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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20180625Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 25, 2018 1 CITIZEN COMMENTS ............................................................................................................................... 2 CITY COUNCIL COMMENTS ................................................................................................................... 3 CONSENT CALENDAR ............................................................................................................................. 3 Resolution #80, Series of 2018 – Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) Grant Agreement ...... 4 Resolution #94 & 95, Series of 2018 – Development Inspection Contract With PVCMI and Merrick & Company ................................................................................................................................................... 4 Resolution #98, Series of 2018 – Contract Approval for WWE for the Garmisch Street Stormwater Master Plan ................................................................................................................................................... 4 Resolution #96, Series of 2018 – Contract Extension for Shift ............................................................ 4 Resolution #58, Series of 2018 – General Services Agreement Approval for Redi Services for Stormwater Mainline Cleaning Services ....................................................................................................... 4 Minutes – June 11, 2018 ....................................................................................................................... 4 RESOLUTION #97, SERIES OF 2018 ........................................................................................................ 4 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 25, 2018 2 At 5:00 p.m. Mayor Skadron called the regular meeting to order with Councilmembers Mullins, Myrin and Hauenstein present. CITIZEN COMMENTS 1. Emzy Veazy III spoke about a solicitation commission and suggested Aspen adopt one. 2. Mike Maple said in the 60’s it was alleged that Bugsy Barnard cut down billboards. Since then Aspen has had a stringent sign code. It seems like local governments do not like signs very much. It is inappropriate that government does not have to abide by the code but residents and businesses do. 3. Steve Fante, owner of CB Paws and chairman of CCLC, said CB paws has been part of the community for 23 years. The sign code will have a negative effect on all secondary tier businesses. They are generally small mom and pop businesses. Removal of sandwich boards will negatively affect these businesses. Walk in traffic will be reduced. There is the Supreme Court ruling and content neutrality issue and an esthetic issue. As a business owner it is in my interest to make sure the town looks its best. It is premature to remove all sandwich boards and penalize small business owners. Councilman Hauenstein said we had at least three work sessions and five or six meetings on the sign codes. When we make a decision at council the integrity of council is if we make a decision we stand by it. That does not mean cannot alter it. I feel strongly for the small business owners and they feel they are operating with a disadvantage without them. I am willing to go back and look at it again. It opens a can of worms where people can sell the rights to their sign. Sandwich boards are important to their businesses. Mayor Skadron said we abided by the supreme court ruling. Jim True, city attorney, said we believe we abided by the ruling and drafted an ordinance that was fair to all businesses and ultimately council decided all sandwich boards should be eliminated. There are a myriad of other ways we can perhaps address it. Jessica Garrow, community development, said when we were going through the code update there were a few updates to sandwich boards. We are currently working on a plan for public outreach. If council is open to exploring a different way for sandwich boards we are open to coming to a work session. Mayor Skadron said to Mike Maple, what are your thoughts to what Steve expressed. We don’t want to place additional burdens on businesses. Mr. Maple said my major concern is size and lighting. Businesses need to have signs. I’ve been aware of the debate of sandwich boards. Whether it is trails, buildings or businesses there needs to be reasonable signages. No signage is no solution. Signage creates vitality. You have to find the right mix to identify and find a business particularly for the secondary locations. If you can’t have signage to get to the alley location that business won’t succeed. I challenge you to listen to what these people have to say. 4. Wendy Mitchell, owner of Meat & Cheese and Hooch, said we are for sandwich boards, particularly for businesses that don’t have a street presence. Ms. Garrow said we can differentiate between location. There was an option for council to allow it for second tier spaces but we can’t regulate the content. Mayor Skadron said if they were allowed I could put my sign in front of Wendy’s and say eat in Willits. Ms. Garrow said we could allow the sandwich boards for second tier business but not regulate the content. Councilwoman Mullins said the esthetics did come up in the discussions but more important was the legal issues. In the end I supported trying without the sandwich boards but would support a work session exploring other option. Ms. Garrow said we also have allowances for other sign types that don’t count as part of the allowances. Mr. Fante said the landlord can control content. My lease says the landlord has the right to approve it. 5. Sandy Mulcahy said they are about humanitarian work. She showed a video about their drinking water project in Kenya. 6. Lee Mulcahy said he agrees with the comments about the sandwich boards. He submitted 201 more signatures asking for a public hearing for a peaceful resolution. He also submitted emails. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 25, 2018 3 7. Toni Kronberg passed out handouts. She agreed sandwich boards create vitality. She said the 517 East Hopkins building will be 10 feet lower. She talked about the numbers. The new building is decreased by 10 feet. When the armory undergoes renovation city hall can be expanded underneath Conner park. The cost is $23 million for the new building, $9.9 million for the land and $10.5 million for construction. She said she is personally advocating for this. 8. Mirte Mallory, we cycle, said she is here to thank council for supporting free we cycle for the community for 30 minutes at a time. We are seeing new riders throughout the valley. It is wonderful to work closely with the city as part of the Castle Creek bridge mitigation. We added stations to both sides of Main Street. CITY COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilman Myrin gave a thank you to city manager and staff for the rapid flash at Main and Hunter Street. He handed out the minutes from June 26, 2017. Toni talked about a petition about city hall, I talked about Wagner park grass and Grindley bridge closing. I think we are going to repeat these tonight. He emailed Jim asking him if that money could not come from the