Before approving Town Clerk and Deputy Town Administrator Miranda Fisher as the new Town Administrator during a Nederland Board of Trustees meeting on June 1, 2021, the Board approved appointments to Advisory Boards. The Town also heard a presentation on water rights.

The Board approved appointments to three advisory boards. The first was for the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA), which is an appointed board, reviewing zoning variance requests. Board members must be residents of the Town of Nederland and are appointed for a 5-year term. On June 1, Mark Moll and Karen Fletcher’s terms on the BZA expired.

Moll has submitted his application for reappointment. Moll serves as the Vice Chair. Alternate board member Fletcher has opted not to seek reappointment.

Moll told the Board he saw the application and thought it was a good fit for him, and the Board approved his application. Caitlin Taylor applied to be on the BZA, but withdrew her application.

The Planning Commission had two open seats and four applicants. The Planning Commission (PC) is an appointed board which reviews developments and land use codes specific to the PC’s purview in land use and zoning. Board members must be a legal resident of the Town of Nederland. They serve a four-year term.

On June 1, Billy Giblin and Steve Williams’ terms on the PC expired. Both Giblin and Williams have submitted their applications for reappointment. Williams currently serves as the Chair of the PC and Giblin is a commissioner. Town received three additional applications for the two vacancies.

All of the applicants are Nederland residents: Constance Delannoy, Alexis Dubois, and Caitlin Taylor (who withdrew her application on May 28). Delannoy moved to the Nederland area last October. She had attended Colorado State University as a policy research applicant. She hopes to help drive the Town in the area of climate change and find ways to be involved.

Dubois said he is an engineer and is excited to be involved and happy to support the Board. Billy Giblin said he has been on the PC for one year, since 2020. He has two children at home, which reminds him why he’s on the planning commission. He has enjoyed it and learned a lot, he said. Giblin also coaches the ski team at Nederland Middle School and has been on the Envision 2030 committee.

Steve Williams was elected as the PC chair in January and served for five years as vice chair. He is seeking another term with unfinished business to complete, with the Comprehensive Plan under rewriting. Williams joined the PC 10 years ago and would like to address some issues in the next term, so he is seeking re-appointment. The Board approved reappointing Billy Giblin and Steve Williams to the Planning Commission, and discussed approving an alternate position to the Board.

The Board discussed appointments to the Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB), which is an appointed board that advises the Board of Trustees on issues of sustainability, conservation, and renewable energy in Town facilities and operations. SAB members serve for three-year terms.

On June 1, Reid Barcas, Alvin Mites, and Eryka Thorley’s terms on the SAB expired. Thorley, who serves as the Co-Chair of SAB, has submitted her application for reappointment. Barcas and Mites have decided not to seek reappointment.

The Town received four additional applications from Nederland residents Elizabeth Cooley, Constance Delannoy, Alexis Dubois, and Greg King.

Thorley told the Board “it’s great to be here.” She has been inspired to be a part of this Board. Since 2017 she has continued through SAB and hopes to continue on the Board.

Elizabeth Cooley said she is interested in being on SAB and has been involved in environmental education at Coal Creek Canyon, Gilpin, and Nederland, teaching environmental issues to kids from preschool to fifth grade. The Town has a lot of great ideas, she said, and one part is to communicate to those individuals. She would like her program to be a permanent part of the town so more people can participate.

Greg King said he has lived in the Nederland area since 2014, and his son graduated from Nederland Elementary School. He is in construction and worked with a solar crew out of Louisville. He also sees a lot of opportunity for wind. “We’re raising our son here and that’s why I am running.”

The Board approved reappointing Thorley and appointing Elizabeth Cooley and Constance Delannoy to the SAB Board.

Nederland’s Water Attorney Aaron Ladd from the firm Vranesh and Raisch, LLP, discussed the Town’s existing water rights and their availability for future use as well as water storage. He wrote that generally Nederland has had a very secure water source for many years. When considering future development, it is critical that the Town ensures it has sufficient water rights to meet the demand.

Ladd explained that the Town continues to secure its future by extending its current water storage agreement with the City of Boulder and by pursuing its own storage facility. The Town of Nederland’s water rights generally have priorities from the 1960s, which are very junior in priority. The Town is able to divert water on a consistent year-round basis because it purchased senior water rights and operates under a Plan for Augmentation which was decreed in 1980.

The Plan operates by replacing the water which is consumed under its junior water rights with water which is available under senior water rights. The Town purchased senior water rights in the North Boulder Farmers Ditch, which it diverts for use in its water treatment plant. The Town is entitled to use 39.6 acre feet per year from the Farmer’s Ditch and it can store up to that amount annually in Barker Reservoir for augmentation purposes.

The Town remains in excellent shape with its water rights portfolio. If it minimizes future outdoor irrigation, it should have a secure water supply for new quality development within the Town. Town staff has found a place on the Evans Ranch property that would be a good site for water storage.

Mayor Kristopher Larsen said they should be looking out for this. Ladd said that if he were king, he would find a way to develop the Nederland Reservoir in the next 10 years. If it’s not developed, the Town would lose that option. A 48-acre build reservoir would buy additional time. “My recommendation is for the Town to pursue that.”

The next meeting of the Nederland Board of Trustees will be on June 15, 2021, For more information, go to https://nederlandco.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation. aspx?Org=Cal&Id=390