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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-11-01 Town Council MinutesVail Town Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, November 1, 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 Kerry Donovan Kevin Foley Kim Newbury Susie Tjossem Andy Daly Margaret Rogers Staff members: Stan Zemler, Town Manager Matt Mire, Town Attorney Pam Brandmeyer, Assistant Town Manager The first item on the agenda was Citizen Participation. Rich Ten Braak with the Vail Chamber and Business Association (VCBA) thanked the candidates and Council members for their attendance at the Candidate Forum they hosted on October 20, 2011. He also stated the orientation class for businesses to receive member merchant ski passes will be held on November 3rd JK Perry, with Public Access Channel 5, gave a brief update on the new video system for the Council Chambers. He said the system will go "live" at the November 15, 2011, council meeting. The new system has four cameras attached and will have the capability to switch the audio between speakers and identify who is speaking. The input for the projection screen for power point presentations has also been added as well as a streaming encoder. Bob Armour, former Mayor and resident, thanked the Council candidates who were running again. He thanked Kim Newbury for her eight years of service and Dick Cleveland for his years of service to the Vail community. The second item on the agenda was the Town Manager Report. Zemler said there were two items under the town manager's report. One was the question regarding Council health insurance. He said the Council has had access to the town's health plan since 2000. Unless he hears otherwise, as of January 1, 2012, they will provide Council members with the same plan as the town staff. This will be an administrative change Vail Town Council Minutes of November 1, 2011 Page 1 and will be effective for all Council members. He stated since 2000, this has been done administratively. Zemler expressed his thanks to Cleveland and Newbury for all their years of service and friendship. Mark Miller, Fire Chief, gave a brief review of the hazmat spill on Vail Pass Sunday evening. He said there was a very significant risk as the contents were very flammable. All fifteen drums split and spilled. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), Vail Fire Fighters and the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District (ERWSD) responded to the scene. The west bound side of I-70 was closed for seven hours. He said an after -action report was done on Monday and there were deficits. He said a Reverse 911 alert went out that was erroneous. It was issued by a state hazmat unit and the message was supposed to say there could be issues with the water system. This was misconstrued as there were issues with the drinking water in Vail and led to lots of phone calls from restaurants and businesses. It took another hour or so to retract the call. As of today, a remediation company has begun work in the median and will go down 10 inches or so into the soil. The work being done is north of the interstate. The hillside will be phase three of the cleanup. ERWSD is continuing to monitor the water supply. As of today there is no problem with the drinking water. Tjossem asked, since there was no one working on the weekend, if there is a way to flash this information on the main Vail website to get the community informed. Miller said there wasn't great communication between CDOT and Vail. Newbury asked who was paying for the funding of the removal. Miller said the trucking company is responsible for all the remediation and the cost of the town services. Donovan said there was never a retraction text on water quality safety and wanted to see if there was one coming out. The EPN (reverse 911 system) and the Eagle County (EC) alert system are two different systems. Rogers said she went to the website and the reverse 911 was not easy to sign on to. Miller said the EPN is not a sign up system. It's for home phone service only and does not include cell phones. Miller thanked Cleveland and Newbury for their service and support, in particular for the West Vail Fire Station. Diane Johnson (ERWSD) said the EPN system is fantastic, loves it, trusts it and uses it. She said the dispatch center was a wonderful help. People's response in trusting the system is great. There is a difference between source water and the drinking water system. She stated there are ways to shut off the water system to protect the drinking water. Jim Lamont, representing the Vail Homeowners Association (VHA), asked the fire chief if there was an announcement about Highway 24 issues. Lamont stated the EC alert doesn't pick up some of the gap areas between Minturn, Vail and Avon. He said that still needs work and it was a horror story coming into Minturn and on Highway 24 due to the highway construction and Halloween trick or