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HomeMy WebLinkAboutcoa.cclc.min.03152006 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 15, 2006 Chairperson, Bill Dinsmoor called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. Commissioners in attendance: Don Sheeley, Shae Singer and Mark Goodman. Excused were Terry Butler, John Starr and Stan Hajenga. Fire station Daryl Grobb said he followed up on the proposal that was sent to him and supposedly sent to the City and no one was aware of it. Bill said the Isis Group LLC. are making a suggestion to redevelop the Isis and the Fire House/Thrift Shop into free market, screening rooms underground and they are offering to build something on the Zupancis property for the fire department. Darryl said the board made the decision is to go forward with the rebuilding of the existing Fire station. They have been working on this for two years and it has been part of the Civic Master Plan that was reported to the City on March 28th. The location of the fire station in the downtown core is immeasurable. He has no choice at this point but to go forward. They worked with the Civic Master Plan committee to determine what the community's preference would be in terms of our planning. Simultaneous we looked at other options. The City bought the lots in the 40's for $29.00 in back taxes from Pitkin County. In 1961 they leased the lots to the fire district for a $1. a year on the condition that our fire district provide the fire department for the City of Aspen. The best way to service the emergency needs of our community is from a consolidated headquarters station downtown. Some of the difficulties servicing the areas to the west of Castle Creek recently have become more pronounced. The airport relocated their ARFF facility to where we had kept fire resources. They offered us a bay at Owl Creek. In light of the growth of the Highlands, Burlingame etc. what became apparent that servicing everything beyond Castle Creek was a growing demand concern. We have an option on a 65,000 square foot parcel at the ABC with John McBride. They received P&Z review on the parcel. We will relocate our heavy rescue, wildfire, school systems to the ABC. That enables us to put a fleet of emergency vehicles in the core. I COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 15,2006 Bill asked why are you building another facility when you have the one at Owl Creek. Darryl said the issue is response time which is calculated and modeled by the National Fire Academy. Bill said it appears that people feel this is an almost duplication of a facility with fire trucks and personnel etc. within a quarter of a mile. Darryl relayed that he asked to be on the airport master planning committee and was never invited. He asked the county commissioners two years ago why they had two fire departments at the airport vicinity. Darryl said he doesn't deny the logic of what Bill said but he never got the opportunity to present anything. Bill asked why the City bought the Zupancis property for the fire department and then the fire department said it wasn't an appropriate site. Darryl said it may in fact be a good spot but the difficulty was that in many respects the program was inadequate because the City wanted their money back and was not willing to allow the fire protection district to profit to re- coop that money on the Hopkins site. Simultaneously, the reanalysis of the operational demands of the district was going on and we determined that we could accomplish what we needed to do there. So it became a choice of spending 3 Y, million dollars or not spend it to accomplish the same thing. Our priority is to enhance the life safety mission of the Aspen Fire Department. Besides that, we try to develop a strategic vision for the future. Darryl said they were not involved with the decision to purchase the Zupancis property. Don said it seems that if you were a voter in the Fire protection district and if someone is willing to pay to move the fire station to the Zupancis property and then they don't have to pay the tax on it they would be more inclined to go that way. Darryl said 70 % of the people that took the survey said they would vote for the bond as proposed. Darryl pointed out that the program suggested for the Zupancis property is completely inadequate. They did not approach the City, county, sheriff or anyone to determine what the exact needs were. Darryl said John McBride will sell the I Y, acre property for 1.7 million, 65,000 square feet. If the bond does not pass that offer will go away. 2 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 15, 2006 . Don asked Darryl to give him a synopsis. Darryl said we are going forward as planned. He also pointed out that he responded to the developer to come to their next meeting. Shae said nothing has been presented so the fire district must continue on. Darryl pointed out that the next district meeting is March 21 st. Bill said if council would have offered a $1. 00 a year rent would that have shown a different light. Darryl said you would have to present that question to the board. The board is policy oriented toward the good of the community. Bill said he doesn't understand why council had their own vision that was not shared with the fire district. Why did they buy the property for a fire house and have no planning process with the fire district. Darryl said when the city master planning group made their first report to council, Bob Zupancis showed up and stated that there will never be a fire station on his property. Darryl again pointed out that they can accomplish what they need with the redevelopment of the existing site. Bill said it would be a cleaner path to have the fire station at the Zupancis lot on Main Street as it has a Main Street access. Ben responded saying the steering committee voted on moving the fire station and the vote was 11-7. That had a process where they had to get 2/3rds of the vote to have a recommendation that met their process so they didn't get that. The committee said coming directly out onto Main Street was not a significant advantage. The advantages were the larger site for medical services, training etc. to meet the needs in the future. Some of the older members brought up the culture and were hesitant to have the fire station moved. The key issue was when the county moved the ARFF and that site didn't work for the response time. The fire district then started going down a different path. 3 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 15,2006 Special Events Kiosk Ben Gagnon, special projects planner, Nancy Leslie, ARC special events coordinator, John Rigby, Aspen