HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-08-07 Town Council MinutesVail Town Council Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
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 Andy Daly.
Members present: Andy Daly, Mayor
Kerry Donovan
Kevin Foley
Ludwig Kurz
Greg Moffet
Margaret Rogers
Susie Tjossem
Staff members: Stan Zemler, Town Manager
Matt Mire, Town Attorney
Pam Brandmeyer, Assistant Town Manager
Lorelei Donaldson, Town Clerk
The first item on the agenda was the recognition and thank you to Robert "Bob" McKown for his
multiple years of combined service on the Commission on Special Events (CSE) and on the
Local Licensing Authority (LLA), two volunteer boards for the Town of Vail.
Foley thanked Bob McKown for his time, commitment and volunteer service on both boards
over the years. McKown served on the town's LLA from August of 2005 through June of 2012
and was chairman of the liquor board for the last four years. McKown also served on the CSE
from January of 2008 through December of 2011 and was the vice chair of the CSE for the last
two years.
McKown thanked the Council for the recognition.
The second item on the agenda was Citizen Participation. Mery Lapin stated he lives on West
Meadow Drive adjacent to the Vail Valley Medical Center (VVMC). He said he attended the
work session to get a sense of what is happening regarding the hospital remodel. He is
concerned about a potential situation that could occur between the neighborhood and WMC,
regarding the hospital campus and medical office building (MOB). He said the delivery, traffic
and helipad are the three main areas of concern. He believes the helipad placement will be the
most fractious. Where the helipad will be located may be unsolvable. The hospital will want it
as close to the emergency room as possible and the neighbors will want it as far from their
residential area as possible. One suggested compromise would be to have the helipad on top
of the new medical office building which will be built where the helipad is currently. He said he
has sent two emails to Council regarding these issues. He suggested that the neighbors, the
town and the WMC staff sit down to solve all the issues. If the MOB is built and the town
offices get built, they may be removing from the discussions a good compromise of where the
helipad could be placed. One of the other problems was that this past year, the town
authorized the helicopters to come and go every day, twice a day, this past winter. This created
Town Council Meeting Minutes of August 7, 2012 Page 1
an atmosphere of concern where the neighbors didn't know what was going on. There was no
planning or notification process. He researched this issue and said there were only 30 times
when the helicopter was required for flight care over the winter. Of those 30 times, only two to
three times were times of sensitive life saving issues. It's important before moving forward to
decide where the helipad should go. Other issues will then fall into place.
Art Abplanalp, an attorney representing six families and other interested parties that live
adjacent to the Vail Golf Course 18t' hole, said his role was to facilitate a resolution. He said
there was a meeting on July 24h with town staff and the neighborhood property owners. He
said the meeting and effort was appreciated by the neighbors. He said at the meeting, staff
heard the determination of the adjacent property owners regarding their opposition to changing
or restructuring the 18'h hole. They also heard consensus about the traffic concerns and
opposition of additional uses at the clubhouse for a multi -use community center. The owners
want to keep the clubhouse within its current footprint and keep the 181h hole where it is
currently. He stated the town is going to lose money on this project. The total estimated cost of
the project is $7.4 million without the consideration of contingencies or safety measures. The
most recent budget shows the town intended to drain the repair budget for 2013 and 2014 to
generate $1.675 million to cover the shortfall. He said as far as the perceived safety hazard, in
the past 5 years, there was one incident of a person being hit on the 18t' hole. There were
three other incidents that occurred at the 6th and 13t' hole, not the 18t' hole. The town should
not use additional funds for changing the safety measures.
Dale Nelson introduced himself as a candidate for Eagle County Commissioner in November's
election. He recognizes that Vail is the economic driver for the county. When he is elected, he
wants to work with the town to develop additional ways to collaborate between the town and the
county.
