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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19931122Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 22, 1993 Mayor Bennett called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. with Councilmembers Paulson, Richards and Waggaman present. PROCLAMATION - Drepung Loseling Monks of Tibet Mayor Bennett and Council expressed their support and respect for the Monks of Drepung Loseling Monastery and proclaimed Wednesday December 1 as Tibet Day in Aspen. PROCLAMATION - Jed Caswall Mayor Bennett and Council commended Jed Caswall for his dedication and excellent work as city attorney for the last 3-1/2 years. CITIZEN COMMENTS There were none. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilwoman Richards moved to table Ordinance #56, 1993, 834 West Hallam Landmark Designation; seconded by Councilwoman Waggaman. All in favor, motion carried. 2. Mayor Bennett requested Council schedule a work session with the school board to discuss the yellow brick school building roof. Council scheduled this for Tuesday, December 7th at 5:30 p.m. 3. Amy Margerum, city manager, told Council last time it snowed, the city did not have a place to dump the snow and it was left in windrows in the street. The city will be hauling snow to the Marolt property until the new snow dump location is ready. 4. Amy Margerum, city manager, told Council staff received a draft intergovernmental agreement for the purchase of the Denver Rio Grande right-of-way. This will be on the next Council agenda. This agreement sets out the terms for the purchase by the valley- wide governments of the Rio Grande right-of-way. A separate issue is who will handle the negotiations with Anschutts for the purchase of this right-of-way. Ms. Margerum said it is time to bring this back to a small group of elected officials. 5. Amy Margerum, city manager, said the next Snowmass to Aspen decision makers meeting is December 2nd at noon. Staff hopes to develop a schedule and time lime for an election for bonding of the fixed guideway. 6. Amy Margerum, city manager, announced that on December 6th, representatives from Neoplan will be in town with a new bus with 1 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 22, 1993 bigger windows, made from carbon fiber and easily convertible to natural gas. Council can see this bus at their brown bag lunch. 7. Amy Margerum, city manager, said the Galena Street shuttle will start November 25th and will use last year's vehicles until the new ones arrive. 8. Amy Margerum, city manager, told Council the parkin g depart- ment has a prototype of the multi-space parking meters at their office if Council wants to see it. CONSENT CALENDAR Councilwoman Waggaman moved to adopt the consent calendar; seconded by Councilwoman Richards. The consent calendar is: A . Minutes - October 22; November 9, 1993 B . Resolution #81, 1993 - Multi-space Parking Meter Contract C . Resolution #80, 1993 - Contract Re d Brick Asbestos Removal D . 200 Block East Durant No Parking 3 to 7 a.m. All in favor, motion carried. 1994 BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING Rob Umbreit, budget director, reminded Council the Charter requires a public hearing 15 days prior to the final day estab lished by law for the certification of the tax levy to the council and that the budget be adopted before the mill levy is certified. This deadline is December 15th. Umbreit said Council started the budget hearings two months ago; there have been 11 meetings on the budget. Notices of these meetings have been in a local newspaper. Mayor Bennett opened the public hearing. Councilwoman Richards moved to continue the public hearing on the 1994 budget to December 6, 1993; seconded by Councilwoman Waggaman. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #57, SERIES OF 1993 - Oxley Lot Split Mary Lackner, planning office, told Council this lot is on West Smuggler in the R-6 zone. Two lots are being created; there is already one house on a parcel which will be 7500 square feet. The other parcel will be 6,000 square feet. Ms. Lackner reminded Council they wanted to know what kind of curb and gutter will be installed. This will be a rolled curb. Ms. Lackner made some amendments to the conditions. Condition #6 will be made into two conditions. First that lot 1 will be subject to the provisions of 2 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 22, 1993 24-8-104(A)(1)(a) if demolition or addition takes place. The existing (b) will be made into condition 7. Councilman Paulson asked if there is a way to encourage smaller homes. Ms. Lackner pointed out there is a floor area ratio in the R-6 zone. Sunny Vann, representing the applicant, said the yards get larger as the parcels get larger rather than just a requirement for a 5 foot setback. R-6 is the most stringent zone. Mayor Bennett opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Bennett closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Richards moved to adopt Ordinance #57, Series of 1993, on second reading, as amended; seconded by Councilwoman Waggaman. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Richards, yes; Waggaman, yes; Paulson, yes; Mayor Bennett, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #58, SERIES OF 1993 - Reschedule Deadline for NC/SCI Growth Management Competition Deadlines Leslie Lamont, planning office, said this request is to extend the deadline to December 31, 1993. The original deadline is September 15th; the deadline was previously extended to November 15th to accommodate the application for the superblock project. Ms. Lamont said the superblock partnership was unable to hire an architect during that time and requested the deadline again be extended. The superblock partnership has hired architects and planning consul- tants and is confident they will meet the December deadline. Mayor Bennett opened the public hearing. There were no comments. Mayor Bennett closed the public hearing. Councilwoman Richards moved to adopt Ordinance #58, Series of 1993, on second reading; seconded by Councilwoman Waggaman. Councilman Paulson said deadlines are set for a reason. Everything has its time and should be met. The way things are looked at change from year to year. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Waggaman, yes; Paulson, no; Richards, yes; Mayor Bennett, yes. Motion carried. ORDINANCE #50, SERIES OF 1993 - Berger Historic Designation Councilwoman Waggaman moved to read Ordinance #50, Series of 1993; seconded by Councilwoman Richards. All in favor, motion carried. ORD INANCE #50 (Series of 1993) 3 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 22, 1993 AN ORDINANCE OF THE ASPEN CITY COUNCIL DESIGNATING 835 WEST HALLAM STREET, BERGER ANNEXATION TO THE CITY OF ASPEN, AS "H" HISTORIC LANDMARK PURSUANT TO SECTION 24- 7-703 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE was read by the city clerk Amy Amidon, planning office, told Council this meets 4 criteria of the land use code; that it is architecturally important, the style is unique in Aspen, it is important as it is a significant work of Fritz Benedict, and that the community begins to recognize post-war buildings. Scott Harper, representing the applicant, argued that the building meets all six of the criteria. Harper told Council this received unanimous approval of the HPC. Harper read some of the favorable comments from HPC members and how significant they consider it to the history of Aspen. Harper presented pictures of the interior and exterior of the building. Harper noted the building is constructed of Lenado logs and sandstone from the Frying Pan. Harper read from Bruce Berger's Notes of a Half-Aspenite on some of the significant guests at this residence. Harper said the house is a treasure and should receive landmark designation. Councilwoman Waggaman moved to adopt Ordinance #50, Series of 1993, on first reading and schedule the public hearing for December 13, 1993; seconded by Councilwoman Richards. Councilwoman Richards requested staff contact the Department of Transportation one more time to see if the city can get verifica- tion that the DOT will not put anything in writing. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Paulson, yes; Waggaman, yes; Richards, yes; Mayor Bennett, yes. Motion carried. RESOLUTION #82, SERIES OF 1993 - Terminating IGA Aspen Pitkin Water Trust Jed Caswall, city attorney, said Council determined in 1992 to terminate the Aspen/Pitkin County Water Trust. Caswall said this trust was originally discussed as a component of the Ruedi Water hydropower plant and was to receive a percentage of the new profits of the hydropower plant. Caswall said the IGA executing the trust was not executed until 1987, although there is no evidence this IGA was approved by Council or the BOCC. The trust was to explore the purchase and utilization of water rights in the Roaring Fork Valley. This Trust has about $124,000. Caswall said this Trust does not seem to be meeting a public purpose. This resolution will terminate that Trust. Councilwoman Richards moved to approve Resolution #82, Series of 4 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 22, 1993 1993; seconded by Councilman Paulson. All in favor, motion carried. 5 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 22, 1993 ORDINANCE #62, SERIES OF 1993 - Repealing Section 23-60 City-County Water Trust Councilwoman Richards moved to read Ordinance #62, Series of 1993; seconded by Councilman Paulson. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #62 (Series of 1993) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO REPEALING SECTION 23-60 OF THE ASPEN MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO THE CITY-COUNTY WATER TRUST was read by the city clerk Councilwoman Richards moved to adopt Ordinance #62, Series of 1993, on first reading; seconded by Councilman Paulson. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Richards, yes; Waggaman, yes; Paulson, yes; Mayor Bennett, yes. Motion carried. CITY/COUNTY RUEDI WATER HYDROPOWER IGA Jed Caswall, city attorney, told Council this establishes the Ruedi Water and Power Authority, which was to be funded from a percentage of the net revenues from sale of electricity at the Ruedi hydropow- er plant. Caswall said the city and county entered into an agreement that establishes the Aspen/Pitkin Hydropower Department. The charge of this department was to oversee the construction of the hydropower plant at Ruedi, which was done in 1985. After construction, the department was to oversee the operation and maintenance of the hydropower plant. Caswall said the day-to-day operations are done by General Electric under a contract with the city and county. Caswall said another function of the hydropower department was to disperse revenues generated by the Ruedi plant according to a formula set forth in this IGA. After the expenses for the Ruedi hydropower plant are met, the net revenue is divided 30% city; 30% county; 20% Ruedi WAPA; and 20% the Water Trust. Caswall said since the Trust has been terminated, the formula in the IGA needs to be amended. Caswall said one suggestion has been to give the 20% previously going to the Trust to WAPA. Caswall said staff met with Ruedi WAPA in January 1993 and was told that WAPA could live within their budget and did not need more money. Caswall told Council the city buys 50% of their power from the Ruedi Hydropower plant and passes the cost on to the customers of Aspen's electric utility. Caswall said a 20% markup is made on the power sold by the city to the city, this provides the profit margin 6 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 22, 1993 for the 30/30/20/20 split. Caswall said Ruedi WAPA has nothing to do with the operation or debt of the hydropower facility. The purpose of Ruedi WAPA to purchase the reservoir, which is owned by the Bureau of Reclamation. The dam is also owned by the federal government. The amounts of water released through the dam are up to the BOR. Caswall said Ruedi WAPA has also worked on developing alternative hydropower sources in the valley as well as purchase other water rights. The only budget WAPA has is from the 20% of the formula. Steve Barwick, assistant city manager, said issues that Council needs to address are the goals for regional water and power authority, are they consistent with Ruedi WAPA, what is the desire to subsidize the activities of WAPA or should it be funded equally by the members. Long range maintenance plans for the city's electric utility and Ruedi need to be developed. Councilwoman Richards said she would like to see the 20 percent markup eliminat- ed or put towards capital replacement for electric or hydropower needs. Councilwoman Richards said she is not interested in establishing a new hydropower department. Councilwoman Waggaman said there are several issues; one is the short term disbursement of the money and how the wages of Mark Fuller are paid; another issue is whether the city wants to look for more hydropower energy for the community; another issue is planning for long range replacement of electric equipment needs. Councilwom an Waggaman said she favors looking for new sources for hydropower electricity. There should be one entity doing this work and it could be the city, Holy Cross, or Ruedi WAPA. Councilwoman Waggaman said the 20 percent markup will be needed for future needs of the electric department. Mayor Bennett said the city put up $400,000 for the creation of the hydropower department and issued $4.5 million g.o. bonds for the hydropower facility. The city did get the $400,000 back. Jeff Tippett, Snowmass Town Council, said Ruedi WAPA did not receive any money for the first 6 years because there was no paper profit. In the last 5 years, WAPA has received about $40 to $80,000 annually. Tippett said WAPA represents 9 jurisdictions in the valley. Ruedi WAPA was formed to support the city's application to the Federal Power Regulatory Commission to put a hydropower plant in the dam. Tippett said WAPA has used the money to keep an eye on the BOR and on Fish and Wildlife, to look out for the interests on the Frying Pan and the recreational interests on Ruedi reservoir. Tippett said he would like to see Ruedi WAPA continue; however, the city may not need to continue giving money. Tippett said the valley needs a unified voice on water issues. WAPA has credibility with the federal agencies and this has taken a long time. 7 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 22, 1993 Wayne Ethridge, County Commissioner, said WAPA has had some success. Ethridge said the BOCC would like to discuss Ruedi WAPA with the Council before Council takes any action. Ruedi is at risk from several federal agencies and WAPA has been able to watch and protect it. Ethridge said he feels the 20% is a good source of funding for WAPA. Tippett urged Council to take a long view. When the hydropower plant was built at Ruedi, oil prices were extremely high. In the long term, hydropower will be a good solution. Mayor Bennett said the valley speaking in a single voice on water issues is very important. Tippett pointed out Pitkin County has funded Mark Fuller's salary since the inception of the hydropower program. Ms. Margerum suggested Council meet with the Ruedi Water and Power Authority to see what their goals are, to make sure there is agreement on what the role of WAPA is, and how much money is necessary to fund the role of WAPA. Mayor Bennett agreed after 10 years, it is time to revisit this. Councilwoman Richards requested staff do some scenarios for an equitable distribution before a work session with the county. Mayor Bennett said he would like to see some actual figures of the distributions, what