NEDERLAND - The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, to learn of two major updates regarding the Town’s water and sewer infrastructure.

Water Model

First, Andrew Sparn and Madeline Turner, representatives for the engineering firm JVA, Inc., led the Board through a presentation regarding a hydraulic model of the Town’s water distribution system.

The Nederland Water Model, a tool to assess the Town’s fire flow availability, address freezing issues in Big Springs, evaluate pressure zones, and plan capital improvements, was created using current Geographic Information System (GIS) data, water meter records, and readings from the current system. 

JVA updated the model with more current data and recent system analyses, including pipe velocities, hydrant and valve spacing, and an updated system layout to identify dead ends and loops.

Through coordination with the Nederland Fire Protection District, the updated model provides recommendations for additional hydrant locations, and addresses pipe freezing and improving the flow of water required to fight fires. 

In terms of infrastructure improvement projects, JVA and Utilities Director Andrew Bliss indicated that the Nederland Community Center’s need for hydrants, either directly adjacent to the building or at “primary access points,” should be a priority. 

GIS data

Lindsey Danforth of GIS Enterprise Administration, the consultant hired to update the Town’s  GIS system, led Trustees through an overview of the work she provided. 

Danforth described poring through the Town’s miscellaneous data, as well as through JVA’s Computer-Aided Design data, in order to develop a cloud-based GIS system with a focus on the Town’s water and sewer infrastructure. 

Layers of data were created, allowing the user to digitally identify mapped pipelines, manholes, valves, fire hydrants, and other peripherals, to immediately ascertain their location and status.

Having worked with the Town over the summer to complete inspections of all hydrants, Danforth provided an example of how field crews can inspect a hydrant and, using access to the GIS system, can enter that inspection data and change the status of the hydrant in real time.   

Danforth added that she had already transferred data on Nederland’s streets and downtown development into the GIS system. She also mentioned the possibility of creating GIS layers for the Town’s Parks data, which could help Town staff track trail and amenity conditions, as well as plant and flower locations and growth rate. 

Moving forward, Danforth plans to continue working with Bliss and the Utilities Department to enhance the GIS layers to include such data as the materials comprising water and sewer pipes, the date they were installed, how deep they are buried, and their condition. 

Additionally, Danforth is working to link scanned images of the original engineering drawings to the relevant data, and to enhance the Utilities Department’s work order system. Bliss hopes to implement, through the work order system, an automatic scheduling and assignment system for staff involved in regular maintenance and inspections. 

Town Website  

Trustees were tasked with voting to contract with one of three companies, CivicPlus, Town Cloud, or Streamline, to develop a new Town of Nederland website in order to be compliant with Colorado’s recent online accessibility laws. The new website is planned to go into effect in July, 2025.

Public Engagement Manager Peter Cacek addressed the Board as to why the Town was  recommending CivicPlus, stating that the company will provide easy-to-use customizable templates, built-in engagement tools, and data migration to a new website in one to two months for an initial cost of $5,132.20, and yearly cost of $4,758. 

Though the initial cost from CivicPlus comes in at $1000 to nearly $2000 more than the other two (not including Streamline’s charge of $21,000 yearly), there is a 10% discount due to the Town already utilizing Municode software.

The Town can also save an additional $6,400 a year by canceling their supplemental site Engage Nederland, as CivicPlus offers the same engagement tools. 

However, in order for the Town’s new website through CivicPlus to ensure ADA compliance, it would cost an extra $4,524 a year for access to their assurance and accessibility tool Monsido. Cacek noted that the Town plans to use Monsido for the first year. 

The BOT voted unanimously to contract with CivicPlus for the creation of a new, ADA compliant, official Town of Nederland website. 

Ongoing services from JVA

The Board took action on whether to approve an on-call agreement with engineering firm JVA Inc. regarding their “services on an as-needed basis, with individual projects authorized through separate letter agreements.” JVA’s expertise in water and wastewater treatment, distribution and collection systems, permitting, funding support, and construction administration, was stated as a major benefit to the Town. 

Though the agreement dictates that JVA can only proceed with specific projects when authorized by a purchase order executed by the Town Administrator, the agreement also authorizes JVA to proceed immediately on two major projects: designing and modeling a Water Distribution System for the Nederland Community Center, and Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation. 

Combined, these projects are estimated to cost $50,000, which includes a 10% discount from JVA’s standard billing rates, provided as a courtesy to the Town. 

The motion to approve the on-call agreement with JVA was seconded and approved unanimously. 

International Building Code

The BOT discussed the potential of adopting the 2024 International Building Code in order to be consistent with neighboring municipalities and provide uniformity for possible developers. 

It was noted that Nederland is currently adhering to the 2018 Building Code, while Boulder County has recently adopted the 2021 code and is looking to adopt the 2024 code within the next six months. Trustees were also informed that they can adopt the new building codes piecemeal, omitting any codes that do not fit with Nederland’s standards. 

Community Planner Britt DeMinck provided feedback from three local contractors regarding their opinion of the situation, with the majority agreeing that they would adapt accordingly, whichever codes the Town of Nederland decides to incorporate. 

Kyley Flynn from SAFEbuilt presented the significant updates made in certain areas of the code since 2018, including energy efficiency, accessibility, fire safety, and structural design.

The 2024 codes focus more on incorporating new materials and technologies, contain changes to the requirements for snow load calculations during reroofing, and expand regulations for energy storage systems in residential buildings. 

The Board were mostly in agreement with the Town’s suggestion of adopting the 2024 International Building Code. Town staff will continue to research the impacts of the 2024 codes and will make suggestions for any areas the Board may consider omitting before voting to officially adopt them. 

Elevator update

Trustees were provided with an informational update regarding the Nederland Community Center’s 18-year old Schindler Elevator, which, after requiring many service calls since November, 2024, is finally back in operation. 

Town Administrator Jonathan Cain, on behalf of Community Center Director Dawn Baumhover, suggested entering into a yearly contract agreement with Schindler. Contracting with the elevator maintenance company will be more cost effective than continually paying for service calls at $350 an hour. 

The Board agreed that the Town should contract with Schindler. 

Regarding Paris Agreement 

The BOT voted to approve Resolution 2025-06, reaffirming the Town of Nederland’s commitment to the Paris Agreement, which a previous Board voted to support in 2017. 

The Paris Agreement is an international treaty that strives for “global cooperation in mitigating climate change.” The Trump Administration withdrew the U.S. from the Agreement on January 20, 2025, after having previously done so in 2017 during the first Trump term.  

Town staff recommended that Trustees approve the resolution due to the “ongoing and increasing threats posed by greenhouse gas emissions,” and Nederland remaining “dedicated to reducing its emissions and aligning with international climate goals, regardless of federal actions.”

Sponsoring student to DECA

The Board also approved sponsoring Ruby Gustafson, Boulder High School junior and Nederland Visitors Center employee, to attend the 2025 Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) State Conference. 

DECA is an education-based nonprofit organization that “fosters leadership and business acumen among students.” The conference takes place in Colorado Springs from February 22 to 25; the cost for Gustafson’s transportation, lodging, and competition fees is $550.

The Nederland Board of Trustees meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at 7 p.m. and can be attended either online or in person at the Nederland Community Center. 

For more information go to: https://townofnederland.colorado.gov/board-of-trustees.