HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-10-01 Town Council MinutesVail Town Council Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
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
Ludwig Kurz
Kerry Donovan
Kevin Foley
Margaret Rogers
Susie Tjossem
Greg Moffet
Staff members: Stan Zemler, Town Manager
Matt Mire, Town Attorney
Pam Brandmeyer, Assistant Town Manager
Tammy Nagel, Acting Town Clerk
The first item on the agenda was Recognition of Town Manager Stan Zemler's 10 year
anniversary September 22, 2013. Daly complemented Zemler on his many
accomplishments and his excellent leadership skills. Daly presented Zemler with a
plaque to commemorate his 10 years with the town. Daly stated he wanted to take this
time to present the award to Zemler publicly because Zemler takes his responsibility to
the community very serious. Zemler thanked the Department Directors, the town staff
and a great council and credited them towards his success through renaissance and
recession.
The second item on the agenda was Citizen Participation, of which there was none.
The third item on the agenda was the Consent Agenda:
1) Approval of September 3 and September 17 Town Council Meeting Minutes.
Moffet made a motion to approve the September 3, 2013, Town Council
meeting minutes as presented, with a second from Rogers. The motion
passed unanimously (7-0).
Moffet made a motion to approve the September 17, 2013, Town Council
meeting minutes as presented, with a second from Rogers. The motion
passed 6-0-1(Donovan abstained).
2) Appointment of Regular Municipal Election Judges.
Town Council Meeting Minutes of October 1, 2013 Page 1
Moffet made a motion to approve the appointment of the following as judges
for the Regular Municipal Election to be held on Tuesday November 5, 2013:
Vi Brown, Holiday Cole, Carol McKown, Earl Best, Meryl Jacobs, Mary Caster
Summer Holm, Mary Ann Best, Jane Harelson and Katherine Schmidt, with a
second from Donovan. The motion passed unanimously (7-0). Council stated
they were extraordinarily grateful for donating their time.
3) Resolution No. 11, Series of 2013 — Eagle River Water and Sanitation District
(ERWSD). Moffet made a motion to approve Resolution No. 11, 2013, a
resolution approving certain water facility easements and water agreement
between the Town of Vail and Eagle River Water and Sanitation District; and
setting fourth details in regard thereto, with a second from Foley. The motion
passed 6-0-1 (Kurz abstained).
4) Resolution No. 12, Series of 2013 — Town of Vail approval of Vail Local
Marketing District (VLMD) Budget. Moffet made a motion to approve the
2014 VLMD budget, with a second from Rogers. The motion passed 6-1
(Foley against). Foley stated the VLMD should not use funds from the
general operating account for special events and should use funding for
special event through the VLMD.
5) Ordinance No. 14, Series of 2013 — Tabled to October 15, 2013, Town
Council Meeting. Moffet moved to table the second reading of Ordinance No.
14, Series of 2013, to the October 15 Town Council meeting, with a second
from Donovan. The motion passed unanimously 7-0.
The fourth item on the agenda was Town Managers Report. Zemler reminded council
that town staff would be hosting a town council candidate briefing on October 8 in the
Council Chambers to discuss the 2014 budget and current projects and issues
occurring in town.
The fifth item on the agenda was the first reading of Ordinance No. 15, Series of 2013,
an ordinance adopting a budget and financial plan and making appropriations to pay the
costs, expenses and liabilities of the Town of Vail, Colorado for its fiscal year January 1,
2014, through December 31, 2014. Zemler stated this is a proposed $54 million dollar
budget and it is a balanced budget that is required by law. Staff feels comfortable that
service levels will remain at levels the town is accustomed to and proud of. A number of
iconic events that are highlighted in the budget are being paid for from General Fund
reserves, such as the US Burton World Snowboard Championships and the Pro Cycling
Challenge, that the town is hoping would return in 2014. Zemler went onto say that
although the sales tax collections have been strong these past months, the town is still
not at the same revenue levels as 2008 in total. Kathleen Halloran, Town of Vail
Assistant Finance Director, reviewed with council a memorandum in response to
council's questions from their first look at the operating budget during the September 17
work session.
Town Council Meeting Minutes of October 1, 2013 Page 2
Council requested a five year look at funding levels for the Commission on Special
Events (CSE) and Council Contributions. Rogers asked why there was a decrease in
the CSE and Council Contribution in the 2014 budget if the direction was to remain flat.
