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BOT discusses how to improve public engagement

Christopher Kelley
Posted 5/4/23

The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, at 7 p.m. to discuss the drafting of Nederland’s Watershed Ordinance and to review consultants Bohannan Huston’s progress on

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BOT discusses how to improve public engagement

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The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, at 7 p.m. to discuss the drafting of Nederland’s Watershed Ordinance and to review consultants Bohannan Huston’s progress on public engagement efforts for the Housing Needs Assessment. Trustees also discussed the potential of increasing the Town Administrator’s salary by more than $27,000.

The BOT approved within their Consent Agenda proclaiming the week of April 30 to May 6, 2023, Professional Municipal Clerks Week. The proclamation officially recognizes the duties and accomplishments of the Office of the Professional Municipal Clerk, which includes providing impartial information to both the local government and to the community, and also extends appreciation to Nederland’s Professional Municipal Clerk Macy Caligaris.

Trustees also approved within their Consent Agenda a new lease agreement for Backdoor Theater with the Nederland Community Center. The lease amount of $750 a month is almost half the projected 2023 budgeted revenue of $1400, as attendance numbers for Backdoor Theater have significantly dropped.

Backdoor Theater will need to hire someone to implement a Business Development plan as a contingent of the new lease agreement. Backdoor Theater proposes implementing theater memberships, two-tier pricing, credit card processing, and bringing back live music and theater performances.

Trustees were tasked with voting on the approval of Ordinance 842, which amends Sections 13-57 and 13-58 of the Nederland Municipal Code (NMC), charging the Utilities Department operational budget instead of property owners the cost of replacing water meters and their associated remote reading devices due to ordinary wear and tear.

Town staff recommended that, if the change to Town code is approved, property owners should be credited all charges for the replacement of meters and/ or reading devices in 2023 and 2022. It is estimated that the change, if implemented, will create an average budget impact of $18,213 annually.

A motion to approve Ordinance 842, amending Sections 13-57 and 13-58, was seconded and passed by a unanimous vote. Trustees also approved crediting property owners who paid for the replacement of their meters from 2022 and the first half of 2023. The Town of Nederland will be able to replace up to ten meters a month and aims to replace up to 70 before the end of 2023.

The BOT discussed drafting a Watershed Ordinance in order to assure the protection of Nederland’s watershed from pollution and the protection of the Town’s waterworks from injury. Trustees also reviewed a watershed development map developed by Ashley Bembenek, Principal Scientist and Owner of Alpine Environmental Consultants, which indicates that Nederland’s watershed crosses into both Gilpin and Boulder counties.

Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen presented Trustees with information concerning other municipalities, including Crested Butte, establishing a watershed protection district and an ordinance to regulate activity within that district. Crested Butte’s watershed ordinance regulated specifically defined activities and development and stated the certificates and permits required to operate within the watershed protection district.

Trustees suggested reaching out to Eldora representatives, considering they are located entirely within the mapped watershed district. The question was raised as to whether or not Boulder County has any watershed permit requirements, to which Madsen stated she was unaware of any such requirements unless they exist within the land development application process.

Boulder County and Gilpin County currently do not have any suggestions or requirements to place on Nederland, though both entities are waiting to weigh in on the matter until the Town makes a decision as to what activities it wants to regulate and how.

There was some concern from Trustees that the addition of drafting yet another ordinance may be too much of an ask for Town Staff currently. Town Administrator Dr. Miranda Fisher noted that no one on staff has the expertise for such a project and that a third-party professional may need to be obtained in order to draft an effective ordinance.

The question of whether or not establishing watershed protections was pertinent at this time was raised, though the point was reiterated that Nederland would give itself better leverage in matters with land sharing issues with Boulder County if such protections were established.

There was discussion of drafting the potential ordinance to focus more on regulating negative impact to the watershed as opposed to regulating specific activity, in an effort not to overregulate homeowners. Trustees did not specify what the triggering criteria would be that would determine BOT oversight of the development, nor did they determine what the mitigating factors would be to call for the application of regulations onto a development.

