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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19910211Aspen City Council Regular Meeting February 11, 1991 COMMENDATION - Maggie Woods 1 CITIZEN COMMENTS 1 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1 CONSENT CALENDAR 4 LIQUOR LICENSE RENEWALS 5 SPECIAL EVENT PERMITS - Winternational 5 LIQUOR LICENSE HEARING - Caspian Corporation d/b/a Ebbe's 5 REQUEST FOR FUNDS - Grassroots Ski Experience 8 REQUEST WAIVER OF PLANNING FEES - Marolt Barn 8 RESOLUTION #5, SERIES OF 1991 - Pitkin County Housing Mitiga- tion 9 HOUSING MITIGATION - 409 East Hopkins 9 RESOLUTION ##6, SERIES OF 1991 - Valley Light Rail Alignment 10 RESOLUTION MAROON CREEK BRIDGE DESIGN 11 CITY HOLIDAYS 11 12 Aspen City Council Regular Meeting February 11, 1991 Mayor Stirling called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. with Councilmembers Pendleton, Tuite, Peters and Gassman present. COMMENDATION - Maggie Woods Mayor Stirling and Council presented a commendation to Maggie Woods for foregoing Christmas gifts and giving the money to help subsidize youth by sending them on an outward bound experience. CITIZEN COMMENTS 1. Phoebe Ryerson showed a map that is going to be part of the town meeting February 13th entitled "How Green is Our Valley". The white is the only people thing. Ms. Ryerson suggested the musical background should be, where have all the families gone. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Gassman said during the interviews for the Wheeler opera House Board it was suggested a way to expose more people to the Wheeler is to have more city and town meetings there. The comprehensive planning meeting will be there February 13th. Councilman Gassman said the lobby is also a good place to have meetings. 2. Councilman Gassman said earlier he brought up having benches around town as an attribute to the community. Councilman Gassman suggested this be done in conjunction with the pedestrian/bikeway plan and that the city also look at outdoor chess tables. Carol O'Dowd, city manager, told Council she has been having the city manager coffee meetings with city staff at the Wheeler. Ms. O'Dowd said staff did improve the existing benches around town and she will have them pursue chess tables. 3. Councilman Peters said there have been a number of newspaper articles about the funding for the Maroon Creek bridge. There is some community anguish about the loss of funding for the Maroon Creek bridge and some allegations this was through inactivity of the elected officials. Councilman Peters said the Colorado Department of Highways sought out funding before the EIS was completed and then told the community they had to hurry up. Councilman Peters said the city, county and P & Z's took the correct approach in that there are a number of issues to examine before a bridge design can be agreed upon. There were a number of joint meetings and the result is a joint resolution dealing with the design of the bridge as well mass transportation issues, grade separation, etc. Councilman Peters said it does a disservice to the P & Z's and all the work they have done to allow the idea to remain that they have been idle. 1 Aspen Citv Council Regular Meeting February 11, 199.1 4. Mayor Stirling said Council needs to add to the agenda the appointments to Board and Commission. Councilman Gassman said he would prefer to put this on the February 25th agenda. Council said all board members will continue to serve until that time. 5. Mayor Stirling said he has been having discussions with Wayne Ethridge, chairman of the County Commissioners, on the philosophy of joint departments and serving two managers. Mayor Stirling said it would be a good idea in 1991 to add the issue of joint depart- ments, how they are operated, are they operated as efficiently as they can be and is the Council still philosophically committed to joint departments. Carol O'Dowd, city manager, said she is concerned about some joint departments, that the intergovernmental agreements as currently drafted are not being honored and in some cases overlap each other. Council scheduled a work session for February 18 at 6:30 p.m. 6. Mayor Stirling said there was an editorial in the Aspen Times about energy efficiency. Mayor Stirling told Council he recently attended a meeting about energy efficiency. Council will address a water efficiency ordinance in April. Mayor Stirling suggested the city can work on making Aspen a model of energy efficiency. John Phillips has agreed to volunteer time to work with the city. Mayor Stirling asked the city manager to begin to explore these ideas and bring them back by March to talk about an energy efficiency strategy. Councilman Peters asked if this is intended to create a policy for city government or to implement code amendments for the citizens. Mayor Stirling said Council needs to see what comes out of the process. Councilman Gassman said Council had discussed expanding the role of the Clean Air Board to energy efficiency, which would be a good idea. Carol O'Dowd, city manager, said the Clean Air Board is looking at energy conservation as part of their clean air program. Mayor Stirling moved to direct the city manager to look into this, explore it and come back with a report within 30 days for Council's scrutiny in order to see if it can be pursued this on some more formal approach; seconded by Councilman Peters. Councilman Peters agreed it might be better to go through the Clean Air Board and use their expertise. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Gassman. Motion carried. 7. Mayor Stirling requested RFTA pursue the possibility of allowing dogs on buses. 2 Aspen City Council Regular Meeting February 11, 1991 8. Mayor Stirling announced the comprehensive planning meeting February 13th at 5:30 at the Wheeler Opera House. 9. Mayor Stirling distributed a resolution he would like on the February 25th agenda urging President Bush to continue the pursuit peaceful solutions in the Persian Gulf. Mayor Stirling said citizens have been crafting the language for this resolution. Mayor Stirling said this is a positive way to balance what happened two weeks ago. Peter Korn asked Council to give this resolution careful consideration. Korn said at the last meeting Council questioned whether it is appropriate for them to be making comments on matters of national public policy. Korn said what happens at a national level affects everyone. 10. Mayor Stirling said Harvard has an award program for local government given each year. Mayor Stirling complimented Amy Margerum and Tom Baker, who drafted an application for this award. They chose the Aspen affordable housing program as the essence for the program. The program focuses on both city and county efforts. 11. Carol O'Dowd, city manager, requested Council move the Winternational special event permit to the liquor license business. Mayor Stirling moved to move (b) from the consent calendar to the liquor license authority business; seconded by Councilman Peters. All in favor, motion carried. 12. Carol O'Dowd, city manager, said at the last meeting there were comments made about ACRA, the direction the city and ACRA are going, and a possible work session. Mayor Stirling said he would like to discuss the open meetings and responding to having a Council member on the ACRA board. Councilman Peters said the primary issue is public funding and open meetings; this issue is well defined. Councilman Peters said he does not see any common ground with the ACR.A. Councilwoman Pendleton said there seems to be animosity between Council and the ACRA, and if this can be remedied by meeting it should be done. Councilman Peters said during the budget cycle, Council was assured there would be open meeting. Now there are not open meetings. Mayor Stirling moved to have a work session with the ACRA on April 1st; seconded by Councilwoman Pendleton. All in favor, with the exception of Councilmembers Peters and Gassman. Motion carried. 13 . Carol O' Dowd, city manager, told Council the city has had some difficulty keeping the streets clean as possible. The streets crews have been addressing the problems of dust, flooding and snow removal simultaneously. The crews are flushing and sweeping the streets daily. 3 Aspen City Council Rectular Meetinq February 11, 1991 14. Carol O'Dowd, city manager, told Council citizens have been inquiring about a parking plaza/gondola shuttle. Ms. O'Dowd told Council she has been meeting with Dan Blankenship, manager of RFTA. A shuttle can be implemented as soon as February 18th. The shuttle can be done for about $8000 by a van running from the parking plaza to the gondola 6 times an hour in the morning and afternoon. Councilman Gassman said he feels a shuttle is useful but has a problem paying for this out of the general fund. This is a community problem and should be paid for out of community transpor- tation funds. Councilman Peters agreed about the source of funds Councilman Gassman moved to ask RFTA Board to look into implement- ing the shuttle; seconded by Councilman Peters. All in favor, motion carried. 15. Carol O'Dowd, city manager, requested Council add an item to the next work session. The valley rail committee will be putting together a work program. Council should list questions and concerns included in a work program in pursuing a valley rail. Mayor Stirling moved to add this to the end of the February 18th work session; seconded by Councilman Peters. All in favor, motion carried. 16. Carol O'Dowd, city manager, told Council staff is implementing a complaint policy. Ms. O'Dowd said when a public complaint is being registered, the person is told this is viewed as public information. The complaint is taken down and copies are being given to Council as well as being made available to the press. Mayor Stirling disagreed with that approach. Councilman Gassman said the city is a public agency and everything is a matter of public record. Councilwoman Pendleton agreed. Councilman Peters said it is more of a service to the public to allow a conduit for their complaints to the press. Ms. O'Dowd said she will formalize a policy and bring it back to Council. Mayor Stirling said he is afraid this may dampen citizens enthusiasm for calling in com- plaints. 17. Councilwoman Pendleton asked staff to take care of the potholes at the forest service corner. CONSENT CALENDAR Councilwoman Pendleton moved to adopt the consent calendar as amended; seconded by Councilwoman Pendleton. The consent calendar is: A. Minutes - December 17, 1990 B. Kraut Property Lease - Double K Parking All in favor, motion carried. 