The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met on Tuesday, November 21, 2023, at 7 p.m. to discuss potential revenue streams to include in the 2024 Town Budget, including speed cameras. Also, on Tuesday, November 28, a public hearing was held on the budget and the BOT were tasked with voting on whether to appoint a new Trustee to the vacant seat on the Board or to hold a special election.

A closed Executive Session was held on November 21 at 6 p.m. to “instruct negotiators regarding an agreement for law enforcement services,” and to discuss “the lease or purchase of Town property for a childcare center and to receive legal advice and instruct negotiators regarding the same.”

The BOT discussed for the first two hours of their November 21 meeting the proposal from TEENS, Inc. to lease town property at 750 West 5th Street, referred to as the Old Town Shop lot, for the construction of a new childcare center. The original proposal, presented by TEENS, Inc. Executive Director Stephen LeFaiver on October 3, 2023, was for a 99 year lease at $1 a year, the same agreement that resulted in the construction of the TEENS, Inc. facility.

Extended coverage of this issue is available starting on page 1 in this edition of The Mountain-Ear.

After holding two Work Sessions on October 24 and November 7 to discuss and review the 2024 Town Budget, the BOT were presented with the draft budget for continued discussion and to be provided updates on revenue and expenditures.

Town Administrator Miranda Fisher, after ensuring that the budget reflected the Town’s Strategic Plan for 2023 - 2024, updated Trustees on the Town’s paid parking initiative. Third party parking management company Interstate Parking will be leading meetings with the community and educating residents on its paid parking system.

Fisher noted that the budget was adjusted to reflect that revenue from paid parking will begin to be collected in March, 2024. Paid parking will need to be added to the Use Group Table within Nederland Municipal Code (NMC) Chapter 16 to identify key areas for the development of paid parking lots and spaces.

As for the Sustainability and permit processing fee, the budget was adjusted to show a decrease of revenue from $64,000 to $58,000 to account for the estimated 25% of contractors who, based on building permit revenue in 2022, will file Construction and Demolition Debris Recycling Deposit Program paperwork to receive a 50% refund in permit fees.

An update on the prospect of Nederland instituting speed cameras to monitor traffic infringements was also provided. The cost to the Town for two mobile cameras would be $16,686 a month, for a total of $200,232 a year. Trustees preferred mobile units over permanently installed cameras because of the lower cost and due to them not requiring CDOT approval for implementation.

Net revenue for speeding tickets from the cameras alone is estimated at $100,112 a year, based on $40 a ticket at one ticket an hour for 12 hours a day, for each camera.

According to information provided by Troy Hendricks and Sergeant Asa Merriam of Boulder County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), the average speed recorded by law enforcement for over 120 speeding infractions, from April 2022 through October 2024 on the 300 block of Highway 119, was 46.19 MpH, over 20 MpH over the speed limit.

The highest concentration of motor vehicle accidents happen at and near the traffic circle, according to the provided data.

Fisher noted that though the tickets, which will be sent to the registered owner’s address, can not be sent to collections unless the registered owner is personally served the notice of violation, still at least 80% of the issued tickets are paid, according to neighboring municipalities.

Despite Sergeant Mirriam’s recommendation, the Board was split 3 - 3 on including a line item for speed cameras in the 2024 Town Budget. Trustee Eric Coombs-Esmail felt speed cameras to be antithetical to the community policing model the residents of Nederland preferred, and Trustee Tania Corvalan felt that speed cameras were more about revenue than public safety and would unfairly target residents more so than visitors.

Coombs-Esmail also specified that successful multimodal transportation, wayfinding, and accessibility would do better to reduce traffic accidents and improve safety.

Due to the BOT failing to provide a nod of four approving the institution of speed cameras, the prospect will not be included in the 2024 Town Budget.

With other new revenue sources the Town expects to earn an additional $255,340 in 2024, from an estimated $80,000 from speeding tickets issued by BCSO, $30,000 from EV Chargers, $57,500 from paid parking, $27,840 from the STR regulatory fee, $58,000 from the sustainability and permit processing fee, and $2,000 from the Liquor Occupational Tax.

Corvalan asked to discuss the fee schedule, which indicated increases of $25 across most fees, from business and building and zoning fees, to marijuana and liquor license fees. When asked to justify the many increases, Fisher, Community Planner Britt DeMinck, and Town Clerk Macy Caligaris provided information on fees from neighboring municipalities, which indicated that Nederland’s fees were lower than average.

Town staff also noted that the increases are mostly to cover their time, specifying how some land use applications can take up to 10 hours to complete, and some planned unit development processes have taken up to 50 hours to complete.

A public hearing on the 2024 Town Budget was held during a Special Meeting on Tuesday, September 28, 2023, during which Fisher and Town Treasurer Rita Six reviewed the revenue and expenditures of the Town’s government and proprietary funds.

Six noted that the sales tax revenue for 2023 was trending 6.2% higher than 2022, though the General Fund is trending 11% below last year and 4% below last year in all other funds. Six had previously recommended to the Board not to increase any of the fund budgets and to only adjust them for estimated sales tax revenue for the rest of the year.

Property tax revenue for 2023 is estimated at $768,344, showing an increase of 26.3% compared to the 2023 assessed value. The current preliminary assessed value under SB22-238 is $44,479,812.

The net positions for the sewer and water fund include reserves as follows: $243,890.50 for sewer infrastructure improvements and expansion; and $677,007 for water infrastructure improvements and expansion.

In 2022 there was a budget decrease in the amount of $255,613 in the General Fund; the actual change in net assets shows an increase of $84,453, a total increase of $340,067. In 2024 the General Fund will be operating in the red with a difference of $176,950, with capital expenditures at $211,280 and after transfers, the overall decrease in the fund balance is $350,029.

