NEDERLAND - For the Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT), the first quarter of 2024 presented some issues that would end up foreshadowing major decisions that would be made mid-year. In some cases, those later decisions were either made in contrast to the Board’s sentiment during the first three months of the year, or were challenged by the community, causing delays in the process. 

Law Enforcement 

During the Board’s first meeting of 2024, on Tuesday, January 2, before approving several resolutions in relation to passing the Town’s 2024 Budget.  Billy Giblin raised concerns about the direction of law enforcement and about the upcoming paid parking initiative.

In relation to the Town’s contract with Boulder County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), Giblin was concerned about extra duty officers being used for traffic enforcement, which he considered “policing for profit.” Giblin also stated that he believed the inclusion of an animal control officer in the Town’s budget was leading towards “over-policing.”   

Despite Giblin’s objections, the budget passed; at the very next meeting, on January 16, the BOT approved Resolution 2024-10, amending the intergovernmental agreement with BCSO to include 20% of time of one animal control officer at the cost of $23,650.92 for the year. 

In October, it was determined by many Trustees that the expected yearly cost increase of 13%, most recently represented in the new law enforcement contract with BCSO for 2025, was “untenable.” 

The price increase from BCSO would dominate the Board’s budget discussions for months, right up until the deadline. It was finally determined, during a special meeting on December 10, that Nederland would contract with BCSO for law enforcement coverage in 2025 with 50% reduced coverage, but an increase in extra duty shifts for additional revenue from traffic enforcement.    

Paid Parking 

As for the Town’s paid parking initiative, Giblin also mentioned his concerns during that January 2 BOT meeting, mainly that there was a line item in the 2024 budget for such an initiative even though the Board had yet to thoroughly discuss it.

On June 4, Trustees approved Resolution 2024-33, empowering paid parking service provider Interstate Parking to begin a paid parking trial period over the summer, with the intention of collecting useful data to assess the impact to the residents and visitors before fully implementing paid parking in Nederland. 

Because the agreement between Interstate Parking and the Town required clarification, the BOT revisited Resolution 2024-33 on July 2, to better understand each entity’s own responsibilities, the data that Interstate Parking is expected to provide, and exactly how free parking for residents will be implemented. 

The discussion resulted in the paid parking trial period being shifted from summer to fall; but on July 16, Town Administrator Jonathan Cain, citing his experience initiating paid parking in Idaho Springs, recommended to Trustees to delay the paid parking trial period until spring of 2025.

The BOT agreed, allowing more time for Town staff and Interstate Parking to develop and roll out the community registration process. 

Town Administrator 

The recommendation from Cain to delay the paid parking trial period was one of his first official actions as Nederland’s Town Administrator, having only just started his position with the Town on July 8. The BOT approved Cain’s Employment Agreement during their meeting on June 18, following a smooth candidacy selection process that took on a month and a half.

Parks Manager Nicki Dunn dutifully served as interim administrator over that time, beginning just one day after Miranda Fisher’s resignation as Town Administrator went into effect, on May 24. Fisher announced her resignation within her monthly report, delivered to the BOT on April 16.

Back to the Board’s very first meeting of 2024: on January 2, the Board’s first action, after discussing in an executive session a “personnel matter involving the evaluation of the Town Administrator,” was to amend Fisher’s Employment Agreement. 

The amendments to that agreement include all uses of the word “termination” being replaced with “separation.” Separation was also specified to occur if a majority of Trustees vote not to reappoint the current Town Administrator. 

Water Rights 

In the beginning of the year the BOT came right out of the gate and continued to make strides on Nederland’s historic Rights of Nature declaration by approving Resolution 2023-04.

The resolution allowed the Town’s Sustainability Advisory Board to appoint “environmental guardians” whose responsibilities include tracking entities with jurisdictions over Nederland’s watershed, and reporting any impactful actions or discussions to the BOT. 

The Rights of Nature Resolutions 2021-11 and 2021-11(A) were originally adopted in 2021 with the intention of “recognizing and implementing the inherent legal rights of Boulder Creek and the Boulder Creek Watershed,” which encompasses roughly 448 square miles.

The BOT’s understanding of the Rights of Nature and its uses changed drastically shortly after the Board approved Resolution 2024-12. Passed on February 6, 2024, this resolution authorized the filing of an Application for Finding of Reasonable Diligence with Colorado water court for conditional water rights for a 100 acre-foot Nederland Reservoir. 

On April 16, the BOT held a closed executive session to “receive legal advice concerning the Town’s water court diligence application, the Town’s statements of opposition to Eldora Ski Area’s water court application, participation of Save our World’s Rivers as an opposer in Water Court, and to receive legal advice concerning the Town’s Resolution 2021-11(A), as well as to determine positions relative to water rights matters that may be subject to negotiations, developing strategies for such negotiations, and instructing negotiators accordingly.”

Due to the language within the Rights of Nature, Mayor Giblin and other Trustees expressed that the organization, Save the World’s Rivers, was using the Rights of Nature as a means to object to Nederland’s own application to water court.

Securing water rights for the Town was considered such a high priority that the BOT voted to repeal all resolutions pertaining to the Rights of Nature on May 7.  