Halloran stated the increase as shown in the 2013 budget is from Council approving a
one-time increase for certain CSE items such as marketing research and a Memorial
Day event. Rogers stated there was going to be another Memorial Day event in 2014
and the funding was to assist the event in establishing Vail is open in May. Halloran
stated she was following council's direction that these items in 2013 were one-time
funded items and had been removed from the proposed 2014 budget. Rogers stated
this is why she would be voting against the budget because if the request was to be flat
then there should not be a decrease in CSE's funding nor in Council Contributions.
Donovan asked at what level the Memorial Day event was funded and Halloran
responded $85,000. Donovan asked where that dollar amount would come from.
Rogers thinks the budget needs to be more realistic and if that amount cannot be found,
there is $24 million in reserves. Tjossem agreed with Rogers that there needs to be a
Memorial Day event and wondered if there will be any wiggle room after the CSE
allocates next year's funding. Tjossem when onto say that in the past, a couple
previously funded events for whatever reason dropped off, which then caused a surplus
in the CSE budget. Sybil Navas, CSE Coordinator, confirmed that the Memorial Day
event did receive $85,000 and there was additional funding received for marketing and
survey studies and the Living Well Summit event. Navas stated the event Soulfest did
drop out because of CSE's decision the event was not at the requested quality and the
allocated funding for that event was reallocated to the Holdiaze event because Vail
Resorts pulled their funding for this event. Navas stated allocation event requests are
due October 21 sc so the CSE board has not yet seen any proposals for a Memorial Day
event, but the members do feel it is necessary to establish an event for that holiday
weekend. Daly asked for any council comments on this topic. Moffet said he was
comfortable increasing the funding for something like the US Burton Championship
because he felt the average daily rates (ADR's) are at their highest. Moffet stated he
was entirely uncomfortable with the idea of increasing the funding for this event without
knowing where the funding would come from and when the ADR's are at their lowest.
Moffet said he was frustrated that council has not had a strategic conversation with
CSE. Zemler suggested council allow CSE to go through their process and have CSE
report back December 3 and if there is an area council would like to see more funding to
go toward, then council can discuss allocating more funding toward that event.
Donovan stated council gave onetime funding to the Memorial Day event for it to grow
legs so that in the future that event could go through the fair CSE process for future
funding. Daly asked if other council members were interested in funding additional
events at this time. Kurz recommended following Zemler's lead and wait to see what
CSE comes to council with on December 3rd and to keep the Council Contributions at
the level currently being proposed for the 2014 budget. Not all council members agreed.
Council moved onto the next subject regarding the conversation of 12 multi -season
seasonal employees to full-time employees. Daly stated he had a comment concerning
the answer to the first question "what makes up the average of $20,000 per position
Town Council Meeting Minutes of October 1, 2013 Page 3
being converted." Daly went on to say that in the second sentence of the answer "The
difference in wages is approximately $4,000 per position primarily to cover the
additional four weeks of work." Daly said it did not seem to make sense to put people
on for an additional 4 weeks when there is no work for them. Halloran replied the town
does have work for them due to the extension of services further into "off-season" for
example the bus drivers. Rogers stated staff has stated there is work for them and they
should receive fulltime benefits out of fairness. Kurz agreed with Rogers that council
needs to be fair and equitable to all employees and to go with staff's recommendation
for the budget. Moffet feels staff is stretched and looking at the history from the 2008
cuts, Moffet said that this is the first time the town has rebounded in staff levels and he
feels comfortable trusting staff's recommendation. Tjossem stated she felt comfortable
with staff's recommendation for these few employees to become fulltime. Daly stated
with no further comments and with four council members in agreement, staff is directed
to go forward with the fulltime employment of those 12 positions.
Council moved onto discuss the next topic of the Capital Projects Fund. The first item
was the funding of the Mobile Communications Van. Daly stated council agreed they
were not willing to fund the entire $350,000, but would commit to funding 50% with the
remaining 50% matched by other partners such as the E911 Board and other county-
wide agencies. Halloran reminded council that the $175,000 is not currently in the
proposed budget and staff just wanted to confirm council's commitment to the 50%. Al
council agreed to the 50% commitment.
The next item on Capital Projects Fund was radio replacement for a portion of the
town's radio inventory. Halloran stated Motorola has agreed to a substantial discount
as part of their sponsorship of the 2015 World Alpine Ski Championships. The
replacement of just a portion of the radios will cost $176,000 and the remainder of the
radios will be replaced in 2018. No Council members disagreed with staff's
recommendation.
