On Monday, May 8, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. Boulder County Commissioners Claire Levy, Marta Loachamin, and Ashley Stolzmann met with Nederland government representatives and Town staff at the Nederland
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On Monday, May 8, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. Boulder County Commissioners Claire Levy, Marta Loachamin, and Ashley Stolzmann met with Nederland government representatives and Town staff at the Nederland Community Center for a special meeting to discuss the parking situation at Hessie trail, Nederland and Boulder County trail connectivity, and the potential for an intergovernmental agreement (IGA).
Commissioner Levy is the current acting Chair of the Board of County Commissioners; she represents District 1 and was elected in 2020, with her term continuing through January 2025.
Commissioner Loachamin, representing District 2, was elected in 2020 with a term continuing through January 2025.
Commissioner Stolzmann, representing District 3, was elected in January 2023 to a four-year term and is the current acting Vice Chair of the Board of County Commissioners.
Lead Admin Tech Marysia Bachman, Public Affairs Specialist Jennifer Churchill, County Administrator Jana Petersen, and Acting Chief of Staff Natalie Springett were also representing Boulder County at the special meeting.
Mayor Billy Giblin, Mayor Pro-Tem Tom Mahowald, and Trustees Tania Corvalan, Eric Coombs-Esmail, Jesse Seavers, and Nichole Sterling were present, as well as Town Administrator Dr. Miranda Fisher.
The agenda for the meeting featured seven items, with ten minutes allotted for discussion on six of the items and 20 minutes allotted for discussion on the IGA. Commissioners and Trustees began with a discussion about the parking situation in Eldora at the Hessie and 4th of July trailheads.
Commissioners, along with Chief Park Ranger for Boulder County Parks and Open Space Bevin Carithers, had discussed this matter with Nederland and Eldora residents during a Town Hall meeting on April 13. Carithers noted during that meeting that there are just over 130 parking spaces total for the trailheads, and detailed that 400 vehicles on average on a typical day in July get turned away at the traffic checkpoint before hitting the town of Eldora.
The Hessie Trail Shuttle transported 42,000 hikers in 2022, with 99% of riders boarding the shuttle from Nederland High School. 77% of shuttle riders stated Lost Lake as their primary hiking destination. Shuttle service on the weekdays, extending the shuttle route to the 4th of July trailhead, and providing more toilet paper at the trailheads were the top requests made according to visitor surveys.
The number one request from Eldora residents was for a timed-entry or a permit-based parking system like the one at Brainard Lake, to alleviate traffic issues through the town. Boulder County hopes to implement a new parking system by 2025.
During the May 8 meeting, Nederland Trustees, though in favor of the Hessie shuttle service, stated a belief that the shuttle had reached the pinnacle of its effectiveness because of the influx of visitors to the area. Commissioners and Trustees discussed options to help alleviate the issue, which included adding more shuttle stops and allowing recreational parking and shuttle service from the Eldora Mountain Ski Resort during the summer.
Commissioners noted that adding more shuttle stops in Nederland in order to promote more tourist spending in town would require more shuttles, which Boulder County is not ready to fund at this time.
Commissioners were not immediately on board with the concept of summer parking at Eldora and instead asked about the potential of a parking garage to be constructed on the Nederland RTD lot. Fisher mentioned that RTD will allow the construction but will not fund the $4,000,000-$5,000,000 project themselves.
The next item on the meeting agenda was the discussion of trail connectivity between Nederland and Boulder County. Trustee Seavers provided Commissioners with updates on projects from Nederland’s Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Advisory Board (PROSAB) to prioritize the board’s goals and to draft a new Trails Master Plan.
PROSAB has enlisted University of Colorado college of Architecture and Planning students Sarah Drew and Amanda Ferro to work on Nederland’s Trails Master Plan. Drew and Ferro have so far been reviewing case studies and comprehension reports involving Trails Master Plans, and will be providing deeper analysis in the following weeks with the hope of delivering a draft of their findings some time in May.
