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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19880126Continued Meeting Aspen Citv Council January 26, 1988 Mayor Stirling called the meeting to order at 5:08 p.m. with Councilmembers Tuite and Isaac present. ELECTION ISSUES City Attorney Taddune outlined in a memorandum the procedure for amending the Charter. Taddune reminded Council an amendment to the Charter has to be by ordinance. Taddune said Council has to decide whether they want to initiate any amendments to the Charter. Councilwoman Fallin is interested in amending the Charter so the terms of Council, Mayor and members of Boards be limited to no more than two terms consecutively. A citizen group, PRO, has been discussing Charter amendments to require a primary, to change the date of the municipal election to the same as that of the general election in November, to limit the terms of office. Taddune said after last night's meeting, he prepared some Charter amendment language about publication of ordinances. Taddune said Council first needs to determine if they want Charter amendments. If they do not, Council should concentrate on Resolution #3, which sets forth five questions for the April 5th election. Councilman Isaac said he is not in favor of amending the Charter at this time. Councilman Isaac said he does not see the hurry for this; there is not a great upswelling of enthusiasm for changing the Charter. Councilman Isaac said limiting people to two terms is undemocratic. Councilman Isaac said it ought to be left up to the voters to elect the officials. Councilman Isaac said it is good to have continuity and to allow people to run. Councilman Isaac said the voters are astute. Councilman Isaac said he would prefer the city keep publishing ordinances the way they have done in the past (Councilwoman Fallin came into the meeting). Councilman Tuite said he is in favor of putting the Charter amendment about publishing on the ballot. Councilman Tuite said publishing ordinances as large as the proposed land use code is a financial burden. Taddune said the city can publish standard codes by reference. Councilman Tuite said at the time of the public notice, he would like the ordinance being adopted by reference to be available at no charge. Taddune said ordinances still need to have a public hearing. Taddune told Council he came up with the concept of having a resolution adopt these codes in order to incorporate the concept of a public hearing. Mayor Stirling said he feels the need for the disclosure is very strong; there is reliance on being able to get this information from the newspaper. Mayor Stirling said this particular code change is one of the most sweeping the city has done. City Manager Bob Anderson suggested Council may clarify the amendment process and how much should be published after first reading. Councilwoman Fallin said she opposes putting this Charter 1 Continued Meeting Aspen City Council January 26, 1988 amendment on at this particular time. Anderson agreed with the timing of this Charter amendment and the proposed adoption of the land use code it would be better to publish the ordinance and wait for the Charter amendment. Councilwoman Fallin asked what is the rush for this election. Anderson said with the city hall question, the city will have to make some decisions that are going to cost money. The quicker staff gets input from the electorate, the sooner solutions can be planned. Council agreed not to have a Charter amendment regard- ing publication of ordinances. Councilwoman Fallin said she supports limiting of terms of Council and Mayor and also supports limiting terms of the U. S. Congress and the state legislature. Councilwoman Fallin said she feels very strongly about limiting the terms of elected offi- cials. Councilman Tuite said if the electors do not want elected officials for more than two terms, they can vote them out of office. Councilman Tuite said he is very concerned about limiting the terms on some of the city Boards. Councilman Tuite said it takes time to get acquainted with the Board's history. - Mayor Stirling said in a small town there is a challenge because there is a limited number of people available to run for office. Mayor Stirling said this an issue of freedom of choice; it is also an issue of having the best available. The city needs to rely on the voters and their good judgement. Councilman Isaac said he would like to see the citizens go ahead an pass petitions if they would like to have questions on the election. Council- man Isaac said there is a city general election in May 1989. Councilman Isaac said he would rather see Charter amendments on th e regular election than special elections. Anderson said he feels the proposed limitation on the Mayor's term to 4 years or two terms is too short. Wainwright Dawson said he feels this will stimulate more com- munity participation. Councilman Tuite said putting this on the next general election, rather than this election, would accom- plish the same effect. Dawson said the groundswell for this is for consolidation, and this is a move toward that. The elections would be held at the same time so that all people can f ocus on one election. Bil Dunaway pointed out that the Charter convention spent months on the city's Charter. One reason they picked a May election is so that voters could really get into the city issues and have them separate from a general election. Mickey Herron said democracy is a question of choices and if you _ limit people from being able to vote for someone only twice, it is limiting the choice. 