is the 20 percent; what are the legal costs each year, where do they go. Ms. Margerum said staff is not recommending WAPA be dissolved; the issue is should the role be expanded and how should it be funded. POWER PLANT ROAD WATER MAIN Cris Caruso, asset manager, told Council the location of the water mains was misrepresented on the drawings for the new city shop. When the contractor excavated, he found with water main would go directly under the proposed new building. Caruso said by Code the water line has to be at least 10 feet from the building. This will require moving the water main. Caruso said the relocation costs are $29,000. There is money in the water fund to cover this cost. Caruso said there may be problems relocating the water line and staying on the construction schedule. Caruso recommended the architect be held responsible for any delays or damages related to relocating the water line, because it was improperly located by the architect. Councilwoman Richards asked why the survey did not contains all easements and utilities. Caruso said the contract states the city will provide a survey to the architect with the utility information on it. Caruso said the survey did not contain that information and the architect should have come back and requested that information. 8 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 22, 1993 Caruso explained the street superintendent got the original survey for the master planning process. This survey did not include utility lines. This survey was basically a site boundary. Councilwoman Richards moved to approve an allocation for $29,000 from water fund reserve to pay for the relocation of the water main at the city shop; seconded by Councilman Paulson. All in favor, motion carried. Caruso said staff will work diligently to make sure there are no delays. ORDINANCE #63, SERIES OF 1993 - Appropriations Councilwoman Waggaman moved to read Ordinance #63, Series of 1993; seconded by Councilwoman Richards. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #63 (Series of 1993) A N ORDINANCE APPROPRIATING GENERAL FUND EXPENDITURES OF $18,600; APPROPRIATING PARKS & OPEN SPACE FUND EXPENDI- TURES OF $23,837; APPROPRIATING HOUSING/DAYCARE FUND EXPENDITURES OF $303,387; APPROPRIATING WATER FUND EXPENSES OF $15,670; APPROPRIATING ELECTRIC FUND EXPENSES OF $5,100; APPROPRIATING TRUSCOTT PLACE HOUSING FUND EXPENSES OF $2,050; APPROPRIATING MAROLT RANCH HOUSING FUND EXPENSES OF $2,050 was read by the city clerk Rob Umbreit, budget director, told Council they have seen most of these appropriations. One not seen previously is $11,740 split over 4 departments which is a one-time fee on the bond paying. The ordinance covers boiler repairs at the Moore Pool, $150,000 for Juan street affordable housing pre-development and $153,000 for the common ground housing project. There is an expense of $12,000 from the water fund to cover the first water main break; $4100 split between the Marolt and Truscott affordable housing projects for property insurance. Umbreit said this ordinance will probably be amended for second reading to include the water main relocation as well as costs for the second water main break. Umbreit said other items that may be included for second reading are transportation fund reserves being increase and the intercept lot fees increasing $10,000 which will be split between the city, Ski Company and Hines Interest. Umbreit requested second reading of this ordinance be December 13th. Councilwoman Richards moved to adopt Ordinance #63, Series of 1993, 9 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 22, 1993 on first reading; seconded by Councilman Paulson. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Waggaman, yes; Paulson, yes; Mayor Bennett, yes. Motion carried. 10 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 22, 1993 Councilwoman Waggaman moved to adjourn at 7:35 p.m.; seconded by Councilwoman Richards. All in favor, motion carried. Kathryn S. Koch, City Clerk 11 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council November 22, 1993 PROCLAMATION - Drepung Loseling Monks of Tibet 1 ................. PROCLAMATION - Jed Caswall 1 ................................ ..... CITIZEN COMMENTS 1 ................................ ............... COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1 ................................ ......... CONSENT CALENDAR 2 ................................ ............... 1994 BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING 2 ................................ ..... ORDINANCE #57, SERIES OF 1993 - Oxley Lot Split 2 ................ ORDINANCE #58, SERIES OF 1993 - Reschedule Deadline for NC/SCI Growth Management Competition Deadlines 3 ................... ORDINANCE #50, SERIES OF 1993 - Berger Historic Designation 3 .... RESOLUTION #82, SERIES OF 1993 - Terminating IGA Aspen Pitkin Water Trust 4 ................................ ............... ORDINANCE #62, SERIES OF 1993 - Repealing Section 23-60 City- County Water Trust 5 ................................ ........ CITY/COUNTY RUEDI WATER HYDROPOWER IGA 5 ......................... POWER PLANT ROAD WATER MAIN 7 ................................ .... ORDINANCE #63, SERIES OF 1993 - Appropriations 8 ................. 12