HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-06-05 Town Council MinutesVail Town Council Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
6:00 P.M.
Vail Town Council Chambers
The regular meeting of the Vail Town Council was called to order at approximately 6:20 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 Citizen's Participation. Tracy Anderson said she was the new
Executive Director of the Eagle Valley Alliance for Sustainability. She thanked the Council for
being a progressive municipality and taking sustainable initiatives such as composting, recycling
and sustainable construction forward within Vail.
The second item on the agenda was the Consent Agenda. The consent agenda consisted of
the approval of the May 1 and May 15 meeting minutes.
Foley requested these be voted on individually as he was absent for the May 15 meeting.
Moffet made a motion to approve the May 1 meeting consent agenda and the motion was
seconded by Foley. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0.
Moffet made a motion to approve the May 15 meeting minutes and Donovan seconded the
motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed 6-0-1, with Foley abstaining as he was
absent.
The third item on the agenda was the Town Manager Report. Kelli McDonald introduced
Stephen Long with Vail Mountain Marketing. Long made a presentation and did a
demonstration on the new Vail Bike & Hike Application (App) with Council and the public. He
said the app will be distributed to Android and Apple stores. He said the number one driver in
getting folks to Vail in the summer was hiking. He reviewed the background and concept for the
app. The app focuses on being the singular app where folks find their hiking and biking needs;
such as hiking and biking trails in the Vail area, directions on how to get there, the exits off the
highway to the trails and FAA's. The app is also updatable, color coded, searchable by difficulty
levels of the trails, what to bring and levels of difficulty of each of the trails. Donovan asked if
the topographical map was "zoom -able". Long said it is not currently zoom -able. He said Tom
Town Council Meeting Minutes of June 5, 2012 Page 1
Griffin is the developer of the app and Vail Mountain Marketing has asked him to make the
topographical maps "zoom -able".
Adam Sutner, from Vail Mountain Marketing, said Vail Resorts will be leveraging the hiking and
biking app on Vail.com. He said hiking was by far the single largest driver of why people come
to Vail in the summer. He said there are many different types of hiking trails and levels of
difficulty. He said this app is a decent first step and that additional hiking trails on Vail Mountain
are anticipated to be added in the future.
Rogers said the app needs to distinguish and state this app is for mountain bike trails and not
road bike trails. She would like to see road bike trails added in future app upgrades. Long said
they will work on adding those as well.
Foley asked if the seasonal closures of trails are listed in the app.
Long said yes they do have the closures in the app. He said the current version of the app is
available on Apple now, but they are working on updating another version. They are still
working with the Android market to get this app out to the public.
Tjossem asked if the directions to the hiking and biking trailheads could be added to the town's
free bus system. Zemler said he would look into adding it to the bus system.
The fourth item on the agenda was a presentation of the 2011 audited financial statements.
Michael Jenkins, C.A., C.P.A, of McMahan and Associates presented results of the 2011 Town
of Vail audit. The town received a "clean" opinion, which means the auditors believe the
financial statements are presented fairly in all material respects. The financial statements
include the town and its affiliated units: Vail Local Marketing District, Vail Reinvestment
Authority and Timber Ridge Affordable Housing Corporation. The town's government -wide net
assets as of December 31, 2011, totaled $177.9 million, of which $55.1 million was unrestricted,
i.e., available for any governmental purpose. For the full year, government -wide revenue
exceeded expenses by $8.3 million.
Jenkins pointed out all debt which is the responsibility of the town will be paid off by the end of
2012. At that time, only Vail Reinvestment Authority and Timber Ridge Affordable Housing
Corporation bonds, both of which are funded from dedicated sources, will be outstanding. A
good benchmark of financial strength cited by Jenkins is governmental fund balances as a
percent of expenditures. Across all Town of Vail funds, this measurement is 140%, which
implies the town could hypothetically continue at existing spending levels for more than a year
even without any revenue.
In response to questions from Mayor Andy Daly, Jenkins confirmed the audit team encountered
no differences in dealing with management in completing the audit; there were no known or
likely misstatements material in nature; and no disagreements with management that could be
significant to the financial statement or auditor's report.
In conclusion, Jenkins congratulated the town and the finance team on its conservative,
consistent practices, conservative budgeting and sound systems and controls, all of which
contribute to the town's strong financial position.
Town Council Meeting Minutes of June 5, 2012 Page 2
Daly and the Council thanked Camp, Halloran and other town staff for the terrific audit.
The fifth item on the agenda was a discussion on the results of the 2012 Town of Vail
Community Survey.
