HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20190708Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 8, 2019
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SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES – Nelson Mandela Day Proclamation ...................................... 2
CITIZEN COMMENTS ............................................................................................................................... 2
COUNCIL COMMENTS ............................................................................................................................. 3
AGENDA AMENDMENTS ........................................................................................................................ 3
CONSENT CALENDAR ............................................................................................................................. 3
Resolution #76, Series of 2019 – Adoption of the Pitkin County Emergency Operations Plan ........... 4
Resolution #77, Series of 2019 – IT Storage Area Network (SAN) Upgrade ...................................... 4
Resolution #78, Series of 2019 – Burlingame Loop Trail .................................................................... 4
Resolution #79, Series of 2019 – EOTC Budget Amendment .............................................................. 4
Resolution #80, Series of 2019 – Golf Teaching Academy Contract Approval of Contract for Golf
Teaching Services at the City of Aspen Golf Course ................................................................................... 4
Resolution #81, Series of 2019 – Castle Creek Overpass Bridge Replacement ................................... 4
Resolution #74, Series of 2019 – Wheeler Exterior Renovations & Infrastructure Improvements –
Architecture Team Award ............................................................................................................................. 4
Resolution #83, Series of 2019 – Appointment of Jennifer Phelan as Community Development
Director for an interim period of time ........................................................................................................... 4
Minutes – June 24, 2019 ....................................................................................................................... 4
ORDINANCE #17, SERIES OF 2019 – 730 E Cooper Avenue – Minor Amendment to a Project Review
...................................................................................................................................................................... 4
ORDINANCE #19, SERIES OF 2019 – Shadow Mountain Village Condominiums – Major Subdivision
to Vacate a Portion of the Western Half of South Aspen Street ................................................................... 6
ORDINANCE #2 AND #15, SERIES OF 2019 – Re-adoption of the updated Construction Management
Plan Requirements, Re-adoption of the Water Distribution Standards, RE-adoption of the Engineering
Standards; and other amendments to Title 21 and Title 29 ........................................................................... 6
Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 8, 2019
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At 5:00 p.m. Mayor Torre called the regular meeting to order with Councilmembers Richards, Mesirow,
Hauenstein and Mullins present.
SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES – Nelson Mandela Day Proclamation
Mayor Torre said we have a special public appearance for a proclamation for Nelson Mandela Day. Bill
Stirling introduced Ndaba Mandela (grandson) who created a foundation with his cousin, Africa Rising.
Addressing unemployment of youth and AIDS education. Teddy Warria worked as his collaborator.
Mayor Torre read the proclamation. Ndaba said his grandfather said after climbing a great hill and
reaching the top there are many more mountains to climb. The time is always right to do right. If you
allow yourself to dream and work each day that dream will no longer be insurmountable. Teddy and
Ndaba presented the Mayor with a book.
CITIZEN COMMENTS
1. Tom Marshall said he is here with Neil Bennett, the parking issue came up when we saw people
painting up yellow crosses. We are not the west end. The street in front of my house is 19 feet
wide. We agree we need some kind of parking mechanism, but it needs to be looked at.
2. Neil Bennett said he is seeking a licensing agreement for an off street parking area to continue
regular use without the 72 hour limitation. He just learned the city owns a portion of this
property. Without my space I’ll face the 72 hour regulation. Exceptions have been made by city
council in the past. I’ve discussed my situation with engineering and parking. Any agreement
must be ratified by City Council. Councilman Hauenstein said the neighbors requested the
parking regulations for that area. I don’t want to give out exceptions. Trish Aragon, city
engineer, said we face this throughout town where people create parking spots in the right of way.
He can apply for a permanent encroachment and go through the appeal process. Councilwoman
Richards said the 2 spaces are currently parallel to the road. Engineering’s concern is there is no
street side parking. Ms. Aragon said they would be privatized. Councilwoman Mullins said
when this came forward there was not unanimous support for the restrictions in the zone. My
guess is more people will come up with problems. She would like a work session in a few
months to address all the problems and see if we made the right decision. Mayor Torre asked
about placement of the signs. Mitch Osur, parking, said it started with a neighborhood meeting
then went to a work session. We generally don’t ask the neighbors about sign placement since
the signs need to be visible. Mayor Torre suggested he pursue the encroachment path.
