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HomeMy WebLinkAboutwork.session.mtg.mins.01132004MINUTES OF PITKIN COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORK SESSION DATED JANUARY 13, 2004 ? MINUTES OF WORK SESSION ApD~O\!ED BY BOCC Date: January 13, 2004 Meeting Start Time: 12:10p~{~q /- ~1~'- ~t/ __ Commissioners present: [] Jack Hatfield [] Dorothea Farris Michael Ireland Shellie Roy Patti Clapper Commissioners not present: [] Jack Hatfield [] Dorothea Farris [] Michael Ireland Shellie Roy Patti Clapper WORK SESSION ITEM: Basalt Library Request, James Brundage STAFF DIRECTION: James Brundage reported on the status of Basalt Library District's thnd drive, indicating that the library has collected $15,000 of the $30,000 needed tbr operating costs this year to avoid closing the library one day a week. Both Eagle County and the Town of Basalt contributed $5000 each. Discussion ensued. The Board requested input £rom staff on why any savings in last year's discretionary fund are not carried tbrward and whether there is any other source to thnd a $2500 contribution other than this year's discretionary fund, such as unapprolSriated thnds f~om last year. The Board committed to fund $2500, even if the source is 2004 discretionary funds and the source will be determined next week. The Board also directed that a letter be sent committing to the $2500, but as a one-time contribution only. WORK SESSION ITEM: Memos of Interest STAFF DIRECTION: 1. Spellbinders Letter - informational only, no direction needed. 2. Community Relations/Volunteer Board PR Campaign, Nan Sundeen. The Board was unwilling to move forward with the proposal as written. Discussion ensued about whether it is a challenge and why people are not applying. The Board requested a list of what the openings are currently and why there is a problem getting volunteers, as well as what boards we have, what they do, and whether the boards are required by charter, statute, or otherwise. Commissioner Hatfield suggested an open house such as occurred in Snowmass, but the BOCC wanted the requested information before making a decision on how to tackle the issue. The Board directed that a work session be scheduled to further discuss the issue. WORK SESSION ITEM: Future Agendas/Agenda Requests STAFF DIRECTION: I. Joint Meeting with Snowmass Village and OSTB, Feb 2d is retreat, so staff was directed to reschedule. 2. Letters to valley governments for annual meeting? Yes, send letters and start scheduling. Have Commissioner Farris check the letters before they go out. 3. Child family presentation: Commissioner Hatfield will attend and talk to Shannon Meyer about transportation. 4. Commissioner Roy will attend the CCI legislative reception on 1/22/04 in Denver. 5. Emissions meeting needs to be scheduled. If there is an MOI update, BOCC requests it as soon as possible as an MOI. 6. Executive session on 1/20 is for personnel. Commissioner Hatfield has requested a litigation update from John Ely for that meeting as well. Staff was directed to work with Commissioner Farris and the attorney's office to add additional time if the attorney's office has need to discuss other items in executive session. 7. Staffwas requested to confirm with Commissioner Ireland whether he will attend the 1/27 session on Little Cloud. 8. Clarify the 1/28 agenda on the Stillwater item: it appears twice on 1/28. 9. On 2/I 1 agenda item on the Collins land use item, Corn/nissioner Hatfield indicated he would f¥Ilow up on the promised memorandum on the water issue from Tim Beaton. WORK SESSION ITEM: Open Discussion STAFF DIRECTION: 1. Board appointments tbr Vice-Chair and Grassroots Board. The Board determined that Commissioner Roy should be vice-chair. Grassroots will be discussed further tomorrow, perhaps having a Commissioner as a liaison rather than a board member. 2. Mag Chloride discussion-Commissioner Hatiield expressed concern about RFTA bus-life being shortened by the use of Mag Chloride. The Board requested a letter to CDOT requesting a justification for the increased use of Mag Chloride, and a written response. There was also discussion on CDOT's noise barriers, including concerns of cost arid appearance. Commissioner Roy agreed to discuss these concerns at CCI. 3. Commissioner Hatfield requested copies of the RS2477 documents for the subcommittee meeting this Friday. 4. Commissioner Farris updated the Board on a meeting concerning the Redstone Castle, followed by a meeting of the historic group. They requested a GIS map showing the Castle boundaries and all the applicable zone districts, with an explanation of what the zone districts mean. The Board directed staff to obtain the needed information, working through Cindy Houben. 5. The BOCC directed a letter of congratulations to Russell George. 6. Commissioner Roy reported on the Colorado 100 meeting last week, 67 people attended and unanimously agreed that TABOR needs to be amended, including addressing a RETT. There was less agreement on what to do with Gallag~her, other than further educating the public. WORK SESSION ITEM: Board Membership Reports STAFF DIRECTION: 1. Roaring Fork Transit Authority-Commissioner Farris indicated that RFTA will be splitting with Pitkin County, with staffto provide monthly reports on actual costs so that RFTA remains aware of actual costs. There was insufficient time for further Board membership reports. WORK SESSION ITEM: GIS Update, Mary Lackner STAFF DIRECTION: Bridgette Kelly, Mary Lackner, and Tyler Lambuth presented, beginning with introductions and an explanation of individual job responsibilities. Examples of aerial photography were pi'esented. There will be two foot contours for Redstone, needed for floodplain