Suzanne Silverthorn introduced Chris Cares with RRC Associates, whose firm conducted the
survey. Silverthorn said during the spring of 2012 the Town of Vail fielded a community survey
similar to efforts conducted in the past right before the end of ski season and before the 2012
spring construction season. It consisted of questionnaires completed by full- and part-time
residents, property owners and business owners to evaluate opinions on a variety of issues.
Using survey techniques that permitted comparisons to past research, the town employed a
combination of personalized invitations via postcard mailings as well as open invitations to take
the survey online. Respondents were also given a third option to request a mail -back version.
The purpose of the survey was to evaluate respondents' level of satisfaction with respect to a
full range of services and to gather opinions on selected issues and areas of focus. Similar
questions had been posed to Vail part-time and year-round residents on a periodic basis since
1987. The 2012 survey was designed to permit comparisons to past results, as well as to
provide new insights on a variety of topics of current interest.
Cares reviewed the power point and stated the survey is presented in multiple ways to readily
access the data. The full report will be available online. He described the methodology, which
was comparable to the 2010 survey process. The postcard invitation had approximately 415
responders and the open link had an additional 265 responders. He reviewed various
demographic profiles within the survey, the questions asked and results, the format of the
survey, comments received and overall outcome.
Cares said the overall response was positive and the respondents felt the town was heading in
the right direction. Daly stated he wanted to hear about the areas that need improvement as
well as the positive results. Cares said overall, there were more positive than negative
comments, but all the comments were in the packet given to Council for this meeting.
Donovan asked about the demographics and open link data. Cares said the open link survey
respondents were answered by full time residents versus second homeowners. Donovan
requested a more detailed report on the full time residents versus registered voters. Cares
stated his company will get more detailed information and respond to her request.
The sixth 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.
Matt Mire said the Council had seen the agreement a couple of times before in a work session
and a public meeting. He said Sections 5J and 5K were new additions to the agreement. These
were specifically added to address concerns about Wi-Fi standards, response times, repair and
monitoring.
Ron Braden, IT Director, introduced Gannon Sutter, Crown Castle Director of Sales and said he
will present a "30,000 feet" overview of the agreement and process.
Town Council Meeting Minutes of June 5, 2012 Page 3
Sutter said thanked the Council for the opportunity to work with the town and forging a wireless
infrastructure system to make sure Vail is keeping up with having a world class Wi-Fi service.
He said the solution is to have a shared comprehensive wireless system. The system will
support capacity and coverage. He also stated Steve Collin and Charlie Weaver from Aspen
Wireless were in the audience and are strategic partners for technical and program
management. Also in the audience was Mark Chamura who manages the relationships with the
wireless carriers like Sprint, ATT, Verizon and Cricket.
Sutter said Crown Castle is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange,
employs 1,200 employees, has $2 billion in annual revenue, is the largest shared wireless
infrastructure company in the United States with 24,000 towers, 10,000 distributed antenna
systems and their only business is operating the shared wireless infrastructure and maximizing
the amount of carriers that participate on their system. He reviewed various solutions, including
outdoor distributed antenna system, interior antenna system, towers, rooftops, fiber as well as
Wi-Fi off load. He reviewed the different types of possible scenarios and solutions. Crown
Castle has carrier -grade monitoring systems and they handle every aspect of the systems and
are a one -stop shop. Crown Castle pays for all the costs and charges the carriers to rent and
ride their system. They negotiate directly with the carriers. He said the ten-year contract is
pretty standard in the business. He said the town will review and approve all tower and system
locations.
He explained the difference between a distributed antenna systems versus a tower system.
The system the town will have will improve the capacity and coverage within the town. The cells
will be closer to the users and be smaller.
Tjossem said the community survey had a section on the cell phone service that is totally
inadequate in different sections in town and the response said the service was terrible. She
asked how the system will address those areas and issues.
Sutter said their company will work directly with staff and do a detailed analysis of each location
and test locations to help map out the design for each area that needs to be addressed. They
will maximize where the cells go and mainly have the cells on town property versus private
property.
Donovan asked about the different carriers, agreements and how will they work with the
carriers. Sutter said they will work with all the carriers to design the system to meet the needs
of the various carriers such as AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, etc. They need to meet their
design tolerances as well.
Tjossem said there is no guarantee that all carriers will sign with them. Sutter said that is
correct.
Donovan said they should look to meeting with staff to figure out the management of the data
and getting the high peak times and areas for winter and during special events. Sutter said they
are gearing up to provide service that meets the needs of the 2015 Championships and they are
looking at designing the system for the greatest demand of service.
