In 2022 the Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) faced challenges that have affected the Town for many years, such as parking infrastructure, developing an emergency egress road for the Big Springs neighborhood, and instituting its own annexation ordinance. With these many impactful projects on their agenda that required proper discussion and action, the BOT struggled throughout the year with the unexpected resignation of Mayor Julian Taylor and resignations of several Trustees.

As the BOT dealt with the issues of maintaining an official quorum, the Town of Nederland dealt with staffing crises across its many departments, including the Nederland Police Department (NPD). Lack of competitive wages and benefit packages, lack of affordable housing, and increased job hours due to staffing shortages eventually led to the resignation of Nederland’s entire police force.

Though these unfortunate situations seemingly caused the BOT to fail in gaining any traction through most of 2022, there were several major achievements made which may serve to greatly benefit Nederland in 2023 and onward. This is a condensed recapitulation of the discussions and actions made by the BOT at their scheduled meetings held throughout the last year.

In January of 2022 the BOT held three meetings, during which Trustees and Town staff discussed the election to be held on April 5 and proposals for adopting an Annexation Ordinance as well as a Watershed Ordinance. On January 11 the BOT held a work session to develop actionable solutions towards solving parking problems in Nederland’s Central Business District (CBD).

The BOT directed Town staff to release a public survey concerning Nederland’s parking problems at their regular meeting on February 1. Trustees also conducted public interviews of two candidates for the position of Town Marshal, Jennifer Fine-Loven and Patrick Fitzgibbons. On February 8, 2022, during an Executive Session the BOT appointed Jennifer Fine-Loven to the position of Town Marshal.

On February 15, Trustees approved several supplemental funding requests for Town improvement projects from the Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA), including the Big Springs Parking Project. The BOT also approved extending the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Boulder County until December 31, 2022.

In March, the BOT approved the institution of a new hybrid meeting policy, stating that BOT meetings would henceforth be held in person as well as online, allowing residents and Trustees alike to attend meetings from home. The BOT began their discussion on creating an ordinance on keeping animals and livestock.

Trustees also approved that Town staff move forward with several grant applications for Town improvement projects, such as the Revitalizing Main Streets Grant, Housing Planning Program Grant, and funds for the rewriting of Nederland’s Comprehensive Plan.

On April 5, the residents of Nederland voted for a new mayor and three new Trustees. On April 19, Mayor Kristopher Larsen passed the baton to new Mayor Julian Taylor, who ran in the election unopposed. Trustees Karen Blakemore, Tania Corvalan, and Tom Mahowald were also sworn in on April 19, as was Marshal Fine-Loven after Marshal Larry Johns’ resignation.

At that same meeting the new BOT discussed the vacant seat on their board created by Mayor Taylor’s victory in the April 5 election. It was during a special meeting on May 23 that Mayor Taylor’s resignation was officially made public, as he had accepted a position in upstate New York. The BOT voted to approve a special election to be held on August 23.

Before Taylor’s resignation he and the BOT had begun discussing the Fisherman’s Lot Wetlands project, the Big Springs Egress project, the Chipeta Park Pump Track project, the possibility of a dog park, and Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Advisory Board’s (PROSAB) Trails Master Plan. After Taylor’s resignation, Trustee and appointed Mayor Pro Tem Tom Mahowald took the reins over the meetings.

On June 1, the BOT held a special meeting to specifically come to an actionable conclusion as to the matter of the Big Springs Egress project. After hearing from residents of the impacted neighborhood about their concerns regarding the emergency egress route, the BOT instructed Town staff to apply for FEMA funding to pay for the scope of work on investigating alternate routes to previously discussed options.

In June the BOT voted to appoint members to the Town of Nederland’s many advisory boards and commissions, as well as continued their discussions on Annexation, Watershed, and Keeping Animals ordinances. They also approved funding requests for the PROSAB Trails Master Plan and for the Transportation and Mobility Plan. The BOT also heard from a subcommittee formed to create solutions for Nederland’s parking problems.

