Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19870309Regular Meeting Aspen City Council March 9, 1987 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1 ORDINANCE #4, SERIES OF 1987 - 7.5 Penny Sales Tax 2 ORDINANCE #7, SERIES OF 1987 - Flood Plain 10 ORDINANCE #9, SERIES OF 1987 - Election Precincts 10 GMP APPEAL - 1001 Ute Avenue 10 CITY HALL RENOVATION 10 RESOLUTION #7, SERIES OF 1987 - Ballot question 11 ORDINANCE #10, SERIES OF 1987 - Extending Historic Demoli- tion Moratorium 11 ORDINANCE #12, SERIES OF 1987 - Write-in Candidate Affidavit 12 RESOLUTION #8, SERIES OF 1987 - Delegating Authority To City Clerk to Appoint Election Judges. 13 ELIMINATION OF VENDORS FEES 13 RESOLUTION #11, SERIES OF 1987 - Ruedi Water Sales 14 DONATION OF TREES - E 11 i ' s 14 ORDINANCE #8, SERIES OF 1987 - Employee Retirement 14 RESOLUTION #6, SERIES OF 1987 - MEAN Representative 14 CONSOLIDATION COMMUNITY MEETING 14 BOARDS AND COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS 15 PUBLIC RADIO GRANT - Switching from Laramie to Greeley 15 SMALLER NON-POLLUTING BUSES ON CITY ROUTES 16 MEAN RATE REPORT 17 DAVOS TRIP REPORT 18 ORDINANCE #4, SERIES OF 1987 - Sales Tax Ordinance 18 20 Mayor Stirling called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. with Councilmembers Isaac, Fallin, Collins and Walls present. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilwoman Fallin said Durant street is an absolute nightmare, and there is no sign of police personnel to help direct traffic. Councilwoman Fallin said she would like City Manager Bob Anderson to instruct the police department to have someone on Durant street to direct traffic in the morning and evening busy hours. 2. Councilwoman Fallin said she has received both written and verbal comments on the closing of the teen center at the Hotel Jerome. Councilwoman Fallin told Council, approvals of the Hotel Jerome, the applicant represented he was going to provide a gathering place f or the teens. The city gave variances to the Hotel Jerome, as with other developers who have made promises of conditions to the community. Councilwoman Fallin said she would like it expressed to the developer that the city and parents would like the closure of this teen center rethought and re- opened. Councilwoman Fallin said she would like the owner of the hotel to give the teen center more than 2-1/2 months. 3. Councilwoman Fallin expressed dismay about the Mayor's press conferences. Councilwoman Fallin said everyone has the right to voice their opinions; however, as a courtesy to Council, the Mayor could have notified other members of the press conference. Councilwoman Fallin said Council and the public would have been better served if the Mayor's comments had been made at a public meeting where they could have been debated and discussed. 4. Councilwoman Walls said she appreciates the written format of the City Manager's report. Councilwoman Walls said rather than have a locals preference ordinance, she would rather handle this by advertising locally for contracts. City Manager Bob Anderson said he feels this is a matter of advertising propor- tionately to the scale of the project. Councilwoman Walls said she would favor advertising locally and not having an ordinance. 5. Councilman Isaac said Winternational went very well and the organizers should be complimented. 6. Mayor Stirling said GMP Appeal 1001 Ute Avenue will be tabled at the applicant' s request to March 23 , 1987 . Mayor Stirling said the revisions to the historic section of the code will be brought to Council at a later date. Item VII h) elimin- ation of vendor's fees does not have an ordinance prepared and 1 ReQUl ar Meeting - -A-sAen -City Counc~~._ -March 9 , 1987 will be heard at a later date. Item VII k) Ordinance #8, employee retirement will be heard March 23, 1987. 7. Mayor Stirling said Council will have a meeting with the county Commissioners March 10th at 5:30 to 7 p.m. to discuss Ruedi . 8. Mayor Stirling said March 16 at 5:00 Council will be meeting with the hospital board. Following that will be a work session to discuss new assessments for the lodge improvement district. 9. Mayor Stirling announced the appointments of Monica Hose and Dan Arrow to the CCLC; Charles Knight as an alternate to HPC; and Jim Mallica - city appointment, and Harry Truscott - joint appointment, to the Housing authority. The city clerk will advertise a vacancy for P & Z. 10. Mayor Stirling said Winternational was a great week but jets flying over and military bands do not accurately reflect the spirit of Aspen. 11. Mayor Stirling stated every Councilmember has the right to make contact with the press at his/her own discretion. Mayor Stirling said Councilmembers should take issues to the people when these are important. 12. Councilman Collins brought up the undergrounding project and the 518,200 addendum to the contract with Banner. City Manager Bob Anderson said this is on the way to fulfilling Council's direction to proceed with the undergrounding district. Anderson told Council staff needs data to answer the questions asked by Council and citizens. Councilman Collins said he thought Council was going to take action on the 518,200. Anderson said he felt this expenditure was a logical extension to the contract and does not require a new allocation. Councilwoman Fallin moved to discuss this on the March 23rd agenda; seconded by Councilman Collins. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE # ~ --SERIES OF 1987 - 7.5 Penny Sales Tax Mayor Stirling said Council has looked at available revenues and resources to chose capital projects. Through public hearings and meetings Council has narrowed the list to determine which projects fit the city's financial guidelines. Mayor Stirling said Council has worked very hard to adopt the existing 5 year capital improvement program. Mayor Stirling said the issue is whether the city should raise sales tax for any one project. 2 Regular Meettrng - --- -- AshenCity Council March 9. 