NEDERLAND - The Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA) engaged in a four-hour discussion of their draft 2025 budget on Wednesday, October 9, 2024. Having previously approved the administrative portion of the budget, the Authority assessed how each of their projects for 2025 align with the Board of Trustees’ mission, as well as their own.  

“We are starting to enter a period in Nederland where we need to carefully manage resources or we are going to enter into a fiscal crisis,” Town Administrator Jonathan Cain reiterated to the NDDA, noting that infrastructure improvement projects and routine maintenance should take precedence. 

Such guidance led Board members to discuss the validity of several projects going into 2025, including the outdoor performance space project. Traction on the project, which involves the potential design and construction of a stage to be located in Barker Meadows Park, has been halted due to the flooding concerns of the proposed area.   

NDDA Executive Director Kate Masingale addressed Board members’ concerns that the draft 2025 budget did not contain a line item for the performance space project. Masingale stated that previous discussions by the Authority raised questions as to whether the project should be pursued due to the issues with the location, and also to the results of the Summer Concert Series. 

The concert series was originally created to provide logistical data regarding the Barker Meadows location in question, as well as several other locations throughout Nederland. The concerts were mainly held at Chipeta Park and garnered rave reviews from the community, though data was not gathered pertaining to how the concerts affected local businesses. 

Those Board members who supported the performance space project felt that Nederland’s waterfront was in need of revitalization, and specifically named the AmeriGas property as contributing to the unsightliness of the area. 

After mentioning potentially suing the AmeriGas property owners for “blight,” Cain warned that negotiations should be served with “honey over vinegar” when considering that Nederland does not have the authority to enforce its own municipal code in regards to health and safety concerns raised about the property. 

Other Board members remarked that concerns about the parks surrounding the waterfront should fall under the purview of the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Advisory Board, and not the NDDA. 

Cain proposed that the Town of Nederland spend $36,000 in the General Fund, previously allocated for Guercio Field improvements, on hiring a landscape architect to create performance space designs for Barker Meadows Park. The Authority accepted Cain’s proposal and left the performance space line item in their budget empty. 

Just as the discussion of the performance space raised questions regarding the role and mission of the NDDA, so did the discussion of the Authority offering support for special events. 

The draft budget originally allocated $200,000 for event support, as the Authority had been considering running their own events, including movies in the park, a potential winter fireworks show, and a drone show for the 4th of July. There was also consideration for hiring an event coordinator. 

Many Board members felt that their definition of “event support” was vague, considering that the Authority had traditionally allocated grant funds to event organizers who came to them with requests. However, the community support behind the Summer Concert Series led the NDDA to consider creating and managing its own events. 

The $200,000 amount was also questioned as being too high, considering no formal proposals had come forward on the agenda for discussion prior to the budget session. 

The Board approved budgeting $60,000 for next year’s Summer Concert Series, and added another $60,000 to the line item so that a Request For Proposal could be released earlier for the 2026 concert series, assuring event organizers would have an adequate window of time in which to hire musical acts. 

But for general “event support,” most Board members felt that the NDDA’s mission was not to create events to increase sales tax revenue, but rather to raise property values through public/private partnerships. The Authority agreed to return to granting funding for events in 2025, and allocated $50,000 to that endeavor. 

Traffic flagging was separated from “event support” and given its own line item in the budget, with the NDDA agreeing to budget a total of $20,000 for 2025.

Though the general consensus was that the traffic flagging, provided by the NDDA in 2024 for the busier summer weekends, was successful, it was noted that the Town of Nederland and event promoters need to collaborate to ensure that businesses are given adequate notification of any road closures prior to their event. 

The NDDA budgeted $75,000 for Beautification, which includes the cost of flowers and plants, supplies, and labor, as well as funds for seasonal Parks department employees for winter and summer. A portion of the $75,000 is also expected to cover the cost of six trash cans to be placed throughout downtown.  

$50,000 was budgeted for Public Art; $50,000 was allocated to the River Walk project; and $25,000 went to improvements for the NDDA’s website.  

The Wayfinding project was delayed in 2024 to ensure consistency with the Town’s rebranding efforts, the Comprehensive Plan update, and the Multimodal Transportation Plan still in development, which includes considerations for Nederland’s paid parking initiative. The $400,000 from Wayfinding’s 2024 budget was carried over into 2025. 

The replacement of East Second Street’s crusher fine sidewalks was budgeted in 2024, though the project never came to fruition. Cain stated that additional concept designs need to be completed for the project, and added that there is potential for a collaboration project with Town, as well as grant opportunities. 

The line item for the sidewalk project was left blank in the 2025 budget, with the matter expected to return to the Board of Trustees (BOT) as part of a supplemental budget request. 

A motion was made to move the draft 2025 budget from a discussion item to an action; the total budget of roughly $912,000 was voted on and approved for recommendation to the BOT.  

The Nederland Downtown Development Authority meets the second Wednesday of every month. Their next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 13, 2024, at 6 p.m. and will be held online as well as in person at the Nederland Community Center. 

For more information go to: https://townofnederland.colorado.gov/downtown-development-authority.