The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, at 7 p.m. to appoint new positions on the Town’s Advisory Boards and Commissions. A public hearing was also held for consideration of a Special Review Use for a new retail marijuana cultivation business in town. The BOT also discussed whether Nederland should consider adopting its own Annexation Policy.

The meeting began with the BOT moving to proclaim June as Pride month, as recognized by the Town of Nederland. Mayor Pro Tem Tom Mahowald read the proclamation which stated that Nederland’s LGBTQ+ community members “deserve the right to live in a town that respects their dignity, safety, and overall well-being,” and urged “all residents to respect and honor our diverse community and build a culture of inclusiveness and acceptance.”

The BOT also moved to proclaim Saturday June 11 as Chris Current Day of Community Service. In 1986, Chris Current, with the help of community volunteers and two churches, started the Nederland Food Pantry to serve residents impacted by Eldora’s temporary closing. Current has been a leader and a consistent figure in providing human services not just to Nederland but to the entire Peak-to- Peak region.

Mahowald read the proclamation honoring Current’s over 30 years of “dedication to feeding and caring for the Peak-to-Peak community through natural disasters, economic downturns, and pandemics.”

Officer Terrence Carroll, Nederland’s newest police officer, was sworn in by Mahowald. Officer Carrol was the 54th Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives and is the only African- American to have served as Speaker. He is a graduate of the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, and holds a Master of Divinity degree from the Iliff School of Theology in Denver.

Officer Carrol served for the past six years with the Colorado Rangers and started with the Nederland Police Department (NPD) on May 6, 2022; he will be a full-time officer with the department starting on July 1, 2022.

The BOT was tasked with appointing new members to the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA), the Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB), and the Planning Commission (PC).

The BZA had two vacancies for board members, with an additional position available for an “alternate” as well as requiring a BOT member to serve on the BZA as a liaison. Roger Cornell, having served on some form of Nederland local government since 1986, and Billy Giblin, with experience on the Marijuana Zoning Review, Animal Ordinance, and Solar Ordinance Review Subcommittees, both had applied for reappointment on the BZA. Andrew Bliss, with eight years experience in municipal government and 10 years experience with public engagement, also applied.

The BOT moved to approve the appointments of Bliss and Giblin to the BZA, with Cornell being appointed as the alternate and Trustee Jonathan Baumhover as the liaison.

The SAB had three vacancies due to two Board members’ terms ending in June, 2022, and one member submitting her resignation. Melody Baumhover, who has held a co-chair position on the SAB since 2016, submitted an application for reappointment. Former Trustee Alan Apt applied for the open seats on the SAB, as did former mayor Kristopher Larsen, with a dedication to help the town reach its pledge of 100% renewable energy.

The BOT moved to approve the appointments of Apt, Baumhover, and Larsen to the SAB.

The PC had four vacancies due to three Commission members’ terms ending in June, 2022, and due to Trustee Karen Blakemore having been voted into the BOT; Trustee Blakemore currently is the acting liaison for the PC. Jim Reis, who served on the PC for the last four years, submitted an application for reappointment, as did Roger Cornell. Timothy Duggan, a life-long resident of Nederland who served three years on the PC; Michael Dye, a resident of Nederland for over a decade with 50 years experience living in Boulder; and Christopher Rivera, a software development professional with 15 years of experience in project planning and interpersonal communication, all also applied for the open positions on the PC.

The BOT moved to approve the appointments of Cornell, Dye, Reis, and Rivera to the PC.

The BOT held a public hearing to consider a Special Review Use (SRU) for a new Retail Marijuana Cultivation facility in town. The Bakery Brothers LLC, represented by Cassidy Ortiz and Jason Villalobos, are under contract to lease the property at 258 East 5th Street but require an SRU to operate, as well as a marijuana cultivation license from the BOT, serving as the Marijuana Licensing Authority.

The proposed facility meets all the requirements set by the town of Nederland, as the site on 258 East 5th Street was designed and built for marijuana cultivation, it has at least four parking spaces, and it is more than 500 feet from existing marijuana businesses. Ortiz addressed neighboring residents’ concerns of potential odor from the facility and assured the BOT that the facility will be properly insulated and vapor sealed, as well as house 16 different units to focus on recirculating the air within the building as opposed to exhausting the air out.

After hearing prepared statements in favor of the SRU for the cultivation facility, the BOT moved to approve the SRU for The Bakery Brothers. The BOT, convening as the Marijuana Licensing Authority, then moved to approve the marijuana cultivation license necessary for The Bakery Brothers to conduct their business.

The BOT discussed the potential of the Town of Nederland writing its own Annexation Policy. Annexation is the process by which municipalities incorporate new territory. Currently, any issue in the town of Nederland that concerns annexation falls under review of Boulder County, per Nederland’s Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Boulder County.

The BOT reviewed annexation policies from Berthoud, Estes Park, Lyons, and Pagosa Springs to assess whether or not additions should be made to Town code to allow for Nederland to adopt its own annexation policy. Trustees discussed the level of detail required for such a task, though other municipalities have touted success with their in-depth annexation applications, noting that there’s been more public understanding of the process and that the applications received are more orderly and uniform than they were in the past.

Trustees shared their individual thoughts and questions on the matter of adopting an annexation policy, covering concerns of what prerequisites an applicant should expect to meet for an “impact report” before their application for annexation might be considered. The BOT decided that each step of an annexation policy needs to be discussed and considered closely and carefully in a scheduled work session, before working with Nederland’s various Boards and Commissions for their input.

The BOT discussed the potential of the Town of Nederland considering becoming a “home rule” municipality. Home rule status refers to when a municipality has adopted a Charter, like a local “constitution,” as its governing document. It allows towns to customize more closely what they can do to address community issues, as they are no longer “bound” by the Colorado Constitution and statutes as a statutory town.

The issue of home rule was brought up at the BOT’s special meeting on May 23 as a potential solution to avoid vacancy issues on the BOT when a Trustee runs for the position of Mayor. A petition signed by 5% of the town’s registered voters is required to begin the process of converting to home rule. A Charter Commission of at least nine members would then take a year or longer to properly draft a new town Charter, after which it would be given to the BOT and town electors for review.

Though the issue of home rule has come up to the BOT on several occasions in the past, the majority of Trustees were in agreement that, though it would lessen some of the “red tape” that comes with being a statutory town, pursuing home rule status for Nederland is too extensive of an undertaking for the town to currently take on.

The Nederland Board of Trustees meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month. Their next scheduled meeting is on Tuesday, June 21, 2022, at 7 p.m. and can now be attended online or in person at the Nederland Community Center. For more information go to: https://townofnederland.colorado.gov/ board-of-trustees