April 10, 2018 Dear Mr. Jarnot and Mr. Buhler: The Town of Breckenridge (TOB) is in receipt of Vail Resorts (VR) letter (via email) sent on Monday, April 9th, 2018. Based on the letter, the TOB would like to ask a question and offer additional information.  VR’s letter states that it would like to “remind Council and the community of our many efforts to improve the parking situation during the last several years.” Please explain what efforts are being referred to.  VR uses the term “flatly rejected” related to proposals for the Gold Rush and Gondola Lots. The Town did not “flatly reject” either proposal. Those proposals were negotiated in good faith and unfortunately, after multiple conversations between the two entities, an accord that was mutually agreeable could not be reached.  While previous studies showed an increase of 600-700 parking spaces may have fit on the F-lot parcel, CDOT has since stated that they will not allow ingress/egress to the degree that a 700 parking space structure would require.  The offer “to build a South Gondola Lot structure to create 700 new parking spaces-- with our own money” was never put in writing to the Town Council and was only mentioned in writing in a newspaper editorial after the lift ticket tax vote was passed.  VR agreed not to oppose the lift-tax by signing an agreement that required the Town to pass a tax limited to Breckenridge only lift tickets. The document signed by Vail Resorts did not reference skier parking. In fact, VR and VR’s attorneys approved the ballot language for the question that stated the money collected would be used for: 1) transit related expenses, 2) building of public parking including the acquisition of land to accommodate parking, and 3) improvements that facilitate the movement of people and vehicles. There is nothing in any of the language or agreements approved by VR that states how the improvements should be prioritized or what exactly those improvements should be.  In April 2016, with 3 (of 7) newly elected Council Members, many agenda items were questioned, including the location of the parking garage.  Deferring the lift ticket tax as VR suggested would have gone against the wishes of Breckenridge citizens who voted overwhelmingly to pass the tax.  To date, as of April 9, 2018, the Town of Breckenridge has not received $7 million from the Lift Ticket Tax as the letter stated. The Town has spent $7.8 million dollars since 2016 on Parking & Transportation projects as promised in the ballot language. A list of those projects is attached.  VR uses the term “unsolicited” for the Gondola Lot offers; however those offers were done at the request of multiple Vail Resorts employees – John Buhler, Kevin Burns, and Gary Shimanowitz.  While VR did “offer to sell the Gold Rush Lot to the Town,” the asking price was too expensive and as a result of the due diligence review it was determined that the Gold Rush Lot created more pedestrian conflicts than it solved.  The letter notes that “Council publically criticized BSR for not being a good partner”. The statements referenced in the letter were in response to questions asked by the public, including employees of Vail Resorts.  Conversations between Breck Grand Vacations and VR concerning the Gondola Lots were negotiations that happened without the knowledge or approval of the Breckenridge Town Council.  The recent offer (March/April 2018) that VR extended concerning the South Gondola Lot required the Town of Breckenridge to build a parking structure and turn full control of the structure and all related parking over to VR during the winter months. In response, the Town offered to mutually agree on the management of the parking and offered to make a substantial yearly payment to VR for a set period of time.  “BSR would have lost its development opportunity on South Gondola Lot with no compensation” – As noted above, there was an offer with compensation that VR rejected. Further, based on the parameters proposed by VR all density would be removed from the South Gondola lot and relocated to other properties. This would preclude any development on the South Gondola Lot, but allow further development on other properties.  The VR letter states that the Town “demanded that we [Vail Resorts] transfer full ownership of South Gondola Lot to the Town, and relinquish any protection to ensure the preservation of our critical guest parking.” The Town of Breckenridge made no such demands and believed the good faith negotiations would in fact preserve critical guest parking.  The Town and Ski Resort entered into a written agreement in 2002 that required 1560 total parking spaces to be on the combination of the North, South, and Gold Rush parking lots. The Town offered to add to these numbers by building more parking and agreed to a “mutually agreeable management strategy” for the parking spaces with the ski area.  TOB agrees that it is imperative all taxes, not just the lift-ticket tax, are spent wisely. However, when considering the construction of a parking structure, the monies must also be spent in the correct location.  As a reminder, the agreement with the Town for parking off Airport Road, on Block 11, is for 500 parking spaces. The Town has never suggested reducing parking below that 500 parking space requirement.  The Town of Breckenridge is committed to work towards parking solutions, increased transit, walkability, and other initiatives that the voter approved Lift Ticket Tax covers, not just parking as VR’s letter states is the “entire basis” of the tax, which unfortunately, is just not true. Ultimately, the Town Council must make quality decisions for the betterment of our community. We hope you agree and that you will go over the items noted above and let us know if you would like to discuss. Sincerely - The Breckenridge Town Council Parking & Transportation Comprehensive Plan Implementation Nelson Nygaard/DTJ Parking & Transportation Study - $238,400 JVA & McDowell Engineering Study - $179,540 Implementation of On-Street paid parking - $475,428 Fraction Road/Block 11 Skier – Employee – Overnight parking entrance - $219,999 Design on Riverwalk Garage & Way-finding - $629,555 Increased Transit Routes o o o Purple B - $224,332 Main Street Trolley Upper Warriors Mark - $187,000 Increased Transit Staffing o o 2017 - $391,972 2018 - $258,920 Purchase of new buses - $925,719 Transit Stop Improvements (Purple B) - $370,251 Transit Stop Shelters - $114,789 Improved Transit Technology (arrival boards, mobile app) - $292,599 Creation of French Gulch Road Bus Turnaround and transit stop - $326,752 Installation of new street lights and upgrades to existing lights - $429,674 New sidewalk construction (Airport Road) - $257,078 Installation of flashing crosswalk signs (VAB and Airport Road) - $60,894 Riverwalk pedestrian improvements - $1,161,115 Completion of the 4 O’Clock roundabout - $1,125,000 Total - $7,869,017