John Scarffe, Nederland. The Nederland Board of Trustees approved the allocation plan for distribution of Federal CARES Act funds during a virtual, online meeting on Tuesday, July 7, 2020, at 7 p.m., following an executive session. The Board also approved a Memorandum of Understanding to reduce wildfire risk in Boulder County and a Minor Subdivision Replat for 571 Brown Street.

Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen introduced a resolution that allows the Town to collaborate on federal funds from the CARES Act, a portion of which will establish Coronavirus relief funds to cover expenses from March 1, 2020, to December 2020. The Colorado Office of Local Affairs (DOLA) will administer over $27 million of fund by reimbursement of expenses, and Nederland will receive $69,309. 

Madsen asked the Board of Trustees to act on the resolution, which allows the Town to enter into a collaborative agreement with Boulder County and other municipalities in Boulder regarding the distribution of federal funds received from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 (“CARES Act”), according to the Agenda Information Memorandum (AIM). On March 15, 2020, Mayor Kristopher Larsen, declared a local disaster and the Nederland Board of Trustees (Board) consented to the declaration and proclamation. 

On March 27, 2020, the United States government enacted the CARES Act to provide emergency assistance and health-care response for individuals, families and businesses affected by COVID-19. The CARES Act established the Coronavirus Relief Fund (the Funds) to disburse money to state and local governments to help cover necessary expenditures incurred by those governmental entities that were not included in their 2020 annual budgets, according to the AIM.

The State of Colorado is appropriating $27,889,758 of the Funds to be used by Boulder County local governments to reimburse local governments for the unbudgeted expenses. “The DOLA eligibility requirements for the program include a requirement that local governments enter into a collaboration agreement describing how the funds will be distributed. 

The Boulder County community also agrees to work cooperatively to ensure that the entire Boulder County allocation is applied to the benefit of County residents rather than allowing the funds to remain unspent and revert to the state-wide reserve fund pool for reallocation elsewhere in the state, according to the AIM. 

The collaborative agreement regarding expenditure of the CARES Act funds includes Boulder County and the municipalities of Boulder, Lafayette, Longmont, Louisville, Erie, Lyons, Nederland, Jamestown, Superior and Ward. Regarding the allocation of $27,889,758, the parties have agreed that Boulder County will receive 55 percent of the funding to cover both countywide Covid-19 expenses and expenses that are specific to the Boulder County local government organization. 

The remaining 45 percent will be allocated among Boulder County’s 10 municipalities based on the 2018 population estimate provided by the Colorado State Demography Office to cover Covid-19 costs specific to their organizations. The parties agreed to work collaboratively to reallocate any Parties’ unspent funds to either the County or other municipalities within the county prior to reverting any the $27,889,758 back to the state-wide reserve pool. 

The preliminary plan for Nederland is to use these funds for legal, IT, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and personnel costs that meet the DOLA requirements related to Covid-19. Town Administrator Karen Gerrity said the deadline for the application was July 7, so Mayor Larsen signed the agreement, and this resolution is the ratification. Staff could not see any issues with it, and the Board approved the resolution.

Town Clerk Miranda Fisher introduced a DRAFT of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) recommended by PROSAB for a vision for improving forest health and reducing wildfire risk in Boulder County. The Arapaho Roosevelt National Forest, the Boulder County Commissioners and other Boulder County agencies have gathered a group and co-developed an MOU to be signed by agencies committed to goals and objectives detailed within the document. 

“The document itself is non-binding and is more of a collective vision statement,” according to the AIM. “The idea is that with a shared vision, Boulder County agencies can leverage resources and knowledge to more effectively plan and implement forest treatment projects that would better protect and preserve communities and the landscape.” 

At the May 5, 2020, meeting, the Board requested that the Parks, Recreation, Open Space Advisory Board (PROSAB) review and modify the MOU to reflect Nederland’s interests. PROSAB reviewed the MOU at its May 2020 meeting and finalized updates at the June 2020 meeting, and PROSAB had several recommendations for the Board. 

Staff asked if the Board would approve the PROSAB recommendations on the MOU and would approve Town Staff to work with Boulder County to integrate PROSAB recommendations into the MOU. 

A summary of PROSAB recommendations stated that PROSAB is encouraged by what they believe are important steps to create a collaborative strategy involving a wide range of stakeholders in the effort to promote the health of forests and to reduce wildfire risk. The MOU should be substantially strengthened by deprioritizing cutting and logging as the primary strategies for improving forest health and reducing wildfire risk, expanding language calling for education and enforcement to address the root causes of wildfire and defining primary stakeholders as the public, local residents and wildlife, further prioritizing stakeholder involvement, strengthening language around ecological forest health and wildlife habitat, specifying the inclusion of biologists and ecologists on the Science Team whose primary concerns are independent of wildfire risk, and addressing the social issues that lead to dangerous and improper forest use. 

Overall, PROSAB recommended that the Town participate in the drafting process for the MOU and that the Town pursues revisions in accordance with the above recommendations. Board members thought this was a great thing for the town and said they should sign it and become a participant and move to go forward with the PROSAB changes. Trustee Julian Taylor said he didn’t think the PROSAB language needed to be included in the MOU. 

Mayor Larsen suggested they move into the next stage for another draft by the August 13 meeting when they would like to have a signing, and staff agreed. The Board approved moving forward with Taylor voting against it. 

Deputy Zoning Administrator Cynthia Bakke introduced consideration of a minor subdivision and replat application submitted by Joseph Bryan Tarpill, property owner at 571 Brown Street. The Planning Commission approved the proposal on April 22, 2020. 

The lot is in the Low Density Residential (LDR) district. Tarpill proposed to subdivide his 43,837 square foot lot into two separate parcels. LDR zoning district requires a lot size of 16,000 square feet per dwelling unit. 

Tarpill’s Minor Subdivision Plat indicates that the northern parcel would be 20,110 square feet, with the southern parcel that encompasses Tarpill’s residence to be 23,727 square feet. The square footage indicated in Boulder County Property Search records conflicts with the provided Minor Subdivision plat by 500 square feet. 

Bakke reached out to County Surveyor Lee Stadele to discuss the issue further who reviewed the parcel, according to the AIM. Stadele confirmed the issue lies with the Assessors’ Office, not with the submitted Improvement Survey Plat (ISP). The parcel is predominantly surrounded by single-family residences and can be accessed from King Place (town road) or via Brown Street, which is a private road. 

Tarpill’s narrative notes the existing 23 homes within the 300-foot buffer of his property vary in size, with many being out of compliance with district setbacks, according to the AIM. For the smaller subset of about 15 houses near Tarpill’s lot, this is indeed the case. 

“A cursory review indicates the homes (not including later improvements) were built between 1954 to 1998, the majority of which significantly precede Nederland’s adoption of zoning laws in 1981, according to the AIM. Additionally, Tarpill indicated that the northern lot is able to keep the general overall distance from surrounding homes when developed to retain the general character of the area. 

The Fire Department expressed no concerns specific to this minor subdivision/replat request. Public Works Manager Chris Pelletier requested that utility lines are shown with documentation of dedicated easements. 

Tarpill told the Board he moved to Nederland a-year-and-a-half ago, and he doesn’t use the northern end of property. It’s a good opportunity to add property to town whether he develops it or sells it and would have one more building lot for the town.

Bakke said the property would be split into two parcels of uneven size. She didn’t see any issues. The property can be accessed by Brown Street and King Street. The Board approved the minor subdivision plat with Trustee Tania Corvalan voting no. 

(Originally published in the July 16, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)