CERTIFICATE
OF EXCELLENCE IN FINANCIAL REPORTING
· Resolution
#102, 2007 – Truscott 100 Laundry Room Renovation Contract
· Resolution
#103, 2007 – IO Dynamix Storage Area Network Contract
REQUEST
TO USE MAIN STREET LIGHT POLES – FOOD & WINE
RESOLUTION
#100, 2007 - 2007 EOTC Supplemental Budget Request-Free Aspen to Snowmass Bus
Service
ORDINANCE
#55, SERIES OF 2007 – Use Tax
RESOLUTION
#101, 2007 - 2008 EOTC Budget Approval
RESOLUTION
#98, SERIES OF 2007 – Temporary Use Zupancis Property Fire District
RESOLUTION
#99, SERIES OF 2007 – Amending COWOP Eligibility for Fire District
ORDINANCE
#29, SERIES OF 2007 – 307 S Spring Subdivision
Mayor
Paul Menter, finance director, told Council the city has
been recognized by the Government Finance Officers Association for excellence in annual financial reporting. Menter said this means the city has
comprehensive and accurate reporting for Council and staff to use. Mayor
1. Jim Markalunas showed the benefit of using sheet metal screw in boots to help with icy streets. Markalunas noted the increased traffic makes streets very icy. Markalunas asked Council to increase the cross-town shuttle service to the west end by two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. Markalunas noted he has made requests that the Cemetery Lane bus get re-routed through the west end as an alternate to more service. Markalunas said people cannot be expected to give up their cars if there is not alternate transportation.
2. W.R. Walton said the city snow plows go fast and the front end loaders tear up curbs and the property owners have to replace their curbs. Walton suggested there be a man on foot with a snow shovel to clear the snow and make sure the drivers do not pull up the curb.
3. Toni Kronberg announced there is an ARC advisory committee meeting at the ARC at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. Ms. Kronberg noted the city is working on land use amendments and Breckenridge already has a historic district and has already done all the work Aspen is trying to go. Ms. Kronberg said she will get copies of this to Council and to staff.
4. Brad
Manosevitz supports free buses from the intercept lot to
5. Marilyn
Marks asked about the status of Ordinance #48, historic code amendments. Councilman DeVilbiss said he is working on a
re-draft of that ordinance. Ms. Marks
asked if there will be public input on changes to the historic chapter in the
land use code. Mayor
6. Mike Maple noted the first two keypad voting sessions were successful; the commercial mix session was not quite as successful. Maple said the citizens group recommended a task force be convened and until they come forward with recommendation, the city limit historic designations to structures that are at least 100 years old.
1. Councilman Romero said Klaus Obermeyer celebrated his 88th birthday today with a great gathering on the mountain.
2. Councilman Romero noted last week the Roaring Fork Veterans had a fund raiser at the Wheeler and a showing of the “Last Ridge” about the Tenth Mountain Division. It was a successful event; the Wheeler was standing room only. The money is being used to capture memories on video of Roaring Fork Veterans.
3. Mayor Ireland noted he removed his moustache grown for “Movember”, an event to raise awareness of prostrate cancer.
4. Mayor
Ireland said he participated in the uphill for Chris Klug’s “
5. Mayor Ireland reminded people to wear helmets biking, skiing and snowboarding.
6.
7. Mayor
Ireland announced he attended the ACRA board meeting. ACRA passed a resolution supporting the master
planning process for the base of
8. Mayor
Ireland thanked the Ski Company for getting
Mayor
Mayor
All in favor, motion carried. (Councilman Skadron came into the meeting)
Councilman Johnson objected to this request as Food &
Wine applies for banners along
Staff recommends Food & Wine be allowed banners along
Councilman DeVilbiss moved to allow the use of
John Kruger,
transportation department, said this request is for free bus service
from November 22 to June 19th and totals $277,574. This request was presented to the EOTC
November 15th. The motion was
to approve free bus service between Snowmass and
Kruger said the analysis of the free service this summer was presented. It was estimated that a 64% increase in ridership took place, which equals about 20,000 riders. This was characterized to the EOTC as a reasonable success. Kruger said other facts are that precise ridership and cost numbers were not totally available because of the complicated nature of gathering the data. Kruger pointed out there are no direct financial implications to the city because this is a separate tax collected by the county. Kruger said there are indirect impacts as the EOTC fund balance will be reduced, which could effect future expenses. Councilman Skadron asked if $277,000 is substantial to the fund balance. Kruger said there is a surplus in the EOTC budget of $6.4 million. The EOTC revenues are $3.5 million/annually.