treaters everywhere. He said there was a lot of frustration as there were many vehicles detoured through Minturn. There Vail Town Council Minutes of November 1, 2011 Page 2 is a need for cell phone service in this area for emergencies. Newbury said the information needs to be coordinated and available in this area. Rayla Kundolf, town resident, said she was coming up from Denver, and all signs on the highway were up, the EC alerts were working and the cell phone carrier service is dependent on what information you receive. She said the driver of the accident should be commended for not having any injuries in this accident. The third item on the agenda was Resolution No. 21, Series of 2011; a resolution authorizing the town manager to sign a contractual agreement for phase 2, predevelopment services with Triumph Development, L.L.C., to further determine the feasibility of the redevelopment project and create a conceptual development program for the redevelopment of the Town of Vail municipal office site, located at 75 South Frontage Road, in cooperation with the Vail Valley Medical Center, the Steadman Clinic, and the Steadman-Philippon Research Institute; and setting forth details in regard thereto. Stan Zemler, Town Manager, stated that phase one had been completed. An initial feasibility study was done and it was favorable regarding redevelopment of the municipal site for this project. The next phase will be more detailed; with drilling tests, soil testing, geo-tech testing and a conceptual development program for this site. The town would share one-third of the cost of this phase or $100,000, of the total cost of phase 2 which is $300,000. Daly made a motion to approve Resolution 21, authorizing the town manager to sign a contractual agreement for Phase 2, predevelopment services with Triumph Development, L.L.C., to further determine the feasibility of the redevelopment project and to create a conceptual development program for the redevelopment of the Town of Vail municipal office site. The motion was seconded by Donovan. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0. The fourth item on the agenda was Resolution No. 22, Series of 2011; a resolution approving a lease agreement between the Town of Vail and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) regarding the parking along the non -travel lanes of the Interstate 70 Frontage Roads located within the limits of the town; and setting forth details in regard thereto. Greg Hall said the Council had additional questions regarding the lease at the last council meeting. He has since contacted CDOT and Vail Resorts Inc. (VRI). VRI is agreeable to paying the lease payment for 2012. He said similar improvements would be done on the South Frontage Road from the helicopter pad and west to the curve near the Vail Resorts maintenance yard as well as from the West Vail roundabout to Safeway on the North Frontage Road with guard rails. Vail Town Council Minutes of November 1, 2011 Page 3 Cleveland asked how long the CDOT lease will be. Hall said it is for one year. He stated CDOT is holding the town's feet to the fire to keep improving the Frontage Road. Daly made a motion to approve Resolution No. 22, approving the lease agreement between the Town of Vail and CDOT regarding the parking along the non -travel lanes of the Interstate 70 Frontage Roads located within the limits of the town. The motion was seconded by Donovan. A vote was taken and the motion passed, 7-0. Zemler thanked Hall for all the hard work in getting this done. The fifth item on the agenda was the authorization to continue negotiations with Vail Timber Ridge LLC for the redevelopment of a portion of the Timber Ridge housing project. Stan Zemler said they would like to keep the conversation going between Vail Timber Ridge LLC and the town. HUD has requested this be a smaller project so they have to formulate another plan to present to HUD. Staff is asking for permission to continue the conversation for 90 days. The predevelopment agreement expires November 11, 2011. Zemler said Timber Ridge is almost full with short term and long term leases. Judy Camp confirmed Timber Ridge is 93% leased, with 69 year leases and 19 short term leases. This also includes 118 master leases from VRI. Daly complemented the staff on getting Timber Ridge leased. Zemler said they also needed to acknowledge Nina Timm and Quorum. The sixth item on the agenda was first reading of Ordinance No. 22, Series of 2011, an ordinance amending Title 11, Sign Regulations, Vail Town Code, pursuant to Section 11- 3-3, Prescribed Regulations Amendment, Vail Town Code, to establish outdoor ski staging signage, and Title 12, Zoning Regulations, Vail Town Code, pursuant to Section 12-3-7, Amendment, Vail Town Code, to establish outdoor ski staging as an accessory use in the Commercial Core 1 (CCI), Lionshead Mixed Use 1 (LMU1), Ski Base Recreation (SBR) and Ski Base Recreation 2 (SBR2) Districts and to establish basket