HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-12-17 Town Council MinutesVail Town Council Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, December 17, 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
Margaret Rogers
Greg Moffet
Jenn Bruno
Dave Chapin
Dale Bugby
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 Citizen Participation. There were no comments.
The second item on the agenda was the Consent Agenda:
1) Resolution No. 10, Series of 2013 — Colorado Water Plan. Chuck Oligby, North
West Colorado Council of Government (NWCCOG) Water Quality/Quantity
Committee representative of the town and other municipalities, and Diane Johnson,
Eagle River Water Sanitation District (ERWSD), explained by passing Resolution 10,
the Council would be endorsing the West Slope Principles and Adopting the Eagle
River Basin Principles for the Colorado Water Plan. Moffet made a motion to adopt
Resolution No. 10 with a second from Bugby. There was no public comment. The
motion passed unanimously 7-0.
The third item on the agenda was the Town Managers Report.
1) Construction Use Tax Update. Judy Camp, Finance Director, spoke to Council regarding
the history and the process of collecting the Construction Use Tax. Camp said in
November 2007, voters approved a 4.0% use tax on construction and building materials
to complement the existing 4.0% sales tax on all other tangible personal property sold at
retail in the town. The tax was effective January 1, 2008, and has generated
approximately $5.5 million, which was to be used for capital projects. Camp stated
following completion of the construction project there is an opportunity for both the
contractor and the town to assure the correct amount of tax was paid based on actual
costs of the project by requesting an audit of the project. To date the town has not
performed any audits, nor has any contractor requested one. Recent valuations provided
by builders have shown significant variation in cost per square foot of similar type
projects, bringing into question the accuracy of the construction use tax collected. Some
contractors have expressed a concern that they have paid more tax than their
Town Council Meeting Minutes of December 17, 2013 Page 1
competitors on similar projects. Building permit fees are also based on valuation and
although this process does not address building permits per se, if more accurate
valuations are established at the time a permit is issued, permit fees will also be more
accurate. Camp explained currently the tax is collected at the time a building permit is
issued based on an estimated cost of materials equal to 50% of the building valuation as
determined by the building inspector based on information provided by the contractor.
The first $10,000 of valuation is exempt to provide relief for small projects. Camp said
the town staff was working with an outside consultant, RRG, to facilitate a new process
going forward to assure more accurate collection of the construction use tax. The
building and construction community have been invited to attend the regularly scheduled
"Breakfast with the Building Official" meeting on December 20th at 7:00 a.m. to learn
more about the new process. Camp added RRG is a private firm that specializes in
assisting local governments with the facilitation of programs that encourage regulatory
compliance. RRG had successfully implemented similar construction use programs for
other municipalities and the town had worked with RRG in the past on sales tax issues.
Moffet asked how other communities are confirming they are receiving the correct tax
amount. Camp stated other municipalities are also using companies similar to RRJ.
Rogers stated there needed to be a distinction between a homeowner who is remodeling
a bedroom or bathroom compared to brand new commercial construction. Rogers felt
residents should have a different, simpler process while large commercial construction
should have a more complex auditing system. Camp stated those processes are being
considered depending on the size of the construction job. Camp explained the auditors
would not make a decision and that it would be the town that had the ultimate decision
making on what process would be used. Camp added the auditor would be paid based
on who is requesting the audit, i.e., the town or the contractor. Bugby asked how RRG
is compensated. Camp responded it's a flat rate. Daly asked which party is responsible
for fees. Camp stated both contractor and owner would be held responsible for any
fees. Daly asked if there was any public comment and there was none.
2) Vail Recreation District Operating Agreement with Walking Mountains. Council had no
comment regarding this matter.
The fourth item on the agenda was the Appointment of Commission on Special Events (CSE)
and Vail Local Marketing District Advisory Committee (VLMDAC) members. Daly announced the
following would serve on the CSE for a two year term: Nicole Whitaker, Jeff Andrews, Bobby
Bank and Rayla Kundolf and Mark Gordon would serve a one year term on the CSE board.
Kurz made a motion to appoint the following to the CSE board with a second from Moffet. The
motion passed unanimously 7-0. Daly announced the following have been appointed by Council
to serve on the VLMDAC: John Dawsey, Jamie Gunion, Michael Holton and Laurie Mullen.
