Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19990712Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 12, 1999 Mayor Richards called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. with Councilmembers Hershey, Paulson, Markalunas, and McCabe present. AUDITOR’S REPORT Jerry McMahan and Paul Backes of McMahan and Associates presented the city’s 1998 financial statement. McMahan said they have issued a clean opinion, which is the highest level one can reach. There are no major findings. McMahan said they tested the records and visited all the departments. McMahan said the records and information they received from the finance department are very good. Backes presented some graphs showing sales tax for 10 years, mills levied, individual fund analysis. Backes noted the general fund closed with $9,451,000 which includes reserves for debt service, some notes receivable and the TABOR required 3 percent emergency reserve. The spendable resources of the general fund are about $6.3 million. The general fund has increased annually about the CPI. Backes showed total revenues by source; sales tax and real estate transfer tax make up about 40 percent of the total. Revenue from utility sales is 17.7 percent. Other sources of revenue are property tax, intergovernmental revenues, charges for service and other. Backes noted that sales tax has increased between 3 and 8 percent annually. Backes showed total expenditures by source, noting that proprietary fund and capital outlay make up 50 percent of the total expenditures. Backes said the auditors gave the finance department about 20 recommendation for internal controls, most of which staff has already completed. There are three more general recommendations. One is to use purchasing cards for recurring purchases which would allow the city to process transactions more efficiently. Price or vendor or geographic region can limit these cards. These cards save time on processing while achieving some control. Tabatha Miller, finance director, told Council she has started a pilot purchasing card program with 30 employees. Another recommendation is sales tax automation, which is to allow sales tax forms to be filed and paid by the internet. It is a very efficient way to process sales tax. 1 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 12, 1999 The last issue is electric deregulation and the city should be involved in any changes in utility regulation. McMahan commended the city for being able to draft its own audit reports, which saved money. Backes said the city has good policies and procedures in place and has great personnel in the finance department. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION Connie Harvey requested Council draft a letter or resolution of support for Congresswoman Dianne Degette’s wilderness bill. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Paulson said Congresswoman Degette came to ACES to talk about the wilderness bill. There are 46 parcels in Colorado she would like to have added to the wilderness. Councilman McCabe said the city needs to make sure they understand arguments on both sides. Mayor Richards suggested staff get a copy of the county’s resolution and draft a resolution of support for the next agenda. 2. Mayor Richards announced Wednes day is Find Another Way Day, an annual event to emphasize alternative ways to get to work – walk, bicycle, carpool, use the bus. There is breakfast and prizes in Paepcke Park from 7 to 9 a.m. 3. Councilman Markalunas commended the community for a well behaved Fourth of July. 4. Councilman McCabe admitted to being a mystery cannonier. Councilman McCabe said he built a cannon and took it up on the mountain so that there would be cannon fire early on the Fourth of July. 5. City Manager Margerum recognized Tabatha Miller and her staff for all the good work in the finance department. 6. Roxanne Banks, Y2K coordinator, told Council the city is involved in various efforts surrounding Y2K. The city hired an outside research firm to assess all the city’s systems and report back. The city is working on testing the equipment and on remediation. Ms. Banks told Council she has been 2 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 12, 1999 writing articles for the newspaper on how people might prepare for Y2K, about heating, water, food supplies. The articles are also being written in Spanish. There will be a website later this summer. Ms. Banks said she plans on having a booth at the farmer’s market one or two Saturdays and will conduct a half-day seminar in August. Ron Leech has been hired to work on emergency preparedness and coordination. Steve Barwick, assistant city manager, told Council Ms. Banks is helping to get the community aware of the problem and to have people prepare for themselves. 7. Tabatha Miller told Council last week she went through the process of marketing the sales tax revenue bonds. The city did 14 basis points better than anticipated and saved $200,000 over the life of the bonds. The average interest rate is 5.433 which includes all costs. CONSENT CALENDAR Councilman Markalunas moved to amend Ordinance #31, Series of 1999, to include the actual costs presented by the finance department and to read the ordinance; seconded by Councilman Hershey. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #31 Series of 1999 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF $13,890,000 AGGREGATE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, SALES TAX REVENUE BONDS, SERIES 1999; AUTHORIZING THE USE OF THE PROCEEDS THEREOF FOR TH4E PURPOSE OF CONSTRUCTING AND IMPROVING CERTAIN CITY RECREATIONAL AND PARK FACILITIES, FUNDING A RESERVE FUND AND PAYING COSTS OF ISSUING SAID SERIES 1999 BONDS; PROVIDING THE FORM, TERMS AND CONDITIOSN OF SAID SERIES 1999 BONDS, THE MANNER AND TERMS OF THEIR ISSUANCE, THE MANNER OF THEIR EXECUTION, THE METHOD OF PAYING THEM AND THE SECURITY THEREFOR; PLEDGING CERTAIN SALES TAX PROCEEDS OF THE CITY FOR THE PAYMENT OF SAID SERIES 1999 BONDS; PROVIDNG CERTAIN COVENANTS AND OTHER DETAILS CONCERNING SAID SERIES 1999 BONDS AND THE SALES TAX REVENUES; RATIFYING ACTION PREVIOUSLY TAKEN AND APPERTAINING THERETO; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING FOR THE 3 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 12, 1999 EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS EMERGENCY ORDINANCE was read by the city clerk Councilman Paulson moved to adopt the consent calendar; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. The consent calendar is: · Proposal for Initial Feasibility for Municipal Telecommunications Utility · Ordinance #31, Series of 1999 – Issuing Sales Tax Revenue Bonds · Minutes – May 24, June 21, 1999 Mayor Richards noted that Al Dietsch, Aspen Institute is working on a telecommunications group. Ms. Margerum said she is working with Dietsch. Roll call; Councilmembers Paulson, yes; Hershey, yes; McCabe, yes; Markalunas, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #25, SERIES OF 1999 – Burlingame Rezoning Chris Bendon, community development department, showed Council this 186 acre parcel located on two sides of highway 82. This was recently annexed and was one undivided parcel. Council subdivided lot 2 for seasonal housing and zoned RMFA. Staff is recommending lot 1 of Burlingame be zoned C, conservation and RR, rural residential. Bendon reminded Council at first reading there was concern about the land use and the zoning boundary of the bowl area. Bendon showed the original zoning proposal where the flat portion of the bowl area is indicated as RR, which is 2 acre per residence zoning and one of the least dense zones in the city. Council was concerned about the panhandle on the west of the property being zoned RR and also that the line between RR and C, conservation in the bowl be lower down on the slope. Bendon showed two different zoning boundaries for the bowl area, both of which eliminate the panhandle from RR zoning. One zone line is back off the steep slope about 15 acres from the original proposal and the other line follows the 7880 contour. Bendon said the thinking behind the first line is including area that is flat and may be buildable; following the 7880 cuts across the flatter portion. Bendon said there is little difference between the two and the zone line does not affect the ultimate build out of the land. Bendon said approving Ordinance #25 as written uses the arc definition. If Council wants to go with the 7880 contour, they will have to amend the ordinance. 4 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 12, 1999 Mayor Richards opened the public hearing. Art Pfister said staff has not covered how one gets there. The Maroon Creek Club has been getting bad publicity because they want to close their own road and under pass that they built to the Club. Pfister said Stage Road is a perfectly good road that has been closed by the highway department. Pfister said this has been a road for over 100 years. Pfister said he does not object to the employee housing but only to the way to get there. Pfister said no one ever said Stage Road could be closed but the Highway department closed it. Pfister said changing the zoning is appropriate. Bendon showed a map of the zoning of the Burlingame property as it exists in the county. The property is zoned AFR2 and AFR 10 which are very similar to RR and C, conservation zones. This zoning has been in place for over 25 years. Pfister objected to how people get to the property. Pfister said Deer Hill is steep. Pfister recommended the city do something about putting in a different road. Amy Margerum, city manager, told Council part of the Maroon Creek Club application to the county for development included closing Stage Road. Since then, the highway department has determined they do not want to re- open Stage road because they do not want additional access onto the highway. Mayor Richards pointed out this hearing is for zoning and the access issues are not really part of this hearing. Pfister said Maroon Creek Club built the underpass and the roads. Rich Koberg, BMC West, asked if the rezoning will affect their operations. Bendon said the property next to BMC West is proposed for RR zoning. Koberg said their business has a lot of outside noise. Bendon said the land closest to BMC West is steep and any development would probably be on another side of a berm. Connie Harvey said Stage road has become very dangerous in the last 10 years. If it were to be opened it would have to be totally reconfigured. Ms. Harvey said the existing new Stage Road with the underpass is a lot safer to the current amount of traffic. Ms. Harvey said she is concerned about construction traffic for the MAA project on this new road. Ms. Harvey said she would prefer to see the entire parcel of Burlingame zoned conservation. Bendon said there is a construction access for the MAA project off highway 5 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 12, 1999 82. There is a prohibition against parking on Stage Lane and for construction staging to be on site. Mayor Richards closed the public hearing. Councilman Paulson said he, too, would like the entire parcel to be zoned conservation. Bendon showed the 3 different zoning proposals for the bowl; following 7880 there is 14 acres in the bowl, the arc is 15 acres in the bowl, and the original proposal is 19 acres in the bowl and including the panhandle. Councilman Paulson said he would rather follow the 7880 line. Councilman Hershey moved to adopt Ordinance #25, Series of 1999, on second reading, amending the zone to adopt zoning to follow the topography; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. Councilman Paulson said he will vote against this because he would like to see the entire parcel zoned conservation. People are consuming open space instead of increasing the density within the city limits. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Paulson, no; Hershey, yes; Markalunas, yes; McCabe, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #26, SERIES OF 1999 – Code Amendment Definition of Footprint Joyce Ohlson, community development department, reminded Council they directed staff to pursue this amendment after an appeal of the size limit of accessory dwelling units. This amendment would allow when an ADU is separate from the principle structure yet connected to the structure, the footprint can now be 625 square feet. Previously a 450 square foot ADU was allowed with a 50 percent reduction. Ms. Ohlson noted a traditional two-car garage cannot be contained in 450 square feet. It is practical to put an ADU above a two-car garage, which is why 625 square feet is recommended. This code amendment will encourage ADUs above grade. Ms. Ohlson said P & Z supported this code amendment 6 to 0 and felt this may be an incentive to get ADUs above grade. Ms. Ohlson noted the ordinance should be amended to conform to the new zoning code number; the code amendment will be 26.575.020. 