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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-03-02 Town Council MinutesMINUTES VAIL TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 2, 1993 7:30 P.M. A regular meeting of the Vail Town Council was held on Tuesday, March 2, 1993, in the Council Chambers of the Vail Municipal Building. The meeting was called to order at 7:35 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT: Peggy Osterfoss, Mayor Mery Lapin, Mayor Pro-Tem Jim Gibson Jim Shearer Tom Steinberg Bob Buckley MEMBERS ABSENT: Rob Levine TOWN OFFICIALS PRESENT: Ron Phillips, Town Manager Larry Eskwith, Town Attorney Pam Brandmeyer, Assistant to the Town Manager The first item on the agenda was Citizen Participation. Paul Johnston expressed concerns about street congestion and blocked parking lots and driveways caused in part by truck loading on Hanson Ranch Road in front of his establishment, the Christiania Lodge. He was also concerned about constriction of the street created by snow storage, and felt the whole situation would be further impacted by TOV's streetscape design. He distributed photos depicting the areas of his concern, showing skier drop-off, pedestrians, and citizens parking on the street, and questioned a recent change to the parking regulations there, which he felt caused traffic and noise problems during early morning hours. He urged Council to implement the 1968 agreement regarding Vail Associates, Inc.'s (VA) land (Lots P-3 and J). He indicated the delay of the implementation of that agreement was affecting completion of requirements the Christiania was supposed to meet with regard to landscaping and parking. Mery Lapin said one of the reasons for not going forward with the original plan was that the parties involved were still negotiating the future of that property. Mr. Johnston noted TOV had a $50,000 letter of credit from him as his guarantee to landscape, enhance, and improve both sides of Hanson Ranch Road. He did not feel it was logical or feasible for Council to have him do that under the present circumstances. Again he suggested the 1968 agreement be implemented and that a solution to the rights -of -way, the parking arrangements, and to the final determination of the property ownership be defined. Mr. Johnston suggested it would be appropriate for Council and the planning staff to experience first hand the problems 0 associated with regulating the traffic on the street. Mr. Johnston next shared a photo of a 40' specimen blue spruce which had been scarred by trucks parked on Hanson Ranch Road, and he said he would like a credit for the ruined tree against his $50,000 letter of credit for the improvements he agreed to install as a part of his redevelopment project. There was discussion about the parking lot issue. Mery noted negotiations were continuing and appeared to be getting to a point where there would be some resolution, but said it was difficult to elaborate on a timeframe for the resolution of the issue at this time. Mr. Johnston felt Council should contemplate a one year extension for him without his letter of credit, and he also produced photos of the driveway at an adjacent establishment, Cyrano's, which seemed to depict a violation of their conditional use permit. Mayor Osterfoss asked Kristan Pritz if she was aware of that issue. Kristan was not certain about the agreement there, but said CDD would look into and follow-up on it. Some of the details of TOV's agreement with Mr. Johnston were discussed. A major issue was questions with the parking area. Kristan recalled the neighbors in the area were examining the concept of a parking structure with a park on top of it. Tom Steinberg advised Mr. Johnston to give his pictures to the staff and suggested that the staff arrange to visit the area in question at this time to reevaluate their plans in view of what the current on -site situation. Mayor Osterfoss asked Kristan if there was an important streetscape concept for considering narrowing of the street. Kristan said in order to put the landscaping in, with the required parking, some of the road had to be removed. Tom suggested if the end solution was a park on top of a parking structure, perhaps the street would not need to be narrowed to put in landscaping because the landscaping would be in the park. Mayor Osterfoss advised a site visit to the area was planned, and felt it would be an interesting learning experience for Council and staff to go e out and enforce regulations. Mery noted the Transportation and Parking Task Force was reconvening so this could be another issue for their review. Item No. 2 was the appointment of 3 new members to the Planning and Environmental Commission (PEC). The candidates, interviewed by Council on