Kevin regarding this. Kevin
responded he had not seen a petition yet, but they would take it under review. He
stated if there would be a dramatic cost increase, they would have to look at it;
they would not rule it out, but would not give encouragement that a change would
take place before the end of the year. There was then some discussion about making
the special request a pay channel, to which Kevin responded they were not allowed
that option. Mery Lapin asked Kevin to look into it before second reading, if
possible. Mike Cacioppo noted the audio level was not the same on all channels, to
which Kevin replied as far as he knew they had not received a complaint, but they
could correct it. Don Hagan commented he was happy with what Heritage had done over
the years, and that Heritage had been a good corporate resident. He questioned how
much did the five percent franchise fee amount to, to which Kevin replied in 1988,
Heritage had paid $79,553. There was then a brief discussion concerning the
operating cost of the public access channel. A vote was then taken and the motion
passed unanimously 7-0. Ron Phillips remarked that Larry had done a remarkable job
on a complex subject.
The sixth item was Resolution No. 26, Series of 1989, concerning the Arts in Public
Places Program. Kristan Pritz noted the memo Council had been given listed the
changes in the document, and that one Planning and Environmental Commission member,
one Council member, one Design Review Board member, and one Community Development
.staff person had been added to the committee. Gail Wahrlich-Lowenthal felt the
committee should be increased from 7 members to 9, and asked Kristan what the
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expectations were of the committee members, since it was written members could not
miss three meetings in a row. Kristan responded she expected the committee to meet
about once a month. Mayor Rose remarked he felt 3 community members and 4 Town of
Vail members was too many from the Town, and either change the numbers to 5
community members and 2 from the Town, or increase the number to 9. Kristan replied
she had not problem increasing the number. Mike questioned where it had been stated
this would be a temporary board, which Kristan responded in the resolution; through
the resolution Council was making it temporary. Mike commented he was concerned the
community members would be gallery owners. It was decided that gallery owners did
not always agree, so it would be alright. Kristan then reviewed the other major
changes made in the document, then requested approval for the temporary board for
two years, and addressed Mike's concern over costs. She stated there would be one
planner staff time, and secretary time, plus if the Town needed to place the art or
build a base, they may come before Council asking for funds. Mike stated he
appreciated knowing up front of any potential costs. Kristan then briefly reviewed
the members' roles. Eric Affeldt recommended Kristan pick up Insight magazine and
show it to the board; it had good information in it. Gail Wahrlich-Lowenthal had a
question regarding public safety, to which Kristan responded. Peter Patten
commented this was anticlimactic; this was very positive and no public was present;
he also felt the potential for Vail was immense and exactly what the Town needed to
make it a more attractive place for locals and guests. He also remarked Kristan
needed the most credit; she had done an outstanding job on this. He also felt the
Task Force deserved a letter from the Council thanking them for the work done over
the last two years. Mery Lapin made a motion to approve the resolution, which Tom
Steinberg seconded. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously 7-0.
The next order of business was Resolution Nos. 28 - 53, Series of 1989, designating
is
the financial institutions as depositories for Town of Vail funds. After a brief
discussion by Council and Steve Thompson, Mery Lapin made a motion to approve all of
the resolutions. John Slevin seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion
passed unanimously 7-0.
There was no Citizen Participation.
Mery Lapin suggested staff evaluate the purchase of Ginny Mae's, and encouraged
staff to stay away from them. Steve Thompson agreed. There was then some
discussion regarding zero coupons. Steve noted he would have the semi-annual
investment report for the next Council meeting.
Mike Cacioppo remarked this was the first time in the history of this Council that
all of Council had agreed to all items on the agenda 7-0, and he thanked the other
Council members for coming around to his way of thinking.
Mayor Rose remarked there had been an executive session regarding lawsuits started
at the Work Session that afternoon which Council had to interrupt. He asked that
Council continue the executive session now.
•Tom Steinberg announced for those who felt the performing arts would not sell in
Vail, 650 paid sit down seats had been sold last week at the Amphitheater.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:35 p.m.
ATTEST:
P.me
Pamela $randmeyer, own Clerk
Minutes taken by Brenda Chesman
Respectfully submitted,
Kent R. Rose, Mayor
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