Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20020408Regular Meeting AsPen City, Council April 8, 2002 CITIZEN PARTICIPATION .......................................................................... 2 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS .............................................................. 5 CONSENT CALENDAR ................................................................................ 5 r~ Resolution #28, 2002 - Aspen Valley Hospital Annexation ............... 6 [] BHI Board Appointments - Kathleen VonAchen; Jackie Kasabach.. 6 ~l Minutes - March 12, 25, 2002 ............................................................. 6 RESOLUTION #29, SERIES OF 2002 - Contract Old Stage Road Aspen Earthmoving .................................................................................................... 6 ORDINANCE #10, SERIES OF 2002 - Junior Golf Subdivision .................. 6 REQUEST FOR FUNDING - Rail Crossing Repair ...................................... 6 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 8, 2002 Mayor Klanderud called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. with Councilmembers McCabe, paulson, Hershey and Semrau present. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 1. Bill Dinsmoor presented a petition with over 1,000 signatures m support of putting a question to keep the trolleys on a city ballot in the future. Dinsmoor reminded Council they have said there is no visible trolley support within the community. Mayor Klanderud noted a petition is not required to put this on the ballot; however, a petition indicates support for issues. Mayor Klandemd said this petition contained a very general question regarding the trolleys. Any ballot question will have to give the voters much more information. Dinsmoor said a financial question can only go on the ballot in November and May. Mayor Klanderud said if there is an interest from Councilmembers to put this on the ballot, it should be discussed in a work session or at a future agenda. Camilla Sparlin told Council the petition has 994 signatures and of these, 728 are registered voters. Mark Friedberg asked if the trolley would be able to do the entire Galena Street shuttle route or just the downtown part. Mayor Klanderud said these types of questions would have to be answered if this were a ballot question. Mayor Klanderud said there is a concern that a trolley system may not be able to climb hillS on the north side of town. Ramon Duvernay said the cost of putting the trolley track in the city streets, disruption of businesses and retooling of the existing trolleys should be part of anY ballot question. Mayor Klanderud suggested citizens limit their comments to whether this question should go on a ballot or not. Richie Cohen said this is a good opportunity to resolve the trolley question once and for all. In the time between now and November, the city and trolley proponents can be getting answers to all these questions. Yasmine dePagter supports putting this issue on a ballot. Toni Kronberg supports putting this issue on the ballot including a question if a trolley system is not apprOved, would the trolleys be retained to be used as information centers or concession stands at various places around town. Sheldon Fingerman said if people are saying that the trolleys are going to save Aspen's economy and if riding a trolley is the highlight of a visitor's experience, there are more serious problems in Aspen. Kip Wheeler said he 2 Regular Meetin~ Aspen City Council April 8~ 2002 should like this issue on the ballot to give citizens a chance to vote. Jim Markalunas urged COuncil to put this to an election so the citizens can determine the fate of the trolleys. Jean D~Alessio recommended Council allow the citizens to have their say. Andrew Kole said if the objective is to remove diesel fuel and cars, the city would make a better investment in small electric hybrid cars that look like trolleys as opposed to rebuilding the trolleys. Drew Sparlin urged Council to put this on a ballot. Nick Vitti agreed the people should be allowed to vote. Ramona Markalunas said this should be on the ballot; the voters deserve an opportunity to speak out on this. Si Coleman favors putting this on a ballot. Jon Busch said Council had told the representatives of the Aspen Railway Company there was no support for the trolleys. There is a petition with over 1,000 signatures as well as over 40 people at this Council meeting. Gaard Moses said he has been part of the trolley group for 24 years and would like to see this put on the ballot. Bill Stirling said the current downtown trolley is very unattractive and anything would be an improvement. Stirling said Council should give the community an opportunity to speak on this. Bert Myrin said he would like to see this on the ballot. 