1987 This ordinance is to add one-half cent to the sales tax for a swimming pool and ice rink facility and Nordic trails. Mayor Stirling read into the record a letter from the Aspen School District in favor of allowing the electorate to vote on this tax levy for a recreational facility. Mayor Stirling read a letter from Francis Whitaker opposing the proposed increase in sales tax, and that the city should live within its present tax limit. Mayor Stirling read a letter into the record from Chuck Vidal opposed to this issue, noting that Council is elected to make these decisions. Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. City Attorney Taddune pointed out changes in the ordinances to include f unds f or the recreation programs and the and/or Nordic trail has been changed to delete the "or". Taddune said the ordinance indicates the sales tax should be on personal property, retail sales and the providing of services. Councilwoman Fallin questioned the words "land acquisitions" in the ordinance, that the city owns the land for the proposed location of a recreation- al facility. Taddune said the ordinance gives Council the flexibility to acquire whatever land is necessary, like an easement or access. Les Anderson, representing the joint facilities committee for the Ballet Aspen and M.A.A. , said they do not wish to hinder the concept of a recreation facility. Anderson pointed out there are other needs in the community that have not been addressed and are equally important . Anderson stated Aspen relies heavily, economically, socially and culturally, on a good cultural program. Anderson told Council the city's priorities should be reconsidered and a performing arts center should be addressed. Anderson said an alternative is that the Council consider adding another 1/2 cent to the tax in order that other needs, like perf orming arts center, parking garage, city hall, etc., can be addressed. Tam Scott said the Aspen Junior Hockey program feels the option for the voters to have a chance to express their opinion about the proposal is a good one and necessary. The existing ice rink needs to be improved. Brian Kelleher, high school, presented a petition of 153 students in favor of the recreation facility. Kelleher pointed out the teen center at the Jerome is closed and students have no place to hang out. The students have expressed interest in a recreation facility. Jack Strandberg, representing the M.A.A. , supports the views expressed the joint facilities committee. 3 Rectal-a-r meet-ina----. _----------- As.~e-n__City-__~ouncil March 9. 1987 Richie Cohen said there are other priorities than the recreation facility. Cohen said the j oint facilities committee would 1 ike Council to look at all priorities and alternatives, and then look at how to f and these. Cohen said if Council is going to take this to the voters, the sales tax increase should be big enough to handle all the needs of the community. Walter Ganz said he is opposed to this ordinance and pointed out that good government is planned for and responsible government. Ganz said it is up to the Council to make responsible decisions and not pass these on to the voters. Ganz said it is important that Council keep in mind the total needs of the community. There are numerous items that require more attention than a recreation facility, like a parking garage, performing arts center, the Aspen Institute and the academic campus. Ganz suggested Council meet jointly with the Commissioners to discuss the capital budget priorities of this community. Jef f Bentley, Ballet Aspen, said this is asking the voters to make a choice in a vacuum without an understanding of the next 5 years needs of the community. Doug Lien, trustee M.A.A., said Aspen has a wonderful export in the cultural attractions. Lien said how the arts are packaged is important, and the arts need more than makeshift facilities. If Council is going to consider raising the sales tax f or a recreational facility, they should also consider money f or the cultural export. Jim Curtis encour- aged Council to vote against this ordinance in its present format. This ordinance places a major community decision in a piecemeal fashion. Curtis said he hopes Council will take a head in looking at capital budgeting in a more comprehensive fashion. Martin Flug, chairman of the city committee ice rink, noted this committee was appointed by Council, and they have been working on the project for 2 years. Flag said 4 years ago, he requested 525,000 from Council for a feasibility study on facilitation on the perf orming arts in the community. At this time, two citizens committees were formed. Flag said the recreational facility is a well thought out program. Flag pointed out this is not a "either or" situation; the community can have b oth recreatio n and performing arts. Flag said the committee is prepared to take this issue to the voters and feel they are not acting in deroga- tion of the arts. Marty Kahn said the issue is whether the voters should make the decision if this community needs a better recreation complex and whether the one-half penny sales tax is the way to go. Kahn said the existing rink and pool are city facilities. The Council asked two committees to study these facilities to determine if anything should be done. The ice rink committee stated it wa s foolish to spend money to try and rescue the rink with its inherent 1 imitations. Kahn said he believes the use of the full 4 penny sales tax for community programs like recreation, erf orm- ing arts and parking garage is a rational thin to do p g Clark Smythe, swimming pool committee, said a recreation may have the same effect on the community that thefacility Company's gondola did. Smythe said this could be a ma n Skiing attraction to put Aspen above other competing resorts.g Jo and an said the problem with this going to the electorate is that Busch in a vacuum. The merits of the recreation center it is studied versus no recreation center. This has not beena stubeen in relationship to a parking garage or a perf ormin art died Busch urged Council to expand the question and put to etherntar. part question which allows the voter to judge the r ecreat' 3 center, how to fund it; the ion be funded, and the same with arf a k ri arts center, how it should the community to assess what is importanbandewhathts would allow should be. he priorities