mapping, and 10 foot contours for the rest of the County. Commissioner Clapper joined the meeting at 1:40 pm. Mary Lackner demonstated the capabilities of the GIS data. The aerials have also shown problems with the GIS parcel layer, some of which can be fixed. GIS is not survey accurate, and all maps produced by GIS include disclaimers. Commissioner Farris suggested that this mapping can show where roads are, to analyze RS2477 possibilities. Areas of the County that were not photographed this time are included in USGS aerial photos fi:om 1990, which GIS can access. Bridgette Kelly demonstrated GISMO on the web. Discussion ensued about upkeep, accuracy, and backup information on other layers not shown on GISMO. Upcoming and ongoing projects include making the adjustments necessary from the aerial photography, revising communications with Assessor's office to increase efficiency, and mapping support for county departments. Commissioner Haffield indicated there may be zoning changes this year based on the master plans. Mary 2 [Sackne~ indicated that the data will be switched to a new format that will create efficiencies within the department. Commissioner Farris asked if zoning could be added to the public GISMO, and was advised that is possible. The public can already request that information from the GIS department. Commissioner Ireland joined the meeting at 2:15 pm. Commissioner Ireland asked when information would be available on disk. Ms. Lackner indicated that it would not be, but that the information is accessible through the local intranet. He inquired about updating information with surveys, and was told that is possible. WORK SESSION ITEM: Legislative Update, Debbie Quinn STAFF DIRECTION: Debbie Quiun in£ormed the Board that the Legislature opened last Wednesday and over 300 bills have been introduced already. Ms. Quiun discussed that the legislative update schedule will be coordinated with the CCI meeting schedule and asked the Board's direction on how to t/andle legislative requests that arise between the updates that are on the BOCC agenda. Commissioner Farris wanted to reduce the number of e-mail requests for~varded directly to the Commissioners. The Board agreed that the form Ms. Quinn produced was a good way to handle requests that come from staff and asked that we add a line at the bottom for BOCC response. Commissioner Roy thought that the form will help staffto condense the information so she can articulate impacts to the County at CCI meetings. The Board discussed how to handle urgent requests. It was suggested that the Chair take a position, if she knows the Board's position, and/or poll Commissioners. Ms. Quinn outlined hot issues that she will bring to the Board's attention in future updates as the following: anything that affects County powers or imposes additional duties, any ~vater bills, election or voting changes, transportation, and any tax proposals. The Board stated their positions on pending legislation: HB1024, Mail in ballot postage - Needed more information on ho~v return postage is collected. Monitor. FIB 1001, Restoration of senior property tax exemption - Support, but keep the 10 year limit. HB 1004, Protection of child library lnternet users - Oppose, local issue. HB 1021, Reduce Blood-alcohol level to .08 for DUI - Support, necessary for federal funding. HB 1040, Basin of Origin Mitigation - QQ will be tracking water bills. Support. HB 1043, Standards for Court Redistricting Cases- Oppose. HB 1049, Child Care Assistance - Unfunded mandate (subject to funds allocated by county) State should not be able to shift the funding burden to counties - Monitor. HB 1051, Common interest community- Support. HB 1056, Residential Expense Assistance for Seniors - raises the threshold after which you don't qualify for assistance. Commissioner Farris wanted to address the problem of energy companies charging too much. Commissioner Roy suggested there were lots of assistance program and maybe pass through money was available. Commissioner Clapper asked to bring cost of living into formula - Monitor. HB 1063, Use of cell phones in motor vehicles illegal - Oppose. HB 1085, Civil Unions - Support. HB I091, Denver Aquifer - We will monitor all water bills - Support HB 1099, Salary Publication - Support not using names, try to amend to authorize web publication with notice in newspaper. HB 1106, Discretionary sentencing for non-violent crimes - Gives judges back some discretion on drug crimes - Support. 3 HB l 113, Motor vehicle law requiring titled ATVs and snowmobiles - Support. HB I 120, Enforceable Master Plans - would allow BOCC to adopt, modify or reject master plans. Final decision to BOCC not P&Z - Monitor, get John Ely and Cindy Houben's advice. House Resolutions 1001, 1002, 1003: BOCC directed Commissioner Roy to follow BOCC goals o f protecting funding for education, keeping vote on new taxes, but fixing the ratcheting effect of TABOR, allowing a real estate transfer tax, and fixing Gatlagher- Monitor this and ali the other tax bills to be introduced. SB 01, Business personal property exempt - need to know impact on County - Probably oppose. SB 13, Senate to confirm water board memberships appointed by Governor - Monitor. See what QQ recommends. SB 27, Recodification of motor vehicle code - Monitor. SB 32, Permitting loans of agricultural water irrigation rights - Support. SB 39, Change voting rights status of the Director of Natural Resource from voting to non-voting on CWCB Oppose. SB 43, Allow unaffiliated electors to vote in primaries - get feedback from County Clerk. Commissioner keland cautioned that this could allow manipulation. SB 55, Require hate crime training for peace officers - get feedback from Sheriff