storage as an accessory use in the CC1, CC2, CC3, LMU1, LMU2, SBR and SBR2 Districts, and setting forth details in regard thereto. Rachel Friede, Planner, asked Council if they wanted her to go through the power point presentation. Rogers said to show the power point as there is a lot of public interest in this item. Friede reviewed the presentation for Council and the public. She said the number one goal is to improve customer service, as well as maintain pedestrian circulation and to Vail Town Council Minutes of November 1, 2011 Page 4 creating regulations that are clear, concise and fair. There is a need to have clear expectations, outcomes and outdoor activities that will not negatively impact walkways. She said there is a need for clear direction for enforcement of the rules and regulations. They must be enforceable for code enforcement officials. Rogers asked why this couldn't be staff approved instead of going to Design Review Board (DRB) first. Rogers doesn't think this should go to DRB and could be staff approved unless there are other issues. She doesn't know why they need to come back year after year. Newbury asked how this applies to Four Seasons setting up for ski service and the American Ski Exchange with "for sale" skis. Friede said there are regulations for outdoor display of goods but this type of service is for rental skis and the skis would be rolled back into the business at night and would apply just to rental ski equipment. Daly asked the difference between a hotel and lodge who have outdoor ski storage and a commercial ski storage space. Friede said Four Seasons has storage outside but the rental business is similar where skis are placed out and then brought back into the business at night. This memorandum applies equally to all businesses. Tjossem asked if this addresses how many skis can be out at one time, as aesthetics are a concern. She asked how this would be regulated. Friede said this would be business specific. She stated most businesses said they don't need a lot of space. There is a need to regulate the times at the end of the day and early in the morning at the beginning of the day. Possibly 6:00 a.m. would be appropriate for the beginning time of the morning hours of operation. She said the clutter of the equipment outside at the end of the ski day, with some stores having equipment out until 10 p.m. doesn't fit if the town is trying to balance service and aesthetics. Tjossem agreed with Rogers that this is late in the process just before ski season. Making people jump through hoops is not fair. She said this should be staff reviewed for the first year instead of going to DRB. Donovan asked if it was correct to assume there could be twenty five tents and racks at each base of the mountain. Friede said yes. Tjossem said one of the special events matched the tents and it looked tidy and organized. Friede said Jeff Babb, from Vail Resorts, Inc. (VRI), could address some of these issues. Jeff Babb, with VRI, thanked staff for their work on this issue. He seconded the idea of moving forward on this in the spring. He said going through DRB is a lengthy process. He said there are boundaries, and the prime spaces are primarily owned by VRI and they have their own operations. He said other businesses would have to get permission to be in the ski yard. As for hours of operation, from a commercial aspect, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. is adequate to serve guests. He said 7 a.m. is needed for first tracks at 7:30 a.m. Two primary reasons for signage and for tents: they are there when you want business Vail Town Council Minutes of November 1, 2011 Page 5 and gone when you are closed and secondly, it gives someplace for employees and electronic equipment to have coverage in inclement weather. He said the town needs to be cautious having everything look the same as it can be confusing for the guests. Greg Spencer, who helps run The Sebastian at Vail, thanked Rachel for attempting to 'herd the cats' in this process. He said once the Sebastian made connectivity with the mountain, they had significant improvement in their service. He said there is a need for this service to enhance the guest experience. He feels 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. works. He said everyone involved needs to keep the perspective on this topic as the hotel could have 200 hotel rooms full and have 600 to 700 skis to work out versus a shop doing 60-70 pairs of skis. He wants more than a one year application and something less onerous. Cleveland asked about the necessity of being outdoors. Spencer said it's mainly to move equipment efficiently and to move people in and out of a small space safely and effectively. Tom Neyens said his concern is for the small shop. In the past, his shop has been able to have a rack outside of the shop and place the skis in a rack. Last year he had one large rack and this year two smaller racks. He said the 48 inch rack is on wheels