Sy Coleman said a sales tax is a regressive tax and i makeoufutuYone's ability to pay. Coleman said this i Imposed re Council s reticent about going to thesvotersy Coleman said the long range implications would be dama every phase of the community. David Kashinsk gang to junior hockey skaters, is in favor of the proposal.suTherting the ice rink is not safe for larger teams to come to As en existing hockey. Children in the valley could benefit from and play larger facility, both ice rink and swimming pool, h aving a Dutch Hodges, director of the Aspen Council f or the Arts the Council should come up with a plan for fundin said improvements that reflects private and public move as capital unanimity amongst Council, a plan that can be ysold wt 11 as community 100 percent. Ms. Hodges said the communit is uncohe fortable with this issue, and the broad needs are not m enough in educating the voter. Ms. Hodges said if thisa Is ied fails, it will take a number of years to educate the voter sue why this issue is so crucial. Jere Michael told Couns as to supports Les Anderson's position, cIl he Tony Kronberg told Council she has taught swimmin in v places in town. Ms. Kronberg said no one is den gin t arious that a recreation center is needed, y 9 he fact sales tax and other groups are of raid ife thee sales vying for this for, money will be lost for other projects. Ms. K o bees voted the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for the re g said center. Ms. Kronberg supports the recreation center and doestnon want to see it get defeated. Dick Allen, representin 200 of hockey players in the communit g adult recreation center. Allen said he exip'stine facilptrt for the g y Is unsaf e 5 - - - .. ., 1 ~ _ M r c 9 - -19-87 and not acceptable for f uture growth of the communit program, y's hockey Bill Perich supported the recreation center but fee easier to sell the community on 1 cent sales tax lto It would be number of programs. Richie Cohen said a lot of ood support a working on projects for the communit g people are should not be competing against each CothersaidCthese projects performing arts facilities are unsafe for the rode t said the being put out, and that product is half of s e that is Marty Flug said these amenities are needed b thep cogs economy. will last for many years, y mmunity and Councilman Isaac said he has requested Council add half penny and have this full penny sales tax o another one- projects. Councilman Isaac said he does not feel th or capital will support one-half penny sales tax f or a recreate community Councilman Isaac said he would like a full penn saleson center. the existing pool and ice rink and put 54,000, 00 into tax to fix center. The sales tax on food on the 6th and 8th enn a parking eliminated. Councilman Isaac said the city does not y could be hand or the ability to bond to take care of ca ital .have cash on P improvements. Councilwoman Fallin said 5500,000 is not enough to bri garden up to any kind of standard. Last week therg the ice ammonia leak in the ice cooling system. The buildin i was an turally unsound, and there is no way for an audi g s struc- anything in that facility. George Pucak, ice rink mana to view 5500,000 would replace the refrigeration s st ger~ said facilities and do some front end remodeling. y Thls' the locker not take care of the structure of the buildin or ar oney would the ice rink. 9 p king around Councilwoman Walls said there is the 7th enn f ation, the 6th penny for open space, and P seemsr transport- have an 8th penny for capital improvements. Coun 1 °gical t o said she would be willing to put a full penny to theWOman Walls for capital improvements including but not limited electorate facilities, parking garage, and other needed ro'ect o recreation woman Walls said she would support eliminating the sales otncil- food. Councilwoman Walls said Council has lists ax on projects to be done but never has any money to do th of capital Councilwoman Walls said she feels it is time to 1 e Projects. decide about raising taxes. City Mana er gob et the voters Council has discussed various ways of fu din ca Anderson said ments, like increased property taxes, tax districts 1 improve- fees. Anderson said there are . increased available for capital projects. dust so many funding sources 6 _ _M c 9 i 987 Mayor Stirling moved to not pass Ordinance #4 seconded by Councilman Collins. • Series of 1987; City Attorney Taddune said if Council material amendment by increasing the tax Cokes a substantial changing the purpose, the ordinance should a full penny and since the ordinance will be redone. However, lished, go to an election, it can be accomp- Taddune said Council could amend this o republish it and adopt it on second readin at rdinance, meeting. Councilwoman Fallen said she wou the next Council Ordinance #4 than defeat it outright. Taddu ld rather amend adopt an ordinance on first reading, have the ne said Council can the ordinance on second reading after the electlection, and adopt Council in order to have the sales tax in e f ion. Taddune told ordinance will have to be in effect 45 da s bet July 1987, the Taddune suggested the Council could have as fore that date. the half penny sales tax for a recreation facelection questions question for another half penny sales tax for lcay• and another ments. petal improve- Roll call vote; Councilmembers yes; Fallin no; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion NOT carried.no~ Walls, no Isaac, Councilman Isaac moved to amend Ordinance #4 cent sales tax for capital improvements, desi nllow for a one recreational facilit g sting a joint other munici al y' Parking facility, remodeling city hall and P projects for the benefit of the community, and to eliminate the sales tax on food for the 6th seconded by Councilwoman Walls. and 8th pennies; Mayor Stirling said this ordinance has been ch and citizens have not been anged substantially said an eighth penny is a bad esiProper notice. Mayor Stirling trying to deal with. The cityghas been rms of what Aspen is improvements a long time. The city has ur discussing capital space, has built the Castle Creek footbrPdgeha isd a lot of open the electric and has done a city-wide li htin ndergrounding has $4,000,000 left for projects. All this g project. The city any new taxes. Mayor Stirling said an has been done without project. The capital improvement committ a of ~ ect is a valid Council. Mayor Stirling said with this the city is the would not know what the projects would be, PMapo°sal, the voters this Council has not demonstrated what it y r Stirling said responsible to the voters in terms of taking nca ds tO do to be with the current resources. Mayor Stirlen of business look at where costs can be cut and additions aid Council should within what is being done right now. Ma orl revenues raised impact of an eighth penny sales tax on yto Stirling said the considered. urists has to be 7 - --- ..