Daly was concerned about the renewal on the contract and the five year options.
Town Council Meeting Minutes of June 5, 2012 Page 4
Mire said the telecom attorney has looked at this agreement and is satisfied with the agreement.
Daly said this is an automatic renewal after ten years and wants a paragraph included to allow
for the town to not renew if they don't like the service.
Mire said the renewal term needs at least two service provider carriers signed on to continue the
contract. Sutter said they would need at least two carriers using 51 % of the system to continue.
Mire said in the ninth year if the equipment is outdated, the service carriers wouldn't renew and
they couldn't exercise their renewal option.
Stephen Collin, with Aspen Wireless, said the system needs to be a good enough quality to
attract long term carrier commitments.
Sutter said it is in the best interest of all parties to keep the equipment and service at peak
levels.
Daly asked who is NewPath versus Crown Castle. Sutter said NewPath is a subsidiary of
Crown Castle. NewPath is their Colorado company which will be the service provider for Vail.
Braden stated the town has other agreements that are ten to twenty year agreements. Mire
said 25 years is standard in this industry.
Rogers said she wanted Council to be ultra diligent in pursuing and getting the best services for
the town due to problems in the past with the performance of Wi-Fi services and the quality of
cable television services. She likes that the agreement will be a role model for services to other
towns.
Rogers made a motion to approve Resolution No. 20, Series of 2012, and the motion was
seconded by Kurz and Moffet. A vote was taken and the motion passed, 7-0.
The seventh item on the agenda was the appointment of new members to the Commission on
Special Events (CSE), Vail Local Housing Authority (VLHA) and Vail Local Licensing
Authority (VLLA) boards.
Foley stated that all applicants except one were interviewed at the earlier work session in the
day. Staff requested the Council appoint one member to the CSE, one member to the VLHA
and two members to the VLLA at the evening meeting.
Kurz made a motion to appoint William "Barry" Davis to the CSE and the motion was seconded
by Foley. A vote was taken and the motion passed, 7-0.
Kurz made a motion to appoint Scott Ashburn to the VLHA and the motion was seconded by
Foley. A vote was taken and the motion passed, 7-0.
Kurz made a motion to appoint Michael Hannigan and Josh Carbo to the VLLA and the motion
was seconded by Donovan. A vote was taken and the motion passed, 7-0.
The eighth item on the agenda was a request to continue the Ever Vail major subdivision and
Ordinance Nos. 7, 8 and 9, Series of 2011 to the July 17, 2012, public hearing.
Town Council Meeting Minutes of June 5, 2012 Page 5
Moffet made a motion to continue the Ever Vail major subdivision and Ordinance Nos. 7, 8 and
9, Series of 2011 to the July 17, 2012, public hearing and the motion was seconded by Kurz. A
vote was taken and the motion passed, 7-0.
The ninth item on the agenda was the first reading of Ordinance No. 7, Series of 2012, an
ordinance repealing and reenacting the approved development plan for Phase IV of Special
Development District No. 6, Vail Village Inn, pursuant to Article 12-9A-10, Amendment
Procedures, Vail Town Code, to allow for the conversion of one existing fractional fee club unit
to one dwelling unit, located at 16 Vail Road (The Sebastian) / a portion of lots M, N, and O,
Block 5D, Vail Village Filing 1, and setting forth details in regard thereto.
Bill Gibson stated the applicant wished to have this item tabled to the next public hearing on
June 19, 2012.
Moffet made a motion to table first reading of Ordinance No. 7, Series of 2012, to the June 191h
meeting. The motion was seconded by Donovan. A vote was taken and the motion passed
unanimously, 7-0.
The tenth item on the agenda was first Reading of Ordinance No. 8, Series of 2012, an
ordinance amending the Official Zoning Map to rezone the Vail Golf Course Clubhouse (VGCC)
Parcel from the Outdoor Recreation District to the General Use District, located at 1778
Sunburst Drive/Vail Golf Course Clubhouse Parcel, and setting forth details in regard thereto.
Bill Gibson, Planner said this is first reading of the ordinance and there are two pieces to the
project. The Planning and Environmental Commission (PEC) approved the subdivision at their
May 14 meeting contingent upon Council's approval of the proposed rezoning. If the Council
does not approve the rezoning of the VGCC, the plat will become null and void. The second
part of this project is a proposed rezoning of the VGCC.
