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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20080728Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2008 CITIZEN COMMENTS ..................................................................................................... 2 COUNCIL COMMENTS ................................................................................................... 2 • Resolution #66, 2008 -Contract GIS Mapping ...................................................... 4 • Resolution #67, 2008 -Contract Street Sweeper ................................................... 4 • Resolution #68, 2008 -Contract Energy Audits/City Facilities ............................. 4 • Resolution #72, 2008 -Assignment of Food Service Contract at ARC ................. 4 Minutes -July 14, 2008 .......................................................................................... 4 RESOLUTION #56, 2008 -Burlingame Single Family Lots ............................................ 4 RESOLUTION #69, 2008 -Accepting Recommendations of Citizen Budget Task Forces ORDINANCE #20, SERIES OF 2008 - 612 W. Francis Historic Designation and Subdivision ......................................................................................................................... 6 RESOLUTION #53, SERIES OF 2007 -Conceptual SPA Smuggler Affordable Housing ............................................................................................................................................. 7 ORDINANCE #17 SERIES OF 2008 -Recycling ............................................................ 7 ORDINANCE #19, SERIES OF 2008 -Code Amendment Residential Pazking............ 10 RESOLUTION #7Q SERIES OF 2008 -License Plate Recognition Contract ............... 11 RESOLUTION #71, SERIES OF 2008 -Pay and Display Meter Contract .................... 11 1 Regular Meeting Aspen Citv Council July 28.2008 Mayor Ireland called the meeting to order at 5:15 p.m. Councilmembers Romero, Johnson, and DeVilbiss were present. 1. Toni Kronberg said the RFTA ridership has been very large this summer. Ms. Kronberg said Council should be prepazed to discuss continued funding of the free bus between Snowmass and Aspen. Ms. Kronberg said when the task forces finishes, Council can focus on the transportation issue. 2. Don Davidson said the Jerry Bovino show will be taped, live, in a town hall forum with a panel giving citizens the opportunity to ask questions about Burlingame, Thursday, August 7th at 5:30 p.m. Paepcke Auditorium, all are welcome. 3. Paul Menter presented tee-shirts to Marilyn Marks and Mick Ireland. Menter said the Aspen Times removed the filter of "mick" from their letters. 4. Marilyn Marks requested Resolution #69 be removed from the consent calendar COUNCIL COMMENTS 1. Councilman Romero announced the Aspen School District has named their new CFO, Kate Fuentes, who lives in Aspen and is a graduate of Aspen High School. 2. Councilman Romero reminded everyone the Rotary sponsored Ducky Derby will be held August 9th at the Rio Grande Park. It is a great event and fund raiser for local non-profits. 3. Mayor Ireland said tomorrow, Tuesday, July 29, is the Burlingame open house in the Council Chambers 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The independent investigators, financial as well as process, will be available to answer questions as will staff. 4. Mayor Ireland quoted from a press release on the two independent investigations on Burlingame "The investigation into the city's performance on Burlingame, conducted by the firm Alvarez & Mazsal, identified "no significant deficiencies in project oversight or delivery," according to the report. Alvarez & Mazsal also found no "intentional misrepresentation of costs associated with Burlingame Ranch Phase 1." Alvarez & Mazsal, LLC. is the leading independent global professional services firm specializing in providing turnaround management, performance improvement and corporate advisory services. The firm has offices in 35 locations around the world and serves thousands of clients. Renular Meeting Aspen Citv Council July 28, 2008 Alvarez & Mazsal's investigation included interviews of key stakeholders, including Marilyn Marks, Mike Maple, Shaw Construction, past and present city council members, as well as past and present city staff. The financial audit, performed by McMahan and Associates, LLC., found that the city kept track of all significant Burlingame Ranch, Phase I construction costs. With respect to the city of Aspen staff reconciliation of Burlingame Phase I costs provided to the Citizen Budget Task Force, the Burlingame Phase I cost and revenue numbers aze accurate and "can be relied upon for project analysis and decision making," according to the report. "The project costs were properly documented, reviewed and approved by city staff and appropriately relate to the Burlingame project's construction contract," said Paul Backes, certified public