February 23, 1993, were Bill Anderson, Chuck Crist, Kathy Langenwalter, and Gena Whitten. There were 3 positions available, each term for two years. A ballot was taken, and Mery Lapin moved to appoint Bill Anderson and Kathy Langenwalter to the PEC until February 28, 1995. A majority of votes had not been received for any candidate for the third open position, and staff was directed to re -advertise the position. Tom Steinberg seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 6-0. Item No. 3 was the appointment of 2 new members to the Design Review Board (DRB). The candidates, interviewed by Council on February 23, 1993, were Michael Arnett, Sally Rich Brainerd, Alice Cartwright, Dan Doerge, Florence Steinberg, and Carmen Weiner. There were 2 positions available. Tom Steinberg stepped down due to conflict of interest. A ballot was taken, and Mery Lapin moved to appoint Michael Arnett and Sally Rich Brainerd to the DRB until February 28, 1995. Jim Shearer seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 5-0-1, Tom Steinberg abstaining. Item No. 4 was the appointment of 1 new member to the Housing Authority. The candidates, interviewed by Council on February 23, 1993, were Duane Piper and Dan Doerge. There was 1 position available for a five year term. A ballot was taken, and Tom Steinberg moved to re -appoint Duane Piper to the Housing Authority until January 31, 1995. Bob Buckley seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 6-0. Item No. 5 was appointment of 4 new members to the Art in Public Places Board (AIPP). The candidates, interviewed by Council on February 23, 1993, were Alice Cartwright, Jim Cotter, Dan Doerge, Eddy Doumas, Lolita Higbie, Erich Hill, and Kyle H. Webb. There were 4 positions available. Two terms were for two years and two terms were for three years. A ballot was taken, and Mery Lapin moved to appoint Jim Cotter and Lolita Higbie to the AIPP Board until February 28, 1995, and Alice Cartwright and Erich Hill until February 28, 1996. Jim Gibson seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 6-0. Item No. 6 was a Consent Agenda consisting of two items: A. Approval of the Minutes of the February 2, 1993, and February 16, 1993, Town Council Evening Meetings. B. Ordinance No. 3, Series of 1993, second reading, an ordinance concerning the issuance of Local Improvement Refunding Bonds of the Town of Vail, Colorado for the Booth Creek Local Improvement District; ratifying action heretofore taken in connection therewith; prescribing details in connection with said Bonds and District; prescribing duties of certain Town officials in connection therewith; repealing all ordinances and other action of the Town to the extent inconsistent herewith; and providing other matters relating thereto. Mayor Osterfoss read the titles in full. Tom Steinberg moved to approve the Consent Agenda, with a second from Jim Gibson. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 6-0 Item No. 7 was Ordinance No. 1, Series of 1993, second reading, an ordinance repealing and reenacting Ordinance No. 41, Series of 1991, to provide changes to Area A requirements for SDD No. 4 that concern the development plans for The Waterford and The Cornerstone Development Building Sites; and setting forth details in regard thereto. The applicants were MECM Enterprises and Commercial Federal Savings. Mayor Osterfoss read the title in full. Larry Eskwith explained that it had been assumed that Westhaven Drive was owned by MECM, who was the developer of the Waterford site. However, it appeared there was now some question as to who had title to that road. He advised documents had been discovered in the foreclosure papers which made it uncertain if MECM owned that road. Consequently, 2 it would be impossible for MECM to dedicate the road to TOV if they do not own it. After brief discussion, Mery Lapin moved to table second reading of Ordinance No. 1, Series of 1993, until March 16, 1993. Tom Steinberg seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the 41 motion passed unanimously, 6-0. Item No. 8 was Resolution No. 3, Series of 1993, a resolution approving and adopting the 1993-1997 Town of Vail Transit Development Plan (TDP). Mayor Osterfoss read the title in full. Mike Rose briefly explained the content of the TDP, and advised that it needed to be submitted to the Colorado Department of Transportation by April 15, 1993, in order to compete for $900,000 in grant money the state had available this year. Tom Steinberg moved to approve Resolution No. 3, Series of 1993, with a second from Jim Gibson. Before a vote was taken, Mery Lapin inquired about time schedule and affect if TOV were successful in receiving funds. After brief discussion, a vote was then taken and the motion passed