Skiing Co. Ben said we are trying to look at some criteria as to who gets to be on the panels. There would be a semi-annual meeting as to who gets on the panels. It might well be that there will be space for everyone. If that is the case it would be handled by staff. We would like the CCLC to look at the criteria and see ifit make sense and make changes if needed. Staff would implement the criteria. Nancy pointed out that the City and Ski Co. entered into a partnership for special events panels. When the Dwell project came forward, included were the new kiosks that would replace the existing wooden ones which were built by Ski Co. Due to funding there will only be one kiosk with six panels. Bill said the kiosk will be near Paradise Bakery, not the fountain. Nancy said it will be located closely to where the existing four panel kiosk is now. Shae asked why the kiosk isn't going to be moved because it is so close to the existing one. Nancy said the new kiosk is to help get people to the information booth. Ben said the information on the panels will be fairly limited. Bill said the context is that this is a "tickler" piece. Shae pointed out that it is ridiculous that the new kiosk is right next to the existing one. Bill said he doesn't know if Ben is asking us to re-site the kiosk. Shae pointed out that if you have a visible person in a kiosk, individuals would go there first before a sign. Don commented that the Skiing co. has numerous events during the winter. Why would they need a panel during the summer. Ben said the sign would be limited to events being held within the city limits. Don said he had no problem with who was on the panels and suggested there be a little bulletin 4 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 15. 2006 . board attached. Nancy said it is her understanding that is being worked on but it will not be attached to these panels. Don said it would be nice to have an area where posters could be put up. Bill said there will be another spot for posters in the Dwell design.. e that if this is right next to the existing kiosk he would er ~ the Wheeler. Bill said we are not being asked to a~~een decided already. Ben said the city will have two panels for the summer and winter and the Skiing Company will have two panels and there are two for community panels. Bill said the City's are golf and special events at the ARC. Shae asked what the cost is. Ben said each panel is around $1,200. Don asked if the community panel was for non-profits. Ben said certain criteria has been established. Shae said Jazz Aspen can advertise when it is in the Rio Grand Park but cannot advertise about the events in Snowmass, yet the Ski Co. can advertise Snowmass and Buttermilk. Shae said if you are letting the Ski Co. advertise events out of the City and not Jazz Aspen you are opening up a can of worms. It is not equal. Don asked for clarification. What can 1 tell John Wilcox from Ashcroft. Bill pointed out that Ashcroft is not in the City. Bill said the relationship with the Skiing Company is different. The Skiing Company has a different presence and profile with the City. Ben said we are fully aware that we are not going to please everyone and there is a special relationship between the Skiing Company and the City of Aspen in the past and presently. Criteria: 1. City limits 2. Special events that occur every year rather than just one time events. 5 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 15, 2006 3. Non-profits and reoccurring events have priority over for profit events. 4. Ben said the special events must be significant and attracting a substantial number of attendees. 5. Special and reoccurring events must be secular or inclusive of multiple faiths. Community panel: Criteria for images. 1. Non-profit groups that produce two or more events or that produce reoccurring events in one season have first priority. 2. For-profit groups that produce two or more events or that produce reoccurring events have second priority. 3. No logos allowed. Ben pointed out that they are only looking at recouping the cost of the panels. Mark asked who the contact person is. Ben said a letter will be sent out indicating the costs etc. which will be handled by Nancy. Shae pointed out that the advertising should not be limited to the City of Aspen. John said they will probably not use all of their panels. Shae said a lot of our large events are put on outside Aspen. Bill said he would suggest that they take in Aspen events first and if there are openings include outside of Aspen events. That makes it easier. Nancy said they can say priority is given to inside Aspen events first, Ben agreed. Non-profits Short fest Film Fest Writers foundation Fourth of July parade Sante Fe Ballet Don said the ACRA works with businesses and non-profits. 6 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 15,2006 John said the ACRA has done a community calendar on our kiosk for the last 18 months. Don said, for the record he is opposed to the placement of the kiosk. Shat: said if this was by the bathrooms or on the Hyman Ave. mall and had an additional sign that said "for more information see the ACRA information booth or the Wheeler Opera house you would have much more outreach. Nancy said she was not involved with the placement decision but she would pass it on. Scott Chism is working with the Dwell architect. Don pointed out that the structure is permanent and the placement is redundant. MOTION: Shae moved that a discussion occur with Scott Chism that the kiosk be moved by the Wagner bathrooms or in another place in order to make it a more effective information center; second by Don. Don,yes; Mark, yes; Shae, yes, Bill, no. Motion carried 3-1. John said he doesn't feel strongly either way on the placement. You can make an argument either way. Ben made the statement that people naturally gravitate to the Wheeler. Ben said if this works well there may be an option for another kiosk, this can change. This is a model. Nancy said all six panels will be designed by the same person so it has a uniform look. Ben said we are only talking about the community panel. Nancy said we just need the text and the design will be made. Mark said the Highlands should have equal representation. Nancy said they are in the City. 7 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF MARCH 15, 2006 MOTION: Don moved to adopt the special event kiosk community panel criteria as amended indicating that priority is given to inside Aspen events first, motion second by Shae. All infavor, motion carried. MOTION: Don moved to adjourn; second by Shae. All infavor, motion carried. Kathleen J. Strickland, Chief Deputy Clerk 8