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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-04-08 (Special) Meeting Minutes• • • >(\)-OoApril ll, ,..._.,_.,_._ ..... .., __ ,., .. ....,,., ... ___ .... _.ol .. h-bo _ .. _ .. _...,... ............... _. .. ,.._.,,..,. ___ _ INGLIWOOD CITY COIJNCll. INGLIWOOD, AJlAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO Special Seuioo April I, 1996 All Council Members present signed an· ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RECEIPT OF NOTICE" of the "CALL OF SPECIAL MEETING AND NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING." I. Call to Order The special meeting of the Englo»ooel City Council was called to order by Mayor Bums at 6:0S p.m. 2. llm1catloa The invocatioo was gi\'Ctl by Council Member Wiggins. 3. Pl<cli:t al Alltci"""" The Pledge of Alkgiancc was led by Mayor Bums . 4. Roll Call Present: Absent: A quorum was prcscnL Council Mamer, Hathaway. Clapp. Wiggins. Habenicht. Vonnittag. Waggoner. Bums None Also Ptescnt: City Manager Clari< City Attorney Brotzman City Clerk Ellis 5. Ordinan<U, Rctollltiou ud Mociou Mayor Burns stated that he initially entertained the idea of calling a special meeting tonight himself, ha,ing been called on Thunday at the ollia: by Council Member.; Waggoner and Vonnittag . They urged him 10 go ahead with the special meeting in l.rdcr to discuss the Cinderella Ci!y matt er. Council was pmvioosly scheduled for a study .ocssion tonight at the Englewood Golf Course 10 moct the new vendors . However. Mayor Bums said that he felt it was approprialc . instead. 10 meet in the Council Chambcis . bee.use that is when: the stakeholders and otl>cr people" ho wen: at last week •s study session on Cindcn:lla City knc\,• that Council was going lo discuss lhe maller further Also , in order to have a reading. he said. the meeting must be held in the Cit)·, and . then:fon:, 1omgl11 's meeting is bemg held in City Hall when: the moctings arc usually held. so C\'eryonc "ill know "hen: lhCJ• an:. Also , ii gives Council an opportunity to vote because it is a special meeting . Mayor Bums advised thal there arc lwo matters for which !he mccling v.-as ca ll ed . E,Dflewood City C4uncil , Spoclll Sellion April I, I 1196 Plgo2 (a) TIie flnl. he su,l(d, is approval of a rcsolutioo indicaling the direction of Englewood Cicy Council for the rcc!ovclopment of the Cinderella City site. He cxplainc1 that this resolution basically says that the Englewood Cily Council desire, to set forth their intention to diJect staff to punrue the rcdcYclopmc11t of the Cinderella Cicy site , to include, but no1 he limited 10. 400 ,000 square feet of cnlcnainmcnt and retail development. TI\C resolution was assigned a numtx and read by title : RESOLUTION NO. 42, SERIES OF 1996 A RESOLUTION INDICATING 1llE DIRECJ1OJI, OF 1llE ENGLEWOOD CITY COUllCIL FOR 1llE REDEVEIDPMEITT OF 1llE CINDERELLA CITY SITE . MAYOR L\l1RNS "1OVED, AND IT WAS SECONDED, TO APPROVE AGENDA ITEM 5 (1) - RESOLUTION NO . 41, SERIES OF 1!196. Ma yor Bums asked if there was any discuss ion . Council Member Waggoner remarked that Council received a letter. in their packet toda y. that essentially reads the last therefore of the resolution just introduced. One of the statements in that letter, he s:iid. is that this resolution clearly endorses a power center al the Cindcrclla City site while this concept is supposedly , 1i'1 under review . Another says tha~ should the Cicy later fn•'Or • variation of thi s conccp«, passigc oft!111 ,solution would put the City at risk of future lawsuits \\here none c.xistcd before . Council Mcmbc, WalS!s~ncr :lSkcd the Cily Attorney lo respond , asking if this •'OUld lock us into 400 ,000 square feet of retail al Cinderella City , and whether passage of this resolution puts us nt nsk of future lawsuits. City Attorney Brotzman