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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19891016Continued Meeting Aspen City Council October 16, 1989 Mayor Pro Tem Gassman called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. with Councilmembers Crockett, Peters and Tuite present. CONCEPTUAL PUD AND REZONING - Marolt Ranch Jim Adamski, housing office, recommended the city go with a $5,000,000 general obligation bond. Adamski requested staff prepare a resolution for the November 13 Council meeting calling a special election January 23, 1990. Adamski said if the election is January 23, they cannot get funds until April 11th. Adamski said the housing office need $812,000 to fund the project until April. Adamski said they have $357,000 previously approved by Council from payment-in-lieu monies. There are more payment-in- lieu monies available. The M.A.A. will pay $500,000 towards the project if the bond election passes. Steve Knous, M.A.A. , told Council they are committed to paying this $500,000. Knous said this funding will be coming from contrib- utors, and the M.A.A. needs everything in order before they can raise this money . Adamski said the cost o f the project ranges from $3,900,000 to $4,600,000 which is to cover the subsidies and the rents. Mayor Pro Tem Gassman asked where the extra $450,000 will come from. Adamski said there is $300,000 more in cash-in-lieu payments. This drains that fund. This does not include GRETT. Harry Truscott, housing board, told Council there will have to be a $500,000 subsidy from the M.A.A. and a $500,000 subsidy from the housing authority to get this to a $4,680,000 bond. Truscott said the size of the bond can be lowered if the city is to subsidize the project beyond the $1,000,000 already being subsidized. Councilman Peters said the city is already donating the land and the tap fees. Councilman Peters asked if the city commits to a bond issue based on certain groups financing, the city should also delineate the responsibilities and rewards of the different groups. Truscott said the reward is that the M.A.A. gets housing for 3 months with 6 students per unit. Adamski said the city is putting up the land, tap fees and money from payment-in-lieu. Truscott said the Council can set the size of the bond in December, 30 days before the election. Mayor Pro Tem Gassman asked if the $500,000 subsidy from the housing office includes the $357,000 cash-in-lieu already given. Truscott said it does. Truscott said out of the $1,000,000, half of it will be retained in the operation of the project. Truscott said the housing office feels they have to have a continued reserve to give assurance the project will be on a stable basis. Councilman Peters said he is not comfortable setting a bond maximum now because that would be assuming a lot of contributions to be made by the city, which would leave the city without cash-in-lieu to do any other projects. Councilman Peters said he would like to discuss funding of this project with the 1 Continued Meetinq___ Aspen City Council October 16, 1989 M.A.A. and the Commissioners. Councilman Peters agreed a general obligation bond is the way to do. City Manager Bob Anderson said the city's financial advisor, Joe Barrows, has looked at this and does not see a problem with the proposed financing except the Council should start looking at the future and see how much of the bonding power they want to tie up. Councilman Peters said with the committed use of the M.A.A., kitchens cannot be put into these units. Truscott said the plan includes installing wiring and piping at $500 a unit so that kitchens can be added later. Councilman Crockett said he is concerned about draining down the cash-in-lieu for this project, especially since the city has not developed any other long range financing for employee housing projects. Truscott said of the city's $500,000 cash-in-lieu half will be left in the project as reserves. Truscott said in order to get the bonds down to $5, 000, 000, both the housing authority and the M.A.A. have to put up $500, 000 . Only $500, 000 has to stay with the project as a reserve; the rest of it is spent within the project. Mayor Pro Tem Gassman said if the city is to fund this up to $500,000, they need to come up with another $143,000 and there will be $300,000 left in the cash-in-lieu fund. Councilman Peters said the issues are whether the city is committed to fast tracking this process and whether the city has the resources to finance the project through April. Councilman Tuite pointed out there is about $300,000 in the GRETT. Knous told Council the concern of the M.A.A. is that they have affordable rentals but that they also have security and a long term commit- ment. Knous said this financing package gives the M.A.A. the long term security they are looking for. These 300 beds are vital to the survival of the M.A.A. Knous said the M.A.A. is committed to the $500,000. Councilman Peters said he would like the rehearsal space pulled out of the costs of this project and funded separately from the residences. Council agreed to have a resolution prepared for the November 13 meeting calling a special election for January 23, 1990. Council- man Peters asked the housing office to report back whether a $500,000 reserve is necessary; what return the M.A.A. expects in terms of usage for their $500,000 contribution; the segregated costs of the rehearsal space and whether this will be funded separately. Truscott said there was a finance committee within the task force of Peters, Adamski, Truscott. Truscott suggested adding another Council person to help with these issues. Councilman Tuite said he would be willing to be on this committee. Councilman Crockett said he is concerned about conversion to long term housing and what effect this will have on the city's financing. 