Land Use

Leading into 2024, the Board had been discussing several proposals regarding land use, from establishing new regulations for Short Term Rentals (STR), to assessing several lot consolidation requests, and determining which uses should be allowed on particularly zoned properties.  

Starting on February 6, the BOT voted to approve Resolution 2024-13, putting the question of land use for one of Nederland’s beloved public parks to the people.

The question of whether an asphalt bicycle pump track should be installed at Chipeta Park was put onto the ballot for the April 2 election; the “No” votes won, 286 to 196. 

On February 13, the BOT and Nederland Planning Commission held a joint work session in order to discuss and provide feedback on the Planned Unit Development (PUD) application submitted by Nederland Central Business District Redevelopment LLC.

The PUD involves six different parcels within Nederland’s downtown area, all owned by Ron Mitchell, and is expected to provide affordable workforce housing, childcare, additional retail space, underground parking, and lodging for tourists.

No action was taken on Mitchell’s impactful plan in 2024, and the PUD has yet to resurface onto either the Board’s or Commission’s agendas. 

 On February 20, Trustees voted to approve a Special Review Use (SRU) application from TEENS, Inc., permitting them to lease the Town-owned 750 West 5th Street, located in a primarily residential neighborhood, for the construction of a childcare center, to greatly increase their capacity and services. 

A referendum petition from members of the public asking to repeal the Board’s decision was filed on March 22 and was declared sufficient by Town Clerk Macy Caligaris on April 16. On May 7 the BOT voted unanimously to deny repealing their previous approval of the TEENS, Inc. SRU and to bring the matter to a special election, held on July 30.

The community showed by a high margin that childcare was indeed a necessity and priority for the Town of Nederland, with 418 votes of “Yes,” approving the TEENS, Inc. SRU, and 162 votes for “No.”

The Board and TEENS, Inc. came to an agreement regarding the ground lease for 750 West 5th Street and the necessary lot consolidation on August 20. 

On June 18, the BOT approved Ordinance 859, amending Nederland Municipal Code (NMC) Chapter 6, Article V, requiring STR properties to be the licensee’s primary residence; requiring the owner to notify all neighbors within 300 feet of a residence where an STR license application is being filed; instituting a cap on STR licenses; requiring a minimum of four documented stays; requiring bear-proof trash receptacles; imposing a ban on fire pits; and allowing the Town Clerk to administer penalties for violations of the code.

Also, on December 17, Trustees voted to approve Ordinance 869, amending the Use Group Table within NMC to prohibit mining and milling on property zoned as Industrial. 

Progress

Town staff reported on August 6 that they have been working with Fidelity Title Company to conduct title searches on all Town-owned properties in order to ascertain their eligibility for housing development.

This is just one of the many initiatives being taken by the Town into 2025 in order to fulfill the requirements of Proposition 123, which the BOT committed to on September 5, 2023.

Proposition 123 is the program that controls the State Affordable Housing Fund and provides municipalities with access to funding for affordable housing projects. The Town committed to a baseline goal of creating 13 affordable housing units by November, 2026.

The BOT completed the adoption of the Town’s Branding and Creative Identity in 2024, fulfilling the requirements of the $20,000 Tourism Management Grant that had been awarded to the Town in early 2023. 

The tumultuous process between the BOT, the community, and hired firm Godot Communications Inc. of choosing branding elements for the Town of Nederland, including a logo, font, tagline, and color swatches, resulted in a delayed process that soured Trustees on any further tourism-related initiatives. 

 Due to this, Trustees gauged all future decisions based on prioritizing infrastructure improvements and meeting the needs of residents, which resulted in both the formation of a Tourism Advisory Board and the prospect of developing a “Visit Nederland” tourism website to be turned down by the BOT. 

Progress is beginning to be made on the long-discussed Big Springs Emergency Egress Route, with Trustees, Town Staff, representatives from the Nederland Fire Protection District, and from engineering consultants JVA, walking three newly proposed routes on August 20, 2024.

Town Administrator Cain acknowledges that there is much more work to be done, in regards to community outreach and preliminary designs, to get this project close to “shovel ready.” Cain has expressed hope in getting the designs completed and approved by late 2025, allowing the Town to begin seeking funds for the construction of the selected route, or two.

With the Board taking a stance in 2024 to prioritize infrastructure improvements and development moving forward, Nederland’s Utilities Manager Andrew Bliss provided them with 10-year plans for both water and wastewater capital improvement projects, many of which are crucially necessary.

Those projects pertaining to the Town’s water supply and infrastructure, all of which are aimed at increasing water capacity, replacing old and outdated infrastructure, and improving the ability to fight fires, would cost a total of $17,980,353.

Projects improving the Town’s wastewater infrastructure, many of which concern capacity issues and potential regulatory changes, would cost a total of $19,009,000.

As for progress on the Town’s many plans that are being drafted, work on the Comprehensive Plan and Subarea Plan are expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025, and the Multimodal Transportation Plan was approved by the Board during their last meeting of the year, December 17. 

The BOT are also expecting to continue into 2025 with their attempted acquisition of the Eldora ski area, with the latest developments being exclusively reported in this edition of The Mountain-Ear. 

The Nederland Board of Trustees meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 7, 2025, at 7 p.m. and can be attended either online or in person at the Nederland Community Center. 

For more information go to: https://townofnederland.colorado.gov/board-of-trustees.