NEDERLAND — The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, to begin the 2027 budgetary process and align it with their ongoing Strategic Planning process. But first they began addressing the major transition of the Town Manager position. 

Current Town Manager Jonathan Cain, having recently announced his resignation after accepting a position with Lakewood, led Trustees through what was his final BOT meeting for the Town of Nederland. Cain began by reading his last monthly report in person to the Board, which reflected on his experience working for the Town over the last two years.

“When I thought about what had happened here, I kept returning to the Caribou Village fire,” Cain began. “Mayor [Nichole] Sterling called me in the middle of the night and told me that something near B&F was on fire, and I ran up the canyon and it looked like the whole town was on fire; it was really scary for me, I think it was scary for all of us. 

“There were stretches through that night where all we could do was stand there and just watch. The morning when the sun came out was really close to when the smoke became white and we knew that the fire was over, and for me that was the really special moment. 

“Everybody just went into action immediately,” Cain recalled. “People showed up with food, businesses and community spaces opened their doors, people moved supplies, checked on their neighbors, and just shared everything they had. It was a terrible thing that had happened, but the people of Nederland took care of what was in front of them. 

“I love how people here participate, how they serve on boards and commissions, how they come to meetings after work, ask hard questions, disagree, bring ideas, and keep showing up. I’m so grateful to the Board, to our advisory boards and commissions, to the volunteers and community partners, businesses, and the public for everything that you have given me in Nederland.”

Cain continued, praising the hard work of the Town of Nederland’s staff, and how they keep the gears of municipal operations turning, before he noted that the Town Manager is only one cog in that series of gears, and how he is sure his predecessor, Miranda Gordon (formerly Fisher), serving as Interim Town Manager, will continue to work in this same capacity. 

“She knows Nederland, she knows this work, and she will be working with a staff that is capable and ready to keep going. We’re going to make sure this handoff is solid and hopefully boring, which is a really good accomplishment in municipal government.” 

As Cain’s last day with the Town is on September 24, the BOT were tasked with voting on an Interim Town Manager Employment Agreement with Gordon, to be made effective on September 25. Gordon worked previously as Town Clerk in 2019, and then as Town Administrator until 2024.

The agreement states that Gordon will be paid $67.30 an hour for the first month, then, on October 25, she will be paid a salary of $140,000 a year, though she will not be eligible for benefits. The agreement also does not extend Gordon’s at-will employment to a full year, and instead will automatically terminate on February 28, 2027. 

Trustee Luke Miller asked why the specific termination date was chosen, as opposed to the agreement being for a full six-month period, to which Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen and Gordon provided clarification. 

“It’s not arbitrary,” Madsen explained. “There are some reasons that we worked out with Ms. Gordon where that works for her benefit.”

“Just some circumstances here with my former employer; I just had asked for this current agreement to end at the end of February with the awareness that the interim contract could extend longer,” Gordon explained further, noting her former employer, the Town of Camp Verde, Arizona.

Gordon has served Camp Verde for the last two years, and reportedly stated that entering a position that had gone through five managers in 18 months—which included replacing one manager who had only served 103 days, all in the name of replacing a 12-year veteran of the position—presented the epitome of “walking into a lot of turmoil.” 

Despite her work starting a Citizen’s Academy, creating a public newsletter, and initiating a $17 million expansion of the town’s sewer collection system, the Camp Verde Town Council opted to make Gordon’s resignation effective on July 15, 2026, as opposed to June 30, 2027, which Gordon had originally proposed. 

Trustee Andrew Dewart also asked about what potential penalties exist if the Town of Nederland were to terminate Gordon’s employment before the established end date, in the hypothetical event of the BOT interviewing and hiring a new Town Manager before February. 

Attorney Madsen turned to the agreement, which details that if the Town were to end Gordon’s employment either before the date of February 28, or without cause, “she would receive severance equal to the salary she would have earned through that date.”

Madsen added that it was unlikely that the BOT will have hired a new Town Manager within the next five months. 

As there was little discussion from Trustees and no public comment on the matter, the Board voted unanimously to approve the Interim Town Manager Employment Agreement with Miranda Gordon.

“I do just want to offer the Board that assurance that we have already done a few things under the consultant agreement just to get up to speed,” Gordon said about her continued work with Cain. “I do agree with him that the handoff should be pretty seamless, which will help for the community, the Board, and for staff." 

The Nederland Board of Trustees meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at 7 p.m. and can be attended either online or in person at the Nederland Community Center. 

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