The Aspen Music Festival and School is ready to partner with the city on the development of more seasonal housing on city-owned land, but some council members aren’t quite comfortable with the deal.

At an Aspen City Council work session on Tuesday, Aspen Music Festival and School President Alan Fletcher told the council his board was prepared to move forward “in short order” with an arrangement in which the music school would help finance the construction of up to 35 dorm-style seasonal housing units at 488 Castle Creek Rd., which the city purchased in 2006 for $5.4 million. Although no one from the Aspen Skiing Co. was on hand at the meeting, the deal presented would include SkiCo as a partner, with mountain employees occupying the units in the winter and music students in the summer. No numbers were discussed, but the city is looking for a deal where the construction of the units would be financed by the music school and SkiCo and would not require public money. In this scenario, the city would offer long-term leases for the housing to SkiCo and the music school.

“The success of Marolt (seasonal housing) and ‘Little Burlingame’ argues very well for the city to take this action,” said Fletcher, who acknowledged that the music school has historically had problems providing enough housing for its students.

Mayor Mick Ireland and Councilman Dwayne Romero said they were in favor of moving forward with the partnership, but councilmen Steve Skadron and Jack Johnson raised questions.

Agreeing with a point made by an audience member, Johnson said that there are other worthy organizations in town that could benefit from additional seasonal housing. The Aspen Center for Physics and the Aspen Institute were mentioned.

“It’s difficult for me to separate (the music school) out for special consideration,” Johnson said.

Johnson also concurred with another audience member that it would be wise to study the city’s seasonal housing needs before embarking on anything. He said a more philosophical discussion on the best use of housing resources is needed before any hard proposals are considered.

Councilman Steve Skadron emphasized that the Castle Creek property was originally purchased for long-term housing, and that changing its purpose to seasonal housing might not meet the city’s goals. He also said he would support selling the property outright to the interested partners instead of being their landlord.

“I don’t see why the city doesn’t sell this property to the partners and be done with it,” he said.

Discussions between city staffers, the SkiCo and the music school have been evolving over the last year.

An advantage of making 488 Castle Creek seasonal is that it could be accessed and provided parking through the Marolt seasonal housing complex, instead of building a new entrance onto Castle Creek Road, Fletcher said. The site’s proximity to Marolt’s noisy music students in the summer and ski mountain employees in the winter might also make it less desirable for long-term rentals or for sale units, Fletcher said.

In the end, the council supported having the staff flesh out the proposal a bit more and try to settle on some numbers with the parties. With a more solid proposal in place, the council could make a final decision, Ireland said.

“Let’s negotiate the deal and then we can take it or leave it,” Ireland said. “I’m inclined to do it if it’s a reasonable lease rate.”

School district wants in on Burlingame

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, Aspen School District Superintendent Diana Sirko told the council the school district is interested in purchasing units in Phases II and III of Burlingame that would then be rented out or sold to teachers.

Although the school board has not yet voted on a final approval, the school district will most likely place a bond question on the November ballot that would allow the school to borrow between $25 million and $30 million, Sirko said. The money would be focused mostly on developing housing on property the school district already owns, but some of the funds would likely be used at Burlingame, Sirko said.

The bond question would include a property tax increase that would likely amount to about $22 per year for a house worth $500,000, Sirko said.

At the school district, the need for affordable housing for teachers has never been greater, as the baby boomers are retiring but the new generation of teachers can’t afford to buy into the community, Sirko said. Every year, the school district loses talented young teachers because they cannot afford housing, Sirko said.

“It’s so hard to lose great teachers,” Sirko said. “It’s awful for the kids. It’s like we want to grab (those teachers) by their ankles to keep them here.”

Aspen Valley Hospital CEO David Ressler also told the council Tuesday that the hospital has a dire need for affordable housing. The hospital is interested in partnering with the city on housing, but he offered no specifics.

curtis@aspendailynews.com