3. Peter Fornell talked about the future of the affordable housing certificate program. It was started
in 2008. In that time I’ve created 3 projects resulting in 64 FTEs created. In 11 years I’ve sold
58 certificates. No amendments to the LUC code have been made to support certificate use.
We’ve created a product that has no market. What are you going to do when the quantity is zero.
Councilman Hauenstein said I think we should have a work session on mitigation.
4. Sandy Mulcahy said that was a wonderful proclamation. I have not observed mercy or justice in
our case in Aspen. The notice of violation was sent out prematurely by APCHA and skewed date
deadlines. APCHA then changed guidelines to line up what they did. After notifying Lee to
bring in documentation they then refused to look at it. Building the home was not considered
work.
5. Lee Mulcahy said we believe in love, peace and compromise. APCHA jumped the gun when
they sent out the NOV. He asked council for a work session.
Councilman Hauenstein said I’ve remained silent on this. I saw the petition that was circulated
and it said we the undersigned want a peaceful resolution. People signed documents stating we
want a peaceful resolution not we demand a public hearing. There are administrative and judicial
remedies. All the judicial remedies and appeals have ruled not in your favor. We are not sworn
in to be judge and jury. I empathize with your situation. Everyone has acted in good faith. Part
of democracy is an independent judiciary and it has repeatedly ruled not in your favor. Mr.
Mulcahy said today was the final day for us to sell our home. We are not doing that.
Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 8, 2019
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6. Toni Kronberg gave out hand outs including the ballot sheet provided by the city. The
intersection of Mill and Rio Grande place is dangerous. She asked that the open house be
bumped up before construction starts. The fact sheet did not show city offices going in the
parking lot. She asked council to take public comment.
COUNCIL COMMENTS
Councilwoman Richards passed out the agenda for the upcoming Club 20 meeting for this week. She is
Pitkin County’s representative to Club 20 and has been doing this since 1998. There are policy meetings
twice a year. She asked council to consider a $250 sponsorship for the Snowmass meeting.
Councilmembers Mesirow and Mullins support the donation.
Councilman Hauenstein said the proclamation reminds us to not set our sights too low, pursue your
dreams and never give up.
Councilwoman Mullins said there have been two themes in the last 6 months, regionalism and
communication. This council seems very willing to reach out to other communities valley wide. Rachael
and I just went to the CML conference. The National League of Cities may be a valuable group to belong
to. There are two annual meeting a year. She would like Council to consider belonging to that group. On
communication we talked about being open and transparent. Would like to constitute councilmember
office hours at city hall.
Councilman Mesirow said he hopes everyone had a great 4th of July holiday.
Mayor Torre said council held our retreat last week. We did not get to transportation. We’re giving our
communications director some time to settle in but will be talking about how to engage the community
even more. We talked about moving regular meetings to Tuesday. Sometimes there is not enough time to
digest the information. Thank you to Jimmy’s for leading the way on compost. Shout out to the Elks for
composting in house. Citizens academy sign up is available until July 12th. Recognize Tracy Truelove as
the new communications director. I’ve had some difficult times in my life and it’s the inspiration from
Nelson Mandela that gave me strength. That was a special moment tonight.
AGENDA AMENDMENTS
Jim True, city attorney, said we would like to change the agenda to move ordinance 2 as item 8C. We are
recommending it be reread at first reading. Since ordinances 2 and 15 are intertwined we would
recommend that ordinance 15 be continued to July 28. There are individuals here to address these matters
and recommend council take public comment.
CONSENT CALENDAR
Councilwoman Richards moved to approve the consent; seconded by Councilman Mesirow.
Resolution #76 – emergency operations plan
Councilwoman Mullins said it is not clear what council’s role is and who we will be communicating with.
