NEDERLAND - The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, to begin the process of developing their Strategic Plan.

While the previous plan, developed in 2023, focused on completing other planning documents and assessments to satisfy grant requirements, this next iteration aims to take action on the recommendations outlined in those very documents.

Town priorities

The acquisition of Eldora Mountain Resort was listed as a “major focus” going into 2026, as the prospect of a Town-owned ski area would involve transitioning new Town employees and establishing new financial systems, all while maintaining transparency.   

Additional issues for the Town and BOT to focus on over the next 18-months include becoming a Home Rule municipality, which would dissolve the representative government in favor of a community-written constitution; executing the Capital Improvement Plan to expand and enhance the Town’s water and wastewater infrastructure and facilities; and implementing the recommendations made within the Comprehensive Plan, Subarea Plan, and Multimodal Transportation Plan. 

Recommendations from these plans involve improving the roundabout, establishing East 1st Street as a “walking mall,” and increasing the building height limit for commercial downtown developments. 

Because Trustees were unable to schedule a summer retreat for the preliminary drafting of their Strategic Plan, Town staff has suggested either holding a retreat in the fall, holding structured discussions during their regular meetings, or adopting a short-term plan with the intention of finalizing it after the Eldora acquisition process. 

Leading into the planning process, some Trustees expressed feeling overwhelmed by the amount of strategies outlined in the Town’s planning documents that require prioritization, while others stated a desire to tackle the “low hanging fruit” head on. 

Trustee Tania Corvalan suggested discussing Home Rule in terms of ballot language for the upcoming April election, requiring a public vote on the matter.

Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen added that there would also need to be a vote to designate the nine members required for a charter commission, who would then be responsible for writing a new Town charter. 

Town Manager Jonathan Cain also suggested, in addition to the main priority of the Eldora acquisition and prioritizing voting for Home Rule, a focus on affordable housing. This would address the Town’s requirement under Proposition 123 to develop 13 new residences in the next year and a half.

Mayor Pro Tem Nichole Sterling referred to 2026 as a time for Nederland to grow up, considering the many organizational aspects involved with the Eldora acquisition, including the need for financial stabilization and the enhancement of staff management capabilities.

Sterling also recommended the Board consider “technology postures” that, she felt, Nederland will be required to have, as they will be “foundational for other things that we want to do in the future.” 

The BOT decided to continue holding structured discussions, beginning September 16, about developing the Strategic Plan during their regular meetings, with the conversation regarding prioritizing the many recommendations made within the Town’s planning documents. 

 Health and Human Services Fund

Tom Mahowald presented an informational update regarding the status of the Nederland Food Pantry and the Town’s Health and Human Services Fund, which is financed through Nederland’s lodging tax imposed on its short term rentals. 

Mahowald, speaking as Chair of the Nederland Food Pantry (NFP) Board of Directors, stated that the fund is $11,000 lower than it was in August of 2024, which will lead to difficulties in the final quarter of the year, when residents most need assistance from area nonprofits.

The Health and Human Services Fund is distributed among five different area nonprofits, including the NFP, Canyon Cares, and TEENS, Inc. 

Stephen LeFaiver, Executive Director of TEENS, Inc., spoke briefly about how the funds in question have helped his organization better serve their client population in the realm of mental health and in understanding and navigating learning impairments. 

Mahowald explained how the funds directly contribute to helping area residents make the necessary payments to keep their electricity and heat on through the winter. He noted that additional grant funds from the County or State are nearly nonexistent, forcing local Health and Human Services nonprofits to have to get “scrappy” to source funding. 

Though Mahowald detailed how the NFP has seen a surge in new clients, serving up to 360 over three days a week, the BOT mainly focused on why the lodging tax dollars are reportedly so much lower compared to last year.

One Trustee hypothesized that vacation rentals in Nederland may be lower due to federal policies negatively affecting both national and international tourism. Another Trustee surmised that the funds collected over the summer have yet to be allocated into Health and Human Services and will reflect a better result once they are. 