ans,-,rcd that , "ith thi s reso luti on. Council is directing Slafl'lo pursue 1t.c negotiations for 400,CK>O squat-: focL 1t can be pi us or minus 4-00 ,000 square feet, 1hat is optional. He sai d the answer to the questi on of "i.11 it open us up to more la\\~1its is, ~Ol any more than we currently h.1\'c right now. He opined that, if they can sue us now, ~· c:lll sue ·.is in the future . this wo n ·1 do anything one way or another as to the legal issues . C.ouncil Member H.1thaway asked for clanfication cl the difference bc:wccn thi s reso lution and the :noti on she made last Monday . Mayor Bums said he thinks that motion is hiS1ory . Council Member Hathaway stated she is just curi ous., beca\$! the only thing that is d1rfcrcnt in he.re is that it is not limited to 400 ,000 square fe et of e nl e rt ai nm cnl anr.l retail. In other words. we co uld add a cultural center or anything el se, she said . Mayor Bums responded that he was co ncerned abou t her mol io u last week because Council had sa id they wanlcd more inpul from starfand mo re discussio n al\cr I.LU week 's meeting. He said that he did not know she was going to make her motio n and said she caught him off guard. Council Memt--c r Hathaway ciSkcd, other than e-mai l discussion and discussion wi th co ns1i1ucn 1s. what discussio ns have Co uncil Members had among th em.sc l\'cs that Council was planning on havi ng April I 5u' in 1hr scudy session . She sai d ii was published in the Englewood Hera ld that this was go in g tu come back • • up on the 151h . not 1hi s C\'e nin g. She felt lh:u has made some c11 i1.c ns a lntl c weary r.fthe fac1 lhal . no • matter "hat we sa y, we do somet hin g else anywa y. • • ....,_,.Olyea..dl ,SpodllS.... Afril I, 1996 .... 3 Mayor 11w111 aid Council IDld e..r,-11111 they~ be mocllna apiJI IOBiaJ,t Oii lhlA 1-c. CaunriJ roc:eiwd a Idler last week floal Equilable, be recalled, which exiweaed 11\eir peat a,""'"' ud ~ a1 wba1"" baYC boon doina aod l110ld111 al thc aci-wllh them apiJI and pvlng III a daKlllae. lie llloupt lhat. :.lace many o(lllc pooplc llae IOllipl"""' bm last week, they knew"""""' ... lo,,_ apiJI IOlliaht Mayor Burm aid be fdl lhls ~ SM Council a clwlce lo dllQIII and cxpras opinlons. sina: lhls ii DOl a niaht for public CXIIIIIDClll. lllfl CouDcil would be Ible lo dilCIIII their C01100t111 and, lbcrdcn. bm: their dlllCllllion. tavilta m:civcd I lol oC public Input and dllCllsslon u wdl . He advilCd that Ille oClier NIU0ll be c:allod Ibo~ WU. DIii only lhal he thought II WIS a good Idea, but._,... two memben of CouDcil c,q,ra,;ly uud him to do m. lie stated lhal hr, alao ,poke 1o Counc:il Member Lauri Clapp on Friday, and sbc aim urpd Council IO go ahead wilh ti>:~ toniJ)lt. lie said lhal, liDcc Council Member Halhaway bad made lhc motions before IO go ai-:. !-< lhoupt she Wllllld be In fayor, Council Member Hathauy said sbc docs not U\'C a problem with that bul lhal lhc problem she t,as is putting it in a special nwting ""'""~ where !hen: is no opportuni~ for public Input panlcularly after it ..... published thal Council 'MJUld be doing a formal wte on Ille 15 . She said it would not be a pioblcrn fa< her IO VOie for it ilSjust that mosl oCtlle alls she has received CXJiresocd dlSIRSS that It -being dooc IS • ,pocial .-ing. Mayor 11w111 Slaled lhal !DOSI oClhc calls he has bad in the last week have bocn aboul 80 per,::,e-,1 to .,..,._,. ahead. very strongly lo IDOYO abcAd. wbicb WIS 1D0tllcr l"ClSOn why he called the moctlng . Couocil Membcr 11:iiJenicbt Slated ollicially her ...-that we LIO having these CXlllo;idcrcd II I spcdal ..