She would like to have a discussion about that. Sara Ott, city manager, said it is listed as to be scheduled
on the work session calendar.
Councilman Hauenstein said there was a homeland security desktop last year and I was impressed with
the amount of thought that went in to the plan. I don’t think the city needs a separate plan.
Councilwoman Richards said it is about emergency operations. For the public that means mitigation of
fuel loading in front yards. We are not out of fire danger. That is the single highest risk to the
community.
Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 8, 2019
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Reso#77 –IT storage network
Councilman Mesirow said IT storage is something the public doesn’t think a ton about. The
sophistication that the IT team has on storage is awesome. As it currently stands there are a variety of
standards of how you store information. It may be interesting to have a lifetime storage for historic
information.
Reso #81 – castle creek bridge replacement
Councilwoman Mullins asked is there any repurposing for the bridge. How much does the city have to
pay and what is covered by insurance. Brian Long, parks, said on repurposing we are going to work with
Gould to see what we can do. We have a number of projects that could potentially use those materials.
On cost, this is an insurance claim. The insurance has agreed to pay for the repair cost of the bridge.
Staff and open space want a full replacement of the bridge. The difference for a new bridge is 72,000
dollars.
Councilwoman Richards asked is the insurance company going after the truck driver. Mr. True said Cirsa
will seek reimbursement from the company that owns the truck that hit the bridge. Ben Carlson, parks,
said he spoke with the trucking company. Their rates went up and they let go of the driver. Ms. Ott
replied we don’t anticipate the rates going up. Councilwoman Richards asked what year did we put those
overpasses up. Jeff Woods, parks, said he thinks it was about 2000. Councilwoman Richard said it
scares me a little that it has been hit twice. Will the new bridge get hit. Mr. Woods said it is not
considered a bridge that has low clearance. We are going with the same manufacture for the bridge. We
have to work with the hospital and fire to make sure we have access during the replacement.
• Resolution #76, Series of 2019 – Adoption of the Pitkin County Emergency Operations
Plan
• Resolution #77, Series of 2019 – IT Storage Area Network (SAN) Upgrade
• Resolution #78, Series of 2019 – Burlingame Loop Trail
• Resolution #79, Series of 2019 – EOTC Budget Amendment
• Resolution #80, Series of 2019 – Golf Teaching Academy Contract Approval of Contract
for Golf Teaching Services at the City of Aspen Golf Course
• Resolution #81, Series of 2019 – Castle Creek Overpass Bridge Replacement
• Resolution #74, Series of 2019 – Wheeler Exterior Renovations & Infrastructure
Improvements – Architecture Team Award
• Resolution #83, Series of 2019 – Appointment of Jennifer Phelan as Community
Development Director for an interim period of time
• Minutes – June 24, 2019
All in favor, motion carried.
ORDINANCE #17, SERIES OF 2019 – 730 E Cooper Avenue – Minor Amendment to a Project
Review
Councilwoman Mullins moved to read Ordinance #17, Series of 2019; seconded by Councilman
Hauenstein. All in favor, motion carried.
ORDINANCE NO. 17
(SERIES OF 2019)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE ASPEN CITY COUNCIL APPROVING A MINOR AMENDMENT TO A
PROJECT REVIEW FOR 730 E COOPER AVENUE (BASE 1 LODGE) LEGALLY DESCRIBED AS
THE EASTERLY 9.27 FEET OF LOT Q, AND ALL OF LOTS R AND S BLOCK 105, CITY AND
TOWNSITE OF ASPEN, PITKIN COUNTY COLORADO.
Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 8, 2019
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Jessica Garrow, community development, said this is first reading for Base 1 lodge. The public hearing is
set for July 22. The project was approved for 40 lodge units. 200 square foot average each, a roof deck,
23 parking space, amenity space and commercial space. It was approved for extension of vested rights.