Jonathan Levine, owner of Hummer's of Vail, said he wants to clarify some confusion that
occurred at the last meeting. He said he had a video of the last meeting where Daly told Daril
Cinquanta to set a meeting agenda item to discuss Levine's issue in further detail. He wants to
know why Cinquanta was told he couldn't get on the agenda as a separate item. Daly said it
takes four or more Council members to get it on as an agenda item.
Levine said he wants the Council to discuss issues he had with Chief Henninger. Zemler said
he is responsible for town staff and it would be not be appropriate for Council to address
employee issues. Zemler told Levine he would give him one half hour to address staff issues
and to contact him to set up an appointment to discuss. Daly also stated Council does not
handle personnel matters.
Levine said he would contact Zemler to make an appointment to discuss at a later date.
The third item on the agenda was the Consent Agenda. On the consent agenda was
1) The July 3 and 17, 2012 meeting minutes. This item was postponed to the August 21
meeting as the meeting minutes did not get attached to the agenda prior to the meeting; and
2) Bighorn Creek Utility Crossing Bid Award;
Chad Salli said the new box culvert is designed to meet all the standards;
Town Council Meeting Minutes of August 7, 2012 Page 2
3) A request to proceed through the process with a lease for Sweet Basil/Mountain Standard.
Donovan said she had a hard time understanding the exterior plan for this expansion outside.
Ruther said the area to be expanded for an outdoor dining deck started from the east where
Blu's deck is today, to include the area directly west of the deck where Gore Creek Fly
Fisherman's space used to be. It would not extend out into the path but would run lengthwise in
front of the old Gore Creek Fly Fisherman space which will now be part of Sweet Basil/Mountain
Standard's space. Donovan said she was told the drainage in that area goes directly into the
creek. Ruther said the down spouts of the roof from that building go into the creek so there is
positive drainage away from the building to the grass area. The drainage from the businesses
does not go into the creek.
4) Approval of Resolution No. 26, Series of 2012, an Eagle River Water and Sanitation District
(ERWSD) Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA).
Moffet made a motion to approve items two, three and four of the consent agenda and the
motion was seconded by Foley. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
The fourth item on the agenda was the Town Manager Report. There were two items under the
town manager report: a Fire Department wild land fire restriction update and an Eagle River
Water & Sanitation District water supply and drought update.
Fire Chief Mark Miller gave an update on the wild land fire restrictions. He said all fire
restrictions have been lifted in Vail and the White River National Forest at this time. The Vail
Fire Department has sent two crews to Moffat County to fires in that area. In addition, people
have asked them what Vail has learned about the other fires in Colorado. He said the Waldo
fire near Colorado Springs has not completed their reports as yet. However, the most
significant issues were notifications to people and timely evacuations in the area. He said there
were system overloads and there was no testing of the system prior to the fires. One of the
things that came out is that folks need and desire lots of information of what is happening and
wanted to be updated often on what was going on. The "wait and see" attitude of many people
was an issue with last minute evacuations and lots of mass chaos. He said nature has the
power and there is very little to do as far as preparedness goes. He said horizontal vortices
were an issue that is out of anyone's control.
The Vail and Eagle County fire departments have done a good job in getting the word out. They
had more people sign up for the Eagle County (EC) alert system right after the Eby Creek fire.
They also had a 30% call back failure on the reverse 911 system due to people not being home
or not picking up. They have done a lot to get the word out via radio, newspaper, emails,
meetings, etc. The partnerships that have developed throughout this season has been great as
they have many partnerships now because of this season: Vail Resorts Inc. (VRI); other Eagle
County task forces; the Forest Service; the National Guard; the wild land mitigation crews; other
fire districts; and the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District (ERWSD). This process will be
ongoing and he will come to a Council work session to discuss a siren system with a voice
activation system proposal. They will also be doing EC alert signups at the town's August 14
community picnic.
Town Council Meeting Minutes of August 7, 2012 Page 3
Daly asked what they are doing about defensible spaces in town and between other areas west
of Vail.