2 Continued Meeting Aspen City Council October 16, 1989 Mayor Pro Tem Gassman opened the public hearing on the conceptual PUD and the rezoning. Richard Shaw, told Council there are some issues that need to be resolved in order not to hold up the project. Shaw said one outstanding issue is access to the site. Another issue is parking and circulation outside the 4.3 acres. Shaw told Council they have found 4 potential accesses to the site. One is through existing parking lot for the hang glider activities; second across from the assisted living project; third across from Castle Ridge; fourth coming off highway 82 down by the Castle Creek bridge. The Council reviewed each of these accesses during a site visit. Shaw presented technical review and grading plans to describe each of the access. Shaw said the issue on these accesses deals with the environmental quality associated with the access. Shaw said he looked at if it was better to use the flat park land and the longer access road or the steeper portion of the site with shorter distances. Shaw presented drawings for the access options. The access across from the hospital is 893 feet in length; 140 feet would be required to be cleared of vegetation. Shaw said this type of cut has been unacceptable in the community. The total amount of fill would be 22 feet above existing grade. This puts the cars on the highest point of the site, and produces a roadway which had a difficult intersection. Shaw pointed out there are difficulties with sight distances. This access would require a major intersec- tion improvement. The second option is across from the assisted living center. The sight distance is not as big a problem. The total disturbed area would be 100 feet. There are fewer technical reasons why this would not work. It is a good alignment from a traffic and safety standpoint and works with the land uses on the opposite side. The total length of this access is 920 feet. The third alignment through the han~ glider parking lot does not involve any grading or vegetation removal. Shaw said the reasons for preferring this alternative are the increased density along Castle Creek, getting traffic of f Castle Creek as soon as possible, this has adequate separation from all existing intersection. This access can also be used for the entire property. This alignment is 1,050 feet in length. Shaw told Council the fourth option was to look at using an access from Cemetery Lane. The state highway department is against any additional curb cubs or intersections between the two stop lights. Shaw said this access would require a roadway through the center of the park, negating the open space quality to the entrance to Aspen. Shaw said this is a very long access road. Councilman Crockett said he feels the parks associations, P & Z, planning 3 Continued Meeting Aspen City Council October 16, 1989 office, parks department, RFTA, county engineering and housing should review this access issue. Shaw reminded Council they have seen a conceptual site plan, which has advanced since conceptual approval. Shaw told Council they are moving forward with the design and construction effort before conceptual approval is reached. Shaw said the conceptual plan contains 4.3 acres with 100 units, cafeteria, service access, and 50 car parking lot outside the 4.3 acres. Shaw reminded Council the initial parcel for this project was 10 acres in the original election question. This was reduced to 6.4 acres, and an agreement reached to reduce the amount of land consumed for the housing for any element requiring a building permit. Shaw said the minutes state there will be relief from the 4.3 acres in regards to parking, circulation and those things associated with trails and berms. Shaw said the minutes also indicate Council agreed to payment for the land and minimizing the visual impact from highway 82, which leads to the creation of a screening berm; and that the city would develop a master plan for the entire property and a logic how this housing would fit with the rest of the park. Shaw said if Council does not want the parking outside the 4.3 acres, the alternatives are a reduction in the housing units, a reduction in parking provided, or a 3 story option to retain the unit count and use less land. Shaw said if the parking were included on the 4.3 acres, there would be 70 units instead of 100 units. The site would become very condensed. Shaw said it would become difficult to contain the housing in a way in which it works well for the park itself. Shaw pointed out the fixed costs would remain the same. Shaw said the needs of the M.A.A. would not be served by reducing the number of housing units. Shaw said he cannot find a rationale for reducing the parking further. It currently contains only 50 parking spaces. Shaw said a 3 story unit has implications from the scale, quality and visual impacts. Shaw said 3 story buildings also cause problems with the modular units, and they would have to start over with the architec- tural design process to accommodate 3 stories. Phoebe Ryerson said she would rather see the access road across from the hospital/Castle Ridge entrance. It would be safer for pedestrians and bicycles. Al Blomquist told Council the parks association board reviewed the plans that went to P & Z . The parks board said the access would consume land on the flats that was usable, future, recreation land; that the access should be at the back of the property for auto disincentive and to emphasize the importance of the bus stop. Blomquist said the parks board would like to see as much land open and not used as possible. 