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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 k Tandy Nage ,Acting Town erk ' O ' O� y: W : J •o Town Council Meeting Minutes of October 1, 2013 Page 8