On July 5, the BOT discussed a continued partnership with US Solar for providing opportunities for several solar initiatives, which would help Nederland obtain better sustainability and get closer towards changing municipal building codes in order to create a solar ordinance. Unfortunately, after a status report from the NPD during the BOT’s July 19 regular meeting, momentum on several initiatives ceased, including the creation of an annexation ordinance, in order instead to focus on the loss of Nederland’s police force.

On July 19 and July 26 the BOT discussed additional revenue sources to help fund the rebuilding of the NPD as opposed to contracting with Boulder County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) for law enforcement coverage. Ultimately the BOT decided to draft language for the November 8 ballot for three tax initiatives that would help fund the NPD.

Throughout the month of August members discussed the ballot language for the proposed tax increase in Nederland’s sales tax and occupational tax affecting short-term rentals, as well as the implementation of a special retail marijuana sales tax.

On August 16, Trustee Jonathan Baumhover’s resignation was made public, forcing the BOT to decide whether to hold yet another special election or to appoint an applicant to the position. On August 23 the residents of Nederland voted to elect Mayor Billy Giblin and Trustee Jesse Seavers, who was finally filling the vacancy left by former Mayor Taylor.

On August 30, the BOT heard yet again from the subcommittee tasked to provide solutions to Nederland’s parking problems, which presented Trustees with options for paid parking initiatives. The BOT also began to discuss the 2022 supplemental budget, which proposed wage increases and significant budget boosts to the Town’s different departments, including Parks, Streets, and Sewer.

On September 6, Mayor Giblin and Trustee Seavers were officially sworn in to their positions, and the new BOT immediately voted to approve the ballot language concerning the tax initiatives to help fund the rebuilding of the NPD. On September 13, the BOT approved to appoint the open Trustee position through an application process. Trustees also finally continued their discussion on creating an annexation ordinance before the expiration of Nederland’s IGA with Boulder County on December 31.

On September 20, they voted to approve the 2022 Supplemental Budget; and on September 27, they voted to appoint Trustee Nichole Sterling to the Board.

The discussion of Nederland’s annexation ordinance would dominate the fall and early winter months of 2022, with a disagreement over the triggering criteria for a public hearing concerning annexation applications resulting in a public survey being released on October 4. The Town’s 2023 budget was also a big discussion item on the agenda through October, November, and December.

On October 18, the BOT took its first steps towards some of the solutions proposed by the subcommittee on Nederland’s parking problems by approving a moratorium on the Town’s commercial parking fund. At the same meeting Trustees approved the terms and conditions of the grant funding for the Big Springs Egress scope of work.

In November the BOT voted to appoint applicants to positions on several advisory boards and commissions, continued their discussion on the annexation ordinance and on the draft 2023 budget, right up until the public hearing concerning the budget on November 29.

The 2023 town budget was approved during the regular meeting on December 6. Trustee Karen Blakemore’s official resignation was made public on that December 6 meeting, leaving Trustees with little to no choice but to approve appointment of a new candidate rather than holding another special election.

December was not all dour news, however, for on December 1 the BOT conducted a public interview with the leading candidate for Town Marshal, Daniel Gledhill. Marshal Gledhill accepted the position and his employment contract agreement was approved on December 20. At that same meeting,Trustees also reached an agreement on how to move forward with Nederland’s own annexation ordinance, and approved the ordinance providing for a special process for signed petition referring annexation to an election.

Going forward into 2023 the BOT will have to appoint yet another Trustee in order to be a full Board of seven. However, the Town of Nederland’s municipal departments, including the NPD, are either fully staffed and funded or quickly moving towards being so. The BOT still has Watershed and Keeping Animals ordinances to work towards in 2023, including grants to fund initiatives concerning sewer infrastructure, parking infrastructure, housing needs assessments, and more Town improvement projects.

Hopefully their course forward will be duly smoothed after a rocky and tumultuous 2022.