Councilman Skadron stated he supports this. To not do it is incongruous with goals the Council has set; however, not all the details are available in order to make an informed decision. Councilman Romero said although it is difficult to quantify the 20,000 ridership figure, is it safe to assume ridership will increase if that portion of the route is free. Dan Blankenship, RFTA, said winter is the busiest transit season so there would be a larger potential to generate more riders. Councilman Romero said this would be a $275,000 experiment to see if more riders could be induced into the transit program. This would give the EOTC a set of winter figures.
Councilman DeVilbiss said he voted against this expenditure
at the EOTC meeting because of information from assistant city manager
Mayor
Blankenship pointed out there are no ridership figures for
the Snowmass intercept lot to
Toni Kronberg said she has been trying to get free service
from Snowmass for years. Ms. Kronberg
said this gets at a larger issue, the entrance to
Councilman Romero noted goal #8 of the Council is to maintain or reduce traffic trip counts from 1993 levels so free service seems to line up with this goal.
Councilman Romero moved to approve Resolution #100, Series
2007, EOTC supplemental budget for request
Councilman DeVilbiss reported comments from Doug Mercatoris,
Snowmass Mayor, who is in favor of this and who believes all transit above
Brush Creek should be free. Mercatoris
notes bus service in
Mayor
Mayor
Councilman Romero in favor; everyone else opposed. Motion NOT carried.
Mayor
Councilman DeVilbiss moved to read Ordinance #55, Series of 2007; seconded by Councilman Romero. All in favor, motion carried.
ORDINANCE NO. 55
SERIES OF 2007
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
Councilman Romero noted there was a meeting with the community to work out details of this ordinance. Councilman Romero said the basis by which the estimate is determined to drive the 50% value comes from the building permit application. Councilman Romero said the community should be clear on where that valuation comes from and he would like that amplified for second reading. Councilman Romero said material costs often include transportation and processing fee to get the materials to the job. Paul Menter, finance director, said the implementation will be administrative and will be based on the policy direction in this ordinance. Menter said these can be improved over time to make sure they are fair and appropriate.
Councilman Johnson moved to adopt Ordinance #55, Series of
2007, on first reading; seconded by Councilman Romero. Roll call vote; Councilmembers Romero, yes;
Johnson, yes; Skadron, yes; DeVilbiss, yes; Mayor
Mayor
Councilman Romero stated he has a conflict of interest as he is a member of the fire district board. Councilman DeVilbiss will serve on the COWOP and Councilman Romero should be removed.
Bendon noted the fire station needs final entitlement. The COWOP will be meeting and will make final
recommendation. Bendon said the Zupancis
property will be used for a temporary fire station while the property at 420
Councilman Johnson asked if one fire truck is sufficient. Daryl Grob, fire chief, said the fire district thinks it is sufficient. A significant percentage of volunteers live or work within the city and there will be a first due engine readily available to the volunteers. The support trucks will be brought in if necessary. Councilman Johnson asked if there will be a fire siren during rebuilding. Grob said the siren will be brought back with the remodeled fire station. An acoustic shadow at headquarters to reduce the impact will be installed. Grob said they had not planned on activating it in the interim move.
Mayor
Toni Kronberg asked what will happen to the 3 historic structures behind the house on the front of the Zupancis property. Grob illustrated the use of Zupancis , the fire marshal is located in a shed; the parking department is in a building on the front of the property. Grob showed the 3 historic buildings at the rear of the property. The parks department will use part of the site to store their winter equipment. The fire department will have no impact on any of the historic property. This use is temporary and the temporary structure housing the fire truck can be removed in 24 hours.
Mayor
Councilman Johnson moved to adopt Resolutions #98 and 99, Series of 2007; seconded by Councilman DeVilbiss. All in favor, motion carried.
Councilmembers DeVilbiss and Skadron left due to conflict of interest.
Jessica Garrow, community development department, reminded Council there is a motion on the table from the November 26th meeting with conditions to add a provision that 1/10 of 1% interest of the rental units be conveyed to the housing office; a 500 square foot cap on the alley commercial space with an exemption for a bike shop; clear language for the energy requirements and for the lease with Wienerstube. Ms. Garrow passed out an amended ordnance containing the above conditions as well as a copy of the lease with the Wienerstube. Ms. Garrow noted the condition on the Wienerstube requires the lease be provided as part of the recording of the ordinance. The lease submitted is a 10 year lease. Ms. Garrow said if the Wienerstube were to leave the space for any reason before the 10 year period, another similar restaurant would be required to fulfill the condition and to guarantee a restaurant.
