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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.regular.20201013 1 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL OCTOBER 13TH, 2020 At 5:00 p.m. Mayor Torre called the regular meeting to order with Councilmembers Richards, Mesirow, Mullins and Hauenstein joining via video conference. SCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES: Janice Vos Caudill. Ms. Vos Caudill said that mail ballots dropped in the mail from Grand Junction on Friday. She said to go to pitkinvotes.com to review your record or call the office for a replacement ballot if one is needed, but please wait until the end of the week. Please vote mail ballot instead of voting in person this year due to COVID. BallotTrax will text or email you when your ballot has been sent and when it is received back in the office. Regarding election night reporting; results will be uploaded after 7pm, around 9pm and at the end of the night. Mayor Torre let everyone know how to join the Webex meeting via call in or website. CITIZEN COMMENTS: Lee Mulcahy – Mr. Mulcahy is grateful for many things. His mom is a pistol and the elderly version of Lauren Bobert. We as citizens have the opportunity to renew the American dream. So please vote for Lauren Bobert. He quoted Lauren saying that her rights don’t end where your fears begin. He said that Lauren says the Democrats plan is its to strip you from the right to defend your life. They are coming for your guns and he appreciates Lauren for her honesty. Mary Catherine Vaughn – Ms. Vaughn owns Bjewel in Aspen. She thanked the city for the help to provide during COVID. She brought up winter planning for retailers and she is offering her opinion from the retail perspective. She wants to help advocate for retailers to continue with the same program to be in the streets for the winter. There was a motion for the retailers to end their run early last night and she is not in favor of this. Miller Ford – Mr. Ford expressed gratitude for receiving him this evening. He thanked Courtney DeVito for helping them find a location for their 12-step program. He hates to sound to grim, but suicide and addiction related deaths have begun, and 12-step programs need to be viewed as a life raft. When people are in those desperate moments, we need to give them a place to jump. Recovery begins when one addict talks with another. We’ve seen time and again in this town when all hope is lost. We need a permanent location for this winter so we can be found easily. We will see more suicide and addiction related deaths if we don’t. The Red Brick gave us a spot for Wednesdays, but only allows for 8 people. Mayor Torre said he will continue the conversation with Mr. Ford offline. Tessa Guthrie – Ms. Guthrie said she is here on behalf of the Aspen High School Young Democrats Club and they are promoting the creation of welcome messages for people coming into town. They would like to place signs after the roundabout and Independence Pass with a welcome message of inclusivity. The club will help fundraise and be involved in the creative process, and the signs will not be political. Councilwoman Mullins would love to help out with this. Mayor Torre said he is on board to work with this as well. 2 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL OCTOBER 13TH, 2020 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS: Councilwoman Richards showed her ballot that she received in the mail and showed there are a lot of issues and a lot of people running for president. She suggested to take a careful look and pay attention to two details: the privacy sleeve and the line of where to sign and date it before mailing it back in. Councilwoman Mullins said the census window has gone back to the end of October. This is a matter of $2300 per person, so it is terribly important. There are no citizenship questions. And of course, get out and vote. Councilman Mesirow mentioned the heightened mental health crisis in this valley. He said that he and Torre spoke on Sunday and he provided some feedback to him on some abrasive emails. He said he struggles with chronic and acute anxiety. He grew up in violent divorce. He tends to figure out what people want and provides that, and he tries to show up for everyone. His self-worth is tied up in what he feels the rest of council thinks about him. Those emails come from a place of trying to be clear. He wants to start showing up as his full and authentic self from now on and he wants everyone out there who is struggling as well to know you’re not alone. Councilman Hauenstein said to Skippy that he has learned something valuable over the years and that is to accept what he cannot change and this is a message from his heart that we accept you as you are. Be true to yourself. He reminded everyone to make sure to vote. He said a message for Lee, that the Dems aren’t out to take your guns away. You should look at the source and look at what the Democratic platforms are. On the subject of mental health, if you engage someone who is thinking about suicide, please engage them. We are going through tough times. People are dealing with temporary problems in a permanent way. It’s important to be socially connected. Open your hearts and be mindful. Mayor Torre echoed the census sentiments. He also echoed the sentiments on voting. You have the power to make your voice heard. He echoed the sentiments on suicide and supporting everyone in the community and being aware. He mentioned winter community and said we need to all respect our allowances and regulations and we all need to work together this winter. It is paramount. He mentioned COVID and said there is still transmission in the valley and the cases are showing up from social gatherings. People are dropping their guard and not taking the precautions that they should. We were all here till 10pm last night and there is a lot of work going on right now and we all need to move in the same direction. AGENDA AMENDMENTS: City Attorney Jim True announced the emergency ordinance regarding the face mask extension scheduled to end on November 4th. He can explain further when we get to the first reading. This will be Ordinance #18, Series of 2020. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS: Sara Ott said that as you visit city hall, you may see someone new in HR, Shana Broback, the new HR Director. Also, in a little over a week, a new Communications Director, Denise White, will be coming from the front range City of Boulder. Jim True announced that Assistant City Attorney, Kate Johnson, will be starting tomorrow. She has a great deal of governmental experience and he is thrilled to have her join the city. She came with a 3 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL OCTOBER 13TH, 2020 recommendation from a district court judge that she is an fantastic lawyer, and he is excited to introduce her. Ms. Johnson said she’s really excited and glad to be on board. She invited those who are in city hall to come by her office and say hello. The council welcomed Kate. BOARD REPORTS: Councilwoman Mullins gave a RFTA report. She said they are continuing to talk about budget and was a very dense agenda. They are having long meetings with a lot of information. They also discussed Glenwood Springs maintenance center grant money. Councilman Mesirow had an APCHA meeting in which they discussed the Executive Director search plan. They also received and update from a hearing officer on various cases. Councilman Hauenstein attended CCLC and said they continue planning for COVID being around for a while as they discuss the Aspen Saturday Market for next summer and artisan entry into the 2021 market. Grandfathering in accepted entries for this summer was also a topic of conversation, as well as doing a winter restaurant week. There is also a CORE meeting coming up on Thursday. Councilwoman Richards said that skippy was nominated as chair for APCHA, and he has done a good job of reaching out to everyone and it’s greatly appreciated by all board members. She sat in on CML policy meeting last week. Mayor Torre said that ACRA met and discussed the Gallagher amendment. He attended a Sister Cities meeting, and there will be a Board of Health meeting this Thursday. They are discussing budget and there will be testing updates and other COVID related response measures to consider. CONSENT CALENDAR: Councilwoman Mullins moved to approve the consent calendar, Councilwoman Richards seconded. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. FIRST READINGS: Ordinance #16, Series of 2020 – Authorization of Kids First Advisory Board – Shirley Ritter Councilman Hauenstein motioned to read; Councilwoman Richards seconded. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Ms. Ritter said they were looking at the fact that there was no ordinance previously passed for the creation of this board. This was set up initially for short term and never rolled into an official board, and they never had by laws. They want to be able to recruit, so they needed an ordinance to lay this all out. The board members will now be appointed by city council, but they are currently in a good spot with members and want to make sure they are good moving forward. Councilwoman Mullins doesn’t remember appointing these members in the past. Ms. Ritter said they were often on the consent calendar, and it’s been a few years since having any new board members. 4 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL OCTOBER 13TH, 2020 Councilman Hauenstein said for second reading he would like to see who the existing board members are. Mr. True said they can choose to adopt all of the current members or have them all interview as a group, it’s up to council. Councilwoman Richards motioned to approve; Councilwoman Mullins seconded. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Ordinance #18, Series of 2020 – Mask Extension – Jim True Mr. True introduced Ordinance #18, amending the mask order to expire on November 4th, extending it to May 1st. Councilwoman Richards motioned to read; Councilman Mesirow seconded. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Councilwoman Richards said she is looking at community health and public safety in extending this, and she will be voting yes. Councilman Hauenstein supports this ordinance. Councilman Mesirow said he will be voting yes and he thanked council for their guidance. Mayor Torre said his concerns are Halloween and the election. He is hoping we could do away with the mask zone, but we’ve noticed that the zone garners additional response and compliance. We have the ability to rescind this at any time. Councilwoman Mullins motioned to approve; Councilman Hauenstein seconded. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Councilwoman Mullins asked to go back to the consent item for the pool, Resolution #87, she meant to address something on this. After George Floyd died, there continues to be a lot of conversation about systemic racism. She wants to scrutinize city documents, and in this document, in section 33, it refers to ‘illegal aliens’ and she would like to change this to ‘undocumented immigrants’ moving forward. She asked Jim to change or comment on this. Mr. Ture said this is language required by state statute for contracts such as this, but he is happy to look into it and try to vary the language. Council is supportive of this as well. PUBLIC HEARINGS: Resolution #078, Series of 2020 – Policy Resolution – Affordable Housing Goals and Land Use Code Coordination – Ben Anderson They will begin policy study, engage with stakeholders and the public. The first issues will come to council early in quarter 1 of 2021 with an FIL update and improvements. There are a couple of third- party experts involved in this study. Staff recommends approval. Councilwoman Mullins motioned to approve; Councilwoman Richards seconded. Councilman Hauenstein supports the resolution. Mayor Torre opened the public hearing. 5 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL OCTOBER 13TH, 2020 Mayor Torre closed the public hearing. Councilman Hauenstein said he was concerned about doing away with the small room exemption, which was exercised on the Lift 1 Corridor. Council continued to discuss. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Ordinance #13, Series of 2020 - Vacation Rental Business License Regulations – Pete Strecker and Ben Anderson Mr. Strecker summarized this ordinance for the board and how we got to this meeting. They are removing the exemption for aggregate filing for all STR operations and are allowing for a unique identifier for each location. Mayor Torre opened public comment: John Bay – Aspen Alps - Mr. Bay expressed his dismay at having to constantly fight this battle. He is really emphasizing that owners in a condo association are governed by documents common to all of them. They want policies and procedures. He doesn’t know why council doesn’t want to make that distinction. It’s a small town and we all want to be good to each other. The ones you are hammering are the ones who have been paying taxes since day one. He feels the Condohotels need to be added back into the exemption. Michael Brown – Mr. Brown said he is with John in his level of dismay. This is one of the worst periods in the business of hotels, and this ordinance truly makes things worse. There are better ways to do this than ensnaring a bunch of paying taxpayers. You’re passing a law to enforce a law that already exists. The issue is really enforcement. He asked why these people who aren’t currently paying, would go buy a license and pay now. He said to increase the tax penalty on the ones who aren’t paying. Allison Campbell – Ms. Campbell is with the Aspen Lodging Association and said that no one is happy about this. We all feel this is wrong. We need to work on this, and you can’t have two thirds of your lodging community unhappy with you. She asked for no vote tonight and to continue the item. She said there is no need to reinvent wheels and she asked how Snowmass is dealing with this. Councilwoman Richards said she would be happy to not include Condohotels and move this forward, but she was swayed in the last meeting. She said it’s a wild west out there and something has to be done. She said council has been working on this since January and she’s very frustrated. Councilman Hauenstein said it’s an inequity issue. Councilman Mesirow said he wants to get this passed tonight. Chuck Frias – Mr. Frias said he agrees with everyone but there is a way bigger issue. The biggest cost is the reporting they have to go through. He had a long talk with Anthony Lewin, in the finance department, and it was very helpful but not that simple. You’re just creating a bigger burden for your taxpayers. The same people who weren’t paying, aren’t going to start. Councilwoman Mullins wants to keep the Condohotels within the legislation. 6 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL OCTOBER 13TH, 2020 Torre closed public comment. Councilwoman Mullins motioned to approve; Councilman Hauenstein seconded. Council discussion continued. Councilwoman Richards asked council if they would be amenable to reducing to the fee to $100 from $150. Councilwoman Mullins and Mayor Torre said they both support the fee staying the same. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, no; Torre, yes. 4-1, motion carried. ACTION ITEMS: Resolution #082, Series of 2020 – Endorsement for Colorado Proposition EE - CJ Oliver and Shirley Ritter Mr. Oliver said it’s an interesting proposition and would extend an increase in tobacco tax statewide, which is a huge step in the right direction. This adds an additional layer for taxation and is in line with Aspen’s stance on nicotine products. Ms. Ritter said the benefit and revenue from this will go to schools, pre-k, grant programs, so this is important for families. It’s pretty straightforward. Councilman Hauenstein said this is an easy endorsement for him. Councilwoman Mullins supports this even more now than ever. Councilman Mesirow asked how the funds are distributed. Ms. Ritter said pre-k funding is based on the kiddos, and rural schools get a bit more than others. Councilman Mesirow said he is happy to pass this, but would like a few more details. Councilwoman Richards said she is happy to pass. She motioned to approve; Councilwoman Mullins seconded. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Resolution #083, Series of 2020 – Support for Amendment B, The Gallagher Amendment Repeal and Property Tax Assessment Rates Measure - Ron Leblanc and Tara Nelson Councilman Mesirow said the biggest fear around this is that it will create higher taxes, but that is not the case. Councilwoman Richards went on to explain the amendment to the board. Mr. Leblanc gave an overview of the amendment as well. Cities like Aspen tend to be fairly unaffected by Gallagher, but this measure would repeal Gallagher and set the state constitution free from this type of fiscal policy. Councilwoman Mullins said when you combined TABOR and Gallagher, that is when problems were created for the state. If you can get rid of Gallagher, that is one way we can get some relief. She’s very supportive of this. Mayor Torre believes in this as well and thinks it will be a support to local businesses. 7 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL OCTOBER 13TH, 2020 Councilwoman Mullins motioned; Councilman Mesirow seconded. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Resolution #086, Series of 2020 – Winter Business Support and Community Development Code Enforcement – Ben Anderson Councilman Mesirow asked what this includes. Mr. Anderson said this resolution is specific to community development and businesses are trying to make decisions on development and need direction from us. This is around signage, temporary structures, lighting, and we need to be able to make pragmatic decisions to help these businesses. We are proposing waiving of all permitting fees, code required fees, such as pedestrian mitigation. We would like this to expire May 2021 and staff is recommending approval. Life safety will not be compromised, and we will take measures with engineering and fire to comply with these measures. They are also proposing expedited permitting for these structures. Mitch and Nicole have been the main liaisons for these businesses this summer and will continue to do so. Mayor Torre asked how this relates to restaurants vs retail and Mr. Anderson said this memo carried over from summer. If direction from council regarding retail is different than this summer, we can move forward in a different manner. If you guys want to leave retail out, we can amend it. Councilwoman Richards has an issue with retail truly using the space. She saw several tents unoccupied a lot during the summer or renting their spaces out to other businesses. If they follow the rules we set forth, she’s fine with it, but they need to be utilized correctly. She wants to make sure the two things merge if we move forward with retail. Mr. Anderson said we have a good idea of who is asking for tenting or structures and it’s a lot different than this summer. Councilman Hauenstein said he supports this. Mayor Torre said we ran into several problems from the retailers from what he’s heard and most of them did not follow guidelines. He’s very concerned about it. Mr. Anderson said it’s a valid concern and the types of businesses that use the right of way is a separate conversation involving engineering and comdev. This resolution is just giving us clear definition of what these structures will be. Retail vs Restaurant needs to be a separate and distinct action. Councilwoman Mullins said we saved the best for last, and she’s fine with this resolution. She’s looking forward to hearing more about the retail issues. She’s not aware of specific problems, but she thinks the restaurants were a much more successful use of the right of way. She’s looking forward to further discussion. Councilman Mesirow said he supports this. He would like to hear more about the retailers as well, so they are all on the same page. Councilman Mesirow motioned to approve; Councilwoman Mullins seconded. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Waiver of Outdoor Dining Fees – Scott Miller and Nicole Henning 8 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL OCTOBER 13TH, 2020 Mayor Torre summarized that the first part addresses the summer dining fees of $1.00 per square foot and the second part would be to waive the outdoor dining fees for the winter. Mr. Miller said he’s prepared to speak, and this is just a discussion for outdoor dining fees in the right of way. We are asking council to waive this fee completely for summer and fall of 2020 and the winter with the end date of May 1st. The discussion regarding retail vs outdoor dining and we aren’t completely ready for a recommendation yet on this, but staff will pick this back up with you in the work session on the 26th, but we will most likely not be recommending retail for right of way use. Councilman Mesirow asked why. Mayor Torre said this number is not impactful to us, so it’s really just another measure of our ability to help these local businesses in any way that we can. Councilman Mesirow said this is a gesture of good will and unless there is a counterpoint, he is in favor of this. Councilman Hauenstein is in favor of waiving the fees. Councilwoman Richards is in support. Mayor Torre said he makes five. Councilwoman Mullins motioned to waive the fees; Councilwoman Richards seconded. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Mayor Torre brought up the retailers being removed from the right of way earlier than the extended date. Council feels that since there are only two weeks left, they should let them stay out and revisit the topic for the winter. Councilman Hauenstein motioned to adjourn; Councilwoman Richards seconded. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. _____________________________ Nicole Henning, City Clerk