2. Toni Kronberg announced Tuesday, April 9th, Council is going on a tour of the Iselin recreational facility. Ms. Kronberg noted Council has said the pool is supposed to be for the youth, 10 to 19 years. Youth has the skateboard park; the city is building a youth center. Ms. Kronberg said a representation was made that a feasibility study was done. Staff said at the last Council meeting that conCrete had been poured and changes could not be made. Ms. Kronberg said last Friday there was a pool tour. No concrete has been poured and only one of the pools has been excavated. Ms. Kronberg said the new pool is the same as what the city had before but it will only have 4 half lanes.. The new pool is 3,000 square feet of 3.5 foot deep water. Ms. Kronberg requested when Council goes on the pool tour, they look at the depth and Usability of the pool and whether the youth of 10 to 19 will fit in the 2 pools. Ms. Kronberg said the Council has said she can start fund raising and she has gotten a contribution towards pools that work for the youth. Ms. Kronberg said during the Obermeyer COWOP, she suggested the city start to master plan the land across from Obermeyer. 3 Regular Meetin~ Aspen Ci,ty Council April 8~ 2002 Betty Farson supports putting the trolley issue on the ballot. Irma Prodinger said She would like to see a vote on thc trolleys. Gin° Hollander strongly supports putting this on the ballot. Katie TVeite supports putting the trolley question on the ballot. Victoria Potts said she would like to see this on the ballot. Karinjo deVore said she would like to see this on the ballot. Rebecca Harlow agreed she would like to get more information and see this on the ballot. 3. Andrew Kole suggested the city and county sit down with the Ski Company and explore the possibilities of connecting all 4 ski mountains. Kole said this should be the #1 priority with regard to revitalizing the resort. Mayor Klanderud said there is an economic sustainability committee with members from the city, county, Ski Company, ACRA currently meeting every two weeks. That would be an appropriate place to discuss Kole's suggestion. 4. Sheldon Fingerman said if parking spaces and auto disincentive are an issue, it does not seem to make sense to raise the time limit of paid parking from 2 to 4 hours. Councilman Hershey suggested Council have a chance to review the petitions and to WOrks tOwards November election on the trolley issue. Councilman Semrau said this is not an agenda item and suggested it be scheduled for a future agenda or a work session if the majority of Council agrees. Councilman Paulson said this is an important issue and should go to a vote in November. Councilman McCabe said this has to be a question that is as accurate with cost, routing, etc. information so the question could be binding. Mayor Klanderud said when she was on the asset management committee, the recommendation to Council was to either make a decision to commit to develop a trolley system or to get rid of the trolleys. Mayor Klanderud said the previous Council gave the trolley supporters deadline to get petitions to get this on the ballot for a MaY 2002 election. Mayor Klanderud agreed any ballot question would have to address issues like funding by tax, or a private funding or a joint venture. Mayor Klanderud said she supports a question on the November ballot. Councilman McCabe said his condition for putting a question on the ballot is that it is developed carefully, that voters can read the question and get some sense of the facts with the trolley. Mayor 4 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 8, 2002 Klandemd agreed the question should be a No or a Go, not an advisory questionl Councilman Hershey said questions that cannot be performed on are a disservice to the voters. Councilman Semrau said he Would like more information before reversing Council's decision. Councilman Semrau agreed that questions that cannot become a reality are a disservice. Councilman Semrau said if it is impossible for the trolleys to run from the Youth Center to the Gondola, it would be a disservice to put it on the ballot. Councilman Semrau said he Would like some research to see if this can be a reality before it goes on the ballot. Councilman Semrau said he would like to defer a decision on the trolleys to see if the city can get the information needed to put together a ballot question. Council requested a work session to deCide what information is needed and to draft a ballot question. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Semrau acknowledged Councilman Hershey for his guest editorial. It is food for thought and well written 2. Councilman Paulson thanked Council for listening to the trolley proponents. It speaks highly for Council's integrity that they are willing to put the trolley issue to a vote. Councilman McCabe said he feels it is important that the citizens understand the consequences of a trolley in Aspen. 