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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes.OSB.20230316 MINUTES City of Aspen, Open Space and Trails Board Meeting Held on March 16, 2023 5:00pm at East Maroon Pass Room, Aspen City Hall City OST Board Members Present: Ted Mahon, Howie Mallory, Adam McCurdy, Dan Perl City Staff Members Present: John Spiess, Matt Kuhn, Brian Long, Micah Davis Adoption of the Agenda: Ted made a motion to approve the agenda; Dan seconded and the vote was unanimous. Public Comments, for topics not on the agenda: None. Approval of the Minutes: Dan made a motion to approve the minutes; Ann seconded, and the vote was unanimous. Staff Comments: John: provided an update on the Maroon Creek trail: Parks has entered a contract with Gould Construction for construction manager and general contracting services; they are joining the design team to refine plans and give cost estimates. This approach stems from difficulty in contracting. We will break ground on this project in 2024. A license agreement has been reached with Pyramid LLC; it will go to a second reading with the County in April. Ann asked for cost information. Gould will issue an initial guaranteed maximum price at 90% next week. A guaranteed maximum price will be issued in August at 100%. Adam asked if the project would need to go out to bid again. John explained that the current contract is for this initial process, so Parks has flexibility to go out to bid again if necessary. Parks will take part in selecting subcontractors and will have a role in arriving at final cost. Dan asked if there is an opportunity to reconsider any alignments, noting that with new time available and a new partner at the table, different alignments could reduce costs and simplify the project. John explained that the County is a co-holder of the license agreement and that the nature of the license agreement is predicated on the proposed alignment; there is not much flexibility to change that. Matt added that staff is very happy with the proposed alignment as the license agreement allows for a vegetated separation between the trail and the roadway; other options were thoroughly considered and this is the only option available short of being in the roadway. Matt: Nordic is wrapping up; grooming of the Rio Grande Trail has ended for the season and snow will be removed from this trail below Stein Park. It was a successful Nordic season; grooming will continue on main trails as conditions allow. Staff will tentatively go to Council on April 11th for a first reading of municipal code changes related to the park rental policy. New Business: Becca Schild Executive Director of RFOV presented a recap of the organization’s work in 2022 and a preview of 2023. Land, stewardship, community, and education are the guiding pillars of the organization. Becca covered their sustainability and restoration initiatives as well as fire adaptation projects, statistics on volunteer participation and projects completed. She highlighted projects in partnership with the City, youth engagement, trainings, and education programs. Registration for 2023 projects will open soon. RFOV’s requests for proposals will go out in August. Becca discussed the processes for project selection and the adopt-a-trail program. Howie asked about demographics of trail users. Becca explained user survey data collection that RFOV collects. Howie referenced a Pitkin County program related to trail users. Old Business: Castle Creek Bridge update: Matt explained that City staff updated Council on February 12th, presenting the number of people reached and general responses gathered from the community, and then they shifted to focusing on a comprehensive project RFP. Ann commented on the process and degree of urgency this project carries, and Parks’ role related to this process in terms of a position statement. Matt commented that Parks staff is prepared and has been asked to be an active member of the project team. Parks recognizes its role in ensuring use of the existing right of way over the open space parcels is planned as well as possible. Howie encouraged OSTB and parks staff involvement in the development of the plan. Matt expressed that Howie’s input aligns with and confirms where staff are in approaching this project. Ann commented about putting aside personal opinions of the alternatives and testing them against open space priorities as a Board. Brian referred to a drawing that Howie shared, commenting that it was produced without Parks’ involvement; it is a very basic conceptual rendering. Ann mentioned that this is what the public perceives the project to be. Howie said that other cities have run highways through parks. Dan asked about the Board’s approach, and whether they could organize a group, similar to how the half-cent tax was approached. Adam commented that the Board cannot have that conversation right now. Matt added that there is a certain direction to proceed, there will be frequent check-ins and motions and recommendations from this Board can be brought to Council. Capital Budget Follow-up: Matt followed up on the capital budget discussion from the February meeting, focusing on key themes. Next Friday this budget will be submitted to Finance, it will be published in late summer, and it will go to Council in late August for review. There is some inevitable variability in the budget that often happens between now and that time. Projects