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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-01-17 Town Council MinutesVail Town Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, January 17, 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 Andrew P. Daly. Members present: Andrew P. Daly, Mayor Kerry Donovan Kevin Foley Greg Moffet Margaret Rogers Susie Tjossem Members Absent: Ludwig Kurz Staff members: Stan Zemler, Town Manager Matt Mire, Town Attorney Pam Brandmeyer, Assistant Town Manager The first item on the agenda was Citizen Participation. Jonathan Levine, owner of Hummers of Vail, said he runs the one of the largest limousine companies in Vail. He said his company gave over 10,000 rides to Vail guests in 2010. He is very upset with how the Vail Transportation Center (VTC) taxi and limousine services are being handled. He said the issues include signage and the location of the signs, access to dropping off ADA clients in Vail Village and altercations and near misses of accidents. He wants the Council to change how the police department interacts with the taxis and limousine services at the VTC, as well as where the taxis and limousines are staged on the upper deck of the VTC. The second item on the agenda was the Citizen's Award to Mike Kloser, Emily Kloser and Jay Lucas. Mark Miller, Fire Chief, presented Citizen's Awards to Mike Kloser, Emily Kloser and Jay Lucas for helping with a June 9, 2011, fire in their neighborhood. He said they each assisted in helping to put out the fire. He read the incident commander's comments into the record. Mike Kloser and Emily Kloser helped to keep the fire from spreading. Jay Lucas helped make sure the neighbors were out of the building. Each person risked his/her personal safety to help their neighbors. The fire department is grateful for their efforts. The third item on the agenda was the Consent Agenda. The approval of the December 6 and December 20, 2011 meeting minutes were on the Consent Agenda. Town Council Meeting Minutes of January 17, 2012 Page 1 Foley said there was one word missing in the December 20 meeting minutes. Donaldson will correct. Foley made a motion to approve the meeting minutes of December 6 and December 20, 2011, and the motion was seconded by Tjossem. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0. The fourth item on the agenda was the Town Manager's Report. Pam Brandmeyer, Assistant Town Manager, said the Council had discussed going green and paperless over the past month. This is to formally announce it to the community. The agendas and attached documentation will be on the town's website for the community use. Foley thanked staff for their help bringing the Council into the 21st Century. Donovan made a motion to approve the town going paperless where possible, and the motion was seconded by Tjossem. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0. The fifth Item on the agenda was a request to continue the Ever Vail applications for the major subdivision and Ordinance Nos. 7, 8, and 9, Series of 2011 be continued to the February 7, 2012, public hearing. George Ruther said a request to continue this item was at the request of the applicant. Foley made a motion to continue these items and the motion was seconded by Tjossem. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0. The sixth item on the agenda was the appointment of a Newspaper of Record for 2012 for the town's public notices. Pam Brandmeyer, Assistant Town Manager, stated each year it is required by state statute to appoint a newspaper of record for the purpose of publishing town notices. The Vail Daily is currently the only daily newspaper that complies with state statute regulations. Rogers made a motion to appoint the Vail Daily as the town's newspaper of record and the motion was seconded by Donovan. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0. The seventh item on the agenda was Resolution No. 6 Series of 2012, a resolution authorizing the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to allow for the redevelopment of the municipal site, located at 75 South Frontage Road in Vail. George Ruther, Community Development Director, asked the Council to approve Resolution No. 6 approving the MOU as read. Ruther said on May 18, 2011, the Council directed staff to look into the possibility of redevelopment of the municipal site. Ruther reviewed the project phases the staff and others have been working on the past 90 days and what that included. He went through the key points of the project, design program, MOU, financing strategy, schedule and next steps which were all in the memorandum. Town Council Meeting Minutes of January 17, 2012 Page 2 Ruther said the approval of Resolution No. 6 authorizes the town to enter into a non -binding MOU. He said Judy Camp, Finance Director, will answer any questions on the financing issues. Donovan asked about the helipad moving to another structure and when it would move back to its more permanent location. Ruther said in the Master Planning of the Vail Valley Medical Center (VVMC), it would be appropriate to assign a time frame on the helipad. He said the master planning process is probably an 18 month process. He said it would be appropriate to make sure due diligence is done. He said it would be a challenge to put a timeframe on details until the master plan is completed. He said the Council could outline the town's expectations through the various phases as they come along with expected dates and timeframes. Rogers said she wanted to know what is going to determine the cost and expense for the helipad and who pays for it. Michael O'Connor, with Triumph Development, said the town would be paying for the pad site and not the hospital. Daly asked why the parking space allocations would be determined by an