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HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19850211~egu±ar meeting Aspen City Council February 11, 1985 Mayor Stirling called the meeting to order at 5:10 p.m. with Councilmembers Walls and Blomquist present. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 1. Sirous Saghatoslami, owner of Bentley's, requested that the extension of Bentley's lease be placed on the agenda so he can explain the reasons for it. Mayor Stirling reminded Council this had been on an agenda and there were no representatives to explain the request. Councilman Blomquist moved to reconsider Bentley's lease on Februgry 25, 1985; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. All in favor, motion carried. 2. Rich Perez thanked Council for granting him a full liquor license at a previous meeting and apologized for the article printed in the Aspen Times. Perez told Council he is not in anyway connected with criminal activites. 3. Sharon Mollica told Council she is active in the non-smoking rights movement and would like to see some restrictions in Aspen. Ms. Mollica said she would like Council's assistance in doing this. Ms. Mollica favors the approach of Fort Collins, restricting smoking in restaurants, public buildings. Councilman Blomquist suggested Ms. Mollica come to Council with a specific ordinance. Mayor Stirling suggested working with the City Manager in drafting this ordinance. The Council agreed to support this ordinance. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS 1. Councilman Blomquist moved to authorize the city manager to enter into negotiations with consulting firms to do planning work on the Rio Grande so the city will know how to complete the work started this fall and how much landscaping can be done, and get started as soon as possible; seconded by Mayor Stirling. Mayor Stirling said he would like a specific proposal on how to proceed in the Rio Grande Councilman Btomquist said it is important to get the planning done before spring. City Manager Schilling said he will bring the contract back to Council for their approval. All in favor, motion carried. 2. Councilman Blomquist asked the status of the trails contract. City Attorney Taddune said the county attorney reviewed the easements and found some problems. There were some revisions suggested to the contract. The county attorney takes the position any conveyance of title will require a vote of the electorate but for easements, no voter approval:is required. Wagner park was to be included in the agreement but it has been separated out. Taddune Said he has the contract ready for submission. Taddune said the county attorney questions whether the county can convey the title to the Rio Grande right-of-way. Schilling said the Council has not discussed taking the trails over on an easement basis. Councilman Blomquist said the Council has capital expenditure issues facing them and a work session should be scheduled. Council scheduled a work session for Mohday, March 4 from 5 to 8 p.m. to discuss water rates and water improvement program and to start discussing the caPital improvement program. Councilwoman Walls asked about places to relocate the impound lot and snow dumping away from the Rio Grande. Schilling said there is not a place planned for the impound lot. The staff had a tentative plan for snow removal at the Benedict site, bu~ this may fall through. Councilman Blomquist said Council needs to start making decision on capital issues, theY keep avoiding things like the impound lot, and trails. Councilman Blomquist said the Council has a meeting later this evening with the Sanitation District, and they might be able to help out with snow dumping site. 3. Mayor Stirling reminded Council of an executive session Thursday, February 14, at 4 p.m. to discuss appointments to the Boards and Commissions. At 5 p.m. there will be a work session on a report from the traffic conlmittee. 4. Mayor Stirling asked about the appraisal on the Shaw lots. Assistant City Manager Mitchell said it is not back yet. 5. Mayor Stirling said the Board of Adjustment is meeting to address the Shaw lots and withOut an appraisal, Council cannot know what action they may take. Mayor Stirling said he would prefer not to see the lots cut up further. Councilman Blomquist moved the city attorney be requested to appear at the Board of Adjustment meeting and request tabling of case 84-23. City Attorney Taddune said he has met with one of the attorneys, and they wish the city would move faster. The city has been waiting for the appraisal for two months. Councilman Blomquist Withdrew his motion. 