and they can put it in a small corner of the shop. He says this issue comes down to space constraints. It becomes burdensome to customers and staff in a small space. With the new ordinance, businesses can't block window space. This is a concern as many shops wouldn't be able to take advantage of this ordinance. He said overnight storage has been part of his shop amenities for his clients. He is concerned about rental ski storage. He asked how do you differentiate overnight storage and ski rental storage. He said 99% of his 465 square feet is for ski rentals. Rogers said Council is not ready to pass this ordinance. Tjossem asked if we were taking away guest services by waiting. Friede said it was vague. There is a difference between retail and non retail space so staff could specify retail versus rental spaces. Tjossem said can they work through the year to get more clarity on this issue. Businesses can still go through staff approval instead of through DRB. Friede said they could work through this. Daly asked Neyens about the operating times from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Neyens said it works but 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. works better for him. Daly asked if there would be staff full time outside his shop. Neyens said full time isn't necessary and places a burden on small shops. He wants it to be staffed during the busy times only and when equipment is in the racks. Further discussion ensued. Tjossem asked what the current regulations stated. Friede said currently this issue is unclear in the code. Staff wants to allow this to happen this ski season but there need to be some regulations in place to make this happen and an Vail Town Council Minutes of November 1, 2011 Page 6 ordinance needs to be passed. Cleveland said this was a recommendation by the Planning and Environmental Commission (PEC). Zemler said it's worth going through each section and doing something now. Mike Cacioppo asked who was complaining about this issue. Donovan said there have been complaints from an aesthetics standpoint. There are too many racks out in the public right of way and currently, rental shops were not allowed to do this. Tommy said there was a disparity between businesses. Tom Siparo, owner of Double Diamond, wants to see the hours extended as most people won't be able to eat dinner and would be rushed out of town. The town should be trying to create longer lingering periods for guests. Tjossem said this ordinance wasn't to close shops but just a timeframe to move equipment inside. Siparo is concerned about the possibility of illegal first floor storage becoming rampant. The aesthetics of a ski storage facility would be challenging, and if allowed to have ski storage, how could the businesses not block windows and entryways, clutter public ways and add storage to small spaces. He is against using public space for expanding business space. Tjossem asked if he had any recommendations. He said the farther you keep it away from retail spaces the better. Siparo said centering this in the ski yard would be better. Tjossem said Deer Valley has free storage for all guests. She feels that is what Vail should aspire to as well. Siparo asked how badly we want to impede the aesthetic beauty of Vail. Cacioppo asked if he will still be able to put skis at Pepi's to hear Rod Powell play. Cleveland said those were ski racks. This topic is about overnight ski storage. Tjossem said overnight ski storage is messy in the morning and in the late afternoon. Neyens said he doesn't want a junky look. He has nice looking racks and he needs racks for his customer base. Chris Crammer, with the Village Ski Haus, asked for the definition of retail and rental ski fronts. He said this is late in the game as ski season is almost here. People want to cruise through town and they want longer hours for the shop. He would like to see this issue move slowly forward. He can have 900 skis move through in one day. He can't serve Sonnenalp guests if racks are moved inside too early. Putting skis and bikes outside this summer made a difference in his business. Jim Lamont, VHA, said there are people who think the town is headed in a tacky direction. He said once you pass an ordinance, you're stuck with it. He wants Council and staff to spend more time to think about this ordinance. Vail Town Council Minutes of November 1, 2011 Page 7 Greg Spenser with The Sebastian said execution is the key. The challenge is to find the fine line of an acceptable number of skis, racks, aesthetics and balance. Kathy Langenwalter said she heard PEC was concerned about tackiness and the need. The PEC wants this issue to go through DRB and have it be reviewed in three years. She said some could go through staff approval and some could go through DRB. Siparo, with Double Diamond, said the rental shop fee normally includes ski storage. Newbury said she is not inclined to disregard the PEC recommendation. Daly said there aren't