HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-05-01 Town Council MinutesVail Town Council Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, May 1, 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
The first item on the agenda was a Proclamation No. 4, Series of 2012, designating the month
of May, 2012 as "Building Safety Month" in the Town of Vail.
Ludwig Kurz read the proclamation for "Building Safety Month" into the record.
Moffet made a motion to adopt Proclamation No. 4, and Foley seconded the motion. A vote
was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
Martin Haeberle, Chief Building Official, thanked Council. He said there will be several events
supporting building safety month throughout the month including: disaster mitigation; drought
resistant landscaping; fire safety; a tour of the fire station; backyard safety and others.
The second item on the agenda was Citizen's Participation. Brandmeyer introduced Shane
Gremer on behalf of Safebuilt. Safebuilt is celebrating their 25`h anniversary and is giving back
to the community of Vail. They presented a check to Red Sandstone Elementary School
Principal Katherine Lange for $1,000. Lange thanked Gremer and Safebuilt for the generous
donation. Daly thanked Safebuilt for investing in Vail's community.
Chris Moffet, wife of Councilmember Greg Moffet, brought in a cake to celebrate Greg's
birthday. The Council and attendees sang happy birthday to Greg.
Jeff Layman introduced himself to the Council and the community as a candidate for
commissioner for Eagle County. He stated Peter Runyon is term limited and cannot run again.
He said he has the knowledge, skill and abilities to serve county residents well. He said he is
not a one issue candidate. He said he will remember that Vail is a predominant economic driver
in the county. He said the Primary Election is June 26 and the General Election is November
6th. He asked people to vote at both elections.
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Jamie Duke introduced himself as the new Chairman of the Board for the Colorado Ski
Museum. He thanked the town for 37 uninterrupted years of support. He said there has been
confusion on what the museum's role is in Vail. He said the board passed a resolution at their
last meeting which clarified their role and responsibilities in the Vail area. The intent is to serve
local and state ski museum roles. The museum was originally funded by the Town of Vail, Vail
Resorts and the Forest service. The museum's site is ideal and as a community and statewide
museum. He read the resolution into the record. The Resolution will be attached for the record.
Daly thanked Duke for the clarification regarding their important role to the community and the
ski and snowboard industry.
The third item on the agenda was the Town Manager's Report.
Greg Hall discussed the re -zoning of the Golf Course Clubhouse and said the application to the
Planning and Environmental Commission (PEC) had been submitted for General Use zoning. If
all goes as planned, this project will be in front of Council on June 5, 2012. A text amendment
will also clean up the code language.
Zemler addressed the replacement of one of the fire trucks. He said the replacement would be
a wild land fire fighting truck, which is a Type 7 vehicle. The current Type 6 vehicle will be added
back into the fleet. The new truck will truly be a wild land fire truck to enhance Vail's ability to
respond to any wild land fire issue. The Eagle River Fire District and Eagle Fire District have
these vehicles and this will bring the total up to about 6 or 7 wild land fire trucks that can be
utilized across Eagle County.
Tjossem asked if a fire is on Forest Service or BLM land, would Vail go after it as if it's in Vail.
Zemler said initially, the Vail Fire Department would definitely strike immediately until other
resources arrived. The objective is to contain the fire as quickly as possible.
The fourth item on the agenda was a review of the ballot language and voter poll for a
proposed tax increase for the purpose of creating, sustaining and ensuring a dedicated funding
source for qualified athletic and cultural events and programs in the Town of Vail and supporting
operations and infrastructure in the Town of Vail related to special events.
Kelli McDonald, Economic Development Manager, reviewed the memorandum with Council.
She said staff is requesting the Council review the ballot language and voter poll questions
presented by Magellan Strategies and provide direction for the polling scheduled to begin May
7, 2012. At the April 3 meeting, Council directed up to $15,000 be spent on a voter poll to
gauge support for a proposed tax increase. Such taxes would require approval by the Vail
electorate. The proposed ballot issue of an annual levy of an additional one and one-half
percent (1.5%) lodging tax and one-half percent (.5%) sales tax on all transactions the town's
existing tax applies to, except for the sales of food for home consumption, is projected to
generate $4.5 million annually, commencing January 1, 2013 and expiring on December 31,
2017. In 2012, the Council allocated approximately $2.4 million in funding and $300,000 to in -
kind services for a total of $2.7 million for this same purpose.