Kurz made a motion to appoint the following to the VLMDAC with a second from Moffet. The
motion passed unanimously 7-0.
The fifth item on the agenda was the Retail Marijuana Policy Discussion. Town Attorney Matt
Mire stated the town adopted a temporary ban on retail marijuana establishments, which expires
on January 21, 2014. Mire requested direction from Council on how they would like staff to
proceed by either prohibiting retail marijuana sales within the town; regulating such businesses;
or extending the temporary ban to allow the town to further study its options. Mire stated if
Council would like to have staff review the zoning and policies concerning marijuana
establishments operating within the town, he would request the moratorium be extended for
Town Council Meeting Minutes of December 17, 2013 Page 2
another 6 months. Moffet supported the 6 month extension and suggested seeing what the
county and other municipalities do and how successful their policies are. Moffet made a motion
to direct the town attorney to bring back an ordinance extending the moratorium for another 6
months with a second from Kurz. Rogers stated there was no direction given to Mire and she
thought taxation was the way to go, but if she was the only one interested in having staff
reviewing policies and zoning possibilities for establishments in town limits to sell or
manufacture retail marijuana then there would be no reason to extend the moratorium. Moffet
was uncomfortable on making a decision without more information from staff. Bruno agreed
with Moffet and would like to see what unravels from other municipalities who grant it. Chapin
said he would be the 4tn member who was interested in having more information regarding
establishments selling retail marijuana. Daly suggested a task force be created with Council
and staff. Rogers suggested all Council members be on the task force. All Council members
agreed with that suggestion. Bugby wanted to make it clear that it's legal for citizens to smoke in
their home but not in public. Chapin wants to see the town be proactive in getting the message
out and spreading awareness concerning legalizing marijuana. Daly asked for public comments.
Dave Manzanares, operator of Sweet Pioneer, a medical marijuana establishment in the Town
of Eagle, felt the liquor store and grocery stores would be the best way to get the message out
on where smoking is permitted. Manzanares additionally offered his expertise to Council if they
had any questions. Town of Vail Police Commander Craig Bettis spoke to Council about his
concerns and the legal issues he sees from allowing the retail establishments. Bettis asked
Council if this was really the business the town wanted to get into. The motion passed
unanimously 7-0
The sixth item on the agenda was the Vail Village Townhouse Zone (VVT) District Discussion.
On August 21, 2012, Council adopted Ordinance No. 2, Series of 2012, establishing the VVT
Zone District. The VVT Zone District was created following numerous public hearings before the
Planning and Environmental Commission (PEC) and Council first, then as a private property
owner initiated application and later, as a Community Development staff led effort. This VVT
Zone District was specifically initiated for developments like the Vail Row Houses 1-6 aka Vail
Townhouses Condominiums, Vail Row Houses 7-13, Vail Trails Chalets, Vail Trails East
Condominiums and the Texas Townhomes. With the VVT Zone District in place, staff reached
out to the property owners of the parcels originally identified as potentially suitable for rezoning.
A first correspondence requesting feedback was initiated on August 1, 2013, with a second
request occurring on November 18, 2013. The deadline for feedback from the November 18th
request was December 9, 2013. Community Development Planner Jonathan Spence asked
Council to refer to the map in their packets, which identified the five properties that are
potentially appropriate for the District. Three of the properties are condominium projects with
established home owner associations where decisions are made collectively within the
established bylaws. The remaining two buildings have been subdivided vertically resulting in
ownership of the land under the building not being held in common. Vail Townhouses
Condominiums (A), Vail Trails Chalets (C) and Vail Trails East (D) had submitted letters of
opposition representing their 56 units. Opposition has also been received from the owners of
units 11 and 11 B of Vail Row Houses 7-13, (B) and the owners of units 6 and 6B in the Texas
Townhomes (E). Of the approximately 77 unit owners, staff had received opposition from 60,
support from 4 and no response from the remaining 13. Spence stated based upon the
information received to date, staff was requesting Council to direct staff to do one of the
following three options: 1) initiate rezoning applications for 5 properties; 2) rezone the
application for Vail Row Houses 7-13 & Texas Townhomes; or 3) no action. Rogers expressed
frustration concerning how much time was spent on this issue. Rogers stated she was under the
Town Council Meeting Minutes of December 17, 2013 Page 3
impression this was what the people wanted and she was surprised to see the responses from
the public. Community Development Director George Ruther stated the process is a predictable
process now where before it was questionable on what the results would be from the design
review process. Rogers said the Vail Trails Chalet and the Vail Trails East would never be
developed due to the height regulations. Bugby stated option three was the better option and
he was not sure what Council was trying to preserve. Daly asked if there was any public
comment. Dominick Mauriello, representing the Vail Row Houses Unit 7-13, said that the height
is scaring more people away that it was not the square footage. Mauriello reminded Council
this issue has been discussed for the last five years and requested a rezoning application be
file. There was no further comment from the public. Moffet made a motion to move forward
with option #2 which is to move forward to the PEC with a rezoning application for Vail Row
Houses 7-13 and Texas Townhomes only, with a second from Kurz. Moffet added the existing
zoning was wrong for these properties. Moffet also thought this would increase conformance of
properties. Rogers disagreed with Moffet and said nothing had changed. Rogers thought
option #1 was the better direction. Bugby stated he would not support either option 1 or 2 and
that the only option to him that made sense was #3 for all properties and not just 9 out of 10.
