John Scarffe, Nederland.   A resolution to approve a grant request for a new Barker Meadows Park passed on a five to two vote during a regular Nederland Board of Trustees meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 16, 2018, in the Nederland Community Center. For the second time, Public Works Manager Chris Pelletier and the Nederland Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Advisory Board (PROSAB) brought a resolution accepting grant funds in the amount of $350,000 from Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) and to support a cash match of $46,000 with the remaining work to be done for the development of Barker Meadows Park through in-house and in-kind donations.

“The goal of the Barker Meadows Park phase 1 plan is to integrate immediate recreational opportunities with the downtown core of Nederland to provide a holistic experience of cultural and recreational offerings to locals and visitors, and to do so in a an environmentally conscious and sustainable manner,” states the request. According to ESRI Business Information Solutions, which conducted surveys in 2011 for the Master Plan, 83 percent of respondents rated the importance of parks and recreational opportunities as a 4 or 5, with 5 indicating that it was very important, according to the request. When asked which activities should be added, expanded or improved, the top-rated category was “biking/hiking/running,” and this grant would enable the park to expand these activities in Nederland. When asked which facilities should be added, expanded or improved, pedestrian and bike paths and the proposed Gateway Park were ranked as top priorities for residents of Nederland and the surrounding area.

Teens, Inc., which is located adjacent to the proposed park, serves an average of 40 teens each day. The pump track and grassy fields will be great places for the youth of Nederland to recreate. Currently, the closest pump track is in Boulder, which is a half hour away. Having a pump track in town will enable youth to bike locally.

The proposed park will also include picnic shelters, park benches and restroom facilities. Nederland’s Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) supports a plan that includes natural pollinator and medicinal gardens, more trees for shelter and an improved area for the farmer’s market.

PROSAB has gained support from multiple organizations and community members to improve this park for the community, according to the request.

In 2017, the trustees voted to rent the Guercio Ball Field to Eldora Mountain Resort for parking. The revenue from this agreement was intended to be used for a matching grant to fund a larger project. The agreement with Eldora Mountain Resort ends in March of 2019, according to the request.

This project was briefly introduced at the September 18, 2018, regular board meeting. Several suggestions were made, including separating bike and pedestrian paths, removing the dog park, no fences to enhance open space, more closely follow the parks Master Plan and move the bike track to a different location.

“Staff recommends passing this resolution to rehabilitate Barker Meadows Park as it meets many of the goals of the Town of Nederland and also benefits residents and visitors. Barker Meadows Park has potential to be one of the nicest areas in Nederland and a great destination for visitors and residents,” according to the request.

Pelletier told the Trustees that after he got great feedback, he’d like to present a proposed Barker Meadows Park project that is very close to the master plan. He read from the plan, which said this document is the result of a collaborative process and listed the many groups and individuals who participated.

The Barker Meadows Park project would not have been possible without the support of GOCO, the City of Boulder and the Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA), Pelletier said. He introduced PROSAB Chair Joshua Lynch, who said the purpose of the master plan was to articulate a vision for parks and open spaces. According to the survey results, biking, hiking and running were at the top, then pedestrian and bike paths, community gardens and fourth on the list is events.

An amphitheater has been discussed in the past for events, but for GOCO grant applications, amphitheaters are prohibited, Lynch said, so they can’t use those funds for an amphitheater. The park would include a pump track, walking trails, mountain bike trail, picnic tables and shelters, pollinator gardens and restrooms.

“I want to stress the concept,” Lynch said. The GOCO grant application is not tremendously specific, so you don’t have to know where the trails are all going. The details aren’t important. It’s the concept.

Lynch said he recently took the PROSAB chair position, and the idea was floated to add a pump track, which is already in the master plan. He went to the Nederland Area Trails Organization (NATO), which said they would gladly stand by the project, whether pump track or mountain bike trail.

They have means to deal with changes, so he can’t think of a reason not to support this, Lynch said. Thursday is the deadline for preliminary grant submission, and then PROSAB will get feedback from GOCO. The grant is already in their data base, and the official deadline is November 1 or 2.

PROSAB has reached out and has a lot of support from Teens, Inc., Tin Shed, Wild Bear, SAB and the Boulder High Mountain Bike Team. This would benefit some of the youth in the Nederland area, so opportunities provided to kids were most important. It’s those opportunities the community provides that can make a difference, Lynch said.