6. Mayor Stirling said the Council had requested staff schedule a get together with members of the Boards and Commiss$ons, and suggested this be after Winternational. City Manager Schilling said work has been done on available facilities and costs. After Winternational, there will be more places available. Schilling asked if Council intended this to be for members only or members and spouses. Bil Dunaway pointed out this is to honor these Commission members and they should be allowed to bring their spouses. Council appointed Councilwoman Walls to work with Schilling to make decisions on this. City Manager Schilling requested an item regarding purchase of the pisten-bulley snowcat be added to the agenda. Council agreed. Assistant City Manager Mitchell requested the animal shelter contract to be an executives session because the applicant has requested this be confidential. Councilwoman Walls moved to make the' animal shelter contract an executive session; seconded by Mayor Stirling. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Blomquist. Motion carried. Regular Meeting Aspen ~l~y ~uuncmi ~=~zu~3 ~, RESOLUTION 85-4 BURNT MOUNTAIN Glenn Horn, planning office, said this resolution is an assessment of the Burnt mountain environmental assessment. Council needs to make comments to the forest service on any deficiencies in the environmental assessment. Council also has the choice on whether they!! want to comment on a particular alternative for the Burnt mountain ski area expansion. Horn told Council the resolution needs some minor changes as it is inconsistent with the adopted growth policies of the community and Council's policy towards growth. The resolution references element of the growth management policy plan and quality of life issues, yet it seems to encourage planning continue for Burnt mountain. This needs to be resolved. Horn said the Burnt mountain proposal is inconsistent with the concept of community balance; most of the facilities and beds are located in the Aspen area. The development of Burnt mountain will place great demands on the transportation system and growth in Snowmass Village. Mayor Stirling said there will be significant effects of the Burnt mountain development on highway 82, airport, transportation centers, city streets, air quality. This development raises the issues of the west entrance to town as well as the parking problems. Mayor Stirling said the resolution reflects his feelings of the inadequacies of the environmental assessment in landuse, water, air, noise and wildlife. The wildlife issues effect everyone in the valley, and maintaining deer and elk herds is essential in the valley. Mayor Stirling said the environmental assessment is lacking in the area of effect on the municipality of Aspen. Parking is already a major problem in town. There will be additional transportation costs. There will be pressures on street, water system. Mayor Stirling pointed out the ski industry's growth has leveled off. Mayor Stirling he is concerned this may exacerbate the imbalance of exiSting beds. The forest service has said skier demand will increase greatly over the next ten years, but this does not seem to fit with the industry. Mayor Stirling said the city has just started updating its master plan. Mayor Stirling asked if the Burnt mountain expansion best meets the needs of the entire community. Whatever expansion the Ski Company does next should be in the place that makes the most sense. Because the bed base is in Aspen, it seems logical to make expansions on Aspen mountain. Mayor Stirling suggested accepting 1 through 4 in Section 1; section 2 as is. Mayor Stirling recommended deleting the last sentence in section 3 and adding "The City Council encourages the Ski Company and Pitkin County to update their master plans so that ski expansion might be analyzed in light of the larger picture and that no approvals be given piecemeal. We would urge the Ski Company to consider other alternatives to the proposed Burnt mountain development which would better address the issues of the skier-bed imbalance between Aspen and Snowmass and the Aspen/Snowmass transportation corridor impacts. From Aspen's point of view the more skiing expansion that can be accomplished in the immediate Aspen area, therefore the greater opportunity to reduce auto and bus pollution and keep more skiers closer to the beds. We endorse the concept of giving the ski entrepeneur the opportunity to have approved ski terrain in advance of skier demands but only to do so when it is clear the next proposed expansion assist the overall community in meeting its goals." Councilman Blomquist said he would leave out the Aspen point of view sentence because it is covered elsewhere. Councilwoman Walls agreed. Horn suggested adding a statement that Council does not see alternative 2 to be consistent with the growth management policy plan goals, affirmed in section 2. Mayor Stirling suggested this resolution be reworked and Council discuss Thursday, February 14. Mayor Stifling agreed