The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, at 7 p.m. to approve a raise for the Town Administrator, to hear information on a potential petition for a repeal of a past BOT
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The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, at 7 p.m. to approve a raise for the Town Administrator, to hear information on a potential petition for a repeal of a past BOT decision, and to discuss the potential of regulating resident behavior in order to avoid public nuisances that cause neighbor disputes.
The Board proclaimed the week of May 21 to May 27, 2023 as National Public Works Week, as presented by the American Public Works Association (APWA). The APWA announced this year’s theme, “Connecting the World Through Public Works,” which is meant to highlight the many ways public works professionals serve their communities.
The BOT approved an increase of $27,256.82 to the salary of Town Administrator Dr. Miranda Fisher, bringing her compensation to $110,000 a year. Trustee Eric Coombs-Esmail and Mayor Pro-Tem Tom Mahowald had proposed the salary increase at their last meeting on May 2. Four trustees gave a nod to the amount of the increase and to implement the increase by amending Fisher’s contract.
Trustees also approved Resolution 2023-25, which approved the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Boulder County Co-Responders for the organization to provide co-responder services to Nederland. Co-responders are behavioral health specialists that “assist law enforcement in service calls that may involve mental health, substance use, death of a loved one, or some type of crisis.” The Town of Nederland was awarded $167,890 on January 24, 2023, from the Peace Officer Behavioral Health Support and Community Partnership Grant, to fund a full-time co-responder.
Alex Hyde-Wright, Regional Multimodal Planning Division Manager with the Boulder County Transportation Planning Division, presented updates on the Nederland EcoPass program and on the Hessie Shuttle. Issues concerning tourist congestion and parking problems surrounding the Hessie Shuttle have been discussed with Trustees and the Nederland public at meetings with Boulder County Commissioners on April 13 and May 8, held at the Nederland Community Center.
Hyde-Wright provided Trustees with the history of the EcoPass program, as well as data concerning the decline in ridership numbers on the NB route post-pandemic. Nederland Town staff were also given a shout out for their work auditing the EcoPass program in order to deactivate the EcoPasses of former residents.
RTD fares are planned to be lowered across the board, and the “regional” fare classification will be abolished, with these major changes planned to be implemented by the first quarter of 2024.
The EcoPass program, which is funded by property taxes, requires another successful ballot measure this year in order for program funding to continue. Hyde-Wright provided a timeline for getting the measure onto ballots for the November 7, 2023 election, with community outreach planned for the next month which includes the release of a community survey.
Boulder County hopes to return to the BOT in late June for their recommendations on the ballot measure. However, County Commissioners will set the final ballot language.
Hyde-Wright provided information regarding parking and traffic concerns at the increasingly popular Hessie and 4th of July trailheads. Data showed that while there are just over 130 parking spaces total for the trailheads, on average on a typical day in July 400 vehicles get turned back 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. It was stated that 77% of shuttle riders were traveling to Lost Lake as their primary hiking destination. Hyde-Wright also mentioned that more than 60% of shuttle riders end up spending money in Nederland.
Visitor surveys pointed to three major requests from visitors to Hessie and 4th of July trails: shuttle service on weekdays, extending the shuttle route to the 4th of July trailhead, and providing more toilet paper at the trailheads.
The number one request from Eldora residents was for a timed-entry or permit-based parking system like the one at Brainard Lake, to alleviate traffic issues through the town. Hyde-Wright stated that he hopes these projects for improvements can be implemented by 2025.
Trustees asked about the potential for better parking options than using the Nederland Middle-High School, and raised the popular question of whether extending shuttle service to Eldora Mountain Ski Resort’s unused parking lots is an option during the summer. Hyde-Wright answered by reiterating that Eldora’s land use is restricted by both Boulder County and the US Forest Service, and overturning such decisions would prove to be difficult.
The BOT were tasked with voting on Ordinance 845, which extends the moratorium on off-street parking requirements in the Central Business District and on payments into the commercial parking fund. The temporary moratorium is set to expire on October 18, and, if approved, the moratorium would be extended until April 18, 2024.
Town staff recommended that Trustees approve the extension so that “subject matter experts” can review and make suggestions for changes to municipal code, paid for by funds from the Transportation Multimodal Plan (TMP). The TMP will involve transportation experts analyzing the town’s “land use characteristics, regional context, demographic information, multimodal networks, travel patterns, traffic volumes, transportation demand models, safety, parking utilization and planned development.”