~ ~ ~ u~~~ _ _ M -rc -9 _1-987 Councilwoman Fallin pointed out Vail and Summ' as other resorts in the country have higher sales county, as well Councilwoman Fallin said people do not base t tax than Aspen. how much sales tax is, heir vacations on City Manager Bob Anderson said the weakest part of this proposal is lack of specificity to the voters on how this penny will be split. Anderso be easy to allocate one penny to all the need n said it would The options are to go with one or two s ecifis of the community. thought out, to go ver p cs that Council has election. Y general proposal, or aim for another Councilman Isaac pointed out the sixth penn was on for the purchase of open space; it was not s ec' Y voted the purchases were to be. P ific as to what space purchases through the Tyearsu inil has come up with open Councilman Isaac pointed out through bud eteh budget hearings. will have the say how to spend this ei hthearings, the public Marty Kahn said if Council goes before the votepenny sales tax. cent without specific purposes, the voters will turwith an eighth down. Kahn urged Council to have this ei n the proposal recreation facility, performing arts facilitthandna for the structure. Y parking Councilmembers Walls and Isaac in favor o Councilmembers Fallin, Collins and Ma or St' the amendment; Motion NOT carried. Y i rl ing opposed . Councilwoman Fallin proposed Council ado t Ord' second ordinance of a half penny to go topthe elector #4' have a other capital projects, and have these ver de s to include woman Fallin said there is no Y fined. Council- to the voters, performing arts center to present meeting with Councilrandirling suggested having a communit the Commissioners to discuss the capital needs of the communit election questions need to tell the votersc howoman Fallin said to spend the money. Richie Cohen su Council is going ballot question to ask f or one penny sal es to Council amend the improvements for cultural, recreational facility to fund capital a meeting to determine the limits f or each of these n town; have Stirling noted the ice rink/pool committee brow uses. Mayor center to Council. It was decided by Council not the recreation project in the capital improvement program and t tO pursue this constraints of the existing resources, o stay within the Mayor Stirling moved to continue the discussi Series of 1987, on March 23, 1987. on of Ordinance #4, Collins. seconded by Councilman Martin Flug said it would be a vote of confide who have worked on Council's behalf if CouncinCe in the citizens ordinance as presented, 1 would vote on the Taddune said if Council puts this off, there may not be enough time to amend it in o rder to put it to 8 Regular -Mee-~t~-ng-------- ---- ----------Aspen - City- Council March 9 . 1987 the voters in the May election. Taddune suggested a continued or special meeting before the next regular Council meeting. Taddune reiterated Council could send Ordinance #4 as written to the voters as well as a question seeking approval to draft an ordinance for another half penny with specific purposes. Mayor Stirling withdrew his motion. Councilwoman Fallin moved to adopt Ordinance #4, Series of 1987. Motion DIES for lack of a second. Councilman Isaac said there are three Councilmembers willing to send a full penny sales tax question to the electorate in May and Council should be able to reach a consensus on the question. Councilwoman Fallin said she wants the question to specifically state the purposes for this eighth penny. Councilwoman Fallin said she is uncomfortable with a broad statement that future Council may interpret some other way. Anderson noted that the recreation complex will cost $7,000,000 and the committee is requesting the city fund about $5,000,000. The arts groups are saying their needs are between $5,000,000 and $7,500,000. The parking structure would cost about $4,000,000. Anderson sug- gested that the eighth penny could be split as a ratio .4 for recreation, .4 for performing arts, and .2 capital improvements. Councilwoman Fallin said she wants to guarantee to the citizens that this is where the money will be spent. Councilman Isaac suggested election questions asking if the electorate is filling to bond up to a certain amount for each specific project. Taddune said Ordinance #4 would raise the sales tax, it would have revenues targeted to specific purposes. The ballot q ue s- tions would seek approval for bonding for specific proposals. Councilwoman Fallin moved to adopt Ordinance #4, Series of 1987, as amended, to add .5 percent to be used in addition to the multi-use recreation facility and recreational programs and Nordic trails to also include other capital projects to include cultural and public facilities; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. Taddune suggested Council give him an opportunity to come up with the amended language so that the ordinance can be re-noticed f or a continue public hearing at the March 23rd agenda. Anderson said the staff can come up with specific ratios for the dif- ferent projects. Councilwoman Walls said she would prefer it not to be tied down but be more structured, like the sixth and seventh pennies. Councilmembers Isaac, Fallin, Walls in favor; Councilman Collins, Mayor Stirling opposed. Motion carried. City Attorney Taddune req ueste d Council continued this until the end of the meeting. Councilwoman Fallin moved to continue this to the end of the 9 Regul~ar~Ieet-ina- ---- -- -- - AsAen Citv Council March 9. 