NEDERLAND — TEENS, Inc. is a giant in Nederland’s nonprofit realm as an organization dedicated to youth education and development that has established a successful teen center, alternative high school, and childcare program in Nederland.

But in 2026, every nonprofit is feeling the pressure of diminished federal support, strict state budgets, and hyper-competitive grant cycles. 

On August 4, 2026, at the tail end of the Nederland Board of Trustees’ (BOT) meeting, TEENS, Inc. Executive Director Stephen LeFaiver addressed the Board with a request that the non-profit pay its water and sewer “Tap In” fees of $390,081.53 for its new Early Childhood Education Center in increments spread over five years. 

After TEENS, Inc.’s childcare center plans were proposed in 2024—and after an initial vote of approval by the Board—a citizen-led petition pushed the matter to a public vote. The electorate approved the use of Town-owned property at 750 West 5th Street for a new childcare center, and the lease between the Town of Nederland and TEENS, Inc. was signed in March of 2025.   

“Things have changed a lot in the time since we started,” LeFaiver said during his three minutes at the meeting, which was extended for another 30 seconds by Mayor Nichole Sterling. “Tighter government budgets all over have made funding much more difficult and that’s impacted all of our programs.

“There’s less money available and much more competitive grants, so the total environment for nonprofits has changed, and the environment for early childhood development centers is much worse than it was two years ago.” 

With TEENS, Inc. still needing to raise funds for its $7 million-dollar project, and with the nonprofit already set to publicize its latest fundraising ask of $350,000 the Wednesday following the meeting, the $390,000 in tap fees has presented an obstacle that may greatly impact the center’s planned opening date of September 14, 2026.

Tom Mahowald, member of the TEENS, Inc. Board of Directors, also spoke briefly to the BOT, reiterating LeFaiver’s talking points while also noting that federal funds awarded to the organization have not—and may never be—distributed. 

Those funds are the nearly $1 million in Congressional Directed Spending that TEENS, Inc. was told in a congratulatory letter that they had been awarded. However, a second letter from Senator John Hickenlooper’s office put that status into question, as it appeared the request was pending further review, with the concern that the project had already begun construction.  

“We actually got awarded the grant amount of a million dollars, but come to find out, you have to go through more of a process,” LeFaiver explained in an interview with The Mountain-Ear. “You have to fill out another application, and in that they said any new construction cannot have started already.”

LeFaiver explained how the fact that the construction process had already begun was noted by the organization in their original application for the congressional funds, and that active construction was not listed as an issue in the initial application process. 

For now it is unknown whether those funds will ever make it past Hickenlooper’s desk, as pressure from the federal government to halt such funding continues to mount despite the legal challenges that such unconstitutional measures have created. 

Additionally, LeFaiver mentioned that a freeze on Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) replacement funding from the federal government has also created financial restraints.

These funds cover a percentage of the total cost of childcare for children from low-income households.

With Boulder County having frozen CCAP enrollment back in March of 2024, and the federal government’s attempted rescission of the funds causing those resources to run out just this past June, childcare providers are on the hook for what had amounted to roughly 20% of their income. 

“Families will pay a daily fee of anywhere from $2 to $10 a day, and CCAP doesn’t pay the full rest of the tuition; they have their own rates,” LeFaiver explained. “So you’re already at a loss, but without CCAP you’re at a serious loss. But that’s what we’re committed to do. We’re not going to turn any people away, we’ll work with the family for what they can pay.”

Due to the organization’s funding issues threatening its ability to maintain normal programming, TEENS, Inc. was requesting to pay their required water and sewer tap fees in increments, starting with a payment of $100,081.53 by September 30, 2027, and then subsequent annual payments of $72,500 every September 30 until 2031. 

LeFaiver concluded his request by stating childcare’s importance to the community, and highlighting how the opening of the childcare center will most likely be delayed if an agreement can not be reached. 

“We have 73 people on the pre-registration list; of those, 59 want to start on opening day, and two more want to begin before the end of the year,” LeFaiver detailed. “We are creating nine to 12 new jobs. We will not be able to open if we do not have the opportunity to pay this back over a period of time.

“We’re not asking for a waiver, we’re not asking for a reduction, we’re just asking to pay it over time. Allow us to get up and going; allow us to maximize fundraising potential.”

The BOT briefly addressed the request, though neither LeFaiver nor Mahowald were given any additional time to respond to, or engage in, the Trustees’ discussion. 

“If the Board would like to direct staff to do something in regards to the public comment we would be happy to,” Town Manager Jonathan Cain said, before issuing some clarification. “I will say that we budgeted for that money this year, and we have a number of capital improvement projects that need to be undertaken.”

Cain referenced that $360,000 is already budgeted for Town’s water and wastewater needs in 2027, and stated how payment of the tap fees is “consequential” for the necessary maintenance and upgrading of their infrastructure. He added that the Board must also consider the Town’s lack of options in enforcing payment of the fees. 

“The only real avenue you would have is to shut the childcare down if we weren’t paid back,” Cain said. 

Trustees ultimately directed Town staff to work with TEENS, Inc. on a plan that presented a variety of options and that would include data specific as to whether all other water and wastewater rate payers will see a rate increase due to TEENS, Inc. deferring their tap fee payments over the course of five years. 

“I would be interested in at least looking at what that plan is and what the actual trade-offs are,” Mayor Sterling said, though Cain immediately delivered the worst-case scenario. 

“It would probably mean a greater rate increase for all the other rate payers, is what it would involve,” he said. 

The potential of this matter impacting rate payers via a rate increase caused Trustees to promote vigilance when assessing TEENS, Inc.’s request. 

