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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.regular.20201110 1 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 10TH, 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. CITIZEN COMMENTS: Mark Ganzi – Mr. Ganzi said they are proceeding with the snow polo event on the basis that they can conduct the event in line with past practices and key laws related to the COVID 19 procedures. He said they successfully conducted polo events all summer and are confident they can do so this winter. We want to do what’s best and in the interest of the city. We all have grave concerns about how this horrible disease can move very quickly. We want to throw a great event and we can so in increments. We are not doing a VIP tent this year, but many small tents will be available. We are trying to work with ESPN to broadcast the games and are working with corporate partners. It’s hard to do these things in this type of environment. The plan was to bring this to Wagner Park, and we can produce the event in either place and we want to continue to raise money for the hospital. Lee Mulcahy – Mr. Mulcahy said he’s very sad today because the local judge wants blood. Peace is the father of civilization. The system is the system. He said he loves the mayor, but that APCHA violated their own guidelines. If you look at the first compliance letter, it’s all in black and white. The US Court of Appeals ruled against APCHA and he is grateful to them. We need to take a closer look at this. Should we compromise? Let’s let the Mulcahy’s do community service and pay the new fines. His father was the American dream and is the male version of Lauren Bobert. You can come together with Skippy and Ward to send a message and come together before there is violence. We will not surrender. Andrew Isreal – Mr. Isreal is speaking on behalf of Protect Wagner Park and said they are opposed and object to a change in venue for the snow polo championships. We are quite Concerned about COVID 19 at this event. The change to Wagner was not fully vetted. Snow polo has been a controversial issue previously when Torre, Rachel and Ann were all on council. The event is impactful and a drain on resources and puts the health of the park at risk. Mike Maple – Mr. Maple said he is here to talk about the north and east side of Aspen. Across the river and above Smuggler is the densest area in the community. Despite high density, access is challenging. The sidewalks are narrow and there are not very many access points. An ordinance signed on September 17th, 2019 included as a condition of approval, the installation of a sidewalk along Gibson Avenue. He supported the extension of a sidewalk. This project is now under construction, it’s time to complete the rest of the sidewalk in this area. A substandard sidewalk has been proposed by the city. Please push your staff to afford installation of a proper 5 ft sidewalk, and promptly commence work so the sidewalk can connect from Gibson. On another note, he fully supports the idea of using Wagner Park for polo. Christine Benedetti – Ms. Benedetti said she is here to speak about financial policies. We learned in September that the city has 3.5 million in bonds with Wells Fargo Bank. They are the second leader in financial fossil fuel development. We’d like to ask council to adopt a policy restricting the purchase of bonds in fossil fuel companies. We are asking council to direct the city’s finance director to sell the Wells Fargo bonds. We encourage the council to make this a public movement. Denver and Boulder have already done this. Mayor Torre said this item is on our agenda and we will address it. 2 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 10TH, 2020 John Sarpa – Mr. Sarpa said he wants the community to know it’s been a huge benefit to the Aspen Valley Hospital to hold this event. We want to be good stewards of the lands. The polo folks have raised over 2 million over the past couple of years and is an important event. This sets us up for our biggest event, which is summer polo. This is very important to the hospital and keeping them well funded. Deborah Breen – Ms. Breen said she’s echoing what John said and this has been very beneficial to the hospital. All hospitals are challenged across the country right now. We have erred on the side of caution on how this is going to look this year. Wagner offers a larger venue so that social distancing is easier. She has the utmost confidence in the Ganzi’s and the polo club. It’s a great thing for the community. Miller Ford – Mr. Ford said he is circling back and is happy to report that things are falling into place and thanked them for the emails that have been sent and the work that has been done. Thank you to Courtney DeVito. She has been pivotal. We now have 4 meetings taking place in doors at the Red Brick, St. Mary’s and the Episcopal church for supporting their 12 step fellowship program. He can’t rest yet, however, because the high season is coming, and they only have capacity for 8 or 10 people. We do have protocols in place for now, but will be seeking a larger space. Mayor Torre told him council won’t stop looking and helping. Justin Todd – Mr. Todd is here representing the St. Regis. He’s echoing in support of the polo event and said they are a partner of the