HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19880929Continued Meeting Aspen Cites Council September 29, 1988,
Mayor Stirling called the meeting to order at 12:55 p.m. wit h
Councilmembers Tuite, and Fallin present.
RIO GRANDE CONCEPTUAL SPA - Snow Melt Location
Cindy Houben, planning office, told Council at last night's P & Z
meeting, they did a site visit and determined there was a better
site for the snow melt machine than that on the application. Ms.
Houben showed where the initial proposal on the Aspen One
property. Ms. Houben said the new idea is to excavate under the
bank of the impound lot and place the machine into the embank-
ment. There will be a berm on the east side as a buffer to the
Oklahoma Flats area.
Councilman Tuite asked how permanent this site will be in terms
of construction. Ms. Houben said there will be a cement founda-
tion. Jay Hammond, city engineer, told Council staff is looking
at this single unit installation on an experimental basis to see
what problems arise, like noise and functioning. Hammond said
this is pretty permanent, and if it goes well, the city will look
at adding one or two more units. Councilwoman Fallin said she is
concerned about the runoff and asked if there is a filtering
system so that what goes into the river is basically clean.
Hammond said the snow melter includes an oversized pit, which is
deeper than the drain so that the heavy grit will go to the
bottom of the pit. This will then go to the drain line, which
then goes through two drainage ponds before going to the river.
Hammond told Council the recommendation was to take extensive
testing and to upsize the drainage ponds to increase their
capacity. Hammond said the pit and the ponds will pick up most
of the material that will settle out and all of the material that
will float. Hammond told Council the melter only gets the water
to a little above freezing. Between the two ponds, it should be
back to the same temperature as the river.
Hammond told Council the debris will be taken out of the pond and
hauled to the dump. Hammond said if there is a lot of build up
in the pit, it may be cleaned quite frequently. Hammond said
staff is looking at how to do this easily. Councilman Tuite
asked about the steam problem. Hammond said the only time this
will produce steam is if the machine is left running without
putting snow in. Hammond said the machine will only be running
when snow is being dumped in. Hammond said this is an operation-
al problem the staff can avoid.
Mayor Stirling said he feels this is a better site than the
original proposal; however, this site is closer to Oklahoma
Flats. Mayor Stirling said the city has been working on the snow
storage problem for years. Tom Baker, planning office, told
Council this new site was the idea of an Oklahoma Flats resident
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Continued Meetin4 Aspen Citv Counci_1____ September 29, 1988
because the embankment shields the facility. Person asked why
not use a site away from the community, like the bus barn or the
Marolt property and not have the snow melter. Mayor Stirling said
the city has looked at various sites. One criteria is that the
snow dump site has to be close to water. Mayor Stirling said the
further the dump site is away from town, more trucks and drivers
are needed. Hammond said every additional quarter mile of haul
distance adds another truck and driver.
Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing.
Phoebe Ryerson said the Marolt property seems as close to most of
the town as this location. Ryerson asked how the city can be
proceeding with this snow melt location when it is a public park.
Assistant City Manager Mitchell said the majority of this land
was purchased with seventh penny funds, not open space funds.
City Manager Bob Anderson said this will be contained to a
smaller area than the previous snow dump site. Anderson told
Council staff will soon be recommending a different location for
the impound lot than this property.
Sara Pletts brought up the global warming and the danger to the
environment with thi s project . Mayor Stirling said the snow
melters will be using fossil fuel, natural gas; however, until
there is new technology, this is the most clean burning in terms
of effect on the atmosphere. Mayor Stirling said there will not
be 3 or 4 bulldozers working on the snow melt and burning fuel.
Mayor Stirling said this is an experiment that the city hopes it
will be an improvement. Hammond said staff plans on budgeting
$125,000 for the next two years each to include additional units,
if this works, landscaping, trail relocation, etc.
Baker said the staff is discussing revegetating the entire snow
dump parcel and have the opportunity to have arts uses there.
Baker said the arts uses would not be possible if the snow dump
is located where it currently is. Mayor Stirling said the
conditions require that the city come back within one year and
address future landscaping, noise control, operational concerns
from the first year, further environmental health department
review, and trail and ditch relocation.
Mayor Stirling moved that Council approve the placement of the
snow melt facility on the Rio Grande and final specially planned
area amendment approval with conditions 1 through 5 in the
memorandum dated September 29, 1988; seconded by Councilwoman
Fallin.
Councilman Tuite said this arrangement will be an improvement for
the way the river is treated. Councilman Tuite said he does not
consider this a permanent solution. If someone comes up with a
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Continued Meeting Aspen City Council September 29, 1988
better idea, he will be willing to try that. Kent Reed said he
does not feel it is a good idea to have an industry in the middle
of a planned river front area. Mayor Stirling said the city
hopes to bring back to life the area denuded by snow dumping.
Councilwoman Fallin said the city has looked at lots of areas for
this, and the city has to use land that they own. Councilwoman
Fallin said if the citizens are going to work on this, they
should come in with some alternatives for this operation.
Councilwoman Fallin said it has been a priority f or Council for
the last 3 years. Reed agreed the citizens have said nothing for
5 years, and they will try and seek some solutions. Mayor
Stirling said he is willing to experiment with the snow welter
for this winter.
All in favor, motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 1:55 p.m.
Kathryn Koch, City Clerk
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