David Flaherty, with Magellan Strategies, discussed the proposed language and the voter poll
his company will be doing for this issue. He said due to trends, a cell phone cannot be used to
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poll voters. They have to attempt to call land lines and then cell phones. He proposed a three
mode interview approach. The first attempt will be to call land lines for three nights, then
attempt to contact registered voters by cell phones (they will comply with federal regulations);
and then attempt to contact people via on-line email addresses. A web -based survey will be on-
line and they will send emails to registered individual voters. To participate in the online survey,
they are requesting the first and last name of the person and their birth year. Once the survey is
taken, it's locked in so they can't vote again. He said through the three modalities, they hope to
get 300 surveys done. He reviewed the ballot language with Council.
Rogers said the ballot language needs to be consistent with what the survey questions are
asking.
Daly said they haven't had a discussion on how the funds will be allocated relative to existing
organizations and to new events. Also, if this moves forward, will approximately $2.1 million be
put into special events and other activities, what type of return are they looking for and what is
the urgency to get this done now.
Kelli McDonald, Economic Development Manager, said this is not the time to discuss how the
funds will be allocated as this was discussed previously by Mia Vlaar. Daly said he doesn't
want to put the cart before the horse. Rogers said she has the same concerns and wants to
know how they will be allocating it. Will it be the same as we are currently doing or will it be
different. What if a constituent asks the question, what is Council going to tell them. Tjossem
said there were tiers that were part of the original proposal and descriptions of each tier. She
said the application process is extensive. She asked if Rogers and Daly would be comfortable
moving forward with just the criteria of the tiers. Rogers said the Council hasn't agreed to use
the tiered system. Rogers said people don't like to raise taxes. Zemler said this is time
sensitive and needs to stay on track.
McDonald said the results would be brought to Council at a June meeting. She stated the
criteria and details of the tiering method would need to be finalized prior to going on the
November ballot in July if they have a positive response from the survey.
Donovan said there are a lot of questions to be answered prior to getting it on the November
ballot. Tjossem said Council may decide to hold off on getting it on the November ballot.
Daly said the model is good but there are already groups that have expectations of the amount
of funds they will be receiving. Daly asked if there is a savings to the town, shouldn't there be a
property tax refund to the taxpayers.
Moffet said the five-year sunset clause on this is a great concern to him. If they reduce taxes,
how would the town fund events after the five years.
Michael Kurz, Vail resident, said they are listing twelve events in the poll and most are iconic
events. He asked what percentage of these particular events is part of the total events. He said
the ones chosen are problematic. He said these are events everyone likes. He wants more
balance between iconic events and lesser known events in the poll. He said there is a question
about what percentage the town would put in and if the promoters put in less money, are we
funding the promoters or should they return money to the town.
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Rich ten Braak, with the Vail Chamber and Business Association (VCBA), said the VCBA
members have discussed this issue but they are waiting for the poll results.
Michael Cacioppo said the ballot language is too vague. He read the sunset language and said
that was the only part of the ballot language that made sense. He said not having sunset
language would not get this passed. He asked Flaherty what other projects he has polled in
Eagle County. Flaherty said he handled the Eagle River Station (ERS) poll.
Jim Lamont, representing the Vail Village Homeowners Association (VVHA), asked how the on-
line poll would work. Flaherty said they want to link and post the survey on the town's website.
They would match the person and their address. Lamont stated the ballot language should say
"draft ballot question" as there needs to be flexibility to change the ballot language after the poll
is done. This is a time sensitive issue which needs to get it into the process, but they need
flexibility on how the language will read. This is an economic development tool.
Mia Vlaar, representing the Athletic and Cultural Events (ACE) group, thanked those who
participated in the discussion and said they had valid comments. She said the point of this
discussion is to get the poll done and see if there is community support for the ballot initiative
itself.
Tjossem asked Vlaar to explain why a sunset clause was included. Vlaar said this was to take
what they are proposing, have a cohesive process to see if it works and then go back to the
voters again after the sunset, to see if the community wants to keep it.
Donovan said Lamont's comment to add "draft ballot question" to the language is important and
is an honest way to proceed. She said Kurz' comments to add more variety of events to the poll
survey is valid. Tjossem also agreed with Donovan.
Rogers said her concern is the language as is, is too narrow. Flaherty said they have time to
put this off in the next two weeks. Daly said the current committee and two council members
should meet and modify the language. He feels the best thing to do is to table this item to the
next meeting. Further discussion ensued.