4 Aspen City Council Regular Meeting February 11, 1991 LIQUOR LICENSE RENEWALS Councilman Gassman moved to approve the liquor license renewals for The Grill; Crystal Palace and Carnavale; seconded by Councilman Peters. All in favor, motion carried. SPECIAL EVENT PERMITS - Winternational Councilman Gassman asked if this event is open to the public. Councilman Gassman moved to approve the permit if everything is open to the public; seconded by Councilman Peters. Mayor Stirling said this event is not on public property, like the wine classic. Mayor Stirling said Council should urge the sponsors to be as open about this as possible. Councilmembers Gassman and Peters in favor; Councilmembers Pendleton, Tuite and Mayor Stirling opposed. Motion NOT carried. Mayor Stirling moved to approve the winternational special event permit and convey that Council urges the hospitality tent be open and make every effort to make this a community event; seconded by Councilwoman Pendleton. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Gassman. All in favor, motion carried. LIQUOR LICENSE HEARING - Caspian Corporation d/b/a Ebbe's Mayor Stirling went over the procedures for the hearing on the renewal of Caspian Corporation d/b/a Ebbe's. Notice of this hearing has been mailed by certified mail to the applicant. The allegations are that Ebbe's allowed underaged persons to purchase and/or consume alcoholic beverages and served alcoholic beverages to intoxicated persons. Officer Roger Wall testified about a criminal mischief call on January 9, 1991, at which time he encountered an unconscious person being supported down the stairs. Cal Madere was arrested for punching a hole in the bathroom door. Rick Kohler was transported to the Aspen Valley Hospital. During this time, it was discovered that Madere was underage and no identification has been found. Kohler had a blood alcohol of .298. Wall told Council Madere has no identification or wallet on him when he was booked for criminal mischief. Leon Murray, police department, told Council he went to Ebbe's to see what the officers were dealing with. There was an unconscious male near the door for whom an ambulance has been called. Murray assisted Wall in the arrest of Madere. After the arrest it was discovered that Madere was 18 years old. Murray told Council after Madere was transported to the Pitkin County jail, his state of 5 Aspen City Council Regular Meeting February 11, 1991 intoxication increased markedly and rapidly. Arrangements were made to have Madere taken to the detox facility in Glenwood Springs. Peter Bock, police department, told Council he keeps a file on each liquor licensed establishment with good and bad reports. He also logs in any fake ids turned into the police department. Bock went over the incidents in the file. Bock told Council Ebbe and his staff have all taken the required TIPS training. John Case, representing Ebbe, presented a letter for the record from Joan Paterson stating that she served 3 rounds to a table with 15 or 20 people at it. Jerry Moorehead, Ebbe's employee, told Council he was on the door the night of the incident. Moorehead checked a Louisiana driver's license for Madere. When he went upstairs, this person was sitting with a large crowd of people around a booth. Ebbe Saghatoslami told Council he is at the restaurant every night; that Ebbe's has had TIPS training for all the employees. Ebbe told Council he has an underage drinking policy and an over consumption policy. Ebbe went over the events of the night of January 8th. Ebbe told Council he went into the bathroom and saw that the door was broken, and then had the doorman call the police. Ebbe told Council later that evening he found a fake i . d . in the bathroom trash can and took the i . d . to the police department. Goodwin brought the police department log of fake i.d.s turned in and pointed out there is no entry for January 8th or 9th. Councilman Gassman said in the 4 years he has served on Council, this is the only liquor licensee that has had a hearing, twice. Ebbe said this is because he has musicians, which people love to see. Young people go through all sorts of things to get in. Goodwin pointed out the reason for this hearing is that someone from Ebbe's went to the hospital because they were so intoxicated, that a minor was served and that other people were being over served. Goodwin contended it is the responsibility of the liquor licensee or his employees to make observations and confirm if someone is being overserved. Goodwin said the police were told by Madere he was 21 year old; during the investigation it was found he was 18 years old. There has been information provided about whether Madere had a false i.d. or not. Goodwin said it can be a lose/lose situation if the police department does not take action when someone with a blood alcohol level of 298 goes to the hospital. Case said kids do try and sneak in where the action is. Ebbe has, in the past, always called the police when incidents happen. Case said the police department may feel this is a burden to have to respond to these calls. Case said Ebbe should be commended for 6 Aspen City Council Regular Meeting February 11, 1991 calling the police, not hammered for it. Case said the second incident in the notice to show cause involved a 48 year old and a 20 year old. Council has not heard very much about this case, and the officer is not present to testify. The burden of persuasion has not been met. Case said on the underage case, the statute states if a person exhibits fraudulent proof of age, any action relying on such fraudulent proof of age shall not constitute grounds for revocation or suspension of a license. Case said two people checked Madere's i.d., Jerry