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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19900212Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 12, 1990 EMPLOYEE BONUS AWARDS 1 GFOA CERTIFICATE - Craig Overbeck 1 MARDI GRAS REPRESENTATIVE 1 CITIZEN COMMENTS 1 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 2 CONSENT AGENDA 4 ORDINANCE #1, SERIES OF 1990 - Affordable Housing 5 ORDINANCE #68, SERIES OF 1989 - Golf Course Lease for Zoline Property 11 ORDINANCE #2, SERIES OF 1990 - Enhanced 911 System 12 ORDINANCE #3, SERIES OF 1990 - Modification of Electric Code 12 ORDINANCE #5, SERIES OF 1990 - Water Agreement 13 RFTA RESOLUTION #1 - Supplemental Appropriations 13 PARKING GARAGE OPERATION 14 REQUEST FOR FUNDS - Wildlife Committee 16 CONSULTANT CONTRACT - Jim Kent SRM 17 AFFORDABLE HOUSING EAST AND WEST HOPKINS 17 ENGINEERING FEES WATER PROJECTS 17 MEADOWRIDGE EASEMENT 17 19 Regular Meeting Aspen Citv Council _ February 12, 1990 Mayor Stirling called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. with Councilmembers Gassman, Tuite, Peters and Crockett present. EMPLOYEE BONUS AWARDS Mayor Stirling and Council presented a certificate and a check to Becky Roy, police department, for her work in the redefinition of job descriptions. Mayor Stirling and Council presented a certifi- cate and check to Buddy Lucero, planning office, for the outstand- ing job done in developing alternative site plans for affordable housing. GFOA CERTIFICATE - Craig Overbeck Mayor Stirling said this certificate is for achievement of excellence in financial reporting presented to the city for its comprehensive annual financial report. Mayor Stirling said this certificate is given only to those governments whose financial reports achieve the highest standards of government accounting. This is the 6th year in a row the city has received this award. Mayor Stirling and Council presented this to the finance depart- ment. MARDI GRAS REPRESENTATIVE Mayor Stirling said there is a letter written to a town right next to New Orleans. Mayor Stirling said the city is working on a new sister city concept, instead of reaching outside the U.S. there are a lot of connections being formed within the United States. Mayor Stirling said Aspen has had a citizen, Erika Brown, invited to join the town of Kenner on their float. A citizen from Kenner, Louisiana, was in Aspen's Winterskol parade. Mayor Stirling presented Ms. Brown a letter to take to Kenner. CITIZEN COMMENTS 1. Mark Kirkland, representing Aspen Concerned Citizens Coali- tion, said the coalition is made up of year round residents of the community who oppose the ban on the sale of furs. Kirkland said the decisions to buy, sell or wear furs are personal decisions and should not be the subject of legislation. Kirkland said Aspen has a lot more important questions to be dealing with. Kirkland presented Council with 300 letters in support of their position. 2. Bil Dunaway said when the city annexed Eastwood, the roads were being serviced by the county and were plowed at the same times those in Knollwood were being plowed. Dunaway said Eastwood is not being plowed. Bob Gish, city engineer, told Council there have been complaints about this road. Gish told Council the city was willing to plow this road if they were allowed to tow the cars. 1 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 12, 1990 Gish said this is road does not meet city standards. Council suggested Gish meet with Dunaway. Dunaway pointed out the city promised to take over the maintenance of this street. 3. Bil Dunaway noted the engineering department is reducing the amount of parking by putting "No Parking Here to Corner" signs around the periphery of the downtown. Dunaway said this removes at least 4 parking spaces from an intersection. Dunaway said there are also "Official Cars Only" parking signs in town further limiting parking spaces. Bob Gish, city engineer, told Council this signing has been done in conjunction with the police depart- ment for visibility and enforcement. Gish said he will discuss this with Dunaway. 4. Si Coleman asked if these parking signs are a Council direc- tive. Mayor Stirling said this has not come from Council but is staff following guidelines. 5. Jon Busch said the parking spaces may be a topic the CCLC can put on their agenda. 6. Phoebe Ryerson said that Bleeker between Monarch and Mill has become very dangerous with the amount of delivery trucks to service the hotel. 7. Brady Bancroft said they are planning the second annual Pitkin pickin' picnic, which is a day of acoustic music to be held in Paepcke park. Bancroft requested Council be a co-sponsor and donate $500 for rental of a PA system and for advertisement of the event. Councilman Gassman suggested Bancroft talk to the Arts Council, which might be a more appropriate venue for funding this. Councilman Gassman said it is a good event and he would like to support it. 8. Peter Singer said the eyes of the word are watching Aspen about the proposed fur ban. Singer said people are pleasantly surprised that Aspen would propose something like this. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Gassman commending the streets department for their approach to cleaning the streets this winter. Councilman Gassman said he feels this is the right track. Councilman Gassman noted there is almost no experience in cleaning streets in the winter. 