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HomeMy WebLinkAboutcoa.cclc.min.04152008COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF APRIL 15, 2008 Chairperson, Terry Butler called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. Commissioners in attendance: Don Sheeley, Shae Singer Roger Haneman and Bill Dinsmoor. Mark Goodman and John Starr were excused. Staff present: Kathy Strickland, Chief Deputy Clerk Parking: Don said he gets fiustrated with the parking in town especially in the downtown core. Don said his idea would open up spaces and in order to do so we would have to make a few streets one way. Don said he talked to businesses along the route and one business thinks it is a bad idea. The most spaces you can get going from Galena toward the mountain and down toward Boogies is 20 parking spaces. If you go from the Crystal Palace around to the Wheeler toward Wells Fargo bank you get an additiona141 parking spaces. Don said he has support from the City Manager, the Mayor and Tim Ware. Steve Barwick, City Manger explained that this is something worth experimenting. We have been talking about this for a decade. Our only real investment is some signage and some big flower pots to make the lanes blocked off. It could start early June and be in place for the entire season. MOTION: Don made the motion that the CCLC support the parking pilot program; second by Terry. All in favor, motion carried. Bill said this is all about going from parallel to angled parking and it also is a traffic slowing component because it narrows the lanes. Steve Barwick said the only concern was from the community development department if you have both sides angled parking jaywalking becomes more difficult and you are coming out between cars and you have a little more difficult time coming across the street. Grand Junction has necked down areas so you are forced to go through the area at 5 to 10 miles an hour. Steve also said the Galena Street shuttle would have to be re-routed. Shae pointed out that so many people are using electric cars and they take up half the space that maybe we should have designated electric car spaces. Steve said he would hesitate to combine programs. Keep it simple to start with and then add to it. COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF APRIL 15, 2008 Terry replied that this is straight forward and we could get it going by June. Tim Ware responded that the only problem would be the rerouting of the Galena Shuttle and the loading zone. Terry thanked Tim for his support. Edible Aspen Lisa Houston presented her proposal for the Aspen Saturday Market. Lisa said she is proposing to do 8 demonstrations at the Saturday Market. Some do not have to be cooking demonstrations and they would start at 11:00 a.m. until NOON. I have talked to Food and Wine and they are on board and very eager to be a part of it. I have also spoken to several chefs that are willing to participate. We want high quality and entertaining people involved. In return from the CCLC would run an ad in the June and August issue and that they provide tables, chairs and tents for the area. Lisa said she wasn't sure if we would have to have a grill. The Health Dept. has said that any food needs to be prepared ahead of time in a commercial kitchen and brought from the kitchen to the cooking demonstration. Kathy said the platform is already in the park and we have tents, chairs, and microphone. We also have access to electricity. Lisa said she met with Barry Gordon and reviewed his videos. Bill said you are allowed to have a cook top but in conjunction with that you need hand washing etc. Bill asked Lisa about her cooking experiences. Lisa said she reviewed the videos and the actual demos had no cooking involved. They where made with fresh ingredients and prepared on site. The Environmental Health department said you aren't allowed to prepare foods on site and serve it. Bill said he is confused because the city severs food at their community picnic. Bill asked Kathy to find out the regulations. Lisa said she has commitments from several chefs and one from Food and Wine. 2 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF APRIL 15, 2008 Bill asked if Food and Wine is contemplating setting up a kitchen. Lisa said no, all chefs will require us to setup the facilities. They will let me know what is needed. Bill pointed out that there is a capitalization cost for equipment. Most grills run on a 220 outlet. You need to know how to set up a cooking demonstration even for one chef. It is our desire to not go backward and go forward and not make the same mistakes. Shae said the chef's that she has contacted are qualified catering chefs and they travel around. The research that has been done and the chefs know what they need to bring. The issue is whether the board wants Edible Aspen to pursue this. Bill said part of the idea about this is for people to have food to eat at the market. Don said he views this as two different issues, cooking demonstrations and the serving of food. I am all for Lisa to do this and give it a try. Andrew Kole, public pointed out that using catering chefs is a good idea and they usually have all their equipment and can bring it. Andrew said he has some good ideas and can present them to CCLC. Kathy pointed out that if the board feels there is a need for