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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES Town Board 2024-11-12Town ofEstes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, November 12, 2024 Minutes of a Regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Mleeting held in the Town Hall in said Town of Estes Park on the 12th day of November, 2024. Present: Gary Hall, Mayor Marie Cenac, Mayor Pro Tem Trustees Bill Brown Kirby Hazelton Mark Igel Frank Lancaster CindyYounglund Also Present: Travis Machalek, Town Administrator Jason Damweber, Deputy Town Administrator Dan Kramer, Town Attorney Jackie Williamson, Town Clerk Absent: None Mayor Hall called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. and all desiring to do so, recited the Pledge of Allegiance. AGENDA APPROVAL. It was moved and seconded (Hazelton/Younglund) to approve the Agenda, and it passed unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENTS. John Guffey/Town resident commented on Ordinance 17-24 to modify the planned unit development (PUD) regulations and requested the Board vote "No" on commercial expansion. Becky Robbins/Town resident reviewed suggestions from the Estes Valley Short-Term Rental Alliance regarding hosted short-term rental including adopting the Larimer County definition, a separate category, allow multiple parties, no cap, eliminate the workforce housing regulatory linkage fee, the flexibility to rent a room, and the ability to rent when and how the homeowner chases. Liz Mulhern/Town resident thanked the Board for the hosted short-term rental discussion and their willingness to work with the homeowners. Fritz Sampson/Town resident reviewed his letter included as public comment. He questioned why the Board passed Ordinance 11-24 regarding bed and breakfasts if they were not going to allow it to take effect and determine its impact before making additional changes. TRUSTEE COMMENTS. Board comments were heard and have been summarized: attended the Veteran's Day memorial celebration to honor those that served our country; thanked staff for the Cleave Street construction update meeting; attended the retirement of Chris Bieker and Ron Duell who served the community at Upper Thompson Sanitation for decades; the Regional Opioid Abatement Council continues to work on 2025 commitments and allocate funding from additional judgements; Visit Estes Park announced Rachel Oppermann as the new Marketing Director and Papae Litchfield as Communications Manager; the Estes Valley Library partnered with Restorative Justice during the month of October for Conflict Resolution month with the screening of Undivide Us; encouraged citizens to become election judges by contacting the Larimer County Elections Office; the Economic Development Workforce Council adopted their operating plan; noted Restorative Justice provided mediation with Coffee on the Rocks and the neighboring condominium to Board of Trustees - November 12, 2024 - Page 2 address noise issues; and encouraged residents to complete two surveys from the Transportation Advisory Board that address the transit development plan and multimodal plan. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR REPORT. Town Administrator Machalek commented on a recent issue with a Trustee inadvertently removing themselves from the group email account trustees@estes.orci which emails all trustees. He noted the Trustee was readded to the email group once it was determined. CONSENT AGENDA: 1. Bills. 2. Town Board Budget Study Session Minutes dated October 9, 2024 and Town Board Meeting and Study Session Minutes dated October 22, 2024. 3. Transportation Advisory Board Minutes dated September 18, 2024 (acknowledgment only) It was moved and seconded (Igel/Younglund) to approve the Consent Agenda,and it passed unanimously. ACTION ITEMS: 1. PUBLIC HEARING - 2025 PROPOSED BUDGET. Mayor Hall reopened the public hearing. Director Hudson stated this is the second meeting to review the 2025 operating budget and 2025 capital improvement plan. He noted that an additional $6,000 was added to fund the Arts District for a total of $21,000 in 2025. He restated the proposed budget presented for 2025 would meet the 25% reserve policy of the Board with a total budget of $92 million. Town Administrator stated the Town would not run at a deficit in 2025, rather fund balance would be spent to complete projects. After further comments, the Mayor closed the public hearing. It was moved and seconded (Younglund/Cenac) to approve the Highway User's Trust Fund for expenditures for striping, snow plowing, traffic signs, street lights, and other related road and street costs as proposed for 2025, and it passed unanimously. It was moved and seconded (Hazelton/Brown) to approve Resolutions 80-24 to set the mill levy, 81-24 to adopt the 2025 budget, and 82-24 to appropriate sums of money for 2025, and it passed unanimously. It was moved and seconded (Younglund/Hazelton) to approve the Capital Improvements Plan for 2025-2029, and it passed unanimously. 