independent third parry consultant. Ruther said it's necessary because the property is zoned general use. If there is contemplation on reducing the size of parking, the process requires a review and report provided by a third party consultant for the zoning and development review process. Daly asked if the landscaping would be part of a common project. O'Connor said the surface parking area and underground parking are based on a percentage share of parking spaces. The landscaping of the western portion would be paid for by the medical offices and the eastern side would be paid by the town. Daly said the cost of landscaping shouldn't be part of the MOU as it is not a part of the common costs. Ruther said the off -site improvement landscape (i.e., Frontage Road improvements) would be a shared expense by the parties. Rogers asked why the town was paying for the developer fee that was negotiated between the hospital and the developer. O'Connor said this is a mistake in the MOU language. Additional discussion ensued on the changes that needed to be made to clean up the MOU language, including adding a closing date and a helipad timeframe. Daly asked Ruther to explain why the helipad can't go on top of the medical office building. Ruther said the helipad is currently on CDOT property and cannot easily work at the site after the medical office building is built. In speaking with the medical helicopter pilots, the best place for the helipad would be on top of the VVMC in the future redevelopment of the hospital immediately adjacent to the emergency room. Daly asked there be a time limit on when the helipad gets moved to a permanent site sooner than later. Council doesn't want to see the helipad out at Ford Park in ten or twelve years. Steve Virostek, with Triumph Development, said the hospital wants to be a world class hospital so they also want to get this done sooner. He said it will depend on the master plan process and when it is sequenced in that process. He didn't give a timeframe of when the helipad would be relocated. Mire said the helipad wouldn't be a hospital expense. Town Council Meeting Minutes of January 17, 2012 Page 3 Tjossem asked why the MOU is between the town and the developer and there isn't an agreement between the town and the hospital. Is there a trigger that will include the hospital's guarantee to insure the helipad placement and other commitments. Art Kelton, a VVMC board member, read a letter into the record from the hospital regarding their support and commitment to get the medical office building project built. In the letter, the hospital stated they are excited to be partnering with Steadman-Philippon in the project,to continue to provide excellent health care, have world class orthopaedic care and research, and to grow patient services. At their board meeting January 9, discussions included master plan use including moving emergency traffic off Meadow Drive, utilization of the freed up 35,000 square feet of hospital space that will be vacated by the Steadman group and locating a permanent helipad site. Daly asked about the timeframe for the master plan completion. Kelton said the RFP's for this process were going out the first week in February and a decision would be made by February 10. Kelton said the master planning process would take from twelve to eighteen months to complete. Rogers asked how long the master plan coverage would last. Kelton stated it would be a ten year plan. Daly asked if the hospital board authorized the purchase of the property. Kelton said yes, it was done at the January 9"' board meeting and the 10-year plan insures making a long term commitment to the property and that it will remain a medical office building use. Any change in use of the building would require returning to Council for approval. The hospital and clinic are tied into this zoning. Kelton said the hospital understands. Cacioppo said he is concerned that taxpayers are footing the bill for a medical building. He said transparency is key and he wants paper packets on the items in front of Council at the back of the room. He said he was out of the room when the Council discussed paperless packets earlier. He feels the town is giving away town property and not at top dollar. He urged Council to table the decision. Daly said this project and process has been going on for nine months. Tjossem said the agendas are posted the Thursday before the meetings on the town's website and at the town offices. She encouraged the public to open up the documents before the meeting. Daly said an appraisal has been done on the property and will be available after today. He said it wasn't released due to negotiations in process. The Council has researched this and there have been two separate phases done with the town and the other parties. He said Council is convinced that principal source of business comes off Vail mountain and the second most important business is the medical business. He said the town is trying to assist our partners to grow the medical business as well as the destination medical business. The hospital is land locked and the town doesn't want the hospital or their partners to leave Vail. This is the best investment Vail can make. The town building is over 40 years old and is in need of replacement. This is an effective way for the town to replace the town hall that will provide more public space and better office conditions and reliable building for operations of the town's business. Town Council Meeting Minutes of January 17, 2012 Page 4 Jim Lamont, representing the Vail Homeowner's Association, said he assumed the town attorney would remind everyone that this is a quasi judicial body and that the Council has specific responsibilities to follow the review processes. There is no guarantee that the project would be