2. Councilman Peters requested a work session this week to discuss the elements of the Marolt Ranch development, assuming the Marolt bonds pass on the election. Councilman Peters said the issues will be financing and a possible contract with the M.A.A. Council scheduled this for Monday, February 19 at 6:30 p.m. 2 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 12, 1990 3. Councilman Peters moved to add to the agenda the Harvard School of Design's work; seconded by Councilman Crockett. All in favor, motion carried. Phoebe Ryerson asked if there is a public accounting of all the various consultants the city has hired. Councilman Peters suggested she check with the finance director, Cindy Wilson 4. Mayor Stirling said there is a city hall staff picture in front of city hall Tuesday, February 13 at 8:15 a.m. 5. Mayor Stirling said there is a list of candidates for city manager which the Council will interview March 2 and 3. Mayor Stirling said Council has already interviewed candidates for city attorney. Mayor Stirling stated Council will make no final selection for city attorney or city manager until after the March 13th recall election. 6. Councilman Peters said Carol O'Dowd, Snowmass town manager, introduced at a forum the idea of forming a consensus committee to study the valley wide community support for a railroad or a mass transit alternative. Councilman Peters said this idea was well received. Councilman Peters reported Ms. O'Dowd also suggested the forum look into hiring Jim Kent or another community organizer to work in the valley to find out if there is support for a railroad, expanded bus system, and to find out what the communities feel is the impact of the highway on their communities. The forum instructed Ms. O' Dowd to put out a RFP for some facilitator to work as a staff person on that committee. Councilman Peters said a skeleton committee will be selected. 7. Bill Efting, acting city manager, requested a work session on the financial policies and alternative revenues. Cindy Wilson, finance director, reminded Council during the budget hearings there was some difficulties in balancing the budget and Council used $300,000 of cash reserves. Council talked about alternative revenues and what the reserves should be. Council scheduled this as a work session Monday, March 5 at 5 p.m. Councilman Crockett requested a summary of the current budget policies. 8. Bill Efting, acting city manager, requested the engineering fees for the water projects be added to the agenda. Councilman Peters moved to add this to the agenda as item (k) ; seconded by Councilman Crockett. All in favor, motion carried. 9. Bill Efting, acting city manager, said Design Workshop is requesting priority for the Marolt housing project if it is approved. Efting told Council 100 percent employee housing projects get priority in the building department. 3 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 12, 1990 10. Jim Adamski, housing director, told Council the housing authority closed on the Meadowridge project last week. This project is 13 single family and 12 townhouses . Adamski said he has been working with the engineering department on access off Doolittle. Adamski requested Council's permission for this access. Councilman Tuite moved to add this to the agenda as item (1); seconded by Councilman Crockett. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Gassman asked about the retainage request on the parking garage. Efting said this is in the contract, and has been reviewed by Sandy Stuller who feels comfortable with it. Councilman Gassman said the last time this issue came up Council decided to keep the money until there was resolution of the claims for delays before the project hit water. Sandy Stuller, city attorney's office, told Council there are 3 major issues; the delay by the contractor; geotechnical malpractice, and architectural malpractice. Ms. Stuller told Council she has completed the investigation on the geotechnical malpractice and is working on the delays. Ms. Stuller said she feels this will be difficult to substantiate. Ms. Stuller said the only reason for retaining the money is that Council would feel they could not make a claim. Ms. Stuller said PCL has enough assets to take care of this claim. CONSENT AGENDA Councilman Gassman moved to approve the consent agenda; seconded by Councilman Peters. The consent agenda is A. Liquor License Renewals - Carnavale; Aspen Club; Poppy's Bistro Cafe B. Minutes - January 4, 22, 1990 C. Barker Assignment and Consent to Assignment D. Intergovernmental Agreement - Communications Department E. Request for Funds - Aspen Grove Cemetery Fence F. Special Event Permit - St. Mary's Catholic Church Councilman Peters asked about the release of funds for the Aspen Grove cemetery fence and if they will be released with a consent decree. Ms. Stuller told Council she has 30 releases prepared for every adjacent land owner to waive claims against the city in exchange for release of the funds. This money will have to come out of the contingency fund because it was not expended in 1989. Mayor Stirling requested an update of the contingency fund for Council. All in favor, motion carried. 