HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20050712Continued Meeting Aspen City Council July 12~ 22005
Mayor Pro Tem Torre called the continued meeting to order at 5:20 p.m. with
Councilmembers Richards, DeVilbiss and Johnson present.
BURLINGAME RANCH CHANGE ORDERS
Ed Sadler, asset manager, noted Council received a copy of the RFP. The new Council
received copies of the proposal. Them were 4 memoranda distributed today; one from
Clark Atkinson, Shaw, on the options of the basement; from Ed Sadler on contract
change orders; from staff on the options; from Michelle Bonfils on change orders.
Ben Ludlow, asset manager, said the requested change 2.02A and B is to pave the
pedestrian spine from the comer of the property to the new AABC trail. Staff
recommends this be considered in phase II. Council agreed this should be removed.
Councilwoman Richards said the city promised a trail from Burlingame to the AABC.
Ludlow noted the staff recommendation states the construction of this trail will be more
efficient combined with the utility work in phase II. Ludlow said the portion of the trail
outside Burlingame Ranch should not be associated with this contract. The connection of
the trail to the outside will be considered.
Change 2.10 Change walkways from asphalt to colored concrete, Ludlow said when the
city does a path, it is not asphalt. Asphalt is a maintenance issue as well as being hot.
Ludlow said Shaw proposed asphalt as a cost savings; staff would prefer concrete. The
RFP had no requirement except to follow the code, which states within the right-of-way a
path has to be concrete. Not all these paths are within the right-of-way.
Councilwoman Richards asked what soft costs and fees are. Jason said the fee is their
9% compensation and soft costs are design costs to pay Poss or DHM, reimbursable are
printing, costs basic to the job. Councilman Johnson asked if there is a lot of design
worked involved in change an asphalt walkway to concrete. Jason said it is a different
type of construction so them is design work involved. Steve Barwick, city manager,
noted that the 9% is an average and staff negotiates that figure for each change order.
Councilman Johnson pointed out the contract says for any change order, the contractor is
allowed 9%. John Worcester, city attorney, said the contract spells out the process for
city initiated changes orders as well as compensation for those change orders. Worcester
said staff felt 9% was a good sum to give the contractors. Worcester said the parties
could mutually agree to reduce this but the contract states they are entitled to 9%.
Council supported the upgrade from asphalt to concrete.
Change 2.13 Concrete interlocking pavers at pedestrian spine in lieu of asphalt. Ludlow
explained there is no back up from the contractor for some of these changes. Jason said
in the original plan, stamped asphalt was proposed as a low cost of differentiating the
path. Ludlow said stamped asphalt is tom up by snow plows. This is the pedestrian
spine in the middle of the property and eventually will not have bus traffic. Staff
suggested this could be reconsidered in phase II; however, this would require tearing up
the asphalt at that time. Council agreed to go with staffs recommendation to wait until
phase II.
Continued Meeting Aspen City Council July 12~ 22005
Change 2.21 add site fumishings, benches, bear proof trash receptacles, picnic benches.
Staffrecommends not doing this; it should be a determination by the homeowners. Staff
does not want to dictate where the people congregate on their property. Councilwoman
Richards said this could be included in the budget and allow the homeowners to install
these items. Sadler said at the end of the process, staff will bring Council a homeowners'
budget and this item can be part of that budget. Councilwoman Richards said she is
concerned that Council is deleting smaller budget items that make this a livable project.
Councilwoman Richards noted she is also concemed about the continuity of the outdoor
furnishings. Council agreed this should be part of the homeowners' budget but that it
should not be forgotten.
Change 2.22 Oyerhead power line conduit for Holy Cross. Ludlow recommended as part
of phase I, the city install vaults and conduit at city cost within a loop under the asphalt
so the infrastructure for undergrounding is in place. That way the roads will not have to
be dug up in the future. Council agreed with staff's recommendation. The electric
department will fund this.
Change 2.26 Completing ditch water to the site. Ludlow told Council Bar/X has given
the city .9 cfs for 10 acres. There is no diversion point for this; staff has to figure out
how to get ditch water to the site for irrigation. The .9 cfs is enough to irrigate the entire
site but it needs to get to the site. Sadler said the agreement does not spell out by whom
or to where the water will be delivered. Staff is working with their water attorney on this.
Council agreed staff should continue pursuing this item.
Change 6.02 Solid counter tops in all bathrooms. Council already approved solid counter
tops for the kitchens. The affordable housing standards recommend against using
Formica. Council supports this request as long as the details are presented when
available.
Change 8.03A change windows from vinyl to wood. Sadler told Council the affordable
housing standards recommend only one exterior surface has to be maintenance free. Staff
does not reconunend this change to wood. Council agreed.
Change 8.03B change windows from vinyl to fiberglass. Dave showed the fiberglass
window; adding wood trim would add $20,000 to this item. This is recommended by
Build America for lowered embodied energy. Councilman Johnson said this change is
preferable for livability of units. Council supported this change
Change 15.03 Add gas ranges to units. Ludlow said gas ranges require gas to each unit,
venting for the units and the range itself. Sadler said gas is a cleaner energy than electric.