Trustees agreed that the parking requirements and payments into the fund were unfair to business owners, as meeting those requirements was impossible because of the fundamental lack of parking in town. They unanimously approved Ordinance 845, extending the moratorium until April 18 of next year.
The Board discussed the referendum petition to reconsider the approval of Ordinance 837, which changed the zoning classification of 100 1st Street from High Density Residential (HDR) to Central Business District (CBD) in order for the property owner, Ron Mitchell, to construct a paid parking lot. The referendum petition was submitted on May 5 with 98 signatures and was declared sufficient by Town Clerk Macy Caligaris on May 11.
The vote to approve Ordinance 837 was made on April 4, 2023. The referendum petition was started based on the belief that the decision did not meet the set criteria, as the neighboring residents did not approve of the proposal nor could Mitchell’s claims be corroborated that the original lot classification of HDR was done in error.
Trustees have the choice to decide whether to revisit the discussion of Ordinance 837, to repeal the ordinance, to call for a special election with the town’s voters to reach a decision, or to wait and see if an official protest is filed with the town before 5 p.m. on June 14.
The BOT agreed to wait for an official protest to be filed, which would require a protest hearing and a decision to be made around July 10.
Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen provided information on the process and timeline of the referendum process. A hearing officer, hired at the Town’s expense, would decide the sufficiency of the protest and, pending a review from the district court, if found sufficient would come before the BOT on July 18 for their decision either to repeal the ordinance or to call for a public election on the matter, with a deadline of October 6 for an election.
If the protest is found insufficient by the hearing officer, then Ordinance 837 will stand and the petitioners will not be permitted to petition again.
The BOT plan to research available hearing officers between now and their upcoming June 6 meeting, during which time they hope to hire an officer for the potential upcoming protest hearing.
Mayor Pro-Tem Mahowald presented to the Board a discussion on “Maintaining Peace in Our Neighborhoods,” which focuses on ideas surrounding regulation over personal and private neighbor disputes and “nuisances,” and how to enforce such regulations.
Nuisances were described as something that is “unreasonable, unwarranted, or unlawful that substantially interferes with the ability to live peacefully” in one’s property. Examples include excessive noise, such as loud music or a continuously barking dog, trespassing, and other activities that may prove offensive to the senses, like piled garbage and “junk” in the yard.
Mahowald’s Agenda Information Memorandum (AIM) also stated “noise, light, and smoke” from late night parties can constitute a nuisance.
Suggestions within the AIM on how to regulate such nuisances included creating a BOT-sponsored board to focus on the mission of “keeping peace in our neighborhoods,” instituting a noise ordinance, and utilizing a co-responder to assist in such matters. Co-responders assist in mental health issues and other crisis-based service calls.
Mahowald included in his presentation Boulder’s noise ordinance as an example of how Nederland residents could be regulated. The ordinance includes set decibel levels not to be exceeded during set times of day on one’s personal property. This also regulates motor vehicle noise. Several segments of the ordinance refer to “unreasonable” noise prohibited between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., noise prohibited between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., and noise that’s prohibited at any time.
Boulder’s noise ordinance also states that “no person shall engage in, or be responsible for, a course of conduct which is so loud that it materially interferes with or disrupts another individual in the conduct of activities at such individual’s home.”
The ordinance also regulates motor vehicle muffler and exhaust noise, as well as animal noise, including the “loud and persistent or loud and habitual barking, howling, yelping, braying, whinnying, crowing, calling, or making any other loud and persistent or loud and habitual noise.”
Trustees discussed the proposed board or committee and how it would operate as a mediating force that represents Nederland’s “micro-communities” and organize community building activities like block parties, as well as serve as neighborhood liaisons to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office deputies.
ThebBoardbdiscussedboptionsbofbrevisiting and perhaps revising Nederland’s current nuisance and noise codes, creating a baseline of what is desired to be regulated, and officially adopting new state laws in order to provide a firm foundation from where proper enforcement can be based.
Trustee Jesse Seavers, who previously led the discussion on Good Neighbor Guidelines, promoted person-to-person conversations in civil disputes before resorting to law enforcement intervention. Seavers also suggested that funds from the Town’s law enforcement budget be used for a co-responder to act as a mediator in civil disputes and to be used as a measure before calling for law enforcement.
The Nederland Board of Trustees meet on the first and third Tuesday of every month. Their next scheduled meeting is on Tuesday, June 6, 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/board-of-trustees.