HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-07-15 Town Council MinutesVail Town Council Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
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, Mayor Pro Tern
Jenn Bruno
Dale Bugby
Dave Chapin
Greg Moffet
Margaret Rogers
Staff members: Stan Zemler, Town Manager
Matt Mire, Town Attorney
Pam Brandmeyer, Assistant Town Manager
Patty McKenny, Town Clerk
The first item on the agenda was Citizen Participation.
1. Dick Clyde resident of Palm Beach and serving on their City Council, spoke about 1) the
informal dress code, 2) the difference in meeting times, evening vs. afternoon, and
3) missing bench at Spruce Way for a westbound bus stop. His daughter who lives in Vail
made note of this missing bench at that location.
2. Marion Curtin, supporter of the West Vail community garden, thanked town council for all
their support.
3. Jonathan Levine, owner of Hummers of Vail, encouraged council to support the operation of
limousines for the 2015 championships and spoke about the growing popularity of the uber
services offered around the country. He asked the town council to support this kind of
transportation service as a viable option in Vail.
4. Kevin Foley, resident and former council member, spoke about VRD's celebration next
Tuesday for the new 18th hole; he invited the public to invited. He also asked them for
support of the Children's Hospital bike ride and thanked them for the triple bypass bike ride
support.
The second item on the agendas was the Consent Agenda as follows:
1) Resolution No. 20, Series of 2014, VLMD Supplemental Budget
Moffet moved to approve the consent agenda, Resolution No. 20; Kurz seconded the motion
and it passed unanimously (7-0).
The third item on the agenda was action as a result of the executive session. Town Attorney
Matt Mire noted the topics discussed at the earlier executive session and the following motions
were made:
1. Regarding the Timber Ridge redevelopment proposal —
Moffett moved to authorize Town Manager Stan Zemler and staff to continue negotiations with
Gary Gorman and Jen Wright and to bring back proposed modifications to the current lease
Town Council Meeting Minutes of July 15, 2014 Page 1
structure for the Council's consideration and eventual public discussion. Kurz seconded and the
motion passed unanimously (6-1; Bugby nay).
2. Regarding Lot 10 (adjacent to WMC) —
Moffett moved to authorize Town Manager Stan Zemler to obtain an appraisal of Lot 10. Kurz
seconded and the motion passed unanimously (7-0).
3. Regarding the possible use of the Town's municipal parking lot and current Community
Development site in Vail Valley Medical Center Master Plan (WMC) —
Moffett moved to authorize the Town Manager Stan Zemler and staff to continue negotiations
with WMC and to further analyze opportunities regarding possible use of portions of the Town
municipal site in the WMC master plan for parking and for other uses. Kurz seconded and the
motion passed unanimously (7-0).
The fourth item on the agenda was the Town Manager's Report; there was nothing reported at
this time.
The fifth item on the agenda was an appeal, pursuant to Section 12-3-3, Appeals, Vail Town
Code, of the final decision of the Town of Vail Planning and Environmental Commission on May
12, 2014, denying a request for a major exterior alteration, pursuant to Section 12-713-7, Exterior
Alterations and Modifications, Vail Town Code, to allow for the construction of additions to the
northeast corner of Wall Street Building, located at 225 Wall Street/Lots B&C, Block 5C, Vail
Village Filing 1, and setting forth details in regard thereto. (PEC140010) Dave Chapin recused
himself from consideration of this item due to a conflict of interest on the matter related to
leasing space in the building. Presenters for this matter included Bill & Meg Hanlon,
representing MECO, LLP and Mark Sumon, architect for the project as well as Warren
Campbell, Community Development staff. Mayor Daly summarized that the Planning and
Environmental Commission denied the request for a major exterior alteration or modification, to
construct new commercial floor area on the first floor at the northeast corner of the Wall Street
Building, by a vote of 4-3-0. It was noted that the action requested of council included
consideration of the information provided by the appellants, and hearing on the merits of the
appeal, and then a decision to either uphold, uphold with modifications, or overturn the Planning
and Environmental Commission's May 12, 2014, decision. The procedural criteria for the
appeals process was identified in the packet memo and creates the structure of how the
information is provided and considered by the town council. The historical decisions and
conditions made in reference to this project and application were also outlined in the packet
materials, which have occurred through 2013 and year to date 2014. The last action was on
June 17, 2014, when the Vail Town Council continued this item to the evening's July 15, 2014,
public hearing. Bill & Meg Hanlon and Mark Sumon spoke on behalf of their application. There
were some general questions and comments made by town council members. Mayor Daly
asked for public input and the following persons spoke about this appeal as follows:
Dan Wolf, attorney representing Wall Street Condominium Association, expressed the
Association's full support of the application in its current design as it is in the best interest of
the owners of the property, both residential & commercial owners. There was concern
expressed that if this redevelopment did not get approval now, improvements would never
get completed. He asked for their support of this particular application.