about the addition of alternate 2 being unacceptable as not being consistent with the growth management plan policies. Councilman Blomquist moved to continue this meeting to February 14, 1985 at 4 p.m. to finish the Burnt mountain resolution; seconded by CouncilWoman Walls. Fred Smith, Aspen Skiing Company, asked if Council's intent is that they would like to see skking expansion beyond what has been proposed for Aspen mountain. Mayor Stirling said yes, that ski expansion in the Aspen area is desirable. Smith told Council Burnt mountain was master planned in 1971, after a permit was issued in 1966. This was reanalyzed in 1972, a development plan was issued in 1978, a joint review committee was formed in 1981. In 1982 there was a revised master development plan on Mt. Baldy, in 1983 this area was annexed to the town of SnowmasS. Smith told Council this has to get by the environmental assessment decision to allow for any skiing development to take place. Smith said this is the only application for ski expansion in Pitkin County. All in favor, motion carried. WHEELER OPERA HOUSE - Discussion of Mayor's checklist Bob Murray, Wheeler Opera House director, said the Board has suggested that the list of Mayor's comments be addressed at the Wheeler Board meeting next week. Murray said they do have answers to the Mayor's points. Murray said he has reviewed these with the city manager and parks director. Councilman Blomquist said most of these items are management issues and can be handled by the manager. Councilman Blomquist agreed that Councilmembersi should not deal with Boards and Commissions without the permission from Council. City Manager said as far as the punch list items, the visitors' center bathroom has been fixed and is in use. There was a sign program for the interior of the Wheeler but was cut as a cost saving measure. There is a need for additional signs, and this is a budget item. As far as expansion of the women's bathroom, the Wheeler staff has not received any complaints about this. The bathroom facilities do meet the code, and it is questionable whether there is any room for expansion. Schilling told Council there was not a specific design made for coat checking services but there is space available. Murray said this service is available when required. Murray said patrons do not like to line up after performances to wait for their coats. The sewer line has been under constrUction and is done. Murray said after researching the lease, it was determined that the sewer was the city's responsibility. Councilman Blomquis~ said he would like the responsibility of the grease trap cleared up before Bentley's request for extension of the lease. Mayor Stirling asked about the possibility of getting air conditioning. Murray said he is working with private donors. Schilling told Council he will report back to Council on the rest of the items on the Mayor's list. SUBSIDIZED HOUSING GUIDELINES Mayor Stirling said the city contributes about $20,000 to the senior citizen program. Mayor Stirling said the federal grant for renovating the community center required a certain Percentage of the building to be used by senior citizens. Jim Adamski, housing director, said the county has asked the hOusing office to manage the units at the community center for admission, occupancy and continued occupancy. The housing office is also to create~ with other entities, a senior housing plan. These presented guidelines are to help develop and manage that plan. Adamski said he would like Council's comments on the guidelines for subsidized housing for senior citizen and handicapped. Adamski said these units could be anywhere in the community. The Council on Aging is excited about this proposal. Adamski said there is a moral commitment to help house the seniors in the community. This is creating a subsidy program. Adamski said he has had input from Council on Aging, County managers and attorneys office, Care Center Inc., state office of civil rights, HUD, and city staff. Adamski would like Council's support to create a plan for housing seniors and handicapped. Adamski said he is also working with the hospital board on a new housing project. Councilman Blomquist moved to endorse the direction the housing authority is taking, and that the guidelines for independent living are of an excellent quality; seconded by Mayor Stirling. Mayor Stirling said this program is a challenge to the community. All in favor, motion carried. RESOLUTION 85-5 SUPPORTING ANTI-TRUST LEGISLATION CounCilman Blomquist moved to approve Resolution 85-5 supporting CMP efforts for the adoption of State antitrust immunity legislation; seconded by Mayor Stirling. City Attorney Taddune said the federal government has recently exempted municipalities from monetary damages; however, there is some ambiguity on municipal exposure for