Donovan made a motion to make the language more narrow and add "draft" to the survey poll
document, and the motion was seconded by Foley. A vote was taken and the motion passed,
4-3 with Moffet, Rogers and Daly opposed. Rogers said she thinks this process is placing the
cart before the horse.
The fifth item on the agenda was Resolution No. 22, Series of 2012, a resolution approving the
sale of real property in the Town of Vail legally described as a part of the Southeast Quarter of
Section 6, Township 5 South Range 80 West of the 6t' Meridian According to the Map Thereof
Recorded in the Office of the Eagle County, Colorado Clerk and Recorder; and Setting Forth
Details in Regard Thereto.
Matt Mire, Town Attorney, said a revised Purchase and Sale Agreement was handed out and is
at the back of the room for the public, and a copy was placed in front of Council. He reviewed
the resolution changes and said the resolution approves the sale of the property.
Town Council May 1, 2012 minutes Page 4
Daly asked Mire if they were going to add the language to the resolution to move forward with
the sale of the property to encourage the long term residence of the Steadman Clinic and the
hospital to stay in Vail.
George Ruther, Community Development Director, stated that language was in the ordinance.
Moffet made a motion to approve Resolution No. 22, Series of 2012, and the motion was
seconded by Rogers. A vote was taken and the motion passed, 7-0.
The sixth item on the agenda was first reading of Ordinance No. 2, Series of 2012, an
ordinance amending Chapter 12-6, Residential Districts, Vail Town Code, pursuant to Section
12- 3-7, Amendment, Vail Town Code, to establish a new zone district, Vail Village Townhouse
(VVT) District, and setting forth details in regard thereto; and Resolution No. 7, Series of 2012,
amending Chapter VI I, 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.
George Ruther said this process has been on going for two years. Staff identified there was a
blatant and clear need that this section of the code needed to be cleared up. He said they have
seen about three or four projects come through and this process is very time consuming.
He said staff has worked long and hard on a solution that achieves the objectives in an
equitable fashion. This ordinance has created an incentive that allows for redevelopment to
occur. This will be an easier and clearer process. Creating the design guidelines will maintain
and preserve the character of the neighborhood.
Tjossem reminded the Council that staff came up with a creative way to solve a problem that the
town has been grappling with for a very long time.
Rogers said this is a well drafted ordinance, and the process has gone on for over two -and -a -
half years. She asked what the final decision was on the gross residential floor area (GRFA):
was it 1.25, 1.35 or 1.50. Council had given a recommendation of 1.25. Campbell said the final
recommendation by PEC was 1.35.
Dominic Mauriello, representing some of the homeowners, said they wanted the GRFA to be
1.50. He said at that time these were built, there were no design guideline principles in place.
Mauriello reviewed a three-dimensional model with Council with regard to the GRFA. Further
discussion ensued regarding height, GRFA, setbacks, number of stories, etc.
Kyle Webb, Architect, showed another model that tested and maxed out the GRFA. He showed
what is allowable under current code and what could happen now but probably couldn't be built.
Mauriello said they could get away with not having GRFA but no building could be more than
1.73 GRFA. He said Council should consider not having GRFA. Moffet was concerned about
that comment.
Rogers is concerned with the height being 43 feet.
Town Council May 1, 2012 minutes Page 5
Mauriello said the need for 43 feet is to allow for a ridge and down slope toward the creek. He
said this is not noticeable from the street side.
Campbell pointed out one of the design standards is that the roofs are pitched and sloping and
in keeping with the character of the neighborhood.
Rogers is concerned there will be too many tall buildings in town around Vail Trails East.
Further discussion on height and setbacks ensued.
Tjossem said the other buildings around this area are four and five levels. This is a different
scale. The design guidelines preserve the neighborhood and will allow the owners to redevelop.
They need incentives to regenerate and upgrade their 1960's buildings. She said staff has done
a lot of work in this process and will vote in favor of this ordinance. Kurz said Tjossem
explained it well and agrees this area needs to be improved. Council needs to be serious about
future economic viability and incentivize to have these redeveloped. Donovan said staff has
addressed the concerns of Council and appreciates their efforts. The guidelines encourages
the intent. She is not comfortable about the 1.35 GRFA in the ordinance. She could support
the ordinance without the 1.35 allowance. Moffet said current successes are key to the ability to
adapt. He doesn't see this as damaging. He is fine deleting 12-6j-9, but is okay to keep in if
other Council members want it left in. He said Council wants this area to be as nice an
investment as the rest of the community. Rogers said getting over the character of the
neighborhoods is the hard part for her. She feels this changes the character of Vail. She wants
to go with 1.25 GRFA.