Miller said there are other things the town should be doing. They have downloaded a Google
map of the area to find vulnerable areas in town. The most vulnerable area identified was West
Vail and the Intermountain areas. It was determined that some of the land is owned by the
Forest Service, as well as the communication tower on Vail mountain is vulnerable. These
areas are being worked on but it will take time to coordinate. Daly said it behooves the town to
work with the Forest Service to move it higher on their priority list. He asked if the local Forest
Service district ranger could come and talk to the Council about the areas of vulnerability and
where they consider their priorities are at this time. Miller said he has talked to the Forest
Service and they agree that there are vulnerable areas near Vail.
Miller said he is also meeting with Jeff Babb at VRI to discuss what they are planning. Zemler
will contact them to find out what is happening on Vail Mountain.
Jim Lamont, representing the Vail Homeowners Association, thanked them for the presentation.
He said his homeowner's have a heightened sense of urgency on fires in Colorado. He asked if
the town could look at producing a white paper for this issue. The homeowners want to know
specifics and details of what happens if there is a fire in this area as well as media reports.
They are concerned about scenarios like smoke filling the valley and having people evacuate
sooner instead of staying in their homes. They want to know how the chain of command works
and moves from local to the federal level. It has been brought home that this is not an "if, but
"when," situation of a fire happening in Vail. He said removing the pine beetle threat and having
details of evacuation planning will help alleviate people's concern.
Miller said he'd be happy to do a white paper to educate and prepare folks on wild land fire
danger. He would also get the Forest Service and other folks together and have a meeting. He
said he was disappointed on the Ready Set Go meetings, as they had 250 folks show up and
not the 5,000 people they expected to attend. He said they can't do a white paper covering all
the scenarios.
Daly said people want to know about the worst case scenario and what happens if it occurs in
Vail. He thanked Miller for getting the National Guard on board.
Diane Johnson, with Eagle River Water and Sanitation District (ERWSD) said the public
education going on around the fire updates and drought updates has been great. She said
continuing to hold public interest will be hard since we have had rain. Nature has the power.
She said Gore Creek got through July okay thanks to the rain. July was wet and around 3
inches of rain fell instead of the usual two inches, but there was such a deficit to begin with, that
it just helped but there was no gain. The little snow pack coming in has made the Gore Creek
struggle. The impact of last night's rain helped as there was 21 cfs on Sunday and 19 cfs on
Monday, as of Tuesday it was 33 cfs in the creek. However no rain is predicted through the
weekend. We all need to get through September to figure out where we stand. She said they
are projecting that after Labor Day, residents and guests will slow down their use of water.
They are monitoring the air and water temperature on a daily basis. Every rain event helps but
they are still speaking with folks that are using more water then they ought to be. She said the
drought watch is still on the front page of the Vail Daily. She said Eagle County is considered to
be in a severe stage on the drought monitor.
Town Council Meeting Minutes of August 7, 2012 Page 4
The fifth item on the agenda was second reading of Ordinance No.9, Series 2012, an ordinance
making budget adjustments to the Town of Vail General Fund, Capital Projects Fund, Real
Estate Transfer Tax Fund, Dispatch Services Fund and Heavy Equipment Fund.
Kathleen Halloran, Budget Manager, stated across all funds the supplemental is increased by
budgeted expenditures of $1.5 million and the revenues will also increase by $1.5 million.
There were changes made from the first reading. Rogers asked about facilities capital
maintenance of $30,000 for Community Development. If the building is being torn down, why is
this cost in the supplemental. Halloran said this line item was not taken out from the original
costs and she will remove it.
Further discussion ensued. The Council also requested reducing the supplemental by $10,000
for the removal of the Information Center. Foley said the fire department should use this as a
training exercise and tear it down.
Moffet made a motion to approve second reading of Ordinance No. 9, Series of 2012, with
reduction of $40,000 and the motion was seconded by Foley. A vote was taken and the motion
passed unanimously, 7-0.