additional ads we can place them. Terry pointed out that when Barry Gordon did the cooking demonstrations they where very successful. Barry has incredible energy and an enormous support staff. What they did was do the demonstration and then give little bites to people after they where prepared. I have talked to Barry and he said it was more than one person could handle. Lisa also said Barry provided the tents and picked up the chairs from the church etc. and suggested that we not deal with any of that. Shae said this came about because at the farmers meeting they requested we look into putting an ad into Edible Aspen. In contacting Lisa we came up with a way to partner and still fulfill the request from the farmers to advertise and try to fill the request of CCLC to establish a cooking demonstration. 3 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF APRIL 15, 2008 Terry said we need to decide if this will happen or not. Kathy pointed out that the farmers will definitely offer food. Sue Whittlesey said what the farmers would like to see is as much produce etc. from the market be used in the food demonstration. Don said he is in favor of Lisa doing the demonstrations. Terry said this is not just one way. Lisa is asking us to put an ad in her magazine. Don said being in the advertising business what she is charging you for the two pages is extremely low, $1500. for two ads. Lisa said she has a graphics person that can do the ad at no additional costs. Bill said the park has vendors in it and needs to be measured in order to determine how many chairs will fit and to not compromise the vendors. Shae pointed out that the park has plenty of room for chairs and tables. Shae said the issue is whether we want to go forward with the cooking demonstration or not. Kathy said we can move vendors on the bricks etc. if we need too. Having vendors in the park will pull people into the park to watch the demonstration. Terry pointed out that she was at every cooking demonstration that Barry gave and there where more than 20 chairs and the people standing around didn't seem to block anyone buying. Shae said she feels four booths in the park are not enough to continue to have traffic come in and create a successful area. Kathy said we just need to lay it out. Bill said if you add shopping with the chef somehow to it, it brings a new dynamic to it. Shae said David Bedford contacted her to do a tour of the market and have people come with him to go shopping with his recipes. Lisa said she has not been in contact with David. COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF APRIL 15, 2008 MOTION: Don made the motion to conceptually approve Lisa Houston doing the cooking demonstration and that she get back with the details ironed out, motion second by Terry. All in favor, motion carried. Bill asked Lisa to check into the chefs selling their product. Terry pointed out that at a few of the food demonstrations in the past the market paid for a washing facility. Bill suggested that Lisa talk to her chefs to see what they need. We don't want to go backward. Andrew Kole said he is proposing to do a single camera and tape some live cooking shows. Lisa said she can get the issues ironed out within the next few days and they can be relayed to Terry and Kathy for approval. Lisa said the deadline for her magazine is the no later than May ls` Terry confirmed that Lisa will get back with Kathy and then to Terry for further questions etc. Budget Sue Whittlesey read a letter with regards to the assistant manager position of the Aspen Saturday Market. The letter indicated that the farmers have issues with the performance of the assistant manager this past year and the direction she is planning on taking the market in the future. The letter suggested that two vendors from Shae's Highland winter market were admitted to the Aspen Saturday market improperly in that neither product met the standards of the market. The letter suggested that these vendors were told that if they attended the winter market they could get into the summer market. The letter stated that the farmers are what attract people to the market and make it stronger and a better market. There are two vendors or types of vendors that the farmers are suggesting: Western Colo. Dairy, milk and artisan cheese and an egg vendor. These vendors have not been pursued because of what has been said at the meetings. The farmers are unified that we need more diverse farmer/food vendors at the market. COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF APRIL 15.2008 Shae responded saying she did not tell any Highlands vendors that they could get into the Saturday market. Further, she noted that the vendors in question were selected through the CCLC screening process and were voted on by the panel. Bill inquired about the two vendors, one that uses Italian ingredients and the other sun glasses. Shae said Loredana's is a marinated cheese vendor. The oils and cheese are from Italy. They get Colo. herbs and spices for their product. They were approved because they make it in their own shop and they met the 80 percent criteria of their product. The sun glasses where approved because they where a new and unique product. She hand paints all the designs on the sun glasses and makes all of the cases. She also met the 80 % criteria of the market. Don