accountant with McMahan and Associates. Several factors contributed to the city's miscommunications with the public with regazd to overall cost of the project, as found in the report by Alvazaz & Marsal. Key issues included: turnover in city of Aspen personnel assigned to oversee the Shaw / Poss / DHM contract, lack of knowledge transfer to incoming city asset managers due to turnover, lack of fonnalized policies and procedures for development oversight and lack of a formalized communication plan. "While we do not believe our recommendations would have had a material impact on the overall cost of Burlingame Ranch Phase I, they may have mitigated project related miscommunications and improved the public's overall understanding of the broader Burlingame development," said Jason Smith, project director with Alvarez & Mazsal. Several improvements were recommended by McMahan and Associates, including adopting a more formalized process for preparing voter information and utilizing an integrated project management software program". Mayor Ireland noted the results will be posted on the city's web site. Mayor Ireland stated the notion that a third investigation be conducted to see if there were misrepresentations can be laid to rest or if people in the community have evidence that has not come forward, they should take that evidence to the DA. The DA is an independently elected position with no ties to the city. 5. Steve Barwick, city manager, requested Council add to the agenda the Assignment of the food service contract at the ARC, Resolution #72, Series of 2008. Mayor Ireland said he would like Resolution #56, Series of 2008, removed from the consent calendar. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2008 Councilman Romero moved to approve the consent calendaz as amended; seconded by Councilman DeVilbiss. The consent calendar is: • Resolution #66, 2008 -Contract GIS Mapping • Resolution #67, 2008 -Contract Street Sweeper • Resolution #68, 2008 -Contract Energy Audits/City Facilities • Resolution #72, 2008 - Assignment of Food Service Contract at ARC • Minutes -July 14, 2008 RESOLUTION #56, 2008 -Burlingame Single Family Lots Bentley Henderson, assistant city manager, reminded Council the last time they saw this, Council directed staff to work with the lot owners to get agreement on this resolution, which they have done. Marcia Goshorn, housing authority board, said the boazd recommends adding a sentence to make this clearer regarding caps; the caps should be based on what is spent less the subsidy given. Henderson pointed out the resolution talks about how the initial cap will be established, minus the amount of the subsidy received for the lot. Ms. Goshorn said the housing board recommends adding "this cap shall be reduced by the amount of subsidy received by the homeowner". Councilman Johnson noted the memorandum from the housing office; exhibit B, Cindy Christensen, housing office, told Council staff will review all the receipts from a homeowner to detennine the cost of construction. Staff will come up with a value of the construction, take the subsidy and subtract it. The cap cannot be over $995,000 for the RO units and $840,000 for category six. If it happens to be less, it is the lesser of whatever their costs were. Mayor Ireland said item #1 is addressed because the caps are not being removed; #3 is addressed because the housing authority's rules do not allow sweat equity as an addition. Mayor Ireland said the housing boazd does not want to go through quality of finishes. Mayor Ireland asked about landscaping costs. Ms. Christensen said landscaping costs are added on the backside and not appreciated. Worcester added to line 7 pazagraph 2 delete "minus amount of subsidy received for the lot" and add the sentence "The resale cap shall not include the initial subsidy received from the city for the lot". Mayor Ireland moved to adopt Resolution #56, Series of 2008, as amended to include Worcester's sentence; seconded by Councilman Romero. Councilman Johnson asked if the housing office is comfortable that this is in line with existing policies of the housing office. Ms. Christensen said this does. 4 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2008 All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #69, 2008 -Accepting Recommendations of Citizen Budget Task Force Barry Crook, city manager's office, reminded Council there were two meetings between them and the Citizens' Budget Task Force and his notes from the meetings resulted in this resolution. Ward Hauenstein, CBTF housing subcommittee, said they have been working with the housing board to come to agreement on these recommendations. Items 5 though 8 in the resolution have not gone through the entire task force. Mazda Goshorn, CBTF, said those statements went to the full task force and were referred to the housing authority. Mayor Ireland said these recommendations aze for an analysis of current and expected housing supply, a