John Womester, city attorney, noted in terms of environmental costs, it will depend on
who provides electricity to the site, Holy Cross or the City. The City will be 80%
renewable energy and Holy Cross is 10% renewable energy. Council supported this
change.
Continued Meeting Aspen Ci,ty Council July 12~ 22005
Change 15.20 Add alternate HRV units. Building Science recommended an upgrade
from a supply-only ventilation system. It is a small investment to reduce the energy
requirement per unit. This would meet the standards accepted by Council for energy and
building. The heat recovery unit uses air in the unit to heat air coming in from the
outside and takes less energy to heat the unit. Councilmembers Richard, Johnson and
Mayor Pro Tem Torre supported this change; Councilman DeVilbiss did not support this,
as he is not convinced the city would be getting their moneys worth.
Changes 16.02 and 16.03 pre-wiring for ceiling fans in bedrooms and living rooms,
which includes pre-wiring. Council supported both of these.
Section 17.04 Shifting Building D-3 to phase I. Building D-3 is the last building along
the spine; it was not included in phase I because of the unit count. It is a perfect building
to move to phase I. Barwick said Council will have to go through a PUD amendment
process to add units. Council agreed to revisit this issue with the direction to bring back
more costs.
Ludlow said the next major issue is the unsuitable soil on site. At last night's meeting,
Council indicated their two preferences were to store the soil on phase III or to haul it to
the city golf course. Ludlow said Gould Construction estimates 40,000 cubic yards at 2
feet of soil to be removed from the entire site. The total removal of $880,000 is based on
$17.50/cubic yard removal to the landfill. To place and shape it in phase III would be
$148,650; this would have a future cost to remove it.
Councilwoman Richards asked if any of phases II and III will be disturbed for utilities.
Ludlow said a small portion of phases II and III are disturbed; however the DRC required
minimization of impact on these 2 portions. Ludlow said this is not just topsoil; it
contains rock, which will have to be screened to be sold. Councilman DeVilbiss asked if
staff could sell the topsoil. Sadler said it could be done at breakeven but the topsoil
would have to be stored somewhere.
Councilman DeVilbiss proposed eliminating two buildings D-1 and G-2 and finding
locations for the topsoil in phases II and III. Councilman DeVilbiss stated he does not
favor giving the golf course topsoil because although it is an improvement, the golf
course is not willing to pay for it and the improvement would be paid for by housing
fund.
Sadler told Council Zoline representatives have said they would take ¼ of the topsoil for
their development. They will take it for free if the city will deliver it. Councilwoman
Richards asked how long it would take to sell the entire 40,000 cubic yards and what
would the cost to sell the dirt be. Councilman Johnson said he feels the soil should be
removed from the site. The costs would be $530,000 to move the soil to the golf course
and $150,000 to put it in phase II. The housing fund will have to pay at least $150,000 to
move the soil either to phase II or to the golf course. Mayor Pro Tem Torte suggested
contacting the Zolines again to see how much coordination and cost savings can be
worked out. Mayor Pro Tem Torte stated he favors giving some topsoil to the golf
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Continued Meeting Aspen City, Council July 12~ 22005
course. Mayor Pro Tem Tone stated Council has indicated concern about an additional
$450,000 cost to this project. Barwick said this is 1% of the Burlingame budget and the
contract states the city has to do something. Barwick said the lowest cost will be about
$350,000. Jeff Woods, parks department, said he is willing to take a proposal to use the
dirt to the open space board. Councilman Johnson said he wants to minimize the cost to
the housing fund. Ludlow said $9.50/cubic yard for cleaned topsoil is a great deal.
Mayor Pro Tem Torre reiterated he wants to minimize the cost for topsoil through any
possible strategies, and supports trucking dirt to the golf course. Councilman DeVilbiss
said if this goes to the golf course, they should take it as is. Councilwoman Richards
agreed with moving the dirt off site, to the Zolines, the golf course, and city owned open
space. Councilman Johnson agreed and stated there has to be good oversight of the
trucks coming out of the project.
Ludlow said the city staff requires dirt management plan plus temporary irrigation and
hand seeding and mulching. Councilwoman Richards asked how this is separate from the
excess dirt. Dave pointed out during the PUD discussion with Council, it was noted the
entire site would be disturbed building phase I. One of the green building outcomes is
not to export or import on site. Phase I has a lot of excess material that could be used in
phase II; however, there is no place to put that material if phase I! is not going to be
disturbed. The excess topsoil cannot be saved for phases II and III.
Councilwoman Richards said the contractor planned to grade and prepare the entire site
for all 3 phases in order to balance the dirt on site and not haul on and off.
Councilwoman Richards said at the time, Council was not aware this meant disturbing
areas that may not be built on for 10 years. When that was brought to Council's
attention, they requested the design team to find alternatives rather than disturb these
sites.
Dave told Council in the PUD moved the line of disturbance back to phases II and III.