The current vesting runs through July 2020. This is an amendment to target the basement. Parking and
amenity are both in subgrade levels. They are requesting to remove 1 of those levels. Staff is
recommending the amenity level be removed. There are also some requests to change the mechanical
space on the roof to bathrooms. Staff is not recommending approval for that.
Councilwoman Richards asked why are they removing one of the underground levels. Ms. Garrow
replied it will not change the height above grade. There was a discussion about the cost associated with 2
subgrade levels. Part of the extension was contemplating the request to remove one of the levels.
Councilwoman Richards said it feels like a real bait and switch development to me. Maybe the rooms
will go real cheep since there will not be any amenities. They proposed something for the council to
consider for the community then turned around and said we can’t build it. There is nothing wrong with
that. It complies with current code but she would like the code changed as to what comprises a small
lodge. Why is the commercial space getting the small lodge credit. Ms. Garrow stated we are looking at
a work session to talk about some of the land use code items like this. We will go through what the code
says and what this is subject to. Councilwoman Richards said if this really wants to be a lodge then
perhaps some of the commercial space should be changed in to lodge amenity. She does not see it as a
complete lodge package.
Councilman Mesirow said he thought the lodge amenity would be open to people not staying at the lodge.
Is that still the case. Ms. Garrow replied the land use approval isn’t specific on the lodge amenity space.
Typically there can be lodge space that is only for lodge guests and some that is open to the community.
With the proposal here it is a request most specifically for the basement requesting council to weigh in on
which space, amenity or parking, should be removed. Councilwoman Mullins said Rachael made some
good points. It would be good to hear how the amenity space will be replaced.
Councilman Mesirow said he is supportive of smaller lodge rooms. He would like an alternative solution
where they can park the cars and maintain the amenity.
Councilwoman Richards said the things that concerns me is parking garages for lodges have been
converted into something else.
Councilman Hauenstein said this has gone through some renditions. It was approved with a number of
variances. They offered to supply the parking requirement and meet the code. They came back for an
extension and the previous council heard it. The debate of will it be a viable product is a valid one. The
deck will be available to the public. We need a work session on the mitigation rate. Parking is always
difficult. The original proposal talked about leasing parking spaces. There are onsite parking
requirements. I want to do away with the first waivers on workforce mitigation. I agree with the staff
recommendation that parking should remain and amenity would be the one I remove. What they do with
the commercial space is up to them. I would recommend the bathrooms going down a floor and the roof
top remain open to the public. We were asked about making it a commercial product or a lodge. They
said they want to go forward with the lodge. I would support this with removing one of the floors. My
preference is to retain the parking.
Councilwoman Richards said she would like to see it come back with the bathrooms on the roof. She
wants clear language as to what the roof top amenity is. What can be replaced in the lost amenity in the
remaining lodge space.
Councilwoman Mullins moved to adopt Ordinance #17, Series of 2019 on first reading; seconded by
Councilman Hauenstein. Roll call vote. Councilmembers Mullins, yes; Mesirow, yes; Richards, yes;
Hauenstein, yes; Mayor Torre, yes. Motion carried.
Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 8, 2019
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ORDINANCE #19, SERIES OF 2019 – Shadow Mountain Village Condominiums – Major Subdivision
to Vacate a Portion of the Western Half of South Aspen Street
Councilwoman Richards moved to read Ordinance #19, Series of 2019; seconded by Councilman
Mesirow. All in favor, motion carried.
ORDINANCE NO. 19
(SERIES OF 2019)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE ASPEN CITY COUNCIL APPROVING A MAJOR SUBDIVISION TO
VACATE A PORTION OF THE WESTERLY HALF OF SOUTH ASPEN STREET TO THE BENEFIT
OF THE SHADOW MOUNTAIN VILLAGE CONDOMINIUMS.
Kevin Rayes, community development, said this is a request to vacate the western half of S Aspen Street
to the benefit of the condominiums.
The public hearing is set for next month. Shadow Mountain Condos are located on the southern terminus
of S Aspen street across from the lift 1A terminal. It is the future site of Gorsuch Haus and lift 1 corridor.