actions requesting injunctive relief. The state legislation attempts to provide municipalities with state action exemption defense from all antitrust matters. Taddune recommended endorsing this legislation. All in favor, motion carried. Council directed the city clerk to send copies of the resolution to Senator Glass, Representative McGinnis, the sponsors of the bill, the committee reviewing the bill. RESOLUTION 85-6 RESIDERTIAL GMP ALLOCATION Colette Penne, told Council that 601 Aspen did not meet the threshold; therefore, it is not being presented to Council. The appeal period ended February 5 and there was no appeal filed. P & Z scored the residential applications January 22. The two successful projects were Aspen Mountain lodge and Gordon/Callahan. Ms. Penne told Council both projects received allocations in last year's residential competition, but they have been revised and upgraded. The Aspen Mountain lodge project is 700 South Galena and some residential units attached to the lodge and will be reviewed in the Aspen Mountain Lodge PUD. The Gordon/Callahan project is 3 units and is in partnership with the Aspen Club. There will be a trail link and a bridge constructed by the applicant as part of this. The Aspen Mountain lodge is requesting 12 units. There are 17 units available to carry over or not. Ms. Penne pointed out there has been a low growth rate in the residential section; there were 14 units built in 1984 and 29 units built in 1982 out of a possible 39 units. However, Centennial and Aspen Mountain lodge projects are proposing to be built. Mayor Stirling said he would prefer not to carry over these units. Councilwoman Walls agreed. Councilman Blomquist moved to approve Resolution 6, 1985, allocating 15 units of residen- tail GMP units; 12 to the Aspen Mountain lodge projects and 2 to the Gordon/Callahan and to not carry over the 17 units; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. Joe Wells, representing the Aspen Mountain lodge project, raised the issue that this resolution ties the allocation to the date of receiving a building permit on the lodge by June 1, 1985. Resolution 11, 1984, adopted by Council in April placed this time condition on the allocation. Wells said Council's ordinance 9, 1984, appears to say that 24 months might not be adequate to allow a project to get through the complete review process and proceed to building permit application. This ordinance extends the time frame to 33 months for building permit apPlication. Wells said the Aspen Mountain lodge just filed preliminary for the residential projects, all the research has taken longer than anticipated. Wells asked that this resolution not be tied to June 1, 1985 because all the work that is necessary may not be completed by June 1. Wells said this project qualifies for an allotment. Ms. Penne said eight of these units are part of the hotel and have to be built along with the hotel, and the deadline for the hotel is June 1. Councilman Blomquist suggested passing the resolution as is and having the developer and planning office present a new schedule with some flexibility given the problems of the bankruptcy and the complex~ ity of the project. Councilman Blomquist said he would like to see some phasing so that people living on the mountain have clear access to town during the entire construction and the town have minimum disruption. Councilman Blomquist withdrew his motion and moved to table Resolution 1985-6; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. Stan Mathis, representing Gordon/Callahan, told Council there are negotiations going on that are contingent on whether or not the allotment is received. Mathis said he would like the Gordon/Callahan allotment separated out. Wells said this residential project is tied to the lodge, and they have to implement all elements they were scored on to build it. City Attorney Taddune suggested Council pass this resolution and direct the staff to look at the date and address the legality of it. Taddune said the staff can either recommend to delete the date or to explain why it is necessary. Councilman Blomquist withdrew his motion; Councilwoman Walls withdrew her second. Councilwoman Walls asked if these dates fulfill a purpose. Councilwoman Walls said she did not care if people built their allocations. Ms. Penne said other competitors care about that. Mayor Stirling said letting allocations jus5 sit opens the town for the possibility of at some time 10 projects being built at once. Councilwoman Walls said having these deadlines encourages growth rather than controls its. Councilman Blomquist moved to adop5 resolution ~6-1985, with the understanding there will be more discussions about Section 3; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. All in favor, motion carried. CONPARABLE WORTH STUDY CONTRACT Mayor Stirling