unanimously, 6-0. Item No. 9 was a Town Council appeal of a Planning and Environmental Commission (PEC) decision regarding a Conditional Use Permit for the expansion of the Municipal Building to house the Vail Police Department, located at 75 S. Frontage Road West. Mike Mollica referenced his memo to Council dated March 2, 1993, detailing the February 22, 1993, PEC meeting during which they approved, by a vote of 4-3, a Conditional Use permit request including ten conditions of approval, for the Police Department expansion. Mike noted the first seven conditions were recommendations made by the planning staff and were carried forth by the PEC. Those seven conditions were fully detailed in the Community Development Department's (CDD) memo to the PEC dated February 22, 1993. The PEC added three additional conditions which were detailed in the above referenced March 2, 1993 memo. There was discussion concerning additional landscaping, particularly with regard to snow storage, parking requirements, the heliport, and communication with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) regarding some of their rights -of -way. Mike said the CDD was trying to keep all development proposed for this project on TOV property, including the parking spaces presently on the CDOT right-of-way. He confirmed that CDOT had agreed to allow planting and berming in their right-of-way. Mayor Osterfoss noted there had been discussions with We Recycle and others about possible relocation because Council was in agreement with the PEC's concern that all on -site parking should be maximized. Jim Gibson turned the discussion to Ken Hughey's March 2,1993, memo to Council regarding a cost analysis of the Police Department expansion based on the PEC and CDD recommendations. That memo explained that the DEC's approval of the Conditional Use Permit request for the Police expansion contained ten conditions, most of which were not included in the approved project budget, and detailed the cost of each condition. Jim Gibson felt a number of the costs shown in the memo did not belong in the Police Department expansion budget. Tom Steinberg agreed some of the items, such as crosswalks and sidewalks, were projects which should be done as a matter of course. • Before further discussion of budget issues, Mayor Osterfoss asked if there was Council consensus for the ten conditions approved by the PEC. Tom Steinberg asked if the architectural modifications to the existing building conformed to the new building. He asked why the new building was not automatically conforming to the existing building to avoid expense. Mike Mollica explained there were numerous meetings with the DRB at the PEC work sessions, and it was felt that it would not be appropriate to carry the architectural design of the existing building over to the proposed new expansion. Mayor Osterfoss asked if the architects had a design that would match the existing building. Ken said they did, and, in short, that design just showed the new building looking like the existing building. Ken explained the $103,000 was for architectural modifications to make the existing building conform to the new building. If the new building were built with new architecture, the cost would be $103,000 to redo the exterior of the existing building to match the new building, $27,000 of that amount for modification to the west entry of the existing building. Tom Steinberg pointed out if this building were modified, the Municipal Annex would not match. Jeff Bowen, PEC member and Police Addition Task Force member, said the PEC felt it was important, even with consideration of additional cost, to note that this was, in essence, the creation of a new Town Hall. He felt the buildings should match, and rather than trying to make the new building look like the existing building, the existing building should be modified so the architecture of the new building would be carried through. Dalton Williams, PEC member also felt the two buildings needed to match and needed to be more attractive than the present structure. Mr. Williams said he now supported the project in its entirety, and explained he originally voted against the project because, from a Planning Commissioner's point of view, there was no applicant before the PEC to agree to conditions. Greg Amsden, PEC member, noted the negative votes at the PEC meeting were because of is parking concerns. He felt consideration should be given to satisfying additional on -site parking. He noted the proposed new building had been reduced in cost by $3,000,000 from the original cost projections, and the request for modifications to the existing building would be a major improvement to the project and should be approved. There was brief discussion concerning estimated