Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes.council.19790416S~le~i~l M~ing AS3p~n Cj_t~y. Cou~l ~ April 16~_/L93_9 Mayor Standley called the meeting to order at 5:05 PM with Councilmembers Behrendt, Isaac, Parry, Van NSss, and Wishart present. AlSo present were City Attorney Ronald Stock, City Manager Mick Mahoney, Finance Director Lois Butterbaugh and Jim Reents of the Planning Office. SMUGGLER/ENCLAVE ANNEXAHION ilSmuggler/ Mayor Standley opened the public hearing. He noted that the five criteria necessary for~ i~n¢lave a~Rexation~_~ha~i_are ekplaii~ed in~-,St~ck's memo have been satisfied. Stock outlined on a mapii the area to be annexed. Councilmember Wishart asked if the City would be respohsible for any of the possible law suits for the recent fatal fire in the trailer court. Stock said ~i they would not become a party to the earlier law suits nor be responsible for any failure to enforce the Health, Safety or Fire Code. If the area is annexed, he recommended enfor- cing all of the codes in%mediately. Councilme~ber Wishart asked if the City has provisions ~i for trailers and trailerparks. Stock said no, they need to establish appropriate zoning and rules and regulations for governing trailer courts. He recommended that the City use the State code on trailerparks until they~adopt their own. Councilmember Behrendt asked how the City would begin assuming responsibility for maintenance of the common grounds and i! how far the City responsibility would go. Stock said the City may consider establishing an!i improvement district. Councilmember Behrendt asked how mueh the additional services will cost the City. Mahoney said the cost would be :minimal since the services are already esta-li blished and the City would be extending them to Smuggler (i.e. water service, police protec~ tion, etc.). Co~ncilmember Parry asked how far the City's responsibility went as far as services. Stock said the streets in Smuggler are not dedicated and the City is not respon-i! sible for maintenance, the water tap is the property owner)s?~esponsibility, the Health, Safety and Fire Codes is the City's responsibility,ii Brooke Peterson, attorney for the trailer owners, was present. Peterson felt the biggest~ question of the trailer owners is uncertainty as to what kind of living situation they will!i have if they purchase the park, what annexation will mean to them, why the City wants~to annex them. Peterson encouraged them to consider annexation because of ~the benefits and the Board of Directors wishes to pursue discussion of annexation. The tenants are looking at additional rent increases and they also have improvementS that they desire above and beyond those that will be required bY the city. Peterson asked if they would be forcing the rents far beyond the employee housing guidelines if all this passes. Councilmember Van Ness asked what affect application of the state code would ha~e on the trailer owners. Peterson said i~.could cost anywhere from $0-600 per trailer to bring them!i up to code. He noted that the County code is stronger than the State code. They are looking at the possibility of dual licensing, licensing the parkand the trailers with a yearly in-!i spection. They have considered subdivision but the main problem is the density. The Planning Office prefers that they buy the park and start relocating which Peterson estimate~ will cost between $350-400,000. The purchase price of the acreage of the present park is $2 8 million. · Mayor Standley asked for comments from the public. Ernst Kapelli, owner of property between King and Queen Streets, stated that he has his own water and sewer system. He asked how annexation would affect him and his renters. Mayor Standley did not think this would affec~ him. Mahoney noted that they will be eligible for the foOd tax rebate and half the water rates. Kapelli said it would cost him about $15,000 to join. Mayor Standley said he wouldil not be obligated to join. Kapelli asked if the people in the area in question would be abl~ to vote on annexation. Mayor Standley said their opinions would be heard at the public hearing but they would not be able to vote. Stock noted that the City can require people living within three miles of the City to join but has never done so in the past. He noted that the EPA may require Aspen Sanitation to force these people to join. Mayor Standley noted that they could be required to join both districts whether they are annexed or not. Julie Hane stated that her house is on a septic system. She heard that she ~ould remain on her system as long as it was functioning properly but if the system broke down, she woul~ be forced to join the sanitation district. Stock said this was the present requirement but! the ~EPA is considering requiring all people within a district to join. Francis Whitaker felt the Council did not have an annexation policy. He felt they would beli creating second class citizens. He asked if they would have to plow these streets. Stock said they would not have to3p!ow the private roads. He asked what it would cost to enforcell the building and fire codes at Smuggler, what they would lose in water revenues, what it would cost to provide normal municipal services to this area. Mahoney said there were manyi! ways to arrive at these costs. All of these services are provided in the City presently. . an~. they would be extending them to this area. Butterbaugh said the whole tax levy ls so m~n~m~l that it would not affect it much at all. Whitaker noted that with the north and south annexa- tion, the City lost so much revenue from the water rates, the base water rate went up. for all. He wanted to know what it would ~ost him to annex these people. Mayor Standley left the meeting at this point. Councilmember Behrendt told Whitaker that Ma~or Standley could answer his questions upon his return in a few minutes. He asked for comments from the public. Bil Dunaway agreed with Whitaker that the Council should listen to the comments from those who now live in the City since it will cost them to annex the people of Smuggler. Councilmember Beh~endt said they are following the annexation policy they drafted. He noted there have been delays in annexation because of money and they are hopeful the~ can annex the Airport Business Center to make the rest of the annexations more~'~ realistic. Jeffrey Sachs felt the City should annex Smuggler and begin to clean up the problems up there. He did not feel the