1987 meeting; seconded by Councilman Isaac. All in f avor, with the exception of Mayor Stirling. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #~.----S-ERI~E---f~F`--1987 - Flood Plain Councilwoman Fallin moved to adopt Ordinance #7, Series of 1987, on second reading; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. Jay Hammond, city engineer, told Council this complies with the requirements of FEMA to keep the city involved in the national insurance program. This ordinance adopts their amendments. Hammond told Council the specifics are limited in scope and will not change the ability of an existing lot to build, if they have the ability to build currently. Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. There were no com- ments. Mayor Stirling closed the public hearing. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Isaac, yes; Collins, yes; Fallin, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE- #9-; S~Ri-RS -f?1~--1987 - Election Precincts Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. There were no com- ments. Mayor Stirling closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Fallin moved to adopt Ordinance #9, Series of 1987, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Collins. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Fallin, yes; Collins, yes; Walls, yes; Isaac, yes; Mayor Stirling. Motion carried. GMP APPEAL - 1001 Ute Avenue This item has been tabled to March 23, 1987. CITY HALE; ~Ei~OVA~i-flN City Manager Bob Anderson presented schematics of the proposed renovation, including only a portion of the basement. Anderson noted the city has an agreement with the County to discuss joint use of space. This will be discussed at a work session March 10th. Anderson said these plans are what the committee feels are the best plans, given the assumptions that the city stays on their own and that city hall is renovated. Assistant City Manager Mitchell said this plan is based on all options Council has seen, on staying within the structure, and using a portion of the basement. Mitchell said these space plans are the minimum requirements for city offices. Mayor Stirling said he is interested to see if the costs could be lowered, preserve and restore the exterior of the building, make it structurally sound 10 Reatriar Meetinrr------------- -~~en City Council March 9. 1987 and do less extensive interior changes. The projected costs are $2,000,000. Councilwoman Walls said it seems money could be saved if the basement is not fixed. Councilwoman Walls said if some city departments move to the community center, the basement may not be needed. Anderson said the county has discussed moving about 5,000 square feet of their offices to city hall, if other departments move out. Mayor Stirling said there is no question of retaining the tradition of city hall; the issue is to do it for less money. Mitchell said 5500,000 would be saved if the basement were not done. Mayor Stirling said joint meeting space could be on the first floor of city hall; data processing could be moved to the community center and not do the basement. Mitchell said the only off ices to remain in the courthouse will be the Commissioners meeting room and office, the court system and law enforcement. Councilwoman Walls said moving data processing and planning and development out of city hall would remove the need for 5,000 square feet in city hall, which would remove the need for the basement. Anderson said staff needs time to pursue this because there are implications of moving the data processing department. Mayor Stirling moved to direct staff to explore the idea of doing more combining in city hall and bringing the cost of 51,655,000 down and bring to Council as soon as possible; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. Councilman Coll ins said a lot of work has gone into this plan. To take 5,000 square feet and move it to another building, it will still cost money. Councilman Collins said if the square footage needs are 20 , 000 f or city hall and 6 , 000 f or county, it will still cost a certain number of dollars per square foot. Mayor Stirling said digging out the basement is a major cost as opposed to putting up walls. All in favor, motion carried. RESf?Lt3TION #'~. S-ER-IE-~--OF'--1987 - Ball of question Mayor Stirling moved to table this to the end of the meeting; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINAI~-CE -#1-$-, DER-I-E-~--OF- i 987 - Extending Historic Demolition Moratorium Councilwoman Fallin moved to read Ordinance #10, Series of 1987; seconded by Councilman Isaac. All in favor, motion carried. 11 Regtrl-~r -.Meetrn-a---__._.___ _ ____A-men City Council March 9~ 1987 ORDINANCE #10 (Series of 1987) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF ASPEN, COLORADO, EXTENDING FOR A PERIOD OF THREE (3) MONTHS THE TEM- PORARY MORATORIUM ON THE ACCEPTANCE AND/OR PROCESSING OF ANY APPLICATION FOR A BUILDING PERMIT FOR THE DEMOLITION OR REMOVAL OF ANY STRUCTURE SURVEYED IN THE 1980 ASPEN INVENTORY OF HISTORIC SITES AND STRUCTURES, AS AMENDED, IMPOSED BY ORDINANCE N0. 41 (SERIES OF 1986) was read by the city clerk Councilman Collins moved to adopt Ordinance #10, Series of 1987, on first reading; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. Steve Burstein, planning office, told Council resolution #10, 1987 would create an administrative delay during the time the original moratorium expires. This ordinance extends the morator- ium to June 22. Councilwoman Fallin moved to amend the date to June 1, 1987. Motion DIES for lack of a second. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Walls, yes; Fallin, no; Collins, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. Councilman Collins moved to adopt Resolution #10, Series of 1987; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. All in favor, with the exception of Councilwoman Fallin. Motion carried. ORDI-NANCE--#-12--gER-iES--D~`--1g8-7 - Write-in Candidate Affid avit Councilwoman Walls moved to read Ordinance #12, Series of 1987; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. All in favor, motion ca rried. ORDINANCE #12 (Series of 1987) AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING THAT NO WRITE-IN VOTE FOR ANY MUNICIPAL OFFICE SHALL BE COUNTED UNLESS AN AFFIDAVIT OF INTENT HAS BEEN FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK BY THE PERSON WHOSE NAME IS WRITTEN IN PRIOR TO FIVE (5) DAYS BEFORE THE DATE OF THE ELECTION INDICATING THAT SUCH PERSON DESIRES THE OFFICE AND IS QUALIFIED TO ASSUME THE DUTIES OF THAT OFFICE IF ELECTED; AND FURTHER, PROVIDING FOR THE CANCELLATION OF ELECTIONS BY THE CITY COUNCIL IF THE ONLY MATTER BEFORE THE VOTERS IS THE ELECTION OF PERSONS TO OFFICE AND IF, AT THE CLOSE OF BUSINESS ON THE FRIDAY BEFORE THE ELECTION, THERE ARE 12 Rog u l a r M-e-e t i rrg----------__ .___ ._---As pe~ n_ City- -C o un c i l __ _Mar c h g. 19 8 7 NOT MORE CANDIDATES THAN OFFICES TO BE FILLED AT SUCH ELECTION, INCLUDING CANDIDATES FILING AFFIDAVITS OF INTENT was read by the city clerk Councilman Collins moved to adopt Ordinance #12, Series of 1987, on first reading; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. City Clerk Kathryn Koch told Council these are recent state amendments to the municipal election code, which allows Council to also adopt the amendments. Currently any write-in vote has to be counted, whether they are qualified electors or not. Council- woman Walls said anyone seriously interested in being a candidate should be able to file this affidavit. Councilwoman Fallin said she feels this takes away the right of the voters to write in a candidate as a means of protest. Mayor Stirling agreed this takes away a fundamental freedom. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Walls, yes; Fallin, no; Collins, yes; Mayor Stirling, no. Motion NOT carried. RE COL-U~I0~3- #-$ ; ---S-E~-i-~-S ---~F----19 8-7 - D e 1 e g a t i ng Authority To City Clerk to Appoint Election Judges. Councilwoman Fallin moved to approve Resolution #8, Series of 1987; seconded by Councilman Collins. All in favor, motion carried. EL i M I NAB if?it3-6F--~~YtfiHOR-S----F LIRE Cindy Shafer, finance director, asked Council to table this ordi- nance until April and include this in the new sales tax ordi- nance. Mayor Stirling said he has no interest in this proposal; the vendors he has spoken to feel there should be some compe n- sation for them being tax collectors for the city. Councilwoman Fallin said in her retail business, she does not find it a burden to collect the tax, and it takes very little time. Councilwoman Fallin moved that the elimination of vendors fee be included as an amendment to Ordinance #4, series of 1987; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. Councilman Isaac said he would rather see this as a separate issue. Ms. Shafer said Council could wait until the first meeting in April to see if Ordinance #4 is adopted, and deal with the vendor's fee at that time. Councilwoman Fallin said she would rather see this as a generic item than attached to ordi- nance #4 Councilwoman Fallin withdrew her motion. 13 Regular--Meeting---------- ------- --Aspe-n._Cty Council. _ __-March 9. 1987 Councilman Isaac moved to direct staff to draw up a new ordinance eliminating vendor's fees on all city sales tax; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. All in favor, with the exception of Mayor Stirling. Motion carried. RESOD~JT3ON---#i1.----SE~~-E~---OF-..--1-987 - Ruedi Water Sales Assistant City Manager Mitchell told Council the county has adopted a similar resolution discussing the issue of the second round sales, clarifying the city and county role in participating in the environmental impact study and the impacts of secondary sales. Councilwoman Walls moved to approved Resolution #11, Series of 1987; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. All in favor, motion carried. DONAT Ifl-AT -OF SE'S - E11 i ' s Assistant City Manager Mitchell said Council needs to accept the donation of these trees that have been moved f rom Ell i' s and placed at the golf course. This needed to be done expeditiously in order for the trees to survive. Councilman Coll ins moved to accept the donation of the trees, valued at $4500; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. All in favor, motion carried. ORD-INANC-R -#8-.----E~R-iES-fly--19-87 - Employee Retirement Councilman Collins moved to table Ordinance #8, Series of 1987, to March 23, at request of staff; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. All in favor, motion carried. RE SflL~3T-I~1- # 6; -~-ER-~R~ - E~~'---1-9 8 7 - MEAN Re p r e s e n t a t i v e Assistant City Manager Mitchell noted this resolution appoints Electric Department Director Don Gilbert as Council's representa- tive to MEAN. Mayor Stirling moved to adopt Resolution #6, Series of 1987; seconded by Councilman Isaac. All in favor, motion carried. CO N SOD-i$AT-i$N- _C6~l~fi~ N I~~ --ME-E~f ~i i~TG Mayor Stirling said there has been a lot of discussion of consolidation of governments, departments, services, annexation. Mayor Stirling suggested Council sponsor a meeting to discuss on the various aspects of this issue. Councilwoman Fallin agreed 14 Re~u1 ar-- Me-eti-rrg ----------- - Aspen City Council - March 9 , 1987 this would be a good idea. There is a lot of misinformation on the subject. People perceive consolidation would save money and decrease government, and that may not be the case. Councilman Isaac said the city is working on annexation and is discussing with the county joint facilities. Councilman Isaac said this meeting should have a concise agenda. Mayor Stirling said the areas to be covered should be consolidating governments - the legal requirements, constitutional amendments; the issue of consolidating services and not government; and consolidating space and not services; articulating annexation goals and areas of responsibility. Mayor Stirling suggested having a speaker on each of those topics. City Manager Bob Anderson said Aspen seems to be a leader in consolidating departments and services. Mayor Stirling moved that the Council sponsor a forum in early April and direct the city manager to work with Council on organizing this; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. All in favor, with the exception