The matter will return to the agenda at a later date, with Town Treasurer Rita Six to provide more details on the lodging tax revenue for 2025 and its appropriation to the Health and Human Services Fund.

Trustees will also be tasked with determining the allocation of $25,000 in unspent ARPA funds, which is to be used in 2025 to benefit area nonprofit organizations. 

Sustainability

The BOT heard from Sustainability Coordinator Cass Grady regarding the prospect of the Town of Nederland applying for up to $30,000 from the Circular Economy Funding Program, made available by the Resource Conservation Division of Boulder County Public Works. 

This funding is awarded to Boulder County municipalities for projects that focus on fighting climate change.

According to the Agenda Information Memorandum prepared by Grady, such projects have included “education programs and the infrastructure required to support resource diversion programs and the circular economy in three main categories: consumer behavior and practices, collection and/or processing, manufacturing and design.”

Grady and the Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) offered for BOT approval three options for projects to present in the application for the grant funds: countertop food waste collection bins; a municipal waste diversion initiative and data study; and a zero-waste station monitoring pilot program.

The Trustees chose for a final recommendation the municipal waste diversion initiative and data study, which would involve a total ask of $12,000 for three-stream and two-stream waste stations to be used at Nederland’s municipal buildings, including the Nederland Community Center, and at public events. 

The funds would also cover waste audit equipment, contract services for trash monitoring, and analysis at events for “waste stream data collection to quantify diversion opportunities and contamination.”

According to Grady, the data would be used to grow the Town’s zero-waste education and outreach. 

Mayor Pro Tem Sterling expressed a desire to see Grady and the SAB focus on new technologies that would make Nederland a trendsetter in terms of sustainability, including automated sorting bins to be used at municipal buildings and special events.

This took into consideration Grady’s comment that finding volunteers to sort trash has been difficult.

Though there was concern raised by Town staff about who would be made responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the new technology, Trustees directed Grady to return in two weeks with additional information on the automated sorting bins. 

Grady hopes to have a completed application for BOT approval by September 16; the application is due September 30.

If Nederland is selected, there would be no match required for the funds. However, the Town would be expected to submit a midterm report to Boulder County and to Trustees in July of 2026, and a final report the following December.

Procurement policy

The Board voted to approve both Resolution 2025-20, an update to the Town’s Procurement (Purchasing) Policy, and Ordinance 880, amending Section 4-191 of Nederland Municipal Code to include the updated policy. 

An update to the policy was required in order to comply with Colorado’s Digital Accessibility Law and federal procurement standards so that the Town could successfully pass audits and remain eligible for federal funding for projects like the Big Springs Egress Project. 

In addition to increasing the Town Manager’s purchasing authority to $50,000, and that of department heads to $10,000, the policy update also strengthened record-keeping requirements for the Town’s purchases, modernized the processes for procuring bids, clarified “emergency purchasing,” and tightened the rules surrounding the use of quotes, bids, and sole-source purchases.

Eldora acquisition

The Board voted to approve Resolution 2025-19, which authorizes the Town Manager to engage third-party consultants for matters related to the due diligence process for the acquisition of Eldora Mountain Resort. 

The services that the Town wishes to retain include financial analysis, engineering, legal review, and operational assessment. The resolution states that this is “for the purpose of conducting diligence only and does not constitute a binding commitment to proceed with the acquisition.”

The cost of retaining any third-party consultants is expected to be reimbursed by the revenue bond proceeds through the Town-established Mountain Recreation Enterprise Fund.

Board appointment

The BOT also approved the appointment of Tim Rehder to the open seat on the SAB. Rehder comes with experience in environmental protection management, having overseen the cleanup of the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons facility, and has a background in green development practices. 

The SAB still has an open seat for the alternate member position.

The Nederland Board of Trustees meets on the first and third Tuesday of every month. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 16, 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.