2 Continued Meeting Aspen City Council January 26, 1988 Mayor Stirling asked if the city needs permission from the voters to utilize the Rio Grande for an ice garden and city hall or are they not already designated in the sixth penny ordinance. Taddune said recreation is in the sixth penny, and the Rio Grande is already being used for parking. Mayor Stirling said the property was bought with sixth and seventh pennies. Councilwoman Fallin said the Rio Grande was bought with seventh penny money for the specific purpose of having parking and transportation related funds. Taddune told Council he will check to see if this question has to be on the ballot. Assistant City Manager Mitchell told Council question #4 requests permission to sell a small portion of property not needed for the trail system in the area of Shadow Mountain. The adjacent property owner has offered to buy this property for about $12,000. Mayor Stirling asked the intention of the adjacent property owner for this property. Mitchell said he is going to use it for landscaping purposes. Mayor Stirling said he would like to know there is no possibility of subdivision or greater density. Councilman Tuite suggested if the adjacent property owner wants to buy this, the city can require that it stay as open space. Council asked Mitchell to clarify this. Council was all in favor of putting this question on the ballot. Mayor Stirling said the M.A.A. does not want question #5 on the ballot. Councilman Tuite said the city needs housing, and this should be addressed; however, without the support of the PCPA and the M.A.A. withdrawing, this question does not stand a chance. Mayor Stirling said he feels the Koch lumber property would be a good place for dormitory employee housing. Mayor Stirling asked if Council is open to changing zoning for the ice garden, and should this be part of the ballot question. Taddune told Council they can change the zoning by ordinance. Councilman Tuite asked if Council wants to address a limited sales tax to address the parking issue. Mitchell told Council staff is going through the process of hiring a consultant and will have a recommendation for Council on the February 8th agenda. Mitchell said the parking consultant will put together information later in the year so that the voters will know how much it is going to cost, the best way to finance it, how it will be operated and where it will be located. Councilwoman Fallin moved to adjourn at 6:15 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Isaac. All in favor, motion carried. Kathryn Koch, City Clerk 4 Continued Meetinct __ Aspen City Council January 26, 1988 Councilwoman Fallin moved to read Ordinance #2, Series of 1988; seconded by Councilman Tuite. Councilwoman Fallin in favor; Councilmembers Tuite, Isaac and Mayor Stirling opposed. Motion NOT carried. Mayor Stirling suggested Council discuss Resolution #3, 1988, on Council agenda February 8th. Councilman Isaac said he would like to see a statement of purpose added to the question of selling city hall, "to expedite the renovation and preservation of city hall and Connor park and to raise the necessary funds to con- struct a city/county facility". City Attorney Taddune said he is going to take the sale of Connor park out of the question. Councilman Isaac said he would still like to see it preserved. Councilman Isaac said he wants the voters to know that city hall will get renovated and preserved and that the proceeds will go to constructing a joint facility. Councilman Tuite agreed the question should make clear that the building is going to be preserved. Taddune said staff does not know what opportunities are there for the sale of city hall. Councilman Tuite said he finds it unacceptable that city hall would not be preserved. Council agreed on language in the question saying "to facilitate a joint city/county offices". All of Council except Mayor Stirling were in favor of putting amended question #1 on the April ballot. Councilman Isaac said he wants a statement of purpose in question #2 also, "the purpose of the sale of the ice garden is to raise funds necessary to construct a modern ice facility on the Rio Grande property". Anderson said this question should not give the voters the impression that the sale of the ice garden will raise all of the necessary funds. Councilwoman Fallin questioned saying exactly where the new ice facility will be located in this question. Council decided to not put Rio Grande in the question and to add located where Council deems appropriate and to say this will raise "some" of the funds. Mayor Stirling said he is not in favor of this question. The city should look for an outdoor rink which would benefit both tourists and locals alike and to emphasize improving the existing facility. Councilman Tuite said the city does not have enough money to work on both the ice rink and city hall. If the voters do not approve the sale of city hall, the city will need some bonding power. All of Council except Mayor Stirling in favor of putting amended question #2 on the April ballot. 3