Ms. Garrow recommended a different condition other than the 500 square foot limitation on alley space. One of these is that the alley space be prohibited from fronting on the alley and on Hyman to insure the alley spaces would be commercial use that would garner a lower rent. Staff prefers this condition rather than the 500 square foot limitation as it prevents a non-compliance issue that could arise if the bike shop leaves. Ms. Garrow pointed out the code has a review for alley commercial space which allows for alley space up to 600 square feet net leasable. The bike shop requires about 1200 square feet and this would be easier to handle.
Stephen Kanipe, chief building official, noted there is a
commitment from the applicant to exceed the energy code by 50%. Kanipe told Council he asked 4 national
energy experts about quantifying the BTU/square foot consumption in new
buildings. Kanipe asked the experts if
there is a defensible number in
Kanipe said there is a DOE link to the target finder, which is where solutions could be introduced. This allows one to enter a zip code, the square footage of the building being used, this then gives a BTU target. Kanipe told Council there is no LEED program for commercial/residential mixed use building. Kanipe passed out a 2030 Challenge which is a nationally recognized carbon reduction approach. Staff looks at this as how the energy code requirements are being exceeded. Kanipe said Target Finder is ahead of the 2030 Challenge program. Kanipe went over how he calculated energy use and energy savings. Kanipe said this program gives what the annual energy use is actually going to be in BTUs/square foot. Kanipe suggested amendments to the ordinance to reference energy star target energy performance result. This will give an apples to apples number to see if this is on line with the target.
Councilman Romero asked if there are other ways to
strengthen the baseline besides the target finder program. Kanipe said it has been agreed that a 50%
improvement in a target, a baseline has not bee established for
Ms. Garrow presented views from the
Stan Clauson, representing the applicants, said they hope
this project is a way of building and using energy that would be useful for the
community in the future. Clauson said
there will be a lot of work with energy consultants so the building will meet
the performance standards. Clauson noted
Council has been provided with a signed copy of the Wienerstube lease and that
they will extend the lease to another entity on the same terms. This is a below market lease. Clauson told Council the applicants looked at
using sub grade space on the suggestion of Councilman Romero. Clauson said with this design, that does not
work mostly because of
Clauson said the affordable housing units are not
substandard and meet all the requirements of the housing guidelines in terms of
size. These are second and third level
units with views toward
Clauson said they feel this building comes close to providing important goals of the Council, affordable commercial, affordable housing downtown, and a design that reflects the intent of the new design guidelines; parking on site is provided.
Mayor
Councilman Romero asked about the mass and scale and trying to meet the design guidelines. Clauson said the original design was a different building and there were issues with the original proposal; the mass and scale. The applicants changed the modularity of the building and introduced the mid-block passage with alley commercial. The mass and scale has been reduced; there are 30 and 60 foot modules. The building changed to meet community goals and to meet the critique of staff and Council. Councilman Romero said there are no baseline data for the energy usage to reference readily. Clauson said they amended the condition of approval regarding the energy usage. Council indicated they wanted a clear target that the building would meet, not about modeling but something measurable to meet or not. Clauson said the applicant will work closely with the building department in modeling various ways to meet the energy target.
Mayor
Mayor
Mayor
Christine Crandall said this building will create a large
shadow on
Charles Cunniffe said this is a nicely designed building but
not for this location; it should be in the commercial core not this transitional
zone. Cunniffee pointed out as
John Provine, partner in the project, noted this project
provides retail close to downtown
Jordan Gerberg told Council he owns a building across the
street which has been placed on the potentially historic buildings. Gerberg pointed out the city’s historic guidelines
say the neighborhood character and the community character are significant
components of preservation of the character of
Toni Kronberg said the Council is charged with approving subdivisions under review criteria. One of those criteria is compliance with AACP goals and in keeping with the existing character and scale of the neighborhood. This building will create a new scale This is the last project to come through under the old guidelines. The city hads a moratorium because projects were not in keeping with the AACP and character. Ms. Kornberg said it is important to protect the uniqueness of town. This building is not in keeping with the community character.
