The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met on Tuesday, October 4, 2022, at 7 p.m. to swear in the newest Trustee to their Board and to continue their discussion on an Annexation Ordinance currently being drafted for the Town.

The BOT began their meeting with Mayor Billy Giblin swearing in newly appointed Trustee Nichole Sterling. Trustee Sterling, with the submission of an application and her impressive resume, was appointed on September 27, 2022, winning the BOT’s favor over four other applicants, two of which campaigned for the open Trustee seat in the August 23, 2022 election.

Trustee Sterling gave her Oath of Office before joining fellow Trustees for the remainder of their October 4 meeting, which continued with a presentation led by Attorney Aaron Ladd from the firm of Vranesh and Raisch, LLP, concerning the town of Nederland’s Water Rights.

Attorney Ladd’s presentation covered Nederland’s junior and senior water rights, augmentation plan, water storage (including Barker and Nederland reservoirs), and water supply planning and growth.

Mayor Pro-Tem Tom Mahowald asked questions in regards to the strength of Nederland’s augmentation plan and the importance of the town developing water rights for storage by 2024.

Trustee Corvalan inquired if the town could ask for more water storage from Boulder Reservoir during negotiations in 2026. Attorney Ladd noted that the allotted amount of stored water is an amount set by the Farmers Ditch irrigation ditch, operated and managed by the Farmers Ditch Company.

The BOT were tasked with considering a Special Review Use (SRU) application for Tres Gringos restaurant concerning the continued allowance of their outdoor patio seating. Dan Harrower of Tres Gringos, located at 20 Lakeview Drive, unit 207, was granted temporary allowance of modification of premises during the 2020 pandemic and, with the temporary allowance having ended in September of 2022, has reapplied to the SRU process in the hope of making their outdoor seating permanent.

There have been concerns shared by the Planning Commission about the safety of the outdoor seating due to the speed of vehicles traveling on Big Springs Drive. Harrower is willing to install jersey barriers on the corners that are exposed to the road to better protect the seating area.

With Tres Gringos’ neighbors in the shopping center in agreement with the restaurant continuing to use the two parking spaces for year-round outdoor seating, and with the BOT receiving 31 letters of support for Tres Gringos, the BOT voted to approve the SRU.

Town Administrator Miranda Fisher led the BOT in a discussion concerning property owner Ron Mitchell’s request for the Town to vacate the right-of-way of the alleyway north of East 2nd Street. Mitchell intends on widening the road in front of 75 East 2nd Street to be more aligned and conform to a straight line; in doing so Mitchell would be losing a portion of his property, hence the right-of-way vacation request to recoup some of his loss.

Trustees discussed their thoughts on the right-of-way vacation request before deciding to refer the issue to the Planning Commission to be reviewed during their meeting in late October.

The BOT discussed a draft Annexation Ordinance, and two sample Annexation Agreements under that proposed ordinance, presented by Trustee Coombs-Esmail and Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen.

On Tuesday, September 13, 2022 the BOT provided guidance in the process and review criteria to be detailed in the ordinance language, as well as specifying the annexation conditions that would trigger a municipal election. Trustees raised concerns about property acreage and density being factors to consider, and specified that applicants be responsible for providing the town traffic studies and water rights reports, as well as cover fees if their annexation application triggers an election.

The BOT directed Town Staff to create an annexation ordinance draft at that September 13 meeting. On Tuesday, October 4, 2022 Attorney Madsen provided the BOT with the draft annexation ordinance and sample agreement to review and provide additional thoughts and guidance.

Trustee Coombs-Esmail questioned the timeframe of the application process in regards to it being too tight in areas pertaining to the preparation of the applicant and of Town Staff in the weeks prior to a public hearing. Trustees also discussed the language needed in the ordinance to better specify contiguity when considering the density of a property.

Trustee Corvalan raised the concern that Nederland’s advisory boards and commissions should not be given supreme power over residents in decisions that widely affect town zoning issues, stating that the BOT’s discussion on an annexation ordinance requires more public feedback. Trustee Corvalan directed town staff to create and release a survey to the public.

The BOT heard comments from the public, many of which urged the Board to take more time in considering all the complex aspects and angles of the annexation conversation. Trustee Coombs-Esmail desired for town staff to draft three versions of an annexation ordinance and have the matter return as an Action Item on the BOT’s agenda in November.

The Nederland Board of Trustees meet on the first and third Tuesday of every month. Their next scheduled meeting is on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, at 7 p.m. and can now be attended either online or in person at the Nederland Community Center. For more information go to: https:// townofnederland. colorado. gov/ board-of-trustees