John Scarffe, Nederland. The Nederland Board of Trustees approved a registration form to register long-term rentals with the Town of Nederland during a regular online meeting on Tuesday, September 2, 2020, at 7 p.m. The Board also approved a Noxious Weed Management Plan, discussed grit removal at the Wastewater Facility, revisited a development improvement agreement for the Peakview Subdivision and heard an update on Envision 2030.

Long-term rental registration

At the July 16, 2020, meeting the Trustees discussed rental safety, landlord accountability and long-term rental regulations, according to the Agenda Information memorandum. The Trustees agreed that they wanted to look at long-term rentals registration with the Town and directed Town staff to research how other municipalities handle long-term registration. 

Town staff provided examples of rental property registrations from other municipalities at the August 18, 2020, meeting. After discussion, Trustees agreed that one of the benefits of registering long-term rentals is gathering emergency contact information, according to the memo.

Trustees also agreed that the registration process and application should be simple. The Board directed Town staff to develop a registration form to register long-term rentals with the Town, according to the memo. The Trustees agreed that this form would be completed voluntarily by long-term rental owners while they discussed possible municipal code changes. 

Town staff created a draft registration application based on these directions and presented it to the Board on September 2. During the discussion, Mayor Kristopher Larsen and Trustee Lindsey Danforth recused themselves, so Mayor Pro-Tem Jonathan Baumhover led the discussion.

Town Clerk Miranda Fisher asked the Trustees if they approved of the form and should they charge a fee for staff time. The Town has no current codes on long-term rentals. 

Trustee Eric Coombs-Esmail said it seems to be important to have on record for everyone’s safety, and it makes sense. It should be required rather than voluntary, and he doesn’t think they should charge a fee. Make it required, free and get everyone signed up.

Trustee Julian Taylor said they want to make code changes, and this form is innocuous and unthreatening. This is a fine way to start, and he agreed it is reasonable to have if the renter and landlord need to get together. 

Trustee Tania Corvalan said not too many people are going to go out of their way to fill this out. Fisher said if the Board wants to require the form, they would have to have an ordinance. If voluntary, staff will do their best to send notices to parties who need to fill out the form. 

The Board approved a motion to approve a free, voluntary long-term rental registration and the plan the Town has for it to see how many people fill out the form while they review changes in the codes.

Noxious Weeds Management Plan

The Board moved discussion of the Noxious Weeds Management Plan to an action item and then adopted the plan. The Town of Nederland adopted the Noxious Weed Management Plan on January 20, 2015, according to the memo. The Nederland Noxious Weed Committee revised the plan in May 2020 and seeks Board approval of the plan. 

Ecologist and Botanist Rea Orthner presented the plan to the Parks, Recreation, Open Space Advisory Board (PROSAB) and the Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) at their August 2020 meetings. Both advisory boards approved the plan to move on to the Trustees for final approval.

According to the plan, several species of invasive non-native plants have become a threat to the economic and environmental land value in Nederland. “These plants are not indigenous to North America and have no natural predators or diseases to keep their populations in balance with the ecosystem. Invasive non-native plants rapidly displace native vegetation, disrupt hydrologic processes, alter soil chemistry and disturb the native ecosystem stability and diversity, while negatively affecting environmental and recreational resources.” 

The objectives of this Nederland plan are to educate and communicate with the public. “This document serves as a weed control manual for Nederland landowners. It provides guidelines and training about the Colorado Noxious Weed Law, identification of noxious weed species, integrated weed management practices, prevention, control and disposal methods.”

Mayor Larsen said this is a great resource for the whole town. Taylor asked how they get this information out to the public, and Orthner said the plan is on the town website, and they are focusing on public outreach with advertisements in The Mountain-Ear and posting on Facebook. “Education is the key in all of this.” 

Orthner also said it’s time to think about recruiting new committee members. Baumhover said they need to resurrect the committee. “We used to do outreach at festivals in town and in The Mountain-Ear. We had three or four pulls at the parks.” 