-ing. She thinks, for -lhlna. as Council Member Halhaway stated. II predudt• publ ic COIIIIIICDL and it WIS put on the a,ccoda for lhc u•, al which lime !here would be opportunity P,; rAJNlc CXIIIIIIIClll Sbc said she docs DOI ..., ID)' r,ason for rushing ink> somclhing al lhc cxpcm,c of the public's ability to a,me and spcalr. to Council, • .JC! that is, to her, CXU<mdy : ,oblcmatic. Responding 10 Mayor Bun,'s a,mmcnlS that r,1uch or this has been In nspoasc to the letter from Equilablc, Council Member Habenich1 aid she has a serious cxmccm about ti.us letter, and bow the letlcr from l:quilal>le was introduced 1o Counci l. She said ""' ha,,. bcal cnga&<d for :well over llW years in what In her WldcnlandiD& was ""'"ti"" negotiations ovor a real estate mancr wilh Equitable representing Cindcrmak. She said she has worked ,-cry , ""'Y bard and diligentl y over the years to maintain all lhc cx,nfldential ity and all or the thoughtfulness and , .sponsibilil)' 10 the City and 10 the a,nstituency in terms or negotiating ,.;th them appro<1riatcly . She said her a,mmcnlS LIO 1101 prcpon,d and asked Council to please bear with her if she ,.-and.·n a linle, because she is speaking now from Ille cull'. Continuing. she opi:,ed that l'CCICMft& os a Council Member at the study session, • letter from Equitable requiring the negotiation over this silC, and ba,ing it read aloud to all of us at the same time it ,. ... read lo the public. wilh all snrlS of inllammato,y CXlllllllCIIIS. .,,.n suggesting some sort or lawsuit action, really pul the Cit)' in a bad place. She said sbc bas beard people lalltlng abocl this meeting. pulling Council in a box because we can't tallt about anything ocher than these things. th.< meeting putting people in a box because the Council cannot listen to public a,mmcot. Council Member Hi 'JCDicht staled lhal she has also heard aboul this letter forcing Council into so1nc imruediale action, and that seems to be part of what has precipitated this.. She thought lhal what Council is doing is liking an action based on how we LIO rclaling to our negolialioa with Equitable without the benefit oftbis Council meeting as a body of the whole lo discuss \lhat SIJalegy we MlUld utilize in our ocgotiation, as ""' ha"" ovor the past two ycan in Executive Session, so that they would not pul fonh 10 Equitable wbal that stntegy wou ld be. Sh< said she has al ways supported doing these kinds of things in Exccuti"" Session because she has al ways believed that it was in the b<$t inlercst of the Cit)' and the constituency to ncgoiia1e in that way. in a businesslike 1..mner. When somebody steps out of that negotiation, out of lhal kind of proccs,;. and ilS both the City Manager and Equitable . she said ii gi \'CS her grievous co 11ccm . Ms. Habenicht said that 0\ er the wc.ckcnd. since she did nol ha ve the opponunity 10 ask a lo of these questions at what she ho ped would be a study sess ion. and if some of the _,._.c=-,c-:u.si-ws..1oa April I, 1"6 ,.... thlnp .,_-.!d 1nlll lO be di...-! in tenlll ol a pcnocu,d -or a lepl matter, or a no,otiating mauu • Ill EJU1CU1ivc Saaioa, •he did not have 11111 OIJPOfllUlily bccau!Je o(lhls ll)CClal -1JII with IIClioa llkin& pl,tc. SIIC said sbe a < ukod a IIIIIDtcr o( qutllJcm al our lepl counsel and our City Man1F 111d they llaYc all been a,piod to Cow,cil. She felt thac is e loC or infonnaUoa thcie that Council may or may DOt, ..... bad. She related that it bas beco called to her lltelltion, by IOIIICOIIO OUUl<lc or the City C'.owx:il. whicb sbe said jusl blows her mind, 11111 thcR is an carller .,,.ancnt with Bquilllble in l&nDI o( bow aqotia1ioos v."'1ld proa,cd that City Attorney Dan Brouman WIS not awan, of. She said she docs not CYCII ~ If our City Mana&er ls awan: 11 it Council Manbcr Habenicht opined, 11,.. proceed with 1111' a-,;.,., whatlocvcr, on the basis that there is informallon that,.. do not all have, and that thoa: people who arc advilin& us doa 't evcn have or have had time "' coatemplatc, that what we arc doing is at bell impnJdml. Tbcrd'o~ she regi11crod a formal prolcll IO bavlng this special meetin&, to rushing into something that,..., really don 't know everything : XJUI, to rushiD& into oomething that is a pa<t or. or II least tacitly I -to, I Idler fn>m Equitable, "hen "" an, no! ..... wilh ow prime advisors aware of all of the pm'ious nqotialions. She said she would be crnborrass:d to proceed, knowing thal there are all these questions that ·e boco answered. and all this informalion lhat our City Altomey doesn't have . COl!NCll. MEMBER HABENICHT MOVED TO TABU THE RESOLl!TIONS UNTIL THE TIME THAT IS POSTED ON THEM, WHICH IS APRIi:. 