Kyle Webb said the perception is the same from the street whether it's 1.35 or 1.25 GRFA. He
said other parts of the neighborhood have changed. Owners have put their redevelopment on
hold waiting for this ordinance.
Mauriello said these units could be condominiumized and become larger. There could be lots of
things that can be done that could make it bigger.
Daly said what is being proposed dramatically facilitates the development process without
penalties. Staff has done a terrific job coming up with guidelines. He is uncomfortable passing
this without GRFA. He is comfortable with the staff recommendation of 1.25 even though the
PEC recommendation was 1.35.
Moffet made a motion to approve Ordinance No. 2 with the staff findings in the memorandum,
with a change from 1.35 to 1.25 for the GRFA. The motion was seconded by Donovan.
A vote was taken and passed 6-1, Foley opposed.
Staff requested the Council table Resolution No. 7, Series of 2012, to its May 15, public hearing
to correspond to the second reading of the associated Ordinance No. 2, Series of 2012.
Moffet made a motion to table Resolution No. 7 to the May 15, meeting to be heard at the time
second reading of Ordinance No. 2 is heard. The motion was seconded by Donovan. A vote
was taken and the motion passed, 7-0.
Town Council May 1, 2012 minutes Page 6
The seventh item on the agenda was Resolution No. 20, Series of 2012, a resolution
authorizing the Town Manager to sign a Wireless Communications and License Agreement
between the Town of Vail and NewPath Networks, LLC; and setting forth details in regard
thereto.
Ron Braden, IT Director, said the 4G cellular service is with Crown Castle. He said this
agreement is to bring 4G wireless to Vail and revamp the existing wireless network now in
place. He said the Council wished to enter into a wireless communications and license
agreement with NewPath Networks, LLC to enhance the wireless communications services and
to avoid unnecessary disruption and administrative burdens throughout the town.
Moffet made a motion to approve Resolution No. 20, Series of 2012, a resolution authorizing the
Town Manager to sign a Wireless Communications and License Agreement between the Town
of Vail and NewPath Networks, LLC; and setting forth details in regard thereto. The motion was
seconded by Kurz.
Foley asked if this agreement is replacing Century Link on the WiFi side. Braden said yes, this
is a free and working WiFi system that will bring it up-to-date and the town will get much better
service. The 4G service parameters are not in this agreement as that will be with various
carriers.
Daly said there is no way for us to force Crown Castle to ask for guarantees to provide service
for a world class resort. There is nothing that guarantees better service and may not get us in a
better position. Braden said the carriers will hold Crown Castle to do this. He said technology
changes from year to year and is hard to nail down. He said the communication expert
reviewed the technical aspects of the agreement and signed off on this agreement. Mire said
Ken Feldman looked at this agreement and had some concerns and Mire had questions as well.
He said he shares some concerns and wants a work session to discuss the agreement as a 30-
year term with no ability to raise standards should be addressed. Rogers asked if it will be free
WiFi across the town. Braden said yes.
Moffet made a motion to withdraw his previous motion at this time. Kurz withdrew his second of
the original motion.
Moffet then moved to table this item to the May 15th meeting, and the motion was seconded by
Foley and Kurz. Donovan asked for copy of what the coverage areas are, not just the cellular.
Braden said the goal is to provide town wide coverage.
A vote was taken and the motion passed, 7-0.
The eighth item on the agenda was the Ever Vail project.
Warren Campbell, Chief Planner, stated staff requests the major subdivision and Ordinance
Nos. 7, 8 and 9, Series of 2012 be continued to the June 5, 2012, public hearing.
Moffet made a motion to continue the major subdivision and Ordinance Nos. 7, 8, and 9, Series
of 2011 to the June 5, 2012 public hearing. The motion was seconded by Kurz.
Town Council May 1, 2012 minutes Page 7
Foley asked why this item was being tabled again. Daly said it's because the developer
improvement agreement hasn't been done.
A vote was taken and the motion passed, 7-0.
The ninth item on the agenda was adjournment.
As there was no further business, Foley made a motion to adjourn and the motion was
seconded by Donovan. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0. The
meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.
Respectful Submitted,
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Town Council May 1, 2012 minutes Page 8