4 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 12, 1990 ORDINANCE #1, SERIES OF 1990 - Affordable Housing Amy Margerum, planning director, reminded Council this process was begun by identifying the joint city/county needs in terms of affordable housing. Ms. Margerum said this was presented at the last meeting in terms of type of units, location of units, and the timing of those units. Ms. Margerum said the study showed a need for approximately 200 additional housing units over the next 6 years, in addition to all the projects currently under way. Ms. Margerum said staff has discovered there is no single solution to meeting this need other than one mega housing project. Ms. Margerum said the goal is to try and locate units in the metro area for both community preservation as well as transportation con- siderations. Ms. Margerum said there has been displacement of residents in Aspen, and staff has looked at how to maintain the balance of residents in the community. Tom Baker, planning office, said one issue has been to have single family and duplexes also contribute to the solution of the affordable housing problem. Baker pointed out there have been a number of suggested changes since the original legislation. One change revolves around the 80 percent exemption alternative. One concern in that alternative is when a person gets to the 81 percent point of the build out potential on site, the entire impact fee kicks in. Staff developed a formula to incrementalize the mitigation of the impact. There is a generation factor of 1 employee per 2,000 square feet. Baker said for cash-in-lieu it has been suggested this be at the property owner's discretion rather than the city's discretion. Baker said it is also suggested that if a person is a working resident of the community who is building their primary residence that they be allowed to defer payment until the structure is sold to a non-resident of the community. Baker told Council staff has suggested that instead of the unit being mandatorily occupied that it be left that if the property owner decides to rent the unit it has to be rented to a qualified employee of the community. Baker said another issue is density. Glenn Horn did a survey of 100 lots in six neighborhoods that would be affected by Ordinance #1. Baker pointed out this would not be a doubling of the density. Baker suggested a 2 to 3 year sunset provision on the ordinance to have staff evaluate the effectiveness of the ordinance to determine if Council wants to continue with the effort. Baker said there is a suggestion that the option under the duplex section of 2 free market, 2 accessory dwelling units be taken out of the ordinance. Baker said the 4 unit option seems to concern the neighborhoods the most. 5 Regular Meeting Ashen Citv Council Februarv 12, 1990 Baker said a suggestion is if one is doing an attached accessory dwelling unit, there would be an FAR bonus of 50 percent of that unit; if it is detached, there would be a 375 square foot bonus. The entire bonus would have to go into the accessory dwelling unit . Baker said there are financial incentives staff has been working on, some of which hinge on the outcome of the election February 13th. Baker said for the grandfather issue that if someone has competed through GMP or has been exempted from GMP in the past or has vested rights, they would not have to mitigate the employee housing. Baker reminded Council when the city annexed the R-15B zone district, the city came to an agreement with the property owners that the property owners wanted to maintain the single family, locally oriented aspect of that area. The city created a new zone district with lower FARs than the typical R-15 zone district. Baker said this area should be allowed to mitigate the employee housing but only through cash-in-lieu. Baker told Council staff has had meetings with concerned citizens since the first reading of this ordinance. Baker recommended that cash-in-lieu be at the property owner's discretion and that a working resident who is enlarging their primary residence could defer the payment until such time as the structure is sold to non-residents. Mayor Stirling asked if an existing, approved PUD agreement be grandfathered. David Myler, city attorney's office, said presuming the approval process included an exemption from GMQS, it would be grandfathered. Myler said staff is reevaluating some of the earlier proposals that determine the amount of the impact mitiga- tion fee, including reducing the fee itself. Myler said when a property is developed as a second home, there is an increase in demand for services, for retail opportunities, which generates an increase in the work force. Myler said this is tied into occupancy because this has measured the impacts under the GMQS. Myler said he assumed occupancy of single family and duplexes would be about half of what it would be for condominiums. Myler said that assumption may be too high. Myler said people who commented that small enlargements of single family and duplexes do not significantly affect the value of their unit are probably right. Myler said there is probably a level of enlargement to a dwelling that does not increase its unafford- ability. Myler recommended the city either establish a threshold of enlargement up to which there is no impact and beyond which the impact mitigation fee would be applied or to utilize the definition of demolition and apply the fee only in case of demolition and reconstruction. Myler said staff feels strongly when a working resident enlarges or remodels his home, the actual impact on the community is deferred until the property is converted to second home use and the impact fee should also be deferred. Myler 6 Rectular Meeting Aspen City Council February 12, 1990 proposed to devise an index which would allow the fee to fluctuate with the value of the property. Baker said one of the most common requests is that working residents be exempt as long as they have lived in their residence 2 to 5 years. Baker said this may avoid the spirit of Council's intention that these ultimately become second homes. Baker said staff is still recommending a sunset provision of 2 to 3 years. Baker recommended Council strike the two free market, two accessory dwelling option. Staff is still recommending there not be mandatory occupancy of the accessory dwelling units. Baker said the community is behind Council's