The change of fund balance as of October shows an increase of $53,000. Against a budgeted decrease of $273,000, the overall increase to the General Fund fund balance as of October is $325,000.

The Community Center fund in 2022 was budgeted at a loss of $44,858; the actual change in net assets ended in an increase of $36,403. The fund will be operating in the black for 2024, with a projected increase to the fund balance of $96,369.

The Water fund in 2022 was budgeted for a decrease of $20,228, but ended in an increase of $210,946. For 2024 the fund is projected to operate in the red with a negative balance of $83,226. After adding other expenditures the change in net assets shows a decrease of $60,087.

The Sewer fund in 2022 ended in an increase to the fund balance of $155,422. In 2024 the fund will be operating in the black with the net assets totaling $120,992, projecting a decrease to the fund balance of $76,451.

The Streets fund in 2022 was budgeted at a decrease of $27,021 but ended in an increase of $38,454. In 2023 the fund budgeted expenditures at $285,500, but only $116,000 has been spent so far; the budget is expected to increase at the end of 2023. For 2024 the fund is budgeted to spend $250,701, decreasing the fund balance by $108,823.

Most of the discussion was centered on the logistics of adequate traffic enforcement and the possibility of budgeting for extra duty officers in regards to concerns raised during public comment. The concerns involve paid parking initiatives on 1st Street and the Visitors Center causing parking concerns to migrate across other areas of Town, mainly the Caribou Village Shopping Center parking lot.

Trustee Jesse Seavers pointed out that the parking spaces in the Visitors Center where the EV chargers are stationed are planned to only charge the $1 an hour for EV charging but not the $2.50 an hour for the parking space. According to the Town’s current fee plan, EV owners would be able to park for free in the Visitors Center while they charge their car.

Seavers recommended adjusting the budget to indicate revenue from charging $3.50 an hour for use of the EV slow charger and use of the parking space.

Trustees will vote on final approval of the 2024 Town Budget on Tuesday, January 2, 2024, and must be completed by January 9. All of the deadlines have been pushed back due to the passing of a recent bill through the Senate.

Also during their November 28 Special Meeting, Trustees were tasked with voting on how to fill the vacant seat on the Board left by John Mountain, who resigned on October 17. The BOT has until December 16, 2023, to decide whether to appoint a new Trustee or to hold a special election.

The decision to appoint would require an application process to be held from November 22 to December 13, with the BOT to review applicants on December 19 so that the new Trustee will take their Oath of Office on January 2, 2024. The appointed Trustee would only serve on the Board until the regular April 2024 election.

The decision to hold a special election would require that election to be held during the regularly scheduled April 2, 2024, election, considering a special election needs to be held within 90 days of a regular election, being January 3, 2024, and that a special election requires 60 days to be efficiently prepared.

The BOT discussed the prospect of requiring appointees to commit to the position and to time served beyond the three-month window before the April election. Trustees considered the prospect of scheduling appointees to a mandatory orientation meeting as early as January 9, 2024.

Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen noted that the BOT could approve an appointment process tentatively and decide at a later date to cancel the process and wait for the April election to fill the vacant seat. Trustees were in favor of this prospect in the reverse, which involves passing a formal resolution on December 5 stating the seat will be filled by election in April, and then opening applications for the appointment process independently of the resolution, which is allowable by new state statute.

Ultimately, the Board was in agreement that the discussed process would allow them to properly search for candidates for appointment while simultaneously ensuring that the seat will be filled by election if no appointment candidates come forward.

A motion to table action on this issue until December 5, to allow the Town Attorney time to draft the resolution stating the BOT decision to fill the vacant seat by election, was seconded and approved.

Town Attorney Madsen presented to the BOT a discussion on Ordinance 840, which would amend NMC Sections 2-1 and 2-4 to clarify language regarding municipal elections and Trustee term limits.

According to the Agenda Information Memorandum prepared by Madsen, Section 2-1 “is amended for consistency with current elections practice in Town”, as municipal elections in Nederland are conducted in accordance with the Colorado Municipal Election Code, elections held in conjunction with Boulder County are conducted in accordance with the Uniform Election Code of 1992.

Section 2-4 “is amended to clarify the terms of office for Trustee positions”, stating that in order to maintain staggered Trustee terms, which are normally for four years, “if there are more than 3 open trustee positions at an election, the candidates receiving the fourth highest votes or less serve a two-year term”.

During previous discussion of Ordinance 840, Trustee Tania Corvalan desired for language to be added to the appropriate NMC sections that would ensure the BOT can retain a full board even during special circumstances pertaining to an election.

The suggested process states: “if a Trustee in the middle of a four-year term is elected to the Mayor position, and that Trustee is elected and takes the Oath of Office for the Mayor position, the Board of Trustees shall fill that Trustee’s vacant position by appointing the person in the most recent regular election who received the next highest vote count and was not elected to an open Trustee position.”

“The BOT is required to follow this appointment process only when the vote count between the losing candidate and the elected candidate was less than 10 percent of the votes cast.”

Trustee Corvalan asked Madsen why Section 10 of Ordinance 177 was not included in the new draft language. Section 10 of Ordinance 177 covers Trustee vacancies. Madsen answered that she was not directed to adapt the particular section in question, and added that Ordinance 177 is not consistent with state statute, which allows for vacancies to be filled through a special election process while Ordinance 177 does not.

The BOT gave a nod of four, directing Attorney Madsen to draft the language provided by Trustee Corvalan pertaining to the issue of Board vacancy when a Trustee runs for Mayor and wins.

The Nederland Board of Trustees meet on the first and third Tuesday of every month. Their next scheduled meeting is on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, at 7 p.m. and can be attended either online or in person at the Nederland Community Center. For more information go to: https:// townofnederland.colorado.gov/board-of-trustees.