VGCC is part of a 57 acre unplatted parcel and constitutes a majority of the golf course itself. In
the early 1970's it was zoned agricultural and then in 1994 that was changed to -Outdoor
Recreation zone district. In 1995 the Outdoor Recreation District was applied to the VGCC.
The parking lot is located on a separate lot and in a separate General Use District zone district.
Currently, the VGCC is located in the Outdoor Recreation District and the parking lot is located
in the General Use District.
The proposed ordinance is intended to facilitate renovations to the Vail Golf Course in response
to the November 8, 2011, election. In November 2011, the Vail electorate approved ballot
question #1 which re -allocated conference center funds, in part, for the "Expansion and
improvement of the clubhouse at the Vail Golf Course and Nordic Center, including multi -use
community space." On May 14, 2012, the Planning and Environmental Commission (PEC)
approved, with conditions, a final plat establishing the VGCC Parcel. This final plat established
the golf course clubhouse as a separate development site from the remainder of the unplatted
golf course parcel. At that same hearing, the PEC forwarded a recommendation of approval for
the proposed rezoning of the VGCC Parcel from the Outdoor Recreation District to the General
Use District by a vote of 4-3-0 (Cartin, Pratt and Rediker opposed).
Town Council Meeting Minutes of June 5, 2012 Page 6
Gibson said the VGCC redevelopment project is going through the design review process due
to last Novembers' election. The town wants the VGCC and the parking lot to be in one zone
district instead of two. The change to the General Use District allows for more flexibility in the
project. He said the VGCC is considered a conditional use in the General Use District zoning.
The renovations to the golf course would need to have PEC and Design Review Board (DRB)
review. The table in the memo highlights the differences in each of the districts.
Tom Braun, with Braun and Associates, said he represents the Town in this matter. He
presented an overview of the project with Council. He said the reason to change the zoning is
to place the parking lot and the VGCC into one zone district instead of two districts. Staff chose
the General Use District as it made more sense because of quasi public government use. Most
other town properties like the Ford Amphitheater and Donovan Park are zoned General Use.
The General Use would allow for uniformity and more flexibility in height of 32 feet versus 24
feet allowed in Outdoor Recreation District.
Daly asked why Pratt, Cartin and Rediker from PEC were opposed. Appears they were
opposed due to not having a completed development plan and they were concerned about how
this affected adjacent property owners.
Gibson stated the town doesn't require a development plan at this stage of the process.
Debra Webster, an adjacent property owner, said she has lived in that area since 1992. She
has her home on the market and she is concerned this will lower the property values. Her home
faces the 18t' fairway and green. She said they had the expectation that this area would always
be green. She said the new event center would be replacing their golf course view with a
parking lot instead of green. She is concerned about property values being affected. She said
she had heard they were also moving the 18'h fairway. She stated she and other neighbors are
concerned and they have met with Mike Ortiz from the Vail Recreation District last summer.
Ortiz was forthright in addressing all their concerns. And they also met with representatives from
Zehren and Associates. There were suggestions made to add more landscaping and make it
denser around the area. She is also concerned about noise, parking, traffic and other impacts
from events at the event center to the surrounding neighborhood. She wants Council to
carefully consider the size and types of events that could be in the event center and how that
impacts the neighborhood.
Jim Lamont, representing the Vail Village Homeowners Association, said he thinks staff has
changed the rules of engagement. He said Council has the right, under consideration, during a
rezoning to hold the town to a higher degree for a rezoning. He requested the PEC and Council
get a development plan prior to approving the rezoning. He said basic issues like transportation,
landscaping, parking and such be addressed prior to rezoning. He said with town projects, a
level of detail needs to be held to a higher standard than a private developer. He urged Council
to require a development plan so the neighbors could review before Council signs off on the
ordinance on second reading.
Moffet made a motion to approve first reading of Ordinance No.8, Series of 2012, subject to the
findings in the staff memorandum dated June b, 2012, and the motion was seconded by Kurz.
Daly stated based on the work session meeting, the definition of what will be allowed hasn't
been completely defined. Daly said he is voting against this until more detail is provided. Foley
Town Council Meeting Minutes of June 5, 2012 Page 7
and Donovan said they are supporting the first reading of this ordnance but want to see more
detailed documentation. A vote was taken and the motion passed, 6-1, Daly opposed.
The eleventh item on the agenda was adjournment.
As there was no further business, Moffet made a motion to adjourn and the motion was
seconded by Foley. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously, 7-0. The meeting
adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
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Town Council Meeting Minutes of June 5, 2012 Page 8