philosophy of trying to preserve the community and keep the local work force in the neighborhoods. Baker said a suggestion is that the city look at a broad based tax to augment the buy downs. Baker said staff does not feel as much can be done through that program. Baker told Council the citizens group staff met with felt the accessory dwelling units ought to be voluntary and based on incentives. Baker said the options proposed for single family are cash-in-lieu, accessory dwelling unit or deed restricting the primary dwelling unit, which would be the same for the R-15B zone except the accessory unit. Roxanne Eflin, planning office, told Council incentives are becoming an increasingly important tool to help the private sector in meeting the community's goals. Ms. Eflin suggested creating a fund with the new .45 percent sales tax, matching grants like $20,000 for a fully deed restricted unit or $10,000 for a resident occupied restricted unit; grants for design work from $3,000 to $10,000 depending on the proposals. Ms. Eflin pointed out another suggestion is a one-time grant for deed restriction upon sale, which would be similar to the buy down proposals. Another suggested incentive is for the city to buy down an interest rate for the portion of the loan directly involved with the accessory dwelling unit. Having the property tax equal to the assessed valuation of the accessory dwelling unit waived or deferred for 5 to 10 years is another incentive. Waiving the use tax for construction materials for the ADU is something else staff is looking at. Ms. Eflin said other suggestions are the city could pay or waive the tap fees and the other fees. Other incentives would be dimensional, which would be important with detached accessory dwelling units. The P & Z could grant variances for height, setbacks, minimum distance between buildings, site coverage, parking, etc. Ms. Eflin said the FAR bonus has been used success- fully in the historic program. There could be a FAR bonus of 250 square feet for an attached unit and 375 for a detached unit. The bonus would be no more than 50 percent of the accessory dwelling unit with a cap of 375 square feet. These bonuses would be for above grade FAR. 7 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 12, 1990 Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. Nick McGrath said he would like to see smaller remodels exempted from this ordinance. Administratively these do not contribute to the employee housing problem. McGrath said an impact fee of $10 per square foot for a single family dwelling is pretty high. McGrath said he would like it if the city could buy up vacant lots and put affordable housing units on them. McGrath said a tax would distribute the benefits and burdens better. Augie Reno opposed the ordinance. Reno said the city needs to study how many properties have FAR that is left to be developed to see what this will do to the density of the community. Reno said he would like to know who is supplying the units, and if people do not have to rent them are they just going to sit empty. Reno said people elected a life style when they bought a single family or duplex property. The government will be telling people they have to have a different type of life style than the one the chose. Jim Martin urged Council to trash the entire ordinance. Martin said this ordinance may produce a dozen 300 square foot apartments over the next 5 years. Martin said this gamble places a huge burden on the entire town to see if anything will be built. Martin recommended Council go forward with legislation that permits accessory units and cottage infill but not adopt this ordinance. Bob Walker said there used to be carriage houses and small units, which have mostly disappeared. Walker asked what had changed the attitude to allow these again. Baker said the environment has changed and a lot of the community is vacant a lot of the year. Baker said accessory dwelling units are being proposed as condi- tional uses so there will be a review at P & Z, who can address the density issues. Penney Evans said this ordinance will defeat the goals Council is trying to achieve. Ms. Evans said she supports a tax for afford- able housing. Ms. Evans said she would rather see a voluntary effort, which will result in better design. Fred Peirce said Council is running the risk of displacing residents who they are trying to protect based on the increased costs. Peirce said a tax spread over a broader base would make more sense and to provide incentives and buy downs. Peirce recommended Council pass the incentives to make it attractive to people and see how this works for 2 or 3 years . Jeffrey Shoaf said he has not heard people speak out in favor of this ordinance. Bil Dunaway said this is a fantastic ordinance and the changes from the planning office meet all the objections brought up at the prior meeting. Richard Compton favors this ordinance and said the changes have been positive. John Kelly said the impact fee for 8 Regular Meeting .Aspen City Council February 12, 1990 additions or remodels is a big concern for local residents. Kelly said he would like to see single family and duplex requirements be eliminated from the ordinance. Howie Mallory said density is a concern to many people. Mallory said another issue is equity and that the whole town should be responsible for trying to solve the employee housing problem. Mallory said before this ordinance is passed, Council should annex Red Mountain, Mountain Valley and Meadowood so those residents can participate in solving the employee housing problems. Mallory agreed the single family and duplex requirements should be removed from