John Scarffe, Nederland.  Five town projects and a new Nederland Community Center roof received allocations from 2017 excess revenue during a regular meeting of the Nederland Board of Trustees at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, August 7, 2018, in the Nederland Community Center.

Town Treasurer Jennifer Hagey said the Board received a clean audit at ist last meeting, which included 2017 excess revenue over expenses. Per the Government Finance Officers Association, the minimum recommended General Fund reserve should be two months of the operating revenues and expenditures.

At that rate for 2018, the town should have a minimum fund balance reserve of $285,000, so the Town has $85,000 in excess. The 2016 ending General Fund reserve balance was $64,387, according to background. The 2017 General Fund revenue over expenses was $300,800 plus a prior period adjustment of $30,416, bringing the 2017 ending fund balance to $395,600.

The current Town Reserve Policy follows the Colorado Constitution, stating that the Town will maintain 3 percent of all annual appropriations, excluding Federal funds and gifts, in its General Fund as a reserve. The 3 percent reserve is to aid the Town in a declared emergency.

Taking the current 2017 fund balance less restricted amounts and the deficit of the 2018 budget, $85,000 remains as unassigned fund balance in the General Fund. Options for this excess include $10,000 for goodwill.

The Board has discussed in the past adding money back in the budget for goodwill. Town Administrator Karen Gerrity said the Board would allocate these funds to nonprofits.

Mayor Kristopher Larsen said the funds would be spread out across a number of organizations. Gerrity said the Town would announce the availability of funds publicly and have a simple, one- page application, and then staff makes recommendations, or the Board could see all applications.

Town Staff recommended spending $45,000 to complete the Big Springs Egress final design and construction documents and surveying. Trustee Jonathon Baumhover said he wants to see progress on Big Springs.

Town Hall is in need of improvements such as a kitchenette and an upgrade to chairs and desks for $24,800. Gerrity said staff is looking at either using space they have or adding on to the back of the building.

The contractor is very aware of the situation, Gerrity said. Larsen said this has been on the back burner for five years.

Town Staff also has a need for a part-time accounts payable clerk at $5,000 for the remainder of 2018, and the Nederland Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) has requested $200 to join the Colorado Communities for Climate Action. The cost of CC4CA membership is a $1,000 base membership for a community of Nederland’s size, per year, according to a letter from SAB, but Nederland can receive a reduced rate of $500 per year due to economic hardship. Membership is pro-rated for the number of months remaining in the year, so for the remainder of 2018, Nederland’s cost would be $208.30.

This reduction to $500 per year could be extended for the next few years before the Boulder County Sustainability Tax goes into effect in 2020 and provides a guaranteed revenue stream for Nederland sustainability initiatives.

Mayor Pro-Tem Julie Gustafson said she would like to see what other projects had to be cut, like the Big Springs pump house. Larsen said it got bumped due to the water main breakage at the roundabout, and Public Works Manager Chris Pelletier was fine with waiting a year.

Gerrity said that the most discussed need for the 2018 budget was road repair, but the sales tax passed in April, so the Town can leverage those funds to get grant money for road repair. “Those are the things you had discussed when putting the 2018 budget together,” Gerrity said.

Gustafson said she supports the Big Springs Egress and is the biggest fan of Town Hall upgrades, but she wants to look at the payroll clerk and the budget for next year. “This is the first time I’ve heard about it,” she said.
Gustafson agreed that paying for the climate action membership through 2019 would be good, so they are looking at $700. Hagey said she can put it in the 2019 budget and pay for it now.

Gustafson asked if the Town would have a goodwill budget in 2019, and Gerrity said the intention is to continue that next year. “We’re never going to not need it,” Gerrity said.

Gustafson said she doesn’t feel great about starting a project three months before the end of the year. Hagey said they could have the excess money for 2019.

Trustee James Rawsthorne said the Big Springs egress is ironic to him. “My concern is the main egress, which is almost impassable. The erosion is bad. It’s somewhat ironic that we are allocating that much money to a secondary egress, when the primary egress is in such bad shape. He would like to see a portion used for the main egress.

Larsen said that Chris Pelletier is doing a study for use of funds on the roadways in the future. Rawsthorne said his other issue is the slash pickup that got canceled. Fire mitigation warrants first priority.