The sixth item on the agenda was second reading of Ordinance No. 2, Series of 2012; the Vail
Village Townhouse (VVT) District, and setting forth details in regard thereto; and Resolution No.
7, Series of 2012, amending Chapter VII, Vail Village Sub -Areas, East Gore Creek Sub -Area
(#6), Vail Village Master Plan, pursuant to Chapter VIII, Implementation and Amendment, Vail
Village Master Plan, to include recommendations related to a new Vail Village Townhouse
(VVT) District, and setting forth details in regard thereto.
Bill Gibson, Planner, stated the applicant requested the Council approve Ordinance No. 2,
Series of 2012, on second reading. The applicant also requested the Council approve
Resolution No. 7, Series of 2012. He said the Planning and Environmental Commission (PEC)
had originally approved a 1.35 gross residential floor area (GRFA) ratio. Council had previously
approved 1.25 GRFA in the first reading.
Rogers made a motion to approve as read and the motion was seconded by Donovan. Further
discussion ensued.
Tjossem stated she would be voting against this motion as 40% of the property owners will lose
property rights as the ordinance currently reads. She suggested they lower the maximum roof
line from 43 feet down to 38 feet and give up calculating the GRFA for this one zone district.
She said calculating GRFA uses tremendous staff time. In this one zone district, removing the
GRFA will still allow what the purpose of creating this zone district is about. If you read through
all the design guidelines proposed by staff, they are so specific. GRFA is something you can do
away with and not feel the town is losing control. She has talked to a lot of the owners and they
felt this suggestion is something they could agree with and buy into.
Rogers said the last memorandum didn't show any deficit or loss of development rights to the
owners. She asked Ruther via an email what the impacts would be for the town. She said
Ruther was forthright in saying to eliminate GRFA in one zone district is not appropriate. She
said this discussion has been ongoing for two years. The difference in the PEC
Town Council Meeting Minutes of August 7, 2012 Page 5
recommendation and Council's recommendation on first reading was that Council approved first
reading with the GRFA at 1.25 and the PEC recommendation was for approving the GRFA at
1.35. She said the 1.25 GRFA keeps a balance.
Moffet said he liked Tjossem's suggestion. He was not in support of 1.25 GRFA on second
reading. He doesn't think this changes the balance. Donovan said after reading Ruther's
response, she trusts his expert opinion as he knows this process better than she does. She
supports the motion and said this will keep the neighborhood interacting appropriately with the
surroundings. Foley wants to hold off his responses until he hears citizen comments. Kurz
congratulated the rest of Council that has been listening to this item for over two years. He
stated he agreed with Tjossem's comments. He said the current ordinance was like trying to put
a 1960's hat on 2010 issues. They need to come to grips that things are changing and things
need to change. These changes will have a positive effect for the community. He doesn't feel
doing away with GRFA or being 1.35 will be a hard thing. He said he only approved first
reading to get it to second reading. He feels it needs to be 1.35 if they don't do away with
GRFA altogether.
Daly said he supported the 1.25 on first reading as it would preserve the character of the
neighborhood. He said walking the project with staff he believes the best alternative is what
Tjossem is suggesting of keeping the height to 38 feet. He could support the change. If they
preserve the lower roof line, some language balancing the landscape in the front and back is
needed and not limit it to 30%. Keeping the height to 38 feet would meet the criteria, keep the
character of the neighborhood and streamline the process. He said GRFA could be used for
inclusionary zoning and for parking requirements but not for bulk and mass. He is in favor of
moving forward with the project. Donovan asked what going forward meant. Tjossem wanted to
hear recommendations. Rogers wanted to see the impact of the changes and how this would
effect the development.
