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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-04-19 Town Council MinutesVail Town Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, April 19, 2011 6:00 P.M. Vail Town Council Chambers The regular meeting of the Vail Town Council was called to order at approximately 6:00 P.M. by Mayor Dick Cleveland. Members present: Dick Cleveland, Mayor Andy Daly Kerry Donovan Kevin Foley Kim Newbury Margaret Rogers Susie Tjossem Staff members: Stan Zemler, Town Manager Matt Mire, Town Attorney Pam Brandmeyer, Assistant Town Manager The first item on the agenda was Citizen Participation. Nicola Ripley, Director of Horticulture and Research at the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens (BFAG), stated they were interested in being part of the conference center funds discussion as one of the possible projects for use of the funds. She said the BFAG vision fits into the criteria along with the other projects in Ford Park. The BFAG are considered experts in high horticulture gardening and have many investors. They would like to increase their footprint in Ford Park and expand the gardens. Mike Cacioppo said he wanted to know if the Council is going to make a decision on the ballot questions and timing this evening. He said he can't stay for the rest of the meeting tonight and wanted to express his views. He said some of the projects are not appropriate uses for the conference center funds. In his opinion, the most appropriate uses for putting heads in beds is the Vail Golf Clubhouse remodel and the Ford Park project adding another field. He said the other projects do not fit the scenario of getting heads in beds criteria. Tom Ruemmler, part-time resident of Vail for 20 years, explained how the economic crisis evolved and how this affects the Vail community. He cautioned the Council to be aware and cautious about adding taxes to real estate projects. The second item on the agenda was the Consent Agenda. Town Council Meeting Minutes for April 19, 2011 Page 1 On the consent agenda was the approval of the March 1, 2011, meeting minutes and the March 15, 2011, meeting minutes. Daly made a motion to approve these minutes, with a minor correction, and the motion was seconded by Foley. A vote was taken and the motion passed, 7-0. The third item on the agenda was the Town Manager Report. Zemler stated the Council received an invitation to the Eagle County Regional Planning and Advisory Committee meeting. The fourth item on the agenda was an update on the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. Ceil Folz, President of the Vail Valley Foundation (VVF) and Adam Lueck with the Vail Valley Foundation, presented an update to Council on the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, formerly known as the Quiznos Pro Cycling Challenge. Folz stated Vail will host the time trial on August 25, 2011, this is good for television as all the cyclists will be able to be on television. The folks on the local organizing committee are tied to the community with Dwight Henninger, Stan Zemler and Kelli McDonald serving. She said there is an overall budget of $318,000, with the Town of Vail donating $175,000 cash and $25,000 in -kind sponsorship fees. The VVF will be raising the additional funds. She said 120 international teams of athletes will be here. She said announcers will be promoting this pro cycling event in all the other cities that are involved. 20,000 to 30,000 spectators are expected in Vail. The economic impact is expected to be between $3 million and $6 million. She said the time trial will take place between Vail Village and Vail Pass and is the most spectator friendly route. Adam Lueck stated the race starts in front of Solaris and heads out on Gore Creek Drive to Vail Valley Drive onto the Frontage Road and up the original Coors Classic time trial route, into East Vail to Bighorn Road, with a cross under I-70 to the old Highway 6 to the cul-de-sac. The VVF is working with the town staff to establish a parking plan. He said Meadow Drive is requested to be closed from August 24 and 25 and Willow Bridge Road, Gore Creek Drive, Vail Valley Drive, Frontage Road East and Bighorn Road throughout the day on August 25. There will be 25 hours of television for this event with two hours of live television coverage, which is better than the tour stage in California. Vail benefits greatly with the visibility on television and will maximize bringing people in to town. There will be a 30-second commercial to help bring folks to town for the race. This is not just a one day event. There will be three night hotel packages, time trial forerunners, celebrations, celebrities, VIPs, films, animation, with Taste of Vail -type events, concerts and a Coors Classic Reunion. As well, and there will Town Council Meeting Minutes for April 19, 2011 Page 2 be a Friday Citizens Ride which will come from Avon to Vail. There will be a headliner concert and a second citizen ride to Breckenridge. Council was very supportive of the event. Additional questions were asked about bleachers, big screens and transportation around the area to event sites. Folz said every site of this event had to have local representatives and the VVF represents Avon and Vail. She said Avon's contributions were all in -kind services and no cash. Foley asked if they were attracting people to come up on Wednesday night instead of Thursday. Folz said the American Flyer film may be shown with celebrities in attendance. Many aspects of the race still must be completed and discussed. The fifth item on the agenda was the Conference Center Ballot Language and Timing. Judy Camp, Finance Director, asked Council for direction on the ballot language and timing. She stated the last ballot issue for the conference center funds was in 2005. The language stated if the Council chose not to use the funds for a conference center, the town would need to refund the money or submit a question to the voters on how the funds would be used. Rogers asked if the