this ordinance. Mark Tye said in the RMF zone 50 percent employee housing require- ment is not fair and equitable. This should be spread around more. Tye said he opposes this ordinance. Robert, architect, said his clients would like to be able to have the option of adding a caretaker unit in the R-15B zone. Mac Cunningham said the city needs to deal with the real world specifics that will occur, like the number of cars in employee units. Cunningham said this ordinance will create disincentives for production of living units because the impact fee is disproportionate to the cost of construc- tion. Cunningham said another problem is that over 60 percent of the lenders will not touch properties that have deed restrictions associated with them. Gene Hyder said there are a lot of problems and unanswered questions, like financing, with this ordinance. Hyder urged Council to exempt single family and duplex. Brian Harper said the ordinance does not address going back and giving already built houses an incentive to provide housing. Harper said the ordinance should be voluntary and addressed toward second home- owners who can afford and who want to supply employee housing. Phoebe Ryerson suggested that the owners of empty houses be asked to house local employees . Rick Lindner said the majority of people appearing at the last two meetings have spoken against passing this ordinance. Lindner questioned passing an ordinance that will be complicated, difficult to enforce, and will be different in every situation. Lindner said Council should table this ordinance until they can figure out how to house families. Rachel Richards said there has been a good effort by staff to fuse all concerns into this ordinance. Richards suggested Council not pass this ordinance until things like financing are worked out. Ms. Richards said the real reason this ordinance has come up is tear down and demolition of existing family houses. Sally Roach said there are a lot of things that make this ordinance unworkable. Ms. Roach said she does not feel the ordinance will do what Council wants to do. Ms. Roach stated she is against the ordinance, specifically against the single family and duplex requirements. Ms. Roach said this is an extremely complicated piece of legisla- 9 Reaular Meeting _ .Aspen City Council February 12, 1990 tion. Peirce said this ordinance does not address when a working resident retires and lives in the same house. Council agreed to have a continued public hearing February 21, 1990, at 5:00 p.m. Mayor Stirling said there were prior agreements made in the R-15B zone. Staff has been working on a compromise with the residents. Mayor Stirling said the cost of land drives what the city is trying to do. Mayor Stirling said he is concerned about financing of deed restricted units. Mayor Stirling said he is concerned about units sitting empty because this ordinance is not mandatory. Mayor Stirling said he is 100 percent behind the multi-family demolition replacement aspect of this ordinance, and is concerned about single family and duplex requirements, production, invasion and density. Councilman Peters said Council ought to deal with the effect of cars in the neighborhoods, mortgage lending for affordable units. Councilman Peters asked if a portion of a property has a deed restriction on it, if that compromises the entire project. Councilman Peters said he would also like to staff to address what happens when someone retires. Councilman Peters said if there is not mandatory occupancy or mandatory construction of deed rest- ricted units, citizens will not know this ordinance exists. Councilman Gassman said he is bothered that this ordinance has gotten more and more complicated. Councilman Gassman questioned including renovation, which does not have much of an impact on the problem. Councilman Gassman said he likes some of the incentives but has a hard time with the FAR bonuses. Councilman Gassman suggested for single family and duplexes this should be voluntary. Councilman Gassman said the impacts come when a house is sold to an out-of-town owners. Councilman Tuite said he wants the financing for deed restricted units addressed. Councilman Tuite said he does not feel remodeling should be part of the impact mitigation in this ordinance. Councilman Tuite said he does not like the 80 percent requirement, demolition should be included. Councilman Tuite said he likes the sunset provision to reevaluate the ordinance and that the city has to take an action to reinstate this. Councilman Tuite said he feels the county metro area should be included. Councilman Crockett said the goal of this ordinance is to stop demolition and displacement and to create dispersed affordable housing in an equitable fashion. Councilman Crockett pointed out the single family and duplex residences are not required to contribute much to the solution of affordable housing. Councilman Crockett said all growth contributes to the affordable housing problem and should contribute to its solution proportionately. 10 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 12, 1990 Councilman Crockett said single family and duplexes should not be exempted from contributing to the solution. Councilman Crockett said the land in Aspen to contribute to the solution of the affordable housing problem is a non-renewable resource. Councilman Crockett said remodeling should be exempt up to a certain per- centage. Councilman Crockett said he is concerned about deferral of the fee until selling the house to a non-resident. Myler said the impact occurs when the structure is turned into a second home not when a resident is living there. Councilman Crockett said he likes the sunset provision and the 80 percent cap, the no mandatory occupancy. Mayor Stirling moved to continue the public hearing to February 21, 1990 at 5:00 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Peters. