NEDERLAND - The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, to vote on vital initiatives, including the regulation of businesses distributing natural medicines, and on two matters regarding the potential Eldora acquisition. 

Trustees first approved Resolution 2025-16, giving Town Manager Jonathan Cain authority to manage engagement agreements with legal counsel during the early stages of the acquisition and the due diligence process. 

Bond financing

The Town plans to engage with the firm Kline Alvarado Veio for bond counsel services, specifically for guidance on how to navigate revenue bond financing as the main financial mechanism for the acquisition of Eldora. 

According to the Agenda Information Memorandum (AIM) prepared by Cain, more attorneys may be required for “various aspects of the transaction,” and any legal services engaged will be paid for with the proceeds from the expected bond issuance.  

In order to deal with reimbursing expenditures related to the Eldora acquisition with bond proceeds, Resolution 2025-17 was presented to the BOT for approval. 

This reimbursement resolution comes from federal regulations and acts as a safeguard for municipalities. In this scenario it allows for Nederland to reimburse itself for the costs of any “legal review, financial advising, technical analysis, and planning” required during the early stages of the acquisition.  

Under rules from the Internal Revenue Service, a maximum bond ceiling of $180 million has been set, though Cain reiterated that the amount does not affect the Town’s spending plan or “intended borrowing level.” 

“The Town intends that any future revenue bonds would be issued through the Mountain Recreation Enterprise Fund and would be repayable solely from revenues generated by Eldora Mountain Resort,” the official AIM states. “This financing structure ensures that no Town-owned facilities or general municipal funds are pledged or placed at risk.”

A question from Trustee Luke Miller regarding what expenditures would be covered by this reimbursement revealed that Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen’s hours spent on the Eldora acquisition can be reimbursed.

With the Board having no further questions and not requiring any further discussion, and without any comment from the public, the matter went immediately to vote, with Trustees voting unanimously to approve Resolution 2025-17. 

Natural medicines

The Board was tasked with voting on Ordinance 876, which amends Chapter 16 of Nederland Municipal Code (NMC) to formally adopt regulations on the use of natural medicines, such as psilocybin, and the operation of licensed health centers within the Town of Nederland.

Approval of the ordinance would ensure the Town’s adherence to the Natural Medicine Health Act (NMHA), which was approved by the State of Colorado in 2022 and includes definitions for related psilocybin-administering centers and cultivation businesses. The Ordinance would also follow Proposition 122, which decriminalizes the use, possession, and growth of certain natural medicines.

The amendments to NMC allow for Cultivation, Product Manufacturing, and Testing facilities to be constructed in Central Business District (CBD), General Commercial (GC), and Industrial zones. Medical clinics are also allowed in Neighborhood Commercial, CBD, GC, and Public zones by a Special Review Use process.

These specific facilities are required to be licensed with the State of Colorado and to operate in accordance with state law. Any cultivation has to be performed in an enclosed space that is imperceptible from the outside of the property. 

Trustee Kristopher Larsen asked if an established business could add on the uses listed under health centers, such as the facilitation of psilocybin use or distribution of natural medicine. 

Madsen answered that medical clinics and licensed therapists, because of the nature of their businesses and licensing procedures, can become distributors or facilitators of natural medicine, but Busey Brews, for example, most likely could not.  

The Board unanimously approved Ordinance 876, officially setting regulations related to natural medicines, and subsequently repealing Ordinance 871, which had set a temporary moratorium on the use of natural medicine and the establishment of related services, which was passed on January 21, 2025.

Gift policy

Trustees discussed the potential of developing a policy regarding donations and how the Town will review, authorize, and officially accept gifts of “in-kind services, labor, physical improvements, materials, or cash contributions.” 

Town staff proposed that such a policy would create alignment with current priorities and land use plans; provide transparency; clarify the scope and responsibilities, as well as public benefit, involved with certain donations; ensure legal compliance, such as insurance and liability protections; and would provide staff oversight.  

Recommended considerations for the policy include determining whether all donation types need to be regulated by the policy, setting a valuation metric for donations as well as standards for approval, and establishing a procedure for accepting cash donations. 

“Without a formal framework in place, the Town risks inconsistency in how projects and gifts are reviewed, authorized, recorded, and maintained,” The Town’s AIM reads. “This creates the potential for legal, operational, or financial exposure, even when intentions are entirely positive.”