event. We anticipate doing the same thing this year. it’s a positive event for the community and has tremendous economic impact. We appreciate council support. Chris Bryan – Mr. Bryan said he represents Protect Wagner Park. This group is solely interested in protecting the park. He’s been in touch with all members of council and he wants to reiterate that Aspen is in the middle of a pandemic. Right now, no more than five people can congregate in a park. This is not a good event for public health. If for some reason, we are eager to sponsor the event, and there is a compromise to have the health safety plan approved by the county, we need to keep it at the Rio Grande. It’s actually the largest park in the city and is more than capable of hosting this event in a more prudent fashion. Lucia Jayne – Ms. Jayne is echoing Christine Benedetti regarding the fossil fuel investment. She is in favor of not funding these big companies and said the finance department can look for other options for lower risk options. Mayor Torre asked if council wants to add the snow polo conversation to action items and council agreed. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS: Councilwoman Richards thanked Mike Maple for his concern and said she supports following up on this. Councilman Hauenstein said we’ve had council discussions on which areas of town are on the priority list for completing sidewalks. Trish Aragon went through this with us and we should have a follow up discussion with her. Councilwoman Mullins supports taking a look at this too. Public comment has been really useful lately. Councilwoman Mullins said for everyone to hang in there. It’s such a difficult and strange time. Last week we saw there are seven houses over 20 million dollars under contract and then this week, there 3 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 10TH, 2020 are eleven new units in the lottery and over 200 people put in applications. There is quite a dichotomy in town with housing right now. We, as the city, are working really hard to support everyone economically and socially and emotionally through a really tough winter. Councilman Hauenstein said it’s really important for everyone to stay vigilant. Protect yourself at all times. Keep your guard up. We all have COVID fatigue right now. He got a call from someone upset at the city for not enforcing the mask zone. It’s everyone’s responsibility, however, and it’s a show of respect. Public health is the number one priority, and we won’t allow unsafe events to proceed. Councilman Mesirow said we have presumptive election results, and it feels good. We just had the highest voter turnout in U.S. history. It’s really important that we approach this with grace regarding others with a different perspective with an intention to heal. Regarding COVID, we only have ourselves to protect our jobs, businesses and our health. Councilwoman Richards said she is taking a different tactic regarding the election outcome. She is disappointed with this lack of peaceful transition. No healing will occur until we have a truth commission, and she doesn’t feel safe yet. She spoke at length about COVID frustrations and she doesn’t want anyone acting like this is going to be any kind of normal winter. It’s not going to be normal again for a very long time. Mayor Torre extending appreciation to Barry Ramsberg and Jeannie Seebold have done a wonderful job of being concerned citizens regarding testing. Last week he and Ann volunteered at the schools for testing and participated in the testing as well to keep students able to attend school in person. Pitkin County is going to open more testing sites as well as the City of Aspen. Clark’s market has testing available for asymptomatic individuals. He reiterated the five commitments. AGENDA AMENDMENTS: Mayor Torre mentioned the addition of the snow polo discussion. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS: Sara Ott said the positivity rates are alarmingly high throughout Colorado. It’s an unfortunate reality. She encourages people to pay attention to the COVID dial dashboard at the state level to understand data. We are doing ok in Pitkin County regarding our hospital beds, but hospitals throughout the state are full. Effective tomorrow, the Red Brick will be closed for 7 days. We cannot staff this facility because people are in quarantine. We will also delay the opening of the ice garden by a week. We are evaluating what will happen if we go into the red zone. We won’t be able to keep the activity centers open. Mayor Torre commended Ms. Ott and staff. Ms. Ott continued talking about grants and any potential changes by council that were presented by the grant committee. Council discussed at length. Councilwoman Richards suggested to increase funding. Mayor Torre said he needs to do more research. 