Seavers, who is the BOT liaison to PROSAB, spoke of branding Nederland as a “town within a park” and of wanting to make the trails through Town better for walkability and bikeability.
Trustees specified that Nederland’s trail system needs to be properly assessed and better maintained, with a lot of trails needing to be made official with the proper signage before the Town can come to the table about how to proceed with trail connectivity between Boulder County, private property owners, and the US Forest Service.
Fisher reminded Commissioners of the proposal for Boulder County to fund and install either a trail or a sidewalk along County Road 130, creating better and safer walkability to the Nederland Middle/Senior High School. The project was gaining momentum before the COVID-19 pandemic and any progress has since been halted.
Commissioners told Fisher and Trustees that they were open to continuing the conversation about the possibility of adding a sidewalk on CR-130, though they were concerned that part of the property in question encroaches on private property and may require an easement. Commissioner Stolzmann also mentioned that there are specific grants that can be applied for through the Safe Routes to School program.
Seavers also asked Commissioners for their thoughts on the prospect of Nederland creating a special recreation district, with the property and sales taxes gathered within the district going directly to the Parks department. Commissioners were intrigued, but unsure of what oversight or funding assistance they would provide, if at all.
Fisher noted that the creation of such a district would isolate the Parks department from being a municipal department with the Town of Nederland. Stolzmann suggested that a major corporation or financial entity could subsidize the creation of the recreation district, like the Walmart corporation donating 75 acres of land for a park in Bentonville, Arkansas. Nederland Trustees were generally in favor of this idea.
Though 20 minutes of time was allotted for the discussion on the possibility of a new IGA between Nederland and Boulder County, Commissioners and Trustees only briefly discussed the subject as the Town of Nederland is currently awaiting funding for the drafting of an updated Comprehensive Plan, and therefore Trustees preferred to postpone the IGA discussion.
Trustees also briefly discussed with Commissioners the potential of Boulder County providing financial assistance for much-needed updates and improvements to the Nederland Community Center (NCC). Though Trustees made the case that Nederland is a hub for the Peak to Peak area and that NCC provides many services while receiving little financial support in return, Levy stated that Boulder County does not fund improvements to government facilities.
Stolzmann briefly spoke with Trustees about Boulder County’s Office of Sustainability, Climate Action, and Resilience and their efforts over the next decade to decrease Boulder County’s carbon emissions by educating homeowners on the benefits of changing from gas utilities to electric. Stolzmann mentioned her work with the public on this issue, noting that there is a lot of false information to debunk before homeowners realize the benefits of the change.
Before the conclusion of the meeting, Seavers returned to the prospect of recreational parking at Eldora Mountain Ski Resort, and asked Commissioners about the possibility of developing a new special use agreement that would allow for summer recreation. Seavers hypothesized that allowing summer recreation and parking at Eldora would potentially alleviate vehicle traffic through the town of Eldora and foot traffic on the Hessie trail.
Levy stated her belief that the US Forest Service was potentially responsible for the current ban on summer recreation at Eldora, and reiterated that Commissioners were concerned about wear and tear on the Shelf Road from increased vehicle traffic, and about the impact summer recreation would have on the local wildlife populations.
Stolzmann warned that Eldora residents may not be in favor of summer recreation, and that the impacts to transportation and the potential for emergency evacuation need to be considered. Loachamin felt that leading vehicles up the Shelf Road was not an ideal solution for the summer traffic issue, and hoped that other solutions could be developed.
For more information on the Board of County Commissioners and/or Boulder County Parks and Open Space go to: https://bouldercounty.gov.
The Nederland Board of Trustees meet on the first and third Tuesday of every month. Their next scheduled meeting is on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, at 7 p.m. and can now be attended either online or in person at the Nederland Community Center. For more information: https:// townofnederland.colorado.gov/boardof trustees.