landscaping fees, which Mr. Williams felt were low, but Mike noted Sherry Dorward, project Landscape Architect, advised the estimate was fairly accurate. Mr. Amsden expressed concern about the reduction of the original budget for this project, in what he gathered was the intent to purchase another parcel in TOV commonly known as the Vail Commons parcel. He felt the conditions being requested for the Police Department expansion at this time should be considered, because he felt they were minor adjustments to the overall benefit of this project. Further, he felt the cost Council had agreed to on the Vail Commons parcel was high, and that he had evidence to that affect. He offered to discuss that issue further with Council. Mayor Osterfoss said she wanted to hear the DRB's response as to whether matching the existing building was appropriate. Kristan Pritz noted the DRB were present at two PEC work sessions where they focused primarily on design issues and did not get into parking • issues. She said the DRB did discuss the design, and the CDD would solicit their response about matching the existing building. Mayor Osterfoss wanted to be certain the DRB had the opportunity to consider extending the design of the existing building. Jim Gibson stated he did not recall a decision made by Council to adhere to the increased budget to accommodate the PEC decisions. Ken Hughey said he would have to review the meeting tapes, but it was his recollection that, should the PEC and DRB add conditions to the project, that those "add-ons" would be above the $3,000,000 budget because Council had been asked what the PD could work with to build the building and what was needed to design the building. As Ken recalled, the $3,000,000 was to build the building, and if the PEC or DRB added anything, then Council would need to decide whether or not to add on to the budget. Mayor Osterfoss felt items that would be highly desirable to have, regardless of whether or not there was an addition to the Municipal Building, could come of out of the Capital Projects budget, if affordable over time. She felt architectural modifications to the existing building which the DRB felt were an important part of this project, were part of the project. She agreed with Jim Gibson that other things on Ken's list - fixing the roof, additional landscaping/north side, signage plan, sidewalks, and fire code compliance - were things that should be done as a matter of course and should not be part of the Police Building expansion budget. Tom Steinberg and Jim Shearer agreed the Police Building expansion budget should not be burdened with these dollars, including the facade changes. Lengthy discussion followed concerning whether to modify existing building to match the expansion as Council examined schematic and elevation drawings of the new building. In response to Kristan's questions, Mayor Osterfoss said perhaps it would be more useful to give the DRB direction as to whether Council wanted the new building to match the existing building. After review and discussion about the facade changes and agreement that there should be continuity for the whole project, Mayor Osterfoss directed the DRB to work with the revised plan, which Ken Hughey presented, without the incremental $103,000, except for examining the new entryway for the existing building. It was determined the new entryway would be paid for from the Capital Projects budget. Jim Gibson then moved to uphold the PEC's decision to approve a Conditional Use Permit for an addition to the Municipal Building to house the Vail Police Department located at 75 South Frontage Road West (at the east end of the existing Municipal Building) with the following exceptions: that the architectural modifications to the existing building be removed and the new building be made to look like the existing building; that the roof improvements, fire code compliance, crosswalks, additional landscaping, and signage plan not be a part of the Police Department expansion budget but would be paid for out of the Capital Projects budget; that the increased structural framing for future additions be eliminated; that the $27,000 for the modified west entryway be approved as an addition to the $3,000,000 for this fl project's budget; and that there would be an owner's representative paid for out of the project's budget. Mery Lapin seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 6-0. Before adjournment, several issues not on the agenda were raised. Caroline Fisher discussed the 1993 Community Survey, noting members of the community had requested better avenues to express their opinions to TOV. She advised a number of avenues had been implemented in the last three years including Speak Up Meetings, full resident surveys, input