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HomeMy WebLinkAboutcclc.min.09181996 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION SEPT. 18, 1996 Special Meeting - Delivery Vehicles was called to order. Jack Stanford and Bill Dinsmoor presided. Jack stated that the meeting is a fact finding meeting on how to make the streets of Aspen more pedestrian friendly and one of the issues was delivery trucks; if and should we be following some type of schedule. This is strictly exploratory. This will not work unless the delivery people and the sub- committee and businesses etc. work as a team and evaluate all the input. We do not hope to get 100% agreement because everyone has different needs etc. We need to know the delivery peoples concerns because deliveries are the life blood of the City. After all the meetings we will do a synopsis of the entire thing. The agenda will be: 1) Drivers concerns 2) Congestion of trucks 3) Alley cleanup 4) Access for truck deliveries 5) Axle limit 6) Delivery times 7) Efficient deliveries and public safety Jack stated that the CCLC is trying to clean out the alleys with the compactor program. Jack stated that they are trying to see if there is a time of day after all deliveries are done that the trucks could be Out of town. Jack asked what the impact would be on companies if there were an 11:00 a.m. curfew on the streets for delivery. This would be anywhere in the commercial core. Orison Dist. stated that they have deliveries after 3:00 p.m. because certain accounts don't open up until that time. Jack stated at the previous meeting the beer distributors stated that they needed to get into the areas after 3:00 but could reduce their axle sizes, Bill stated with Orison it is not that they couldn't deliver earlier, the problem is that the customer is not there. COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION SEPT. 18, 1996 Bill asked the drivers in a perfect world what hours would be best for them for deliveries. Public stated that many communities do night deliveries. Public stated that when you are dealing with alcohol night deliveries are not a good safety idea. Public stated that they have keys to accounts and are comfortable with that but they would not want everyone to have keys because the control would then be lost. Public stated that in reality you are looking at six hours of delivery time. How early can we start and how late do we want to finish. Jack stated that the hour of 11:00 a.m. came up from the drivers because they were looking at 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. window. Public stated that it would be nice but on that same note there are so many deliveries that need to be made and you might be looking at the possibility of adding a man to a truck so you are now paying two guys to do a job and before you were paying one in order to get the deliveries out by 11:00 a.m. Public: The drivers would love to be out of town by 11:00 a.m. Public stated that he asked his drivers what keeps him in town so long and the comment was made that they route according to customer needs and size of accounts. They go into an alley once, deliver and go around again. They go back and forth circling around town and have COD accounts and have to come back again. There are customers that say they will be there but never show up. Getting the deliveries through once would be a great improvement. Bill asked what the time is waiting to do a delivery per day due to our city's situation. Public stated about 1 1/2 hour5 are wasted driving around. The driver usually goes around and tries to do something else in the meantime. 2 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION SEPT. 18, 1996 Public stated that' he delivered in Aspen years ago only on Tuesdays and Thursdays and now they are delivering six days a week. A thought would be to deliver food Monday, Wednesday and Fridays and liquor Tuesdays and Thursdays and Saturdays. Bill Dinsmoor stated that he felt that a good suggestion and our attorney can review all the suggestions after the meetings have ended. Public stated that the restaurants owners will say they need fresh produce every day of the week. Also people have limited storage space. Public, Shamrock Foods stated that years ago people knew how to store produce and it worked. It would increase the number of cases per drop which is beneficial. Public indicated that voluntary compliance would be appropriated. Public stated that Snowmass doesn't allow tractor trailers in town and if we did the same thing and limited it to bob tails our delivery expense would go up because we will need more trucks but we could get in and out of town more quickly. You would be adding more trucks but they would be in and out faster. Don Lemos stated he runs two parking lots and one is an ongoing problem by Metzalunna. He has been requested to cable it off. People use the alley who aren't delivering. Public stated that you can get the same amount of load on a tractor trailer as you can on a bobtail and the tractor trailer is a lot more maneuverable in a small space. Mountain Taxi stated they do numerous deliveries and that is a special needl Meadow Gold asked about when the Eisenhower Tunnel is closed. Bill. stated that breakdowns, weather are things that need to be considered, Clearly the town has to operate. A depot~ was mentioned for outside of town 3 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION SEPT. 18, 1996 where you could call up and pick up your supplies. We will have to explore it. Maybe there are certain conditions for COD customers. Public stated that Vail still has their curfew and is set up differently than Aspen. Aspen has a alleys. The entire room stated that they did not like Vail's delivery policy. Public stated that the problems aren't so much the dumpsters but the winter season and the ridges going down the alley. Trying to wheel a keg in the winter is difficult. Public stated that most of the orders are done at the back door of an establishment. public stated that they go baCk and forth in the alleys waiting for customers. Jack asked if Vail had a central depot and what happens if you miss the delivery hour. Public stated that you have a further distance to go outside the village but most people go ahead and deliver instead of trying to get back the next day. The area could go between 250 and 350 