The BOT directed Town staff to return in Fall, 2023 with more information regarding Boulder County’s triggering criteria and current permitting processes in order to assess how Nederland should move forward with potentially drafting a watershed ordinance and with entering discussions with Eldora.

Trustees discussed updates on public engagement efforts being made by civil engineering professionals Bohannan Huston Inc. concerning the Housing Needs Assessment project. The assessment is required from the Town of Nederland, as is making a single change to zoning code that promotes affordable or alternative housing development, in order for the Town to be eligible for the Housing Development Incentive Grant Program.

The purpose of the Housing Needs Assessment is to gather data from the Town’s planning documents, such as the Comprehensive Plan and Envision 2030, as well as from public surveys and workshops, in order to form suggestions for the required zoning code changes.

Bohannan Huston Inc. held two Town Hall meetings for the public to discuss Nederland’s housing needs on April 6, 2023. Access to an interactive map (https://bhi. mysocialpinpoint.com/nederland-housingneeds assessment/map) and a community survey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NederlandHNASurvey) have been offered to residents as well.

After meeting with Nederland’s Public Engagement Manager Peter Cacek, Bohannan Huston Inc. provided suggestions for further public outreach, including informational flyer mailings, articles in local press, and social media video clips that provide testimonials from Town staff and local government representatives about the importance of the housing issue.

The BOT discussed the minimal turnout of only 27 attendees to the two workshops on April 6 and only 29 participants in the community survey, which Trustees described as “dense” and “significant”. The public surveys for the issues of the Keeping Animals Ordinance and for Annexation both had more than 100 residents participate.

Public comment for the Discussion Item stated belief that the BOT has a public engagement issue in general, not just in the issue of the Housing Needs Assessment, and that there is a contingent of the public who believe their voices are not heard. Other public comment urged Trustees to focus outreach efforts on the correct demographics, as homeowners have been the focus of the outreach thus far. Workers of Nederland and those contributing members to the community who are being priced out of their current homes have not been heard, according to the opinion of the public.

Community Planner Britt DeMinck asked for Trustees to demonstrate their own interest in the Housing Needs Assessment by taking the survey themselves and to use their voice to make significant outreach to the public. DeMinck and Cacek were stated to hold the Housing Needs Assessment, and furthermore the Housing Development Incentive Grant Program, as a priority.

The BOT agreed to continue with more targeted outreach by attending public events such as the Farmer’s Market and engaging residents to fill out the survey, as well as posting more direct advertising rather than spending $1,000 to mail flyers. Trustee Jesse Seavers agreed to be in one of the Town of Nederland’s promotional videos on the subject of the Housing Needs Assessment.

An update on public outreach for the Housing Needs Assessment will be provided to the BOT in June, 2023.

Trustee Eric Coombs-Esmail and Mayor Pro-Tem Tom Mahowald prepared the Agenda Information Memorandum for the discussion with the BOT regarding a proposed increase of $27,256.82 to Town Administrator Dr. Miranda Fisher’s salary, bringing her compensation to $110,000.

The purpose of the proposal is to raise Fisher’s salary to be more competitive both locally and regionally in order to retain her expertise, which is stated as “in the best of interests of Nederland’s residents and businesses”. The AIM states that Fisher has served Nederland through the COVID-19 pandemic and through many staffing crises, and that by earning her doctorate and building institutional capacity for members of Town staff Fisher continues to work for the benefit of Nederland’s present and future.

Trustee Tania Corvalan stated that, though she felt the same as other Trustees that Fisher and all town staff deserved proper compensation, the $27,256.82 increase was too much. Trustee Corvalan suggested waiting for the results of a Compensation Study to be released and to hear from the Town Treasurer on whether Nederland could truly budget for Fisher’s increase and future increases for other Town staff.

The majority of Trustees, however, felt it pertinent to begin properly compensating town staff, starting with the Town Administrator, as a show of good faith that the BOT is actively trying to make Nederland a better place to work.

The BOT ultimately gave a nod of four to agree with the amount of the increase, to implement the increase by amending Fisher’s contract, and include the amended contract for approval on the Consent Agenda for the May 16, 2023, meeting.

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/board-oftrustees.