6 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 12, 1999 Councilman Hershey moved to amend Ordinance #26 to reflect the correct section numbers; seconded by Councilman Paulson. All in favor, motion carried. Mayor Richards opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Richards closed the public hearing. Councilman Paulson asked if this has anything to do with mandatory renting of ADUs. Ms. Ohlson said it does not obligate people to rent these units. Mayor Richards said a person cannot short-term ADUs. Councilman Paulson moved to adopt Ordinance #26, Series of 1999, on second reading as amended; seconded by Councilman Hershey. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Markalunas, yes; Hershey, yes; Paulson, yes; McCabe, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #27, SERIES OF 1999 – 121 North Fifth Historic Landmark Lot split Amy Guthrie, community development department, said this is a 9,000 square foot lot in the west end zoned R-6. Ms. Guthrie said allowed by right would be a single family home, a duplex, or two detached houses in condominium ownership. Ms. Guthrie said this application is for a historic landmark lot split with two detached houses to be in fee simple ownership. HPC recommended approval of the lot split to give encouragement to two detached structures. The existing house is 1100 square feet and could have an additional 3000 square feet if a duplex is proposed. Ms. Guthrie said the standards for approval of a historic lot split are met. Mayor Richards noted Council had discussed when creating lot splits, more FAR is created because each single-family residence is allowed a garage by right, which is exempt from FAR. Ms. Guthrie said in this zone district two houses would be allowed by right and each could have a garage exempt from FAR. In an earlier example of 930 King street, the zone district was R-15 and a lot split allowed an extra house. Mayor Richards opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Richards closed the public hearing. 7 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 12, 1999 Councilman Markalunas said there are two apartments on this lot. Ms. Guthrie said HPC is not considering that a historic building. These are pre- existing non-conforming and they can stay in place until lot B is developed, then they have to be removed or be turned into ADUs. Councilman Markalunas said he is concerned this lot may end up with 5 units on an area to be maximized by 4 units. Councilman Markalunas asked about proposed tree removal. Ms. Guthrie said some trees will have to be removed; the applicant has met with the forester. Ernie Fyrwald, applicant, said 4 trees are proposed to be removed; 3 of these trees are in bad shape. Councilman Paulson said everytime a lot split is in front of Council, the city loses trees. Councilman Paulson said Aspen is a Tree City and applicants need to take care and preserve as many trees as possible. Councilman Paulson said applicants always maximize the footprint and the city ends up losing trees. Fyrwald said the footprint is less than half of what could be built. Mayor Richards asked if there is a way the applicants could apply to keep the house on lot B if it were deed restricted to affordable housing. Ms. Guthrie said staff and the applicant discussed the two units could represent a voluntary unit for the existing house and the required unit for the existing house and they would be located on lot A. Ms. Guthrie said the Code does not address this but staff can talk about the possibility. Mayor Richards said she would like to keep some flexibility. Councilman Markalunas said the city does need to hold the line on density. Councilman Paulson moved to adopt Ordinance #27, Series of 1999, on second reading; seconded by Councilman McCabe. Roll call vote; Councilmembers McCabe, yes; Markalunas, yes; Paulson, yes; Hershey, yes; Mayor Richards, yes. Motion carried. Councilman McCabe moved to go into executive session at 6:45 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Markalunas. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman Markalunas moved to come out of executive session at 7:15 p.m.; seconded by Councilman McCabe. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman McCabe moved to adjourn at 7:15 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Hershey. All in favor, motion carried. 8 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 12, 1999 Kathryn S. Koch, City Clerk 9 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council July 12, 1999 AUDITOR’S REPORT ................................ ................................ ................ 1 CITIZEN PARTICIPATION ................................ ................................ ....... 2 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS ................................ ........................... 2 CONSENT CALENDAR ................................ ................................ ............. 3 ? Proposal for Initial Feasibility for Municipal Telecommunications Utility ................................ ................................ ................................ ........ 4 ? Ordinance #31, Series of 1999 – Issuing Sales Tax Revenue Bonds .... 4 ? Minutes – May 24, June 21, 1999 ................................ ........................ 4 ORDINANCE #25, SERIES OF 1999 – Burlingame Rezoning ................... 4 ORDINANCE #26, SERIES OF 1999 – Code Amendment Definition of Footprint ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 6 ORDINANCE #27, SERIES OF 1999 – 121 North Fifth Historic Landmark Lot split ................................ ................................ ................................ ........ 7 10