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HomeMy WebLinkAboutcclc.min.090215COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 2, 2015 1 Vice-chair, Don Sheeley called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. Commissioners in attendance were Fred Ayarza, Terry Butler, Siam Castillo, Bill Dinsmoor, Kiki Raj, Charles Cunniffe and Steve Fante. Riley Tippet was absent. MOTION: Fred moved to approve the minutes of August 5 th, second by Don. All in favor, motion carried. Public Comments: Bridget Balentine said they have numerous flooring businesses. We like the small town utopia. Rethink the streets is very negative. I’ll be doing a survey. We heard there is a master plan to build out all the corners. They are making it miserable and people won’t come to Aspen. Not one business was consulted. The museum building took 15 parking spaces. Parking is a necessity to keep business going. We need more parking garages. The RFTA buses need to run later to handle the working employees instead of them driving their cars to town. Don said parking is horrible and traffic is horrible. Terry said parking, parking, parking it is the hardest thing to face. a. Free parking at the garage for employees and paid for. b. Down valley free bus service so that people would be encouraged to come up in their cars. Bridget said her workers need the truck to clean the rugs. Bridget said she wants to go around town and getting a petition to get rid of the bulb out and taking the parking away. Erik Klanderud ACRA the people affected from Rethink the streets are those in their shops. The ACRA will also be reaching out for input. Another concern is about public safety on the curbs. We are a much smaller town and I’m not sure it works. Return the street to the people is out there. Mitch Osur, Parking Director said he is working with the ACRA and restaurants. We are working with the St. Regis and Hotel Jerome on zone COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 2, 2015 2 passes for their employees. We are doing a three week trial and employees from restaurants can park free in the garage from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. We are anxious to see how the program will work. Bill said women are nervous about going to the garage. Mitch said extended enforcement hours will occur in the spring. The hours are to be determined. The officers write the ticket from the back of the car. Bill suggested some jitney service to engage people to go to the garage. Eric said he used to work in the restaurant business and walked his employees to the garage. Mitch said the parking garage will be lit better. Steve suggested a surveillance should be identified when you come into the garage. Mitch said they can do that. Fred said you need everyone behind this including Council, Press, ACRA and businesses. Kiki said she is concerned about the daytime also. Charles suggested a random runner for checking the parking cars meters. Terry said buildings are going up without parking and that needs to change. Charles said the bottom line is that people feel they are not welcome coming up to town. We are losing the sense of welcome to our locals. Terry said so much is being taken away. Don said the goal of the city is to get cars off the street. Bill said he has employees that need to drive. Maybe have morning vouchers and smaller buses. Bill suggested RFTA put back the buses on off season. COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 2, 2015 3 Bill said there is no way to get e-mails to the businesses. We have no data base. Don said the goal of administration is to get less cars in town. Mitch said he wants to help solve the problem. I have been here with Aspen Sports for 5 years and know the town. I am all for new ideas and change. Employees need to park at the intercept lot. Kiki said bring back the Galena shuttle from the garage all year. Mitch said his goal is to get 40 to 50 cars out of the core to the parking garage and hopefully this will work working with the ACRA. Don said the we-cycle takes away way too much parking in town. Mitch said he is interested in the one way street concept. Kiki suggested after two tickets the cars should be towed away. Bill said put the offender’s names in the paper. Don suggested some kind of lights on the street to identify the parking spaces. Terry said people parking in front of her hotel take two spots. Terry suggested open house at the parking garage and you get a premium to look at it. Fred mentioned the UPS enforcement especially during the winter. Kiki said alley enforcement is an issue. Mitch said he has 4 officers giving tickets. We give out 150 tickets a day. At 5 tickets we start towing. Mitch said our number priority is safety. COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 2, 2015 4 Dan Nelson, Parks Dan said they purchased new garland for Main Street and new wreathes for XMAS. Dan said Parks is investing $25,000 for next spring for the operation of the newspaper racks. Don said the Aspen Times wants to do it and will contribute. Kathy said she will check with Engineering to see if the $10,000 –can be carry forward. Don said the Aspen Times is upset also about the disgrace of the racks. Dan said he is now able to keep his seasonal people through Halloween. Dan said the irrigation is done at the round-about. The flowers will go in the spring. Fred said the Outdoor dining at Jimmy’s Bodega is a mess and needs addressed next year. Steve said we need the core support for decisions that need to go to the Council. Bill said we need e-mails of businesses to inform them of what is happening. The e-mails need updated every six months. It is the city’s job to get e-mails of local businesses. Bill asked if there examples of other cities that the bike race helps the city. The television coverage was limited. We spent over a million dollars on this. MOTION: Don moved to adjourn; second by Siam. All in favor, motion carried. Kathleen J. Strickland, Chief Deputy Clerk