Miss Informed, Nederland. Former Town Administrator Karen Gerrity was the lucky winner of $995 million in a recent nationwide lottery. “I’ve just always been lucky” she recently told a local reporter, “Winning the lottery is just slightly better than the day I was offered the job of Nederland Town Administrator.”

Gerrity opted for the one-time payment of $500 million and will use 10 percent to take care of family and friends. The remainder she has pledged to use to make Nederland an even better place to live, work and play.

Her plans include:

Establish a Nederland Community Foundation to fund local nonprofits such as the Food Pantry, Library, Wild Bear Nature Center, Carousel of Happiness, Peak to Peak Music Education Association, Nederland Area Seniors, Backdoor Theater and Teens Inc.

Negotiate with the property owners of the land currently leased by Amerigas and make them an offer they can’t refuse.

Fund the construction of an emergency egress in the Big Springs neighborhood.

Purchase the Frozen Dead Guy Days brand and add a Dunk Tank activity featuring opportunities to plunge the mayor and other local leaders into freezing water.

Partner with local developers to create workforce and affordable housing units.

Establish a town endowment that awards town employees with a $10,000 bonus every time they complete another year of service.

Donate new vehicles to the Nederland Police Department and a new truck to the Nederland Fire Protection District.

Purchase the former Black Forest property and create a destination wedding venue.

Purchase Hop Inn and create a mountain hospice.

Provide a matching donation for a Gates Family Foundation grant to renovate the Community Center and add a pool and showers, and
Fund a community solar garden.

The big winner has lots of other ideas of how to improve the town and she invites any and all feedback from area residents, business owners, visitors and their relatives. She has created a website and Facebook Page called “Millions in Change for Nederland” and encourages people to post their feedback, suggestions and complaints. For folks who don’t use Facebook, please call Gerrity on her cell phone which is 1-888-Jus-4Ned.

(Originally published in the March 28, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)