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TC Minutes 02-23-2021 AVON REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2021 SETUP AS A VIRTUAL MEETING VIA ZOOM DUE TO COVID-19 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The meeting was hosted in a virtual format, using Zoom.us. Mayor Smith Hymes called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. A roll call was taken, and Council members present by video/audio were Lindsay Hardy, Scott Prince, Tamra Underwood, RJ Andrade, Amy Phillips, and Chico Thuon. Also present were Town Manager Eric Heil, Town Attorney Paul Wisor, Chief of Police Greg Daily, Town Engineer Justin Hildreth, Assistant Town Manager and Finance Director Scott Wright, General Government Manager Ineke de Jong, and Town Clerk Brenda Torres. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Video Start Time: 00:00:45 Councilor Underwood requested to pull item 7.2. Updated Avon Brand Guidelines to be discussed at a future Council meeting. Councilor Prince moved to approve the agenda as amended. Councilor Hardy seconded the motion and the motion passed with a vote of 7 to 0. 3. DISCLOSURE OF ANY CONFLICTS OF INTEREST RELATED TO AGENDA ITEMS Video Start Time: 00:03:21 No conflicts of interest were disclosed. Mayor Smith Hymes mentioned Council meeting is Live on Channel Five and Facebook and explained how to participate and provide public comments. She reiterated that Councilors cannot check their digital devices during the meeting and asked the public to provide public comments by Zoom, phone, or email. She expressed that the new website www.engage.avon.org is Live and community members have the opportunity to engage in the conversation on different topics, such as the Tennessee Pass Rail Line Reactivation and access to US Forest Service Roads. She mentioned a full presentation will follow at the next Council meeting. Town Manager Eric Heil briefly showed how to access the website which is a quick button on the top of our homepage, www.avon.org. He explained a quick registration is required to make a public comment in the Guestbook. 4. PUBLIC COMMENT Video Start Time: 00:08:52 Mayor Smith Hymes explained to the public how to participate via video/audio, via telephone, or via email for public comments. No public comments were made. 5. BUSINESS ITEMS 5.1. PRESENTATION: EAGLE VALLEY LAND TRUST PARTNERSHIP AND UPDATE ON LAST SUMMER'S PROGRAMS ON THE WEST AVON PRESERVE (OLIVER SKELLY, COMMUNITY CONSERVATION COORDINATOR AT THE EAGLE VALLEY LAND TRUST) Video Start Time: 00:09:33 Oliver Skelly, the Community Conservation Coordinator at the Eagle Valley Land Trust, joined the meeting and presented. AVON REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2021 SETUP AS A VIRTUAL MEETING VIA ZOOM DUE TO COVID-19 He mentioned the focus now is on getting trail ambassadors to encounter people during the busy hiking times to make it clear on why it is important to stay off these trails at this time. Mayor Smith Hymes asked for public comments and no public comments were made. Council expressed they appreciate the update and the partnership. 5.2. PROCLAMATION: ONE BOOK ONE VALLEY (OBOV) 2021 (LORI A. BARNES, DIRECTOR OF LIBRARY SERVICES FOR TOWN OF VAIL) Video Start Time: 00 :25:44 Lori A. Barnes with the Vail Public Library joined the meeting. She expressed this year is a special year as it is the tenth anniversary of the One Book One Valley initiative and they received the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read grant. She spoke about this year's book, LAB Girl by Hope Jahren. She said the author is virtually coming to the Valley in April 17th and mentioned OBOV is one of eight organizations nationwide reading this book. Council congratulated her on getting this grant and being part of a national and nationwide author event. Mayor Smith Hymes read the official proclamation for One Book One Valley 2021. 