4 Continued Meeting Aspen City Council October 16, 1989 Hal Clark, parks association, pointed out the original access to the project as recorded in the plat is right off highway 82. Clark said the reason for this is that the impacts on Castle Creek road would be too severe to accommodate the levels of traffic. Clark said the intersection at the hospital is very dangerous. Clark said the concept of the access road off highway 82 would be to stop the Castle Creek traffic. Suzanne Caskey said seeing the Marolt property used for housing is very distressing. Ms. Caskey said to have the Marolt property used for seasonal housing when the community is so desperate for permanent housing is also very distressing and not top priority. Ms. Caskey said this is 4 acres the community will never get back. Ms. Caskey said the top priority has to be the permanent worker. Councilman Crockett said he seems to get caught making decision he is not qualified to make. Councilman Crockett said he does not know what this decision has to do with policy. Councilman Crockett said the staff is well trained and educated to make these deci- sions, work with the referral agencies and report back to Council. Mayor Pro Tem Gassman said one policy decision is the parking issue. Councilman Peters said he is ready to make a decision and to grant approval of the conceptual PUD based on the memos and the site visit. Councilman Peters said he favors the lowest access road, alternative #3. Councilman Peters said this access does use open space but it puts the road in a place where it is not seen and disturbs the overall aesthetics of the parcel the least. Council- man Peters said in the other approaches, a lot of mature trees and vegetation will have to be put through. Councilman Peters said he would like a policy document from the housing office on how they will implement parking disincentives in time for final PUD. Councilman Peters agreed the parking should be outside the 4.3 acres. The implications of including the parking on the 4.3 acres are unacceptable. Councilman Peters told Council he agreed with the parks association recommendation that in the course of construction the ditch be cleaned so that it does not have to be done after final landscaping. Councilman Tuite said the parking should not be on the Marolt parcel at all. Councilman Tuite said there is some land across Castle Creek road owned by the county that might be suitable for parking. Shaw said this site is so far from the housing units that the ability to have a car would be limited. Shaw said a parking lot on Castle Creek is an important visual impact that would have to be dealt with. Shaw said there are no technical reasons that would keep Council from seeking the parking at this site. Councilman Peters said the site planners have explored every detail and alternative. Councilman Peters said it is the intention that some of the parking and the access be used by people who are using 5 Continued Meeting Aspen City Council October 16, 1989 the park. Councilman Peters said the city is taking a risk by not designing the parking spaces into the project and not having access into the park. Councilman Crockett said he is ready to give this project conceptual PUD approval. Mayor Pro Tem Gassman suggested the steering committee and design team look into the parking across the road between now and final approval. Mayor Pro Tem Gassman asked that the design team look into whether the berm needs to be as large as it has been designed. Shaw said the Council minutes indicate that the visual impact shall be minimized by this berm. Shaw said this berm is 18 feet tall in order to hide as much of the project as it can . Councilman Peters moved to grant conceptual PUD approval to the Marolt ranch project adopting the P & Z guidelines 1 through 20 with the exception of numbers #14 and #19 (the housing authority being responsible for maintaining the irrigation ditches on the property), and adopting the parks association requirements #4 which is cleaning the ditches before construction begins; seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Gassman. Mayor Pro Tem Gassman said Councilman Tuite's idea of having the parking across the road is worth looking into in the context of going ahead to the final PUD. Councilman Tuite said the motion could state that the process include a serious review of alterna- tive parking off Castle Creek on the west side. Shaw suggested this be reviewed as an option but the design team proceed with the parking as currently shown, continue with the process, and get information back to Council so they can make a decision. Shaw said it is important to continue with the process to continue preparing the detailed submission and plans. Councilman Peters moved to accept this amendment; seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Gassman. Mayor Pro Tem Gassman said he would like to add a condition that the design team further study minimizing the impact of this project on the remaining Marolt property, which includes limiting the berm, relocating the parking, study limiting the impact of this project on the remainder of the site. Amy Margerum, planning director, suggested Council meet with the Commissioners to discuss the parking off site. Ms. Margerum said the site in discussion was a requirement to be revegetated for the assisted living facility. Ms. Margerum said this can be worked on before final submission. Mayor Pro Tem Gassman said he would like the motion to state there will be further research into accesses #2 or #3. Councilman Peters moved to withdraw #14 and leave the access question open. Mayor Pro Tem Gassman said he is willing to eliminate access option #1. Councilman Peters agreed. Councilman 6 Continued Meeting Aspen City Council October 16, 1989 Crockett