Next was the replacement of the "Livescan" fingerprint equipment for $28,000. Halloran
stated the equipment needed to be updated quickly and requested to approve this
project for 2013, with the amount to be included in a budget supplemental in December.
Council all agreed that staff could move forward with the project now and to allocate this
amount into a 2013 supplemental.
Council moved onto to discuss the Real Estate Transfer Tax (RETT) Fund. The first
item under this fund was the Library Recreation Path project being split between the
2014 and 2015 budget. All council members were in agreement with that
recommendation.
Council agreed to move $250,000 into the 2013 budget for the planning and design of
the Booth Creek Park redevelopment and the replacement of the Booth Creek tennis
courts to occur in 2014. The remainder of the redevelopment will occur in 2017.
Town Council Meeting Minutes of October 1, 2013 Page 4
Rogers stated she had one more item to discuss under RETT. Rogers felt the town
wasted $65,000 of Betty Ford Alpine Gardens' money by council approving a site for an
education center next to the schoolhouse. The Betty Ford Alpine Gardens spent money
on a design for that location and when they came and presented their design, the
council changed their mind on the site for the education center. Rogers felt the town
should supplement their loss. Moffet agreed with Rogers. Donovan still cannot support
it because there are other entities that did not get their way when they went through the
process. Donovan didn't think it was fair to reimburse one entity and not others.
Tjossem was not willing to reimburse them for their loss at this time but would be open
to future discussion of financial support once the Ford Park Master plan is approved and
a site has been designated for the educational center. Council majority did not agree
and Daly said council will not reimburse Betty Ford Alpine Gardens for their expense
incurred.
Donovan and Daly requested council next review the proposed 2014 budget line by line.
Daly stated he had one request from staff for the next reading and that is for more
information concerning employee benefits health care. The costs are going up from
$2,875,000 in 2013 to $3,150,000 in the proposed 2014 budget. Daly requested to see
more details regarding the split on what employees are funding and what the town is
funding. Daly has concerns of growing deductibles and what that may look like long
term. Halloran stated the cost sharing is 25/75 with 25% paid by employees and 75%
paid by the town and staff planned on continuing that practice. Daly asked if council had
any comments or questions concerning the General Fund. Council had no comments
or questions.
Daly asked if council had any questions or comments regarding the Summary of
Revenue, Expenditures and Change in Fund Balance in the General Fund. Daly
pointed out to council a significant decrease in reserve funds since 2012. Donovan
requested staff provide more information of what Daly is pointing out concerning the
reserves. Donovan stated that it was important to leave healthy reserves for future
councils.
Daly asked if there were any comments concerning council contributions, specially Tier I
—Vail Brand Events, Tier II — Extraordinary events, Tier III — Services Expertise and Tier
IV- Life Long Learning. Rogers stated she opposed keeping the Tier I events flat for
two years. Rogers expressed concern the increase in operation costs and innovative
cost goes up every year and those increases are not considered when allocating money
to iconic events such as Bravo and the Vail Jazz Festival. Rogers also opposed Tier IV
— Life Long Learning being funded at only $15,000. Rogers stated certain events
producers were unaware they needed to have their application in for funding by a
certain time. Rogers proposed allocating a minimum of $75,000 for Life Long Learning
and let the CSE provide criteria for these kinds of events to see if they would qualify for
funding and if they do then the CSE can make those recommendations for funding to
council. Kurz agreed with Rogers and thought it was the right thing to do because
Town Council Meeting Minutes of October 1, 2013 Page 5
council did make a commitment to Tier IV. Kurz requested staff to find a way to make
that happen. Foley suggested taking it out of the Vail Local Marketing District (VLMD)
Fund. Donovan agreed with Foley that council should hand over that tier to the VLMD
because of their marketing knowledge which could be beneficial to those events.
Tjossem agreed with having a $75,000 placeholder and agreed with Kurz and
requested staff comes back at the next meeting with an answer. Moffet expressed
concern that there was no strategic plan concerning that tier and suggested if council
were going to put that money into the budget, then council needs to know what that
strategic vision is and define what council is trying to accomplish. Council agreed to
increase the Tier IV amount by $75,000 and requested staff to look at how to fund that
amount even if it means to turn over that tier to the VLMD to assist with the marketing
part.
Donovan expressed being nervous on spending reserves on permanent events such as
US Burton and Pro Challenge. Donovan stated these permanent events need to find a
home in the budget.
Susie questioned why the revenue source concerning permit and licensing fees has not
gone up for 10 years and suggested increasing these fees to the appropriate amount in
increments over time.
