MINUTES OF THE TELLURIDE MOUNTAIN VILLAGE OWNERS ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING. February 17, 2016

Transcription

1 MINUTES OF THE TELLURIDE MOUNTAIN VILLAGE OWNERS ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING February 17, 2016 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: STAFF ABSENT: OTHERS PRESENT: Bill Jensen, Pete Mitchell (phone), Jim Royer, Jeff Proteau, Jeffrey Badger, Robert Stenhammer None Anton Benitez, Garrett Brafford and Heidi Stenhammer None Dennis Lankes, Stephanie Fanos, Laila Benitez, Emily Brafford, Jim Loebe, Oswald Graber 1. Call to Order and Determination of Quorum Chairman Jensen called the meeting to order at 4:07 p.m. MDT and announced that a quorum had been established. 2. Approval of the Minutes from the December 30, 2015 Board of Directors Meeting Chairman Jensen asked for a MOTION to approve the previous meeting minutes. On a MOTION by Director Royer to approve the Minutes from the December 30, 2015 Board of Directors Meeting, seconded by Director Stenhammer, the MOTION passed (6-0.) 3. Gondola Study Phase One Oswald Graber Executive Director Benitez introduced Oswald Graber, President of Outdoor Engineers, who has been invited to give a presentation today regarding his background, explain the scope of work for the phase one of the gondola study and proposed next steps. Mr. Graber stated that he has been in the ropeway business for the past thirty years, seventeen of which were with Doppelmayr. His early experience was mostly with installing lifts for ski areas however that transitioned into urban transportation which is more comparable to

2 Telluride as the system here is for public transportation. Mr. Graber explained that he arrived in Telluride yesterday and spent his time reviewing all the technical components of the Gondola with Jim Loebe, who runs the gondola for the Town of Mountain Village. He commended Mr. Loebe for how well the gondola has been maintained and its excellent condition. The options for the gondola are to keep it running as-is and continue to invest in maintenance and capital costs, invest in upgrading it to state-of-the-art systems such as nicer cabins with leather seats, walk in access, heated seats, in-cabin screens or, completely tearing it down and replacing it from ground up. There does currently exist a resale market in Eastern Europe for this type of system. Phase one of the gondola study will comprise an existing system evaluation and an economic impact study. Phase two will outline the desired system and the operations, maintenance and capital plan while keeping in mind population trends and demographics of people who visit and live in Telluride and the high-end amenities that they expect. Director Mitchell asked if there are systems in the US that are representative of what might work in Telluride and Mr. Graber stated that there most likely are however those evaluations will be done in phase two. Director Stenhammer raised the issue of the future development that will occur adjacent to station four and wondered if there are systems out there that are quieter. Mr. Graber commented that the new systems today are much quieter and there are many different things that can be done with existing systems to make them quieter. Director Royer inquired about whether or not a ridership survey would be conducted and Executive Director Benitez stated that, while this specific item is not on the gondola plan, it will be included in the Economic Impact Study. Director Proteau noted that benchmarking of gondola systems at other resorts will be an important task as this is a significant asset and options need to be carefully considered and experienced firsthand. Director Stenhammer raised the issue of capacity and Mr. Graber noted that systems are not designed for a one-day event such as the Fourth of July. The current system carries approximately 980 people per hour and up to six cabins can be added to increase that to 1,200 per hour. Director Royer noted that the other governmental entities need to be encouraged to participate in this planning process. Director Stenhammer noted that there is an effort to form a Regional Transit Authority (RTA) and the gondola is in its scope. Director Mitchell inquired as to whether or not there are other methods of transportation that should be considered. Director Stenhammer noted that part of the RTA discussions is looking at the Roaring Fork transportation system between Aspen and Snowmass which costs $7 per

