January Mayor's Minute

Hello neighbors, Below are some Town Council meeting highlights from last month and some upcoming topics. As always, I hope you can join us for Thursday’s meeting or consider sharing your feedback with us about any of these matters. Quick note: We have heard numerous concerns from community members about the lack of a live operator answering the telephone at Town Hall. It is important to us that your calls to Town Hall are answered quickly and efficiently. Therefore, our telephone system is being reconfigured this month to allow callers to speak with a staff member and make finding the resources you are seeking quick and simple. Please be patient with us while we make this change. December 13 Meeting Highlights

• Town Council approved the 2019 and revised 2018 budgets. Read more about the 2019 Budget and upcoming, approved infrastructure projects in the latest Mayor’s Minute: Budget Edition.
• In response to new state legislation that became effective September 1, 2018, we adopted a new policy outlining how records containing personal identifying information will be destroyed, discarded, and protected. The new law requires us to not only adopt a policy regarding destruction and protection of these personal records but also contains requirements regarding protecting personal identifying information, reporting breaches of personal identifying information, and contracting with third parties that might handle personal identifying information.
• Town Council voted to raise rent 2-3 percent depending on unit size at Village Court Apartments; rental rates were last increased five years ago. We also discussed the need for a rental increase policy to aid us in responding to occupancy fluctuations, keeping up with ongoing maintenance needs, and allow the town to avoid large future rental increases.
• EcoAction Partners presented the results of the 2017 Town of Mountain Village Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report.
• Lastly, we received reports from Colorado Flights Alliance, Marketing Telluride Inc., and the Town Hall and Village Center Subarea Committees.

If you would like more specifics about any of these topics, you can review minutes from the meeting or watch the video on the town website. January 17 Meeting Highlights

• Town Council will consider an ordinance amending the Community Development Code (CDC), which could allow future applicants to propose subdivisions, rezoning, and density transfers on eight specific Single-Family lots in the Village Center Subarea, as envisioned in the Comprehensive Plan. We will not be rezoning or considering for rezoning any of these lots at Thursday’s meeting. Any future rezoning would require a development application to be submitted to determine if the application meets requirements such as CDC standards, any applicable ridgeline development covenants, and the vision of the Comprehensive Plan and undergo Design Review Board and Town Council review and approvals.These eight lots were designated as Multi-Family in the Comprehensive Plan; however, the lots are currently zoned Single-Family. In 2016, Town Council voted to amend the CDC to prohibit any rezoning of a Single-Family lot; at the time, Council did not realize there were Single-Family lots in the Village Center that had not yet been rezoned Multi-Family, as outlined in the Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan identified these lots in the Village Center Subarea as best served by condominiums to allow for a transitional buffer between the Village Center and the adjacent Single-Family homes in the surrounding neighborhood. Please note: the prohibition on subdivision and rezoning outside of the Village Center Subarea would not be affected by the proposed amendment.We have heard from numerous community members regarding this topic and as always, we encourage you to share your input with Council via email and/or by providing public comment at Thursday’s meeting.
• We will review conceptual/schematic architectural plans and a rough order of magnitude cost estimate for the Village Court Apartments expansion project. The town contracted the Bauen Group to produce these drawings and a rough cost estimate for the project based on their determination of the maximum number of units possible within the building area given the site constraints, which include a delineated wetland, relocation of a sewer line, soils, topography, and necessary building setbacks.
• Town Council will consider reinstatement and extension of a term sheet regarding settlement of the 161-CR and Ridge at Telluride litigation and authorizing me to execute any agreement. The term sheet is the result of months of direct negotiations between principal designated representatives from Lot 161-CR, The Ridge HOA, The Ridge Club, some of The Ridge owners, and the town.
• The Gondola Subcommittee will provide an update on gondola long-term planning. They will also share initial analysis conducted by an independent research group regarding gondola use, economic impact, and ridership forecasts.
• Town Council will consider whether to begin negotiations with Forethought.net to become the town’s primary supplier of broadband services, currently provided by Century Link.
• Lastly, Bill Jensen with Telluride Ski and Golf, the Telluride Regional Airport Association, and the Green Team will provide their recurring updates.

If you would like more specifics about any of these topics, you can review minutes from the meeting or watch the video on the town website. A full agenda has been posted on our website; we welcome your input and hope to see you at the meeting. Warm regards, Laila Benitez Mountain Village Mayor