The Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA) met on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, at 6 p.m. to appoint members of their board to the positions of Chair, Vice Chair, and Treasurer, and also to
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The Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA) met on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, at 6 p.m. to appoint members of their board to the positions of Chair, Vice Chair, and Treasurer, and also to participate in a Work Session specifically aimed at identifying and prioritizing the goals of the organization.
The Board first approved three resolutions needed to authorize funding for two 2023 projects and for wages for NDDA Administration.
In May, 2023, the NDDA approved portioning $30,000, previously approved in the 2023 budget and allocated to the River Walk project, to be used also for paying for design plans from American Ramp Company for a Pump Track, and for administrative costs.
Resolution 2023-35 authorizes $15,000 in funding for the River Walk project; Resolution 2023-36 authorizes $10,000 for the Pump Track; and Resolution 2023-37 authorizes $5,000 for administration.
The NDDA approved Resolution 2023-01, executing a contract with Nederland’s Public Engagement Manager Peter Cacek, hiring his services as a website consultant to help update the Board’s website, beginning in late July or early August of 2023.
The Board also approved the following committee appointments: Vice Chair Andrew Dewart and BOT liaison to the NDDA Trustee Tania Corvalan were appointed to the Performance Space Committee; Danielle Crouse was appointed to the Public Art Committee; Chair Barbara Hardt and Catherine Valen to the River Walk Committee; and Steve Karowe and Steve Rowntree to the Wayfinding Committee.
The Communications and Beautification Committees were made dormant due to staff oversight, and the Committee Committee was made dormant due to the “lack of need at this time.”
Board members provided updates on various Committee projects. The Big Springs Parking project, which involves the creation of parking spaces outside of the Black Forest and adjacent to HubNed, is almost complete, with Edge Contracting Inc. currently scheduling a date for the final paving.
Town Administrator Miranda Fisher presented an update on the project to repave the Visitor’s Center parking lot. Three estimates were reviewed by Town staff for asphalt paving services and the decision was made to contract with Holland Hurst Inc. based out of Evergreen.
Holland Hurst plans to replace the Visitors Center lot with four inches of asphalt and estimates the project to cost $89,640. The company will also provide a two-inch overlay on 1st Street for the estimated cost of $10,200; the paving will extend to the area where a trench was created for burying power lines as part of the Transportation Improvement Project.
Paving of the Visitors Center is expected to begin in early August, though the two EV chargers in the parking lot must be moved before the paving can begin. The EV chargers are expected to be offline for six to eight weeks as Town staff works to provide adequate power in the southwest corner of the parking lot where the chargers will be moved.
Per the NDDA bylaws, the Board was tasked with appointing the positions of Chair, Vice Chair, and Treasurer for a one year term. By way of a private vote, sent to Executive Director Kate Masingale by either text message or email, Ron Mitchell was appointed Chair; Dewart was appointed Vice Chair; and Rowntree was appointed Treasurer.
The NDDA participated in a Goals Work Session in order to identify and prioritize the focus for the group moving forward into 2024 and over the next five years. Fisher stepped in for Trustee Nichole Sterling to lead the session, as Sterling was absent. Sterling had previously led work sessions based on goal-setting with the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Advisory Board and the Sustainability Advisory Board.
Board members must also decide, once establishing their goals, whether they want to contract with Downtown Colorado Inc. (DCI), a nonprofit organization that assists with downtown growth through advisory services, educational events, and financing mechanisms. The purpose for working with DCI would be to establish a financial strategy for each of the Board’s set goals.
As for the needs of the NDDA, DCI would be able to assist in the education of the Board, staff, and partners, in linking the Board’s priorities with the Town’s; and to build Action Items on that common ground; and in establishing budget items for 2024 and 2025.
Kat Correll, Executive Director for DCI, detailed in an email to the Board that the planning of, and subsequent reporting on, three meetings aimed at serving these needs of the NDDA will cost anywhere between $15,000 and $20,000. The NDDA will hear from specific consultants during one meeting and will form collaborative efforts with the BOT in another meeting.
Correll noted that DCI would be able to begin working with the NDDA in October or November of this year or in the Spring of 2024, and also offered to help draft a request letter for a DOLA planning grant to help cover the cost of DCI’s services.
Board members each provided suggestions for NDDA’s focus for the next five years, and discussed how the organization’s mission can align with efforts to make the town’s “first impression” on newcomers more positive.
Chair Mitchell expressed that he would like to focus more on projects that generate revenue and stated his belief that the Board should be more discerning when gauging the potential of funding special events. Scott Papich also stated that he would prefer to see the Board better evaluate applicants for special event funding and to assess whether the proposed event can perform on the promises made by the applicant.
Papich specified that further evaluation of applicants and their plans could help preemptively ascertain what event organizers require from Town in order for events to be successful.
Vice Chair Dewart expressed that he would like to see a summer concert series held in town as a way to incorporate a new outdoor performance space, which is an NDDA project currently in its preliminary planning stages. Treasurer Rowntree agreed that special events are his preferred priority for revenue generation in the Central Business District (CBD). However, he voiced concerns about the proposed location of the performance space, planned to be in the vacant lot between Guercio Field and Barker Reservoir.
Rowntree noted that the NedGravel event, which is a proven successful annual event, was set up this year in the area that is proposed for the construction of a performance space. It was stated that the event did not draw or retain as many attendees as in previous years; the 2022 event was held in Guercio Field and saw well over 1000 attendees.
Neither Guercio Field nor Chipeta Park were available for the 2023 NedGravel, because of the current reseeding of the field, and complaints and concerns from the neighborhood about the potential noise from the Park.
Dewart, acting as a member of the Performance Space Committee, reiterated that the current planned location for the space is not the ideal location because the lot is mostly in the floodplain. However, such land assessments were required due to perceived political “pushback” against using Guercio Field for the construction of the performance space.
Fisher specified that Guercio Field is currently designated as “parks and open space,” which was a designation made in order to apply for and receive the Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) grant, which has paid for the reseeding and planting efforts of trees and shrubs to restore the field. The concern is that the construction of a performance space on Guercio Field may change the official designation of the park, which could affect the reseeding project and the Town’s standing with the grant providers.
Danielle Crouse and Catherine Valen both stated that they would prefer the NDDA focus more on major infrastructure concerns, such as traffic and parking issues, which prevent out of towners from stopping and shopping in Nederland. They also noted that housing issues were the primary cause for the lack of employees and employee retention at local businesses.
The work session ended with the NDDA expecting to have another session to finalize their goals from the list of suggestions. Mitchell expressed wanting one of the future NDDA work sessions to be focused primarily on parking, stating that he had books on the subject that he wanted to share with board members. Fisher noted that no action on parking construction can be made until the Town’s Multimodal Transportation Plan is complete.
The Nederland Downtown Development Authority meets the second Wednesday of every month. Their next scheduled meeting is for Wednesday, August 9, 2023, and will be held online as well as in person at the Nederland Community Center. For more information go to: https://townofnederland.colorado. gov/downtown-development-authority