With no further comments, Daly moved onto Capital Projects and stated all items were
discussed at council's last session and asked if anyone had any comments or
suggested changes. Moffet made an appeal on behalf of the Chamonix housing project
and suggested council budget money for a marketing study. He also requested a
budget for at least a duplex, if not the entire infrastructure project. Foley agreed.
Rogers asked if that was a good use of money for one infrastructure. George Ruther,
Community Development Director, thought it was feasible to build in phases such as 5
duplex units. Ruther thought money might even be saved. Zemler stated staff could
come back at the next meeting with more information concerning that project and
recommended that council look at the housing market study that was done a few years
ago. Daly asked if there were any further comments regarding Capital Projects.
Donovan said she was still uneasy with the installation of the 19 cameras for the 2015
Ski Championships. Donovan questioned if the drive was really for the 2015 Ski
Championships, then why would the town be bearing all the costs of this expense. Vail
Police Chief Dwight Henninger stated cameras are mostly used for loading and delivery,
but they have also assisted in solving some crimes. Rogers felt it is the council's
primary responsibility to make the town safe for the citizens and guests. All council
members agreed it should stay in the budget.
Council moved onto the Real Estate Transfer Tax Fund. Donovan asked why there was
$25,000 being allocated to separate the Ford Park and Donovan Master Plans and if it
was appropriate for this item to be funded from this fund because it has nothing to do
with preserving open space and is more of an administrative housekeeping item.
Rogers stated open space was not the only criteria for spending RETT funds and that
Town Council Meeting Minutes of October 1, 2013 Page 6
park and recreation were other criteria for the use of RETT funds. She felt it was
appropriate for this item to be funded out of that fund. Rogers also stated she thought
$25,000 was too much to spend on separating these master plans. Kurz agreed with
Donovan. Ruther stated there are new conditions being implemented in Ford Park that
would not be appropriate for Donovan Park. This is why these master plans need to be
separated. Ruther went on to say that there are maps that discuss both Ford Park and
Donovan Park; therefore, by changing the Ford Park Master Plan you cannot have the
Donovan Park left lingering. Ruther additionally said he did estimate high with $25,000
because he would rather be over on his estimate than to come back and ask council for
a supplement. Tjossem asked where the funding for the Ford Park Master Plan came
from. Ruther responded RETT and he also stated he would look into cost further. There
were no changes requested by council for the second reading of the proposed budget
regarding this item.
Foley questioned $304,000 for Ford Park safety improvements and asked what exactly
is going to happen. Greg Hall, Public Works Director, stated the town would be
updating the playground and the restrooms. Rogers does not have a problem leaving it
in as a placeholder knowing staff will have to come back to council for approval for
spending that money. With no further comments from council, the allocation was left as
proposed.
Daly opened the 2014 proposed budget for public comment.
Alby Segall, President of the Vail Symposium, wanted to clarify their proposal under the
Tier IV funding recommendation. Segall stated everything the Vail Symposium does is
programing and they operate on a very narrow budget. There was no further public
comment.
Moffet made a motion to approve on first reading with requested to staff for further
information on some items, with a second from Kurz. The motion passed 6-1. (Rogers
opposed)
The sixth item on the agenda was first reading of Ordinance No. 1, Series of 2013, An
Ordinance Adding a New Section 2-1-4 to the Vail Town Code, to Ensure Adequate
Funding for the Town's Long -Range Capital Program. Town Attorney Matt Mire
explained the Town Charter previously required a 50/50 split of sales tax revenue
between capital and general fund unless overridden by a supermajority of council. The
electors approved a change to the Charter in November and this ordinance will allow
council to come back year to year and establish the split. If council deviates from the
split percentage at the second reading of the budget then council will need a super
majority vote. Donovan stated in the future this ordinance should be discussed before
going through the process to allow philosophical discussions. Judy Camp, Finance
Director, agreed the split could be discussed earlier in the budget process when staff
presents the revenue forecast. Donovan made a motion to approve Ordinance No. 1,
Series of 2013 as read, with a second from Foley. Daly asked if there was any public
Town Council Meeting Minutes of October 1, 2013 Page 7
comment. There was none. With no further comments from council, the motion passed
7-0.
The seventh item on the agenda was Adjournment. There being no further business,
Donovan made a motion to adjourn with a second by Moffet. Motion passed and council
adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Attest: -
Andrew P. Daly, Mayor
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Town Council Meeting Minutes of October 1, 2013 Page 8