refunding mechanism had to be stated in the ballot language. Mire said it can be stated in a resolution. He gave Council samples of various ways to word the ballot language in a yes and no question. The three samples were: 1) Remodel the Golf Clubhouse with the addition of an events Pavilion. This multi -purpose venue would serve golfers, Nordic users, potential special events and meetings/receptions; 2) Remodel and expansion of Vail Village Welcome Center to support a Heritage Center with space for receptions and other functions and Town -wide signage/information/guest enhancement system. This multi -media welcome center would be high tech yet high touch; triple the square footage of the existing information center with connectivity to the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Museum on the floor below as well as a flexible floor plan for receptions and other functions; 3) Expansion of the fields at Ford Park. An additional field and restroom would be added in Phase I of this Ford Park project on the Upper Bench. This phase does not include parking, the Lower Bench or Ford Amphitheater projects. Staff is going through public outreach to get community input. Rogers said there is only $9.4 million in conference center funds and the projects listed are up to $16 million. Tjossem said voters may be picking projects that may not get the total funding and it's up to Council to pick the projects that are most popular with the community. Rogers said it should be up to the groups bringing forth these projects to add in the maintenance costs of the projects. Ongoing operations and maintenance should be part of the final presentations. Foley said the language should be yes and no questions with specific projects and dollars. Stephen Connolly, resident, said he supports the Vail Clubhouse project. He said it is best to make the ballot simple as possible and only have one project on the ballot. He Town Council Meeting Minutes for April 19, 2011 Page 3 said the Welcome Heritage Center doesn't make sense and the numbers don't support the project. He asked Council to seek public input and get the general public input and not just from the select few. He said the Vail community is capable of great thinking and maybe there are other ideas out there. He said the possibility of making the Ford Amphitheater a year' round venue may have potential. He also said the Council should be ready to back up why a special election is necessary instead of placing it on the November election. Kaye Ferry, Vail resident, said she didn't disagree with anything Steve Connolly said and was concerned that all the folks who have an interest in this will be out of town when this will be discussed in May. She said there is a long way to go before she feels strongly about supporting the projects mentioned and her answer would be no on all the samples given so far. Tjossem said during the public process in the next few weeks, the Council will gather feedback. It will be the Council's job to come up with the most viable two or three projects from the public input. Ferry said there was an original goal for the funds which was to put heads in beds and the heritage and welcome center is not it. Rogers said Kent Logan came to Council and said there is no one project that was a great project. Steve Connolly said part of his comment is they don't know there is a silver bullet. There hasn't been an outreach to the general public. He said to find one idea everyone can wrap their arms around. The town needs to create an outreach program to reach the community. Ferry asked the town attorney, if the town did a poll and got a project that didn't use all the funds, could they keep the balance in an account for future use. Mire stated the town would need to get community approval for the rest of the funds left. Ferry said if the town wants to have a win -win, apply $4.2 million to the Vail Golf Clubhouse and keep the rest of the funds in an account until the next great idea comes along. Mire said we can't violate election law. Further discussion ensued regarding how to structure the language and how to spend the money on projects. Mire stated the town needs to seek authorization to keep the funds anywhere. Jim Lamont, representing the Vail Homeowners Association (VHOA) said government should not be spending just because there is money and it's burning a whole in the pocket. He said there are a lot of folks who don't want the money spent just to spend it. He said they need to discover what are the wants versus the needs and are there other things coming down the road that may be needed in the future. He said the town may want to keep the money for a future use and not spend it if it's not necessary. Town Council Meeting Minutes for April 19, 2011 Page 4 Cleveland said the date can be resolved. Daly said the recommendation was to do a survey of when people would be in town to vote. Rogers said she is against having the August election as the Council and community needs more time to discuss this issue. She said serious consideration needs to be given. They need more input. She doesn't want to spend an additional $12,000 for a special election because there is no compelling reason to have an election in August. Newbury and Cleveland agreed with Rogers. Foley said in 2005, when there was a ballot question and Council seats on the ballot, there was a high turnout. He said they should schedule this for the meeting on June 7, 2011. Tjossem stated if there isn't a compelling reason to go to an August election, move this to a November election and get more feedback from the public. Newbury said no one has come up with a great idea. If the ballot question gets voted down, it gets voted down by the Vail voters. Rogers made a motion to put the ballot question on the November 8, 2011, election; the motion was seconded by Daly. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0. Council stated they will move the public hearings to June. Zemler stated the Council has been advised since 2008 they should go to the voters or face the possibility of losing the funds. Foley said a survey could be developed that residents could then get on the computer and fill out. Staff will develop a new option. Zemler said staff will bring this back the first week in June and see if any other projects come out of the next meeting. A ten minute break taken at 7:52 p.m. The sixth item on the agenda was First reading of Ordinance No. 5, Series of 2011, an ordinance amending Section 14-10-5, Building Materials and Design, Vail Town Code, pursuant to Section 14-1-3, Administration of Standards, for changes to the solar energy device regulations, and setting forth details in regard thereto. (30 min.) Planner Rachel Dimond stated this ordinance had received a recommendation of approval from the PEC. The proposed regulations would remove a provision that requires solar energy devices to be installed at least two feet from eaves and one foot below ridge height. The proposed regulations would allow solar energy devices to be installed to the edge of eaves and one foot above ridge height. Under public comment, Megan Gilman with Active Energies, stated this goes a long way toward installing solar panels in the town. This is not overly restrictive and suggested Council use the Design Review Board (DRB) as the gatekeeper. Jeannine Robbins, an Town Council Meeting Minutes for April 19, 2011 Page 5 East Vail resident, questioned installing panels that obstruct a neighbor's view. She cautioned Council to watch carefully over these installations. Donovan was concerned that with large projects the one foot above ridge height could be problematic and she was not convinced an extra foot would provide the incentive required. She suggested keeping as close to the roof line as possible. Cleveland supported the 2 foot eaves change — but not the 1 foot above the ridge line. Cleveland, Foley and Donovan agreed they were not convinced this would affect a significant number of projects. Dimond stated this should simplify the process for both the applicant and the staff. Ruther noted calculating the roof height was a very complicated process. In a second motion , the first motion withdrawn, Daly moved to approve with additional language that is sensitive to architectural compatibility to the maximum height, and Donovan seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed 6-1, with Cleveland opposed. The seventh item on the agenda was Resolution No. 7, Series of 2011, establishing the 2011 payment of fees in lieu for each employee to be housed and for each square foot for commercial linkage and inclusionary zoning mitigation. Council clarified "the annual fee in lieu amount reflects the gap between a two -person household earning 120% of area median income (AMI) and the previous year's median cost per unit." Rogers moved to approve Resolution No. 7, and the motion was seconded by Newbury. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0. The eighth item on the agenda was first reading of Ordinance No. 11, Series of 2011, an ordinance authorizing a ten foot wide utility easement along the common property line between Parcel A and Parcel B, a re -subdivision of Tract D, a re -subdivision of Vail Das Schone Filing No. 1, a re -subdivision of Parcel A and Parcel B, Town of Vail, County of Eagle, State of Colorado; and setting forth details in regard thereto. Ruther stated the Chamonix property was platted and currently had a 10 foot wide easement; however, by second reading, a correction plat would be submitted. Newbury made a motion to approve on first reading Ordinance No. 11, and the motion was seconded by Daly. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0. The ninth item on the agenda was the 2011 Overlay Project Award. Town Council Meeting Minutes for April 19, 2011 Page 6 Engineer Chad Salli asked Council to authorize the Town Manager to enter into an agreement with B&B Excavating, the lowest bidder, to complete the 2011 Overlay Project in an amount not to exceed $369,655.99. Foley requested thorough notification of the neighborhood for affected residents. Daly made a motion to direct the Town Manager to enter into this agreement with B&B Excavating, and the motion was seconded by Rogers. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0. The tenth item on the agenda was the Matterhorn Bridge Design Award. Salli explained this is a federally funded bridge replacement project. The project was awarded the federal funds due to the structures low sufficiency rating. The bridge has lost 15% of its bearing area due to scour. This then requires an RFQ (Request for Qualifications), to which there were 11 responses. Loris and Associates was the most qualified and is a company operating out of the Boulder/Lafayette area. Rogers asked whether there were any local bidders but was told local bidders had no previous experience with either bridge replacement or working with CDOT. Daly questioned why the design element was so high at 25% of the overall. Salli explained the CDOT average is 15-18% for initial project review, with approvals being supplied by an associate engineer billed out at $137/hour. For the expanded scope of review, including engineering design and construction, the total would be as high as 26% overall, still a good deal under CDOT's average of 32% for this expanded scope of service. Since this is a federal match, the town pays 20% and the federal government comes in at 80%, or $828,000 of a $1,035,000 total project. The project also will be subject to DRB scrutiny. Daly made a motion to approve the Town Manager's entering into a contract with Loris and Associates, and the motion was seconded by Foley. A vote was taken and the motion passed 6-1, Cleveland opposed. Foley made a motion to adjourn, and the motion was seconded by Newbury. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m. Town Council Meeting Minutes for April 19, 2011 Page 7 Respectfully submitted, Dick Clevelan , ayor 9 v Attest: kreilds n, Town Clerk Town Council Meeting Minutes for April 19, 2011 Page 8