approved. The project was a concept until the town had done their due diligence. He said the specifics of the project need to be thoroughly vetted before moving forward. He said the master planning process by the hospital will need to include loading and delivery, trash containment facilities, traffic, employee housing, etc. Peter Millett, a Steadman physician, has been part of this process and thanked the Council for their willingness to look at this proposal. He said the Steadman group is 100 percent fully committed to this project. Cacioppo said he wanted it disclosed that Ruther's wife works for the Steadman group and it appears to be a conflict of interest. Ruther said his wife has been an employee of the Stead man -Phi lippon group for twelve to thirteen years. Mire said the conflict of interest term is being used cavalierly and there is not a conflict of interest that legally exists. Zemler said he has been to every meeting between the parties and Ruther has represented the town fairly and well and has not expressed any self interest at all. Daly said the project has gone through many phases of discussions and has been in discussion for many, many months. Zemler said turning the property over to a private business needs clarification. He said the building gets segments condominiumized and the hospital is responsible for 40% of the building. This should give the community a level of comfort that the hospital has a significant anchor of ownership and the Steadman group will be staying. Moffet asked if the concerns addressed by Council have been addressed and if the MOU could be approved without further amendments. Daly said there were several items that needed to be clarified including the helipad is subject to PEC approval; the purchase price necessary to cover construction costs for the parking garage would be put in escrow and the rest of the funds released to the town; the fee for construction services to be paid by the town will be negotiated by the town and Triumph Development and adding a closing date. He reiterated that this is a nonbinding MOU. Charlie Craven, Chief Financial Officer with the VVMC, said the intent from the hospital is that they would want a ten-year lease with the Steadman-Philippon. The only tenant is the Stead man-Philippon Research Institute. He said Howard Head is owned by the hospital. Ruther discussed the finance options that were in the memorandum. He said there were three financing options: 100% Certificate of Participation's (COP's); 100% cash; or 50% COP's and 50% cash. He said the comments from Council at the January 3 meeting suggested they wanted the minimum amount of time necessary to keep the costs down. Ruther said the COPs/Cash option could be manipulated to different percentages of each. Camp said she would take questions from Council as Ruther explained the options pretty well. She said if the town used cash funding, there would be sufficient funds to protect the town Town Council Meeting Minutes of January 17, 2012 Page 5 from shortfalls in revenue. The town's philosophy is to have 25% of revenue in the general fund balance. Daly said investment opportunities are tight and COPs may be the most appropriate way to go. Tjossem asked what the costs for relocation of town offices will be. Ruther said $850,000 has been allocated to move, rent and move back into the new building. This cost is included in the figures discussed. Rogers asked if the $15 million included a two or three story building. Ruther said it only included 18,000 net -usable square footage within 20,000 gross square feet. The space configurations can be arranged in a number in different ways. The cost for another level with 8,000 square feet plus underground parking required for that space would be an additional $4.6 million or approximately $575 a square foot. Ruther stated the space allocations for meeting space is larger. He said questions asked by Council at the last meeting were answered in the memorandum. Daly asked this topic be on a future work session agenda so the Council can get comfortable about the spaces. Donovan said the solution for the recycling was good. Cacioppo said he believed the meetings held to discuss the sales price were closed meetings. His understanding of the state statute is when purchasing property, going into executive session is appropriate, but when you are selling land, it's not appropriate. Mire cited the state statute that allows for meeting in executive session and every meeting that was held was in accordance with the state statutes. Ruther said they are looking for general direction to find the best financial outcome for the town. Rogers made a motion to approve Resolution No. 6, with the amendments as recited by Daly previously (including the helipad is subject to PEC approval; the purchase price necessary to cover construction costs for the parking garage would be put in escrow and the rest of the funds released to the town; the fee for construction services to be paid by the town will be negotiated by the town and Triumph Development, and add a closing date) and Foley seconded the motion. Foley said the Council will be getting public input from the community. Tjossem asked the community to please sign the letters so the comments submitted could be made part of the record. Daly said the master plan will be a very involved process and will address issues brought up by Lamont. A vote was taken and the motion passed 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 Tjossem. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0. The meeting adjourned at 7:46 p.m. Town Council Meeting Minutes of January 17, 2012 Page 6 RespectF ubmitted, Andrew P. Daly, Mayor r � Attest: l� *oridson, Town Clerk i! •S • E�14 o• •' '�R 4D ,t • ' Town Council Meeting Minutes of January 17, 2012 Page 7