15"". The motion died for lad< of I second. Council Member Oapp Slated for 1bc reco,u ihat the speci al meeting..., 1101 hCI idea. but that she docs support it She mated that we .-S to go forward wilh the proj,a and said sir. believes. from what she has hcanl from the community, that they are Sli1J wiih the r<tai1 ""tcnairur.enl concept . Sb.. aske,1 City AnorDC)· Broaman ..,-belhcr she is comet in believing that the ,-ote this evening docs not appro-.-e S.i p MiUer's c::oacq,t, his blueprint at this time. Rather. the vote just approves retail/entertainment. City Attorney Brotzman responded that Council Member Clapp is com,ct, and that Council will be cli...._1i, 1g , tr 10 punuc negotiatioos for 400,000 square feet of entcrtaillme."' and mail development. Council Member Clapp asked 11some of the concerns over "big box" can be worlced ou1 in the contract itself at a later dale. City Attorney Brotzman rtSpOoded •Jirmati,-ely, Slating that, tho cona:ms can be worlced out through the public meeting sessions to be held i._ -:ooncil in the f,1tur,: as "-ell :.s the contract . He advised that there are specific provisions ihat will talk about that in lhe contract and tt,ey have to come to Ca,<neil for approval . He con.."'\IJTed ,.;111 Council Member Oapp 's 1111ement that we are. !hen. in no " ·,ed in to Sl<ip Miller's current concept . Ms . Clapp said r:J,.;.y, JU>i ~l,e retail. City Allomey .nan said right Mayor Bums advised thal he ...-.-iewed again lhe letter Council ra...;•. cd from t:..;uitable laSI week, and he does not beliC\-e that the letter is pri,'ltc nor secrtl He said it "5 given as I n:sull of a request to the Ci~· Manager fn>m lhe Council tr,e p...-.-ious week and the City Manager sen! a memo 10 Council dated April I. 1996 with r,:gard to lhe previous study session and including the information i1ems lhat lhe Co11ncil wanted to soc wilh reprd to a so-called third option lhal was given at the p...-.-ious Council meetin g r,:ganlin6 uulerella City . The third item or lhe four was that the City Manager was to confer ,.;111 Equitable as to what !heir position WIS wilh reganf to this thirtl option and the letter was the 1espo nse . And, he commen1cd, that Council asked the City Manager to bring Iha! resporu;e to them . There "" oome &!legations in tbcra of poss ible liability , he said, which could be discussed at the appropriate time \\ilb our allorncy, but be does not 11-.ink they arc that serious. Th e in tent of the lcuer. the import of lhe lcn er. as well as the urgency of it and the deadline, he thinks absolutely have to be public and must no, be kept private . He asserted !hat the citi,.cns of the City arc cntiUed to know Equi1able 's position on this because we arc representing the ir interests. ar,d he felt we need to proceed on that basis . He recognized that it was • • • !.-,I CilY Cauncll, Special S.... April •• 1996 Pap5 no1 Council Member Clapp'• Idea to .... 