Chris Pelletier, Nederland Public Works. Typical springtime weather is always challenging for Public Works as the department has to transition back and forth from grading roads to plowing roads. Wintry weather that continues late into spring highlights the limited time Public Works has to perform road maintenance. 

Additionally, staffing challenges make it all the more difficult. Multiple positions have been open in the Department for many months. Applicants are few and far between and the types of skills needed for this kind of work do not seem to exist in Nederland. For this reason normal maintenance activities will take longer and need to be prioritized.

The Nederland Public Works Department has finalized the Inter-Governmental Agreement for the Safer Main Streets Initiative (SMS) grant that was awarded to the town. The grant will be used to update the sidewalk on the north side of Hwy 72 by the Nederland Library and improve several crosswalks which include the crosswalk at the Visitors Center and the Nederland Library. 

The project is valued at $350,000 and was made possible with matching funds from the Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA). We will begin the design phase of the project and bring concepts and proposals to Nederland’s various Advisory Boards as part of the town’s public input process over the next several months. The public is encouraged to attend and feedback is appreciated as the process moves through Nederland’s Planning Process. 

The design phase is likely to extend throughout the spring and be finalized by late summer. The final design will be submitted to CDOT for review in the fall of this year with a goal for construction in 2022.

Staff has submitted an application for a grant opportunity called Revitalizing Main Streets. As much as $2 million is available, which is the result of funds created by Governor Polis’ Build Back Stronger initiatives to help communities make improvements to their main streets. Grants will target pedestrian safety, economic vitality, and incentivize employment opportunities. 

There is support from the NDDA and Board of Trustees (BOT) to pursue these funds along with letters of support from the community. This funding could target major improvements to 1st Street and offer continuity to the other grant-funded projects that are currently in design. 

Staff is proposing burying power lines, sidewalk reconstruction on both sides of the street and creating loading zones to reduce congestion. These project ideas are goals currently stated in the NDDA’s Master Plan. The NDDA has agreed to partner with Public Works to provide matching funds for the grant if it is awarded, which will improve Nederland’s chances of receiving the funds. We will find out in July if Nederland is awarded funding.

Public Works is working with Nederland’s Parks Recreation Open Space Advisory Board (PROSAB) to begin planning improvements to Barker Meadows Park. Funding was awarded to Nederland from Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) in the amount of $180,000 to make improvements to trails and landscapes. These funds will mostly fund materials and will rely heavily on Nederland Public Works to provide the bulk of the work to bring this project to fruition. 

Some work has begun and will continue into fall. Excavating has started as well as installing a water line through Guercio Field for a future restroom and possibly irrigation and work is ongoing as weather allows. Staff and PROSAB have met on-site with a designer to begin working out the details of a final design which will be presented to the BOT in the near future.

Spring is the time of year when elevated groundwater enters Nederland’s aging collection system known in the industry as Inflow & Infiltration (I&I). Ground water enters areas that may be compromised from either past collection system repairs, ground shifting over time, failed gaskets in the collection system, or poorly sealed penetrations can all lead to increased I&I which reduces the capacity of the Wastewater Treatment Facility. 

These problems must be addressed to avoid the need to expand the treatment facility prematurely. Annually there are visual inspections of flow by opening manhole covers in the early morning hours to see where flow is prevalent and try to determine where damage might exist. This is an ongoing effort to repair Nederland’s aging collection system. Over the last 10 years over a million dollars has been invested in this effort to make these repairs a priority.

(Originally published in the May 27, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)