said Council had allocated $3500 for the comparable worth study and needs another $1500 to meet this contract. Councilman Blomquist moved for approval of appropriations of additiional $1500 to conduct a job evaluation/comparable worth study and to approve the select,on of Arthur Young and company; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. All in favor, motion carried. Personnel Director Patsy Malone told Council this study will take e~ght weeks after it is approved. City Manager Schilling said the city would enter into an agreement with Arthur Young. Councilwoman Walls said she would monitor the proceedings. INSUP~NCE CLAIM APPEAL - Aspen Travel Mayor Stirling said there was a water main problem on Monarch street, and Aspen Travel is appealing to the city to make up the difference between what insurance covered and the damages. Councilman Blomquist asked what precedent this would set. City Attorney Taddune said the city has adopted a strict policy on these claims. Taddune said he would research this and meet with Aspen Travel. Councilman Blomquist moved to deny; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. All in favor, motion carried. Bil Dunaway said it would seem the city is at fault if their water main breaks and floods someone's office. Ron Mitchell said there was no negligence on the city's part. Dunaway said this wasn't Aspen Travel's fault either. Dunaway said this is the city's pipe and they are charging for water. Mitchell said the water line was installed and maintained property, and the city was not negligent. Taddune said the insurance adjusters deter- mined the city was not culpable in any way. Mayor Stirling moved to reconsider the claim by Peter Johnson of Aspen Travel. Motion DIES for lack of a second. GRASSROOTS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT Assistant City Manager Ron Mitchell told Council this S7500 is in supplement to the 3 percent Grassroots gets from cable revenues. This agreement is to tie the performance of Grassroots to the appropriation. Councilman Blomquist asked why there ~s an agree- ment with Grassroots and not with other people the Council gives money to. Mitchell said Grassroots had made statements they would not be able to film these types of events unless they got funding. City Manager Schilling recommended the Council have contracts with all tax monies given out. Mayor Stirling said this was a particular ~ssue and Council wanted certain things. Councilmembers Walls and Blomquist said they would agree with having contracts for monies given. Councilwoman Walls moved to approve the television service agreement with Grassroots; seconded by Mayor Stirling. All in favor, with the exception of Councilman Blomquist. Motion carried. CONSENT AGENDA Council requested Poppie's liquor license renewal be removed. Councilwoman Walls moved to approve the consent agenda; seconded by Councilman Blomquist. The Consent agenda is (1) special even~ permits - St. Mary's Catholic Church; Aspen Ski Club; (3) Liquor license transfer - Woodstone. All in favor, motion carried. City Manager Schilling explained that Poppie's is contesting a ruling of the Environmental Health department that their restrooms facilities are inadequate. They have filed an appeal in Denver. Councilman Blomquist moved to approve the renewal contingent upon completion of the bathrooms in the off-season and a report back to Council in two months; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. All in favor, motion carried. REQUEST TO FUND PISTEN-BULLEY SNOWCAT Assistant City Manager Mitchell told Council this is a legal expenditure out of the land fund; however, if Council approves the purchase of the snowcat, they will have to adjust the list of Capital improvement projects they have tentatively approved. Financing this snowcat purchase is about $12,000 over 7 years; purchasing this outright is $63,000. Mayor stirling suggested another alternative could be to fund this out of the asset replacement fund. Councilman Blomquist moved to approve financing of the snowcat out of the land fund and to have Council review the land fund capital improvement list at the work session on March 4 to assure the improvement list is consistent with funding available after purchase; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. Mayor Stirling said helpmng purchase this is essential for the future of the Nordic council. However, he is concerned about purchasing equipmen= out of the land fund. Mayor Stirling said he would rather see this purchased out of the asset replacement fund. All in favor with the exception of Mayor stirling. Motion carried. Gideon Kaufman, representing the Aspen Ski Club, told Council since the elimination of Las Vegas nights the ski club has had to struggle to raise funds. The Skiing Company ms allowing the Ski Club to