1111s ,peciaJ mectiD&, a,..t1D1 that he hldjUI! called her about ii Friday . Council Mem'!Cr Haben' ;;ht clarill..t tbal die -1101111gg<lling that anything be kq,t -. but nthcr that our rcspon5e and thc way 1h11 ClluDcil would rapood to lhat lcUtr. was lDIDClhiDg that we should have discuslcd with benefit of counsd and with bee.di! of our negotiating 00WISd in an executive oession . Council -ad tberd>y come out witll • ...,....1o...., u a body, nthcr thu llllllClhing that was one pcnon's Idea, or another peno11's idea. Not that It be kept 6om the public sbc lllalcd. but that Council would -" as a body togethu to do a .....,-.;.a. Mayor Bum,: rapond ,cl that the Exa:iilJYC ,'essiom bcld OIi the contract wore in regard to the ddalls on the contract 111111 wcro ~ropricwy to the City ,IDd pn,prictary to E<)uitablc . He said that we bad a press a,u1atace in January lllDOUllciDs dlol ..., u,J a apcmont in principal with E<)uitablc with rcprd to thc romedialion and tear down o(dlcc,cacr and that,.., worc al., ncgotlaling with the dcvdopcr. Mainly, he said , , ,..., co, ·Jm>Ce-about E<)uitablc itself. He exp..-1 bis opinion that the letter was si mply saying to please go ahead willl the cootracl that we already agreed on. In that sense, be said. ~ of that lea er is simply IOI pmlle al IOI llllbjccl to c.eaitiYc session . Mayor Burns felt thal if WC an, going to discuss whether we arc &oiJII to go ahead or 1101 with the project. ii should be public and that is one of the reasons we arc having this .-ting tooight. He rcitcntcd that bis position romains as he bas just described. Mayor Burns asked ifthero were any further comments. Hearing none, be asked for a vote on the reso lution . • Vole ,_lu .. approval of~ Ne. 42: • Aycs : C11uDci1 Manben Hathaway, Vonniuag. Wiggins. Waggoner, Clapp.Bums Nays: CowiciJ Member Habenicht The motion carried . Mayor Burns commented that anocher thing he WIS comfoncd with WIS the wording of the resolution, and thal as the City Attorney just mentioned. this docs not confine us to a particular type of SIIUClu~. building. tenant or whatC\'er and it is a very bmadly worded resolution in his opinion . Council Member Habenicht shared thal she VOied no on tl1c resolution for two rcuons. One ttason, she said. WIS that she docs not suppon this .-ting and this ' cing voted on at this time. Secondly. she explained that she bas some ~ conccm that a lot of the questions that ha ve been raised have not been answe~ and that Council docs no1 M'-e all of the informati on. (b) Mayor Burns stat<d that the second =lution suppons a light rail station at t e redcvclopcd Cindcroll a City site . The resolution was assi gned a number and read by tit le: RESOLlITION NO . 43, SERIES OF 1996 A RESOLlITION SUPPORTING A LIGHT RAIL STATION AT 11iE REDEVELOPED CINDERELLA CITY SITF. . l!....,....iCllyo-:11. SpecialSeaioa April I, 1996 Pap6 MAYOR IUllN$ MOVID, AND ff' WAS HCONDltD, TO AnllOVK AG&NDA ITEM 5 0,) • RESOLUTION NO. 43, SI.RIJ:S or 1996. Mayorllarns atbd iftll<n,-further dilcullion a{the raoluli<Hl. He ullod C lllDCil MClllber Waa-, 10 explain ..t,.y M hr,c the raolutlon, lince it -~.I& Idea lllo. Council Member w.,,,_, rapondod tbll the main.....,., i, Iha! the~ bom the kqional Tr&nqlOltllioa Distric1 (RTD) _. pRKnl II lhal Monday olpu o..ana and they laid they "-ould like an indication lhal ,.,. ..,. willing to proceod with a ll&hl rail llllloa 11 • locolloa Council Member Waggoner IIICtU>d thll he, for one, 11 oer11inly rudy lo proceed with a .. lion II Iha! location. as ii Is imponllll for the City and be is willing 10 support Ibo illlllllation. Mayor Buns ...,...tsupport for the resolutioo. He reminded l"-praeut Iha! a couple a{woeb prior he had the pleulre a{ going lo Wasb '.oglon IO appear II I special -I II tbe Wl>.il• Hou: -1cdgu,a 1,,11 the Saulllwest Conidor ~I Rail Projccl bad boat IOledal as one ix siJc prajoclS in thecwnlryby tbePrcsideDl. rcooaunendin( funding 10 the CongRK mrun, in fucal 1997. He laid the full funding IJUI ~ is being ncgotilled II the moment and is IDIMIII along quile anartly. and may be up for a wte II the RTD board rllber quickly. Mayor Bums adwed lhal MilJCN(jlehell was the only dewloper of the responding twdve who propoood to put Iha! RTI> aop in the middle of the rede\-clopmenl site. which RTD was delighted to hear , Mayor Bums rci1era1ed lhat he ,oery much supports this resolution_ Council Member Habenicht staled that she finds herself in the very ••bvd posilion of having IO do what she believes in her mind. heart and conscience is right. which is IO >Ole apinst this rtSOlution. She advised thal she is ,-oc.ing against this rtSOlution as pan of the pRJleSI of lllvina this meeting and oot d.