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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20000424Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 24, 2000 Mayor Richards called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. with Councilmembers Paulson, Markalunas, McCabe and Hershey present. OUTSTANDING EMPLOYEE BONUS AWARDS Mayor and Council awarded outstanding employee bonus awards to James Lindt, community development department, and Nick Lelack, community development department, and Chad Denning, recreation department and to two teams: Police Department Administration Team: Elaine Lloyd, Sandee Boyer and Kathy Tolle and Community Relations Council Janice ¥os, Brian Flynn, Martha Horan, Jackie Lothian, Nida Tautvydas, Kristina Yargo and Janette Whitcomb CITIZEN PARTICIPATION There were no comments. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Hershey presented Councilman Markalunas with a sign and picture of the train when it went to Carbondale on an experimental run. 2. Councilman Markalunas noted that besides visual image, many times citizens do not see what is taking place with the city. Councilman Markalunas commended Kimberly Hays, community safety officer, for taking extra care and checking citizen's doors to make sure they were locked and for going about in a quiet way of service to the community. Councilman Markalunas also commended Tabatha Miller for working over the weekend to get city business done. 3. Councilman McCabe said he would like to pull VI (I) Request for Funds Top of Slope Mapping and put it at the end of the agenda. Councilman Hershey moved to add a letter of support for Roadless Area Protect to the Heritage Forest Campaign; seconded by Councilman Paulson. All in favor, motion carried. 4. Steve Barwick, city manager, told Council Pitkin County gives $3,000 to Roaring Fork Legal Services annually. Councilman Hershey stated he is abstaining from the vote on Roaring Fork Legal Services. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 24~ 2000 5. Steve Barwick, city manager, said the contract for 2000 Street Improvements should be taken off the agenda until the contract is rebid. CONSENT CALENDAR Councilman McCabe moved to read Ordinances #14, 12 and 13, Series of 2000; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE NO. 14 (SERIES OF 2000) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, APPROVING THE SPECIALLY PLANNED AREA REVIEW TO BUILD A SKATEBOARD PARK AND RELOCATE THE EXISTING BASKETBALL COURT ON RIO GRANDE PARK, SITE B, CITY OF ASPEN, PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO. ORDINANCE NO. 12 Series of 2000 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, APPROVING A WATER SERVICE AGREEMENT WITH THE PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS FOR PROVISION OF WATER SERVICE TO A PROJECT KNOWN AS THE STILLWATER RANCH AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT, IN PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO. ORDINANCE NO. 13 (Series of 2000) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, AMENDING TITLE 13 OF THE ASPEN MUNICIPAL CODE TO ADD A NEW CHAPTER 13.01 ETITLED ECOLOGICAL BILL OF RIGHTS Councilman Paulson moved to adopt the consent calendar as amended; seconded by Councilman McCabe. The consent calendar is: 2 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 24~ 2000 · Ordinance #14, 2000 - Skateboard Park Rio Grande SPA Amendment · Ordinance #12, 2000 - Water Service Agreement - Stillwater Ranch Affordable Housing · Resolution #48, 2000 - Policy for Water System Fee Waivers - Affordable Housing · Resolution #52, 2000 - Restaurant Lease at Golf Course · Resolution #47, 2000 - Approval of Mall Brick Replacement and Masonry Contract · Ordinance #13, 2000 - Code Amendment - Ecological Bill of Rights · Resolution #49, 2000 - Contract Truscott Traffic Design Loris & Associates · Request for Funds - Committee Meals · Request for Funds - Roaring Fork Legal Services/Housing Board · Request for Funds - Infill and TDR · Request for Funds - Civic Center Master Plan · Resolution #49, 2000 - Part II Community Campus Bond Construction · Resolution #50, 2000 - Appointing Judge for a day - Ronald Garfield · Letter of Support - Roadless Area Protection · Minutes - March 27 Roll call vote; Councilmembers Paulson, yes; Hershey, yes and abstaining on Request for Funds - Roaring Fork Legal Service; Markalunas, yes; McCabe, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried ORDINANCE #9~ SERIES OF 2000 -AT&T Franchise Renewal Steve Barwick, city manager, reminded Council at the last meeting they requested staff to continue to negotiate the terms of the contract to see if AT&T would agree to a term of less than 10 years. John Worcester, city attorney, pointed out paragraph 5.8, Technology Regulation, has been added. Worcester said that federal law prohibits the city from regulating anything other than cable services. AT&T is not interested in a 5 year contract; however, they were willing to add to the agreement that if federal law changes to allow municipalities to regulate other than cable services, the city will have a right to a review in 4.5 years. This review will be to compare top performing communities in Colorado that have produced the highest gross cable revenues per customer. The City will have the right to re- negotiate with AT&T and may adopt the same standards for regulating telephony and data services. 