County could property address the problems and their solutions.il Councilmember Van Ness did not feel these people were being disenfranchised since Smuggteri!!i was never within the city limits. He felt the County could deal with the trailer problems since they have other parks in their jurisdiction. He felt the cost of upgrading will be placed on the trailer owners. He felt the initiatiVe for annexation should come from the residents of the park. Councilmember~Behrendt felt the additional cost would not be sub- stantial since the services are already established. Councilmember Van Ness asked why the City was paying for the improvement of Mill ~Street and not Neale Street. Mahoney said that! Mill Street belongs to everyone w~o will use the new post office and shopping center. He did not feel it fair to have a separate improvement district for those businesses. Special Meetinq Aspen City Council April 16, 1979 Mayor Standley entered the meeting and addressed Whitaker's questions. He noted that the City does have an annexation policy for urban areas contiguous to the City. The philosophy ~was that many people were disenfranchised because they were forced to move to Smuggler'for financial reasons. These people buy their food and other services from Aspen and pay the taxes one who lives in the city limits pays. This migration affects the attitude of the town and its citizens. The Council felt these people should be reenfranchised and given the rights and benefits of other citizens. He noted that there are a dozen ways to arrive at statistics and they cannot accurately project the cost of the additional services. He also noted that 2/3 of the property in Aspen and 80% of the assessed valuation of the City of Aspen is absentee owned. He did not feel the City Council should be proud that Aspen has the lowest property tax in Colorado since they are passing this savings on to absentee owners. He suggested that if the levy is raised, they use incentive rebates such as elderly rebates on property tax, food tax rebates, etc., to the local citizens. Jeffrey Sachs did not feel it was unfair to lay the burden of upgrading the park on the trailer owners. Ernst Kapelli asked what the benefits were to the City. He felt the annexa- tion could only be a burden. Mayor Standley felt the benefit was to be able to direct the future of that area. Councilmember Van Ness was concerned that the owners would be required to make.unnecessary improvements to the trailers. Rob Goodin, resident owner at Smuggler, felt the majority of owners want to be annexed by the City. He felt the focus of the County is much too wide for their.~needs. He comes into Aspen ~every day to work and do business and wants the full benefits of being a resident. Paul "Stormy" Mohn had heard that when land goes from the County to the City, it ancreases in value. Mahoney did not support this theory. Petersen felt the City is better equiped to deal with the problems of Smuggler. He noted they have a very short time schedule an terms of the purchase of the park. If they are going to buy the park, they need to know who they will be dealing with. They also need to know that they can count on the expertise of the people involved. He felt this expertise lies in the City. Mohn asked what assistance they were asking of the City. Petersen said they need financial assistance (IRB) and planning assistance. Mohn noted that the County ~was sued for the recent fatal fire an the court. He asked, when this is annexed, if there is an accident during the time the City is bringing the trailers up to code, would the City be responsible. Stock said if they took an aggressive stance to bring them up to code, if there is an injury during that period, it would be difficult to pin a law suit against the City. Councilmember Parry agreed with Van Ness that if there had been a strong petition from the .trailer owners for annexation, they would have felt stronger about this annexation. He felt there would be complaints from the owners about coming up to code and suggested having the County bring them to code and then annexing. Councilmember Van Ness felt they should first go to the park owner and show him the benefits of annexation and ask that he upgrade the roads, etc. Whitaker suggested an annexation fee. Mayer Standley ~felt they have prepaid their "annexation fee" by paying the sales tax as they do business an Aspen. Councilmember Isaac said he lives next door to this area and feels they must allow these neighbors to enjoy the same benefits he has. Mayor Standley closed the public hearing. Councilmember Behrendt moved to read Ordinance ~26, Series of 1979; seconded by Councilman Isaac. All in favor, motion carried. ORDINANCE ~26 (Series of 1979) AN ORDINANCE ANNEXING CERTAIN UNINCORPORATED TERRITORY TO THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO was read by the mayor. Annexation of Certain Unincorp- Councilmember Isaac moved to adopt Ordinance ~26, Series of 1979, on first reading; seconded orated Territoy 'by Councilmember Wishart. Roll call vote: Councilmembers Parry, aye; Wishart, aye; Van Ness, nay; Isaac, aye; Behrendt, aye; Mayor Standley, aye. Motion carried. ~Mayor Standley noted that this is an emergency ordinance and the second reading would be April 23, 1979. They wish to pass it quickly so the residents may vote in the May 8 election. 'Mayor Standley noted that Councilmember Anderson was willing to waive notice of the public hearing on Ordinance ~22 if they open and continue the public hearing. Councilmember Isaac moved to add Ordinance #22, Series of 1979, to the agenda, Councilmember Van Ness seconded. All in favor, motion carried. Mayor Standley opened the public hearing on Ordinance #22, Series of 1979. He continued the public hearing to April 23, 1979. Reents said they had $15,000 budgeted this year for Mall work with an~additional $11,000 '~d over. They understood that this would also cover publicity for the Mall and Down- town improvement issues and they wrote a 10% ($2,600) contingency into the contract for this publicity. He asked that they makel a formal motion. Councilmember Wishart moved to authorize this expenditure, Councilmember Isaa~ seconded. Councilmember Behrendt asked that Council clarify what ~s intended by the two bond issues. All in favor, motion carried. Councilmember Wishart moved to adjourn at 7:00 PM; seconded by Councilmember Isaac. All in favor, motion carried. Sheryl ~mme~ Deputy City Clerk