The Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA) met on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, at 6 p.m. to vote on funding requests for several different summer events, including the Summer Concert Series. The NDDA also voted on funding requests from the Town for infrastructure projects.

Board members voted on applications for funding for different events to take place in Nederland over the summer, totaling $7,000 in requests for special event funding, and $19,270 for traffic control funding.

The Nederland Farmers Market requested $1,000 for marketing and production costs for their Party in the Peaks market, as well as $1,600 for Traffic and Safety for that market, and a total of $1,890 for all other markets.

Peak to Peak Endurance requested $1,000 for their marketing costs and $4,000 for traffic control for the Ned Gravel event, and also requested $1,000 for marketing and $1,500 for traffic control for the Ned*Ned event.

The Town of Nederland requested $4,280 in Traffic and Safety funds to cover the cost of four extra duty police officers and two traffic flaggers for the Town’s 150th Anniversary celebration, which will occur over three days during the first weekend in August.

Time Served Production Group requested a total of $3,000 for Special Event funding for marketing and production costs for the Summer Concert Series.

Caribou Village Shopping Center requested $1,000 to fund marketing for their 4th Friday Art Walk; Hub Ned requested $1,000 to fund marketing for their Founders and Funders event series; and Ned Jazz and Wine requested $1,000 to fund marketing for their upcoming summer festival.

The NDDA has $10,000 available in Special Event funding for 2024, and $50,000 available in Traffic and Safety.

Chair Ron Mitchell suggested compiling all the requests for traffic control, totaling $19,270, and combining that with the $15,000 that the NDDA put aside for hiring their own flaggers for summer weekends, and using those funds to hire one traffic control company for all busy weekends and all events in Nederland over the summer.

Board members also discussed the possibility of the Authority needing to acquire general liability insurance and decided, by approving a motion, to obtain quotes from private insurance companies if it is determined that they are not covered by the Colorado Intergovernmental Risk Sharing Agency.

The NDDA also voted to draft and release a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a traffic flagging company that can work within the Authority’s $50,000 Traffic and Safety budget for the summer season.

The applicants gave quick presentations concerning their requests for funding and fielded questions pertaining specifically to how much requested in Traffic and Safety is for traffic control, as opposed to parking or security costs, whether their events required flaggers, and where those flaggers would need to be located.

Board members voted on each funding application one by one, approving all requests for Special Events funding.

As for each request pertaining to Traffic and Safety funding, the Authority determined their approval on a case-by-case basis, based on whether the NDDA’s plan to provide traffic control for the summer would alleviate the need for that applicant’s funding request.

Though the NDDA holds two application cycles for special event funding throughout the year, one for summer events and one for fall events, Trustee Tania Corvalan moved to allocate the remaining $1,000 in the Authority’s special event budget to the Nederland Farmers Market’s Harvest Festival, which is an October event. The Authority approved the motion.

Board members began discussing how much of the NDDA’s Traffic and Safety budget is left after allocating funds for the summer events and paying for their own summer traffic flaggers. However, they had yet to determine how much traffic control funding Time Served Production Group would require for the entire Summer Concert Series.

The NDDA then temporarily tabled their first action item in order to hear a presentation from Time Served.

Representatives for Time Served noted that despite having only been under contract for two weeks, the talent has been booked and the website is soon to be officially launched.

The list of performers includes Rolling Harvest, Bonnie & Taylor Sims Band, Wirewood Station, Bear Hat, Banshee Tree, Ben Sproul Trio, Diggin’ Dirt, The Guerilla Fanfare Brass Band, ATOMGA, Selassee & FaFa Family, The River Arkansas, and Silas Herman & Jack Cloonan.

Time Served also spoke about difficulties in achieving the goal of holding the six concerts at six diverse locations. Guercio Park is not available, and the land on Barker Meadows Park, which was previously planned for the NDDA’s outdoor performance space project, has been deemed by Time Served to be insufficient for a concert.

Currently, Time Served has planned to hold the concerts at Chipeta Park, in the privately-owned lot between East 1st and 2nd Streets, and on East 1st Street, with plans for it to be closed down to vehicle traffic.

Parks Manager Nicki Dunn mentioned her concern about the potential damage to Chipeta Park, though she trusted that Time Served would bear the responsibility for the condition of the field. Dunn added that the permitting process needs to begin in order to be ready for the first event, planned for June 1.

Corvalan expressed feeling “blindsided” by the information presented by Time Served, stating that she expected better transparency from them in regard to discussing the bands and the dates of the concerts before booking them. Corvalan also complained that there were three concerts planned in August but no concerts planned in September.

Time Served noted that they fit the schedule for the summer concert series in where there was availability on the Town’s schedule, and that tentative dates were reserved in September in case any of the summer concerts had to be postponed.