The budget can be adjusted, so PROSAB asks that the board support the grant project. It will be available for public review, and we will work through the details of where the track is going to be so everyone feels comfortable by March, when the grant comes in.

Their advice was to build a paved pump track, because dirt requires too much maintenance. That’s what NATO and PROSAB are going to stand by, but they can debate the specifics later.

Former PROSAB member and Trustee Liaison Dallas Masters said, “I’m not in favor of supporting this currently. We took this grant as our number one priority for two years. We had plans to work on this proposal and submit it in the summer to the public.”

“This plan has not been vetted enough. This plan is 85 percent done and it needs a couple more months of work,” Masters said. “We should not send it to GOCO in its current state.” During his transition from PROSAB to DDA, they lost a lot of steam on this project.

“There’s no narrative for me to read. We had a nice narrative and lot of public input, and this feels rushed to me, but I will support something in a couple of months,” Masters said.

Lynch said the application is a web portal, and you copy and paste everything. “I want to stress we are interested in the concept and hope public input could come between now and when grants are approved.”

Trustee Kristen Conrad said she served on PROSAB and was part of planning for this park. “It’s a very important parcel, and it’s very important we get this right. One user group, the cyclists, have been heard, and the entire park has been taken over by the biking community”, Conrad said.
People want to walk it. It was supposed to be landscaping. “Here in this plan we have everything mixed together and overlapping each other, which I believe would be very uncomfortable,” Conrad said.

They talked about beautifying the east gateway, but it has become only about recreating. Pump tracks are another concrete moon scape.

“Personally, I have a problem with that.” In the master trails plan in 2001, cycling came it at half the number as the walkers. “I don’t see how this plan has been totally thought out.”

Mayor Pro-Tem Julie Gustafson said she likes it that they have lifted this up from a lower level view to a bigger picture approach. GOCO grants are tough to get, and this could be a catalyst for continued work, so we can apply for this a year from now.

“We’ll have greater buy-in from the community. I would be hesitant to support committing to an application I haven’t read,” Gustafson said, proposing a work session with PROSAB.

Trustee James Rawsthorne said he is a huge bicycling fan but would rather see the pump track in association with a school and suggested eliminating that from the proposal.

Trustee Jonathan Baumhover, current trustee liaison for PROSAB, said he is hearing a lot of push back against the pump track but it has already been in the map. It costs $150,000 for the pump track, and the rest for landscaping, picnic shelters and benches.

Far more square footage is dedicated to pedestrian trails, Baumhover said. If you separate out a bicycle and pedestrian trail you have to have a junction. “What we’re proposing here is Phase I. We took this whole plan, and it was too big of a bite. We don’t own this upper half of the land, and we can’t look at developing that.”

Mayor Kristopher Larsen said this has been in the works for a while. The hope is to spend the next five months fleshing it out. “I don’t want us to wait another year.”

During public comment, six residents spoke in favor of the park in general and one spoke in favor of the pump track. No one spoke against the park proposal. Comments included: “This park is a no brainer, and it encourages people to take advantage of out-of-doors. This area is the front yard of our community, and I would hate to think of a parking lot going in. I encourage you to move forward with the plan.”

The pump track is less square footage than this room. “It is well-balanced and a great use of the space. It brings a lot of good and recreation that is really needed for the town.”

Rawsthorne said, “I’m 100 percent supportive without the pump track. I’d really like to support this. Lynch said he did call the GOCO representative last Friday, and quite frankly, there is no place within the grant application for all the details you’re referring to. Whether it’s going to be a hiking trail only, the details in the application are not there.

“I was assured modifications in the scope are fine and there are ways to support modifications in the budget. I think we have a lot of community support for keeping the pump track as it stands,” Lynch said.

PROSAB is trying to develop a design advisory committee, so they will all work together in a public forum. Trustee Alan Apt said he is pretty much convinced it’s not a single use park and will support it. Masters said: “You haven’t changed my mind. I’m not hung up on the pump track, but I think it needs more public input.” Conrad agreed and said this is not a plan that is ready for prime time.

Masters made a motion not to approve, and Conrad seconded it, but the motion failed on a five to two vote. The next motion to approve the grant request passed on a five to two vote, with Masters and Conrad voting no.
The next meeting of the Nederland Board of Trustees will be at 7 p.m. on Monday, November 5, 2018, in the multi-purpose room at the Nederland Community Center. The meeting was moved from November 6, due to elections.

(Originally published in the October 25, 2018, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)