2. LETTER O^LNTENrj'Q PARTICIPATE IN LARIMER COUNTY'S HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN UPDATE. Town Administrator Machalek stated the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 require a Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) for a jurisdiction to qualify for Federal Hazard Mitigation grant funds. The Town participated in Larimer County's 2021 update to the Larimer County Hazard Mitigation Plan, which expires in 2025. Larimer County has informed the Town that they are slated to be awarded grant funding by FEMA to update the current multi-jurisdictional HMP. An updated HMP would ensure eligibility for FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant programs for each participating jurisdiction/entity. The County must provide the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) with formal notice from all jurisdictions/entities that intend to participate in this multi-jurisdictional plan in order to receive the grant funds. Staff has prepared a letter of intent to participate for the Board's consideration and if approved would formally secure the Town's participation in the new HMP, thus securing the Town's eligibilty for future FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance grants. It was moved and seconded (Younglund/Lancaster) to approve the Letter of Intent to Participate and authorize the Mayor to sign the letter, and it passed unanimously. Board of Trustees - November 12, 2024 - Page 3 REPORTS AND DISCUSSION ITEMS: 1. NOISE ORDINANCE. Town Administrator Machalek presented a draft ordinance for review and discussion with the Board. The proposed draft would include the following updates: the addition of a decibel-based noise limit that varies by zone and measured from the boundary of any receiving property (except public right-of-way); elimination of the expanded hours for outdoor amplified sound on Friday and Saturday nights; a change in the approval authority for nighttime construction noise from the Town Engineer to the Board of Trustees; and the addition of a provision for escalating fines for successive violations. While the idea of a broader variance/exemption process was discussed conceptually with the Board in previous meetings, staff does not recommend adding a general variance process at this time due to pending legal uncertainties and the complexity of administering a general variance permit process. Decibel-based enforcement would require an investment in both decibel meters and training. Staff estimates that a new type-2 decibel meter costs between $2,000 and $3,000. The main resource impact associated with a decibel-based standard would consist of training enforcement personnel on how to measure sound and testify to it, as well as the time spent enforcing. Based on information from the City and County of Denver, staff would expect at least a week of training on enforcement alone. Craig Williams/River Rock HOA President commented on the neighboring business which added a wedding venue creating a noise issue during evening hours throughout the summer months. The HOA would request a definable limit such as decibels that could be enforced by the Police Department. John Guffey/Town resident stated the draft ordinance does not address the noise from vehicles, motorcycles and loud mufflers. He stated concern with the noise ordinance not being enforced. Town Board comments and questions have been summarized: stated the difficulty in enforcing vehicle noise and why the reasonable noise standard would be included in an ordinance; the majority of the Board commented on the need to measure the decibels from the receiving property based on the sending property decibel level standards; requested the ordinance include an exception for trash collection to begin at 6 am in the CD Commercial Downtown zoning district; concerned with changing environmental conditions that may increase the distance and direction sound travels; commercial properties should not be penalized for the level of decibels allowed by the ordinance; Board consensus was to allow the higher decibel levels on Friday and Saturdays to 11 pm rather than 10 pm; stated the proposed lower decibel limits would impact commercial activities; questioned if proposed changes would apply to events already scheduled; Mayor Pro Tem Cenac stated her support for maintaining the reasonable noise standard; Trustee Hazelton and Younglund commented on the need for higher decibels; and the Board has heard concerns previously on the issue of enforcement as it relates to decibel levels. Staff would bring forward the proposed noise ordinance for the Board's consideration at the November 26, 2024 Board meeting. Whereupon Mayor Hall adjourned the meeting at 9:20 p.m Gary Hall, Mayor ;kie Williamson, Town Clerk