“We need to be very careful and deliberate,” Trustee Kristopher Larsen said. “We can’t just be making rapid decisions because we all want this to happen; we have to think about the good of the whole community.”

Larsen repeated what was, to him, the central issue of the request: that acceptance of the terms from TEENS, Inc. would put the Town’s Utilities Department into a budget deficit, which would create a significant impact on 2027 operations.

Nederland’s Utilities Department has been chipping away at its 10-year plans for both water and wastewater capital improvement projects since 2024. The $17,980,353-worth in water infrastructure projects includes expanding the Town’s raw water storage, replacing two miles of pipeline in Big Springs, and upgrading the water treatment plant. The $19,009,000 in wastewater projects covers the permitting and construction costs of an expansion to the wastewater treatment facility. 

An update on these 10-year plans will be provided to the BOT and to the public on August 18, 2026. The Board will also be hearing from the Utilities Department on September 1 regarding a 10-year Water and Sewer Rate Projection, which will highlight the increases that rate payers can expect over the next decade. 

As for the claim that the Town would also need to raise rates in order to grant TEENS, Inc. their request, this seems to be a result of the water and sewer fees funneling directly into a utility enterprise fund, which operates separately from the Town’s general budget. It is also common practice for municipalities to budget for the estimated revenue from such fees before they are collected. 

In a continued effort to avoid the discomfort of a rate-payer increase, Mayor Pro-Tem Luke Miller asked whether the Town had access to any grant opportunities that could assist TEENS, Inc. with their financial conundrum, to which Cain detailed how his efforts with the State of Colorado on that front have been fruitless. 

“Especially given the wildfire season that we just had, and that several water/wastewater systems were knocked out in the South in all of the fires, and the state’s financial situation, there just aren’t resources available for this project.”

Trustee Topher Donahue added his opinion—which he prefaced by stating he was new to this issue and its more than two-year history—that the request from TEENS, Inc. seemed like a “Hail Mary” that was putting additional strain on the Town in terms of research and data collection. 

“From the point of view of project management I feel like we need a little more from your side about what your options are,” Donahue said. 

LeFaiver did provide the Board with guidelines from Colorado’s Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) specifically advising municipal governments on how to support childcare providers as they navigate the growing childcare crisis in the state. 

These “best practices” provide strategies, some of which the Town had adopted, such as changing land use code to allow child care in a Medium Density Residential zone. However, other financial-based incentives have not been considered by the Town, including creating a “local, sustainable public funding source” or developing a program or dedicated funding source to “reduce or waive development review or impact fees for child care facilities.” 

The Town’s history with waiving or delaying PIF and tap fees for major developments includes past agreements that have been made with Wild Bear Nature Center (WBNC) for their large development at Mud Lake, and with the local climbing gym Dino Moves.

The language commonly used by the Town in these lease agreements—particularly in the agreement with TEENS, Inc. for 750 West 5th Street—states that the tap fees are required to be paid “in a timely manner.” 

But just as every development is different, so is every lease and so are the circumstances that surround a weighty decision such as waiving or delaying payment of fees. Such “trade offs,” as the BOT called them, have to amount to something that the organization can provide to the Town as fair compensation in lieu of monetary payment. 

In the case of WBNC, they are involved in an intergovernmental agreement with Boulder County and the Town of Nederland for the preservation and stewardship of Mud Lake. This agreement resulted in an immense trash hauling operation, as well as the construction of their multi-million dollar nature center, which provides several unique services to the Town, including the promise of a wattage return to the grid from their solar power draw. 

Additionally, WBNC paid $100,000 with a conservation easement for the use of the land for their nature center. 

Whether the “trade-off” TEENS, Inc. can offer to the Town is equivalent to $390,000 in tap fees is what Trustees hope to determine by assessing all options and factors before them, which includes the projected increase to rate payers. 

The matter of waiving tap fees for the childcare center came up before the lease and subsequent Memorandum of Understanding were officially approved, back on August 20, 2024. The draft lease at that time stated that the Town “waives or agrees to pay the water and sewer tap fees related to the construction.” 

LeFaiver stated then that the request to waive the fees would enable the facility to open almost a whole year earlier than projected, by late August or early September of 2026. However, both the projected date for opening, as well as TEENS, Inc.’s ability to pay the tap fees, were predicated on $800,000 in grant funds that the organization ultimately did not receive in 2024.  

At that time Trustees accepted the lease terms of 99 years at $1 a year, and stipulated that TEENS, Inc. must agree to pay for its permitting and inspection costs and utility fees, including the tap and Plant Investment Fees (PIF). 

“We have a rate study in the midst, and it is very likely that the fees that you end up paying are actually not even going to cover the cost of what we have to increase our rates to,” Sterling said back then, referring to 2025 figures being still relevant for 2027. “That’s the piece I’m thinking of: how do I balance the need for criticality, and how do you help us make sure that that cost isn’t pushed further onto the rest of the rate payers.” 

During further discussion, Trustee Tania Corvalan suggested the same type of tap fee payment plan that the Board had offered to Dino Moves back in 2022, which involved a 36-month payment plan for all tap and PIF for their property at 120 East 2nd Street. 

Though the BOT did not add this provision to the draft lease agreement, Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen noted at the time that the matter of fees could be resolved separately from the lease in a formal Resolution. 

Almost exactly two years later, with many of those same voices still sitting on the BOT, though in different seats, the Town and TEENS, Inc. are faced with the same dilemma: balancing the scale of need between childcare and infrastructure. 

Until further notice from the Town, LeFaiver, the TEENS, Inc. Board, and supporters of the childcare center must wait to hear whether the BOT will consider their proposal in some capacity, or risk a delay in opening the doors to this critical community service.