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FINAL CASE Committee Meeting Minutes 8-15-24CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, AUGUST 15TH, 2024 IN PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, 20 JUNE 2024 PAGE 1 | 4 1. ROLL CALL Present: Town Councilors Ruth Stanley and Lindsay Hardy, Committee Members Kerri Thelen, Thomas Walsh, Danielle McNair, Calyn Reiger, and Pedro Campos, Board Members from the Vail Valley Art Guild (VVAG) Tara Novak and Christine Sena Staff: Culture, Arts & Special Events Manager Danita Dempsey, Senior Special Events Coordinator Chelsea Van Winkle, Special Events Coordinator Mike Pasquarella, General Government Intern Arnell Wade, and Town Manager Eric Heil Absent: Committee Chair Justin Chesney Online: VVAG Board President Melissa Macdonald The meeting was called to order at 12:33 p.m. 2. PUBLIC COMMENT No public comments were made. 3. MINUTES Committee Member Reiger motioned to approve the minutes from June 20, 2024. Committee Member Walsh seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. 4. STAFF UPDATE CASE Manager Dempsey presented the Salute to the USA Recap video to the CASE Committee stating that the project was led by Communications Manager, Liz Wood. CASE Manager Dempsey also mentioned that the mural is complete named “Queen of the Valley” | “Reina del Valle”. CASE Manager Dempsey mentioned that the NEA Grant application has been submitted and hopefully in April of 2025 we receive this grant of up to $50,000 for the culture and arts strategic plan. CASE Manager Dempsey mentioned that the first draft of the proposed budget for 2025 has been entered for consideration with approximately a 3% increase year over 2024 adopted. CASE Manager Dempsey introduced General Government Intern Arnell Wade to present the proposed change to the dog ordinance that Town Manager Eric Heil tasked him with. General Government Intern Wade presented the current/existing language as well as the proposed new language of the ordinance which can be viewed within the meeting packet materials. Town Manager Heil thanked Arnell for his work on this and mentioned that the ordinance change is designed to give the Town flexibility around dogs at special events. He mentioned that there are some events where dogs would not be appropriate, and that would be up to his discretion in collaboration with town staff. The Committee commented/inquired: A. Do we need to add something that says we have the ultimate discretion around dogs at specific events? CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, AUGUST 15TH, 2024 IN PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, 20 JUNE 2024 PAGE 2 | 4 B. Have there been any problems this season or last season with dogs at events? C. From a branding standpoint, it is important to let the community know about this change. Town Manager Heil mentioned that this proposed language is not final and is intended to provide us with flexibility to make decisions as needed. CASE Manager Dempsey responded that there have not been issues this year or last year. She mentions that we have tried to be accommodating by creating dog friendly areas so those that are allergic, scared of dogs, etc. do not have to interact with the dogs. Several committee members mentioned that was a good point and informing the community about this is important. Language around well-behaved dogs and leashed will be added to this proposed ordinance update. 351 BUILDING SUMMARY & CONCEPTS: CASE Manager Dempsey presented the 351 Old Fire Station conceptual uses information. These concepts are in front of this committee first and then will be brought to other citizen committees before being presented to the council. These are just draft concepts, and they could change. She asks the group not to focus too much on the concepts, but rather the entire project. The report surrounding this proposed concept can be found within the meeting packet materials. CASE Manager Dempsey notes the history of the project and mentioned that the Avon Pavilion was built 10 years ago, and this makes sense timing wise that we are looking to expand our spaces. Case Manager Dempsey mentions the partnership with the VVAG, and how some of these spaces may serve that organization in the future. Currently they are located here in Avon along the Main Street Mall. CASE Manager Dempsey encourages committee members to visit the location and to do an art activity. Town Manager Heil asks the committee if they have had a chance to walk through the old fire station. It is split between the committee members if they have been on a tour or not. He mentions the Art Spot in Silverthorne and how they renovated an old firehouse into their art spaces. This model has been one we’ve used to build our plan. Next steps include receiving funding (NEA Grant), and then contracting with an architect to come in and assist with the development of the building. The more we can keep those costs down the better it will be for incoming artists in that space. The architect will help us to look at all the different ideas and programming and determine what is viable, and what needs to be done to the building to make other ideas/programming viable. Town Manager Heil gives a brief overview of the potential timeline of this project. 