Trustee Kristen Conrad asked if the Town is tied in to the U.S. Forest Service on Big Springs. Gerrity said the Forest Service agreed to allow the Town to have a right of way, but the Town can’t do paperwork until they have a design and survey done. Forest Service funds are decreasing.

Staff is hoping that they can get an application in and gain approval and grant money. “No one wants to talk to us until we have approval from landowners to go through there,” Gerrity said.

Conrad asked if an investment of $24,000 is workable for Town Hall or is the Town throwing money at a bad building. Gerrity said that a new building would be wonderful.

“You could still have it as a museum but using it as the administrative offices is really tricky. We need things like a table. We need space for storage out behind it. Is it ideal? No. We have lemons. We’re going to try to make lemonade.”

Larsen said the Town has been talking about the Big Springs Egress for a long time and he hopes tonight to approve $45,000 and to only spend $22,500. “We do have significant road work coming next year with the tax increase and will have a place to tackle Big Springs Drive.

“I can’t see a new town building happening in the next few years, so even if we bump out the back, we will have a facility that can be used for other things,” Larsen said. Trustees have also been talking about Town staff and taking the load off. For the goodwill fund, he suggested setting it back in the general fund, and then doing it in the 2019 budget and doing it right and not trying to do a rush job.

Conrad said she would not like to see the Big Springs Egress project fall apart. Gustafson said she is supportive of $45,000 and is hopeful about DOLA funds,

Baumhover said the Big Springs Egress has been three years in coming. “I would be supportive of using all $45,000 for design and areas of interest and other issues that have come up. The pilot project on Big Springs should be the first thing done.”

The Board approved the general fund outlay. The Community Center had $42,500 in excess revenue over expenditures and $70,000 in excess change in fund balance over budget for 2017, according to background. The 2017 ending fund balance is $161,000, and net change in fund balance per the 2018 budget is $0.

The roof over the Community Center’s multi-purpose room is more than 30 years old and has been leaking since the re-opening of the Community Center. “Multiple repairs have been made but staff has been informed by contractors the roof is past its life and needs replacing. Updated bids are being collected; however, bids from 2016 indicate a $40,000 to $50,000 replacement cost.”

Town Staff recommended using the 2017 Community Center overage up to $50,000 to replace the roof. Hagey said that’s the number one priority. Staff brought up the need for showers, but they pale in comparison to the ceiling.
Gerrity said Community Center Director Dawn Baumhover is talking to contractors, and she believes it is an asphalt roof. The Board approved $50,000 for the Community Center roof.

Gerrity introduced an ordinance to allow for an additional voting member of the Planning Commission. At the Board’s last meeting, the Trustees discussed growing the Planning Commission by one member.

Trustees talked about both an alternate and full member, but the ordinance is for a full member. The Planning Commission put forth this initiative to provide for eight full voting members, particularly in cases of quasi-judicial reviews, such as individual land use applications.

The Board of Trustees liaison would also remain, as a ninth member, primarily to work with the Commission on legislative matters and general planning and will vote only during a tie-breaker for legislative matters.

Conrad asked: “Are we adding this member because someone showed up we didn’t want to cut?” Larsen said the Board has been talking about this for years. It’s an opportunity to grow the board and get more input.

The Planning Commission usually fills its seats, so they looked at it for the potential for that kind of opportunity, Larsen said. Gerrity said the Town already has alternate members on two boards.

Baumhover said that both SAB and the Nederland Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Advisory Board have alternate members. Gustafson said: “I think if we have interested community members who want to step up to serve, it’s the right thing to do.”

The role of an alternate is a disincentive to do the work, since you can’t vote. “I think it would benefit the community with full participation,” Gustafson said.

Gerrity pointed out that the Trustees agreed to add a member to the Nederland Downtown Development Authority Board one month ago. They have an ordinance that allows up to 11.

The Town will open up Planning Commission applications to the public again. There will be nine members on the Commission with one trustee liaison, Gerrity said.

The Board approved the ordinance. Larsen directed staff to open this up to everyone who has applied, or anyone else who has decided they want to get involved.

The Board met on Tuesday, August 21 and on Tuesday, September 4, 2018, in the multi-purpose room at the Nederland Community Center.

(Originally published in the August 23, 2018, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)