Bugby felt the proposed zoning was wrong for condominiums. The motion passed 4-3 (Rogers,
Chapin and Bugby opposed).
The seventh item on the agenda was the second reading of Ordinance No. 22, Series of 2013,
An Ordinance making Budget Adjustments to the Town of Vail General Fund, Capital Projects
Fund, Real Estate Transfer Tax Fund, Dispatch Services Fund and Police Confiscations Federal
Fund of the 2013 Budget. Assistant Finance Director Kathleen Halloran reviewed the changes
to the ordinance since the first reading. Halloran said since the first reading, more firm bids
were received on the Mobile Communications vehicle. After working closely with the preferred
vendor NOMAD, the proposed budget of $350,000 was now reduced to $321,000. Halloran
explained 50% of the funding would come from the E911 Board funding of $85,000; the external
agencies funding $25,000; the E911 capital reserve in the Dispatch Services Fund $43,000; and
the Contribution from NOMAD, the vehicle vendor for $7,500. The town's Capital Projects Fund
would cover a net cost of $160,500. Moffet moved to pass Ordinance No. 22 with a second
from Kurz. There was no public comment. The motion passed 7-0.
The eighth item on the agenda was the second reading of Ordinance No. 23, Series of 2013
Commercial Ski Storage, An Ordinance Extending a Temporary Moratorium on the Processing
and Approval of all Business and Land Use Applications for Private Ski Club Uses within the
Town. Community Development Director George Ruther said a six month moratorium was set
in June and two weeks ago staff requested to extend the moratorium for another 6 months.
Ruther said Council directed staff to extend the moratorium for 90 days and staff was requesting
the moratorium expire on March 19 which is 92 days. Ruther stated the 92 days was needed
for staff to accomplish research and discuss current policies and current land uses; have
meetings with stakeholders; and update Council in March. Ruther said there was not a lot of
room to change the scope, which specifically is private ski clubs and ski storage and how they
impact the community. Bugby made a motion to pass Ordinance No. 23 with a 92 day
moratorium, with a second from Moffet. There was no public comment. The motion passed
unanimously 7-0.
The ninth item on the agenda was the second reading of Ordinance No. 24, Series of 2013, An
Ordinance Granting a Non -Exclusive Franchise Service Company of Colorado Regarding the
Provision of Natural Gas Service in the Town. Town attorney Matt Mire stated the current
Town Council Meeting Minutes of December 17, 2013 Page 4
franchise agreement ended in January 2014 and this agreement would be for an additional 20
years and increases the franchise fee to 3%. Rogers moved to pass Ordinance No. 24 with a
second from Moffet. There was no public comment. The motion passed unanimously 7-0.
Town manager wanted to add under his item that for New Years Eve, the town will proceed as
last year and that there would be no curfew enforced. Outside bus service will stop at 10:00
p. M.
The tenth item in the agenda was Adjournment. There being no further business,
Moffet made a motion to adjourn with a second from Kurz. The motion passed unanimously 7-0
and Council adjourned at 7:50 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Attest:
Andrew P. Daly, MayorL----�'
Ta my NAin n Clerk
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