Shawn Gooding, across the street, said he understands
property rights; however, he would like to see a 25% setback to the third floor
so the building does not fully encroach on the street level. Jimmy Marcus said this building is proactive
and interesting in its design. The
building is multi-leveled. Marcus said
change is a part of life and a part of
W. R. Walton said he lives within 250’ of this
building. Walton said 17 buildings have
been built around his house in the last 35 years. This is not the commercial core; it is a C-1
zone; a transition zone. Walton said his
biggest objection is the mass and scale of the building and it will detract
from the neighborhood. Stephen Ferrell,
616 E. Hyman, noted renovating and modernizing the community will improve the
community; however, projects have to be reviewed and approved with the overall
goals of the community in mind. Ferrell
said if people want to preserve their view planes, they should have purchased
those rights; however, the scale and character of this neighborhood will be
changed by this building. Sharon Wright,
Chateau Aspen, said this is a beautiful design; however it is too big and too
massive. Ms. Wright pointed out the
affordable housing units will look directly into the Chateau Aspen, not to
Mayor
Clauson said in order to provide affordable housing and for additional commercial space, there will be change which will impact people’s views and their perception of what they have been used to. Clauson noted this project was started when the size of free market units were reduced and this project responded to these changes. The free market units in this building are smaller than others in the downtown area. This project was submitted before the moratorium. There were changes made to the zoning during the moratorium. There were no changes to zoning parameters that affect this project. Clauson stated everything in this project is consistent with the zoning at the time of application and at the present. Clauson said the C-1 zone is a transitional zone but not between CC and residential but between the CC zone and the mixed use district.
Clauson said there is commercial design review done by the P&Z. Clauson reminded Council the building was re-designed to include a mid-block passage and adding setbacks. Clauson said this building fits the design guidelines. Clauson said there used to be an open space requirement for in front of buildings; the philosophy is changed and the design guidelines require commercial buildings to meet the sidewalks and not have intervening spaces. Clauson said this building meets the streets, meets the design guidelines and meets the zone district requirements. Clauson noted only one 30’ module is a 3 story elevation at the street level.
Mayor
Councilman Johnson noted he reviewed this project last spring under a different set of criteria and he asked legal counsel the parallels between the criteria. Councilman Romero said looking at the commercial design standards, the alleyway commercial, the quantity and categories of affordable housing, the energy modeling and the willingness to participate with the city on energy, the midblock passage, the willingness to limit the commercial spaces to 500 square feet are all positives of the application.
Councilman Romero said this building is not on the list of potentially historic buildings, which is troubling. The impacts on the neighbors for views and for solar shading are negatives. Councilman Romero said he struggles with the below grade use and design. Councilman Romero said the big issue for him is mass, scale, appropriateness with AACP and fit. Councilman Romero noted there is not support from the surrounding neighborhood, which is not on par with other land use applications. Councilman Romero reiterated there are many positives, including the attitude and sensitivity of the applicants. Councilman Romero stated he appreciates this building is under every dimensional measurements. Councilman Romero said the lack of support and the lack of fit are issues that count with him. Councilman Romero said the fit and the AACP are key and almost the first component of subdivision review. Councilman Romero said the fit and acknowledgement of the neighborhood is an important aspect of Council’s review.
Mayor
Councilman Johnson said infill was proposed as a response to the community’s needs for affordable housing, affordable housing downtown, more affordable commercial space, more parking, all of which are community goals from the Aspen Area Community Plan. Councilman Johnson said infill is an idea and outgrowth of the Council trying to balance the community’s goals. Councilman Johnson said for him each application comes down to balances, trade offs and benefits. Councilman Johnson stated this project has a lot of positives. Councilman Johnson agreed this building is larger than surrounding buildings and will have an impact. Councilman Johnson said with the community goals for housing, parking and affordable housing, a building will be large.
Councilman Johnson said the applicant has made representations they intend to abide by the claims they made under the previous review for exception status last spring. Councilman Johnson said that is important to him. Councilman Johnson said the relationship between the square footage devoted to free market relative to square footage for affordable housing in this project is exceptional. Councilman Johnson said the amount of parking is exceptional. Councilman Johnson said the willingness to abide by new guidelines is exceptional. Councilman Johnson noted he is becoming increasingly concerned about projects that offer to provide community benefits that cannot be verified.
Councilman Johnson said he is concerned about context between this and the block across the street, which is nearly complete. Councilman Johnson stated his concerns are about verifying the claims about the community benefits and how to make the project more acceptable to his interpretation of the AACP under the heading of neighborhood compatibility and economic sustainability. Councilman Johnson suggested continuing this so the applicant can consider some of Council’s concerns especially height, scale and mass.
Clauson said the applicants have completely redesigned the project since its original presentation. Clauson told Council the applicants will look at the building to see if they can make modifications to meet some of Council’s objection. Clauson said the building cannot be invisible. Councilman Johnson said Council should get creative with ways to help to get the building near where the community might support it. Councilman Romero agreed Council has discussed partnering opportunities and he would be willing to look at ideas like that.
Councilman Romero moved to continue Ordinance #29, Series of
2007, to January 28, 2008; seconded by Mayor
Councilman Johnson moved to adjourn at 10:55 p.m.; seconded by Councilman Romero. All in favor, motion carried.
Kathryn S. Koch, City Clerk