of Councilmembers Collins and Isaac. Motion carried. BOARi3S _ Aim - - ~PP(~iNT~I~ENT~S Mayor Stirling moved to appoint Monica Hose and Dan Arrow to the Commercial Core and Lodging Commission; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. All in favor, motion carried. Mayor Stirling moved to appoint Charles Knight as an alternate to Historical Preservation Committee; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. All in favor, motion carried. Mayor Stirling moved to appoint to the Housing Authority to re- appoint Jim Mollica as the city appointee and Harry Truscott as the joint appointee; seconded by Councilwoman Fallin. All in favor, motion carried. PU~~IC- RA~f~ GENT - Switching from Laramie to Greeley Mayor Stirling said he received a number of calls when the station change was made about the quality of programming. Mayor Stirling said Council gives public radio one-half of the cable revenues, and he would like to discuss this concern. Sy Coleman, public radio, said he does not like the music programming from KUNC, Greeley. Coleman told Council as he switched to Laramie, the management of Laramie changed and the programming is not as good. Coleman told Council he is negotiating with both Laramie and Greeley. Coleman said Greeley will be doing on the air requests for music for the next two weeks. Coleman said he has not f ormally made the decision to switch back to Laramie. Coleman said he is going to meet with the new station manager of Laramie. 15 Regu-3-ar_-Me-~t-i-ng-----.- - _.__An.pe_n City ~ourrci.3 - _ _ March - 9 ._ 1987 Coleman told Council the contract he has with the city is to create local programming in Aspen, to have a programming f ormat that has a mix. Coleman said the switch from Greeley to Laramie was consistent with the letter of the contract. Coleman said he could consider using some programming from Grand Junction, which carries classical music. Coleman told Council he has received complaints f rom people who missed the j azz and people who missed blue grass. Coleman said the goal is to get back the programming that makes sense from Laramie, to include some from Greeley and to use the present situation as leverage to get Laramie to be sensitive to the needs of the Aspen listeners. SMA~ L~R ~fi6i~---~OL~ ~i~-$~~E~_ OI~_ -C i~3~ ROiJTES Mayor Stirling said the fundamental issue is air quality. Mayor Stirling said smaller, non-polluting buses on frequent routes is what the transportation system should be moving toward. Mayor Stirling said he feels buses are a major contributing factor to the poor air. Councilwoman Fallin said she has always f elt the city should have small buses that are more compatible with the town. The argument was that the system could not afford both and has to provide for the skiers in the winter. Councilwoman Fallin asked if the entire fleet has to be big enough to provide f or skiers in the winter. Bruce Abel, general manager RFTA, told Council the fleet consists of 3 different size buses; 40 foot Neoplan buses used in the valley routes and skier shuttles, 35 foot Bluebird buses used on skier shuttles, and the 30 foot flexible buses. Abel said the 30 foot buses are now used on the city routes. These have smaller capacity but also have a more frequent headway. Abel pointed out the f ive-year TDP does include replacement of the 30 foot flexible buses with 25 f oot buses. Abel said they are trying to keep the same passenger capacity for these routes. Abel said the system will receive these buses in 1988. Councilwoman Fallin said she would 1 ike to see the system use buses the size of the buses at Snowmass. Abel answered these buses could handle the passenger loads 50 percent of the time. Abel said using a smaller bus and running it more frequently has financial limita- tions. RFTA is operating to the maximum extent possible within the financial resources available. Transit is a very labor intensive operation. Abel told Council last spring, modifications were made to the routes to create a higher frequency corridor. Abel said the TDP has looked at a commercial core shuttle, which wold cost 5180,000 plus capital. Abel said they are looking at resource allocation for this shuttle. Mayor Stirling said the environmental health department and Clean Air Board are going to report to Council on 16 R-e~ a-r i~e-~t n-g--- -- - - ---- .. _ Aspen - ~i ty- _Coun c-i-1 _ _ _ _ Ma rc h ~ , 19 8 7 an evaluation of the voluntary clean air program. Mayor Stirling suggested having them look at RFTA as part of this and make recommendations to Council. Abel told Council the state health department has recommended one of the most beneficial things RFTA can do is burn low sulphur diesel fuel. Abel said he is trying to interest a refiner to provide low sulphur diesel fuel to Colorado. Abel is testing the latest generation diesel engine in conjunction with electronically controlled transmission. Council scheduled a work session April 7 at 5:00 p.m. with RFTA. M~E~1 RA~~~6RT Jay Hammond, city engineer, passed out a letter from MEAN outlining the relationship between MEAN, the rates the city pays, and the Ruedi generating facility. This letter is in response to their review of the report by Holy Cross Association. One concern is that the city pays MEAN a demand charge f or power for them. Demand charges are normally associated with facilities that are in place and maintained anticipating peak demands. A demand charge provides peak facility capacity to operations that all require peak demand at a given time. The city is one of MEAN's customers which has a peak demand in the winter, not in the summer time. Hammond explained the problem is when the Ruedi facility goes off line any time during the month, the city pays a f ull demand charge for the entire month, based on the peak at the time Ruedi is off line. Hammond noted if the City has been paying the prevailing rate f rom 1984 to 1986, the city would have paid $260,000 more for power. At the time, the choice to go to MEAN was a sound decision. Hammond said Ruedi is a new facility, and some of the outages are related to the fact the facility is new and to be expected in the early operation of the plant. Some of the