Dick Parker said he is a resident of the first townhouse east of Gorsuch and has been there
since 1975. He stated he would be impacted if they approved the 1.25 GRFA. He said they
were one of the first condominium associations in the state and in Vail. He said seven town
house associations would be affected with the proposed 1.25 GRFA and four would be non-
conforming. He said this process was supposed to eliminate nonconforming properties. Every
time there was a change in the residences, they had to get a variance. At 1.25 GRFA, he can't
redevelop. At 1.35 GRFA, it is on the edge of whether he can develop; but if they approve 1.50
GRFA they can develop. The townhome association has strict design criteria and so does the
town. If the whole process is aimed at streamlining the process, creating incentives and
preserving existing residential character, it needs to be 1.5 GRFA. He said he has been a part
of the Vail community for a long time. He tries not to be a problem but this ordinance as
proposed is unreasonable. He supported eliminating GRFA and reducing the roofline to 38 feet
as it would still preserve the character of the neighborhood and prevent battles from the past
and allow everyone to move forward.
John Dunn, representing the Bridgewater's, owners of Rowhouse Unit 11, stated he is at a loss
at to what he has heard. He said he has heard an email has been exchanged between Ruther
and the Council that makes a significant change to the ordinance adopted on first reading. He
thinks this may be a violation of the open meetings law. Hearing staff doesn't support what was
contained in an email is a major error and the Council supporting staff on a complex matter is
not acceptable.
Town Council Meeting Minutes of August 7, 2012 Page 6
Ruther said the question and discussion were about GRFA and amendments. His response to
eliminating or significantly changing the GRFA policy in eliminating GRFA and amendments to
changing GRFA policy in one zone district only and not others is a concern. He said staff needs
to address equity issues in this process and apply it throughout the town. He agrees with
Rogers and wants to know unintended consequences. If the Council wants to seriously
consider amending the ordinance and taking it in a different direction, he asked that the Council
afford staff and others additional time to investigate what the practical implications will be and
identify any unintended consequences. If they find this is beneficial, he would like to streamline
the development review process for the entire town and not just for this development. He said
Bill Gibson has done a fantastic job on bringing this project through the process. If the Council
wants to move forward in a different direction, he would like to have time for Bill Gibson to
examine the issues and bring back a more thoughtful response and an idea of how to
implement it.
Foley state he was against this ordinance on first reading but now will support this ordinance on
second reading.
A vote was taken and the motion was supported by Donovan, Rogers and Foley. Tjossem,
Kurz, Moffet and Daly were opposed. The motion failed.
Moffet stated in deference of Ruther and staff concerns, he would like to have staff examine the
roofline reduction from 43 to 38 feet limit and no GRFA for this zone district only. Foley agreed.
Ruther said they could come back at a future work session with several options and pros and
cons of each. Tjossem said she is concerned this would be another delay tactic if it went to a
work session. She doesn't want to do delay it. Staff has to understand there are compromises
and trade offs. She said the property owners have been put off for two years.
Ruther said doing this process wrong could create significant consequences and create
additional nonconforming issues. He wants to do this right. He said this has been a well thought
out process. Daly said there is no reason not to have a work session and then have an evening
session on this item. Donovan asked what the notification process will be.
Ruther said they will notice all property owners that will be affected by the change in language
as well as place a notification in the newspaper and on the town's website. Daly reiterated that
this item will be on the work session and evening session for the August 21 meeting.
Moffet made a motion to continue second reading of Ordinance No. 2, Series of 2012; the Vail
Village Townhouse (VVT) District to the August 21 st meeting and the motion was seconded by
Kurz. Moffet amended the motion to include a work session and an evening meeting on August
21 and the motion was seconded by Kurz. Daly said Council will allow the public to have input
at the work session and the evening session on August 21 s#. Ruther said there are models that
show the different height and bulk and will bring them back to Council on the 21 st. Council
asked staff to review changing the height from 43 feet to 38 feet maximum with no GRFA in bulk
and mass but continue to use GRFA as part of the inclusionary zoning and parking
requirements. A vote was taken and passed unanimously 7-0.