cards, and the resident input tracking system. However, she felt there was a popular feeling that it was time to take TOV's citizen surveying program to a higher level. She explained Vail Associates, Inc. had hired Nolan Rosall, of Rosall, Remmen & Cares, and had now embarked on an aggressive public opinion surveying process. Caroline said she had been speaking with Mr. Rosall regarding TOV's surveying process, and felt Mr. Rosall should be hired to assist TOV in implementing more effective avenues for both accomplishing the public relations element of the surveying and as a tool for gathering information for budget priorities. The survey approach proposed by Mr. Rosall would include focus group meetings, a one page front and back mail out survey, and a phone survey combining public outreach of a mailing to a full population of 8,000 people, as well as random audio taped and transcribed focus group meetings and phone surveys. The total amount of this entire process would be $10,000. Caroline advised $8,178 had been budgeted, and asked Council to approve the additional expense for the upgraded surveying process. After brief discussion, Tom Steinberg moved to appropriate up to $2,000 out of the Council Contingency budget to proceed with the Rosall study. Mery Lapin seconded the motion. A vote was taken . and the motion passed unanimously, 6-0. Larry Eskwith discussed the discovery, approximately two years ago, of an underground tank at the Old Town Shops site. He advised that when the tank was pulled, groundwater contamination was found, as well as a gasoline spill at the adjacent service station. Mr. Leonard Slosky was hired at that time to study the situation. It was Mr. Slosky's opinion that any contamination of TOV groundwater there had been caused by the spill at the adjacent property. Larry said TOV also thought that mediation that was being done at the adjacent service station would also cleanse the groundwater on TOV property. Larry recommended that Mr. Slosky return at this time to determine whether the mediation on the adjoining property had in fact cleansed the groundwater on TOV's property. Larry said TOV needed to get these tests done in a timely manner, and if the tests showed the groundwater had not be cleansed, Council needed to decide whether or not to litigate the matter. He advised TOV had obtained an extension of the statute of limitations to bring a lawsuit against Chevron, and he felt TOV could protect itself by bringing the action, yet he was concerned about litigating if there was no reason to. He felt the cost of proceeding with a lawsuit against Chevron would very quickly equal the cost of the recommended testing. Larry added he had hired the services of Flo Phillips, environmental specialist, for assistance with potential litigation. After brief discussion, Jim Gibson moved to hire Slosky and Company to test the wells for the sum of $4,278 to be paid from Council Contingency funds. Jim Shearer seconded the motion. Before a vote was taken, Larry said he would speak with Mr. Slosky to determine whether this testing would firmly establish whether the groundwater had been mediated or not. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 6-0. Jim Gibson stated he wanted to discuss the proposed Vail Commons purchase. It was agreed to discuss this item in Executive Session after adjournment of the regular meeting. Mayor Osterfoss noted Helen Fritch, President of the Board of the Vail Alpine Garden Foundation, had written expressing the Foundation's desire to maintain closer communication with Council. Ms. Fritch invited Council to appoint a Council member to act as an advisory member on the Vail Alpine Garden Board, Jim Shearer nominated Bob Buckley to accept that appointment, with a second from Jim Gibson. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, Council agreed to addre letter dated Febztuary 23, 1993, from Dave Cole regarding Smoking in Public Place9 at a'work session after ski season. A letter dated Febru y 22,;1993, had been received from Josef Staufer, President of the Vail Village Inn (VVI), r0ggarding $47,500 VVI was required to pay toward the cost of moving the Ski Museum. Mery Lapin felt there were facts missing from Mr. Staufer's letter, and Jim Gibson suggested that the planning stafl'.assemble all of the facts before discussion at a future work session. W 0 0 There being no further business, Mery Lapin moved that Council adjourn into Executive Session to discuss a land negotiation contract. Jim Gibson seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 6-0. The meeting was adjourned to Executive Session at 9:30 P.M. ATTEST: Holly. McCutcheon, Town Clerk Minutes taken by Dorianne S. Deto C:WINSMAR2.93 Respectfully submitted, Margare A. Osterfoss, Mayor