The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met for a special meeting on Tuesday, August 30, 2022, at 7 p.m. to continue their discussions on a proposed 2022 supplemental budget and on the ballot language concerning tax initiatives for the November 8 election.

The BOT began their meeting by approving the Consent Agenda, in which Mayor Pro Tem Tom Mahowald signed, and the BOT approved, the contract for David Thrower as Town Judge. Judge Thrower was reappointed for his second two-year term by the BOT on Tuesday, August 16.

Trustee Karen Blakemore announced to the BOT that the Town of Nederland recognizes August as National Civility Month, as instituted by the National Civility Association.

“The price of incivility is extremely high, in the workplace, public discourse, and our personal lives,” writes Colorado Department of Local Affairs Executive Assistant Danielle Milone.

“This month we should remind ourselves to treat customers, coworkers, family, neighbors, and others with courtesy, compassion, and respect.”

Blakemore noted that though the month of August is over the message behind National Civility Month should be carried onward. Mayor Pro Tem Mahowald suggested extending National Civility Month through September.

Blakemore also presented to the BOT a proposal for the Town of Nederland to support the extension of Boulder County’s 0.10% transportation sales tax. Boulder County Commissioner Claire Levy is working with multi-modal transportation advocates to garner support for the extension and is also reaching out to municipalities in Boulder County.

The 0.10% tax, which equates to one penny from every purchase of 10 dollars, will help fund the implementation of Boulder County’s Mobility and Access for All Ages and Abilities Plan. The transportation sales tax would also help continue to fund current Boulder County programs such as the Nederland RTD EcoPass, the Hessie Shuttle, and the free NB bus on summer weekends.

Blakemore mentioned to the BOT that the transportation sales tax has been in place for 20 years. 55% of the tax revenue is allotted to roadway resilience with the remaining 45% spread across several projects, including the EcoPass transit program, Eldora ridge road reconstruction, and the construction of a trail, with sidewalks, from County Road 130 to the High School.

Trustee Eric Coombs-Esmail noted that the trail to the High School was included as part of Boulder County’s plans for the tax revenue last time the tax was extended. Construction on the proposed path has yet to begin. Blakemore explained that the preliminary designs for the trail were completed by Boulder County.

The BOT gave a nod of four and Boulder County was notified.

A subcommittee of the Planning Commission (PC) formed of PC Vice Chair Jim Reis, Town Administrator Fisher, Deputy Zoning Administrator Cynthia Bakke, and Planning Commissioner Linda Glasser created a presentation for the BOT concerning Nederland’s parking issues.

The presentation detailed four recommendations from the PC subcommittee on possible solutions to alleviate the parking problems. The recommendations cover placing a twoyear moratorium on payments into the commercial parking fund and an offstreet parking requirement for all existing buildings in the CBD, developing additional lots throughout town while also redesigning existing lots like at Chipeta Park, phasing in paid parking, and promoting parking outside of Nederland’s Central Business District (CBD) through wayfinding and trail development.

Trustees discussed whether the parking fund is a decent enough revenue source for the Town and if it would be better to get rid of it entirely. The parking fund was noted as not being equally enforced. Town Administrator Miranda Fisher suggested placing the moratorium on the parking fund as the first step toward taking a deeper dive into rewriting the entire municipal parking code, to better implement such programs as the parking fund.

Deputy Zoning Administrator Bakke agreed that the Town’s zoning and parking codes needed rewriting as they currently create a disconnect between business owners and the Town.

Bakke explained that the PC subcommittee’s goal for the parking presentation was to find the best solutions towards creating the most parking spaces at the lowest possible cost to the Town. Bakke expressed a hope that the presentation would work as a catalyst towards actionable decisions from the BOT.

The PC subcommittee mainly suggested two different sites for developing parking lots: the Old Town Shop Site at 750 West 5th Street, and along the east side of Rodeo Court and north side of Lakeview Drive. The subcommittee expects creating temporary lots on these parcels would create an estimated 145 parking spaces.

Trustees appeared to agree that approaching the Old Town Shop Site could be problematic due to disagreement from the area residents on how Nederland should utilize the site. Trustee Tania Corvalan wished to hear more about promoting parking at the Nederland Community Center and about revisiting the discussion of a free shuttle service in town.

The BOT heard a presentation from Scott Petri, a consultant on citywide paid parking initiatives; and from Jordan Schware, owner of the municipal parking and mobility integration company Get My Parking.

