Janet Perry, Nederland.  At the January 20th NDDA meeting, Hunter Wright spoke during public comment in support of Brent Tregaskis, who was one of the two applicants for the empty NDDA seat. Brent Tregaskis is the new General Manager of Eldora Mountain Resort. Tregaskis moved to the Nederland area recently, from Big Bear Lake, California.

Nikki Handy of Nederland also applied for the position. Handy works at Nedernet. David Hardy of Nedernet wrote a letter of support for Handy, saying “we believe she would have a lot to contribute to the NDDA and highly recommend her for the position”.

Handy later withdrew her application, leaving Tregaskis as the only applicant. Susan Schneider stated that Tregaskis has “good traffic experience” and that this could be helpful in NDDA work. Peter Marshall, also an Eldora employee, thought that Eldora had improved under Tregaskis’ management.

Hunter Wright then added that she has been working with Tregaskis since last October and also noted an improvement at Eldora under his direction. Wright works as his personal assistant. Hunter went on to say that Tregaskis has created free employee bus passes and often picks up employees on his way to work. Tregaskis was appointed to the vacant seat unanimously.

During the ‘Approval of Warrants’, Amanda Kneer, NDDA Treasurer stated that she would be reviewing those warrants that would be going to the BOT instead of the NDDA.

Katrina Harms, chair, then explained that the BOT must “approve an election and the language of the ballot question.” She added that they needed to determine the specific amount of money the NDDA will be requesting. The item was then tabled for a discussion of the Master Plan Update.

During the discussion of the MPU, Ron Mitchell of Nederland presented Nancy Blackwood, a principal and professional planner from Blackwood and Associates, who will be making a presentation to the Board of Trustees regarding his vision for his Nederland properties.

Mitchell said he is in favor of putting utility lines underground and refurbished sidewalks on First Street. Mitchell is also very interested in an Entertainment District. He noted that he had been collecting signatures of locals in favor of the Entertainment District, and would like to see it added to the Master Plan Update.

Mitchell also mentioned his support of “revenue for the TIF.” Currently there is no sales tax revenue for this and Mitchell feels there should be. This way, new development would bring money to pay the debt. Mitchell then added that the Mayor had suggested that the BOT may be taking funding from the NDDA, and therefore any project should be able to be paid off during the life of the NDDA.

Mitchell went on to recommend the book, The High Cost of Free Parking and encouraged the NDDA to create paid parking. He said he would like to see First Street widened and that he would donate space for sidewalks from his properties. He would like to have input on the project.

Mitchell then spoke about the need for more space for emergency access. He again stated his willingness to donate space, if allowed input on the project. He urged the NDDA Board Members to see his upcoming presentation on his vision for his properties.

Harms then said she would take Mitchell’s suggestions into consideration and that he would be included in the process. Harms then asked the Board for input on the Master Plan.

Jeffrey Green spoke about his desire to see a concentration on “pedestrian friendly areas” and believes the “internal parking lots are creating more cars in town” and prefers they “stay on the outskirts”. He would like to see signs directing cars to parking behind the Mining Museum and other existing lots. He wants to focus on the riparian corridor and the creek path, “because it is something in our town that people enjoy”. He added that the creek should be protected.

Green went on to talk about wanting to encourage bicycle parking areas and suggested that “perhaps some bike shops in town could provide bike rentals.” He believes that these ideas would make the town more “pedestrian-centric” as well as relieving the traffic woes. Green would like to see walkable paths from each town parking lot.

Amanda Kneer then spoke about the MPU’s table of contents, which she found to be easy-to-read and hopes it will “seem familiar” to NDDA voters.

Peter Marshall shared his disappointment that there seems to be no solution to the Lakeview intersection “roundabout issue”.

Amanda Kneer noted that they had not come up with concepts for a roundabout there.  She added that she has “put $470,000 into that category” so it could still be done. If the debt authorization is passed, she added, the NDDA should then hire a professional to look at the Lakeview area for ideas.

Town Administrator Alisha Reis added that “the traffic study will be revealing” and that both the Eldora and Big Springs turnoffs were being considered for traffic circles. Harms said “nothing is off the table until the actual design study is finalized”.