5.3. NOTICE OF AWARD RECREATION CENTER LOCKER ROOM REMODEL PROJECT (TOWN ENGINEER JUSTIN HILDRETH) Video Start Time: 00:34:28 Town Engineer Justin Hildreth joined the meeting and presented the notice of award. He spoke about the cost implications of the better product. Councilor Prince asked if the bid includes sufficient "replacement product" so parts can be replaced in 15-20 years when this particular product may not be in production anymore. Town Engineer Justin Hildreth explained the bid includes some but not enough replacement parts to last a 15-20 year life. Mayor Pro Tem expressed concern with the materials, life span and the replacement plan, and she wondered what the eco-friendly nature of this product is. Councilor Hardy echoed Mayor Pro Tem Phillips’ comments and expressed concern with downsizing the number of lockers, especially with a potential future expansion. Councilor Thuon suggested the current lockers be recycled, perhaps for use on the Nottingham Beach for locker storage, instead of ending up in the landfill. Councilor Underwood discussed the timeline. Mayor Smith Hymes asked to plan ahead on what we are doing with the old lockers, so they do not go to the landfill. Councilor Prince did some research at that moment and found out that this is not a new product and mentioned he did not find anything about the environmental impact. Town Engineering will find these answers for Council. Mayor Smith Hymes asked for public comments and no public comments were made. Councilor Underwood moved to continue this item to the March 9th meeting. Councilor Hardy seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. AVON REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2021 SETUP AS A VIRTUAL MEETING VIA ZOOM DUE TO COVID-19 5.4. DISCUSSION WALMART REUSABLE PLASTIC BAGS (INTERN EMILY MYLER) Video Start Time: 00:55:01 Intern Emily Myler was unable to attend as she was attending a class. General Government Manager Ineke de Jong introduced the topic. Mayor Pro Tem Phillips wondered if the public would actually reuse these bags. Councilor Andrade and Councilor Hardy mentioned they had felt/touched the product earlier this week and expressed that it feels like a thicker version of the formerly-used plastic bag. Councilor Thuon expressed this product is a "wolf in sheep's clothing" and allowing this product would be going backwards on all efforts made to date to protect the environment. Councilor Prince expressed we made tremendous progress, but the market found a loophole in our Ordinance. He said he is supportive of opening up a public process to look at our Code, but this needs to be consistent throughout the valley. Mayor Smith Hymes expressed our community has made progress and changed behavior and this product will be perceived as a disposable bag and we would be moving backwards. She wanted to state that the bag Ordinance was not intended to be a revenue generator, but an incentive to change behavior. Mayor Smith Hymes asked for public comments and no public comments were made. Mayor Smith Hymes took a poll and the majority of Council was supportive to rework the Ordinance to close this loophole. Staff will craft a new Ordinance and bring it back to Council at a future meeting. 5.5.WORK SESSION: REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF QUASI-JUDICIAL HEARINGS (TOWN ATTORNEY PAUL WISOR) Video Start Time: 01:24:06 Town Attorney Paul Wisor took Council through a presentation with information on Quasi- Judicial Hearings. Councilor Prince asked what the timing is in order to become part of a public record. Town Attorney Paul Wisor explained the is not really a timeline and Staff would notify Council when a public comment has been submitted prior to a Council meeting to be part of the record . Mayor Smith Hymes asked when a Public Hearing starts and ends. Councilor Prince suggested to add this information in the New Council presentation every two years . Councilor Hardy asked Town Attorney Paul Wisor to explain the Finding and Conditions concept and encouraged Council to attend Planning and Zoning meetings to see how their process is. Town Attorney Paul Wisor asked Council to not make any comment if they attend these Hearings as they are supposed to be unbiased. 6. MINUTES 6.1. APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY 9, 2021 REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES (TOWN CLERK BRENDA TORRES) Video Start Time: 01:51:18 Councilor Underwood requested 3 small changes which Town Clerk Brenda Torres incorporated earlier: on item 3, very last line to add the word “property”. On item 8, to add “of the NWCCOG second homes report”, and item 9.3 to be crossed out as it was pulled out from the agenda. AVON REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2021 SETUP AS A VIRTUAL MEETING VIA ZOOM DUE TO COVID-19 Councilor Underwood moved to approve the February 9, 2021 Regular Meeting Minutes with the three changes described. Mayor Pro Tem Phillips seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. 