Petri indicated that Nederland being a “blank slate” in regard to paid parking infrastructure is a benefit when considering that there currently is no paid parking technology that needs to be replaced. Instead, Nederland could be provided with the newest technology if the BOT decides to begin phasing in paid parking, starting on 1st Street and ending in the Visitors Center parking lot.

Schware, a former Nederland resident, detailed how his software company would help the Town “build its own brand” through implementing a smartphonebased parking and wayfinding app. Visitors and locals would access their parking information by utilizing their smartphone’s camera to scan QR codes located on physical signage at the parking spaces.

Schware detailed how the app would also provide Town Staff with an administrative dashboard where they can access various analytics and implement a monthly permit system for locals. Schware indicated that the app can also track validation types and methods.

According to the PC subcommittee, implementing paid parking on 1st Street for 25 parking spaces could potentially generate $80,000 per space per year, totaling $2,000,000. Mayor-elect Billy Giblin commented, contesting the math, indicating that if the presentation’s numbers were correct that would require each of the 25 spaces to generate roughly $9 an hour all day, every day for 365 days.

Petri quoted his experience from Philadelphia as a way to gauge the revenue that Nederland can expect to gain, stating a 40% return, or 40 cents on every dollar, from each transaction. Schware’s company, Get My Parking, charges $10,000 up front to begin integrating their parking app for Nederland and collects 15 cents on every transaction.

The $10,000 starting costs for paid parking integration does not cover the installation of kiosks nor does it cover the cost of enforcement. Petri and Schware both stated that kiosks were outdated technology and that residents without smartphones or smart devices would have difficulties with the proposed paid parking system. Schware noted that his company partners with third-party parking enforcement firms, which could be provided to Nederland at additional cost.

The discussion on Nederland’s parking dilemma will continue in future meetings.

Town Administrator Fisher presented to the BOT another draft of the 2022 supplemental budget which aims to fund budget and salary increases for not just the NPD but also Town Administration and Town Works, which includes Nederland’s Parks, Streets, and Utilities departments.

Fisher provided the BOT with figures representing pay increases and bonuses for Town Staff. The proposed numbers were a 5% bonus for department heads, a 4% bonus for full-time employees, a 3% bonus for part-time employees, and a 2% bonus for employees who started within the last 90 days.

According to the proposal, the affected Town departments would receive from the supplemental budget a total of $41,918 for salary increases and $43,199 for bonuses.

The Nederland Community Center would receive $43,000 for a new hot water heater, installation of a new grease trap, and for ADA-compliant front doors. The Streets department proposed reallocating $30,000 from a proposed Ford Lightning to a new plow truck instead.

The Utilities department proposed reallocating $30,000 from Inflow and Infiltration repairs to proper sand for their sand filters instead, and purchase the equipment needed to rebuild their headworks.

The NPD would receive $8,200 for officer background checks, psychological exams, polygraph tests, and physical assessments.

Fisher will return to the BOT on Tuesday, September 20, with an amended job description for the Administrative Assistant position, currently held by Peter Cacek. Fisher hopes to have Cacek utilize his skills towards community outreach efforts.

The matter of approval of the 2022 supplemental budget is scheduled to be brought up in a public hearing to be held at a future BOT meeting.

The BOT continued their discussion on the draft ballot language for tax initiatives on the upcoming November 8 election ballot concerning raising Nederland’s sales tax by 1% and instituting a 5% Special Retail Marijuana Sales Tax. In addition to their past decisions on the tax initiatives, Trustees entertained including on the ballot the question of raising the Town’s occupational tax charged to Short Term Rentals (STR) by $2.00 per room per night.

Trustee Corvalan wished to institute the additional $2.00 STR occupational tax (totaling $4.00 per room per night) due to public opinion weighing against raising the sales tax.

Trustees could not agree on the ballot language concerning how the revenue from each of the tax initiatives should be allocated. The BOT has one more meeting, on September 6, at which to finalize the ballot language to be sent to Boulder County election officials. Once the language is finalized Trustees are prohibited from engaging in public discourse concerning the tax initiatives on the November 8 ballot.

The Nederland Board of Trustees meet on the first and third Tuesday of every month. Their next scheduled meetings are on Tuesday, September 6 and Tuesday, September 20, 2022, at 7 p.m. Meetings can now be attended online or in person at the Nederland Community Center. For more information go to: https:// townofnederland.colorado.gov/board-oftrustees