3 guest per ride to operate via busses. The gondola costs $1 per guest per ride and is ecofriendlier. Mr. Graber noted that he will consider other systems however ropeway systems are consistently the most highly rated from an economic and ecological standpoint. Any type of tire transportation is dependent on weather. The main weather restraint for gondolas is lightening which is a weather event that is typically short in duration. Director Proteau noted that when Ron Allred envisioned Mountain Village and researched all the transportation options, he came up with the gondola as the best possible system. There is a cabin every seconds which gives people a sense of immediacy as opposed to waiting for a train and bus that may come every 30 minutes to an hour. In order to accomplish the transportation of 980 people per hour, Telluride would need 24 busses. Director Mitchell inquired about the possibility of having stand up cabins like those in Whistler that carry people. Mr. Graber commented that those are completely different systems and are much more expensive than the smaller cabin systems. Additionally, people do not like to be crunched into big passenger cabins in this type of setting. He is currently working on a system in Nigeria that will transport 5,550 passengers per hour, per direction as the goal there is to get people from point A to point B as quickly as possible. In Telluride, riding the gondola is an experience and everyone wants the relaxing environment with the views. Mr. Graber noted that he should be done with his phase one report by May and will report back to the Board at that time. 4. TMVOA Updates Vacant Lodging Seat Executive Director Benitez noted that TMVOA issued e-blast communication to the Lodging Members on February 3 rd and again on February 12 th requesting nominations for the vacant lodging seat. Another communication will be issued next week with the request for nominations open until March 4 th. The list of nominees will be submitted to the Board for review and the Board will make an appointment. The position needs to be filled by a lodging unit owner or an appointee of a lodging unit owner. Dial A Ride Update Executive Director Benitez stated that Dial A Ride (DAR) is up 18% over the last three months. Vehicle trips are up 1,400 rides and passenger trips are up 15% or 3,348 passengers. Director Stenhammer noted that there has been an 18% increase over the last two years and the DAR drivers have received positive feedback about the larger vehicles for big parties wishing to stick together. Director Badger noted that these increases and capital improvements were achieved without an increase in the contracted rate year over year. Director Mitchell inquired as to whether or not TMVOA will continue to be responsible for the operations of DAR. Executive Director Benitez noted that this is a Board decision that can be

4 discussed at the next meeting. It s an economic enabler which creates less vehicle traffic and helps with parking constraints. Director Stenhammer noted that it s a driver of property values. Economic Snapshot Executive Director Benitez reported that he has recently coordinated with the Town of Mountain Village on sales tax reporting and was able to get updated statistics through this past December. The numbers reflect that Lodging is up 14%, retail is up 11% and restaurants are up 12%. Total revenue is up $1.6M over the same time last season. Director Stenhammer added that Town of Telluride sales tax was $750K and last year it was $725K. The year prior to that it was $574K. The Town of Telluride only saw a 3% increase over last year when Mountain Village saw an 11-14% increase. Chairman Jensen noted that this may be due to the timing of the Christmas and New Year s holidays which were on Thursday and Friday of each week. The area experienced two more peak days during the Christmas period which was reflected in food and retail sales. Next year Telluride won t have those peak days as the holidays fall on a Sunday. However, historically, the second week of January can be very strong with this type of scenario. Director Royer inquired as to why Telluride didn t have higher increases and Chairman Jensen noted that they have peaked at capacity and have no room for expansion. Mountain Village still has room to grow. 5. Town Hall Memorandum of Understanding Executive Director Benitez noted that TMVOA, TSG and TMV are working together for the master planning of Town Hall Subarea. The groups met last month and created a memorandum of understanding to be used when considering the best use of the vacant property. Glen Van Nimwegen, Planning & Development Services Director for the Town of Mountain Village introduced himself and noted that he is looking forward to working with this group. The group will create a high level timeline, assign committee members, assess the proposed consultants, hire a consultant and then report on the final findings and recommendations prior to reporting to Town Council. Director Royer noted that this memorandum is both general and specific enough to proceed. On a MOTION by Director Royer to approve the Town Hall Memorandum of Understanding, seconded by Director Mitchell, the MOTION passed (6-0.) 6. Economic Stimulus Additional Grant Requests Executive Director Benitez reported that five additional grant requests have been received totaling $63K and have been recently reviewed by TMVOA s Finance, Audit and Budget Committee. The committee recommends approval of two grant requests including $15K for the World Congress conference on Mountain and Wilderness Medicine which is coming to the US for the very first time. This group consists of scientists from around the world who will come to