The AIM concludes that, though community proposals for projects that include the donation of funds or services can propel citizen-led initiatives, such private/public endeavors can ignore Town staff’s involvement in “project scoping and implementation standards” in favor of the contributor’s own interests. 

Some Trustees required clarification on whether local volunteer efforts, including community weed pulls and the mitigation effort in the Moose Meadows open space that was performed last year, are considered donations and would be covered under this proposed policy.

Cain reiterated that volunteerism and donations are two separate issues, each requiring its own guiding policies, as the liability issues involved are quite different. 

Lindsey Ute from the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Advisory Board asked if the Town’s donation framework could provide their organization an avenue to fundraise for specific projects affecting Nederland’s parks, trails, and open spaces, to which Cain answered that it could be possible. 

Most Trustees agreed that a donations policy would be pertinent and were in favor of making the process easy for donors and contributors. They were willing to provide Town staff with the responsibility to approve or deny most donations as opposed to forcing each decision to have to come before the Board.

Big Springs egress

Cain led the Board in a discussion following up the July 15 Work Session, during which the Board, along with engineering firm JVA and the Nederland Fire Protection District (NFPD), reviewed two proposed designs for an emergency egress route out of the Big Springs neighborhood.  

Since the work session, maps of the routes have been made available online and at the Nederland Community Center, and preliminary conversations have begun with both the City and County of Boulder. Town staff have requested from FEMA an extension on the timeline for delivery of a final design, required by the Town’s Congressionally Directed Spending fund.  

Having received comments, questions, and concerns from the public through the Town’s Engage Nederland platform, through emails, voicemails, and social media posts, Town staff plans to curate public input through an online, updatable Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document. 

As a result of the community's concerns about stakeholder engagement, questioning of the Town’s intention, suggestions of increased emergency preparedness, issues with specifics of the project, and requests for greater transparency, Town officials plan to record, prepare, and publish input from residents only through the FAQ document, with the intention of including such input “for future discussion.”

According to the AIM, the FAQ document would help clarify the project’s purpose, the status of the project’s funding, the route selection process, allowable access to the egress road, landowner and stakeholder coordination, environmental considerations, maintenance logistics, and the timeline for the project. 

During public comment, representatives for properties on the other side of Barker Dam spoke about the proposed egress route that would lead across the creek and connect to Boulder Canyon Drive.

The property owner and representative mainly stated confusion as to why they have not been contacted by JVA or the Town regarding the route, as maps show that connecting to the state highway would require traveling through the private property, which the owners oppose.  

The Town reiterated its stance that it does not intend to involve private property, which is why the private property owners were not approached. The preliminary route design from JVA shows it ending right at the creek, before the property lines, at an existing bridge. 

After some additional questioning from Trustee Tania Corvalan regarding the Boulder County land that JVA stated existed on the other side of the creek, Cain stated that the newly revised plan would include moving further east and constructing a new bridge in order to connect to that land, creating access to the canyon road. 

However, the property owner disputes the plan, stating that there is no way to connect to the highway without crossing through their land.   

With no additional cost or any effect to the previously estimated nine-month timeline, the BOT and Town staff were in agreement in directing JVA to fully design both routes and get them to “shovel ready.” 

Emergency alert system

In relation to the community’s request for better emergency preparedness, the BOT voted to approve the Town partnering with the NFPD in applying for a $175,000 Natural Disaster Mitigation Enterprise grant to fund the design and installation of an audible emergency alert system. 

The Town plans to collaborate with the NFPD to finalize two ideal locations for outdoor warning sirens to be installed. 

Based on a quote from vendor AV Tech from October, 2023, installation of a two-siren Whelen’s WPS2906 system with omni-directional voice and siren technology, programmable alerts, battery backup, and remote monitoring will cost an estimated $123,495. 

 Energy Action Plan 

Trustees also approved a Memorandum Of Understanding with Xcel Energy’s Partners in Energy (PIE) program regarding the development of a new Energy Action Plan for the Town of Nederland, which will be developed in collaboration with the Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB). 

In 2019 the SAB worked with PIE to develop an Energy Action Plan for Nederland, and an EV Action Plan was developed in 2023. Both plans were developed and implemented at no cost to the Town.   

Town Sustainability Coordinator Cass Grady noted that PIE, in addition to developing the plan by May of 2026, would provide consulting support and data analysis, and would help lead two community stakeholder meetings. 

The Nederland Board of Trustees meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 19, 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.