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #68, SERIES OF 1989 - Golf Course Lease for Zoline Property Sandy Stuller, city attorney's office, pointed out the earlier provision where the lessee was required to connect trails to the trails system, the language has been amended to only pertain to existing trails and not to be an on-going requirement for the length of the lease. Ms. Stuller said there is a new paragraph about the environmental issues where there is a statement that it is the intent of that property be maintained in an environmentally sensitive manner. This will be defined by Pitkin county in conditions for approval of this land use process. Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. Hal Clark, Parks Association, told Council their 3 areas of concern are posting a reclamation bond for the golf course work; allowing mechanized vehicles to be on the trails for maintenance purposes; and there should be a requirement to underground any utilities the lessee is replacing or moving. Clark said this is one of the most beautiful pieces of property at the entrance to town. The fear is that a developer may start the project and not complete it; therefore, the posting of a reclamation bond would be appropriate. Ms. Stuller pointed out the lessee has an obligation to either restore the land or leave it in its existing condition. Richard Compton asked if the applicants would be willing to provide trail links as long as it did not disrupt the golf course. Chuck Vidal said they are connecting up some trails that currently do not meet. Jon Busch submitted a letter objecting to the definition of those who qualify for local use plan. Councilman Peters said the locals use was discussed and the applicants were concerned they would not have a saleable product for local residents that do not work. 11 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 12, 1990 Vidal agreed this definition could be extended to the second home owner. The presumption is if one does not work, they are a potential candidate to join the golf club. Vidal said they will agree to a bond during the construction but they do not want a bond once the course is open. Council agreement. Vidal agreed to the equipment on trails and undergrounding request. Mayor Stirling asked if language could be added that would give flexibility for twilight play. Vidal said that is in the lease for Mondays but is a problem for scheduling for other days. Andy Hecht, representing the applicant, said this is a minimum and the lessee would like to see how it works. Mayor Stirling closed the public hearing. Councilman Gassman moved to adopt Ordinance #68, Series of 1989, on second reading as amended; seconded by Councilman Peters. Councilman Crockett said he does not feel a golf course is an appropriate use for open space and would rather leave the land the way it is. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Gassman, yes; Tuite, yes; Crockett, no; Peters, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #2, SERIES OF 1990 - Enhanced 911 System Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Stirling closed the public hearing. Councilman Gassman moved to adopt Ordinance #2, Series of 1990, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Crockett. Councilman Tuite asked if this will be for everyone within the county or just in the cities and town. Brent Finster, communica- tions department, told Council it will be for everyone in Pitkin, Garfield and Eagle counties. Councilman Tuite asked if the Commissioners have given final approval. Finster said yes. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Tuite, yes; Crockett, yes; Peters, yes; Gassman, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #3, SERIES OF 1990 - Modification of Electric Code Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Stirling closed the public hearing. Councilman Peters moved to adopt Ordinance #3, Series of 1990, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Tuite. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Peters, yes; Gassman, yes; Crockett, yes; Tuite, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. 12 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 12, 1990 Mayor Stirling moved to table Ordinances 4, 6, 7, Series of 1990, to February 26, 1990; seconded by Councilman Gassman. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #5, SERIES OF 1990 - Water Agreement Mayor Stirling opened the public hearing. John Musick, city's water counsel, told Council the revisions to the contract from first reading are very minor. The contract with the Aspen Buttermilk Associates provides for them to pay a pro rata share of the capital cost of the extension of the facilities to serve the Airport Business Center, which will lower the overall costs for looping and fire protection. Mayor Stirling closed the public hearing. Councilman Peters moved to adopt Ordinance #5, Series of 1990, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Tuite. Councilman Peters asked if Musick and the staff will develop plans to replace the substandard pipe along the highway before it is four-laned. Musick said this will cost $250,000; staff has not done any detailed engineering. This is a modest cost considering the capacity of the line. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Tuite, yes; Gassman, yes; Crockett, yes; Peters, yes; Mayor Stirling, yes. Motion carried. RFTA RESOLUTION #1 - Supplemental Appropriations Dan Blankenship, RFTA general manager, said this provide the authority to fund the 5 year transit development program update. The last update was done in 1985. Blankenship told Council the TDP is a prerequisite for any future capital or operating assistance from UMTA. The bus maintenance facility and some buses were purchased with UMTA funds as is some operating assistance. Blankenship said Glenwood Springs, Garfield County, Snowmass have each agreed to contribute $3,000 to the study. The RFTA share is about $4700. The study will focus on the highway 82 corridor between Aspen and Glenwood and the I-70 corridor between Glenwood and Rifle. The study will be complete in April. Councilman Gassman moved to approve the supplementary appropriation in RFTA Resolution #l; seconded by Councilman Tuite. Councilman Peters asked if this study will be investigating train alterative. Blankenship said this will be looked at but not in depth. Councilman Peters said this is one of the most important 13 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 12, 1990 transportation questions to be answered. Blankenship said the TDP cannot answer all the questions having to do with the train. Blankenship said the scope of the study is broad; it is looking at Garfield County's transportation needs, which may be exclusive from those of Pitkin County. The study will look at the train as an alternative. Councilman Peters said he would like the study to identify the major transportation issues in the valley. Councilman Tuite said this will also be an evaluation of what is not being done that is needed to be done. All in favor, motion carried. PARKING GARAGE OPERATION Bob Gish, public works director, told Council the parking garage will be available to the public Friday on a limited capacity. The landscaping will not be done; however, the parking garage is safe and usable. Tom Baker, planning office. told Council the committee discussed the rate structure at length and recommended a $3 flat rate from 6:00 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. and a $7 flat rate until 3 p.m. when it would go back to $3. Baker said car pool drivers would be let in at any time for $3. Baker said the committee suggests using street spaces to augment the car pooling effort. Baker presented a map showing that car pool drivers would be exempt from the parking regulations. Councilman Tuite said the city will have to have more enforcement of parking regulations so that it will be more frequent and depen- dable. Councilman Tuite said the city should raise the price of parking fines so that people will use the parking garage. Councilman Gassman said he feels the parking garage is too expensive. Councilman Gassman said at the beginning he would like to make the garage cheap and try to fill it up. Augie Reno said in the initial conversations about the parking garage, the discussion of the charge for parking was nothing to $2 a day. Reno said a charge above $2 results in diminished use of the parking garage. Councilman Peters suggested a provision in the garage for allowing all night storage of service vehicles. Councilman Peters agreed the parking garage should be cheap in order to get people to use it and cheap enough to encourage car poolers to use it. Gish said this approval is for a trial period and staff will come back to Council in the summer for approval of a permanent operation of the garage. Bil Dunaway pointed out all the information citizens had before the vote on the parking garage was based on a much lower parking rate. Mark Friedberg said if a parking ticket is only $10, it is meaningless to expect people to pay $7 to park in a structure. 14 Reaular Meetina Aspen Citv Council Februarvl2, 1990 People will continue to park downtown and to move their cars. Friedberg said $7 is totally out of line. Marvin Jordan said he was surprised to learn that the cross town shuttle will not be operating during this trail period. Councilman Tuite said because the garage will only be open two months, RFTA decided not to run the shuttle for that period as it will cause a significant financial impact to RFTA. Councilman Crockett asked if staff had monitoring mechanisms. Baker said if the garage is free, they will have to do monitoring; if it costs money, that is a monitoring mechanism. John Adams suggested the city poll people using the parking garage during the trial period to see what they think is a fair fee and one they would be willing to pay. Councilman Crockett pointed out by making the parking garage free, people make stop riding the bus and use the parking garage. Councilman Tuite said the city has to pay for the parking garage. Councilman Tuite said he would like to see an incentive for people who get to town early before the traffic rush on highway 82. Councilman Peters said the city has to make this attractive from the very beginning. Amy Margerum, planning director, told Council it has been well documented across the country that the price of parking is directly related to people using alternative transporta- tion. Ms. Margerum said the parking structure and its rate will be an incentive for people to get back into their cars. Councilman Gassman moved for a fee of $3 , free for car pools which is 3 or more people, and monitoring and good survey information by the city staff; seconded by Councilman Peters. Councilman Tuite said he would like to have a two-tiered fee structure for people who get to the garage early. Bill Efting, acting city manager, suggested the city try this for 2 or 3 weeks to see how it works and report back to Council March 12. Councilman Gassman amended his motion to add that report; seconded by Councilman Peters. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Tuite. Motion carried. Baker said a greater benefit of car pooling will be the ability to park in the downtown area and be exempt from the parking restric- tions except in the very close commercial core. Baker said in order to have a successful car pool, the city needs to offer these types of incentives. This is just a trial and the city will be able to see how many people are taking advantage of it by the number of permits that are handed out every day. Councilman Peters said he will not support this because there is not the staff to implement and enforce it. 15 Regular Meeting Aspen Citv Council February 12, 1990 Mayor Stirling moved to go with car pooling for the same period of 60 days using the existing parking supply and figure 2 in the memorandum of February 7; seconded by Councilman Crockett. All in favor, with the exception of Councilmembers Gassman and Peters. Motion carried. REQUEST FOR FUNDS - Wildlife Committee Terri Hart told Council this committee was formed last November with the Commissioner taking the lead. There are about 20 members representing a broad section of the community. The purpose of the committee is to identify wildlife habitats, and to the develop vehicles to protect them. Ms. Hart said because of current development pressures in the area, the committee has chosen to move very quickly. The committee hired a biologist to look at all data currently available. Design Workshop has agreed to donate their staff time for maps. The Ski Company, County Commissioners and Snowmass Village have all agreed to contribute $5,000. The committee has a grant application into the Aspen Foundation and have asked the Colorado Division of Wildlife and Forest Service to match local funds. Ms. Hart requested the city contribute $5,000. The end result will be maps available to anyone in the valley who needs them. Councilman Gassman said he feels this duplicates a lot of work that has already been done. Councilman Gassman said it looks like this is to assuage the Ski Company's conscience at someone else's expense. Councilman Gassman said the city has a lot of other things to spend money on. Ms. Hart said the Ski Company did not start this process, the County Commissioner started this. Councilman Crockett said between Burnt Mountain and Little Annie there were a lot of wildlife studies done. Ms. Hart said that does not make a comprehensive look at Pitkin County. Ms. Hart argued the wildlife in this valley is a resource valued by everyone. Councilman Peters said he has attended one meeting of this task force. Councilman Peters said the task force is concerned about the type of data they would get from the division of wildlife and wanted to have a greater degree of comfort that the local eco- systems and wildlife patterns have been analyzed and care for. Councilman Peters said he is prepared to support this; however, is concerned this may become an off way of justifying Burnt Mountain. Councilman Peters moved to approve $5,000 contribution to the task force funding of their special consultant to study funding of wildlife habitat issues; seconded by Councilman Crockett. Councilman Crockett asked if the city will have access to all the data. Ms. Hart said the maps will be kept at ACES for anyone's use. Councilman Crockett said he looks at this as an inventory, 16 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 12, 1990 which is important. Ms. Hart said the planning office will have representation on the committee. Amy Margerum, planning director, said they have not been directly involved and have been sending a staff person as a liaison but are not acting as staff to the committee. Ms. Margerum said the maps will be of little use unless they are used in the planning process and a copy is kept in the planning office. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Gassman. Motion carried. Mayor Stirling moved to suspend the rules and meet until 9:30; seconded by Councilman Peters. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Gassman and Councilman Crockett. Motion carried. CONSULTANT CONTRACT - Jim Kent SRM Councilman Gassman moved to approve $6060 out of the contingency fund for this contract; seconded by Councilman Peters. All in favor, motion carried. AFFORDABLE HOUSING EAST AND WEST HOPKINS Mayor Stirling said David Myler would like to know if Council wants to continue with the contracts on both of these sites. Councilman Gassman moved to continue with the contracts; seconded by Councilman Crockett. Councilman Peters said there is a family of six living in a house on one of the sites, which will be an issue for Council to deal with. Councilman Gassman amended his motion to direct Myler to research and report on the displacement situation; seconded by Councilman Crockett. All in favor, motion carried. ENGINEERING FEES WATER PROJECTS Councilman Peters moved to approve the engineering fee budget of $103,857; seconded by Councilman Crockett. All in favor, motion carried. MEADOWRIDGE EASEMENT Someone showed the Doolittle road, the Castle Ridge apartments, hospital, 6.5 parcel which is the Meadowridge parcel. Someone is asking for an easement across city property to access the parcel. 17 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council February 12, 1990 Councilman Gassman moved to approve the easement; seconded by Councilman Tuite. All in favor, motion carried. Council adjourned at 9:30 p.m., putting off CAST request, Board and Commission appointments, Aspen Sanitation District Claims Settle- ment, Request for Executive Session, and Harvard Study to February 26. 3~ `~ Kathryn S Koch, City Clerk 18