5 Telluride for high altitude mountain medicine and will bring the best trauma surgeons in the military. The funds will go towards speaker travel and lodging. The second grant request that FAB recommends is concerning a summer music concert series in Reflection Plaza which will be organized by Madeline Hotel and Residences staff. They have requested $10K which will go towards securing smaller-scale musical talent for five outdoor shows in July and August. Director Royer noted that these both are excellent additions to Mountain Village. On a MOTION by Director Royer to approve the expenditure of $25K from the Economic Stimulus Contingency Fund of which $15K is for the World Congress and $10K is for the Madeline Hotel and Residences, seconded by Director Badger, the MOTION passed (6-0.) 7. Appointment of FAB Committee Members Mr. Brafford reported that the Board has decided to choose Chairman Jensen, Director Royer and Director Mitchell to serve on the Finance, Audit and Budget ( FAB ) committee, with Director Mitchell chairing the FAB meetings. On a MOTION by Director Stenhammer to approve the appointment of Chairman Jensen, Director Royer and Director Mitchell to serve on the Finance, Audit and Budget Committee with Director Mitchell chairing the FAB meetings, seconded by Director Badger, the MOTION passed (6-0.) 8. Appointment of Investment committee Mr. Brafford stated that the Investment Committee was formed by the Board on November 18, 2015, which is an auxiliary committee that was created to provide advice to the FAB Committee and Board. He further explained that TMVOA reached out to membership and requested bios and resumes from interested and qualified members. He then developed criteria for recommendations to the Board to include one individual with expertise in compliance regulations, one individual with analytical expertise and one individual with fixed income, banking and credit markets expertise. Out of all of the bios and resumes received, there were three well-qualified members that fit into each of the three categories for a total of nine individuals. Director Stenhammer commented on how amazing it is to have such a stout list of candidates come forward which is representative of TMVOA members and their high level of intelligence. Chairman Jensen noted that the terms will be staggered so all interested and qualified individuals can be rotated in and out of the auxiliary committee. On a MOTION by Director Royer to appoint Pam Cavness, Brian Kanaga, and Michael Zarrilli to the Investment Committee, seconded by Director Proteau, the MOTION passed (6-0.)

6 9. New Business/Other Business President s Weekend Power Outage Director Proteau reported that he met with the Sheriff s Department and other entities about this past weekend s 23-hour power outage. San Miguel Power Associations original estimation that the power would be back on by midnight was a false sense of security. The organization needs to have a clearer picture of the timing to get power back up before making any public estimations. Tri-State Generation and Transmission had to build 2/10 th of mile of road in order to access the utility pole that was destroyed by a refrigerator-sized boulder rolling down the side of a mountain in Ilium which is down valley from Telluride. The pole had to be completely replace which required a new large hole to be dug and the hauling in of all the replacement parts. Director Proteau continued to explain that while there exists a redundant power system from each direction from the power station, once you get to the distribution area from the substation the power lines go off in different directions and there is no redundancy after that. These problems will happen in the future just because of the nature of the terrain and when this occurs, all responsible and interested entities will meet shortly afterwards to create a clear communication plan. In the meantime, local groups need to improve black-out plans for power generators, have flashlights on hand, non-perishable food available, etc. Director Mitchell inquired about the estimated economic impact of this outage. Telluride Tourism Board Director Michael Martelon is working on estimating the impact to the Town of Telluride but it was certainly far less than the hit to Mountain Village. Chairman Jensen reported that the Ski Resort had great skier numbers on Saturday and Sunday and all onmountain dining establishments had power and the ability to serve hot food. Mountain Village establishments did a great job adapting. For example, the Madeline brought out several grills to cook food and Talay hand-wrote tickets and processed them when the power came back on. Director Proteau explained that we are dealing with one of the smallest power companies in the State of Colorado however this issue will not be overlooked. They will be pressured to come up with a better plan for future power outages. The Town of Telluride and the Town of Mountain Village need to take the lead on continuing discussions with San Miguel and Tri State Power. 10. Adjournment On a MOTION by Director Royer, seconded by Director Proteau, the meeting adjourned at 5:355 pm MDT.