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HomeMy WebLinkAboutresolution.council.026-04RESOLUTION NO. Series of 2004 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, TO APPROVE AND RATIFY AMENDMENTS TO THE ROARING FORK TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY'S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR MANAGEMENT OF THE ASPEN BRANCH OF THE DENVER & RIO GRANDE RAILROAD CORRIDOR, AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE SAID AGREEMENT ON BEHALF OF .THE ~CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO. WHEREAS, Pitkin County, Eagle County, Garfield County, the City of Glenwood Springs, the City of Aspen, the Town of Carbondale, the Town of Basalt, and the Town of Snowmass Village did enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement dated December 31, 1994, to create the Roaring Fork Railroad Holding Authority ("RFRHA"); and WHEREAS, on June 26, 1997, Pitkin County, Eagle County, Garfield County, the City of Glenwood Springs, the City of Aspen, the Town of Carbondale, the Town of Basalt, and the Town of Snowmass Village entered into the First Amended and Restated Intergovernmental Agreement Concerning the Purchase and Public Ownership. of the Aspen Branch of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Right-of-Way ("First Amended RFRHA IGA"); and WHEREAS, the primary change to the original RFRHA IGA was the removal of Gaifield County from the RFRHA; and WHEREAS, the purpose of RFRHA was to cooperate in the purchase and ownership of a portion of what is known as the Aspen Branch of the Denver and Rio Grande Western railroad corridor (the "Corridor"); and WHEREAS, RFRHA completed the purchase of the Corridor; and WHEREAS, Pitkin County, Eagle County, the City of Glenwood Springs, the City of Aspen, the Town of Carbondale, the Town of Basalt, and the Town of Snowmass Village, on September 12, 2000, entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement to form a RUral Transportation Authority, the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority ("RFTA"), pursuant to title 43, article 4, part 6, Colorado Revised Statutes; and WHEREAS, at the November 7, 2000 election, the electors within the boundaries of the proposed Transportation Authority approved the formation of RFTA; and WHEREAS, part of the intent of the formation of a Rural Transportation Authority, was for a single government entity to take over responsibility for transit centered in the Roaring Fork valley, including the existing Roaring Fork Transit Agency and RFRHA; and WHEREAS, RFTA has taken over all the assets, duties and liabilities or RFRHA, including ownership and management of the Railroad Corridor; and WHEREAS, the current government members of RFTA were members of RFRHA prior to RFRHA's absorption into RFTA; and WHEREAS, the RFTA Board of Directors have assumed the existing Comprehensive Plan and Access Control Plan for the Railroad Corridor ("Comprehensive Plan"); and WHEREAS, the Comprehensive Plan was adopted at a time when RFRHA contemplated that rail traffic on the Corridor would be available in the near term; and WHEREAS, RFTA has jUst completed a Corridor Investment Study, which does not contemplate rail traffic on the Corridor in the near future; and WHEREAS, certain aspects of the Comprehensive Plan, such as the responsibility for maintenance of private crossings of the Corridor, were written under the assumption that RFTA would be running rail traffic on the Corridor; and WHEREAS, since RFTA is not running rail traffic on the Corridor, it is not efficient or practical for RFTA to maintain all rail crossings; and WHEREAS, an agreement between RFRHA and Great Outdoors Colorado ("GOCO"), requires changes to the Comprehensive Plan to be approved by GOCO; and WHEREAS, the Comprehensive Plan provides for consultation with the Colorado Department of Transportation ("CDOT") and GOCO prior to adopting changes to the Comprehensive Plan; and WHEREAS, the Comprehensive Plan provides that changes to its terms be ratified by the individual governments who were members of the RFRHA; and WHEREAS, RFTA desires to amend the Comprehensive Plan in order to make management of the Corridor more efficient, by allowing priv. ate access license holders to maintain their own crossings; and WHEREAS, RFTA also desires to amend the Comprehensive Plan to delete the requirement that each change to the Comprehensive Plan be approved by each member jurisdiction from RFRHA, as well as GOCO and CDOT; and WHEREAS, the proposed amendment attached as Exhibit A would continue to require unanimous consent of all the RFTA