7. WRITTEN REPORTS 7.1. February 2nd Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Abstract (Planner David McWilliams) 7.2. Updated Avon Brand Guidelines (Communications Manager Elizabeth Wood) 7.3. Capital Improvement Plan Projects 2018-2019-2020 (Town Engineer Justin Hildreth) 7.4. Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority Jan 28, 2021 Meeting Summary (Mayor Smith Hymes) 7.5. Update on Temporary & Permanent Art Installations (CASE Manager Danita Dempsey) 8. MAYOR AND COUNCIL MOMMENTS & MEETING UPDATES Video Start Time: 01:53:52 Councilor Thuon wanted to get the word out and reiterate that getting the COVID-19 vaccine lessens the severity of the illness, but you can still get sick, and should continue to follow protocols including wearing a mask. Secondly, he would like staff to address the manhole covers in overlays, and probably put this topic on a future agenda. Thirdly, he would like to guide staff to follow up with the people in Wildwood about deed restricted properties, he expressed that residents want to know what happened since COVID- 19 started. Fourthly, he was invited to a mask-free meeting about the recall election and he wanted to disclose he is attending that meeting to listen to people, wearing double-mask. Mayor Smith Hymes expressed that it is great that Councilor Thuon shared/disclosed this. Mayor Pro Tem Phillips thanked Councilor Thuon for attending that meeting with open ears and two masks. She commented she attended a Zoom meeting with Colorado Representative Neguse's staff and there was a dialogue about infrastructure projects in our region. The takeaway was safety on existing roads including widening roads to provide bike lanes and shoulders. She said that other important topics discussed were the DC charging stations, multi-modal transit, and the expansion of Pegasus ('baby bustang'). Mayor Smith Hymes reported she attended the Climate Action Collaborative (CAC) quarterly meeting last Monday and that the annual report is ready and will be made available electronically. She mentioned the CAC added water, carbon sequestration and resiliency as working groups, which was missing from the original action committees. She spoke about a presentation on innovations and solutions and said that there are things that the Town can implement immediately. Secondly, she mentioned that the contractor is mobilizing this week to start the demo of former Town Hall. She expressed the hope is to save the beautiful and mature trees surrounding the building however the asbestos mitigation team is required to dig 12 ft deep in the foundation which requires taking down a lot of the big trees, she wanted the public and Council to be prepared for this. 9. EXECUTIVE SESSION Video Start Time: 02:08:29 9.1. FOR PERSONNEL MATTERS PURSUANT TO SEC. 24-6-402(4)(F) REGARDING THE ANNUAL TOWN MANAGER PERFORMANCE EVALUATION PROCESS. AVON REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2021 SETUP AS A VIRTUAL MEETING VIA ZOOM DUE TO COVID-19 Mayor Smith Hymes asked for a motion to go into Executive Session for the reasons listed under 9.1. She expressed that no decisions will be made. Councilor Prince moved to go into Executive Session. Mayor Pro Tem Phillips seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. The time was 7:09 p.m. The Executive Session started at 7:13 p.m. The Executive Session ended at 8:06 p.m. 10. ADJOURN There being no further business before Council, Mayor Smith Hymes moved to adjourn the regular meeting. The time was 8:06 p.m. These minutes are only a summary of the proceedings of the meeting. They are not intended to be comprehensive or to include each statement, person speaking or to portray with complete accuracy. The most accurate records of the meeting are the audio of the meeting, which is housed in the Town Clerk' s office, and the video of the meeting, which is available at www.highfivemedia.org. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: Brenda Torres, Town Clerk APPROVED: Sarah Smith Hymes ___________________________________ Amy Phillips Chico Thuon Scott Prince Tamra Underwood Lindsay Hardy RJ Andrade