Councilman DeVilbiss asked how much more dirt will have to be exported. Dave said by
exporting 40,000 cubic yards, there is 12,000 cubic yards of good material that can be
used as structural fill, suitable soils. The dirt management plan is $450,000 plus the
temporary irrigation of $125,000 and hand seeding for $245,000 for a total of $817,000,
which is the cost of not disturbing the rest of the site. Jason said this plan is a balanced
master plan and the proposal to keep the dirt on site would allow it to be available for
phase I.
Councilwoman Richards asked the cost to go ahead with site preparations for phases II
and III and contrast that to the $817,000 cost. Councilwoman Richards requested an
analysis of the entire site preparation. Councilman Johnson asked what the RFP and the
contracts say about this. Mayor Pro Tem Torre stated there is no stipulation in the RFP
that no disturbance was allowed outside phase I. Mayor Pro Tem Torre said he will not
support putting the soil and grading phases II and III. Barwick noted it was financing
that drove this project into 3 phases. The city was biting off as much as they could afford
in phase I, which included selling some RO lots in order to get cash into the project.
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Continued Meeting Aspen City Council July 12~ 22005
Councilwoman Richards said in discussions about this project, Council decided to
construct one phase, absorb it, see what the impact and need is, and wait for phase II.
Mayor Pro Tem Torre said when the concept of this project went from 225 to 330 units,
Council decided to break it into 3 phases.
Barwick asked if this $817,000 expenditure would lead to any decrease in costs of phases
II and III. Councilwoman Richards said this is the cost of not disturbing the land mass of
phases II and III. Barwick said he does not understand the large difference in cost per
cubic yard to move and berm. Ludlow said they are crushing some of the dirt on site.
Councilman DeVilbiss said this aim is to get the most bang for the buck out of housing
money. Councilman DeVilbiss said that is difficult when the amounts change and the
requirements change. Councilwoman Richards agreed about getting the most for housing
dollars. Barwick said $450,000 to move this dirt is 10 times the price the city was given
to move 40,000 cubic yards in another part of the project.
Councilwoman Richards said she would prefer to use the $800,000 and buy some units to
a lower category, like 8 more one bedrooms. Councilwoman Richards said the price of
community trust in not disturbing the land for phases II and III is that $800,000.
Councilwoman Richards requested staff go over the numbers and assure Council those
are the lowest numbers possible and that the product is acceptable. The decision is
whether to grade the rest of the site and recoup some funds for a lower cost of future
phases or preserve the land under phases II and III. Councilwoman Richards noted
Council made it clear to the public there would be only 97 units in the first phase for the
impacts to be understood before any more units are built.
Barwick asked if Council accepts the notion of phasing and that there is a cost to that
phasing. Council said they accept that idea. Councilwoman Richards requested staff
work out the best costs for this phasing as they can. Staff will report the negotiations and
cost of this change order back to Council.
Ludlow said the next issue is building D-2 and G-2 and the cost is $860,463 for the
additions of basements to include concrete footings, basement walls, walkout with deck
doors and windows. This will increase the size of each unit by 1,000 square feet.
Ludlow said the cost of these two buildings will be $2.8 million; the revenue for the two
buildings will be just over $2 million. Ludlow said the 4 options discussed previously
was (1) add basements, (2) do not add basements (3) do not add basements but keep deep
foundations or (4) delete the buildings entirely.
Councilwoman Richards said option #3 cost $200,000 and asked if that is a solid cost
because it is the least cost to keep the same number of units on site. Shaw's
representative said they would need to confirm that cost with their subcontractors.
Councilwoman Richards said she could support option #3 and would support entire
basements if there were other change order costs. Councilwoman Richards said in
second place would be losing one building but not two buildings. Councilman DeVilbiss
said he would prefer option 4 and look at redesign work to see if units can be added to
phases II or III. This would save money overall. Ludlow said that would require a PUD
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Continued Meeting Aspen City Council July 12~ 22005
amendment. It would also delete some of the lots that would be sold to generate money
for the project. Councilman Johnson said before making a decision on basements, D-2 or
G-2, he would like the numbers verified by staff and by the contractor. Sadler said when
staffbrought this to Council in June; only those items that Council has previously
reviewed were included in change orders.
Mayor Pro Tem Torre said he does not want to eliminate these two buildings. Mayor Pro
Tem Torre stated he would prefer not to spend any more money on this project; however,
the basement costs may be recoverable. Mayor Pro Tem Torre said he would rather put
this decision off for more information. Mayor Pro Tem Torre stated at this moment he is
leaning toward option #3. Councilman Johnson agreed.
Councilman Johnson moved to go into executive session at 9:20 p.m. pursuant to C.R.S.
24-6-402(4)(b) for the purpose of conferring with counsel and receiving legal advice;
seconded by Councilman DeVilbiss. All in favor, motion carried.
Councilman Johnson moved to come out of executive session at 9:30 p.m.; seconded by
Councilwoman Richards. All in favor, motion carried.
Councilman DeVilbiss moved to adjourn at 9:30 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Johnson.
All in favor, motion carried.
' - ~athryn S. Koch, City ~ler~k-~
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