HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-04-21 Town Council MinutesMINUTES
VAIL TOWN COUNCIL MEETING
APRIL 21, 1992
7,30 P.M.
A regular meeting of the Vail Town Council was held on Tuesday, April 21, 1992, at 7:30 P.M., in the Council
Chambers of the Vail Municipal Building.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Peggy Osterfoss, Mayor
Mery Lapin, Mayor Pro -Tom
Jim Gibson
Jim Shearer
Tom Steinberg
Rob Levine
MEMBERS ABSENT: Bob Buckley
TOWN OFFICIALS PRESENT: Larry Eskwith, Town Attorney
Pam Brandmeyer, Assistant to the Town Manager
Martha Raecker, Town Clerk
The first item on the agenda was Citizen Participation. Tom Fitch, representing the Eagle Valley Humane Society,
gave a brief update on the trapping and leghold setback issue activity at the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW),
He advised CDOW was considering 15-30' setbacks, as opposed to the minimum 50' setback footage temporarily in
place and supported by TOV. Further, he added CDOW was not clear as to whether they wanted to enact a statewide
rule regulating the setback footage, or have individual communities approach them with custom-tailored setback
requirements. Mr. Fitch asked Council to write to CDOW again to reinforce TOV's desire to keep at least the 50'
setback from trails for all leghold trapping in the Vail area. He also asked TOV to send a representative to CDOW's
next meeting on May 14, 1992, in Durango. The final regulation will be read and enacted in Ft. Collins in July, 1992.
Peggy Osterfoss indicated there was Council consensus regarding the Humane Society's requests. She thanked Tom
for the update, and for the time and effort he had invested.
Second on the agenda was a presentation of grants from the Colorado State Forest Service to TOV. Todd
Oppenheimer introduced John Laut, local representative to the State Forester. Mr. Laut first presented a check for
$1,000 far the Trees for Vail Project in response to a grant request prepared by Todd. Mr. Laut indicated those funds
came from the general fund appropriation of the State Legislature. Mr. Laut next presented an additional $500 from
the Colorado State Forest Service in conjunction with the Colorado Parks and Recreation Association Foundation, the
delivery agents in the State of Colorado for the Global Relief Program, an international program of funding for tree
planting programs. Finally, Mr. Laut noted Todd had proposed putting together a brochure to be distributed to the
residents of Vail about how to plant and care for trees in this area, and had submitted a grant request for this project
to the Colorado State Forest's Colorado Tree Coalition. In response to that grant request, Mr. Laut presented a third
check in the amount of $1,096 from the America the Beautiful Program for the creation and distribution of the proposed
planting brochure. Finally, Mr. Laut noted TOV met all criteria to quality for national recognition as a Tree City, and
• encouraged TOV to submit an application by Fall'92 to become a Tree City. Peggy Osterfoss thanked Mr. Laut, Todd,
and members of the community who had organized the Trees for Vail Program. Mery Lapin noted $20,000 had been
collected for that program to date. The program was expected to culminate in a massive planting of 300.400 trees
between Frontage Road and 1-70 by a group of approximately 1,000 volunteers. The planting was scheduled to begin
June 13, 1992.
Item No. 3 was a presentation by TCI Cablevision, parent company of the local cable company, Heritage Cablevision.
Stan MCKinzie, General Manager of Heritage, thanked Council for the time to allow TCI's upper management to
address concerns expressed to him. He said TCI wished to continue open lines of communication, and proceed with
franchise renewal negotiations that would benefit TOV, its residents, and TCI. He introduced the TCI attendees: Scott
Hiigle, TCI Central Division Office V.P., Jim Dagenhardt, Division Engineer, Earl Jones, Division Governmental Affairs
Director, Dave Hashisaki, TCI State of Colorado Office Engineer, Mike Carrillo, Assistant State Manager, Juan Herrera,
State Marketing Coordinator, and Brian Shirk, TCI Colorado State Manager. Mr. Shirk gave a brief slide presentation
which included graphs showing Vail vs. Denver product and housing cost comparisons, and a graph of TCI's Basic
Plus Expanded Basic Package rate comparison for a variety of other Colorado systems. Mr. Shirk proposed, in the
near future, informal negotiations for a new franchise providing a long term commitment on both TCI's and TOV's part.
TCI would commit to rebuilding the system in Vail with a state-of-the-art fiber optics systems to greatly enhance
channel capacity, and provide the ability to offer pay -per -view on multiple channels. He believed fiber optics would
allow them to tier their services. In the meantime, he said they were committed to continuing to reduce charges
Heritage had been charging for additional outlets, totally eliminating the charges within 2-3 years maximum. At the
conclusion of TCI's presentation, Mayor Osterfoss called for Council questions and comments. Tom Steinberg stated
having so many representatives at this presentation sent a negative image of TCI to people who were already
complaining about paying such high rates for service. He advised TCI not to present this type of image in the future,
and suggested one representative would be sufficient. Mery Lapin asked a variety of technical and financial questions.