and Police Chief. SB 59, Possessory interest bill - get feedback fr6m Assessor. SB 79, Road side memorials on public highways, limits fee to County to $ I 0 - Oppose. SB 89, Affordable housing procurement, trailer park right of first refusal - Monitor. Commissioner Ireland discussed Rippy's bill last year entitled "New Construction Defect Act" which limits damages for defective construction and how it would impact county construction. WORK SESSION ITEM: Limited Service Level Road Discussion, Temple Glassier STAFF DIRECTION: Temple Glassier indicated that the issue came up at a caucus meeting, and the BOCC had requested an update on our maintenance classifications. The limited classification applies to roads in the Rural Remote zone districts. The low classification would permit plowing, and was added at the request of the agricultural community. Commissioner Farris asked if there are roads that should be changed from low to limited and thought Prince Creek was an example. Commissioner Roy indicated that the Castle/Maroon Caucus wanted to know if the classifications could be changed, and Temple was directed to send the Agenda Item Summary to the caucus. Discussion ensued about changes in classification. The BOCC was satisfied with the existing classifications and standards, and the practice of reviewing the classifications every two years. The next review will occur in 2005. Continued Open Discussion: The BOCC discussed magnesium chloride with Brian Pettet and Bud Eylar, and requested that Brian work With Debbie Quinn to prepare the letter for CDOT. WORK SESSION ITEM: Elected Officials Transportation Committee Meeting Preparation, Brian Pettet STAFF DIRECTION: Commissioner Clapper requested that staff determine what happened to any unused funding on the Country Inn taxi service. Discussion ensued about Maroon Creek Bridge funding, and eligibility for reimbursement. Bud was directed to check with Alice Hubbard and Roger Millar about information they provided to RFTA about local matching. The BOCC determined to go forward with the funding regardless or reimbursement or matching. Eylar explained that the specific request will be for $1 million which Karen Rowe will attempt to get reimbursed from federal discretionary funds; or fund the entire design at $1.5 to $1.6 million, so that the request for discretionary funding could all go for transportation. Bud recommended the full funding, and the BOCC agreed with that direction. Commissioner Clapper volunteered to discuss the amendment of EPA rules when she is in Washington next month. 4 Commi~ssioner Hatfield expressed concern about the constantly changing costs of the hybrid buses. Commissioner Ireland questioned how powerful they were, and was advised that Kenny Osier opined that these buses were capable ofhandling any of RFTA's routes efficiently. Bi:ian requested that County staff be included in providing input on which hybrid bus to buy. The BOCC agreed to support two, but needs to be convinced of capability before agreeing to support purchase of four. Tom Oken advised the BOCC that even ifRFTA splits from the County, the County could still provide bonding authority. The issue was RFTA's ability to pay the debt service, and Tom advised that RFTA will have a drop in their debt service in three years and could absorb this new debt, and that RFTA could use CASTA grant funds also. Oken expressed concern that there is no capital plan for the future, other than an existing dismal one, and how much subsidy would be needed from EOTC in the future. He indicated that Blankenship felt there could not be both continuing existing service levels and a-viable capital plan without EOTC funding. Commissioner Ireland £elt no commitments should be made until RFTA produces a viable long-range capital plan that includes facilities, and until EOTC also has a long range plan for its funds. There was discussion about matching federal £unds for the bridge, and how much EOTC should set aside for the bridge replacement. There was also discussion of the $7 million EOTC obligation to the Town of Snowmass Village. Commissioner Ireland suggested that no further requests for funding be entertained until both EOTC and RFTA have long range plans, and that there be a subcommittee to develop these plans. The full EOTC needs to prioritize its needs. The BOCC directed Quinn to assist in preparation ora resolution for EOTC consideration and send it to Tom Oken, Brian Pettet, and all the BOCC members for revie~v, it should include the current funding requests except those relating to the bridge and the hybrid buses. Discussion ensued on the Brush Creek Park and Ride Site expansion and whether there is any commitment yet for 2005 X-games. Commissioner Hatfield indicated that the expansion request is hiding the fact that it is mitigation for Snowmass growth. This request needs to be included in the overall long term plan for EOTC funds. On the Brush Creek/Holy Cross issue, there was discussion about FAA approvals and whether the transmission line comes from the AABC. On Aspen Mass, there was discussion about whether or not EOTC should buy it. The Board determined that resolution of this issue is also one that needs to wait for an EOTC long term plan. Tom Oken requested that the BOCC advise the EOTC of his opinion that the RFTA split will cost RFTA $100- 150,000 more per year, and will also cost the County a similar amount. The BOCC agreed to do that. The BOCC still wants the legal opinion from Jolm Ely on the separate entity issue that RFTA is using to justify its split. Adjourned at: 5:10 pm. Prepared by: · ~ Fl~]her Smith, County Manager Debbie Quinn, Assistant County Manager Respectfully submitted: Silvia Davis, Clerk and Recorder 5