John Scarffe, Nederland. The Nederland Board of Trustees approved requests from the Nederland Downtown Development Authority for small business COVID relief funds, a parking survey and an investment policy during a regular on-line meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 17, 2020. The Board also discussed marijuana license limitations and Big Springs Egress alternatives. 

Small Business Relief Funds

The Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA) requested approval of a loan of $60,000.00 in TIF funds to support a small business grant for NDDA district businesses. The Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) Coronavirus Relief Fund awarded the NDDA $157,000.00 in reimbursable funds for expenditures related to COVID-19. 

The NDDA is being reimbursed for $97,109.20, which covers expenditures for the Stop Gap Fund, Porta Potties in Town and COVID Consultation, according to the agenda information memo. By January 2021, full reimbursement for this expenditure will be requested from DOLA COVID Funds awarded to the NDDA. 

The Stop Gap fund application was revamped to create the Reimbursable Fund application. The NDDA requested that the Trustees approve the use of $60,000.00 in TIF funds, with $59,890.80 remaining in the amount of funds awarded to the NDDA for reimbursement. 

An application for funds was to be sent to business owners on November 18, 2020. Submission of the application and necessary receipts is required by December 9, 2020, and funds will be disbursed on December 15, 2020, according to the memo.

NDDA Executive Director Hope Jordan said the amount available to each business will depend on how many businesses apply but grants for each business should be from $500 to $1,000. Trustees said they were excited that the NDDA is doing this, and this is a great example of how NDDA available funds should be used. The Board approved the loan request.

Parking Survey

The NDDA requested approval for a loan of $28,012.50 in TIF funds for the Big Springs parking project. On October14, 2020, the NDDA Board approved hiring JVA for $17,800.00 to engineer and design parking on Big Springs Dr, according to the memo.

Board members also approved hiring Flagstaff Surveyors for $2,950.00, and applied $7,262.60 toward contingencies and 5 percent in administrative costs including Town fees. The parking committee has met with JVA, Town officials, surveyors, property owners and other interested parties to fine tune the parking project, according to the memo. 

The NDDA Board agreed that Public Works Manager Chris Pelletier will manage the project. The Town will be responsible for retaining a qualified third-party testing laboratory for special inspections, asphalt and soils testing, and the NDDA is responsible for a topographic land survey.

NDDA Chair Steve Karowe said the NDDA has $28,012.50 coming from TIF Funds for the parking project. They would like to hire Flagstaff Surveyors to do a survey and JVA to engineer and design the parking project. 

Karowe said he is just bringing this to the Board to get the project rolling. Once the project is off the ground, he will come back for the construction aspect, which is quite a way down the road. The survey will include Big Springs from the Black Forest up to Conger Street.

NDDA Board Member Ron Mitchell said they will gain 19 spaces and a sidewalk along with addressing drainage, which has been a constant issue. The Board approved the request.

Investment Policy Plan

The NDDA requested $2,150.00 in TIF funds to hire Financial Analyst Dana Edwards to develop an NDDA Investment Policy. When COVID struck, the NDDA Board noticed a dramatic decline in interest made on funds in the TIF account. 

“The NDDA Board also understood their fiscal responsibility to invest unencumbered funds to generate revenue for infrastructure projects, economic programs, and NDDA operations,” according to the memo. The policy would set parameters for an Investment Committee within the NDDA. 

Financial Analyst Dana Edwards will lead the development of the policy and act as an outside third-party with a history and interest in Nederland. The $2,000 fee for this service allows for a meeting schedule to conduct discovery, write and review drafts with the NDDA and ultimately develop a complete Investment Policy, which will be reviewed by NDDA Attorney Paul Benedetti to ensure that the document complies with Colorado standards and practices.

  Trustees suggested tracking down investment policies from other DDAs. Trustee Eric Coombs Esmail said he was not sure this is the appropriate time to talk about this and asked why unencumbered funds are sitting there and not being used and then the NDDA has a request for additional funding in the same meeting. 

Mayor Kristopher Larsen said the idea for a policy is reasonable. The NDDA might have opportunities and the ability to invest funds.

Baumhover said the idea here is the NDDA has a lot of projects in the pipeline, but they will always have unencumbered funds, so they can come up with a policy to use those funds.

The Board approved funds for the investment policy, with Coombs Esmail voting no.

Marijuana Ordinance Update: License Limitations

The Marijuana Ordinance Review Committee agreed that retail and medical marijuana licenses should be limited to four locations. Nederland currently has four retail and medical marijuana establishments, so this limitation would not allow for any more licenses to be applied for at this time. 

The committee has requested that the Planning Commission review the zones in which cultivation, product manufacturing and testing facilities are allowed either through use by right or special review use and provide a recommendation to the committee on ways to limit those licenses. When licenses are available, the committee recommended that the Town establish procedures for how to handle the process for approving new retail or medical applications. 

Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen said the State has made many changes, so references in the town code are outdated. She  recommended working on Town code. 

After much discussion, Mayor Larsen suggested bringing this back at a meeting in December and look at updating codes with a limit of four establishments.

Big Springs Egress

In July 2019, the Boulder County Commissioners gave conditional approval to the Town of Nederland to construct an emergency egress route in the Big Springs Subdivision, which will cross Boulder County Open Space Lands, according to the memo. One of the conditions of the approval was for the Town to research more fully the potential for an alternate route that would make less of an impact on the environment when compared to the route that was vetted by the community and presented in the application. 

Town Staff has been working with the Nederland Fire Protection District and the Town’s Engineer of Record, JVA, to determine the feasibility of an alternate route. Staff presented the original route as well as an alternate route at the meeting.

Time is of the essence because a matching DOLA grant expires in April of 2021. Should the Board determine that the alternate route is preferred over the originally proposed and vetted route, then staff would need to engage JVA to create a design for the route.

After a lengthy discussion, Larsen said it highlights the need for further investigation. He suggested forming a subcommittee with Trustee Tania Corvalan, Fire Chief Rick Dirr and PROSAB Chair Jesse Ansari and bring it back at the next meeting.

The next meeting of the Nederland Board of Trustees will be on December 1, 2020. Go to https://nederlandco.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=299.

(Originally published in the November 26, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)