Mery estimated 98% of TCI's revenue was from cable -related fees, of which TOV received a 5% franchise fee, and
he asked TCI if they would reduce their rates by that 5% if TOV eliminated the 50/o fee. They said they would. Mr.
Hiigle said TCI did not have separate financial statements for Vail, but such a local report could be prepared, and Mery
requested such report showing income and expenses be prepared and sent to Ron Phillips, Mery then estimated the
total system revenue for the Vail area at approximately $4 million, 60% being from TOV alone. Mery commended TCI
on their contributions to local organizations, but estimated less than 1 % of their revenues were going to local non-profit
groups, and encouraged them to do more. Mery also asked if TCI was planning a "lifeline" service for the Vail area,
a service with a greatly reduced rate available for subscribers who only wanted to receive ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN,
ESPN, or whatever could be included. TCI said they were open to that, and in fact, had recently negotiated a franchise
in Sterling with such a service offering a twelve channel package with just the off -air broadcast signals at rate of
$10,75. Jim Gibson expressed concern with the cost of what TCI was delivering to subscribers. He asked to see a
simplified, direct cost breakdown of one home, detailing how a $3 product cost escalated to over $22 per month. Mr.
Hiigle said that detail could be provided. Peggy Osterfoss summarized by indicating TOV's basic concerns were
improved quality of service and increased benefits to members of the community, including cost benefits. She felt a
number of suggestions had been made by Council, and appreciated the fact TCI had attended to them, particularly
the lifeline service and some modification of their tiering system so that it would be possible, perhaps at a subsidy level
on their part, to have more popular stations in the basic expanded $23 service. She also appreciated their good faith
gesture of offering to supply the specific financial information for the Vail area. Further, she requested a detailed
timeline for rebuilding the system, but TCI said they wanted to discuss that as part of renegotiating the franchise.
Item No. 4 was a presentation by Trout Unlimited. Bruce Keep advised the Eagle Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited
had recently completed a survey regarding Gore Creek's stature as an angling and recreation resource, He summed
up the survey results which indicated Gore Creek was on the decline, and detailed the major reasons for the decline
emphasizing use of illegal tackle, lack of active patrolling and regulation enforcement at the site, and pollution from
silver contamination. He noted Gore Creek, running from the influx of Red Sandstone Creek to the confluence of the
Eagle River, received Gold Medal designation in 1978, and he was concerned with the steady decrease of the original
• qualifications which earned the creek that status. He said Trout Unlimited felt current trends needed to be addressed,
and requested TOV's assistance with implementation of a long term public education, assessment, and maintenance
program, as well as Vail police involvement in public relations and enforcement of regulations at Gore Creek. Peggy
Osterfoss said she appreciated Mr. Keep's presentation, and suggested educational efforts be spearheaded by Trout
Unlimited and encouraged self -policing by that group. She added Council would ask staff to meet with the group to
help find agencies more appropriate than Vail police to assist with fishing violation enforcement. The Recreation
District was mentioned as one such agency.
Item No. 5 was a Consent Agenda consisting of three items:
A. Ordinance No. 5, Series of 1992, second reading, an ordinance amending Title 9, Section 5 of the
Vail Municipal Code by the Addition of Chapter 9.54 - Restrictions on the Possession of Glass
Containers.
B, Ordinance No. 7, Series 1992, second reading, an ordinance adopting the Town of Vail Art in Public
Places program policies and guidelines; establishing a board for the process of reviewing proposed
public artwork for the Town of Vail; and setting forth details in regard thereto.
C. Ordinance No. 8, Series 1992, second reading, an ordinance providing for the establishment of
• Special Development District No. 28, Christiania at Vail; adopting a development plan for Special
Development District No. 28 in accordance with Chapter 18.40 of the Vail Municipal Code and setting
forth details in regard thereto. (Applicant: Paul Johnston)
Mayor Osterfoss said there had been a number of requests for additional discussion of item C. Jim Gibson moved
to approve Consent Agenda items A and B, and he read those titles in full. Tom Steinberg seconded the motion. A
vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 6-0.
Discussion of item C followed. Mayor Osterfoss read the title in full. Kristan Pritz detailed additional information from
the applicant regarding location of the trash dumpster. It was confirmed the change in location was made to decrease
the impact on Hanson Ranch Road. Discussion about encroachments and view corridor impacts followed. Mery Lapin
asked if any of the five staff recommendation on page 12 of the Community Development Department's March 23,
1992 memo had been unanswered. Kristan advised the issue of the curb and gutter had not yet been finalized, but
the applicant had agreed to all of the recommendations and all five were covered in the ordinance. Brief discussion
regarding the curb and gutter issue, paver edgers, and drainage specifics followed. Tom Steinberg asked if any
progress had been made on any agreement about the parking issue. Applicant Paul Johnston said they had agreed
to enter into a developer's improvement agreement whereby they would escrow monies for anything not completed
by the time a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (T.C.O.) needed to be issued. Kristan added when the applicant
wanted a T.C.O., the parking area and other site improvements would need to be finished off the way it was on the
present approved plans or they would have to provide a letter of credit. A final Certificate of Occupancy would not be
• issued on the project until the work was finished, Kristan detailed parking requirements in response to additional
questions Mery had about P3 and Lot J. Jim Lamont, representing the East Village Homeowners Association, said
he was still concerned about the setbacks and, in his letter of April 21, 1992 to Town Council, requested the sections
he indicated of TOV's Streetscape Master Plan as it affected the Christiania and P3 sites be taken into consideration.