John Brennan, Vendettas owner, has reviewed the application and pictures of the view
corridors, and does not see any issues with this application. He encouraged council
members to support this project.
Town Council Meeting Minutes of July 15, 2014 Page 2
Paul Gotthelf, real estate agent, encouraged the council member's support approval of the
plan as the property so very badly needs to be redeveloped. He doesn't see that saving the
view corridor is all that impactful to the project, since the view it would save is so small.
Olin & Jay Park, owners of 304 Wall Street, expressed their support of the application noting
they have no other agenda other than the building just needs to be improved upon and this
does that in terms of design and exterior updates.
There was no further input from staff or the public and the appellant, Meg Hanlon, thanked all
who participated in the process. The public hearing on the matter was closed and council
deliberated on the application at this time. The general consensus was that the project
application should be able to proceed as submitted. Bugby asked if the chamfered corner
design required by PEC was a code guideline for just a preference; Campbell stated it was not a
guideline. Moffet moved to overturn the PEC decision denying a request for a major exterior
alteration, pursuant to Section 12-7B-7, Exterior Alterations and Modifications, Vail Town Code,
to allow for the construction of additions to the northeast corner of Wall Street Building, located
at 225 Wall Street/Lots B&C, Block 5C, Vail Village Filing 1. Rogers seconded the motion and
noted that while the council's preference is typically not to vote against a decision made by one
of the Boards, this case and the submitted application in its current capacity does address a
much needed improvement for the Wall Street building. In addition, she noted the
overwhelming public support for the application, including both the neighbors and business
owners, which only secured her decision to support overruling the PEC decision. Kurz also
supported the motion to overturning the decision especially in light of the fact that the
redevelopment would likely not happen otherwise. Community Development staff requested the
motion include the conditions from the May 12th PEC meeting, and both Moffet and Rogers
agreed to include those conditions as an amendment to the first and seconded motion. The
motion passed unanimously (6-0-1; Chapin recused due to conflict).
The sixth item on the agenda was discussion about the funding request by EGE Air Alliance
and Eagle County for the Toronto Flight Guarantee for 2014/15 Season. Mike Brown, EGE
Chairman, Greg Philips, Eagle County Regional Airport and Gabe Shalley, Vail Resorts, Inc.,
were present to discuss this topic. It was noted the EGE Air Alliance and the Eagle County
Regional Airport partnered in Winter 2013/14 to bring the first ever international scheduled
service to the airport from Toronto with Air Canada with great success during February and
March. In order to retain the non-stop flights for a condensed schedule in 2014/15, Air Canada
requested a minimum revenue guarantee capped at $115,000. The EGE Air Alliance in
partnership with Eagle County and the Eagle County Regional Airport requested supplemental
funding up to $57,500 from the Town of Vail to provide a minimum revenue guarantee for non-
stop service from Toronto January 31 through March 21, 2015. Flights will occur weekly on
Saturdays during this time period. It was noted their request had also been made to other
parties, including Vail Resorts and City of Aspen. Those who have committed only include
Eagle County and those who are not committing include Beaver Creek Resort Company. It was
also noted they are still evaluating the Houston flight for next season. There was a reminder
that the commitment is to "pledge" the revenue in case the flight does not generate the revenue
guaranteed, so the funding may or may not be needed and an amount would not be confirmed
until end of the next season. Vail Resorts, Inc. agreed to support the flight with some
incremental marketing funding. There was also discussion about some of the following:
✓ The idea of getting the airlines to commit to a flight price guarantee
Town Council Meeting Minutes of July 15, 2014 Page 3
✓ The question about who the real stakeholders should include and the role of each, i.e., VRI,
Eagle Airport, EGE Air Alliance, the communities including Beaver Creek
✓ Why isn't there work towards creating a European connection with the Canada flight
✓ A request to review the proposed flight guarantee agreements
The summary of the funding request was $115,000 in order to guarantee the Toronto flight
would commit to the upcoming season. Eagle County had already committed $57,500 to the
request. Bugby questioned the seat revenue guarantee and the airlines motivation to fill the
plane by lowering rates rather than relying on us to pay for the empty seats. Bugby requested a
copy of the air alliance / airline seat revenue agreement being discussed and was promised a
copy by Brown and Phillips. Moffet then moved to add $30,000 to the 2015 Town of Vail budget
in order to help secure the flight and noted the Town is looking for a match from Beaver Creek
Resort Company to also help with securing this flight. After some clarification from finance staff,
Moffet requested the funding be budgeted in the 2014 budget. With some further discussion
about clarifying who has come to the table with committed funding, Moffett revised his motion to
approve that Town of Vail would commit to a $25,000 revenue pledge for the Toronto flight with
an additional dollar match pledge up to $14,000 based on a committed pledge from Beaver
Creek Resort Company for the Toronto flight. The pledge would be appropriated in the 2014
budget. Kurz seconded the motion and it passed unanimously (7-0). The public was invited to
comment and no one responded.