3 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 24~ 2000 Mayor Richards opened the public hearing. Doug Allen said Aspen is behind the curve on cable television. Allen said there is no reason the city cannot contract with someone else to provide cable services. Carolyn Harvey, representing the Aspen Skiing Company, told Council they support signing a contract with AT&T. The Skiing Company owns over 400 hotel rooms and a local TV channel and is in favor of this proposal. Molly Campbell, Gant general manager, supports this 1 O-year non-exclusive franchise with AT&T. Ms. Campbell said the Gant has worked with AT&T successfully over the years and the service level, quality and response time have increased. Ms. Campbell said the community has an opportunity to have a partnership with a high quality, forward thinking successful company. Richard Sherman said this cable contract is not up to the standards of today. Sherman noted that TCI Cable promised 500 stations within 5 years, 5 years ago and that has not happened. Sherman said this company is not offering what this community wants and needs. Sherman said fiber optical system to every house should be offered. Pam Cunningham, Aspen Alps general manager, told Council her board of directors support this contract particularly with the proposed technology review. Mark Burrows, KDNK, said the city should not sign a 1 O-year contract in a field that is changing technology so rapidly. Mayor Richards closed the public hearing. Teri Scott, AT&T vice president of government affairs, reiterated this process is administered under federal law and AT&T does have certain rights as an incumbent of a franchise agreement. Ms. Scott told Council it is critical to AT&T to have a long enough agreement to recoup their financial investment. Ms. Scott told Council under federal law there are two options; they can continue with short term extensions of the current agreement which would include no upgrades or they could go through a formal process of an administrative hearing where AT&T would need to show that the community needs are being met. Ms. Scott said AT&T would probably be successful in this hearing. Ms. Scott said she feels the terms of this agreement are mutually beneficial. 4 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 24~ 2000 Jim Niswander, AT&T, told Council in the last 18 months they have tried to keep up with requirements of the users. There is a large customer base in this valley. Niswander said fiber optics to every household would totally disrupt town and would cost $60 million. Niswander said AT&T will have to keep up with competition and with demands of the customers in any format. Niswander said if they do not provide services, they will go out of business. Worcester said the only reason AT&T has digital service is because of competition; there is nothing in the current franchise agreement that requires digital service. Competition will force AT&T to be on the cutting edge or their total investment will be for naught. Barwick recommended Council go ahead with this franchise agreement. Barwick told Council no other company has indicated interest in a cable agreement in this area. Councilman Paulson asked what will force AT&T to give the best deal for the citizens of Aspen. Ms. Scott said this is a contract with the city, not a business model. This agreement is the minimum AT&T will be required to perform. This is a regulatory contract. Ms. Scott said this is a robust and flexible system. Ms. Scott told Council AT&T has never agreed to a 750 MHz upgrade and a 10 year contract. Ms. Scott said competition will force AT&T to give good service to their customers. Mayor Richards said she will support this; it is a non-exclusive contract. This contract gives the city the ability to do trenching work with AT&T. If AT&T does not do the trenching this summer, there will be no way for any other competitor to do trenching. AT&T has real competition and real challenges to recover their costs. Councilman Markalunas asked about the difficulties of splicing and repairing fiber optics versus co-axial cable. Niswander said co-axial is quicker to repair; however, they do have a temporary fix for fiber optics. Niswander told Council said the large part of laying the cable cost are the labor for digging the trenches. The costs in the Roaring Fork Valley are $16 to $18/foot. Councilman Markalunas said he is concerned that senior citizens who do not have the ability to get the higher channels will continue to get good quality cable service Councilman McCabe asked what will bring AT&T back to the table at the end of the 5 year period. Ms. Scott said the city has the right to adopt the 5 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 24~ 2000 same standards as communities that have had more recent agreements. Councilman McCabe said he would like a better protection for this community than the 10 year agreement. Councilman Hershey said this is a cable television contract and affects every citizen in Aspen. AT&T will have to keep pace with the competition in cable. Councilman Hershey said he is more concerned with the television side as the city cannot regulate telecommunications. Councilman Hershey moved to adopt Ordinance #9, Series of 2000, adopting the AT&T franchise renewal; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. Councilman Markalunas said he feels competition will take care of the problem. Mayor Richards said she believe that by doing the trenching and laying out the conduit, competition will be able to come into Aspen. Roll call vote; Councilmembers McCabe, no; Markalunas, yes; Paulson, no; Hershey, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #8~ SERIES OF 2000 - Aspen Highlands Annexation Tabatha Miller, finance director, told Council this annexation is 83 acres and contain the Aspen Highlands Village PUD which was given final approval by Pitkin County in 1998. The PUD has 63 free market units, 112 affordable housing units, 10 caretaker units, 73 tourist units and 54,000 square feet of commercial space. Staff estimates a permanent population of 347 including new school students of 166. Ms. Miller pointed out that the project will be completed whether or not this land is annexed and the impacts will be felt in the city regardless of annexation. Staff estimates 203 new employees. Ms. Miller said points in favor of annexation are positive cash flow in all city funds, the city can manage future land use, there is a water service agreement in place, special district funding will maintain the infrastructure, the area is within the urban growth boundary, the real estate transfers tax revenues are significant, and this will mitigate the possibility of incorporation of a new town at the base of Highlands. The negatives of annexation are an initial negative general fund cash flow, this will be a heavy traffic area and there is a distance for law enforcement to 6 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 24~ 2000 travel to the new service area, there will be the issue of fractional fee ownership units, and the city assumes the PUD as already approved by Pitkin county. The general fund will have a net gain of $891,000 over a 10 year period; the Wheeler fund will have a net gain of $3.059 million over 10 years. The affordable housing/day care fund will have a net gain of $2.8 million over 10 years; this assumes the RETT is not renewed in 2004. The parks and open space total revenues are $1.8 million and the parking garage fund is $409,000. The total net gain in all funds over 10 years is $8.9 million; if the housing RETT is renewed, this could be as high as $13 million. Ms. Miller told Council the county is suggesting the city take over Maroon Creek road. This would be a one-time cost of $750,000 and an annual cost of $90,000. The annual cost of annexing the school property would be $81,000. Ms. Miller suggested that the general fund allocations be incrementally charged out to reach 100 percent over the next 5 years. This will generate an additional $425,000 for the general fund. Staff recommends annexation of the Aspen Highlands Village. Councilman McCabe asked if there will be any impact on the city's electric department. Ms. Miller said this is all outside the city's service area and the city is already serving the area with water. Mayor Richards opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Richards closed the public hearing. Councilman Hershey said he concerned about providing service to an area not adjacent to the existing patrol area. Keith Ikeda, police department, told Council his department proposes to hire 3 officers, and is applying for a grant for two of these officers. Ikeda said he is not sure what the impacts will be. Ikeda noted there are police officers living at water place housing who would be available on call out. Mayor Richards said the revenues to the affordable housing and Wheeler are significant. The affordable housing fund will realize $2.8 million over 4 years, which will build a project or two. If the affordable housing real estate transfer tax is reapproved, that fund would realize $7 million over 10 years. There is close to $2 million in the parks and open space fund over 10 years. This amounts is significant and will go a long way towards helping the parks department out. There are 7 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 24~ 2000 risks in this annexation; however, it is a continued community priority to see housing built and the revenues will help towards that goal. Councilman Markalunas agreed that while this annexation seems lucrative, the city needs to look at unintended consequences and potential problems with the streets and police departments. Councilman Markalunas said he will support this but reluctantly. Councilman Paulson moved to adopt Ordinance #8, Series of 2000; seconded by Councilman Hershey. Councilman McCabe said he has concerns about the employee generation figures; the staff report say 200 employees however, it could be up to 2,000 employees generated. Ms. Miller told Council staff's report used calculations for employees generated from the land use code. Mayor Richards said there is some disenfranchisement for citizens who live next to the city but cannot vote. This is an urbanized area. Councilman Markalunas noted the city will have impacts whether they annex this area or not. Roll call vote; Councilmembers McCabe, no; Markalunas, yes; Paulson, yes; Hershey, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #6~ SERIES OF 2000 - William Ranch PUD Amendment Councilman McCabe moved to continue this to May 8; seconded by Councilman Paulson. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #10~ SERIES OF 2000 -213 W. Bleeker Historic Landmark Amy Guthrie, community development department, told Council staff, HPC and P & Z recommend approval of this historic designation. In order to qualify for historic designation, at least 2 standards have to be met. This application meets 3 standards, architectural importance - it is a typical miner's cottage, neighborhood character and community character. Mayor Richards opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Richards closed the public hearing. Councilman Markalunas moved to adopt Ordinance # 10, Series of 2000, on second reading; seconded by Councilman Hershey. Roll call vote; 8 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 24~ 2000 Councilmembers Paulson, yes; McCabe, yes; Markalunas, yes; Hershey, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #11~ SERIES OF 2000 - Code Amendment Definition of Charitable Organization John Worcester, city attorney, told Council this changes the word "and" to "or". The way the definition currently reads is that an organization would have to be both a 501c3 and a religious organization. Mayor Richards opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Richards closed the public hearing. Councilman McCabe moved to adopt Ordinance #11, Series of 2000 on second reading; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Hershey, yes; Markalunas, yes; Paulson, yes; McCabe, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. RESOLUTION #41~ SERIES OF 2000 - Truscott Conceptual PUD Lee Novak, housing department, showed a rendering of the proposed project include the 6 tennis courts, the golf clubhouse, parking and between 91 and 108 units with parking at 1 space per unit. Staff recommends a signalized intersection at highway 82. Chris Bendon, community development department, told Council the traffic consultant recommends a signalized intersection with a short exit cycle from Truscott to minimize the impact on Highway 82. The resolution support this signalized intersection. Bendon reminded Council they have been discussing remote parking and staff feels Truscott is a good location for remote parking. Bendon said P & Z and staff support high density and the resolution specifies 91 to 108 units for phases I and II. Phase III is for the existing old lodge and will have about 75 units. P & Z had a concern about the restaurant as a stand alone use. Staff agrees this restaurant should not take away from downtown businesses. The resolution does not restrict the restaurant. Bendon said the proposed architectural style is appropriate for this use. It is a diverse style and buildings can be moved around within it without affecting the style. Bendon said there may be a fourth story on some buildings. 9 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 24~ 2000 Bendon told Council a major sewer line through the center of this site needs to be replaced. There is an efficiency in placing other utility upgrades at the same time. Bendon said this resolution is written to give the go ahead for that part of the project so there could be work on this infrastructure before the final PUD approval. Bendon said according to the city's land use code, reconstruction of commercial space needs to mitigate for affordable housing as if it were new construction. Bendon told Council reconstruction of the restaurant, pro shop, junior golf facilities need to supply affordable housing. Bendon said this mitigation can be done through new units or financial contributions to this project. Bendon noted RFTA requests an annual $86,000 supplement to their operating budget. RFTA states they will accept affordable housing units. Bendon told Council there is no provision in the city land use code for exaction to developers for contributions towards RFTA. The school district does have exaction fees in the land use code. Bendon said the resolution does not contain an exaction for RFTA. Mayor Richards opened the public hearing. Shirley Henley told Council she own property across the street and when she applied for remodeling, there were large objections because of being in a view corridor. Ms. Henley questioned why this development is not also in a visual corridor. This will be a dense complex. Ms. Henley encouraged Council to keep this development livable with green and open space and making it livable. Ms. Henley said there were also restrictions about lighting on her property because of the view corridor. Novak showed the trees and told Council these will shield the buildings and the view of the buildings. The lighting will comply with the city lighting standards. There will be vegetation on the south of the parking lots and tennis court that will help the appearance of the development. Mayor Richards said she would like an inventory of the health of the cottonwood forest on the property. Toni Kronberg said she likes the project and agrees that livability is important. Mayor Richards closed the public hearing. 10 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 24~ 2000 Councilman Paulson agreed the restaurant should not be restricted. Councilman Paulson said this community does not have the space to afford the luxury of every having a single family dwelling and yard. Councilman Paulson said rather than a 4 story structure, he would like some redesign. Councilman Paulson said he is very concerned about the intersection; the city needs to fund an underpass rather than a stop light. Councilman Paulson said if there is head-in parking, there should be some berm to shield the apartments from car lights. Councilman Paulson said he would prefer the design about the tennis courts and parking structure be made at the last minute. The tennis courts should not have to be ripped up at a later date for lack of foresight. Councilman Hershey moved to adopt Resolution #41, Series of 2000; seconded by Councilman McCabe. Mayor Richards said her first concern is to strive for high density with high livability. The density will be between 91 and 108 units with 108 and 120 bedrooms, whatever works best for