said he is willing to take the recommendations of the planning office on the access issue, which is to eliminate access #l. Mayor Pro Tem Gassman outlined the motion which is to grant conceptual PUD revising condition #14 to ask for a recommendation on the access between alternatives #2 and #3; eliminate #19; add the condition pertaining to cleaning of the ditches; add a condition to investigate alternative parking locations, specifi- cally right across Castle Creek road; and add a condition to look at minimizing impact on the remainder of the Marolt site. Blomquist said he hopes the parks association will get a chance to look at the new drawings. Truscott asked if the housing project on the 4.3 acres and the way it is described in the drawing is not in question. Council agreed. All in favor, motion carried. Shaw told Council they plan on having occupancy of the first 50 units available June 1. This schedule suggests the project keep moving forward, that the bond occurs on schedule, and that construction start on the site in February. Michael Thompson told Council in order to meet the June date, they need to get a contractor and modular builder team selected in December. Thompson said the modular units have to go through a shop drawing process. This process will need to be coordinated with the building permit process. Thompson said the design team will request qualifications from the modular builder factory teams; select 3 from that and go with proposals. Thompson said they have a conceptual estimate to bring the design into the $5,000,000 range. Thompson said the design team wants the modular builder on board so the design team can take the benefits they have created in factory technology and make use of it in the designs. Mayor Pro Tem Gassman asked how the city can hire a contractor before they know they have a project; the bond election could fail. Truscott said the money that will be spent before the bond election is all within the $357,000. The only thing committed before the election is some money to allow the modular builder to go ahead with his drawings, other than money spent by the design team. Truscott said it is important that by November 1 the design team selects 3 qualified firms to come back with a thoroughly priced and scheduled contract. Truscott said they expect to select a contractor by mid-December. Councilman Peters said he is concerned about the target date of June 1 and the goal of breaking ground in February. Councilman Peters said he feels this could add significantly to the cost of the project. Councilman Peters said the June 1 deadline is keyed 7 Continued Mee__ting Aspen City Council October 16, 1989 to Truscott place and using Truscott place for the M.A.A., which would mean that the first winter tenants would have to move out during the summer. Councilman Peters said he would rather hire a contractor when the design documents are more complete. Councilman Peters said he is willing to sacrifice the June 1 deadline as the February start up is going to be extremely costly. Councilman Peters said not bidding a fixed set of documents will also be costly; bifurcating the project will also be costly. Adamski said he finds it unacceptable to rent Truscott place to permanent employees and then ask them to move out for 3 months. Adamski told Council there are 200 people on a waiting list for Truscott place. Adamski said he would like to proceed with the process and come back to Council and report what they have found from the construction industry. Councilman Peters said he does not want to move people out of their units, either; however, if that event trades off against higher rents to Marolt, that is unaccept- able. Councilman Crockett said he would be willing to invest $75,000 to see what the financial aspects between the two comple- tion dates are. Councilman Peters said he would like the RFP to happen after the design documents are more complete. Councilman Crockett said he is willing to take some risks to keep working towards the goal of more employee housing. Councilman Crockett said the Council will be in a better position to make these decisions after the RFQs are received. Councilman Tuite said he would like to start working now on what the alternatives for financing would be if the bond election fails. Councilman Peters said he would like the fast track process to continue; however, he does not want to sign a contract with a contractor based on incomplete documents. Councilman Peters said perhaps the city can resolve the selection process through an RFP down to a single contractor and that a final price is negotiated based on final drawings. Mayor Pro Tem Gassman suggested getting parallel prices for starting in June and in October. Truscott said they will get a double schedule and double prices. Adamski said modular builders will give a better deal if they can build in the winter. Adamski said the parallel course will give Council the figures so they can make a final decision. Councilman Peters said he would like to have the option to require any final contractor who is selected to negotiate a final price based on all changes and final documents before the city's commitment to that contractor is firm. Truscott asked that Peters review the RFP to make sure the wording to accomplish that is in the RFP. Councilman Peters said until a price has been generated based on final drawings, there is no commitment. 8 Continued Meeting Aspen City Council October 16,_1989 Councilman Peters moved to approve the conceptual rezoning of the 57.7 acres to park and the 4.3 acres and the museum to public; seconded by Councilman Crockett. All in favor, motion carried. Council adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Kathryn S. och, ity Clerk 9