3. Councilman Semrau told Council last week the Housing Board heard the concerns of the Woody Creek trailer park. Councilman Semrau said the Council should be getting a copy of what is going on. 4. Mayor Klanderud said there is a RFTA meeting in Carbondale Thursday at 8 a.m. One agenda item is the rail cars being used as residences. 5. Councilman McCabe said in the Obermeyer COWOP has refined the issues of the COWOP process, which should be on the internet soon. CONSENTCALENDAR 5 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council April 8, 2002 Councilman Semrau requested item (c) Resolution #29, 2002 - Contract Old Stage Road Aspen Earthmoving be removed for discussion. Councilman Hershey moved to approve the consent calendar as amended; seconded by Councilman McCabe. The consent calendar is: c~ Resolution #28, 2002 - Aspen Valley Hospital Annexation c~ BHI Board Appointments - Kathleen VonAchen; Jackie Kasabach = Minutes - March 12, 25, 2002 All in favor, motion carded. RESOLUTION #29, SERIES OF 2002 - Contract Old Stage Road Aspen Earthmoving Councilman Semrau asked if intersection that the city is committing to is part of the settlement with the Maroon Creek Club. Randy Ready, assistant city manager, told Council the intersection within the CDOT right of way does not allow access to MAA seasonal housing or the Maroon Creek Club's affordable housing. This access road goes from the CDOT right of way to allow access into these housing projects. Ready said the settlement agreement states at the time the intersection is completed, there Will be no more access for the affordable housing units from New Old Stage Road Councilman Hershey moved to approve Resolution #29, 2002, Contract Old Stage Road - Aspen Earthmoving; seconded by Councilman Semrau. All in favor, motion carded. ORDINANCE #10~ SERIES OF 2002 - Junior Golf Subdivision Councilman Hershey moved to continue Ordinance #10, Series of 2002, to April 22, 2002; seconded by Councilman Semrau. All in favor, motion carried. REQUEST FOR FUNDING - Rail Crossing Repair Randy Ready, assistant city manager, told Council this request is for $60,000 to do permanent repairs to 2 rail crossings, one in Carbondale and i 6 Regular Meeti-~ Aspen City Council April 8~ 2002 one in Garfield County at Buffalo Valley. Michael Hermes, RFTA Property Manager, told Council these 2 intersections are fairly hazardous. These - intersections can be paved over for $3,000 a piece. The permanent repair to rail crossings would be concrete panels between the tracks and would cost $30,000 per intersection. John Krueger, transportation department, said this is a timing issue; the available contractor is on the western slope and would be able to do this in the next 30 days. Councilman Semrau noted that for a cost of $2,000, the paving can be changed to allow a demo train. Mayor Klanderud told Council the operations committee voted to approve the higher costs if the rail proponents would come up with the $57,000 difference. Councilman Hershey said he would prefer to approve the paving at $3,000 and fund the $2,000 if there is a demo train. Councilman Paulson pointed out the next EOTC meeting is not until May. This would be the appropriate place to request the $60,000 as the 1/2 cent tax talks about maintenance of the rail corridor. Councilman Panlson said he would like Council to lend $60,000 to the EOTC until they have a meeting. Councilman Paulson said he feels this would send a positive message to down valley communities, who earlier paid for upgrading of intersections. Councilman Paulson said if rail is to happen, the government should not be putting obstacles in front of it. Councilman Semrau said if this expenditure is symbolic, it is a pretty expensive symbol. Councilman Hershey said when light rail is introduced in this valley, it will not be run on the existing track.. Mayor Klanderud agreed the value of this is symbolic rather than practical. Councilman McCabe said spending $57,000 is not fiscally responsible when there is a much less expensive alternative. Councilman Hershey moved to go into executive session at 6:45 p.m. for the purpose of discussing purchase, transfer of lease of property pursuant to C.R.S. 24-6-402(4)(a); seconded by Councilman Semrau. All in favor, motion carried. Councilman McCabe moved to come out of executive session at 7:15 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Hershey. All in favor, motion carded. Councilman McCabe moved to adjourn at 7:15 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Hershey. All in favor, motion carriedi 7 Regular Meetin~ Aspen City Council April 8~ 2002 ~Koch, City Cler