John Scarffe, Nederland.  The Nederland Downtown Development Authority Board appointed two new members to fill one vacancy during a regular meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 11, 2018, at the Nederland Community Center. The Board also discussed projects for the Noxious Weed Removal Project Scope and Budget and the RiverWalk Preliminary Planning and Design.

The NDDA Board of Directors had one board seat that will be open on June 30, 2018. This seat must be filled by a district property owner due to State Statute and NDDA Board Bylaws.

The NDDA has two board member terms expiring at the end of June 2018, with one member, Amanda Kneer, applying for reappointment, which was approved for an additional four-year term by the NDDA Board at the June 11 meeting, according to background.

Board Member Peter Marshall’s term expires on June 30, and he is not seeking re-appointment. A request for Board member applications was announced at the May 2018 NDDA Board meeting and was published in The Mountain Ear and on the NDDA Website.

“Candidates must own property or be a business lessee within the district, and due to the current board structure, one open board seat needs to be filled by a property owner (or their designee) in the NDDA district,” states background. Two complete applications were received, both from district property owners.

The board needed to approve one applicant for the board seat opening on June 30, 2018, with a four-year term lasting until June 30, 2022. Steven Karowe and Andrea Orthner Wrobel both applied to the position.

Wrobel is also applying for a position assisting the Town with weed control, and the subject came up whether that was a conflict of interest.

The board was advised that she could be on the board but could not vote on items related to her work.

Wrobel said she has been a resident of Gilpin County since 1996 and serves on the Gilpin County Planning Commission. She runs Peak Ecological Services out of a building in town. She has been involved with ecological planning and permitting and wrote the riparian study of Middle Boulder Creek.

She is an ecologist and botanist by training. She has also been involved with wetlands permitting and noxious weed prevention and helped develop the Nederland Noxious Weed Management Plan. In addition, she started the Lakeview Lodge for short-term rentals.

Her goals for the town include improving walkability and getting private properties on board for the RiverWalk project. Significant erosion has occurred on the stream.

Steve Karowe, manager, LDK Ventures, LLC, told the Board he is a 25-year-resident of Nederland, and now owns the building at 80 Big Springs, which includes African market baskets. With TIF funds available for the NDDA, it would be nice to be in town government.

He loves the RiverWalk, and parking is an issue. The traffic flow in town has a negative impression for visitors and residents, Karowe said.

Karowe said he has been going through a multi-tenant project for four years, has been involved in code enforcement, worked with Town Planner Cynthia Baake and has a good relationship with the people in the town.

Following the two presentations, Ron Mitchell, a member of the NDDA district, asked if more than seven members could be seated on the board, and he was told they could have more than seven. He suggested appointing both Karowe and Wrobel, because they were both qualified, and the board could use their advice.

The board then discussed accepting both applicants and potential difficulties of having an eight-person board, but the board and staff said having more engaged property and business owners involved is worth the logistical complications. The NDDA Board voted and approved both Steven Karowe and Andrea Orthner Wrobel to the Board of Directors with terms running through June 30, 2022. They will send their recommendations to the Nederland Board of Trustees.

The board discussed the noxious weed project proposed for the town. At the May 2018 meeting, they decided that a Noxious Week Removal Project should be considered.

The proposal totals $1,450 with a $1,900 budget total and NDDA staff time and effort. That would include public outreach and education, strategic weed eradication throughout the NDDA district and a volunteer weed pull in Chipeta Park. The proposal includes a savings of 50 percent in-kind from Peak Ecological Services, LLC. The project would be conducted in 2018, and future projects will seek sustainable funding outside of NDDA funds, according to background.

The board agreed to send a request to the Nederland Board of Trustees allowing the DDA to borrow funds, in the amount of $1,900.00, from the Town, to be paid back from 2017 debt authorization funds, to pay for a Noxious Weed Control project in 2018.

The board then discussed moving forward with the RiverWalk Project. A major strategy for economic and infrastructure development, as well as accessibility, walkability and safety of the downtown area, the RiverWalk project is one of the strategies of the 2017 Master Plan that most resonates with NDDA constituents and has broad support from the community at-large.

Four major issues from the Master Plan that the NDDA could potentially address with the project are poor walkability and connectivity, especially the pedestrian crossing from the Visitor Center to First Street; lack of river access to residents and visitors; improvements and protection of Middle Boulder Creek and the riparian wetlands; and economic development.

The NDDA has been in discussions with the local Trout Unlimited Chapter Boulder Flycasters regarding this preliminary work, and their board has already pledged $500 to the project, according to background. In total, $3,400 of the project costs are being provided outside of NDDA funding.

The NDDA will request $1,000 to provide staff time and effort to the project in this phase. The request was for the RiverWalk Preliminary Planning Scope and Budget for $14,500, of which $11,100 will come from NDDA funds.

The board agreed that the first step forward for the RiverWalk Project is to contact the property owners in the area for their opinion of the project.

(Originally published in the June 21, 2018, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)