HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Town Board Study Session 2018-01-09
Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado January 9, 2018
Minutes of a Study Session meeting of the TOWN BOARD of the Town
of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Meeting held at Town Hall in
the Rooms 202/203 in said Town of Estes Park on the 9th day of
January 9, 2018.
Board: Mayor Jirsa, Mayor Pro Tem Koenig, Trustees Holcomb,
Martchink, Nelson, Norris and Walker
Attending: All
Also Attending: Town Administrator Lancaster, Assistant Town
Administrator Machalek, Town Attorney White, Director
Muhonen and Town Clerk Williamson
Absent: None
Mayor Jirsa called the meeting to order at 5:10 p.m.
REVIEW OF STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES AND GOAL RANKINGS.
Administrator Lancaster stated the Board ranked the 2018 Board goals and those
rankings were presented to the Board. He requested direction from the Board on how
and if the rankings should be added to the 2018 Strategic Plan. Discussion followed by
the Board and it was noted the ranking should not mandate the items are addressed in
a specific order. All items outlined in the Strategic Plan are important to the Board and
the rankings should be used as a reference only.
DOWNTOWN PARKING MANAGEMENT PLAN.
Director Muhonen provided an overview of the plan which was developed to explore
downtown parking strategies focused on three key elements: seasonal paid parking, an
employee/resident parking program, and a downtown parking expansion plan. A
steering committee was formed to ensure the Transportation Advisory Board’s
objectives were heard as the plan was being developed. Public Works hired Kimley
Horn in early 2017 to develop a plan to address the concerns. An extensive public
outreach was conducted with 19 public outreach meetings and approximately 195
comments were received. Staff requested the Board provide guidance on next steps
such as the adoption of the plan at the January 23, 2018 Board meeting; expectations if
the plan moves forward, i.e. implementation efforts for 2018; and would the Board
support a budget amendment to fund implementation costs.
Vanessa Solesbee/The Solesbee Group provided a review of the key elements the plan
reviewed, including existing conditions summary, community conversation, best
practices research, comprehensive review of management strategies, exploration of
seasonal paid parking, analysis of future parking infrastructure. A comprehensive
review of management strategies included time-limited parking, add enforcement,
seasonal paid parking, multimodal investment, permit parking options,
dedicated/reserved parking, real-time info/guidance, education and marketing. The plan
recommended a four phase approach to address the parking issues downtown: Phase I
– Data collection and technology investments; Phase II - Initial seasonal paid parking
implementation; Phase III - Full implementation of seasonal paid parking; and Phase IV
- Investment in additional parking supply.
Phase I would include time limit modifications, real-time parking availability detection,
digital messaging signage, consistent enforcement & parking administration, and
Town Board Study Session – January 9, 2018 – Page 2
performance evaluation. The phase would change some parking from 30 minutes to
one hour and enforcing the time-limited parking, not aggressively but actively. Parking
downtown would remain free during the phase, and real-time parking detection and
digital messaging would be visible. The cost to implement the phase has been
estimated at approximately $100,000 in one-time costs and $100,000 in O&M with no
offsetting revenue.
Phase II would implement 562 paid parking spaces with pay stations and mobile
payment applications, include active enforcement, and parking performance
evaluation/occupancy and turnover study. Phase I changes would be reviewed to
ensure the changes were effective. Seasonal paid parking implementation would be
essential in addressing how behavior changes with the cost of parking in the downtown
area. The cost of the phase has been estimated at $200,000 in one-time costs and
$200,000 in O&M cost with $300,000 in annual revenue. The phase would maintain
58% of the downtown spaces as free parking. It was suggested the initial cost be no
less than a $1/hour because anything less would not encourage drivers to change
parking behavior.
Phase III would increase paid parking spaces up to 996 spaces, include online parking
permits, enhanced trolley service, additional real-time parking availability detection,
additional enforcement, additional parking administrator, and parking performance
evaluation/occupancy and turnover study. Capital cost for the phase would be
approximately $450,000 to $500,000 for trolley service and the cost of O&M at
$500,000. The estimated revenues using a conservative estimate would be $650,000
to $700,000. The available free parking spaces would decrease to 37%.
Phase IV would ensure the usage of the parking structure, offer a menu of
transportation choices, monitor effectiveness of recommended parking management
strategies, and identify sites and funding sources for an additional parking structure.
Sites reviewed and outlined in the plan included Town Hall, Post Office, Piccadilly
Square, Performance Park, Wiest/Moraine, and Cleave/Big Horn. The cost to build an
additional parking structure range from $2 million to $21 million. Public comments
suggested support for funding the structure through seasonal paid parking revenue,
sales tax, special taxing district and property tax, in that order of preference.
Trustee comments were heard and have been summarized: Overall the Board was
supported of the overview provided and the phased approach, which would provide the
Town a chance to gather data to make future phasing decisions; questions were raised
on how staff would monitor and enforce the parking limitations; how would the phasing
of the Master Plan move forward because the program was not included in the 2018
budget; questioned if the additional funds from the parking garage should be used to
implement the new program or should it be used to fund the needed turn lane from Hwy
36 onto Community Drive; and the Town needs the flexibility of a phased approach in
order to address the impacts of the Downtown Plan on parking and the use of the new
parking garage for a full season.
Staff indicated a park administrator and two parking attendants would be utilized to
gather the data and enforce parking. The parking attendants would be civilian positions
rather than sworn police officers, such as the CSO positions. Staff stated if the Plan
was adopted by the Town Board at the January 23, 2018 meeting, Phase I would begin
in 2018 and continue in 2019 to ensure the Town has collected needed data to
implement the next phase in 2020.
After further discussion the Board consensus was to move forward with consideration of
the Downtown Parking Master Plan at the January 23, 2018 Town Board meeting,
implementation of Phase I in May 2018 through 2019, and consideration of a
supplemental budget appropriation to fund Phase I in 2018. Mayor Jirsa and Trustee
Walker stated concern with adding staff and questioned the need.
Town Board Study Session – January 9, 2018 – Page 3
TRUSTEE & ADMINISTRATOR COMMENTS & QUESTIONS
Administrator Lancaster informed the Board of Municipal Judge Brown’s retirement in
April. Staff has discussed a timeline and a process for the Board’s consideration and
input.
FUTURE STUDY SESSION AGENDA ITEMS
Future sessions scheduled include a discussion on the County Wide Wasteshed Study
and Stormwater Master Plan on February 13, 2018, Third Party Building Inspections on
February 27, 2018, and quarterly updates from CDOT on the Downtown Loop project to
be held on March 13, 2018, June 12, 2018, September 11, 2018 and December 11,
2018.
There being no further business, Mayor Jirsa adjourned the meeting at 6:35 p.m.
Jackie Williamson, Town Clerk