additional yards. Public stated with alcohol you cannot deliver to a central depot, it has to be delivered to a licensed premises. Bill stated that blind drops were brought up. Public stated that without a Signed slip it would be difficult to get payment. Millennium packaging representative stated that they drive around trying to find a place to park, cars are parked in the truck loading zone or the plumbers and painters are parked in the truck loading zone because they have a permit from the city but instead of delivering go to lunch. They could do everything in an hour if they had the access to do it. Also if people would show up for their deliveries it would speed things up. 4 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION SEPT. 18, 1996 Bill asked if there were enough onstreet spots in town for deliveries. Public stated if there were a couple more it would be better. Part of the problem is small trucks blocking parking spaces in the alleys. There is a need for more effective enforcement. Tim Ware, Parking Coordinator stated that alleys were made for emergency vehicle traffic. Anyone can use an alley to unload and load. They issued 50,000 tickets with six people last year. Public stated that private vehicles park in loading zone. The response came that the parking department sold them a delivery permit for $52. It is all two or three minutes deliveries. Jack stated that we need to address short term deliveries. Tim Schnacke, lead parking officer stated that his officers let the drivers figure it out in the alleys. The larger trucks belong in the alley. When the service guys stop in the alley to service they get a ticket. He also stated that they have towed out of the alleys. Bill Dinsmoor stated that if we compress the delivery times that the enforcement times would be compressed also. Tim Ware stated that if the trucks get in early they .can generally park anywhere without getting a ticket as we want them in town early and out. Public stated that they would like the businesses to open early in order to get their deliveries. Thc consensus of the public is that they would like to get into town as early as possible and out and have the businesses open up early for their deliveries. Jack stated that we definitely need the cooperation of the retailers to have a set delivery time. The alleys and streets need cleaned to turn it over to the delivery people for certain hours. 5 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION SEPT. 18, 1996 Public stated that he felt it would be difficult to deliver certain days with certain trucks. Bill Kelly from Fed X and his concern is how.do we deal with LIPS and Fed X because if you cut them off at 11:00 a.m. they still have pickups all day along. Another concern is the curfew at the airport as their merchandise is flown in and can't land until 7:00 which is a tight window. If you compress the delivery times you will add congestion because the same number of packages exist. A far as a depot Fed X has been looking for one for 12 years and they are forced to Basalt. To do all the delivery vehicles the size of the depot would have to be huge. Jack stated that the though would be to allow special deliveries such as Fed X and LIPS but to restrict them to the alleys. Fed X person stated that it would be difficult to get it done if they were restricted to the alleys. Small courier stated that she comes to Aspen four times a day and she never uses the alleys as she finds it easier to park in front. Finding a truck loading zone that isn't full is difficult. UPS, Fed X trucks doubled park and don't get a ticket but she gets a tickets just because they are a larger service. She is in there faster than most delivery vehicles. Tim Ware asked about the calming experience that the DEPP is doing. Public stated that they are finding out that they have to pull clear into the other lane and prevent any vehicle from going around the curve to make the tUrn. Jack stated that he had one other question for the delivery vehicles and that is the Red Onion alley with the chain indicating no exit. There is a partial pathway and the delivery vehicles are going over the fountain and the thought is to go straight and come out on Monarch. Delivery truckers all stated that would be a safer exit process then going left or right onto the mall. 6 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION SEPT.. 18, 1996 Bill Dinsmoor stated that the delivery people will be a critical ingredient in the success of encouraging merchants to accept deliveries at times that they are not accustomed to. Delivery trucker suggested adding a delivery charge if the merchant is not at his establishment. Bill also stated that the more keys that are given out the more the merchant can't point the finger at if something is not delivered etc. Jack stated that possibly the merchants will have to have an area in the store that isn't high security for door drops. Public stated that if the City could give the merchants an incentive, possiblY financial to get them to participate in a drop area. Use an incentive for those who can make the drop. Public stated as purveyors it is to their best interest to get in and out as early as possible by 11:00 and then the UPS guys wouldn't have us to contend with on the street. The goal is to keep Aspen a world class resort that it is. Jack stated that besides the beer and food trucks RAC has larger trucks. Jack asked how many could live with some type of axle restriction, like a bob tail rather than a tractor trailer. Public responded that it depended on what it was, Is the problem trucks in anyone place or the size of the trucks. Public stated that in-season no one is sending up a truck bigger than the needs. Sometimes in the summer it occurs. Tim Ware suggested that possibly the Intercept lot could somehow be used as a drop area. Public stated that possibly a drop box could be constructed along the alley side that only the delivery drivers and shop owners have access to. 7 COMMERCIAL CORE & LODGING COMMISSION SEPT. 18, 1996 Bill stated that he sees all ideas as part of the solution. Public stated that he feels if there is a central point people will pick up their goods if they want them. Public stated that certain deliveries have to take place at a certain time. Jack suggested categorizing items by times might be effective. Meeting adjourned at NOON. 8