suggested that this issue be taken up in an executive session. However, no motion was made at that time. Shae said she feels the CCLC is in charge of the market as per the direction of the City of Aspen. We need to all work together but CCLC is in charge of the market not the farmers. Shae stated that the market needs balance. Sue said we have expanded only one produce vendor. Last year the city mandated that we have more produce and we got an additional 20 feet for Borden's. Terry said when we started out we had no crafts. Do the farmers feel the crafts are limiting their growth? Sue said we have numerous vendors for the market but they have not been pursued due to the limit of space. Jim True, Special Counsel for the City of Aspen explained how the executive session works. Terry explained to Jim that we are having a discussion between the CCLC and the farmers. The representative of the farmers have presented a letter basically saying they don't like the way the market is going and that the assistant is taking the market in another direction. Kathy explained to our attorney that the CCLC is in charge of the market and the salaries are from the dues that are paid by the vendors. Sue is the representative for the farmers. COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF APRIL 15, 2008 Jim asked if the market was a SO1C3 and Sue said they are not. Jim said it is unusual for a board member to be in a paid position. There are no bylaws for the CCLC. Bill said there is nothing that precludes Shae from being paid. Bill said Kathy is the market manager and she represents issues and concerns and brings them to us. Sue represents the farmers and the CCLC is in charge of the market. Sue said in the past the last manager set up the market as a C corporation and we are paying taxes. One of the farmers is a CPA and does the tax return. Bill said John Starr is a member of the CCLC and it was discussed that the market should not be a corporation. There is no profit and no income to be made. The people that receive money are on a contract basis. Sue said the market receives fees and if you are setup as a C corporation fees can be taxable. Sue said we need to dissolve the C corporation. Bill also said the C corporation needs to be dissolved. Kathy explained the bank would not give us an account unless we were some kind of entity. Sue said we have filed a return and paid some taxes for the past two years. Bill said we are all in agreement that something needs to be done. Jim said he will follow up for the next meeting the legal course for the market. Terry said this would be the second year Shae is paid and if we don't need an assistant Shae would like us to take a vote if we need her to step down. Terry asked if the market can move forward like we always have in the past with the apparent animosity between the farmers and Shae. Bill asked Sue what her request was. Sue said we did not feel that there was a need for an assistant. Don asked Kathy if she needed an assistant. Kathy said she can work within whatever the market wants. Kathy reiterated that she is in full support of this market and will not let it go down hill. Bill said is part of the issue the $3,000 that is paid to the assistant. Sue said that money can be spent on promotions for the market. 7 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF APRIL 15, 2008 Terry asked Sue if she had volunteers that would step in. Sue replied that her husband has helped with the market and there are volunteers. Roger addressed the two vendors that where picked. The two vendors where the last two and the easy choices had all been made. Shae was quite clear in her ambivalence on these two. The panel talked about these two vendors and it took some time. It was quality and uniqueness of the produce vs. standards of the market. Ultimately the products where unique and different enough from the other crafts that where being offered that we should give them a try. It was not something that was railroaded. Bill said as we move forward the structure of the market always changes. When we had done selections before there where always vendors that where marginal in how they would qualify. Sometimes those vendors got on the fringe and the group took a vote. Unless it became a conflict that it was either a dead lock or someone felt that we where plowing into uncharted area they would come back to the larger group, the CCLC and discuss the conflict. Shae pointed out that there where quite a few vendors from the winter market that got into the Saturday market. Don recommended that the issues be worked out. Having one person come to the board telling us we don't want a person is not appropriate. Terry said she received a phone call last week from one of the farmers telling her that all the farmers where afraid of Shae and that they where afraid to speak up. They said they worked with a lot of people through the years and this is the first time they felt this way and the first time they complained. Terry indicated that she had called Sue and was told that Sue was preparing a letter. The person said there were unfair things going on. Shae stated she resigned as assistant manager and also resigned from the CCLC. Meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m. ~G2~ ~~cti Cyi/"~1.~.-c.~CL ~C ~ . -Li Kathleen J. Strickland, Chief Deputy Clerk