Trustee Kevin Mueller was “impressed by the rendering of the creek path”. Mueller then added that he feels that they have “missed the back and forth of establishing the needs of the development in the NDDA district, and that there is a disconnect between the needs of the community and the NDDA vision”. He also mentioned “accommodating more vehicles may not fit the vision if they want to focus on a pedestrian town”. Mueller added that the community may have other ideas than the NDDA’s vision. He believes there needs to be more education around the NDDA’s vision.

Reis stated that there could be an education campaign and that informational boards, etc. could be placed in Town Hall and at the Nederland Library.

Mueller then reminded them that in the Vision Statement and the Town’s Comprehensive plan, one policy goal was to “fix what we have first before bringing in new projects.” He then added that “considering another bridge without fixing the current crossing seems at odds with our policy.”

The discussion then went to ideas around creek crossings, with an agreement to make certain the professionals hired understand the vision of the NDDA.

Harms then urged the NDDA Board members to email her their recommendations by January 25th. She said she would work on the sections, highlighting them, making it easier for the Board members to see what she adds “in terms of the pedestrian and traffic, as well as the second crossing.” She added that she will “change the wording” and “call it a second ‘crossing’ instead of a second bridge, so there are more options.”

Mueller noted that the section after the introduction vision statement “were belief statements, not actually the vision”. Upon review, the Board decided that a vision statement Jeffrey Green had previously sent them should now be used as that Vision Statement.

Harms also suggested that in two weeks the Board should review the vision statements “Kevin Mueller and Jeffrey Green have individually written up and utilize them for the vision statement”.

Reis added that she would like to see barriers removed for pedestrians and said that she has noticed the area along the highway has been used more since it was paved.

Harms said she wanted to include a Debt Authorization draft in the BOT packet.

Susan Schneider wanted to see ‘multi-module traffic flow’ added to the wording. The Board agreed.

Mueller then said the NDDA should ask for a 2.9 million debt authorization, as they had discussed previously. Kneer noted that Eva Forberger, former town treasurer, had suggested 2.5 million. Kneer added that the 2.9 million included all discussed projects, except the underground pedestrian underpass.

Reis said the NDDA could ask for the 2.9, keeping in mind that all of the projects may not be adopted. She suggested the NDDA “be more conservative”, but that they could ask for the entire 2.9 million if they choose to do so.

Harms added that if they “go too fast and use all the money” then they may have problems repaying it.

Reis then clarified that they may “calculate the amortization figures in what the payment would be so it is payable within the TIF, given the forecast amounts.” She added that “averaging that out it would work”, but that it “was aggressive”.

Schneider suggested just paying interest payments for the first couple of years, noting that it “might cost more in the long run”, but that “if they have more money later they can make additional unscheduled principal payments”.

Reis then urged them to remember that the “amortizations are based on a placement percentage of 1%, which is likely, and at an interest rate of 6%. She added that ‘this buffers against the ups and downs because we will get better interest rates at least in the next few years”.  She added that they would “be at the volatility of the market but we are still borrowing these in individual loans.” She said that if they then find “they can’t afford the next one, they don’t do it”.

The Board decided the traffic study was important enough to stay, the Lakeview intersection and the Sidewalk Phase 1 project should remain and that the ‘other circulation storm water’ will be decreased to $525,000.

Kneer would then email the new version out to the NDDA Board and they could contact her or Harms for any concerns.

Reis said if they do a direct mailing they could include a “brief description of the debt authorization”.

The NDDA then unanimously passed a motion to approve the NDDA ballot question to authorize a debt of $2,924,000.00 and a repayment of $5,110,567.00 to the BOT.

Harms spoke about a DCI meeting in Arvada the following week dealing with rural traffic and parking. The third part of the DCI technical review could be done on February 16th or 18th, in the morning at 8:00. Harms promised to send out a reminder so they could decide on a day.

The next Nederland DDA meeting was held on February 17th. Watch for that meeting write-up coming soon. The next NDDA meeting will be held on March 16th at 6:30 pm and will be held in the Community Center Multi-purpose room. The NDDA encourages community participation.