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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.20050613Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 13~ 2005 OUTSTANDING EMPLOYEE BONUS AWARD .................................................................. 2 CITIZEN COMMENTS ..................................................................................................... 2 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS .................................................................................. 2 CONSENT CALENDAR ....................................................................................................... 2 · Resolution #37 2005 -2005 Pavement Plan Contract ............................................ 3 · Resolution #38 2005 - Variable Message Sign Contract ...................................... 3 · Resolution #39 2005 - Brash Creek Park and Ride Construction Contract ........... 3 · Resolution #40 2005 - Reimbursement 2005 Open Space Acquisition ................ 3 · Resolution #41 2005 - Reimbursement Water Reuse Project Construction ......... 3 · Minutes - Ma,/23, 2005 ......................................................................................... 3 RESOLUTION #42, SERIES OF 2005 - Acquisition of Maroon Creek Hydro Plant Site3 RESOLUTION #23, SERIES OF 2005 - Design Contract AABC Housing ..................... 3 COUNCIL COMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................... 5 SWEAR1NG 1N MAYOR AND NEW COUNCIL ............................................................ 5 COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS .................................................................................. 6 CONSENT CALENDAR ................................................................................................... 6 · Resolution #43, 2005 - Burlingame Ranch Change Orders to Part I Contract ...... 6 · Resolution #45, 2005 - Police Radio Contract ....................................................... 6 RESOLUTION #44, 2005 - Burlingame Contract Part II .................................................. 6 ORDINANCE #26, SERIES OF 2005 - Code Amendment - Recycling Initiatives ......... 7 DIRECTION ON VALET PARKING CONTRACT ......................................................... 7 Regular Meeting Aspen Ci~, Council June 13~ 2005 Mayor Klanderud called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. with Councilmembers Semrau, Torre, Paulson and Richards present. OUTSTANDING EMPLOYEE BONUS AWARD Steve Barwick, city manager, announced the outstanding employee bonus award is being given to John Worcester for his work, on his own time, in developing the Canary Initiative, Aspen's program to fight global warming. Worcester donated his bonus back to the Canary Initiative. CITIZEN COMMENTS 1. Toni Kronberg thanked the outgoing Council for all their work while on Council. Ms. Kronberg congratulated the newly elected Council. Ms. Kronberg challenged the Council and the community to work to ease pollution that contributes to global warming. Ms. Kronberg suggested Council step up to the plate and study a 4-mountain aerial transportation system. 2. Bert Myfin thanked the current Council for saving open spaces like Bass Park and Jenny Adair park from being developed. Myrin urged the new Council to try and continue in that direction, as open spaces are limited and irreplaceable in Aspen. Myfin asked that if development comes forward, that Council try and find alternative ways to make things better. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Mayor Klanderud thanked everyone involved in Food and Wine, ACRA, city staff and especially the parks department who worked very hard to prepare and to maintain the park. CONSENTCALENDAR Councilman Paulson moved to adopt the consent calendar; seconded by Councilwoman Richards. The consent calendar is: 2 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 13, 2005 · Resolution #37, 2005 -2005 Pavement Plan Contract · Resolution #38, 2005 - Variable Message Sign Contract · Resolution #39, 2005 - Brush Creek Park and Ride Construction Contract · Resolution #40, 2005 - Reimbursement 2005 Open Space Acquisition · Resolution #41, 2005 - Reimbursement Water Reuse Project Construction · Minutes-May 23, 2005 All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #42~ SERIES OF 2005 - Acquisition of Maroon Creek Hydro Plant Site Phil Overeynder, water department, told Council there is a 1984 agreement between the city and Roaring Fork Land and Cattle company for a 45% interest in the Maroon Creek hydroelectric plant in exchange for them providing the land underneath. There have been continuing disagreements over interpretation of issues regarding operations. Staff recommends obtaining the net present value of 45% revenue stream and negotiating an acquisition agreement. Staff estimates the value is $480,000. This agreement will initiate the purchase. The land subdivision process in Pitkin County will have to be completed. Councilman Torte moved to approve Resolution #42, Series of 2005; seconded by Councilwoman Richards. All in favor, motion carded. RESOLUTION #23, SERIES OF 2005 - Design Contract AABC Housing Ed Sadler, asset manager, reminded Council they requested some additional information on costs for this housing. Sadler said this is the design contract proposal for that space currently occupied by the animal shelter. The city plans to demolish that building and construct employee housing. Steve Barwick, city manager, gave Council a cost comparison on some of the mom recent affordable housing projects. Barwick said the comparisons are on hard costs per square footage and some of the projects are adjusted for inflation. Barwick said the lowest cost projects are Stillwater and Annie Mitchell. Barwick said the issue is whether to use design and bid approach or the developer model approach. Barwick said this project will not be started until next spring so Council has time to review this. Barwick said his concern is starting over is the perception of a fair bid process. Barwick said the city can run a fair process and try and make the public perceive of its objectivity. Mayor Klanderud said she is concerned about the firms that did respond to the RFP and the city's credibility in changing methods. Mayor Klanderud noted Council agreed to use the developer model when the project was over $2 million; that is not a written policy. Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 13, 2005 Mayor Klanderud stated she is uncomfortable in changing this far along in the project. Councilman Semrau noted the RFPs state the city has the right to reject any or all bids. Councilman Semrau pointed out that there is a 70% difference in cost between Annie Mitchell at $131 and this project at $219. Councilman Semrau said the only constant between housing projects is hard costs and the only changes in hard costs is the amount of decks, basements, storage and one applies the industry standard of 30% to those factors. Councilman Semrau stated the cost difference between a competition and a design/bid process is substantial. Councilman Semrau reminded Council they said they would have design competitions for city projects. Councilman Semrau said with a competition and different proposals, Council can see the costs and what is proposed and it is a better way to procure housing. Mayor Klanderud agreed; however, in this process, the city already has a design. Councilwoman Richards noted there are economies of scale, and this project only has 9 units. Also, City Council agreed they wanted to make this project greener than Annie Mitchell. Councilwoman Richards said Novy Architects are noted for being "green" architects and premier in this field. Councilwoman Richards said in an earlier work session, Council agreed to only have request for 15roposals with sketch plans for this project. Councilwoman Richards stated she is concerned about going back and going through a design competition and the perception from the public, whether Novy wins or not. Councilman Torte said he thought the last request was for Novy to come back with 3 price alternates to see different levels of their proposal. Michelle Bonfils, asset management, told Council the standard for affordable housing green points is 145 efficient building points. Novy's proposal is 220 efficient building points. Councilman Torre said the idea to come back with 3 price levels was to allow Council to compare costs for efficient building. Councilman Torre noted there was nothing in Novy's contract that directly tied the efficient building points to the cost. Councilman Torte asked when Council will address unit mix, number of bedrooms. Sadler said these items are part of the planning process; the city did not give a lot of guidance in order to see what designers would come up with to best use the site. Sadler said because of location, this is not the best place for families. Mayor Klanderud said the city is fortunate to have Novy bid on this project. This is project is 9 units only and is for city employees. Council did not have a written policy and staff felt this was a small project and did not conduct a design competition. Councilman Semrau said he feels a small project allows more participation from smaller architectural firms. Councilwoman Richards said Novy submitted plans because they knew the city wanted to do a very green project, which is their expertise. Councilwoman Richards said she feels this project has gone too far to change directions. Councilwoman Richards moved to approve Resolution #23, Series of 2005; seconded by Councilman Semrau. 4 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 13, 2005 Councilman Torre said he is going to vote against this because his request to have 3 comparison proposals from the architects was not presented. Councilman Torre stated he does not feel comfortable with the prices he has gotten. Councilwoman Richards, Mayor Klanderud in favor; Councilmembers Torre, Paulson and Semrau opposed. Motion NOT carried. Councilman Semrau moved to proceed with this project based on a developer model and having a competition, 3 winners at $6,000 each; seconded by Councilman Torte. Councilwoman Richards said she would like to see an outline of the design competition and how the city will keep it fair. Councilwoman Richards said she wants to know how staff plans to wipe the slate clean to have a fair competition. Councilman Semrau suggested having some non-city people on the panel to select the 3 winners. Councilman Semrau amended his motion to get outside people to help pick the 3 finalists; seconded by Councilman Torre. Mayor Klanderud said she does not want to redo this process. Mayor Klanderud stated she has no problems using the developer model but does have a problem changing the process in mid-stream. Mayor Klanderud said Council needs to make a policy on their projects. Councilman Paulson said his vote is based on consistency and on how the city gets the best projects. Councilman Semrau agreed Council has a responsibility to get the best project for the city. Councilmembers Paulson, Torte and Semrau in favor; Councilwoman Richards and Mayor Klanderud opposed. Motion carded. COUNCIL COMMENDATIONS Mayor Klanderud read a proclamation honoring and thanking Tim Semrau for his four years on Council. Councilman Semrau said he hopes he left the city better than when he came. Councilwoman Richards read a proclamation honoring and thanking Terry Paulson for serving 12 years on Council. Councilman Paulson said he loves Aspen and a lot of progress has been made over the past 23 years. Councilman Paulson said a lot of open space has been preserved and he hopes future Councils will be like-minded. Councilman Paulson said he hopes Council continues to strive to make Aspen a really great conm~unity. SWEARING IN MAYOR AND NEW COUNCIL 5 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 13~ 2005 Deputy Municipal Judge Pip Porter gave the oath of office to J. E. DeVilbiss and Jack Johnson as Council and to Helen Klandemd as Mayor of the city of Aspen. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Mayor Klandemd welcomed J.E. DeVilbiss and Jack Johnson, who both worked very hard to get elected. 2. Councilwoman Richards stated she expects a very productive next two years for the city of Aspen. 3. Councilman Torre presented Mayor Klandemd flowers and said he has a lot of respect for her and will enjoy working on the Council for the next two years. 4. Councilman Johnson said he is honored to be elected to City Council. 5. Councilman DeVilbiss said he will try to leave the city is as good a shape as it is now. 6. Mayor Klanderud stated disagreement and conflict are not necessarily a bad thing and through debate, Council often comes up with a better solution. Mayor Klandemd urged everyone in the community to help the Council by being part of the solution. CONSENT CALENDAR Steve Barwick, city manager, removed X(b) Burlingame Contract Part II from the consent calendar. Councilwoman Richards moved to approve the consent calendar as amended; seconded by Councilman DeVilbiss. The consent calendar is: · Resolution//43, 2005 - Burlingame Ranch Change Orders to Part I Contract · Resolution #45, 2005 - Police Radio Contract All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION #44, 2005 - Burlingame Contract Part II Steve Barwick, city manager, told Council the two budget issues Council needs to address are the water tap fees and the school impact fee. In the original bids, it appears all 3 finalists missed these two fees by a considerable amount. This budget is off by $740,000. Barwick recommended paying these costs. The developer is responsible for coming up with budget estimates. However, there may be some city responsibility. Each developer went to the city water department to get the water tap fee budget. The developer is requesting the city pay the difference. This will be a direct expense of the city. Councilwoman Richards said the city has had a policy of waiving water tap fees for 6 Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 13, 2005 affordable housing projects. Barwick pointed out this is not 100% affordable housing and includes the free market units of Bar/X. Mayor Klanderud said she would like a representative of the water department be present to explain how this might have happened. Councilwoman Richards agreed she would like more information about the tap fees. Barwick said Council could approve this contract except for the water tap and school district fees. Councilman DeVilbiss moved to continue Resolution #44, Series of 2005, to June 14, 2005; seconded by Councilman Torre. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE #26~ SERIES OF 2005 - Code Amendment - Recycling Initiatives Councilwoman Richards moved to continue to June 27, 2005; seconded by Councilman Torre. All in favor, motion carded. DIRECTION ON VALET PARKING CONTRACT Tim Ware, parking department, told Council there has been a valet parking operation on east Hopkins Avenue for the past 10 years. There have been 4 different operators during that time. Ware told Council the downtown catalyst and the downtown business needs assessment show a majority of businesses are in favor of a daytime valet parking program. Ware said staff felt the entire program should be evaluated to see if there is a better way to operate it. There are two alternatives; an in-house operation or a contract with a private operator. Ware told Council during summer lunch hours, the parking downtown is 94% occupied and the parking garage has about 34 vacant spaces. During the evening hours between 5:30 and 8 p.m., the downtown parking is 100% full, and the garage has only about 50 cars in it. The premise of the valet parking is to get cars off the street and into an under utilized facility. Ware said the issue for Council direction is to do this as s city operation versus contracting with a private operator. If the city operates the valet parking, it will take 6 or 7 weeks to get people hired and equipment leased at considerable expense. A trial mn with a private operator could be in effect within a week. Ware proposed the location be in the 400 block of east Hopkins, which is where the valet parking has been located. Ware recommended the private operator for a thal run and to come back and report back to Council after the summer. The proposed rates are $15/car/day and $20/car/evening. The valet parking would start around 11 a.m. Councilwoman Richards said this is an experiment and it might alleviate summer traffic. Councilwoman Richards said she is concerned about jamming up traffic on east Hopkins, especially at the intersection with Mill. Mayor Klanderud agreed about the congestion and suggested working something out with the fire department parking. Mayor Klanderud said she feels this is worth an experiment. The drop off logistics need to be worked out. Mayor Klanderud noted this has been associated with the Caribou Club and Regular Meeting Aspen City Council June 13, 2005 staffneeds to communicate this valet parking is available to the general public. Steve Barwick, city manager, said he receives questions about why the city is not using the available parking more efficiently and this is an attempt to see if this could work. Councilman Johnson asked if a survey could be done to see why people are using the valet service. Ware said this could be done including an incentive to get feedback. Mayor Klanderud said there is a need for a parking service at the Wheeler. Councilwoman Richards agreed the needs survey from Wheeler users always indicate lack of parking as a problem. Council agreed to allow a valet parking experiment for the summer and to contract this operation out to include feedback on this service. Councilman Torre moved to continue the meeting to 5 p.m. June 14th; seconded by Councilwoman Richards. All in favor, motion carried. Council left the meeting at 7 p.m. S. Koch, City Clerk 8