serve all concessions during the Winternational. Kaufman requested Council support for enforcement of the no vending laws in and around the base of lA. Mayor Stirling said the police should monitor this. Council went into executive session at 8:05 p.m. Council reconvened at 8:35 p.m. Mayor Stirling directed Assistant City Manager Mitchell to negotiate a contract under Council's guidelines for the animal shelter and to contract with the county for animal services ar no less than what they are now paying; seconded by Councilwoman Walls. All mn favor, motion carried. Councilwoman Walls moved to continue the meeting to 4 p.m. Thursday, February 14, 1985; seconded by Councilman Blomquist. All in favor, motion carried. Kat~ryn S.~Koch, City Clerk Continued Meeting Aspen City Council February 14, 1985 Mayor Stirling called the meeting to order at 4:10 p.m. with Councilmembers Blomquist, collins, Knecht and Walls present. RESOLUTION 85-5 BURNT MOUNTAIN Councilwoman Walls said she favored the resolution as presented. Councilman Blomquist said he would like an addition that alternative 4 perhaps deserves more study as this area is all above the wildlife area and most people only ski the upper part of the mountains. Mayor Stirling said this prosal 94 would only take skiers away from the eixsting area. Fred Smith, Aspen Skiing Company, said the Town of SnoWmass had a study done on the desir- ability of alternative 4. The study showed alternative 4 would be increasing the congestion of the west village area. The study showed that 10,000 skiers per village area is about top capacity. The west village area is pretty much built out. Snowmass Village decided not to sponsor alternative 4 because of the impacts on west village. Smith said adding lift on top of the mountain does not neccesarily give an automatic ability to feed these lifts. These are constrained by parking, road, beds and transpor- tation. Smith said he would like the resolution to have expanded language to allow the forest service to include a notice for the necessity of additional regional planning. Mayor Stirling said the resolution is very negative on alternative 2. The resolution addresses the weaknesses of the environmental assessment statement. Mayor Stirling suggested adding urging the forest servmce to study further for alternative uses of the entire Burnt mountain area. Smith said he would like the resolution to allow for the reservation for potential for the communities to continue to study a viable application. Councilwoman Walls said because of the impacts on wildlife, alternative 2 ought to be discounted inlmediately. Councilman Blomquist said having Snowmass as a safety valve is good for Aspen. Councilman Collins agreed the escape valve should be encouraged to keep from impacting this end of the valley. Straw poll on the resolution as it stands; Councilwoman Walls and Mayor Stirling in favor. Councilmembers Collins, Knecht and Blomquist opposed. Mayor Stirling suggested in the last paragraph deleting the last sentence and replacing it with "The City Council urges the United State Forest Service recog~mze the weakensses in the environmental assessment and work with the applicant on better alternatives". Councilman Blomquist said he would like alternative 4 recognized as avoiding ~he wildlife problem and deserving more study. Mayor Stirling said he would add that. Councilwoman Walls said she would like "totally unacceptable" in the resolution because alternative 2 so mmpacts the elk and deer calving areas and migration routes. 3854' Continued Meeting Aspen City Council February 14, 1985 Smith told Council there are no lifts or trails in the heavy-use wildlife area. Councilman Knecht said the Council should look at the entire valley as one economic community. Councilman Knecht said if the Council wants additional ski capacity, the only alternative is Burnt mountain. Council should consider a good transportation link between Aspen and Snowmass. Councilman Knecht said Burnt mountain should be supported if the Council is interested in more skiing capacity. Mayor Stirling suggested adding a last sentence "The City Council suggests that the U.S. Forest Service continue to study alternative 4 with modifications along with the applicant". Councilman Blomquist said Council should acknowledge that there should be plans ready for future skier demands. Ail Council was in favor of adding that last sentence, except Councilmembers Collins and Knecht. Councilman Blomquist moved to adopt Resolution =5, 1985, as amended; seconded by Mayor Stirling. Councilmembers Walls, Blomquist and Mayor Stirling in favor; Councilmembers Collins and Knecht opposed. Motion carried. Councilwoman Walls moved ~o adjourn a~ 4:50 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Knecht. All in favor, motion carried. Kathryn S~Koch, City Clerk