John Scarffe, Nederland. The Nederland Board of Trustees approved moving forward with hiring Jennifer Madsen and Widner Juran, LLP, as the new town attorney during a regular meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 15, 2019, in the Nederland Community Center. The board also discussed the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Boulder County.

Town Administrator Karen Gerrity asked the trustees if they wanted to move forward with the contract with or without changes for an RFP for legal services. The town sent out an RFP for legal services, and based on the responses, selected four firms to interview on November 27, 2018, in a public setting.

The trustees asked the town administrator to send follow-up questions to two of the firms and to contact their references, according to the agenda information memorandum. At the December 18, 2018 meeting, the trustees discussed the next steps for selecting a legal firm for the town and directed staff to begin negotiations with Jennifer Madsen and Widner Juran, LLP.

The 2019 budget includes $55,000 for legal services, according to the memo. Mayor Kristopher Larsen said he has read through the contract, and it’s mostly in line with the board’s conversations. The board approved moving forward with the new legal firm.

Gerrity said she will bring Madsen to the second board meeting in February, when the mayor can sign the contract and administer the oath of office. That will give her a month to get material from current legal firm.

Mayor Larsen updated the board on the IGA with Boulder County. He said he met with Boulder County Commissioner Jeff Gardner and rewrote the IGA, removing restrictive language.

The IGA will expire in 2022. The IGA includes six areas. Some have more restrictions than others and would continue through 2032. Larsen and Gardner went through each of the six parcels and tried to come up with an agreement that would work for both the Board of County Commissioners and trustees.

If the board agrees on the latest draft version of the IGA and map, these will be presented to the public at a joint meeting hosted by the county and the town on February 12. The public would be invited to review the documents and provide feedback, according to the memo.

If the trustees don’t think the language is something they can live with, Larsen doesn’t know how the process will move forward. It would be hard to go back to the county with something different, Larsen said.

Gerrity said that Erie and Ward are the only two towns that don’t have an IGA with the county. Larsen said that this is the only way the county will allow the town to move forward with any annexations.

Boulder County is starting a construction project in town, and the Sheriff’s Department has been great. To step away and go the Erie route is like saying, “We don’t like you very well,” and it will adversely affect our relationship, Larsen said.

Gerrity said the town does have a handful of people who are right outside town borders who would like to build and tie into the town’s water and sewer and vote and represent the town on boards. “If we do decide to let it lapse, any development outside the town is not going to happen,” she said.

Trustee James Rawsthorne pointed out that the town won’t benefit from their property taxes as well. Trustee Alan Apt agreed that it’s a good compromise over all, and the town wants to preserve its environment and character as well as provide opportunities for people.

Trustee Jonathon Baumhover had some concern about how it will impact the wildlife and would like to see that clarified but would also like to continue with this IGA to provide opportunities for annexation. Trustee Kristen Conrad agreed that, if the trustees are truly committed to that, this is the best way forward. “I don’t want endless sprawl, but the population is growing, and we can’t pretend to keep them out.”

Larsen said, “We’re not building a wall.” Mayor Pro-Tem Julie Gustafson expressed concern that some pieces were missing and that some of the language sets up the town for obstacles. “Without this we are fairly certain until 2022 we would be missing opportunities, and that is not good planning,” she said.

Larsen said the language in question is similar to other annexations in Boulder. The board will get more input during the event on February 12.

To read the proposed IGA go to https://nederlandco.civicweb.net/document/13603/1.15.19%20BOT%20DRAFTNederland%20Comprehensive%20Developme.pdf?handle=52F61BB354A04184A8DF365275FEC148, or go to the Nederland town meetings site and click on the January 15 meeting link.

During staff reports, Town Marshal Larry Johns said that for the 2018 year, the Nederland Police Department had a total of 682 documented cases. Of those 682 cases, 429 were Municipal citations for traffic or parking offenses, 24 were state traffic citations, 34 were Town Municipal code citations, seven curfew violations and 97 arrests or criminal summonses into county or district court. Twelve of these were felony arrests.
In addition to these 682, officers most likely conducted hundreds of undocumented contacts, welfare checks, vehicle stops, pedestrian contacts and medical assists. Officer Hendricks will be overseeing a possible in-car video camera system and could outfit every car for a total of about $700, Johns reported.

Frozen Dead Guy Days is coming soon. The Police Department is participating in a larger group with Town Hall and Public Works staff to make the event run smoother. Last year, NPD staff put in over 70 hours during the event. Colorado Rangers put in 146 hours, and Boulder Sheriff put in 15 hours.

This does not include the many preparation hours ahead of the event. Conrad asked for a work session on sunshine laws. Larsen said the new legal firm could have a session in February or March.

(Originally published in the January 24, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)