After brief discussion, Jim Gibson moved to approve Ordinance No. 8, Series of 1992, on second reading, with the
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dumpster modification. Rob LeVine seconded the motion. Before a vote was taken, Tom Steinberg indicated he felt
there should be as much compliance as possible with the Streetscape Master Plan. George Knox expressed support
for the project. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 6-0.
Item No. 6 was Resolution No. 8, Series of 1992, a resolution recognizing "June as Recycling Month" Jim Gibson
moved to approve Resolution No. 8, Series of 1992, with a second from Tom Steinberg, A vote was taken and the
motion passed unanimously, 6-0.
Item No, 7 was an appeal of a Design Review Board (DRB) decision regarding exterior detailing of the George
Caulkins, Jr. residence at 3010 Booth Creek Drive, Lot 4, Block 3, Vail Village 11th Filing. Werner and Gilda Kaplan
were the appellants. Shelly Mello explained the chronology of the project starting with initial July 11, 1990, DRB
approval of this residence which specified the shutters/doors were to be a wash/stain treatment versus opaque, There
was no mention of the detailing being required to be solid in color. The DRB decision was appealed and on August
7, 1990, Council voted 4-3 to approve the residence with a number of conditions, including the shutters be done in a
solid color. On April 1, 1992, the DRB unanimously approved a request by the owner to allow the exterior
shutters/doors to remain as they currently exist with blue and white detailing. The applicant had, in fact, violated their
approval and painted the details blue and white. The DRB found the scale of the building, the landscaping, and the
exterior finishes were compatible with the neighborhood, but adjacent property owners, Werner and Gilda Kaplan were
appealing that decision. Jim Morter of 2985 Booth Creek Drive specifically recalled Council's August 7,1990 approval
stating the shutters were to be done in a solid color. Mr. Morter said his primary concern with this issue was the
process, and he felt the owners should be required to abide by the original ruling made. Werner Kaplan showed
Council recent photos of the shutters and distributed a petition signed by Mr. Morter, the Nystrom's, and the Liston's,
neighborhood residents opposed to the blue and white striped shutters. Mr. Kaplan also reminded Council of their
August 7, 1990 vote to approve the residence with the condition the shutters be done in a solid color, added no
evidence of hardship existed at the Caulkin's residence, and encouraged Council to uphold the decision. Nancy
• Nystrom of 3070 Booth Creek Drive said she had gone to added expense and time building her home in order to abide
by all rules she was required to follow, and had a problem now observing another resident just doing what they wanted.
She felt consideration for one's neighbors was a key, as well as following the process of regulation. George Caulkins,
spokesperson for George Caulkins, Jr., referred to the First Amendment of the Constitution, and spoke about artistic
freedom. He indicated the shutters and doors were now painted in traditional Tyrolean style, and had been painted
that way to preserve the architectural integrity of that style. He added he had offered to paint the shutters on the side
facing the Kaplan residence solid, but Mr. Kaplan had refused that offer. Mr. Kaplan explained he refused the offer
because he felt the original ruling should be enforced. After additional discussion, Jim Gibson moved to overturn the
Design Review Board's decision of April 1, 1992. Mery Lapin seconded the motion. Before a vote was taken, Jim
Shearer noted he appreciated Tyrolean architecture, but felt the rules needed to be followed by all. Mark Nachtigal,
representing the applicant, said he told the contractor to paint the shutters after the DRB had approved the striping.
He added that the painting had been the result of misunderstanding and had not been a deliberate action against the
ruling. A vote was then taken, and the motion to overturn the DRB's decision passed, 4-2, Peggy Osterfoss and Tom
Steinberg opposed.
Item No. 8 was the reappointment of Mark Ristow to serve a five year term on the Town of Vail Housing Authority,
Mery Lapin moved to reappointment Mark Ristow to serve a five year term on the Town of Vail Housing Authority, with
a second from Jim Gibson. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 6-0.
There being no further business, a motion to adjourn the meeting was made and passed unanimously. The meeting
is was adjourned at 10:45 p.m.
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ATTEST:
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Martha t. Raecker, Town Clerk
Minites taken by Dorianne S. Deto
CANAPn21.92
Respectfully submitted,
Margaret A. Qsterfoss, Mayor
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