Coombs-Esmail said that PROSAB has been doing outreach and did a weed pull around Chipeta Park. These active community events have changed his perspective on the way he understands his flora. It’s important to get people hands-on involved. 

Public Works Manager Chris Pelletier said Public works could sponsor a lunch for volunteers.

Remove that Grit

Pelletier presented a plan to reallocate CIP funds to install grit removal operations at the Wastewater Treatment Facility. “Grit removal has become a priority since the construction of the Biosolids Facility,” according to the memo. 

The added process relies on the movement of waste through additional pumping. Nederland’s facility lacks equipment to remove grit, which has an impact on mechanical operations at the facility. “Grit removal is necessary to avoid excess wear and tear on the Facility’s pumps and to improve operational efficiencies,” according to the memo. 

The Board approved $111,593 in the CIP budget for collection system improvements.  At the end of 2019, the Biosolids Facility construction was completed. Staff recommended prioritizing grit removal at Nederland’s Wastewater Treatment Facility.

Pelletier said staff will use a phased approach to addressing grit and has asked for an analysis of the grit, how much they have and the size. He has talked to Town Engineers JVA, who wants to intercept the grit through a hole off to the side, and then staff could remove it. JVA presented options that include installing one portion of a grit removal system now and then a true system later.

They can install a portion of the system now and intercept the grit through a manhole and remove it periodically, then install a system in the future. He will bring more information at a future meeting to move forward. The Board approved funds for infiltration repairs and some funds are left. “This grit removal has arisen in priority.” 

They have $50,000 available right now, so they could install a manhole and save the equipment it affects. Then in future years, they could budget for a new system.

Taylor asked if this grit problem was something anticipated or was it a surprise. Pelletier said they had planned to add grit removal in the future, but the initial process didn’t affect the equipment the way it does now. “It’s a new development, and we’re looking for down and dirty with a catch basin and then intercept the grit.”

The Board agreed to have Pelletier bring this back as an action item with option two and a more detailed budget and a long-term plan for a future grit removal system.

Peakview Subdivision

During public comment, Susan Wagner, who lives at the southern boundary of Big Springs and Peakview, said the agenda item regarding a development improvement agreement for the Peakview Subdivision was flawed. It is not a typical subdivision, and the owner was supposed to establish lots and basic requirements for building lots. Lots three and four are not buildable. 

Larsen said the Board heard the presentation from the Town attorney about this, but the Board could reconsider this tonight. The Board approved the development improvement agreement for the Peakview Summit Subdivision at the meeting on August 18, 2020. 

Property owners Thomas Nicholson and Nancy L. Nicholson requested an amendment to an approved subdivision plat for the Peakview Summit Subdivision to remove the restrictions of conveyance. The development improvements agreement removes the restrictions of conveyance while maintaining the requirements to construct improvements before obtaining building permits. 

Property owners Thomas Nicholson and Nancy L. Nicholson requested an amendment to an approved subdivision plat for the Peakview Summit Subdivision to remove the restrictions of conveyance. The development improvements agreement removes the restrictions of conveyance while maintaining the requirements to construct improvements before obtaining building permits. 

The Board agreed to bring this back for discussion at the September 2 meeting. Larsen said all restrictions on the lots will be in place for development. The conveyance removal just allows the owners to sell the property. 

After discussion, the Board agreed that the resolution stands as adopted two weeks ago.

Envision 2030

Fisher said the Town has received 37 responses to the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) survey so far, so staff will focus in September on community feedback. People can fill out the online survey or call the Town to answer questions. They also can come to town hall within hours.

Staff planned events for Saturday, Sept. 5, at 9 a.m. to noon at Chipeta Park and the two farmer’s markets events in September and will add other community events throughout the month. The community online survey can be accessed on the Town’s website: https://nederlandco.org/envision-2030/. 

Phone Community members can call Town staff at 303-258-3266 to verbally provide their responses to the questions. Answers will be entered into the online survey by Town staff.

The next regular meeting of the Nederland Board of Trustees will be on September 15, 2020, at 7 p.m.

(Originally published in the September 10, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)