Board members who were members of RFRHA for further amendments to the Comprehensive Plan; and WHEREAS, GOCO and CDOT have approved changes to the Comprehensive Plan allowing the RFTA Board to operate the Corridor in a more efficient manner, which changes are depicted in the attached Exhibit A; and WHEREAS, RFTA has requested that each of the RFRHA member jurisdictions ratify changes to its Comprehensive Plan, as reflected on the attached Exhibit A. NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO: That the City Council of the City of Aspen does hereby find and determine that it is in the best interests of the citizens of the City of Aspen and the Roaring Fork valley that RFTA be allowed to adopt changes to its Railroad Corridor Comprehensive Plan only by unanimous vote of the members of RFTA that were also members of RFRHA listed in the First Amended RFRHA IGA (Eagle and Pitkin Counties, Aspen, Snowmass Village, Basalt, Carbondale an~d Glenwood Springs); and That the Council does hereby find and determine that it can provide proper oversight of the rail Corridor through its representative on the RFTA Board; and That the Council ratifies changes to the Corridor Comprehensive Plan as reflected in the attached Exhibit A to this resolution. INTRODUCED, READ AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Aspen onthe [~__ ' I, Kathryn S. Koch, duly appointed and acting City Clerk do certify that the foregoing is a tree and accurate copy of that resolution adopted by the City Council of the City of Aspen, Colorado, at a meeting held on the day hereinabove state& Kathryn S. Koch, City Clerk EXHIBIT A ORIGINAL SECTION OF RAILROAD CORRIDOR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: Procedure for Modification to the Comprehensive Plan: Every five years, the RFRHA Board shall review the Comprehensive Plan and make changes to it if deemed necessary. In addition, RFRHA staff or Board members may propose to initiate a modification to the Comprehensive Plan because of a perceived need to do so. The RFRHA Board must approve the initiation of the modification process before it is to proceed. After approval to proceed, any amendment to the Comprehensive Plan will be initially drafted and presented to the Board. After receiving comments from the RFRHA Board, the draft wiil be distributed to all member governments, including Great Outdoors Colorado and The Colorado Department of Transportation for their comments. A final draft of the amendment(s) will then be brought back to the RFRHA Board for their final acceptance. Once accepted by the RFRHA Board, the amendment(s) will be sent back to the member governments for their ratification. All member governments must approve of the amendment(s) before they are incorporated into the Comprehensive Plan. AMENDED SECTION OF RAILROAD CORRIDOR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Procedure for Modification to the Comprehensive Plan: Every five years, the RFR~TA Board shall review the Comprehensive Plan and make changes to it if deemed necessary. In addition~RFR~:. TA staff or Board members may propose to initiate a modification to the Comprehensive Plan because of a perceived need to do so. chan~will be distributed to '~uem[~r~s:[~d~d4.[~gthe. Colorado Depa~ment of Transpo~ation for its comments, and to Great Outdoors Colorado for its approval. A drak of the proposed changes will be distributed to all RFTA members and planning depa~ments. A final dra~ of ~e amendment(s) will then be brought back to the ~R4.tTA Bo~d for final acceptance. The CoB~en~iv( Pl~~e amended ~f a- ,roved by ~nou:~me o~tlle ~~s ofR:[(RHA LPitkin Without the red-lines: AMENDED SECTION OF RAILROAD CORRIDOR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Procedure for Modification to the Comprehensive Plan: Every five years, the RFTA Board shall review the Comprehensive Plan and make changes to it if deemed necessary. In addition, RFTA staffor Board members may propose to initiate a modification to the Comprehensive Plan because of a perceived need to do so. A draft of the proposed changes will be distributed to the Colorado Department of Transportatioin for its comments, and to Great Outdoors Colorado for its approval. A draft of the proposed changes will be distributed to all RFTA members and planning departments. A final draft of the amendments(s) will then be brought babk to the RFTA Board for final acceptance. The Comprehensive Plan can only be amended if approved by a unanimous vote of the original members ofRFRHA (Pitkin County, Eagle County, Aspen, Town of Snowmass Village, Basalt, Carbondale and Glenwood Springs).