Peter Fiori of Time Served took offense at the accusation of not being transparent.

“We were under the impression that we were hired to book music, and that’s what we did,” Fiori said, stating that he was unaware that the NDDA was requiring such detailed communication involving the acts being booked.

Town Administrator Miranda Fisher reiterated that Time Served was not in violation of their original agreement with the Authority, and Vice Chair Andrew Dewart also stated that the expectation was for Time Served to confer with Board members about the dates and locations of the concerts, but not for the booking of musicians.

After determining that the NDDA’s traffic control initiatives would cover the summer concert series, the application from Time Served for Traffic and Safety funds was withdrawn. The Authority then determined that there was not enough left in their Traffic and Safety budget to be able to allocate to any fall event applicants.

Board members then focused on the RFP to be sent for traffic flaggers. Originally, the NDDA had planned to have flaggers available for Mother’s Day weekend, May 12, for the first Farmers Market.

As the drafting of the RFP was occurring during the meeting, the NDDA now expects to approve the RFP for release during their June meeting, meaning traffic flaggers for the summer may not be under contract and available to work until early July.

Board member Danielle Crouse presented the 2024 Public Art budget for approval. The budget accounts for $50,000 in public art projects for the year, including $12,000 for new murals, $10,000 for the decorative picnic table project, $750 for the upcoming Nederland Day of Art, $682 in administrative costs, and $26,568 for the first phase of the Marion sculpture project.

Fine arts restorer Mike Foster presented clarifying information regarding the Marion sculpture project, explaining that the $26,568 cost of the project covers three phases, from removal to the creating and storing of the sculptures. Welders and structural engineers will be required to assist in the delicate process.

Board members voted unanimously to approve the 2024 Public Art budget.

Dunn then presented a request for $14,900 in funding for a survey, construction documents, schematic design, and design development from JVA for a proposed Rain Garden.

The garden is planned to be located near Guercio Field and Barker Meadows Park, the area once considered for the outdoor performance space. It is considered necessary to capture storm runoff before storm flows reach Barker Reservoir.

Dunn specified that the rain garden is the first step toward rehabilitating the flooded area, which the Town is responsible for according to an agreement with the City of Boulder. Fisher added that the rain garden will help to alleviate the issue of sediment in the pooled water, which the City of Boulder claims is the reason why they will not repair a damaged culvert on the property.

Though some Board members felt that the NDDA should not be used as a financial structure by the Town to fund infrastructure improvements, the Authority still desired to ascertain the usefulness of the area for their performance space project.

The NDDA voted to approve paying JVA for the first phase of what Dunn and the Town were requesting, which was $6,500 for surveying and for a schematic design.

It was expressed by Dewart that JVA should present the completed design to Board members so that they can determine whether the rain garden design would interfere with the possibility of a performance space being constructed there.

Streets Supervisor Joshua Davis presented a request for $82,500 to pay Holland Hurst Asphalt Paving & Concrete to pave 25,900 square feet of road from Bridge Street to the intersection of Snyder Street and East 1st Street.

The Streets department has already committed the extent of their 2024 budget for asphalt paving to the paving of East 1st Street to East 2nd Street and the paving of the first 75 feet of Big Springs Drive from Bridge Street, at a total cost of $34,000.

Davis and Fisher answered questions from Board members. Fisher explained to the Authority that the Town had requested a budget of $50,000 for the Streets department for 2024, but that the Board of Trustees did not want to go further into the Town’s reserves, and adjusted the budget at $36,500.

To the question of why the Streets department does not do the paving themselves, Davis answered that the Town does not have the milling equipment. Fisher added that the Town will be selling its paving machine due to the lack of milling equipment, the cost to break up the asphalt, and due to the Streets department personnel not being trained and certified for paving.

Board member Steve Karowe reiterated his concern regarding the Town using the NDDA to pay for such projects outright, as opposed to leveraging the request through a collaboration or contribution on a grant opportunity.

After being warned by Fisher of possibly demonstrating a conflict of interest, Chair Mitchell alluded to the Town waiting on the paving due to the potential of his redevelopment plans for downtown Nederland moving forward, as it would require the streets in question to be excavated for the redesigning of underground utilities.

“But I don’t think we can keep delaying things for what could be. It’s not working,” Fisher responded.

A motion was made to provide the Streets department $20,000 from the Authority’s budget allocated to parking initiatives, which was seconded and approved. Davis is being tasked with acquiring new quotes from contractors for how much paving in the desired area can be completed within the newly adjusted budget.

The Nederland Downtown Development Authority meets the second Wednesday of every month. Their next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 12, 2024, at 6 p.m. 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.