Moorehead at the door and Ebbe was present. Case pointed out Madere lied to the police about his age when he was booked. Case said on the overserving charge, it simply did not happen. Three rounds were served in over more than 2 hours to a large group. This was not an instance of serving people who were visibly intoxicated. Case said Ebbe is a responsible and diligent business man and there is no return to him for over serving customers. Mayor Stirling moved to suspend the rules until 10 p.m.; seconded by Councilwoman Pendleton. All in favor, motion carried. Councilwoman Pendleton said after listening to the evidence, she feels Ebbe goes out of his way to stop abuses from happening. However, this particular incident is very scary. Councilwoman Pendleton said it is something for a person to get a blood alcohol content of .298 without anyone really noticing. It seems that Ebbe has tried to do as much as he can to prevent this sort of thing from happening. Councilwoman Pendleton said it behooves the town to change their attitudes about alcohol consumption. Councilman Peters said a decision on finding the facts in the incidents is clear; however, a decision on what to do about it is not so clear.. Councilman Peters said for the purposes of determining whether or not Price, being underage, was drinking in Ebbes, her own admission is all Council has to go on and it is pretty strong evidence. Councilman Peters said in the January 9th incident, Madere did not have an i.d. on him when he was booked. There was a lot of allusion to a false i.d. but no one would go on record under sworn testimony and say that they saw a false i.d. Councilman Peters said Kohler was unconscious when he was taken from the premises. It is stretching the imagination to think he went from being ambulatory and admissible to Ebbe's to being comatose and taken out and no one noticed anything was happening. Councilman Peters said for finding of act, there have been minors served at Ebbe's and there has been an incidence of over serving. Councilman Peters said this is a high risk establishment; this is a place were young people, on the cusp of being legal, come and have a good time. Councilman Peters said the fact that two people were comatose is troubling and the fact that there were two 7 Aspen Citv Council Regular Meeting February 11, 1991 incidents of violence is very troubling. Councilman Peters said he does not know why the police should be subject to violent drunkards or to health risks when it is clearly the owner's responsibility to care for their customers. Councilman Peters said he feels these incidents are clear violations of the liquor code; however, what is not clear is what to do about it. Councilman Peters said eh does not want to encourage bar owners not to call the police when they have a problem. Councilman Tuite agreed someone was overserved, however he got it. Councilman Tuite said there was an underage person, however he got in. Councilman Tuite said Ebbe is not looking the other way. Councilman Tuite said he is prepared to find there were violations but not to impose an suspension, non-renewal or revocation. Mayor Stirling moved to renew the 1 iquor 1 icense and to suspend the license for 5 days beginning February 26, 1991; seconded by Councilman Gassman. All in favor, with the exception of Council- members Pendleton and Tuite. Motion carried. Mayor Stirling moved to suspend the rules and continue the meeting to 11 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Peters. All in favor, with the exception of Councilmembers Tuite and Gassman. Motion carried. REQUEST FOR FUNDS - Grassroots Ski Experience Councilman Tuite told Council the County Commissioners voted to give $1000 if the city matches that amount. Councilman Gassman moved to appropriate $1500 from the contingency for Grassroots Ski Experience; seconded by Councilwoman Pendleton. Councilman Gassman said this is something very different than groups that have been hosted in Aspen in the past. All in favor, motion carried. REQUEST WAIVER OF PLANNING FEES - Marolt Barn Rick Newton, representing the Historical Society, told Council the planning fees are $2380. Councilman Tuite moved to waive the planning fees of $2400; seconded by Mayor Stirling. Councilwoman Pendleton asked if there is a policy on waiver of fees. Mayor Stirling said the city only has a policy on tap fees for affordable housing. Jed Caswall, city attorney, pointed out there is no policy for waiving fees other than for affordable housing. Council paid the fees for the youth center. 8 Aspen City Council Regular Meeting February 11, 1991 Councilman Tuite withdrew his motion Mayor Stirling moved to table this to February 25 and to ask the city manager to assess the contingency funds and give Council a balance; seconded by Councilman Tuite. Councilman Gassman said he would like to have an idea about how many requests from non-profit groups are possible in the future. Councilwoman Pendleton said she would like to have a policy about waiving of fees. All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #5, SERIES OF 1991 - Pitkin County Housing Mitigation Councilman Gassman moved to approve Resolution ##5, Series of 1991; seconded by Councilman Peters. Amy Margerum, planning director, pointed out staff has taken out of the resolution reference to a GMQS exemption. This will occur at the time the Lutheran Church comes in for a change in use. Ms. Margerum said this is a creative