city but the lodging tax. To do that would take support from council. Mayor Skadron said if you are interested in moving this forward would you present this to the ACRA board, tomorrow at 8:30. Mr. True said he does think under the ballot issue and ordinance that was passed it would probably be appropriate but you do need to talk to ACRA because they would need to budget it. Councilman Hauenstein said I’m not sure ACRA should have to pay for it but I don’t think the tax payers should either. Mayor Skadron said there is value to the community in having Food & Wine here. That is a discussion worth having with the appropriate people at ACRA. Are you willing to sacrifice having Food & Wine here over $40,000 for the grass. Councilman Myrin said if the question is resort versus community and having the park open to the community for a few weeks then yes, I’m focused on the community more. Councilwoman Mullins said like last year when you didn’t get my support I didn’t have enough information. There are a lot of details to this that need to be talked about. I support you going to ACRA and seeing what their feedback is. Councilman Hauenstein said we need to weigh all the benefits against the closure of two to three weeks and the $90,000, but we will have all the data points to weigh it on. Mayor Skadron said it is important to hear from the chamber what the effect on them will be. Mr. True said to use the marketing funds from the tax needs to come from ACRA so the conversation needs to start with ACRA. Councilman Myrin said the third thing from the meeting last year was to remove the sign at the end of Grindley bridge by the Aspen Institute that seems to privatize the bridge. A year ago the sign was removed by the city but it is back up. Austin Weiss, parks, said we will make sure the sign is removed and will follow up with them. Councilwoman Mullins said there was an electronic waste event at community banks and I would like to see that event more often maybe twice or four times a year. Councilman Hauenstein said town looks great. The flowers look beautiful. The hills are full of music. Allow yourself to be happy. Mayor Skadron thanked the chamber for putting on a spectacular Food & Wine. Good luck to the institute on the Ideas festival. CONSENT CALENDAR Reso # 80 – CMAQ grant Councilman Myrin asked who owns the bike stations after we spend the money on them. John Kruger, transportation, said it is a joint city county grant. Councilman Myrin said we hold ownership after. Councilwoman Mullins asked how many bikes will be added. Mr. Kruger replied we have a draft list but need to see where the demand is. The county would like to see some at the AABC and Buttermilk. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 25, 2018 4 Possibly the ARC, highlands and Burlingame. Councilwoman Mullins asked is it 10% or 50%. Mr. Kruger said it is not bikes, only station equipment. My guess is four to five stations. • Resolution #80, Series of 2018 – Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) Grant Agreement • Resolution #94 & 95, Series of 2018 – Development Inspection Contract with PVCMI and Merrick & Company • Resolution #98, Series of 2018 – Contract Approval for WWE for the Garmisch Street Stormwater Master Plan • Resolution #96, Series of 2018 – Contract Extension for Shift • Resolution #58, Series of 2018 – General Services Agreement Approval for Redi Services for Stormwater Mainline Cleaning Services • Minutes – June 11, 2018 Councilwoman Mullins moved to approve the Consent Calendar; seconded by Councilman Hauenstein. All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #97, SERIES OF 2018 – Soldner Property Conservation Easement Mr. Weiss told the Council that Stephanie approached staff to look at opportunities to protect the property. It is located due south of Burlingame and surrounded by open space. The upper lot is roughly 2.5 acres. It is an untouched sage brush meadow with wildlife habitat and a critical link to provide a corridor for deer and elk to the river. The total price is $500,000. We looked at a partnership with the county. They proposed a 50 50 split. AVLT agreed to put $50,000 towards the purchase. Dale Well, Pitkin County Open Space, said this is supported unanimously by the county open space board and county commissioners. This has attracted wide spread support from both boards and AVLT since it knits together the conservation landscape. The county is excited about this property. It shows we can have a place for humans and animals in the same proximity. Mr. Weiss said we also got unanimous support from the city open space board. Jim Stark, city open space board, said it is a small piece of the puzzle but an important one. It will be a very valuable parcel to maintain the linkage. Mr. Weiss said Ms. Soldner has approval for a 12,000 square foot home on the lot. That development would sever access to the river. Councilman Hauenstein said we are talking about the north parcel and nothing would be developed on that parcel for a cost of $250,000 to the city. Are there any implications for more development on the southern parcel. Ms. Soldner said we tried to create a win, win win situation for wildlife, community and my family. My mother was a painter who died in 1995 and my father was a ceramic artist and founder of Anderson ranch. My hope is to create a cultural center, the Soldner Center, to inspire creativity for those who visit. Councilman Hauenstein asked what can happen at Bar X. Mr. Weiss said no development in the hashed area he showed on the map. Councilwoman Mullins said she 100 percent support this. Thank you for being so generous. This is the perfect parcel that weaves together the other parcels. Councilman Myrin said he also support this. What concerns me about conservation easements is trades. Mr. Well said one of the reasons we like them is once you have them you can’t let them go. It would be a very rare day that a conservation easement could be broken by the partners we have here. Mayor Skadron asked her to comment on the center more. Ms. Soldner said Anderson ranch is enormous and we will be considerably less busy. It will be an intimate place. We want to be able to make the property available on some sort of ongoing basis, primarily summertime. It will always remain somewhat intimate. I give tours to their ceramic students every two to three weeks. Mayor Skadron said Dale, do you have any thought about any potential conflict around the center itself. Mr. Well said it would be made worse by plunking a great big house in the center of that open space. The habitat itself is a lot more sensitive in the winter. Arraignments like this are the best we can do. This will help the animals that are here stay here. Mr. True said he was under the impression this was the final agreement. Mr. Well said what I have is a contract that Stephanie just signed this afternoon. A condition is I finalize the language with the city and AVLT. I was OK with what was submitted in the packet. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 25, 2018 5 Councilman Hauenstein moved to adopt Resolution #97, Series of 2018; seconded by Councilwoman Mullins. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Hauenstein moved to adjourn at 6:30 p.m.; seconded by Councilwoman Mullins. All in favor, motion carried. Linda Manning City Clerk