many changes to be done. Daly is going to recommend no approval from DRB until later in the season. Rogers wants staff to revise it and come back. Further discussion ensued. Daly moved to table Ordinance No. 22, until the November 15th meeting, and the motion was seconded by Foley. A vote was taken and the motion passed, 5-2, with Newbury and Cleveland opposed. The seventh item on the agenda was second reading of Ordinance No. 21, Series of 2011, the Town Manager's budget for 2012. Discussion ensued on various line items in the Town Manager budget, along with other line items that need to be budgeted. Jim Lamont, representing the VHA, said he went through budget documents last year and at that time 2012 had a projected shortfall. He wondered how that shortfall had been negotiated. Halloran said in 2009 there were a lot of cuts with $2.1 million saved annually resulting in a balanced five-year budget. Zemler said Council had asked for a five year balanced budget. Cleveland said the budget is balanced. Daly said the charter said 50% is supposed to be for operations and it's currently 60%. He said this is self inflicted as the town has made streetscape and other improvements. Rogers made a motion to approve second reading of Ordinance No. 21, and the motion was seconded by Foley. Donovan said she thought funding specifically for the Pioneer Days for the 50th Anniversary was separate. Tjossem said the $250,000 for the 501h should have Council or town oversight in how the $250,000 will be spent. She said $30,000 out of the $250,000 was for Pioneer Weekend. Halloran said that was correct and the $30,000 is separate for Pioneer Days. Zemler said this event starts to come together, staff will come back with a more detailed list in the future. Vail Town Council Minutes of November 1, 2011 Page 8 Zemler said since the CDOT lease has been signed off, he has begun discussions with VRI but wants the $630,000 allocated to CDOT budgeted while the discussions are ongoing. Daly said he is ok with amending his motion to include the $630,000, and Foley amended his second. A vote was taken and the motion passed, 6-1. Newbury was opposed as she doesn't think Council should be voting to give money to special interests while departments held expenses flat and making employees pay more for their benefits. The eighth item on the agenda was second reading of Ordinance No. 23, Series of 2011, an ordinance extending, until November 19, 2012, amendments to Chapter 11-7, Other Signs, Sign Regulations, Vail Town Code, to establish regulations for informational and directional signs for public parking on private property and allowing the Administrator to approve said signs subject to review, and setting forth details in regard thereto. Newbury made a motion to approve on second reading, Ordinance No. 23, Series of 2011, and the motion was seconded by Rogers. A vote was taken and the motion passed, 6-1, Foley opposed. Cleveland said in the last four years the Council has been criticized for micro -managing. He said it's incredible as to what has been accomplished during this time. The big developments have been finished and there are no vacant holes in the ground. They have cut the budget and maintained a balanced budget and improved the reserves while having improved guest services. The town is an example for the entire industry. VRI completed First Chair and the Arrabelle. After 25 years, the West Vail Fire Station was finally completed, the Lionshead Transit Center has been completed, the Welcome Center has been completed and Donovan Pavilion was completed in 2003-2004. The town is on the cusp of solving and using conference center funds. The town is also in discussion with the hospital to redevelop the municipal site that will benefit the community for 40 years or more. It will help keep the hospital successful and growing and will be a huge accomplishment. And from the town side of the project, the town wants to see a new town hall and is in the beginning stages of accomplishing that. The town would have to have done this in the future anyway. The town has a much better project with partners. And this is as close as we have ever been with redeveloping Timber Ridge. This is the one stone hanging over the town's head. In 2012, the town will be completely debt free except for Timber Ridge. This community should be proud of the Council's and town's accomplishments. He said this has been an incredible experience for him. The ninth item on the agenda was adjournment. Vail Town Council Minutes of November 1, 2011 Page 9 As there was no further business, Foley made a motion to adjourn and the motion was seconded by Newbury. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0. Daly thanked Cleveland and Newbury for their years of service. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Attes �) 9(ele Donaldson, Town Clerk Respectfully submitted, Dick Cleveland, �o�•N•OF.V� SEAL Vail Town Council Minutes of November 1, 2011 Page 10