The seventh item on the agenda was an update on the Vail Village Welcome Center Remodel
presented by Greg Hall and John King, Public Works. It was noted the town budgeted for a
remodel of the Vail Village Welcome Center and to date the remodel design plans have been
completed, priced and valued engineered with the selected contractor as GE Johnson
Construction, who completed the construction management / general contractor public proposal
process. There was some discussion about using a bid process vs. this process and it was
noted that projects have been filtered through both with pros and cons resulting from both
processes. There was explanation as to the increase of construction costs as being due to an
increase in activity with building and time of year. Moffet moved to authorize the additional
$260,000 toward the Vail Village Welcome Center Remodel project budget and directed the
Town Manager to award and enter into a contract for construction with GE Johnson. Kurz
seconded the motion and it passed with a six to one vote (6-1; Bugby opposed).
The eighth item on the agenda was first reading of Ordinance No. 13, Series 2014, an
ordinance making adjustments to the Town of Vail General Fund, Capital Projects Fund, Real
Estate Transfer Tax Fund and Dispatch Services Fund. Kathleen Halloran, Assistant Finance
Director, presented this ordinance with some highlights as follows (further details in the council
packet memo):
The General Fund saw some adjustments of a net increase of $714,073 from an increase to Sales
Tax projections with an offset of expenditures of $32,073 for the High Visibility DUI grant ($30K) and
reimbursement for direct expenses incurred in assisting with the Red Tail Ranch fire ($2,073). These
adjustments to the General Fund 2014 budget result in an estimated fund balance of $15.5 million by
the end of 2014, or 48% of annual revenues.
The Capital Projects Fund revenue would be adjusted by a total increase of $1,088,000, mainly from
increased projections of both Sales Tax ($418,000 out of a total of $1.1 million projected increase)
and Construction Use Tax ($500,000). The total request was to supplement 2014 expenditures by a
total of $470,900 as noted by the following new projects or increases:
Town Council Meeting Minutes of July 15, 2014 Page 4
✓ $330,000 total increase to the Energy Enhancement project for the lighting upgrades to LED
throughout town facilities as approved by Council May 6th. $170,000 of this is reimbursed by Holy
Cross Electric (as mentioned above), and the additional $160,000 necessary to retrofit lighting
fixtures to utilize LED technology.
✓ $135,000 in computer hardware to begin the replacement of the town's Intel platform (no longer
supported since September 2013) with a new virtual server chassis environment of three
"Simplivity Omnicubes". IT will be requesting additional funds in the 2015 and 2016 budgets to
ultimately install a total of seven "Omnicubes.
✓ $5,900 is requested to upgrade the AM1610 public information radio equipment, which has been
out of commission for approximately one year. The information provided on this channel includes
road conditions, parking conditions, etc. and is broadcast only within town limits based on the
location of radio tower equipment.
All of the above adjustments would result in an estimated fund balance of $14.0 million by the end of
2014.
Real Estate Transfer Tax (RETT) Fund budgeted revenues will increase by a total of $1.1 million, with
$1.0 million increase forecasted for RETT collections and $99,900 reimbursement from CDOT (with
corresponding expenditure) for water quality vaults to be installed as part of the implementation of the
Gore Creek Water Quality Improvement Plan.