>ing II the next meeting when ii was published when ii would be doing just as well. She aid she has been. and continues 10 be, a very strong supporter of light rail down the llltlthwest corridor. She runinded Council thal she bas been working tmnrd that end. and bas been a supporter of ii both when the majority of this Council was npposcd toil and when the majority of this Council was in favor of it. She stated thal she has worked staunchly and finnly and SICldil)· 1oward the extensioo of light rail down the southwest corridor and strongly supports a lighl rail station al the site as a part of the ralevclopmenl of Cind-..rella Ci t) Ms. Habeni::hl expressed her belief that it should be a really dynamic indoor Sllltion, better than every other light rail siation in the world. II should be r.xciun~ and an CDIJ)"")' into our community that will bring people in. with possibly a hotel at that site. and something that will tie ii into the confereoce and convention center. She stated that. if she is making neptive votes. she: wants to make sun: that everyone in the community n:cognizes that her negative ·101es an: dc•c primarily to this process. whi ch she thinks is excluding the public and which is favoring something less 11,.,, ""-at she feds can be done 11 that site. She opined that this site can be the,,_ r.xciting and dynamic and positivoe thi11g for the City of EnglC1'ood, and thal when we..,. probably limiting ii to power ccnter. big box. retail. we m doiog a disservice IO ourselves, to light rail. to our citizals and to our future. Sl,e asserted that we can do something exciting. dynamic and different at trus site that is so muc!J better tha..., v,·t'3t is on the l8ble right now and we need to look II Joing it and that is why she is being contr.uy . She said ii is not something she is enjoying. bul she said she feels this development is probabl y a turning point in our community . Therefore, she said. ii is galling her. but she ,.;u ,·ote no . Mayor Burns commented that al the meeting last week the developer said that he "ill have public meetings "ith regard 10 the devclop menl e,-en befon: there is a submittal to the City for the PUD process and there \\ill be mon: public meetings after thal both before the Planning Commission and the Council. Because the fim rtSOlution is worded so broadl y. he fell there would be a lot of opportunity for input on what shouJd ultimately be on th is si1c • • • • • • ~ City Coull<~ Special ...... April I, 1996 Pqo7 C<,uncil Member llllhaway clarilled 1h11 it i1 "orded m bnlodly that It doesn't nocemrily .-Ill' that Mlller-Kitcbcll will end up hcin& the developer. She said 11w could be a poaibllity down the nied bccauae this raolulion does nol 11y that be -.Id end up being the developer. She llid there is a proc,e11 going on 1h11 -need to cootinue. Mayor Bums said we are under negotialioo now . He asked if there wos further amunent on the resolution . Hearing none, he asked for the vote . Vou .-JU .. approval ol R,IOl•tloa No. 43: Ayes : Council Mcmberi Hathaway, Vo1'11'jttag. Wiggins, Waggoner, Clapp. Burns Nays : Council Member Habenicht The motion c:anied . 6, Adjournment COUl'iCIL MEMBER HATHAWAY MOVED TO ADJOURN. The meeting was adjourned at 6 :31 p.m. Mayor Bums stated that they "ould r=,nvene for further study sessio n at the golf course restaunnL He thanltod everyone for eomlng .