outages experienced at Ruedi have been related to the city's connection to the Holy Cross grid. When Holy Cross lines go down, the city has to shut the plant down. MEAN interprets this as the city has lost Ruedi capacity and is supplying the city full power. MEAN pointed out the Holy Cross analysis seems t o neglect the idea of reserve power. Hammond said Holy Cross implied in their analysis they would not charge the city for the maintenance of the 25 kilovolt line that services Aspen from Ruedi. Hammond said the charges and facility maintenance fees the city is paying MEAN are a direct pass through from Holy Cross. Hammond said part of the arrangement with MEAN has resulted in the financing of the addition to the Aspen sub-station, about $750,000 capital project. There are aspects of the city' s involvement with MEAN that have benef fitted the city directly. MEAN has indicated a willingness to discuss rates, demand charges, the relationship of Ruedi with the city. 17 lie qu--l-a-r- Me-et-rng---------_ __._ __ -___A s Ae n_ _~ itv ~ o un ~ _ -- -- Ma r c-h _ ~ . __ 1.9.8 7 MEAN is trying to put Aspen on a par with their other customers, and the city needs to make the argument that Aspen's demands are different from the other customers. Hammond told Council no rate supplier will commit to a rate level over an extended time period. Councilwoman Walls said she would like to see the demand charge straightened out. Councilman Isaac said Holy Cross had many ideas to discuss with the city that would save the electric customers over a period of time, like combined meter reading or billing. Hammond told Council staff has turned down a request from General Electric a release for the retainage on Ruedi until the city can assure to test under all appropriate conditions. Hammond told Council Ruedi ran every day of the month of February with no outages. DA~4S T~ I R R-E`1'6-RT Councilman Isaac said he feels it is important to set some goals for the future with the Sister City committee. Councilman Isaac said Davos is sending a large group of people to Aspen this summer. Davos is excited about starting a relationship with Aspen. Councilman Isaac said Davos has a bed tax. Councilman Isaac told Council that the side streets are not cleared of snow; Davos uses a harder type of gravel and they do use salt. Councilman Isaac said the Nordic trail system is very impressive. They give 12, 000 to 15,000 lessons per year. Councilman Isaac said Davos has a smog problem and has a limit on the number of fireplaces. Mayor Stirling moved to suspend the rules and extend the meeting 15 minutes; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Collins. Motion carried. Councilwoman Walls moved to approve the consent agenda; seconded by Councilman Isaac. The consent agenda is 1 iquor 1 icense renewals - Aspen Club; Aspen Drug; Andres; Aspen Mine Company. All in favor, motion carried. ORD i NA-idC~E- -# 4:-B-E-R-l~i~-- }-9~-5-'~ - Sa 1 e s Tax O r d i na n c e City Attorney Taddune presented a revised ordinance which increases the sales tax to one percent. Taddune noted the ordinance contains the language referring to recreational facility and Nordic trail facility and 50 percent of the revenues shall be allocated for that purpose. 50 percent of the addition- al revenues may be expended by Council to pay for capital improvements such as but not limited to city hall renovation, parking structures, performing arts facilities, including capital expenditures, land acquisition, general operating purposes, payment of indebtedness, etc. 18 Re,acri-ar -M~e-e~t-i,-rrcr----~-_._~_._.------__Asp~n-__Ctv ~aunc_i _ __ _ _ _ _March~ 9. 1-98 Taddune told Council he and the city manager have met with interested parties, and the recommendation will be a break down of 45 percent for the recreation facility, 45 percent for cultural and arts capital facilities and programs and 10 percent for a parking facility. Taddune said this ordinance does not contain anything for eliminating the vendor's fee or tax on food. City Manager Bob Anderson told Council the recreation facility will cost about $7,000,000, and the committee feels they can come up with some of the money so that $5,000,000 bond ought to cover the share to make the project go. The representatives of the arts community feel they will need $7 , 500 , 000 to deal with a performing arts center and the needs of the M.A.A. Anderson noted 10 percent of this one cent sales tax would raise $160,000 to $180,000 per year. This is not enough to amortize an entire parking structure but would be something to contribute to start making an impact on the problem that is central to the community. Anderson said there is a possibility these could all be located in one site to make some synergistic savings. Taddune said he would like to discuss the concept of splitting the funding 45, 45, and 10 percent with bond counsel and continue this meeting until tomorrow. Mayor Stirling pointed out each of these facilities will require parking as part of their applica- tion to the city. Councilman Isaac said he is not in f avor of the 45, 45, 10 percent split which is weighted to heavily in favor of these two project s rather than the city's capital needs. Richie Cohen said he feels the split can been supported by the different groups in the community. Councilman Isaac said the percentage for the parking facility is too small. Councilwoman Walls said the largest problem in the community is parking, and this is proposing 10 percent, which will not solve the parking problem. Councilwoman Walls said the voters turned down a perf orming arts facility a number of years ago, and they were not being asked to pay for it. Councilwoman Fallin said she stated in her motion that 50 percent was to stay the same as in Ordinance #4, f unding f or recreation facility and Nordic trails, and then to add the extra half-cent. Councilwoman Fallin moved to extend the meeting 15 minutes; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. Councilmembers Fallin and Walls in favor; Councilmembers Collins, Isaac and Mayor Stirlin g opposed. Motion NOT carried. Council continued the meeting to Tuesday, March 10, 1987, at 7:00 p. m. ~,~-~ 19 ~~' ~`