2025 the architect will be brought in, 2026 grants will be applied for, and hopefully in 2027 we can put the budget for the renovations into the Capital Improvement Plan. Melissa from VVAG mentioned that their space on the Main Street Mall is great, but that they have already outgrown it. They would be open to a phased project that would potentially allow them to move in sooner. Town Manager Heil mentioned that the biggest issue is safety, and we will need to ensure that fire suppression and other aspects are handled before occupancy. Melissa mentions that there isn’t much “funky” architecture in Avon, and she hopes that the architects keep that in mind when designing this space. CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, AUGUST 15TH, 2024 IN PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, 20 JUNE 2024 PAGE 3 | 4 PEER COMMUNITY SITE VISITS: CASE Manager Dempsey begins to present the peer community visit report as well as some pictures of the old fire station as it exists now. These materials can be found within the committee meeting packet. The Committee commented/inquired: A. VVAG President Melissa mentions the different revenue/income streams that could come from the renovation of the Old Fire Station. B. Town Manager Heil mentioned that we have about a 4-acre plot that is in the east core that could be a potential location for an art space as well in the future. He says this to bring up the fact that we don’t have to fit everything into the Old Fire Station as there are other opportunities for growth. C. Committee member Thelen mentions that Avon sometimes feels disjointed, and that this opportunity could be a great way to present a funky art walk that could tie the town together. D. Town Manager Heil asks everyone to bullet point everything they think could be great for this community, as well as bullet point everything that could generate revenue. In 2025 we can comb through all of this and decide what/may work in the final space. E. Committee Member McNair mentioned that Carbondale faced some challenges from getting too big too quickly. We should all keep these potential challenges in mind when building our plan out. They renovated an old post office for their art space. F. VVAG Board member Tara brings up the potential synergy of this space with the rest of the park and within the rest of Avon. G. CASE Manager Dempsey mentioned that the authentic needs of our community will be the driving force behind the programming and decision making for this project. She mentioned how in Grand Lake they really focused on what programming resonated with the community to determine space and programming. H. VVAG Board members Tara, Christine, and Melissa mentioned different needs within our community that they have either noticed themselves or have been brought to their attention through serving on the VVAG board. I. VVAG Board members mention the art/jazz show at the CMC campus in Edwards is on September 20th and request the committee to register to attend to come check it all out. There is food, drink, entertainment, and art on display. J. CASE Manager Dempsey opens the floor for further comment from the committee: -Committee member Reiger mentioned that he is happy with the direction things are headed but would like to move quickly to keep artists in this valley. -VVAG Board member Christine talks about her time in DC and how an old torpedo factory she visited offered art classes and studio spaces near where she lived. She mentioned it had a very similar business model to what we are proposing. She mentioned that it made her think of how important these spaces are to communities like ours. She talked about how this building sparked commerce in different industries around this space. It created a spark that rejuvenated this community’s micro economy. -Town Councilor Hardy mentions that she is excited for the endless possibilities and talks about the 11th street revitalization of Durango. They turned an old Conoco into a Food Truck hub that had similar implications to the economy as previously discussed. -Committee member McNair mentioned that the timeline is likely longer than we wish for it to be, but this space is so important for our community. She mentioned that Silverthorne started with the art building and look at everything that was built around it. The Town grew, and art was the start of it. CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, AUGUST 15TH, 2024 IN PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, 20 JUNE 2024 PAGE 4 | 4 -Committee Vice Chair Campos offers his full support. He is very excited for this possibility. He mentions the location is ideal in regard to the rest of the Town’s assets and will help the community build even more around it. He mentions that there is not a Point of Sale to purchase a sandwich, coffee, etc. on this side of town and that the proposed coffee shop within the Old Fire Station would be the first piece of commerce in this area of town. -Committee member Walsh mentioned that he is excited about this opportunity but wants to advocate for the performing arts. He mentions that he has heard from some community members about the need for performance space and asks the committee to explore that option as well. -VVAG Board member Tara mentions that culinary is another art that we should not overlook. She thanks the committee for their hard work on this and that this has been her dream for a long time. She has always been an artist and has been in this community for a long time. She appreciates the hard work and ideas that have been brought to this initiative. -Committee member Thelen mentions that this is a great way to connect the arts to our current events schedule. She wants us to be mindful of our programming, and that we could bring a lot of energy to that area. -Town Councilor Ruth Stanley mentioned that she is all for it and is looking forward to the Council work session regarding this project. -Town Manager Heil mentioned that we have some town engineers working on a lot of projects, and that this may take longer than expected because of the workload that already exists. -VVAG Board President Melissa mentioned that there is an opportunity to offer programming to a large part of our community by offering programming targeted towards the Hispanic community here in Avon. -Town Manager Heil explains the Downtown Development Authority and their involvement in this. FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS: CASE Manager Dempsey replied: 5. CLOSING COMMENTS There were a few comments surrounding next steps, and CASE Manager Dempsey notes the upcoming presentations of this project to P&Z, DDA, Health & Rec, and finally Town Council. CASE Manager Dempsey shares the timelapse video of the mural at the Avon Elementary School. 6. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at __1:57___ p.m. Respectfully submitted by: Mike Pasquarella Special Events Coordinator