Town Council Meeting Minutes of August 7, 2012 Page 7
Moffet made a motion to continue Resolution No. 7, 2012, to the August 21, 2012 meeting, and
Tjossem seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
The seventh item on the agenda was Resolution No. 25, Series of 2012, A Resolution Calling a
Special Election for November 6, 2012, to be Coordinated with Eagle County, and Submitting
Ballot Questions to the Registered Electors of the Town at the November 6, 2012 Special
Election.
Matt Mire, Town Attorney, stated the Council determined that several changes to the Vail Town
Charter were warranted. All amendments to the Vail Town Charter must be approved by the
registered electors of the Town at a regular or special election.
Mire stated this resolution would clean up the Vail Town Charter on several issues. The list of
items discussed were; 1) change the masculine gender references to gender neutral, all Council
members were in favor of adding this to the ballot; 2) the town's regular election date should be
consistent with county, state and federal elections to allow for coordinated elections in odd
numbered years. All Council members were in favor of changing the wording to have "following
first Monday" deleted. 3) Delete the requirement for an Election Commission to be appointed.
This is outdated and the state language covers this requirement. All Council members were in
favor of adding this to the ballot. 4) The section stating all ordinances need to be approved at
regular meetings be deleted or clarified that they can be approved at special meetings as well
as at regular meetings. Daly was opposed. 5) State law regarding initiative and referendum
requirements be repealed and the town could follow state law. Moffet wants to understand what
we are repealing and what would replace it. Mire will bring back this item with further details. 6)
Change the wording of the Planning Commission and Environmental Commission to reflect that
these are one board and have been for years. This would change from Planning Commission
and Environmental Commission to the Planning and Environmental Commission. All Council
members were in favor to add this to the ballot. 7) To change the charter to reflect that there
would no longer be a requirement to have a super majority to approve the annual budget if a
50/50 split is not done. Mire said this section of charter doesn't call out or dictate a speck split.
Judy Camp, Finance Director, said this ballot question would just remove the language from the
charter and have the budget approved by ordinance. The Council still has the right to have a
super majority and have a say on the 50/50 split. She said it was very unusual to have this
language in the charter of a municipality. Mire stated if the Council wants to keep the language
in, clarify it so it's in the charter correctly and clean up the language and be clear on what it
should say. Daly said he wanted to eliminate this ballot question. Tjossem said she is confused
about what is being eliminated. Tjossem said to keep this in the charter will never be a 50/50
split as it isn't realistic. Kurz said to take question off. Rogers said the charter doesn't say what
the Council thinks it says. She said either add specific language on the percentages of the split
into the charter. Then add specific language to the charter or take it out of the charter and do it
by ordinance. She said keeping something that is ambiguous doesn't' make sense. Moffet
agrees with Rogers. He said to leave the question on the ballot. Donovan said she agrees with
Rogers and Moffet. She said to keep it on the ballot and take it out of the charter and then have
an ordinance to require a super majority. This is a chance to clean this up and there won't be
another convenient chance to take it to the voters. Daly said it would be too easy to change by
ordinance. Daly said the Council needs to have some fiscal responsibility. Further discussion
ensued.
Town Council Meeting Minutes of August 7, 2012 Page 8
Tjossem said this item is to change the charter. Daly asked how many Council members are in
favor of keeping it in the charter. Daly, Tjossem, Foley and Donovan were in favor. However
Donovan said they need to be more specific and clear up the language in the charter to make it
work.
Donovan made a motion to table Resolution No. 25 to the August 215t meeting and the motion
was seconded by Moffet. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
The eighth item on the agenda was adjournment.
As there was no further business, Foley made a motion to adjourn and the motion was
seconded by Moffet. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0. The meeting
adjourned at 8:10 p.m.
Respec ly Submitted,
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Town Council Meeting Minutes of August 7, 2012 Page 9