performance audit, a consultant to estimate the costs of phases II and III of Burlingame, specialized task force to develop potential financial incentive programs which would allow affordable housing residents to downsize, sell, which has been tabled and will be taken up with the housing authority. Ms. Goshoru said the housing authority board has started the process the setting up a group to look at these incentives. Marilyn Mazks asked the time frame in which recommendations for future affordable housing projects will be implemented and how this relates to any bond questions. Mayor Ireland said the city does not have a recommendation from the Construction Expert Group yet on density or construction methods or partnerships. Ms. Goshorn told Council the housing board has been working on recommended changes to their policies and these will be presented at a joint Council/BOCC work session. Ms. Goshorn said the housing boazd met with the housing subcommittee and went through each of these recommendations. Councilman Romero noted one whereas contains the statement that the affordable housing subcommittee of the CBTF believes these recommendations are crucial to a bond issue for future affordable housing developments and is that accepted by the entire CBTF. Hauenstein told Council these findings were presented to the entire task force. Ms. Goshoru said the task force feels these recommendations need to be implemented before any bonds aze issued. Councilman Romero said he finds assurance that the committee recommends having the plan as well equipped as possible with a level of competence and definition to rely on. Councilman Romero said the city and the task force want Burlingame to go forward with good plans and good budgets. Hauenstein noted the task force agrees citizen confidence building is needed and this should be adopted and implemented as soon as possible. Hauenstein said the controls and financial recommendations should be implemented before any bond questions go to the electorate. Hauenstein said there should be a commitment to accept these recommendations. Don Davidson, housing sub-committee, said he feels recommendation 1(b) "preparation of a detailed plan and a comprehensive budget for Burlingame phases 2 and 3 using recommendations from the construction experts group" is most important and Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2008 there is a lot of work to be done to reach that recommendation. Fulfilling that recommendation is key to a bond issue. Without a detailed budget, what is being asked for in a bond question is unknown. Ms. Goshom noted these recommendations aze not just about Burlingame but could be applied to any capital project. Davidson said the resolution states Council agreed to these recommendations pending the completion of the independent auditor's recommendations before fully committing to the details. Davidson asked if Council is going to revisit this after receiving the recommendations. Mayor Ireland said Council will review the auditor's recommendations and adopt them as is practical. Davidson said in 2(k) the subsidy for affordable housing projects should be focused on by Council. Davidson said in reviewing the history of Burlingame, it seems as if Council did not get all that information and the subsidy is paid for by the taxpayers. Ms. Goshom noted the subsidy is different for each project; if the land costs more, the subsidy is more and that should be part of the entire discussion. The subsidy should be addressed in any changes to the project. Toni Kronberg said one piece of information that is missing is for whom Burlingame is being built; what type of units and how much density should be built. Ms. Kronberg said there is a critical shortage of housing. Councilman Johnson said some of that information is in the housing study, which outlines what the need is. The city also has the results of the lottery, who won it, where they were coming from, what they needed. Councilman Johnson noted the units were changed to meet the needs of the people applying. Councilman Johnson said the ballot question said there would be 236 units at Burlingame, which was a promise made to the voters and any increase in density will have to go to the voter. Davidson said he has attended most of the construction experts' group meeting and has not heard specifics on types of unit to be built at Burlingame Councilman Romero moved to adopt Resolution #69, Series of 2008; seconded by Mayor Ireland. All in favor, motion tamed. ORDINANCE #20. SERIES OF 2008 - 612 W. Francis Historic Designation and Subdivision Councilman Johnson moved to read Ordinance #20, Series of 2008; seconded by Councilman Romero. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #20 Series of 2008 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, APPROVING SUBDNISION AND HISTORIC DESIGNATION FOR 600 W. FRANCIS STREET, LOTS R AND S, BLOCK 21, DOREMUS/SILVERMAN LOT SPLIT, CITY AND TOWNSITE OF ASPEN AND 612 W. FRANCIS STREET, LOTS P AND Q, BLOCK 21, DOREMUS/SILVERMAN LOT SPLIT, CITY AND TOWNSITE OF ASPEN 6 Regular Meetin¢ Aspen City Council July 28, 2008 Councilman Romero said he would like the P&Z minutes included for second reading. Councilman Johnson moved to adopt Ordinance #20, Series of 2008, on first reading; seconded by Councihnan Romero. Roll call vote; Councilmembers DeVilbiss, yes; Romero, yes; Johnson, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. RESOLUTION #53, SERIES OF 2007 -Conceptual SPA Smuggler Affordable Housing Councilman Johnson moved to continue Resolution #53, Series of 2007, to October 24, 2008; seconded by Councilman Romero. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #17 SERIES OF 2008 -Recycling Ashley Cantrell, environmental health department, told Council this ordinance removes the sunset provision and helps to extend the life of the landfill. Ms. Cantrell said when the ordinance was adopted in 2005, the idea was to make recycling easier and more convenient. One element in the original ordinance was to have recycling included in the basic trash rate as a bundled rate. Ms. Cantrell said studies show recycling goes up when prices are bundled. Another element is that recycling is volume based price, a customer pays less if they produce less trash and pays double if they produce more trash, which encourages people to go with smaller trash receptacles and to recycle more. The third element is that yard waste is not part of trash and there is a place for leaves and grass at the recycle center; it can also betaken to the landfill by landscape companies. Ms. Cantrell said staff met with all waste haulers in the valley; met with the CCLC and other community groups. The environmental health department has a complaint hot line where complaints about recycling are recorded. The changes to the ordinance aze that there will be no exemptions to commercial customers who haul their own cardboard and the existing exemptions will be grandfathered. The exemption for customers who contract separately for cardboard hauling will be deleted; no one ever applied for that exemption. Bi-annual reporting will be required; Ms. Cantrell said this is not a concern for the haulers and they will be consulted about the new reporting form. Ms. Cantrell told Council the haulers are required to give customers notice when the contract is coming up for renewal so that customers will have a choice if they want. The city will provide the wording for audit cards to go on recycling bins and the haulers will do the cards for their customers. Clarifying wording will be added to make it clear it is illegal to display the cost of recycling on an invoice received by the customers. Staff proposes elimination of the sunset provision. Ms. Cantrell reported staff me with CCLC and more outreach with haulers and customers is needed. CCLC would like the sunset provision kept in the ordinance to make sure recycling is increasing and that technology is kept up with. Staff also met with Waste Management who requested that the mandate for picking up recycling weekly be changed to every other week in residential zones. Staff considered that and got different responses 7 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2008 from the other two haulers, who reported they are getting full loads every week. Ms. Cantrell pointed out the importance of customers relying on weekly pick up. Ms. Cantrell noted in 2006 and 2007, 164 businesses started recycling and 100 more potential customers coming on line in October. Councilman DeVilbiss requested in 12.06.020 "exemptions" that any commercial customer who has received an "exception" be changed so the wording is consistent. Councilman Romero suggested staff provide performance metrics on a regular basis. Mayor Ireland it could be an annual report to Counci] with a referral comment from CCLC. Ms. Cantrell said section 12.06.060, Education, requires staff to report annually. Mayor Ireland requested an amendment to that section that the report will be referred to CCLC on an annual basis. Councilman Johnson said Aspen's recycling rate increased to 16% and the national average is 30%. Councilman Johnson said Aspen's rate is not very good. Ms. Cantrell said the next step is with 100 new customers coming under the ordinance in October, staff will outreach to them to make sure they understand the requirements. Ms. Cantrell said staff will do more publicity for the commercial core to try and get more participation. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. John Starr, CCLC, said the sunset provision should remain in the ordinance as this program is not yet proven as a success for the cost to the customers. Starr said there will be good statistics in another 3 years. Starr said he objects to bundling these costs. This is an additional exaction on the community to bring the community around to recycling. Customers not recycling aze being changed for recycling. The community should know what this cost is. Bill Dinsmoor, CCLC, agreed customers are being charged a fee and are not aware of that fee; some locations cannot accommodate recycling bins. Dinsmoor noted the environrnental health department has limited tools to require recycling on a larger scale and other departments, like electric, street, pazks and community development, should be looking at using centralized compaction. Dinsmoor noted CCLC has been working on cleaning the alleys, centralized compaction for yeazs and would like guidance from Council to provide an exaction in new developments for common pickups. Staff said they would like staff to look at this issue holistically to serve each alleys problems along with the businesses in the alley. Terry Butler, CCLC, reiterated the CCLC has looked at cleaning up the alley for the past dozen years. Ms. Butler said compacters in each alley could drastically reduce the truck trips which will also reduce CO emissions, congestion and noise. Ms. Butler said recycling should be part of a larger issue. The alley project needs to be re-examined rather than just getting a report every year. Reeular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2008 Toni Kronberg said there is enforcement for haulers but there is no enforcement for businesses to use recycling. Ms. Kronberg suggested centralized recycling compartments in the alleys. Ms. Kronberg suggested recycling in conjunction with the Ski Company at Buttermilk and at the schools. Ms. Kronberg said she supports the clean up alley campaign. Bruce Clayborn, Waste Management, agreed they have a problem with bundling charges. Claybom said they would like the sunset provision retained in this ordinance. Clayborn noted Waste Management submitted a letter in which they took exception with some sections of the ordinance. Claybom said his company has had management issues and would like this ordinance tabled so they can work some of these issues out with their management, other waste haulers and businesses in the community. Ms. Cantrell reiterated that studies show that bundling service increases participation in recycling. Wally Graham, Waste Solutions, told Council his company has been collecting in Silt and that have doubled the amount of recycling in the last 18 months by offering pick up every week. Graham said great strides with recycling have been accomplished in Aspen. Mayor Ireland closed the public hearing Councilman Johnson said he likes the referral to CCLC and does not see the reason to keep the sunset provision in the ordinance. Councilman Johnson stated he supports weekly recycle pick up. Councilman Johnson agreed with CCLC pursuing compaction and alley program. Councilman Johnson said he is disappointed there has only been a 2% increase in recycling. Councilman Romero said he feel the comprehensive alley plan is a separate issue and will require a task force of different deparhnents and people throughout the community. Councilman Romero said CCLC is asking for more support from Council to put traction to that program. Councilman Romero said he would like to see tougher performance audit, referred through the CCLC. Councilman Romero said this ordinance disallows a trash hauler from identifying the cost of recycling to the customer. Jannette Whitcomb, environmental health department, said the bundling has been in since the origin of this ordinance. Ms. Whitcomb noted the opportunity is that trash and recycling are all one price and if a customer reduces the amount of trash, the bill will decrease, which has been proven in residential zones. Councilman Romero said as a customer, he would like the choice to opt out of recycling and would like to know how much recycling costs. Ms. Cantrell told Council staff has a survey which shows 75% of the respondents stating they strongly agree with the ordinance and all its elements, which includes bundling. Dinsmoor stated the CCLC does not have staff or the ability to do surveys, they can report what they hear from citizens. Dinsmoor said people think recycling is free. Dinsmoor said he feels bundling is disingenuous. Councilman Romero said he is not prepared to vote on this without the CCLC reconvening and giving more input. Councilman Romero stated this is an important issue 9 ReQUlar Meetine Aspen City Council JuIY 28.2008 and he would like the ordinance improved and go forwazd with CCLC support. Councilman Johnson noted one of the goals Council established is environmental stewardship. Mayor Ireland stated he is prepared to support this with a 5 year sunset and referral from CCLC. Mayor Ireland said perhaps the lazger issue can be looked at through the comprehensive plan; it needs to be implemented gradually. Mayor Ireland said it is past time where people ought to be able to opt out. Mayor Ireland to adopt Ordinance #17, Series of 2008, on second reading with a 5 year sunset, an annual report to CCLC with referral comments forwarded to Council, and change "exception" to "exemption" in 12.06.020(C); seconded by Councilman Johnson. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Johnson, yes; Romero, no; DeVilbiss, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. Starr said he would like to get to the next level with a review of the alleys. ORDINANCE #19, SERIES OF 2008 -Code Amendment Residential Parking Tim Waze, parking department, noted this is an amendment to 24.16.180, time restricted parking in the residential zone. Waze reminded in 2007, staff brought a fee ordinance and an amendment to paid pazking in residential zone. Ware noted only the fees were adopted. In Januazy 2008, staff came back to Council with a report on what could be done to retain some semblance of paid and free parking in the residential zones. Council directed staff to do a 3 block area around the commercial core with "no re-park" in the same residential area on the same weekday. Ware said there is free parking for up to 2 hours in the 3 block residential area, after which a person either pays or vacates the area. The exemptions aze for carpools, hybrid vehicles, residential and lodge permits and guest permits. Vehicles with these permits can park all day long in the residential zone. Waze said Council and staff agreed RFTA should be on board with this and that this new restriction would not overload the RFTA system. Ware noted this ordinance will not go into effect until February 2, 2009, after the holiday season and past the X-games. Ware pointed out contracts on the agenda for a license plate recognition system and pay and display meters to effect this restriction. Councilman Johnson asked if staff will check in with RFTA in February before this goes into effect. Ware said staff will meet with RFTA. Mayor Ireland asked how long it will take to recover the costs of implementing this system. Waze said 18 months. This proposal will require less staff to enforce. Ware told Council currently it takes 3 officers to do the residential azea to cover 80% of the spaces; with this new system, it will take 2 officers to cover 100% of the spaces. Mayor Ireland asked about the required number of meter boxes. Waze said they anticipate purchasing 15 meter boxes along with the LPR rather than the 75 meter boxes first estimated. Mayor Ireland asked if residents' license plates will be loaded in the LPR. Ware said they will, which will save $7,000 by not buying permit stickers and it will save residents from coming in annually to get these stickers. Mayor Ireland asked how one would get guest 10 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 28, 2008 passes. Ware said these will still have to be issued because they aze transferable from guest to guest. This restriction is only in effect on week days. Mayor Ireland opened the public hearing. Shellie Roy suggested the time limit be at least 4 hours so people can get what they need accomplished. Ms. Roy said 95% of the people who can are using alternative transportation. Ms. Roy said there should be better pazking places for HOV users as a motivation. Ms. Roy said the HOV parking passes should be handed out at the ABC not just the parking gazage. Randy Ready, assistant city manager, told Council there are over 500 hybrid car parking permits, and they also use the HOV parking azeas. Waze said the HOV passes used to be handed out at the kiosk at the airport; however, some people were also getting HOV passes in town, so one stop was eliminated. Ware said this program will treat everyone equally. Ms. Roy said it feel like this plan is designed to generate revenue rather than trying to address cars coming into town. Councilman Johnson suggested it may be time to eliminate the hybrid car parking passes. Ware agreed this program is about space; not about miles per gallon and hybrid cars are taking up space. John Worcester, city attorney, stated the ordinance should be amended in Section 2 to note it will not take effect until February 2, 2009. Mayor Ireland closed the pubic hearing. Councilman Johnson moved to adopt Ordinance #19, Series of 2008, on second reading as amended to take effect Februazy 2, 2009; seconded by Councilman Romero. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Johnson, yes; DeVilbiss, yes; Romero, yes; Mayor Ireland, yes. Motion carried. RESOLUTION #70. SERIES OF 2008 -License Plate Recognition Contract RESOLUTION #71, SERIES OF 2008 -Pay and Display Meter Contract Councilman Johnson said the system is such that the city will erase all data everyday and IT will check up periodically to make sure the data is not being stored. Councilman Romero moved to approved Resolution #70, Series of 2008, License Plate Recognition Contract, and Resolution #71, Series of 2008, Pay and Display Meter Contract; seconded by Councilman Johnson. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Johnson moved to adjourn at 8:35 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Romero. Al] in favor, motion carried. l Kat ~ och, City Clerk 11