The Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA) met on Wednesday, January 10, 2024, at 6 p.m. to open up the bidding process for event coordinators interested in leading and organizing a Summer Concert Series. The NDDA also discussed the prospect of seeking historical landmark status for one of Nederland’s oldest structures.

For their first meeting of the new year, the NDDA heard informational updates from their various project committees. The Public Art committee will be meeting on January 17 to bring more information forward in February. The River Walk project committee will also return in February after conferring with Town staff and planning their activities around the 2024 Town budget.

The Wayfinding committee is waiting for the Town’s brand identity project to be complete so that the results can be incorporated into the planned signage. A meeting has been scheduled to review bids received from third-party sign fabricators.

The Authority approved moving from QuickBooks 2021 to QuickBooks Online for $630 for accounting services in 2024.

Board members voted to approve the release of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Summer Concert Series Event Coordinator. The coordinator is expected to work with the NDDA in recruiting musical acts and creating a program schedule for six concerts to take place in different locations across Nederland from Saturday, May 24 to Saturday, September 21. These tentative dates have yet to be confirmed.

The Authority wished to assure the public that local restaurants and businesses are being considered as vendors in the hiring, planning, and scheduling of these events.

NDDA Vice Chair Andrew Dewart and Board of Trustees liaison to the NDDA Tania Corvalan specified that the current goal of the summer concert series is to name a local non-profit organization as the primary beneficiary and vendor for the events. Corvalan reiterated that the concerts would be scheduled so that attendees can be encouraged to patronize Nederland businesses.

Board member Steve Karowe asked what contingencies were in place to protect against potential financial issues for the six events. Dewart explained that the budget was based on last summer’s Peak Vibes concert, which was an all-day music festival with a pop-up stage.

Dewart stated that the budget for Peak Vibes was between $6,000 and $7,000, though other Board members believed the budget to be $11,000. Peak Vibes was an all-day festival, while the summer concerts are planned to be three-hour-long events.

The RFP also requires from applicants a sample budget breakdown, which Corvalan said was a provision added for the sake of transparency.

The NDDA voted to approve the RFP with no additional changes to the draft. The RFP will be released on Thursday, January 18. Corvalan and Dewart, working as the subcommittee for the summer concert series project, will narrow down applicants to a short list which will be provided to the Authority on February 14, after which a special meeting for a final decision will be scheduled later in February.

The Authority discussed Master Gardener Judy Evans’ proposed 2024 budget for the Beautification committee. The draft $34,000 budget covers Evans’ $19,500 labor cost, $10,000 cost for flowers, $2,000 for fertilizer, soil, and other materials, a $1,000 NDDA administrative fee, and $500 for flower boxes on the covered bridge.

The NDDA had budgeted $60,000 for beautification in their 2024 budget. The remaining $26,000 has been proposed to be used to hire two seasonal workers to assist with trash pickup in Nederland.

Town Administrator Miranda Fisher suggested that the Authority collaborate with the Nederland Area Historical Society (NAHS) on seeking historical landmark designation for the 164-year-old Bryant House, located on the southeast corner of the RTD parking lot at 268 West 2nd Street. The designation would allow the Town to pursue Historic Preservation grant funds.

Emmit Hoyl and Jessie Ansari, Vice President and President of NAHS, presented information regarding the Bryant House’s historical significance, including being home to the foreman of the Wolftongue mine.

Hoyl explained how, during an attempt to gain landmark designation status 20 years ago, RTD spoke against the designation. Conversations with RTD in 2021 remained along similar lines, as Hoyl reiterated that RTD is against anything that would “encumber their land,” which any preservation of the Bryant House would do.

Board members discussed whether the Bryant House was too burdensome to consider without assistance from grant funds, after Hoyl noted that the building is in severe disrepair from recent neglect. The NAHS’s efforts to preserve the building have failed to gain traction with any Town board or community stakeholders over the years.

“I think it really has much less to do with a lack of interest for the Bryant house, but that the historical society is a very small group of volunteers, five people,” Ansari pointed out to the Authority. “We’re already overseeing the upkeep of the steam shovel, we already run and maintain a museum in a Town-owned building, which is a huge undertaking with too few resources and help to run it.

“I personally would like to see more Town effort and DDA encouragement going towards the preservation of the working museum that we’re currently operating,” Ansari stated. “It’s just a matter of where our priorities fall and the Bryant house is just falling lower on the list due to the massive amount of work that would need to go into doing anything productive with it.”

NDDA Chair Ron Mitchell suggested that further conversations with RTD should include their considerations for the Bryant House if they were to ever expand their parking lot. In such a scenario, RTD should be expected to repay the cost of the Bryant House’s preservation should any other entity pay the costs out of pocket.

The Authority ultimately decided to table any further discussion on the issue until after April in order to gauge the feelings of the new Board of Trustees as to whether the Town wants to proceed in preserving the Bryant House, and if so, whether the NDDA should be involved.

Board Member Scott Papich led the Authority in a discussion concerning the potential adoption of an official new policy. The policy would require the NDDA to state its position as being against lending money to for- profit businesses, and against lending money “to any business that is owned, wholly or in part, or managed by, members of NDDA or Nederland BOT, or by individuals who have business relationships with members of NDDA or Nederland BOT.”

Mitchell spoke against the NDDA making such a policy, stating that it would relegate the Authority to acting more like a charity than a business.

“The statute specifically allows the DDA to make loans and behave as any profit-making business,” Mitchell said directly to Papich. “I take issue with the fact that you approached one banker; I’ve approached several bankers, and every bank is almost like an individual. Some banks loan for construction, some banks loan for housing – they’re just as different as people are.

“Trying to exclude something that the statute allows I don’t think is something we should do. I think it’s contrary to the law and I think you’re trying to inhibit the function of the DDA to the point that we don’t need it,” Mitchell said.

“When we talk about banks making loans for construction or for inventory, they are professional lenders with credit evaluators who are in that business,” Papich said as he spoke to the idea of NDDA assuming unnecessary risk by potentially becoming a lender. Papich noted that the NDDA lacked the expertise to be a lender, and mentioned the concern that becoming a money lender in a small town creates the potential for conflicts of interest.

Board member Steve Rowntree suggested tabling the conversation until the NDDA meets with Downtown Colorado Inc. to strategize around being more proficient in fulfilling their goals. Rowntree added that the conferences with DCI will allow for the Authority to review what projects it wishes to pursue, what role it wishes to take in the process, and what tools, such as money lending, may be useful in the achievement of those goals.

The Nederland Downtown Development Authority meets the second Wednesday of every month. Their next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 14, 2024, 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