The ski corridor will extend down to Dean Street. The eastern side of S Aspen street has been vacated to
accommodate Gorsuch Haus. The applicant is requesting vacation of the other side of the street to their
benefit. In June P&Z reviewed the case and unanimously recommended denial to council. Com dev,
parks and engineering all recommend denial. The public hearing is scheduled for August 12.
Councilman Hauenstein asked what is lost to the city if we vacate that side of the street. I will be out of
town on August 12th.
Councilwoman Richards moved to adopt Ordinance #19, Series of 2019 on first reading; seconded by
Councilwoman Mullins. Roll call vote. Councilmembers Mesirow, yes; Hauenstein, yes; Richards, yes;
Mullins, yes; Mayor Torre, yes. Motion carried.
ORDINANCE #2 AND #15, SERIES OF 2019 – Re-adoption of the updated Construction Management
Plan Requirements, Re-adoption of the Water Distribution Standards, RE-adoption of the Engineering
Standards; and other amendments to Title 21 and Title 29
Ms. Aragon said due to clerical errors in the ordinance we will have 2nd reading on July 22. This is
readoption of the standards in the engineering management plan and standards.
Mayor Torre opened public comment
1. Bill Kling said he lives on McSkimming road. He supports the proposed language. Currently
there are 8 new home remodels on McSkimming Rd. New homes have greater energy needs and
require stronger infrastructure. Utility upgrades would best be done underground. Hope council
approves that ordinance change. Once the ordinance is updated and passes, he requests you look
beyond the engineer language and start to process underground utilities. He handed out slides of
the utility history for infrastructure. Request council think about beginning a pilot underground
program. Set a timeframe to complete the undergrounding of all utilities in the City of Aspen.
Councilman Hauenstein said from where the utility goes to the home hookup is the responsibility of the
individual homeowner. Ms. Aragon said what Bill is referring to when houses redevelop they do require
additional service. This particular house needed a transformer upgrade and Holy Cross, at the time put
the transformer in. It was all up to the homeowner to fund the upgrade and the lines coming in to the
house. At the time Holy Cross chose to put it above grade. It is the home owners responsibility for these
upgrades. We do require that they be underground.
Councilwoman Richards asked has the city looked at the cost of undergrounding in those neighborhoods.
Ms. Aragon said it is holy cross’s service. It is in the millions. We can ask them to cost that out. It could
be totally city funded or through special improvement districts like Cemetery Lane was done.
Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 8, 2019
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Councilwoman Richards said she is thinking Ute Avenue was another special improvement district. She
asked for some history on that. She would like to take a look at it. Ms. Aragon replied our own utility
doesn’t have any plans to underground Holy Cross stuff.
Councilwoman Mullins moved to read Ordinance #2, Series of 2019; seconded by Councilwoman
Richards. All in favor, motion carried.
ORDINANCE NO. 2
(SERIES OF 2019)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, DELETING
CHAPTER 8.56 OF THE ASPEN MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF ASPEN – CONSTRUCTION
MANAGEMENT PLAN, DELETING AND REENACTING TITLE 21 OF THE ASPEN MUNICIPAL
CODE AND DELETING AND REENACTING TITLE 29 OF THE ASPEN MUNICIPAL CODE WITH
MODIFICATIONS INCLUDING THE ADDITION OF THE PROVISIONS OF CHAPTER 8.56 INTO
TITLE 29.
Councilman Mesirow moved to adopt Ordinance #2, Series of 2019 on first reading; seconded by
Councilman Hauenstein. Roll call vote. Councilmembers Richards, yes; Mullins, yes; Hauenstein, yes;
Mesirow, yes; Mayor Torre, yes. Motion carried.
Councilwoman Richards moved to continue Ordinance #15, series of 2019 to July 22, 2019; seconded by
Councilwoman Mullins. All in favor, motion carried.
Councilwoman Mullins moved to adjourn at 7:35 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Mesirow. All in favor,
motion carried.
Linda Manning
City Clerk