approach and the applicant spent a lot of time researching and finding a solution. All in favor, motion carried. HOUSING MITIGATION - 409 East Hopkins Leslie Lamont, planning office, reminded Council in December they allocated a commercial GMQS to 409 E. Hopkins. The applicant offered cash-in-lieu; Council denied their full offer of cash-in- lieu. In January the applicant presented a proposal to buy an apartment building that would mitigate housing for 17.5 employees and mitigate the difference by a cash-in-lieu. The proposal is to buy the Smuggler Mountain building and deed restrict it to 17.5 employees, turn the title over to the housing authority, who would have the choice of condominiumizing the building and selling the units. The money from the sale of the building would be used to pay off the cash-in-lieu. Ms. Lamont recommended Council table any decision because staff has not been able to fully review this proposal. Staff has identified 4 issues; (1) status of the site regarding the EPA superfund; (2) the housing authority's ability or desire to accept this building for condominiumization or manage- ment; (3) if the building is condominiumized, the cash-in-lieu is deferred for the full mitigation; (4) all these fees may price out low income category buyers. Art Daily, representing the applicant, said the housing authority also needs to know that this building is structurally sound. Daily said the threshold EPA issue has to be determined before this 9 Aspen Citv Council Regular Meeting February 11. 1991 projects goes a lot further. Daily told Council there are not very many properties that can be used to meet the needs of this commercial project. Councilman Peters said this is a good idea and creates housing immediately with no growth. Councilman Peters suggested the housing authority needs an attorney to evaluate its position. Mayor Stirling said Council is interested in trying to make this work but not at all costs. Councilman Gassman said this has not yet been discussed by the housing authority. Council said someone should look into the health and safety aspects of the building in the next two weeks. Councilman Gassman said the housing authority is not set up to manage dispersed, rental housing. Carr Kunze, housing director, told Council they have not looked at the financial feasibility or other issues. Council asked if the applicant would be willing to pay for the building inves- tigation. Daily said if the proposal goes ahead, they would be willing. Mayor Stirling requested the housing authority do as much analysis, structural, legal and operational, in the next two weeks. Councilman Gassman said this seems to be asking for more detail on a proposal which is not the city's or housing authority's respon- sibility. Daily said this proposal is $215,000 beyond what the cash-in-lieu required. Ms. Margerum noted this type of housing is a new idea and the staff should draw up guidelines of when housing will be accepted and what type of criteria need to be met. Mayor Stirling moved the housing authority on (a) condition, status of the site, because of it's being in the EPA superfund site, issues of ownership, be pursed in this 2 week period, the same time Bill is pursuing the other; seconded by Councilman Peters. All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #6, SERIES OF 1991 - Valley Light Rail Alignment Councilman Peters moved to adopt Resolution #6, Series of 1991; seconded by Councilman Tuite. Councilwoman Pendleton said she would like the reference to the light rail being important given the ongoing war in the Middle East deleted. Mayor Stirling suggested "in light of our nation's dependence on oil and the importance of air quality" be sub- stituted. Councilwoman Pendleton said #3 needs to be broader not just addressing transportation from Aspen to Snowmass. Councilman Peters agreed Council should pass the resolution in its simplest form, leave out 2 and 3 and change the wording in ##1 as above. Councilwoman Pendleton moved to amend Resolution #6, Series of 1991, as above, and to adopt it; seconded by Councilman Peters. 10 Ashen Citv Council Regular Meeting February 11, 1991 All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Gassman and Mayor Stirling. Motion carried. RESOLUTION MAROON CREEK BRIDGE DESIGN Carol O'Dowd, city manager, said this letter to the department of highways recommends the Maroon Creek bridge and informs them that Council will be reviewing the joint resolution. Councilman Gassman moved to accept authorizing Mayor Stirling to send the letter to the highway department; seconded by Councilwoman Pendleton. Councilman Tuite said he has a problem with this size bridge. Councilman Tuite said the community has to be aware the state intend to keep the old Maroon Creek bridge and put a 90 foot bridge to the north side. Councilman Gassman said there is a work session with the highway department in one week and suggested this be tabled until after then. Councilman Gassman withdrew his motion. Mayor Stirling moved to table this to February 25, 1991; seconded by Councilman Gassman. All in favor, motion carried. Ms. O'Dowd suggested the BOCC and RFTA be invited to attend the work session February 18th with the highway department. Council concurred. CITY HOLIDAYS Councilman Gassman moved to table this to February 25, 1991; seconded by Councilwoman Pendleton. All in favor, motion carried. Council adjourned at 11:10 p.m. Kathryn Koch, City Clerk 11