are becoming increasingly delayed due to complexities and unanticipated challenges, such as with the Maroon Creek Trail that was hoped to begin this year. The Iselin pickle ball courts now involve changing covenants and working with Council and P & Z. Herron Park is a 2022 project for which staff availability and contractor availability have been delay factors; the bathrooms are hoped to be installed this fall but they could be pushed to spring 2024. Cozy Point Ranch grading is going out to bid presently; depending on contractor availability, this may happen this summer or it may not. Currently, contractors require one year of advance planning in order to consider a project. Going into 2024, we are shifting certain projects that were going to be initiated in 2024 to subsequent years. At Cozy Point, there is a large portfolio of projects for the next 5 years; we have combined all of those projects into an initial planning phase so that they are combined into one scope of work. This will be put out to bid in early summer; we anticipate 24 months of planning on this project. Parks is requesting a project manager to assist with this project through the supplemental budget process; we are hopeful that this position can happen. That project manager would assist with Cozy Point projects as well as other Parks projects (golf course, ARC, Nordic, etc). Dan asked if water and wastewater projects at Cozy Point would be at least two years out. Matt explained that is not necessarily so; a new consultant is investigating the possibility of drilling a new well. That could happen this summer, and while it wouldn’t completely address these needs, it would be an incremental step. A couple of long-range plan projects are moving up. We are jointly budgeting $500,000 with Pitkin County for design and engineering of the Brush Creek to AABC bridge projects as predicated on a study over the next 6-9 months to gauge public sentiment and feasibility of the project. If the study reveals positive outcomes, momentum for this project would continue to move forward. Howie asked about the Loris proposal from 15 years ago; Matt explained that SGM has taken this proposal to the next level and now we are going to an even further level. Matt mentioned that this year’s capital budget within the Parks fund is $15 million. Parks is trying to significantly slow down for next year, catch up on 2023 delays, and plan for projects going into 2024. We’re calling this a pause, but it is really a catch-up phase. Matt explained a 5- year breakdown of what assets Parks is spending money on, including parks and trails capital projects, Cozy Point Ranch, fleet (shifting to EVs involves a greater budget burden), and the Parks campus remodel. Adam asked about costs related to maintenance of electric fleet vehicles; Matt explained that this will be tricky and includes a strategy of buying from local dealers toward service availability. Matt added that the City is in the process of replacing buried electrical lines; this present an opportunity for Parks to replace failing bricks on walking surfaces downtown. Parks has also been asked to look at pedestrian safety around the mall. Next year Parks will repair the retaining wall beneath the Castle Creek Bridge. The half-cent tax was used to build things like the Nordic Center and Golf Clubhouse, Rec Center, rec facility improvements. With the permanent renewal of this tax, Parks is looking at supporting those physical facilities. Matt said that this will help Parks maintain a healthy budget; staff will take this to Council in the next 6-8 weeks. Matt discussed 2024’s planning focus, including planning and prep for Koch Park volleyball renovation, lights on trails, and Parks campus. Some funding is planned for 2025 for Dolensik Gardens, anticipating a grand opening in late summer and for 2025 incidentals. Dan commented on the Iselin pickleball courts and the difficulty of obtaining contractors for this project. Theatre Aspen reported that two geotechnical borings were drilled at their site in late November/December for sampling and monitoring of ground water through the spring. We are potentially meeting with them next week, and Parks is still waiting for them to come forward with design alternatives for discussion. Ted commented that he would like to know public sentiment about the theater idea. He suggested using Aspen Community Voice as a forum, and he expressed that this would help with making decisions. Board Comments: Ted: Ted expressed that he would like to see a survey of some type to gather public comments about the proposed theater renovation in order to aid the Board in making decisions pertaining to this project. Matt asked for clarification on whether the question should ask if improvements should be considered or not, Ann suggested that the public should be made aware that this project is moving along. Dan supported the binary question option, presenting it as a go/no-go type question rather than offering design options. He also suggested that there may be certain milestones that Theatre Aspen needs to meet before polling the public to avoid creating a conversation about something that might not be feasible. Ted commented that the original plan for the theater was for a temporary structure. Adam summarized that there is Board consensus for taking this to the City’s communication team. Dan: None Howie: None Ann: None Next Meeting Date(s): Regular meeting April 20, 2022.