4 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 10TH, 2020 Councilman Hauenstein, Councilwoman Mullins and Mayor Torre said they don’t want to take a look right now and trust the committee and their decisions, but they will do more research and look into at a later date. Councilman Hauenstein said this is something to revisit in the new year. BOARD REPORTS: Councilwoman Mullins said she had BOCC today and RFTA and Reudi Water & Power on Thursday. There’s a CML policy meeting on December 4th. Councilman Mesirow said that he had APCHA and they reviewed their yearlong workplan and public outreach strategy as well as proposed regulation changes. Councilman Hauenstein has RFTA and CORE coming up. Mayor Torre said he has the Wheeler tomorrow with an update on the executive director search. He has Sister Cities this Thursday, and Ward will also be there. There is a Pitkin County Health and ACRA business zoom meeting update and Q&A this Thursday at 9 am. CONSENT CALENDAR: Mayor Torre said he would like to pull Resolution #095 – City of Financial Policies - Pete Strecker Mr. Strecker shared two slides and walked council through briefly. He said the city’s investments mirror the state regulations. Councilman Hauenstein said he is leaving this to Pete’s expertise as to where to invest. He trusts Pete to redistribute the funds. He doesn’t support boycotting a particular bank, and said instead, they could send Wells Fargo a signal about our stance. Councilwoman Richards said she supports the disinvestment. Mr. Strecker said the city would have to give up 1 and a ½ percentage points. He said this is a 2.9 million dollar holding. Councilwoman Mullins said she would like more information. We don’t want to lose money for the city. Not everyone is supportive of the city making less money due to a statement about climate change, although it is an important one. We need to come up with a strategy, and this isn’t a quick fix. We will need Pete to look into this a little more deeply. Councilman Mesirow said he shares the goal of climate change, but he’s a little with Ann for a need of more information before they take action. Mayor Torre agrees there’s a need for more information. Councilman Hauenstein motioned to continue Resolution #095 to a meeting in January; Councilwoman Richards seconded. Councilman Hauenstein motioned to approve the remainder of the consent calendar; Councilwoman Richards seconded. Councilwoman Mullins mentioned the Open Space board appointments. Commented [NH1]: 5 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 10TH, 2020 Mayor Torre said that both applicants are highly qualified and respected, and they will do fantastic job. He asked for other citizens to apply to the other boards that are currently advertised. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. ORDINANCE #17, SERIES OF 2020 – 2021 Electric and Water Rates and Fees - Tyler Christoff Mr. Christoff said this ordinance contains their annual updates to utility rates and fees in Title 25. This material was reviewed with council at the October 19th utilities budget work session and no changes have occurred since. There is a continuation of the affordable housing fee structure and the addition of a new senior rate reduction class within the electric fund. Councilwoman Mullins asked if the senior rate is based on age or income or both. Mr. Christoff said it is based on age. He is going to verify and follow up for second reading. Mayor Torre asked for more information on the long-range plan regarding cost of service model that brings the utility in line with changes that we are making for budgeting. He noted the availability charge going up 20%. Mr. Christoff said he will bring back more information on this for second reading. Councilman Hauenstein motioned to read; Councilwoman Mullins seconded. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. City Clerk, Nicole Henning, read the ordinance. Councilman Hauenstein motioned to approve; Councilwoman Mullins seconded. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. ORDINANCE #19, SERIES OF 2020 – 2020 City of Aspen Fall Supplemental Budget Ordinance – Pete Strecker Mr. Strecker said this is for 2020 and holds an increase of 5.6 million. The majority is outlined in the slide, and there are two large items which were previously approved: the ISIS debt refinancing, and the 2.5-million-dollar project at the Wheeler currently going on. Councilwoman Richards said we’ve all seen these supplementals and is comfortable making a motion to read. Councilwoman Mullins seconded. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Ms. Henning read the ordinance. Councilwoman motioned to approve; Councilwoman Richards seconded. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. ORDINANCE #20, SERIES OF 2020 - 2021 Fee Ordinance – Pete Strecker Mr. Strecker said this is largely unchanged from 2020 to 2021. There are two adjustments which need to be made: the right of way occupancy should be $9.00 per square foot and the parking space residential fee should be $25.00 per day. 6 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 10TH, 2020 Councilman Hauenstein motioned to read; Councilman Mesirow seconded. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. Ms. Henning read the ordinance. Mayor Torre said he is interested about the golf fee schedule. He fielded a lot of comments, complaints, and suggestions this year around the golf course operations and would like to have a small discussion around this. He would like to know how our fee structures relate to some of the impacts we saw this year, so he would like more information on this for second reading. Councilwoman Mullins motioned to approve; Councilwoman Richards seconded. ACTION ITEMS: SNOW POLO – Austin Weiss Councilman Hauenstein said there will be no snow making this year due to water, it must meet county event protocol and he wanted to know if there would not be any bleachers this year. Mr. Weiss said he has not seen any bleachers in the illustrations for this year. Mr. Ganzi agreed that there will be no bleachers and only 50 people inside of the event. Councilman Hauenstein said he is inclined to move this back to the Rio Grande after all the public comment, and since it’s a bigger venue, it makes sense. Councilman Mesirow said it’s a big part of the kaleidoscope of the Aspen experience. He supports the event at the Rio Grande. He thinks that doing it at Wagner sends the wrong message. He feels it’s most appropriate. He agrees with Andy and Chris regarding the location, but their comments about it being a “super spreader” are totally off base. It’s confounding and inaccurate and he didn’t appreciate it. Councilwoman Mullins said the value of the event as a fundraiser and the value of the tradition is very important. She’s assured that it won’t go ahead without an approved safety plan. The solution is to move it back down to the Rio Grande. It’s a more appropriate place for the games. Councilwoman Richards said she’s the odd man out. It’s an extremely short-term event. She said this is an anniversary year and it would be very visible and enjoyable to have it at Wagner. She’s doesn’t see the same viewability at Rio Grande. The money they raise is massive. She said the construction site down there is pretty ugly and it’s not going to view well of Aspen. Wagner would be much prettier at this time. The Motherlode gets to use Wagner and they don’t raise a dime for anyone. She’s willing to stand up for a little pressure. Mayor Torre said he is a fan of this event. He thinks it’s really neat, and it’s well put on and well managed. This has also been successful at Rio Grande, and he likes it better because of the solar exposure. It’s an odd year for this request, but he’s excited to support it at Rio Grande. It’s just the wrong year to make change to this. Councilman Hauenstein said he can’t disagree with Rachel on all her points but he thinks the Rio Grande is the best place with what’s going on. RESOLUTION #097, SERIES OF 2020 – Extension of Vested Right, Aspen Alps Condominiums 300 Building – Phillip Supino & Michelle Bonfils-Thibeault 7 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 10TH, 2020 Mr. Supino said the applicant has been very diligent in pursuing this project, and it’s a project of necessity. The Alps desperately needs to do. Staff is recommending an 18-month extension and staff would be very comfortable with that. Alan Richman said building 300 is quite distressed. It’s tilted, skewed and misaligned. Repairing it would have been costly and uncertain, so they decided to replace the building. All approvals were granted, and vested rights were received. The approved plan set was submitted, and a complete building plan was prepared. Steady progress has been made to complete this project. Due to the pandemic, the project got shut down and skewed from it’s original timetable. Ms. Bonfils said there are four main criteria for approving extension of vested rights, and staff finds that the four criteria have been met. Councilman Hauenstein is fine with this at 18 months. Councilwoman Mullins asked why only 18 months and Ms. Bonfils said she feels it will keep the applicant on task. Councilwoman Richards said should there be further delays with the COVID year, she can see making this longer. It’s a legitimate extension request and she supports it. Councilman Hauenstein motioned to approve; Councilwoman Richards seconded. Mayor Torre is supportive and appreciative of staff. Mayor Torre opened public comment. Mayor Torre closed public comment. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. RESOLUTION #099, SERIES OF 2020 – School District IGA – CJ Oliver & Katherine Sand Mr. Oliver explained where the funding will go and Ms. Sand went over the plan highlights: Steering Committee, Teen Voice/Teen Connector, Early Childhood Connector, Continuous Evaluation. Councilwoman Mullins gave kudos to Katherine and she gives full support. Councilman Mesirow is in full support and said Katherine is remarkable. Councilwoman Richards thanked Katherine and her team. She is happy to support this request. Mayor Torre echoed everyone’s sentiments and said he feels really good about the direction they are going. Councilman Hauenstein motioned to approve; Councilman Mesirow seconded. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. City Attorney, Jim True, said that Resolution #097 was conducted properly as a public hearing since public comment was opened up. It should have been listed under the public hearings section but is ok because it was opened up to the public. Mr. True said that staff is recommending that council move into 8 REGULAR MEETING ASPEN CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 10TH, 2020 an executive session. There were three items noticed and they will be adding two items to the agenda: Centennial Owners Association vs. the City of Aspen, as well as the HomeTrek Contract. Councilwoman Richards motioned to move into executive session, Councilwoman Mullins seconded. Roll call vote: Hauenstein, yes; Mesirow, yes; Mullins, yes; Richards, yes; Torre, yes. 5-0, motion carried. _____________________________ Nicole Henning, City Clerk