the site with livability. Mayor Richards said there is not enough room on this site to do an underpass. Mayor Richards said the design is underparked with one car per unit. Mayor Richards said she supports the design and the project. Councilman Markalunas said livability is very important; the city is trying to provide quality of life and it is incumbent to achieve both density and livability. Councilman Markalunas agreed about delaying the tennis court as long as possible. Councilman Markalunas noted $30,000/parking space under the tennis court may be unaffordable for the city. Councilman Markalunas said developing a grade-separated underpass may create more problems than it will solve. Councilman Markalunas said he will support a signalized intersection on the condition that if it does not work, the city will look at something that will work. Councilman McCabe noted there would be less impact of head-in parking on the south side of the road rather than the north side. Novak said they will look at this for final design. Councilman McCabe agreed the city does not have the money to build a car underpass. It is important that the pedestrian underpass be built as soon as possible. Councilman Paulson asked the city consider ~right in right out" at the signalized intersection 11 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 24~ 2000 Roll call vote; Councilmembers McCabe, yes; Hershey, yes; Paulson, yes; Markalunas, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. REQUEST FOR FUNDS - Top of Slope Mapping Councilman McCabe suggested after the project is complete, that the project tie in with the land use code to make it a useful tool for the engineering department. John Worcester, city attorney, said that is one of the main reasons for the project; GIS will plot it. There will be no discussion where top of slope is, where stream margin review jurisdiction is. Councilman McCabe noted that the contract from a Carbondale firm includes room, board and rental vehicles. Chris Bendon, community development department, said staff will look into that. Councilman McCabe moved to approve the request for funds, top of slope mapping subject to the planning director get back to City Manager Steve Barwick about the costs for room, board, etc. in the contract; seconded by Councilman Paulson. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Hershey moved to go into executive session for the purpose of litigation, land acquisition and discussions with the city attorney; seconded by Councilman Hershey. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Paulson. Motion carried. Councilman Hershey moved to come out of executive session at 9:05 p.m.; seconded by Mayor Richards. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Markalunas moved to continue the meeting to 5 p.m., April 25; seconded by Mayor Richards. All in favor, motion carried. Council left the meeting at 9:05 p.m. Kathryn S. Koch, City Clerk 12 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 24~ 2000 OUTSTANDING EMPLOYEE BONUS AWARDS ................................... 1 CITIZEN PARTICIPATION ....................................................................... 1 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS ........................................................... 1 CONSENT CALENDAR ............................................................................. 2 · Ordinance #14, 2000 - Skateboard Park Rio Grande SPA Amendment 3 · Ordinance #12, 2000 - Water Service Agreement- Stillwater Ranch Affordable Housing .................................................................................. 3 · Resolution #48, 2000 - Policy for Water System Fee Waivers - Affordable Housing .................................................................................. 3 · Resolution #52, 2000 - Restaurant Lease at Golf Course ..................... 3 · Resolution #47, 2000 - Approval of Mall Brick Replacement and Masonry Contract ..................................................................................... 3 · Ordinance #13, 2000 - Code Amendment - Ecological Bill of Rights.. 3 · Resolution #49, 2000 - Contract Truscott Traffic Design Loris & Associates ................................................................................................ 3 · Request for Funds - Committee Meals ................................................. 3 · Request for Funds - Roaring Fork Legal Services/Housing Board ....... 3 · Request for Funds - Infill and TDR ..................................................... 3 · Request for Funds - Civic Center Master Plan ..................................... 3 · Resolution #49, 2000 - Part II Community Campus Bond Construction 3 · Resolution #50, 2000 - Appointing Judge for a day - Ronald Garfield 3 · Letter of Support - Roadless Area Protection ....................................... 3 · Minutes - March 27 ............................................................................. 3 ORDINANCE #9, SERIES OF 2000 - AT&T Franchise Renewal .............. 3 ORDINANCE #8, SERIES OF 2000 - Aspen Highlands Annexation .........6 ORDINANCE #6, SERIES OF 2000 - William Ranch PUD Amendment... 8 ORDINANCE #10, SERIES OF 2000 - 213 W. Bleeker Historic Landmark ORDINANCE #11, SERIES OF 2000 - Code Amendment Definition of Charitable Organization ............................................................................... 9 RESOLUTION #41, SERIES OF 2000 - Truscott Conceptual PUD ............ 9 REQUEST FOR FUNDS - Top of Slope Mapping ..................................... 12 13