Staff is also requesting to supplement 2014 expenditures by $250,000 in recycling education and
rebates as approved by Council May 6th. Specifically, $50,000 will be used for community education;
$75,000 for recycling rebates to help offset startup costs for commercial participants and $125,000
recycling container rebates for residential participants. Also included are two of the off -cycle
contribution requests in the RETT fund as described in staff recommendations on pages 4-5. The
recycling program "Actively Green in 2015" ($37K) and fencing around the West Vail Community
Garden ($18.5K) are proposed for funding from RETT based on environmental and parks/recreation
eligibility requirements. The proposed budget adjustments will result in an estimated fund balance of
$2.9 million by the end of 2014.
Dispatch Services Fund The E911 Authority Board committed a total of $85,000 toward the purchase
of a Mobile Communications Vehicle purchased this year. The town has received payment for
$68,200, with the remaining $16,800 to be funded from the annual capital contributions the E911
Board makes to the Dispatch Services Fund. The $16,800 needs to be transferred to the Capital
Projects Fund from where the Mobile Communications Vehicle is being paid.
The 2014 Off -Cycle Contribution requests included the following:
a. Colorado Ski Museum requesting $6,500 to complete development of a new multi -media interactive
Self -Guided Tour Mobile App so that it can be in use by the start of this ski season.
b. Vail Leadership Institute requesting $8,500 of funding to support the Leadership Tribute event on
December 12 at the 10th restaurant on Vail Mountain.��r
c. Vail Symposium requesting in -kind contribution of approxi,�' Id be less depending
on the facility used) for use of the Donovan Pavilion, Gr tiv and the brary. Anticipated use
from now until December is one of the venues approxi tel3 times. ''
d. Walking Mountains requesting a total of $40,000 for th oniinu#�i� 14re plelebration.
ly Green 2015
sustainable destination project to include 1) $6,000 for stclindPsirify trainmgsown businesses,
2) $6,000 would be used for sustainability certification s 0;1 s rvices fgrtousinesses and
3) $28,000 would be used for a marketing campaign and a cog ' '
The town contributed $16,000 from the Environmental Sust cog
the start of this project
along with $40,000 from the Vail Valley Foundation.
e. West Vail Community Garden requesting $18,500 to help fund the construction of a wildlife fence
surrounding the garden, as presented to Council April 15th.
There were some council questions and concerns expressed about the following items:
Town Council Meeting Minutes of July 15, 2014 Page 5
Mayor Daly expressed some concerns about the expenditures for the computers and requested
that staff bring a more comprehensive plan showing the full implementation plan for the
upgrades to the town's intel platform.
Mayor Daly made some inquiries about the funding for the Walking Mountains request. Kim
Langmaid, Walking Mountains, spoke about the implementation of the Actively Green program
noting the breakdown of expenditures to the work plan. There were some questions about the
participation level from other groups in the valley, including specifically Beaver Creek and Vail
Valley Foundation. Langmaid noted that the focus was 1) to educate and engage the Vail
businesses on the program, and 2) implement this program to then serve as a long term legacy
attributed to Town of Vail. There were comments that instructed Walking Mountains to only
spend this funding on getting Vail business owners aligned with the program.
Both Rogers and Chapin noted their support of the Colorado Ski Museum funding request. It
was suggested the benefits of the mobile application proposal far outweigh the costs involved in
its implementation. There was additional support from other council members in light of the fact
there were parties committed to provide funding. It was requested that there be a brief
demonstration of this mobile application at the next meeting, August 5cn
Moffett moved to approve Ordinance No. 13, Series 2014, noting that the Walking Mountains
funding only include supporting Vail businesses. Kurz seconded the motion and it passed
unanimously (7-0).
The ninth item on the agenda was second reading of Ordinance No. 12 Series of 2014, An
Ordinance Extending the Temporary Ban on Marijuana Establishments in the Town, Pursuant to
Section 16 of Article XVIII of the Colorado Constitution (Amendment 64). George Ruther
presented this topic on behalf of the Town Attorney noting there were no changes made to the
ordinance for second reading. It was noted the effective date for the moratorium would expire
Tuesday, August 4, 2015. Bugby moved to approve Ordinance No. 12 Series of 2014 on 2"d
reading; Kurz seconded the motion and it passed unanimously (7-0). There were no public
comments made on this topic.
The tenth item on the agenda was adjournment. There being no further business to come
before the council, Moffet moved to adjourn the meeting and Bugby seconded. The motion
passed unanimously, (7-0) and the meeting adjourned 8:15 p.m.
�N t7F y, Respectfully Submitted,
•
Attest: SLAL ?
• Andrew P. Daly, Ma
Patty cKe ny, wn e
Town Council Meeting Minutes of July 15, 2014 Page 6