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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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Respectfully submitted,
Dick Clevelan , ayor
9
v
Attest:
kreilds n, Town Clerk
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